Julie Busby of The Busby Group at Compass was originally mentored in SoCal by one of the top producers in the country. She followed her advice and became one of California’s top real estate agents. Then, she moved to Illinois where she had no sphere of influence and had to rebuild her business from the ground up. Since then, the all-female Busby Group has closed over 450 million in home sales. In our conversation Julie talks about how she became a top producer twice, and how you can do the same!
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Julie Busby can be reached at 312-275-5714 and julie@busbygroup.com.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
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Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real, the largest podcast made by real estate agents. And for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, I am your guide, and host through the show. And in a moment, we’re going to be speaking with Julie Busbee of the Busbee group at Compass. Before we get to Julie, a couple quick ideas for you. Now if you’re like most of us, I know in Illinois, we’re totally quarantine stuck at home. And many states are doing the same thing, you’re probably slow down. If you’re like most realtors, and now’s a good time to go back through our catalog, we have almost 150 episodes. And even if you went all the way back to number one or number two, which of course we don’t expect anybody to do. But there’s such great content. And our intention when we first started this podcast was to create a library of content that would be timeless that you could go back to and really understand what are the fundamentals? What are the what are these secrets of top producers? Well, as we’ve learned, after doing almost 150 episodes, there aren’t really any secrets. But there’s a lot of fundamentals, a lot of discipline. And you can go back through these episodes and hear it again and again. They say repetition is the mother of skill. So please go back now that you probably have a little bit more free time and check out old episodes that’s what they’re there for. They’re designed to help you grow. Also please follow us on Facebook find us@facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod why? Because we show video episodes live as we record them so you can see behind the scenes, me talking to the guests and then recording the episode live in case you can’t wait for us to produce it and make it available in this fashion. So facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And lastly, tell a friend think of one other Realtor you know one other realtor I promised you do that could benefit that struggling that wants to learn the secrets of top producers and say hey, there’s this podcast out there. It’s totally free. It’s on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Stitcher, Pandora everywhere. And just subscribe to it, check out one episode, see if you like it. That really helps us in a lot of ways to but it also helps them so please, our intention is to help as many Realtors as possible. This is our passion. And we’re super grateful for everyone who’s listening really means a lot to us. And we’re going to keep cranking out episodes, despite the fact that we’re all quarantined at home, because there’s still a lot to learn and work on. So thank you for sticking with us. Thank you for supporting our sponsors and thank you for listening Of course as per usual and now on to our interview with Julie Busbee.
Today on the show we have Julie Busby from the Busby group at Compass, a real estate broker for nearly 20 years. Julie Busby is the founder and president of the Busby group and in the top 1% of Chicagoland brokers, Julianne are all female team are known throughout Chicago for their unmatched integrity, and diverse portfolio. The Busby group is proud to work with first time buyers, luxury sellers and everyone in between. Julie started her real estate career in 2001 when she partnered with one of the country’s top brokers based in California, and since then the Busby group has sold over 450 million in real estate throughout Chicago. Visit the Busby group at buzzbee Group B USB y group.com. Welcome, Julie.
Julie Busby 4:33
Thank you.
D.J. Paris 4:35
Thank you. Thank you. We were really excited to have you this is the first all female team we’ve ever featured on our show you guys are absolute superstars and legends in Chicago. So this is very exciting for us. No you are and this is. In fact, the reason we’re doing this is I was seated next to one of your team members at a Chicago real producers whatever. And she was like what do you do and I was I mean, whatever. And I mentioned the podcast. She’s like, you gotta have this on your show. And I was like, Oh, Your Honor. I was like you guys are on our list. So now we’re so excited to have you. This is really awesome. Cool. Yeah. Very, very cool. Tell us a little bit about how you got into real estate all those years ago. So yes,
Julie Busby 5:17
I was in San Diego, California. And I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur. So I actually was looking into the best return on an investment. And I kept coming back to real estate. I also, I don’t know I, I’ve always been a workaholic. I started selling insurance in high school. And, yeah, it was kind of crazy. I did a Co Op program and left high school at noon every day and went to an insurance agency. So anyways, through that I partnered actually with a realtor and I was always fascinated with her career. And then when I want knew I wanted to own my own business one day, I just kept coming back to real estate, ended up approaching a woman who went to church with me, and it ends up. I knew she was a productive realtor. And I approached her and I said, Hey, can I come intern with you for free? And I did that. And lo and behold, she was the number three broker in the nation at the time. So my God definitely learned from the best. That was back in like, oh, 101 is I think when I got my license, and so I started working with her like, oh, 102
D.J. Paris 6:21
is like, I want to go back to a couple of things. First, no, no, this is really important. I always tell people, the same thing is like work for free, find a mentor, somebody who’s already been successful, and just go, can I shadow you? Can I hang out with you? Even if you have to pay them? I think you would probably agree that what you learn from her has got to be worth so much more than the little amount you didn’t get paid back then. Right.
Julie Busby 6:52
So what’s funny is I’ve actually done it twice in my career. I’ve had to rebuild my team and my career twice. So I started my career in San Diego, California, became a top 1% Producer out there. And it all started from me approaching that woman and shadowing her just learning from her being a free intern. Then when I moved out here, another top broker I knew through my network, and I said, Hey, can I come work with you for free? I helped her become I think we were number one that year in Chicago. And then that just springboarded me to my career now in Chicago. Wow. Yes, I did it twice. Yeah.
D.J. Paris 7:28
First of all, you walked away from an incredibly successful career in California. Was that scary for you? Were you nervous? Or were you like, I’ve done this once. When I moved to Chicago, I can do this again.
Julie Busby 7:39
It was not scary. I felt like I had reached the pinnacle of my career, which is funny because I’ve now exceeded it further. I was actually moving here because of a boy, we’re still together. He’s my husband, he he was stationed and he was a helicopter pilot for the Navy. He retired from the Navy came out here his family’s out here I came kicking and screaming because of my real estate career. And the business I had grown. And so when I first moved out here, the plan was actually going to open a fitness studio. It was like I’ve reached my pinnacle of my career. I’m proud of myself, I moved when and now start like a fitness empire. Got my real estate license to represent myself because I wasn’t happy with the service level I was getting. And from that me and this other top producer got back connected again, because I got my license. And then I said you know what, let me work for you for free for a summer and see how that goes. And here I am. That was those 2011. So we’re now 2020. So it’s nine years ago. And now I just did 45 million last year. So it’s been nine years. Yeah.
D.J. Paris 8:42
Wow. With just out of curiosity, I just have a quick question about your husband, because this is this is awesome. So a million years ago, I used to work for for a beer distributor. And we were we went at one point. This was a couple hours east of San Diego, where the Blue Angels rain. It’s an area near El Centro. Yeah, so yeah, I was gonna say your husband probably has been there knows all about it. And when I was there, there were no joke. There were like 200 earthquakes that day. In that area. They were all tiny ones. But it was the coolest thing ever.
Julie Busby 9:15
We Yeah, San Diego. We have a ton of earthquakes. I have some fun stories about that. But yes, we have good friends who are Blue Angels. And it’s cool. They would do air and water show. I was always working and couldn’t come watch them. And so they would say Well, where are you showing property today? And they would come and tip the fly the plane? Oh, yeah. It was cool. It’s amazing.
D.J. Paris 9:36
And you know, it’s funny, and I imagine you probably would agree is a lot of times these top producers in real estate, I always ask them oh my gosh, you must be inundated with requests from people that want to intern with you. They’re like, not really. A lot of them are like not that many people approach. And and here you did it twice. You went up to top producers and not only in And again, this you sort of said it was sort of by accident, you didn’t realize how successful the person in San Diego was. But literally the number three person in the country that is an untouchable, unreachable person. And you were like, No, I just went up and asked, and then you, you know, I mean, how important is that? Is that mentorship or that internships? In how you’ve charted your success?
Julie Busby 10:21
It’s huge. I will tell you, did I get a lot of hands on training from them? No formal training? No, but did I learn through osmosis 100%. And both times, the women were very successful had many listings at one time. So I would also just learn the marketplace so much sooner than if I was on my own. Because I’m looking at 20 properties a day, versus your average broker might just see like one property a day, so I learned the market place very quickly. And I think it’s important to Yeah, approach, you know, get out of your comfort zone and approach someone that you admire, and ask for mentorship. Yeah, it’s rare. I definitely have people approached me to join the team, but to just for me for free, or just to shadow me doesn’t happen often. No,
D.J. Paris 11:12
it’s always amazing. And it’s one of those things where I always tell people like yeah, like, if you need to offer to pay them to hang out with them, like do that too, because it is absolutely worth it. You know, and, and it’s flattering to that person as well. It’s, it’s, it’s, they don’t need to be flattered, but it’s very, it’s a very fulfilling thing to to think, like, wow, you know, I could I could help that person. And, you know, I always think like, go up to every, you know, it’s the same thing. I always say to realtors, even who join our firm, I say go up. We have lots of lots of Realtors offer. And I was like, go up to them and ask if you could do open houses and continue to ask because if you’re new, yeah, right. And let’s so I want to talk about your group, because you guys have I think you guys, you women, I shouldn’t say that either. But you have an all female team, which I think is so cool. Can you talk about like how you started the team? At what point in your career were you like, Okay, I need to have to build a team.
Julie Busby 12:10
Um, so I, the team just happened organically. I knew I needed once you get to a certain level, you realize you need some help administratively. And then usually, like they say, the next hire and be like a buyer broker. I so I did that. Originally it was admin, and then a broker on the team. And then candidly, we just kept growing and growing. And I’ve always been a workaholic. I mean, again, I started working when I was in high school, so I was easily putting in 90 hour days. And I also have a certain level of service that I want to provide my clients. And in order to do that I was working around the clock. Yeah, I do have two little kiddos, I have a four year old and a one year old. So it’s, candidly, I want to quality of life. And in order to have quality of life and still offer the level of service that I think is very important in this industry. I had to grow the team. And so it just happened organically. And then people just kept falling in my lap. I’ve been very, very blessed with the brokers and team that we have in place it they’ve honestly fallen in my lap. And it’s one of those where there’s such amazing, incredible talented people that it’s like, I can’t turn them away. So we’re growing the team again. So that’s that’s where we’re at. We’re where we are. Did I have the initiative to grow an all girl team all woman team? No, it’s just happened that they you know that talent has fallen in my lap. So
D.J. Paris 13:45
I think your website’s a really good reflection of your culture and what your team stands for and what you offer. So I really want to plug your website again, just because I think it’s a really strong website. I see a lot of realtor websites that I think most of them aren’t that great to be perfectly frank, but yours is. So it is it’s clean. It’s simple. It’s really clear what you guys offer. And also there’s cool things like you have a hey, send us your email, and we’ll send you our little black book, which is basically all your vendors that you make a man which it sounds like a simple idea. And it is except it’s providing value. That’s a reason alone, just even visit your website is like you get some value just by visiting. Whereas a lot of people it’s just hey, it’s an online business card kind of, but yours actually has some value. So yeah, go to Busby. But I’m sorry buzzbee group.com What I want to talk about you know, you mentioned Hey, I work a lot you work a lot. What do you think aside from that has made the difference for you? You know, there are 40,000 Plus realtors in the Chicagoland area. You are in the top 1% What do you think it is that you’ve done differently than the vast majority of brokers who maybe haven’t Had your level of success.
Julie Busby 15:02
So definitely service level is 100% important to set your self apart. Also, you know, with experience with almost 20 years of experience, I’ve seen it all. I will say, throughout my career, especially in the beginning, I was just getting hit hard with very challenging transactions. And even still, today, I get very challenging transactions. And the beginning, I would say, you know, what was me because I was in San Diego and people were doing, you know, $20 million deals just like that no big deal. And I’m over here struggling and learning every step of the way. And now I look back, and I’m so thankful for that time to grow and experience speaks volumes, I’ve seen every hardship, every challenge, I was working hard, I became a top short sale producer in Southern California, during the financial crisis. So like, I’ve seen it all and experience speaks volume, and I can truly navigate the entire transaction for my clients and tell them, you know, what road bumps might come ahead and how we can overcome them.
D.J. Paris 16:07
I imagine that makes you really valuable to your team members to when you guys collaborate on on client ideas and struggles. Somebody in the team knows how to handle it, because they’ve been through it already.
Julie Busby 16:17
Yep, yes, absolutely. And honestly, too, it’s challenging. I have a brand new broker on on the team who is trying to grow her business and grow her sphere. And she says, you know, she just gets shot down sometimes and gets gets down on, you know, someone makes an offer, and then they decide to walk away and the deal falls apart or, and she’s so challenged by that and doubt about it. And I reminder, I went through this and honestly, it’s going to help you because it’s going to help you navigate along the way throughout your career. So don’t I all the twists and turns in your career. Take them in stride and take it as a learning experience.
D.J. Paris 16:59
I was just moderating a panel of top producers for the YPN a couple weeks ago for the YPM. And somebody from the audience. This is really funny, you’ll you’ll appreciate this. Somebody we had a question and answer portion at the end. And, and we had Nancy Nancy to Sony was on there and Gail spreen. And anyway, it was a great producer panel. And that somebody in the back said, Oh, I one of my friends decided to go with another realtor other than myself. And, and and I’m really upset about it and the whole room and they weren’t laughing at this person. Because like we were laughing because and I just said everyone in the room raised their hands when this has happened to everybody. And I said you’re not you’re not alone.
Julie Busby 17:45
It’s so funny. Oh, see, and it feels so good. You know, to know like, oh my goodness, that top producer on the panel has been through this. So that’s that’s cool.
D.J. Paris 17:54
was speaking of so we have 1000s and 1000s of listeners and they are eager to hear advice from top 1% producers and really want to hear you know, if you were to counsel a new, a new broker, or somebody who’s looking to really increase their production, is there any advice you have? What would you tell them to do? That’s made the big difference for you.
Julie Busby 18:17
Right? So we already touched on it, definitely approach a someone that you admire their business and could see as a mentor, absolutely approach them. Absolutely as to shadow them. I, I do usually say you know, check out a team, a team could be somewhere where you can learn because there’s, you know, multiple different experiences that you can learn from, and you back each other up. And it’s a collaborative, collaborative environment. So I do recommend at least trying to find a mentor and try to shadow them and learn from them. And if a team is an option to you definitely explore that. And then open houses. I’ve grown my business from a lot of open houses. So I think it’s because I’m relational. I don’t buy leads. I like 99% referral and pass business now. But I’m relational. So I’m not one that buys leads. I’m one who looks to relationships to grow my business.
D.J. Paris 19:17
Yeah, I’m always amazed at how many brokers don’t beg other brokers to do open houses for them. And you know, if you’re new to the business, or even if you’re not new, and just you’re in between clients, and you have nothing going on books, some open houses, and it’s really hopefully, yeah, I mean, hopefully you work at a firm or there’s more than just you and if it’s more than just you ask that other broker, if you could do that for them. Usually, the answer in most cases is usually yes. Because it makes them look good to the seller. And also obviously opportunity to for you to learn how to talk more about real estate and maybe get some buyer leads along the way. So yeah, open houses are so important. And a lot of a lot of brokers I think maybe are just afraid, but I always say you know, definitely Utley asked to shadow someone at an open house before he if you’re not absolutely, yeah, so we have actually a couple listener questions that are part of what we just touched on. So I want to want to circle back to those. So we have anonymous from Chicago asks, since you have an all female team, are most of your clients female?
Julie Busby 20:20
Good question. No, they are not. We help men and women, the same amount. But I will say I think studies are showing more and more that women are the decision makers, right? Oh, that is something we do keep in mind. But no, we don’t just work with women.
D.J. Paris 20:40
Yeah, and by the way, we should let mention to the listeners that Julie is not the first person from the Busby team to be on our show. We and this is one of our great episodes. So everyone listening, you go back about 100 episodes, and you will find Susan Panozzo, who is a total superstar in and of herself. These are the quality of brokers that Julie has on her team, Susan was unmaking. And so I should make a plug for her episode, which is like two years ago now. And it was so awesome. And I referenced it a lot. Because Susan, is great, because she has a huge history in doing rentals and web developers. And it is such a cool niche. And I was so glad to learn that she is now on your team because she was a total superstar on her own. And I was like, Oh my gosh, they are so they are so fortunate to have her. So you were actually not the first buzzbee group. I love that. Yep. Okay, another question from Vera from Chicago. As Vera says, I am practicing solo right now. But I’m thinking about joining a team, what should I look for in a team? And what should I look out for? Do you have any suggestions?
Julie Busby 21:46
So that’s a that’s a good question, too. It’s funny, one of the team members who joined my team, she’s like, I don’t know what to ask you. And I said, You know what, talk to me about this, and then go talk to another team member about this, that you know, the same thing and see what what makes sense for you. So, you know, different teams are set up differently if you are. So I think the number one thing is find out what why are you thinking about joining a team? Is it because you’re looking to grow your business? Is it because you like a collaborative environment? Is it because you want leads? Do you want backup? Do you want to be able to go on vacation, imagine that you real estate having backup, think about what is important to you. And then that will come the questions for that team, I will tell you, our team is set up a little differently. I don’t do leads. As I mentioned, I’m one who is more of a mentor to my team, and help them grow their own sphere, because I am very focused on relationships. And so I want to we’re very, that’s something that’s important to me is being genuine. And so we I help them focus on their relationships, and how are we going to grow those and help their friends and family and everyone that they’ve met. So, and then I also wanted to create an environment where we could back each other up, because I have a crazy lifestyle. And I have two little kiddos and I spend time with them. So that was important to me. And so that’s what I’m looking for in my team members. But there’s team members or potential team members I’ve met with and they say, I really want someone who’s buying Zillow leads, and they’re just going up to me, you know, and I’m gonna run with it. Awesome. I’m glad you know that. That’s not how we structured it. But there are amazing teams that do that. And it and it works just the same. I think the main thing is ask yourself, What’s important to you? And why are you thinking about joining a team? And then that will bring you the questions to ask.
D.J. Paris 23:40
Yeah. And to piggyback on that. I also think that if you’re looking to approach a team and ask them to join, you better be able to articulate what you’re going to offer them, why do they need you on their team? Right? And, and if you were just if you just go to them and say, Hey, I’m really not good at prospecting, and I need leads? Well, yeah, there are teams that that will, will bring you on. But But I think a stronger proposition is to go and say, here’s what I can do for your team. And if you guys have extra leads, I’m you know, I’m open to that if that’s what you want, but be able to say, here’s why you have to get me on your team, here’s why I need to be on your team. Here’s what I can bring to the table. And because a lot of times I think people look to join teams because they don’t have enough leads. And that’s that’s what they need. And that’s okay. It is but yeah, but I think you should, you should be able to be able to say here’s what I can do for you. And if you can do that you’ll probably have a greater chance of of success with that team because they’ll be able to, you know, a lot of times teams know that people are looking for leads and and sometimes you know, that could be a great fit, but but not always. I wanted to ask you also about your concierge level of service. And you guys get all sorts of requests you have about you we won’t mention names but you’ve worked with professional athletes. Do you mind sharing the story of of that rub unusual request?
Julie Busby 25:03
I mean, we get so many crazy requests. Kenya on my team runs our concierge department. Her husband is a pro athlete. And so we created the concierge level service based on what they would expect. So I am very proud of us and all that we offer. But holy moly, do we get some funny requests? We had a very well known big, burly pro athlete that we helped get into a home. This was just last year, and he was relying on us for a lot of different concierge level services. And then one day we get a phone call. It was like 7am in the morning. Of course, I answered the phone right away. Hey, how can I help you? What’s going on? Um, yeah, so I’m going out to go practice and there there’s a frog in my front yard. Okay, what What can I help you? Oh, can you come get the frog? I was shocked to this 200 pound burly Athlete on his way to practice could not pick up the frog and figure out disposing of a frog or not disposing but you know, move the frog out of his front yard. So we drove out there and helped to help take care of this frog.
D.J. Paris 26:19
It was really if the frog pees on his hands, it gets worse. And oh, that’s true. That’s not that is not true.
Julie Busby 26:27
It was ridiculous. Yes. But it was funny to the team. But we of course,
D.J. Paris 26:33
did you wait, did you go do it? Yeah, yeah. Did you find the frog
Julie Busby 26:38
and the manager lives with him. And he was there drinking red wine at like 8am. And not even willing to help out with this frog. I mean, and he was also a big burly guy. It was just such a comical experience. Yes.
D.J. Paris 26:50
But I imagine when you do that, not only does it become an amazing story, but I imagine that athlete is like, She is awesome. She is willing to come out and do something as trivial as that. But it really speaks. And I know it’s a funny story. But it really speaks to how committed you are to your clients. And obviously, you’d hope that people wouldn’t ask for things like that. But that being said, you know, that’s the market, you’re you’ve served in that particular way. And those people might have different types of needs. And and how cool is it that you’re willing to go hey, I’m not, I’m not too important to go pick up a frog and go move it to the other yard?
Julie Busby 27:28
Oh, you have no idea. We always joke like luxury real estate, we should start like a behind the scenes blog of luxury real estate, because we’ll be cleaning up bathrooms that are pretty messy. I’ll leave it at that. I mean, it is not luxury. Yeah, yeah.
D.J. Paris 27:45
But that but that’s that’s the job, right? Like, ultimately, that’s the it’s all the little things, isn’t it? Like, it’s the picking up the phone at 7am. Now, that doesn’t mean any Everyone always has to do that, you know, everyone can set their own boundaries at the boundaries, right. But I will tell you, that is an impressive thing. I mean, if we even just think about all the other services that we pay money for financial advisors, insurance, lenders, you know, really anything, you know, contractors, landscapers, financial, whatever, how many of those people pick up their phones at 7am? It’s pretty much nobody, right? So it doesn’t mean you have to give up all of your life, obviously, you’ve struck a balance. And I know it’s not easy. But you also are there and that’s the commitment you’ve made. And as a result, look at where you are, and I think, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s a it’s a funny example, but it’s also a good example of like, Hey, if you’re gonna, if you want to be a top producer, you better show up, and you better be there and are you better have, you know, have those expectations in place for your clients, so that they don’t call you at 7am? Because if they need you at 7am, and they don’t know that you’re not available, they’re going to be disappointed. So I love that what a great story. And then, I want to talk about if you don’t mind sharing your story. I know faith is important to you. And I wanted to talk about the client you were you were worried about a client and you kept them in your your thoughts and prayers. Do you mind sharing that story? Because I think it’s also very, it’s a very sweet story, too.
Julie Busby 29:16
Yeah, I will. I’ve had so many numerous funny stories in real estate, but this one was the first one that came to my mind. While I another one happened this weekend. But the I am so when I have a client, I take their the entire transaction to heart and I again, I’m very genuine and I want the best outcome for my clients. And that means we’re walking away from a deal. That means we’re walking away from a deal. My opinion is things happen for a reason, and I’m never going to push something I want the best outcome for everyone. And anyways, so I take that to heart and yes, I do sometimes pray for my clients. There was a transaction that was going very haywire, very toxic For my buyers, and I was just praying about them a lot. I was remembering family members pray for them. I mean, I was praying a lot for them. So much so that apparently when I say their name, I would then I was praying so much that I would just roll out into prayer. So when I tried to pick up the phone and have a conversation with them, I will I left a message for them. And I said their names. And then I said, and dear lord bless them and watch over them, amen. And I realized I just said a prayer on their voicemail and was totally, totally embarrassed. They called back and said, For you praying for, it was kind of funny. It didn’t work out for the best in the end, FYI, on that transaction. But it was stressful in the moment. And I you know, at least they knew I had their best interest at heart.
D.J. Paris 30:47
So I think so much of it is demonstrating care, demonstrating empathy, compassion, showing that that you’re on their team, and whatever way brokers can demonstrate that to their clients is always a win. And, you know, I think that’s such a such a great example, again, of, you know, and it’s funny, of course, because, you know, that’s just not something that that everybody would say, yeah, just the fact that you even thought to ask your family members to keep those people in mind is also demonstrated of of what kind of broker you are. Now, you did mention something happened this weekend, if you’re willing to share it, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask if you have like a funny story. Well, this
Julie Busby 31:32
is more I feel bad. It’s a team member on my team. I won’t say who it was. But it was just hysterical, the poor so I was out showing property, she was doing an open house for me an hour, she was a co Lister on one of our listings. And so she was there. And some gentleman at the open house decided to turn on the body sprays of the shower, and get it off the knob broke and couldn’t get off. So, Oh, I almost said her name, she went back there to help. And she ends up the only way to turn off the body sprays is to physically get in the shower. And like she’s working on these knobs and trying to get out. So anyway, she is drenched in water. And like just covered in water, the whole the shower, the flooring is, you know, covered in water. And she’s calling me and I’m out on a buyer torna answer and she’s like, I’m, I’m drenched with open house, can you bring me clothes? I said I’m in Evanston showing property. And I was like, cool, this person called this person and we were able to get her help. But the poor girl is like, finished Open House drench like a rat, just total hair wet. And I’m sure people are so confused why she is dressed. She literally like took a shower in her clothes during the open house.
D.J. Paris 32:44
But I mean, I also think like that’s, that’s such a cute thing. I know, like, nobody wants to be drenched at an open house. Of course, especially not the broker who’s doing the open house. But it’s also like, a really human thing, right? Like, it’s one of those things where a buyer might walk in and they, you know, she might have said, I am so sorry, but here’s what happened. But it also shows a level of like, just willingness to stick around and do the job. Right. So I think, in a weird way, it probably works. You know, it doesn’t matter that she’s drenched in some ways it probably makes her more endearing to the people who walk in that she’s willing to just, you know, obviously you guys got it fixed. But But I again, I think this speaks to the that’s the most professional thing you can do is just stick around and and yep, I’m a total mess. And I’m trying to get it fixed, but I’m not leaving. Right. I think that’s awesome. I love that. It’s very, it’s very relatable because we’ve all had something like that.
Julie Busby 33:42
Totally, totally. It was pretty funny. Okay,
D.J. Paris 33:45
one last question. Can you name one mistake you’ve made while growing your business because our listeners they always love to hear what to do which you’ve done a great job of explaining given some great ideas any what not to do anything that you’ve done where you went my wish I wouldn’t have done that or you know anything like that.
Julie Busby 34:03
So and some people may disagree with me but I I think when you are sometimes we get when we start to grow we get so excited and we want to do more marketing and spend more money on this and and honestly we get calls I mean I know all the realtors listening to this will say yep, I get five calls a day of this solicitor to sign up for this I’m gonna get 10 qualified leads today and then sign up for this and you’re I’m gonna send text messages to all your clients and in just be careful and truly budget. We own a business. You need to look at it as we own a business. We are entrepreneurs and you need to be careful and budget and just don’t spend beyond your means. I know. I was approached to early on in my career to do a video marketing and back then like video was very expensive is going to be like $10,000 to do a simple video and I said, oh gosh, video and yes, video is where it’s at now, right? So when I was like, Okay, so $10,000 is going to be an investment into my career forever. Well, thank goodness, I finally had the wherewithal to say, no, wait a minute, technology is going to continue to enhance and continue to get better. Why would I? Why should I spend $10,000? On the video today? We’re in five years, it’s probably not relevant, right? So be careful, I think the biggest mistake is what we can get ahead of ourselves and, and spend money where we shouldn’t. And I would vet everyone who’s calling you that and get a reference call and say, Okay, great. Can I talk to three realtors who have had success with this? I just did that with a program. And I wasn’t I only got one reference. And I wasn’t that satisfied with the response? And I’m glad we didn’t sign up. But I would just that that would be my lesson.
D.J. Paris 35:55
Yeah, that’s so important. And really, we always forget to talk about that on the show. So I’m glad you bring it up. I’ve also read that the next tech bubble to burst might be in real estate, because of all the ancillary services that are being pitched to realtors on a regular basis. Consumers, all these tech companies, especially realtors are getting your your right you get five calls a day from the new and greatest CRM or a lead system or websites or whatever. Yeah, texting service, and all of those could be awesome. But at the end of the day, this is still very much a face to face business, right? And so certain technology is there to enhance and help. But yeah, I say the same thing when people are looking to join a firm. So like I do recruiting for our firm, and sometimes people ask me, what’s really funny, they’ll ask me, they’ll go, it’s not funny. I mean, I understand why they asked it, but I correct them. And they’ll say, Can you give me the names of three realtors that work at your firm? And I’m like, Look, I can easily do that. But odds are, since we don’t really know each other, you have to assume that I’m stacking the deck. Like I’m gonna get you people that absolutely love us. Don’t and I don’t want you to think that I’m going to do that. So here’s what you can do instead. At our firm, we’ve got lots lots realtors, I say just pick three at random. That’s going to be the real answer. Right? And if they don’t get back to you then pick three more, but call three people. Yeah. And so that’s always the problem with a lot of these with firms. If you’re looking to join a firm, everyone promises everything and call a couple other realtors just randomly and say I’m thinking of joining the company. Here’s what I’m thinking I need do you think they do a good job? And then you’ll get the real answer. But same thing with technologies. Same thing. So what a great, awesome suggestion. Yeah, and it’s funny, too. I just got a video quote for our for our company, as more of a recruiting video thing, and we’re like, oh, it’s gonna be $30,000. And we’re like, really? Like, insane. It’s insane.
Julie Busby 37:48
I mean, this, it’s so ridiculous. Do you have some good video people? If you want me to send you some referrals?
D.J. Paris 37:53
Yeah, there we go. See, I trust Julie. So I’m gonna take her referral. But ya know, and that’s, and that’s it. And this, you know, it’s at the end of the day, it’s it’s realtor meets client, you know, gains their trust, or is referred to them from somebody that they already gained trust, and then just kills it on service, crushes it on service. And ultimately, that’s the most important thing. And that’s what you’ve done. And you’ve done it two different times, which is pretty amazing. Most people only become a top producer in one area once you did it and and basically said, I am leaving and going to start the whole thing over again. And you did it. And I mean, that is really truly remarkable. You’re the only person we’ve ever had on the show that successfully have done that. So I want to honor you for that, because that is a massive MTU it’s probably no big deal to just who you are. But to our listeners. This is big, big, big. So everyone out there, you know, get a mentor, find someone like Julie, you know, that can help you that will mentor you or you know, ask for help at your firm and, and learn from the best. And that’s what our podcast is all about. So by the way, Julie, if any, we don’t just have realtors that listen, we have clients that listen as well. So if anyone is out there who wants to buy, sell, rent, invest and is looking to work with your team? What is the best way that a client should reach out to you?
Julie Busby 39:13
You could call everyone has my cell phone number 312-890-4818. I’m very quick to respond
D.J. Paris 39:22
and visit their website, which is Bobby group.com. By the way, follow them on Facebook, just search for Busby group, same thing on Instagram, there are websites awesome. You can you really get a sense on your website. And I really want to encourage our listeners who have websites to consider this approach if you’re looking to revamp your website. It’s funny, I was talking to Matt Matt Larose. He was on the show a few weeks ago, and I said on his website, he has almost like he doesn’t have an MLS search. He doesn’t have much of anything. He goes DJ, I don’t want any of that stuff. I just want to tell the story of why people work with me and why they work with our group and you’ve done the same thing on your website which I think is so cool and I think a lot of times Realtors don’t think about it from the customer’s perspective of like, I need to tell this story and so everyone please visit their website to get a good sense of what I think a successful broker or realtor website looks like again, Busby group.com follow them on Instagram, follow them on Facebook if you’re a client and you want to work with Julie go to their website, you know, contact them she just gave out her her phone number as well feel free to reach out. And Julie thank you so much for being on the show. On behalf of the listeners we really appreciate it before we sign off for everyone listening. If everyone out there just tells one other realtor about our show people that could benefit from watching or listening to this podcast episode please let them know we’ll double our listenership we can do even more episodes. So everyone go out there and tell a friend and follow us on Facebook which is facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod. Julie thank you again. I’m so excited to watch your continued success and your group success and I know some of the people on your team. They are all just like you very, very nice, very disciplined, super hard working people and you guys have such a cool thing going and I I excited to watch it continue. So thank you so much for being on my show.
Julie Busby 41:15
Thank you for the opportunity. It’s been fun
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