The Secret Sauce Podcast
Helping people build big businesses & live big lives - one ingredient at a time. That's our mission. Welcome to the Secret Sauce Podcast.
The Secret Sauce Podcast
The Biggest Mistakes that Realtors Make
We dive deep into the critical mistakes realtors often make and the lessons learned from them. By sharing insights and personal anecdotes, we aim to provide actionable advice for agents at any stage of their careers.
• The significance of building relationships over completing transactions
• Transitioning from a realtor mindset to a business ownership mentality
• Importance of thoroughness in client service
• Pitfalls of mispricing properties
• Common blunders related to neglecting details
• How understanding these mistakes can lead to growth
All right, lacey, this week we're talking about some huge mistakes that realtors have made or that they see other realtors out there making, and I think it's super valuable. I know you're excited to share with everybody. This is the secret sauce podcast with Chad Reese and Lacey Moores, where we want to help people build big businesses and live big lives, and we think that there's not a magic bullet for doing that, but there is a secret sauce.
Speaker 1:So a lot of these are going to be just the ingredients that can help you make up a secret sauce to build a big business and live a big life. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2:Well, let me tell you a very, very short story real fast. I just came back from a big class Okay, 14 people when I say big, big room, huge people in this room and we were talking about wealth. And they started this class by going around to every single person and having them talk about what their biggest mistake was. And sitting in that room, I was just like wow To be able to hear and I mean unbelievable people admit what their biggest mistake was, did a lot of things Like. First of all, it prepared you to not maybe hit those bombs in life, but then it also made you realize they're human. They're going to go through mistakes. So am I, so it's just a great way to make everybody really comfortable. So I'm excited about this because when you and I talked about it, I couldn't wait to start asking some of my top realtor partners what's your biggest mistake. And it's fun because some of them have some basic, simple things that I think will be super helpful for our listeners. But then also some big ones, some real like mind.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You know.
Speaker 1:So I think it's gonna be a lot of fun. Well, I think a lot of realtors out there just by, like a lot of just human nature out there, just by, like a lot of just human nature like you look at the people that are doing things a super high level and you kind of think that they're uh inflappable is that the word I'm looking for like they don't make these type of big mistakes that are kind of common sense. Some, some of these are kind of common sense, yeah, but everybody's human, everybody does make these big mistakes, even the people that you probably emulate, the people like you want to be like, and that yours is perfect example of that. You're in the room with these people with massive net worths who are just starting everything off, talking about the biggest mistakes that they've made. It just shows everybody's human. You're going to make mistakes. But identifying them, how to fix them, getting out in front of them, that's where the magic's at right, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And really humbling yourself, knowing I can learn from this yourself, knowing I can learn from this. Yeah, Right, Like instead of judging. Oh my gosh, I can't believe you made that mistake. Like well, that could happen to me.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 2:I'm so glad I'm hearing this mistake so I can process it before it happens. So that's why I think it's going to be fun to share.
Speaker 1:Cool, I love it, let's jump into it.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, so let me get let's. We really found out that most of them all fit into like three main categories, all of them, and so I'm just going to read one verbatim and then maybe jump into what you know like that category would be.
Speaker 1:Go for it Okay.
Speaker 2:So one was one realtor said earlier in my career I wish I would have focused more on building relationships instead of just getting transactions done. Good, deep relationships.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't think anybody starts off right off the bat in real estate. It's like, oh, I'm just going to create these massive relationships. You're like, how do I get my next deal? How do I get paid?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got one, I got to get another, I got to get another.
Speaker 1:You got to lay the groundwork, and so you don't think about that until quite a later Most people don't think about it till pretty far into their career. It's like, oh man, this is just a huge relationship game.
Speaker 2:Huge and she's unbelievable with relationships. I mean, when I think of her name I just say, oh my gosh, I love her and that's because of the relationships that she builds. And so just a really good piece of advice Like, no matter where you're at, especially if you're starting off, think of that one person that you're helping I mean the relationship that you have with them, could turn into 20 more transactions over a long time frame if you really do care about them and building their relationship with them. So it was really good, really really good, that that did fall into um. One of the categories that we had was business mindset or or what your um mindset is around everything. The second category that we kind of lumped all this one was building relationships so that one was definitely a building relationship one.
Speaker 2:Let me read one more to you and then we'll take it from there. Um, this one was really good. Vinny says this, actually taking the time to realize that I have to get very clear on what I need before I'm ever going to find it. And I sat when he said that and I'm, like it's really good, clear on what I need before I'm ever actually going to find it. Find it, and you know he talked, he kind of guided this a little bit into finding the right team member. He, he, he went a long time, team member after team member, just hurrying up and hiring to fit a position, versus finding the right person, and he realized I wasn't ever clear on who that right person was.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Then he started turning it into his vision, though, like it's so true, same thing about his vision. If you're never really clear about your vision, how are you ever going to find it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was what I was going to say about that. It's like he. Your first example is like a very micro version of that and I think that you should take it on a micro level. And then the macro level is, yes, your vision like overall, what am I looking for, what is my intention, all of those things. So it plays into everything. But if you don't lay out that, grant groundwork that's what I'm hearing. Anyways, you don't set out for what you're looking for. You don't know if you found it or not.
Speaker 2:So how do you know if you find it Cause? If you don't really know what it is, how do you know?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's good. So I think, as we're talking about the categories right Um you mentioned it already, uh, but the first category that things fall into is, uh, being a realtor but not running it like a business, like that's kind of where I would kind of put that Right, um, and I, and I think that that's definitely a category that Well, let me read this one, cause this is.
Speaker 2:You already said it, you already lined it up Um, this was a good this. I had two from this agent and I loved both of them. Um, one's very simple. I'll do that one in a second. But the second one is where you're saying um, he said I wish I would go from. I wish I would have gone from realtor mindset to business owner way faster.
Speaker 1:There it is. That's what I'm, yeah, and I said that's a better way of putting what I said. Anyway, exactly it was exactly what you said.
Speaker 2:And I said well, give me some examples. And he said you know things like. You know um really using my CRM, really thinking about what my, what business I want, um tracking all my numbers, Um. And I said I love tracking. You know, you and I both track everything we do. And I said what do you mean by that?
Speaker 2:And he goes well, I've learned as I start tracking more numbers, I can make a lot more non-emotional decisions in business and I don't love tracking, but I know that it's a necessity. I love it, I love it. But it was so powerful to hear him say that that once he started tracking all the stuff he's doing, you know cause, I mean, everybody jumps into. I had a call yesterday from an agent and he's like hey, do you think that I should spend money to have my name on these TVs at Hy-Vee? Like, do you think this would be a good business decision? You know, and after dialing it all in and start asking some of these number questions, he goes OK, I guess I got to figure these numbers out first. Huh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we do. But he thought it'd be cool he was looking in Hy-Vee, he was paying attention if people would look at him, and so the non-emotional decision helps you make so many more business decisions once you get there.
Speaker 1:Well, just to have that mindset, too, of being a CEO, even if you're just a solo realtor, you're not hiring anybody. You're one wearing all the hats. The biggest hat you have to wear right Is the.
Speaker 2:CEO hat.
Speaker 1:Yeah Right, like, if you have a daily meeting, it's a meeting with yourself, with, like okay, you're also the marketing department. What would the marketing department do here, instead of just looking at it like I'm a realtor, I'm just selling houses? No, you are operating a business and if we treat it that way, um, it's really good, you have a better chance of that, that business, uh, not failing.
Speaker 1:If you do run it like that, instead of waking up it's like I gotta sell a house today. It's no, you have a whole business to run, right? You've got all these different departments that you've got to take care of. That can be a little overwhelming, but it's definitely the better way to look at it it's so, it's a dot that on.
Speaker 2:When he said that to me, he said making sure he was doing his green time right Like that money explain green time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just spending time in money, making activities, right, you know, and making sure that gets done first thing, and that's running a business. That's not thinking, as you know, not the realtor mindset, it's a business ownership mindset. You always have to be doing that every day, no matter if business is good or bad, like you always have to be doing it, so it's good. But let me share a simple one, cause I think this this goes into another category and I know we'll have a lot of realtors laugh when they hear this one. But he said this is simple, but I've done it a few times, especially in the very beginning, and he goes not checking the seller's disclosure and having to buy a dang fridge for somebody because I messed up yeah, really simple.
Speaker 1:But I bet probably 80, 90 percent of realtors if they're being honest with themselves listening to this, have oh, they've done it definitely skipped through that step or skimmed over it, and you know like you think. Oh, I know I know enough and they don't take the time to really like dive through those details.
Speaker 2:Yeah and and uh what category would you say that one would go in?
Speaker 1:Well, it's the next, we, we. We haven't introduced the category yet, right, but it's not working hard enough for your clients.
Speaker 1:We sometimes we get, uh, and and, as, as lenders too, I everybody can relate to this probably any field that they're in Um, but, yeah, not not working hard enough, getting a little lackadaisical, um, starting to go through the motions a little bit. Yeah, Um, like you can be great at relationships, right. If you don't actually look at it, it's like, okay, did I work hard enough? Did I actually do the job? This one kind of encapsulates all the categories actually, when you think about it, because when you're not working hard enough for your clients, you start to get lazy in that If you're not treating it like a business, that would be a good example of that All of a sudden you're just like, oh, I'm in this high relationship like social selling, right, you're doing all that, but you're you're not actually doing all of the little things.
Speaker 2:Like checking all the boxes that you need to to be a pro, yeah Well, and then in the not working hard enough, there's so many things. Let's dive into that category for a second Cause you and I had a lot of good talks about this when we were going through everybody's thing, but we would throw a lot of things in here like not work not like not staying up on pricing strategies right, like not not doing a good job on um, your homework and being ready for your appointments. Talk. You had a great like the direction you took this.
Speaker 1:The big one that I heard and one that I definitely am pretty passionate about right now. Um and I. It's definitely relevant right now. I think it will be for a while, but, um, like setting the house price correctly, if you're if you're listing a home.
Speaker 1:Um, I've said, nobody here thinks that you just set us like, throw a sign in the yard and put it up on MLS and it's going to get sold, right.
Speaker 1:Um, but I think, setting that price correctly with the right expectation, uh, right now in this market, I'm a pretty firm believer that you can absolutely overprice it.
Speaker 1:It's hard to underprice it because it's a competitive market and people are going to come in. You want multiple buyers to get interested in the house. You want multiple buyers to start fighting over it. So what's the very best way to do that is to price it aggressively, knowing that you're underpricing it on purpose, right? So, like, if I was to list my home right now, I would talk to my realtor about it, obviously, but I would say what about this strategy? Like what if we price it 10 to 10 to 15% below what we actually think we can get for it? Get as many people interested, let them fall in love with it, you know, and start living in that home, and then in their mind they start living in the home and then they're jacking the price up because it becomes a bidding war. So that's the goal right Inside a bidding war is any goal of the listing to get the highest price.
Speaker 2:But it's doing the homework right. It's doing the homework to realize, and that's when people aren't working hard enough for their clients. It's not realizing, not paying attention to market trends, not paying attention to how long things are on the market, not diving into, you know, getting staying on top of your game and being that market leader, being that expert in the field.
Speaker 1:Right? No, absolutely. I think. Like I look at that, and the biggest mistake you can make right now is to overprice it. Right, you overprice it. It sits on the market for a few weeks. What starts happening?
Speaker 2:Everybody wants a little bullet.
Speaker 1:Everybody wonders what's wrong, right? Everybody's like did somebody die in that basement? Like is the basement caving in? They start creating a narrative in their head of everything that must be wrong with that home because it's not selling, because in this market now it's starting to shift a little bit, but it's wintertime. But still, if you price it aggressively, it's a good house. If somebody literally didn't die in the basement or you know the basement's not caving in.
Speaker 1:It will. It should sell if it's priced right relatively quickly. Maybe not in the first day, like it was before, but you overprice it. People start creating that narrative, they start wondering what's wrong and then you're going to have to. Once you start taking price reductions, then people think, oh okay, well, now I can low ball this house. You lose your. You lose a lot of leverage, right, but so what are some other?
Speaker 2:what are some other categories that we would put under, not working hard enough for your clients? So we talked about pricing, we talked about the seller's disclosure. So those are really like small mistakes. You know clerical mistakes, but I think those kind of all wrap up to a process not having a process for all the steps. When there's no process, that's usually when people make the mistakes right, when they don't have checklists or whatever.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, it's like treating that house like, okay, it is going to sell on the first weekend, so I don't need to put out all this marketing, I don't need to call, like all the neighbors, I don't need to have an open house.
Speaker 1:But no, Just skip the steps yeah exactly Like treat everything like it is going to take a while, like you need to do the highest level job possible, regardless of how easy that market might be. Because the more that you do, the more you show up for people, the more they're going to turn around and want to refer you. The more calls you're making to all the neighbors talking about that house, like you may think, yeah, this house is going to sell the first weekend, so you don't call everybody, but you call the neighbors. What could that do?
Speaker 1:Right Just bring in more business. They're like oh, they're working really hard. What did you sell that house for? Okay, maybe I do want to sell it, so like, don't skip those steps.
Speaker 2:It's good. It's good. Um, let me read one more. This one's going to take it a little different route. This lady said I didn't think far enough ahead to market myself the right way to be able to either sell my brokerage in the future or to recruit other large producers who may not want to sell under my name. And so what she was meaning and I mean it's pretty clear when you say that, because a lot of people do it putting just their name on their team or their brokerage or whatever you and I are both guilty of this. We are both guilty of it. So it's fun to read it, but I've thought about it.
Speaker 1:I have definitely thought about this before and it's like, okay, you know, 23 years in, like, I created Treece Mortgage Group and it was just me Like and I didn't have the foresight either Like I wish I would have.
Speaker 1:But now, 23 years later, I feel like I'm kind of stuck, so I can totally relate to that one, rather than changing everything up. But there's egos in this business. There's people that do want to create their own thing, like, yes, they can benefit from, like you, mentoring them, all of those things, but they still want their name in lights too. Or they don't want necessarily just your name in lights, they want to be acknowledged in everything as well. So that's just human nature, uh yeah, I would do that same thing.
Speaker 1:If I could do it over again, it wouldn't be trees mortgage group, it would be something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know, when I read it I felt the same thing like uh, um, uh, you know where I'm at, but it's still great advice right it's still, when we, when I sat in that group the last, there was some things that people said were mistakes and I'm like, yeah, I've already done that, you know, um, so it's part of it, but, um, if it can help somebody else or, you know, if you're not too far in and if you may not want that, you may not, it may not be your vision that you're trying to create. You know something that you're able to sell or pass on to the next generation, but that was just something that she wanted to share. Now, when you so I asked these pretty specifically. I asked what was your biggest mistake, but you took this a different way. I want you to share about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was funny because we had this idea for this episode, right, and we kind of were like okay, let's go, we'll figure this. Well, you were gonna ask agents, I was gonna ask agents, we did that thing, but we just interpreted it differently. You took it which is awesome, I think actually it's two different perspectives but you took it as asking them specifically what was the biggest mistake you ever made? And I went and being made right now in this market, in this market or just in general, what are the biggest mistakes you see agents make?
Speaker 1:So we did get some overlapping answers for sure. That's kind of where we formed the categories and everything but uh yeah, share some of that. Well, the pricing thing was, was definitely one of them. Um, not having a like, not actively using a CRM at all. People just like no, I have a spreadsheet, it's in my phone.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly no, I have phone numbers for everybody. But actually having not understanding. Again, this goes back to like not operating like a business, not looking at it like a CEO. It's like you would have a marketing department you would create, make sure that you have follow-up plans, systems, operations for all of these things, and the only way you can do that is by having a dialed in crm your database. You're working it every single day right. You get everybody you know in there.
Speaker 1:You're whether it's mailing to them, texting, whatever. It can all happen and you can stay really organized if you've got all of that in a place in a good crm and not just a spreadsheet. A spreadsheet is literally just a list of information, but it's not doing much for you other than just holding it for you, Right? Right, so that was a big one. I heard that from like two or three different agents.
Speaker 2:They wish they would have done it sooner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, they wish they would have. Or they lead teams and they know that they've got agents on their teams that just cannot buy into the CRM thing. So it is worth the time. Like, even if you're on a team like it's like another good example If you're on a team, you still need to run your business Like it's your business. You are not just an employee of. If you're a hundred percent commission realtor, you are not. If you're on somebody's team, you're not. If you're on somebody's team, you're not just an employee of that team, you're still a independent contractor. You just have a mentor.
Speaker 2:Sure Right, and you need to look at it that way. Well, the other thing you said I want to comment on you said about starting and putting the stuff in the CRM. So we have tracked everything and in coaching for years, like we do our lead tracker and it always has been in this evolving Google Sheet document and it's awesome, it's great. And then our company had a really good CRM but we were really good with what we had, like we knew it, we loved it, we were used to it, we were comfortable.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we didn't want to move over to the CRM, but it did a lot better things. It had, I mean, and it's so powerful, um, but it was a change and we kept talking about it. I kept talking about it and I finally told my team we're doing it today.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it had to be that day. And they all looked at me and I said I don't care, Every single lead will go into our CRM now. This way, we will never use the other one right now. And it was a bold move. But guess what? We learned it real fast and I look back and I thought was that a smart thing to do? It was the best thing I could have done, Because we just kept kicking that can down the road right and now it's amazing.
Speaker 2:So if anybody is in that position, sometimes you just have to do it rip the band-aid off real hard, um it's tough when you're comfortable, like you said that.
Speaker 1:You said we were comfortable, right, good at it like we had that.
Speaker 2:We spent so much time color coding that bad boy. Like it was beautiful. I mean, it was our baby right, like comfort is.
Speaker 1:Comfort in my mind is like the enemy of like evolving and like getting getting great better, like yeah you could shoot for perfection.
Speaker 1:that's not necessarily the end goal, but like you gotta move through the comfort when you see something out there that you could improve on, no like always be looking for that and and, then how can I implement that thing? So, um, the other thing that goes hand in hand with that that I heard multiple different agents tell me was that they see people doing is just not following up. I mean, the stats say what is it? Five? You need to follow up people.
Speaker 1:Five times on average, at least five five to seven, whatever that number is it. That number is, it's a minimum of five typically before you land a sale. Yep. So you need, you have to be on top of your follow-up game. You have to have operations, processes, systems for follow-up. Not just I haven't talked to them in a while. I should give them a call. That's an afterthought. You're not going to do it when you get busy, you're going to forget about it. It's not a process. A crm will line you up with when you need to reach out to them next, like create the task Right and just a lack of follow up in general. But you can use those two things together. If you've got a good CRM, you've got everybody in there.
Speaker 1:That's going to help you automate your follow up or at least remind you of all the times that you need to follow up, but just not following up. And I think that's before the sale to lay in the sale. So I heard that's before the sale to land the sale. So I heard that from a few people. And then I also heard just not following up with people after. I think that's a huge one. People just think that they're going to remember you did a good job, they left you a five-star review that they're just going to tell everybody about you or they're going to come back when they buy their next house. And most people don't.
Speaker 2:Well, that, when you just said that is, I think, the follow-up piece goes into. Well, I mean, man, you could probably put it into both categories, right, but follow-up would be into building relationships and maintaining those relationships, but it's also just not working hard enough, right, like for your people.
Speaker 1:It's all three of them, I'd say. It's also not treating it like a business right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's all three. I think the categories is just a good way to kind of outline everything, but like these spill over to each other. They definitely. There's definitely um. Things overlay a decent amount Um, but yeah, that's a huge one. I think, um, and I'm I find myself a lot of times.
Speaker 2:Do you feel like you're guilty of the followup? I'm guilty of all of these things.
Speaker 1:Like anybody ourselves has to say, like their times in their lives or times in their career, or it happens a lot, but it's just being aware of it, like you've got to check in. Okay, yes, I'm failing in that department. You got to know that so you can fix it. Uh, but yeah, I'm not as good as I should be at following up with past clients and I make excuses or whatever, but I have the, I have them in a database. I know that I should be doing it, but it doesn't get done if I don't have a process or a system around it. It's like okay, I call, you know a minimum of 10 people. I call everybody on their birthday or send them a voice to text message or a video. Having systems around that is.
Speaker 2:Well, I think follow up this is. I had this told once to me and once it was told to me, I'm like I get it now and it is. You know, in sales we think we always have to be going and finding so much more business and finding so much more business. Well, you don't have to find so much more business if you just take care of the business you got.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And it's a hamster wheel. You get in this like always trying to do this, which means you know, depending on your system and your process and your teams, if you're always doing this, are you taking care of the people? And so I think to me that was a big like. Yeah, I don't want to have to always go out and find a ton more Like. I just want to really take great care of the people that I have, my partners and my clients and it's crazy, the more and more I love on them, it happens. And so that's where the follow up piece man and I can do better. We all can like. There are so many things we could do better, but it is where I try to keep a lot of attention Because I know I already love those people, I already like those people. You know I've worked with them in the past like I want that type of business, and that's where it goes back to that vision. You know that business mindset. What kind of business do you want and are those activities leading to that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, are they in line with that? I think one thing I was thinking of is I hear from agents a lot this is not off topic, it's definitely on topic, but it's not necessarily anything that anybody said when I asked them these specific questions. But I do hear it a lot when I'm talking to agents is they're just worried about calling their past clients because they don't want to sound salesy. They don't know what to say. They get in their own head about it, they have their own limiting beliefs about that, but they that they, their past clients, don't want to hear from them, or that the only reason that they'd be calling is just to sell them something. And then why does somebody want to be sold to? And then they tell them the whole, this whole narrative in their head and they don't make those calls.
Speaker 1:But if all your intention is is the relationship, deepening the relationship, checking in like what's the best memory you've made in their house in the last year since I sold it to you, like that's such a better question than like, hey, how's the house treating you? Right, because that's not super valuable. But just flip that question to something like what's the greatest memory that you and your family have made in that house in the last year since I sold it to you. That's relationship building. It gets people talking and there is no ask right. It's just like build deep in the relationship. Keep pouring into that. If you take care of people, they will take care of you they do, yeah, all day long, all day long.
Speaker 2:And that's where that CRM can be helpful, right? So when you're making these initial relationships and they're telling you things like, yeah, my kid's going off to college at Nebraska and I got this going on, like those, all those things can go into that CRM.
Speaker 2:Yep, all those things can go into that CRM, yep, and when you make that phone call it makes it so much easier to be like hey, how's College Street and your son How's Nebraska? Right, and it just is little pieces of information. But it goes so far and that is where, like when Paula said I would work more on focus on building those deep relationships from the beginning, like from every single transaction. Relationships from the beginning, like from every single transaction, and it will make a business of a business that you grow of joy because it's people you enjoy working with. So I thought was huge, it was really good thousand percent.
Speaker 1:I agree, yeah, is there anything else you want to?
Speaker 2:add to this.
Speaker 1:Good, yeah, awesome, I loved it yeah, I think we should keep doing this like checking in, because things do change. We took it two different ways as well, but it's still super valuable. Hope you guys loved this If you did please share it with somebody that could benefit from it. We will see you. We'll see you soon with another episode. Thanks so much for tuning in, see ya.
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