Master the Market of the Moment

Hey, listeners, what's up, Jeff Zimper, your humble host for this episode, very special episode of the Mortgage Marketing Radio podcast. And I'll tell you in a moment why this is a special episode. But before I do, I bring to you once again, success stories from the streets, from our my agent classes, community of mortgage originators in the field, leapfrogging from solicitor and vendor to partner and peer, leading with education in their local market by helping agents solve the current problem of getting more conversations with potential sellers and buyers, of getting more listings, of throwing their business, of navigating this digital landscape. And the story, half free today is coming to you from Nick Fendig, Nick, what's up? Nick longtime member, I think two plus years now out there in Florida. And Nick recently, hot, shared, gave one of the classes we do, which is called, we call it the 90 day CMA class. And what it is, it's a unique angle on doing an unsolicited CMA, realtors have been doing CMAs for years, right? It's a competitive market analysis, it's a way for home buyers, potential home sellers to get a sense of what their property would sell for. This unique application though that we have been teaching, I learned from another real estate agent, actually in Florida as well. And this agent in Florida, when he did this, he did 72 CMAs over 90 days. He listed $11 million in property and sold 9 million of it. And we're showing agents that exact strategy. Nick recently did that and he just posted this success story in our group. He says, an agent of mine did the video CMA, now that what's unique about this is we use Google Earth. So we're using Google Earth in a unique way that creates engaging video, that gets people to open and watch the video, that helps the agents stand out and make an impact unlike anyone's ever done in the past in most cases with the CMA. So just to set the context of that is we're showing agents how to do that, right? And it's very simple to do, it takes maybe 20, 30 minutes to show them this whole thing. So Nick has been doing this and so his success story of literally, I'm looking at the Facebook group here right out one hour ago. He said an agent of mine did the video CMA for a listing presentation. And in the agent's words, I was completely thrown off when I showed up. The agent went on to say, when I showed up for my appointment, we didn't talk comps, we didn't talk like, you know, why should I list with you? We didn't talk what's your commission rate. She was ready to go. It was a come list me appointment. She had watched the video multiple times. And then the agent goes on to say that he has already sent out four other leads and is going to start with his database for the next quarter, send out. So the point being is this is the agent got a listing appointment, okay? The agent is now reciprocating back to Nick sending Nick referrals. And the agent is now doing this with other contacts in his database over the next three months. And my question to you is, what are you doing to become part of your agent partners to become part of their business, right? In order to earn their business, you must become part of their business. And so if you've not yet scheduled your call with me to learn more about my agent classes, the platform and what we do and the what our whole system and ecosystem community is all about, what are you waiting for? Do you have a better method in way to quickly and easily get engagement, get reciprocation and get referrals from real estate agents? If you got one that's better and faster than this, tell me about it. If you'd like to learn more, go to mortgage marketing.pro and schedule your call. Okay, so transitioning into this episode, as I said at the beginning, it's a very special episode. And the reason why it's special is this is my 300th episode. And here's my challenge. I've been really busy. A lot of great things going on, a lot of initiatives we have projects, a lot of working with originators, right, at various levels across the country, different events that we're doing that I'm going to be speaking at. And I'm grateful for all that opportunity. And yet what that's left me with is, you know, there's only so much to go around, right? And something had to give. And what gave was me wanting to do some big, fancy affair, live stream and giveaways and all this kind of cool, fun stuff on my 300th episode. And so here I am today, left with just a little time to reach out to you and connect with you, my listener. And I really, at this point, just wanted to thank you. When I started this seven years ago, I didn't know where it was going to go. I just knew that I had a passion for this industry that I had empathy for my fellow mortgage professionals because I am one because I had been an originator for a decade. And I really wanted to show up and serve. And I thought the best way that I could do that would be to have in-depth meaningful conversations with people, hot producers, companies, vendors, right, other, you know, speakers, authors, coaches, all that, right? With the focus being on you listening and taking ideas, executable ideas and strategies away that you could apply in your business. And if you've been listening for any time, I hope I've accomplished that. And I would love to hear your feedback. If you want to go to Google and look up, you know, mortgage marketing institute, I'll leave me a review there or on this network that you're listening on this right now, you know, whatever it is. I'd love to hear what your impact has been from however long you've been listening to this podcast, whether you're new or you've been here since day one, episode one. I've sure learned a lot since doing 300 episodes. I've grown a lot. And for those of you who have shared your feedback on Instagram DMs or whatever, I really, really, really appreciate it. You're the reason why I keep doing this. You are the inspiration for me. And I want to make it better. And so I'd love to also hear your suggestions on different formats, right? Livestreams, for example, if you'd like to see some of those livestreams, or we can actually get into some more Q&A live dialogue in our private Facebook group over at mortgage marketing radio, probably Facebook group there. Other topics, other guests that you'd like to see. Let me know how do we continue to make this a great engaging platform for you that we can continue to pour into you and that you can continue to get value from. That's the ultimate goal. And so no fancy, you know, ticker tip rates, no big livestreams, no champagne bottles, no giving away swag, at least on this episode, because I didn't have time. And sometimes that's just how it is. We can't do everything all the time. And right now the demands of the business have pulled me in a few different directions, which is why you're getting just me on the 300th episode. But in some ways, I think that might even be better. What I would love to do is have a dialogue with you and take your questions. And maybe that's what we do as the next iteration of this. So if that's something you think you'd be interested in, is it start attending livestreams and conversations where maybe twice a month, do a livestream version of this podcast, and it's kind of, you know, ask me anything. If you want that, jump into the Facebook group over there, mortgage marketing radio with Facebook. And let me know, just say, hey, Jeff, heard the 300th episode, livestream idea, great idea, or whatever your idea is. And then I don't want to leave you hang in. So I did want to briefly touch on a presentation I've been working on, called Master of the Market, how to close 2023 strong and dominate in 2024. I'm actually giving this presentation for Stuart tidally. Stuart tidally. Stuart tidal locally here in Vegas next week. So if you didn't know, I still get in front of agents and originators and I still teach classes to real estate agents in my local market and elsewhere. It keeps me fresh. It keeps me connected to what's going on, to what's really working. My fingers on the pulse. And I get to bring that back to our members over at my agent classes and share that content with them that's already been proven. And so real quickly, as you're thinking about going into Q4, because by the time you're listening to this, Q4 has already begun, you're going to see more coming from me on this whole concept of Master of the Market. But I want to just briefly touch on, right, that there's only three things you can control no matter what's going on the market. You can control your mindset, your skill set, and your actions. That's it. So it's not about interest rates. It's not about inventory. It's not about buyer affordability. It's not about any of those things. It's about you. It's about how you respond. And are you adapting? Are you adjusting? Are you taking the required and necessary actions? Or are you frozen during the headlights? Are you questioning your future, your direction? And this depends a little bit upon your business life cycle. Where are you? Are you in startup mode, meaning five years or less? Are you in growth mode where you're adding people, process, and technology? Are you sitting on the top of a pile of cash because you just came through two of the greatest years in the history of the mortgage industry with refives? Or have you been around a long time now and maybe you lost some steam? Maybe you're a fading winter and you're not adapting. Or maybe you're rebuilding. I don't know. Or maybe you're at the exit stage. Maybe you're at the exit stage right out of here. I don't know where you're at, but I know each of those different stages requires some different mindsets, different skill set, and different actions. But I would say that the people that I've talked to across the country and now 200, 300 interviews that I've done with top producing originators around the country is I would say if anything to focus on right now would be growth, would be market share capture. If you've made the decision that you're in this for the next 10 years, now's the time to focus on growth. Now's the time to grab market share, to put yourself out there in a bigger way than you've ever done before. And to continue to adapt and learn the new skills and technology that you need to adapt. There's nothing worthwhile to brag about being old school. I still talk to originators and agents across the country who are proud of being old school. Look, human connection, the human relationship, right, that's always going to be relevant and important. However, the disruption is going to leave some people behind. And my question for you is, is are you staying up with the changes? Have you embraced AI yet? Have you started testing and using chat GPT, Google Bard or other AI related tools that can help you with increased efficiencies? If anything, I've learned from interviewing upwards of 300 top performers, it's that they are adaptable. They do adjust their sales based on the direction of the wind. And we've got a situation obviously with low inventory, with higher interest rates, but just like I'm going to ask real estate agents when I present this master of the market class next week, I'm going to ask them, are they a student of the market? See, because most, this is what I'm going to say to agents next week. I'm going to say, hey, you know what, most agents know what's happening. Good agents understand what's happening. Great agents can explain what's happening. What about you? Do you know what's happening? Okay, good. Do you understand it? Can you actually explain it? So inventory is at record lows. Well, then why do we have a price increase? Okay, I'm looking at a stat here from the NAR. There's a 3.9% sales medium price percent change year over year, 3.9% increase in the month of August. How can that be? And you explain that to a potential buyer who's sitting on the fence. Not sure if this is the right time to buy. And you explain to them the cost of waiting rent versus buy. Do you have the tools to deliver a visual representation of that? So that makes sense. Are you prepared to talk to the home owners who are sitting on a huge, you know, huge chunk of equity and look at repositioning some of that equity into other assets to hang down, right? Some of the bad debt. Are you having those annual reviews? Are you aggressively engaging? Is the real question with your database, with your sphere of influence? And are you providing context for people to help them make sense of what's going on so they can feel more confident? Do you have your systems in place, your people, your process, your technology? You know, this market crushes the inefficient, the less effective. These types of cycles force us to either level up our skills or be left behind. And then fading winter, you might be hanging on. I'm sure you're feeling it to some degree right now. But if your boats headed towards the edge of that, you know, you're in that, that, that, the water and you're about to go over the cliff, right? What are you going to do? Is it too late to start paddling the other way to change direction? You're just going to jump out of the boat. What are you going to do? Now, at a time you're listening to this, you've got three months left or less. How many working days is that? Not a lot. So if there was anything I would be encouraging you to do, would be to get your systems in place in your sources of business. You've got to find the truly motivated in this market. You've got to provide for them the right context so they can make sense, direction the plan forward. You've got to engage at a level, this is me as well. I've got to engage at a level with, you know, my social media, with the people that, you know, come into my sphere of influence and so forth. This is a, I'm preaching to me right now. I got to double down on my engagement, my outreach, my conversations, my brand awareness. I try and not preach anything that I don't practice or haven't done, right? Myself. So what is your plan? Do you have a plan? Think of all the things that, and by the way, like I said earlier, we can't do everything. So what are the key things that will move the needle? Because you can't do everything nor should you. And that's why I go back to, number one, referral partners, shortest path to a buyer in this market, period, or any market. Sphere of influence, database. And then how are you reaching, right? The general consumer population, social media channels, events, first time home buyer events, seller seminars. You know, I was just watching a video from Tom Ferry's annual success summit, and I'm putting this in my presentation. This is the presentation we're going to be delivering to real estate agents, and there's an agent in there who does a seller seminars. You hear a lot about home buying seminars. You don't hear a lot about seller seminars. Anyway, she was telling how she has been doing this since the January of this year, up until August, and she has, let me look at her results right here, since that time, eight months, 15 new listings, 18 million in sales, 250 sellers added to her database. That's called adapting. That's called getting out of your comfort zone. But not everybody's willing to do. That's called learning new skills. That's called thriving when everyone else might just be surviving. So what are those actionable ideas? Who do you need to reach out to? Who are the people that can help you get there? Who are the processes you need to put in place? And what is the technology to help you facilitate that? And what is the technology you need to get rid of or change? I'd love to hear your responses. Because the fight is on. This is a time to get aggressive with your efforts, with your intention, with your focus. This is in a time to let off the gas. You had a good run. If you were in the business during the re-five boom. But this, one thing I know having been in this since 2003, we saw 2008, 9, 10, right? We saw 2018, right? Cycles. It always goes through cycles. And whenever the down cycle comes, right, like we're experiencing right now, the most successful prepare for the up cycle. And that's my suggestion to you today. Do you have a database of past clients? Do you have a database of real estate agents you've closed with in the past? One of the things we did on a coaching call recently was talked about gratitude calls. And calling agents you've closed deals with in the past several years. That you aren't connected with anymore. Listing agents inside in particular. And doing a true gratitude call with no intention of getting business. Simple intention was to say thank you for trusting myself and my team with the transaction that we closed at 123 Main Street. I really didn't get the opportunity to properly thank you. And I just wanted to call and say thank you. I appreciate it. That's the only reason why I'm calling. Try five of those this week. See what happens. I dare you. Try reaching out to your past client database just to check in. How's it going? Hope you're well. Mark, it's been a little crazy. I have to admit, I've been a little bit out of touch because things have been so crazy. But I'm trying to do a better job of staying connected with my clients. And a referral partner. So I just wanted to connect and say hi. Is there anything I can help you with at all? All right. Well, look, once again, grateful that you've listened. And I'm always open to constructive feedback if you got it. So the place to share that is in the private Facebook group. Mortgage marketing radio. And or if you're so inclined to leave a review, you haven't yet. I greatly appreciated that helps us reach more people. And look, I'm looking to build this bigger, more involved engaged community. And the place that starts is on Facebook. And if you at all are interested in getting better, more quality agent relationships and referrals at scale without chasing begging, paying for the user. And you know, rather they're coming to you. You have to do go to mortgage marketing.pro and book a call. Look for some amazing things to come. I'm looking forward to the next 300 episodes. And until then, I appreciate you. We'll see you on the next one. Bye for now.