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How Real Estate Agents Can Achieve Consistency in Marketing Without Burning Out · Know Like Trust for Real Estate

0:00
[SPEAKER_03]: Welcome to No Like Trust for Real Estate where I help you craft branding and marketing strategies that align with your unique strengths.
0:07
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm Christine George and agents who work with me grow their business on average forty percent by aligning their marketing strategy with who they are, not what they sell.
0:16
[SPEAKER_03]: Today I'm joined by Leanne Mitchell and Elizabeth Gato of the Mitchell Gato team.
0:21
[SPEAKER_03]: Leon and Elizabeth served the midway, med-field, and millis markets outside of Boston.
0:26
[SPEAKER_03]: They're also yoga teachers and chaos commerce and two people that I absolutely adore.
0:32
[SPEAKER_03]: Last year, Elizabeth and Leon more than doubled their business, but consistency continues to be their biggest challenge.
0:39
[SPEAKER_03]: Today, we dug into consistency and I offered them marketing strategies to help them get unstuck.
0:54
[SPEAKER_03]: Leon and Elizabeth, thank you so much for being here with us today in this inaugural live coaching podcast.
1:03
[SPEAKER_03]: The first question I want to know is what is your in one word?
1:07
[SPEAKER_03]: What is your biggest challenge in your business right now?
1:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I would say that because our business has grown pretty drastically over the past couple of years that consistency in our marketing has been our biggest challenge consistency.
1:21
[SPEAKER_03]: Go ahead, Elizabeth.
1:21
[SPEAKER_03]: You were going to say, I was just going to say, because our business has grown and also just like our personal lives, you know, everything is growing and changing.
1:29
[SPEAKER_03]: So consistency, it's definitely going to be growing.
1:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Let our personal lives.
1:37
[SPEAKER_03]: But yes, consistency is the word.
1:40
[SPEAKER_03]: If you're watching on YouTube right now, you probably can see baby backster.
1:45
[SPEAKER_03]: So Elizabeth has literally been
1:48
[SPEAKER_03]: growing personally.
1:50
[SPEAKER_03]: You will see Baby Baxter.
1:51
[SPEAKER_03]: I did have to already quiet him down with, you know, the tools that I have, but he'll be back.
2:00
[SPEAKER_03]: So let's talk about consistency.
2:01
[SPEAKER_03]: You said consistency in your marketing.
2:04
[SPEAKER_03]: Tell me a little bit more about specifically what does that mean?
2:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we tend to have really busy seasons predominantly this year, the spring and then typically followed by the fall.
2:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And when we're busiest, which means we could be working like ninety hours a week, if we don't have our marketing automated.
2:25
[SPEAKER_01]: which we don't, then it starts becoming consistent and we just kind of start to follow off on the stuff that keeps us, keeps the pipeline full.
2:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And then we'll move into a law and instead of enjoying the law, like we promised ourselves, we would restart to panic about the inconsistency in our marketing.
2:45
[SPEAKER_03]: So how does it make you feel actually this lack of consistency in your marketing?
2:52
[SPEAKER_03]: Scared?
2:56
[SPEAKER_03]: Kind of out of control.
2:57
[SPEAKER_03]: And then it becomes overwhelming because when there are systems in place and things that are predetermined and worked through, it's easy.
3:08
[SPEAKER_03]: But getting to that point is impossible.
3:11
[SPEAKER_03]: So if you're trying to get to that point every time you have a low,
3:15
[SPEAKER_03]: It's exhausting and an overwhelming and quite frankly, we're already tired.
3:20
[SPEAKER_03]: So it just, I mean, that's pretty much, you know, how it all falls apart.
3:26
[SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't fall apart.
3:29
[SPEAKER_03]: It just becomes too overwhelming, I think.
3:32
[SPEAKER_03]: And so your, it sounds like you're continually having to restart reset.
3:38
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes, start.
3:40
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, um, which is exhausting.
3:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because the, I mean, usually the first few steps are the hardest.
3:45
[SPEAKER_03]: So if we're just taking those few steps every time, it's, it's hard.
3:50
[SPEAKER_03]: What kind of systems do you have in place to automate?
3:52
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, the end is my systems gal.
3:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, no, I think the biggest thing is that what we're focusing on right now is buying back our own time in large part because we know what our strengths are and we also know what our strengths are not and we are kind of like a powerhouse team in terms of being in front of people and selling for a long time our system has been
4:18
[SPEAKER_01]: If there is not business, we are certain that we can go out and get it.
4:22
[SPEAKER_01]: But the problem is that that comes with a really high need for energy and output.
4:29
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's also really high burnout.
4:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's very chaotic.
4:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think
4:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Truthfully, we both actually thrive with some level of chaos, which is probably why we're in real estate.
4:42
[SPEAKER_01]: But the systems that we're trying to implement are very simple calendars where things are getting done.
4:52
[SPEAKER_01]: We have the right people in place, like yourself, to help us to execute because ideas are not a problem.
4:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Execution is.
5:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
5:02
[SPEAKER_01]: That makes sense.
5:03
[SPEAKER_03]: It makes total sense.
5:04
[SPEAKER_03]: And you are the chaos commerce.
5:06
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, you are yoga teachers after all.
5:11
[SPEAKER_03]: And let's just let it be known that yoga teachers are people who are trying to calm their own chaos.
5:17
[SPEAKER_03]: We're not automatically grounded, right?
5:20
[SPEAKER_03]: You've got this sort of up and down, this sort of Evan Flow that's like a roller coaster.
5:26
[SPEAKER_03]: you don't have systems in place.
5:28
[SPEAKER_03]: You don't have automation in place.
5:31
[SPEAKER_03]: And so in your mind, what does that look like?
5:34
[SPEAKER_03]: It's hard to track progress when things are hard to keep track up.
5:41
[SPEAKER_03]: So it's hard to really know when we're doing something well, when we're wasting our time.
5:47
[SPEAKER_03]: And then that even like can play into just, it's hard to feel
5:51
[SPEAKER_03]: sometimes good about what we're doing.
5:53
[SPEAKER_03]: From an emotional, like, oh, we had a really productive, good day.
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[SPEAKER_03]: We've done something well with our time or our money or, you know, and that could get demoralizing in a way.
6:06
[SPEAKER_03]: which doesn't help with the burn out and all the other stuff.
6:10
[SPEAKER_03]: So I don't know, Leanne, if you had another time.
6:14
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I think that's a really good way to put it because we are, we work so well together and we support each other so well and we're different in many ways.
6:25
[SPEAKER_01]: But in the one way that we're very, very, very similar is that is not really knowing
6:33
[SPEAKER_01]: If we've ticked the boxes that day or if we're doing the right thing, if we're executing it properly, if we should put our money here or put it there.
6:40
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think the inconsistency doesn't necessarily come from anything other than uncertainty.
6:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
6:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, and exhaustion.
6:50
[SPEAKER_03]: So, do you guys put goals together and do you put a business plan together every year?
6:55
[SPEAKER_03]: Like, do you reset the year with, okay, these are our goals and this is
7:02
[SPEAKER_03]: the plan to get us to those goals.
7:04
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
7:04
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, broad strokes for sure.
7:06
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it can, I would say we do it the best we can.
7:09
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, Leanne is very, um, Leanne loves a goal.
7:14
[SPEAKER_03]: I panic with goals.
7:15
[SPEAKER_03]: Like, I just, I feel like I'm never going to achieve it.
7:18
[SPEAKER_03]: And it's overwhelming, but I do, um, love that Leanne is able to kind of like give us a goal.
7:25
[SPEAKER_03]: because we have been hitting our goals from the record and she has faith in these goals and it's I, you know, I obviously see the value in habit goals.
7:34
[SPEAKER_03]: It's just for me always overwhelming when we answer it's down and she's like, okay, what are our goals?
7:39
[SPEAKER_03]: And I'm like, oh, I just want to get out of bed in the morning.
7:42
[SPEAKER_03]: When you have five children, right, I mean, I have to just
7:48
[SPEAKER_03]: the thought of a goal and letting myself and then the team down by not hitting the goal always makes me nervous.
7:58
[SPEAKER_03]: So here I'm hearing a couple of things.
8:00
[SPEAKER_03]: Number one, you guys are very complimentary in terms of your strengths.
8:06
[SPEAKER_03]: You're super supportive of each other in terms of Elizabeth you being open to land schools, right?
8:13
[SPEAKER_03]: And, you know, and being able to press forward, are you actually executing the plan?
8:19
[SPEAKER_03]: Is it, is the plan overwhelming?
8:21
[SPEAKER_03]: I guess that's my next question.
8:22
[SPEAKER_03]: Is there too much in the plan?
8:24
[SPEAKER_03]: And I'm wondering if that's maybe one of the reasons you're getting overwhelmed.
8:28
[SPEAKER_01]: I actually think that that's exactly the problem is that, like I said, ideas, not a problem for us.
8:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Overwhelm is, and it's not even, it's so different than it is with client-facing behaviors, because there is a very clear start date and a immediate gratification to working directly with a client.
8:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think it just goes back to what Elizabeth said about not being able to see an immediate result.
9:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Isn't necessarily a problem?
9:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think we need the instant gratification.
9:06
[SPEAKER_01]: I just think it's the not knowing if the time is well spent.
9:10
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think for us, it's like having a simplified plan where we can start to gather evidence, having evidence is really good for us because when we have it, then we know, okay, this thing that we have done.
9:24
[SPEAKER_01]: is worth while we'll continue to keep it in our business plan, like for example, social media short form video.
9:32
[SPEAKER_01]: We were very inconsistent with that when we started, then started to get a lot of positive feedback, started to get clients from it, and now we're very consistent with it.
9:41
[SPEAKER_01]: We have further made it consistent by having specific like series that we do, like the new one that we're doing, that's market updates from the yoga mat.
9:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's like if we had five things that we were like, these are the five things that we're going to do.
9:59
[SPEAKER_01]: For at least this year, we're going to take the ones that work.
10:03
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to put them in next year.
10:05
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to add on if we find we need to try something else.
10:08
[SPEAKER_01]: It's when there's too much that we get bogged down in the details.
10:13
[SPEAKER_03]: Just to sort of like bring it back to the
10:16
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, yes, all of that.
10:18
[SPEAKER_03]: And also like the plan that you gave us, I think where it wasn't like a light switch.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Like, oh, this is it.
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[SPEAKER_03]: We're just going to like be very regimented about every single thing on this plan.
10:30
[SPEAKER_03]: I think we're sort of like,
10:32
[SPEAKER_03]: building up to that almost as like a goal and maybe there's some modification along the way like this is just really is you know what what component isn't working for us but I think when you when we first got it I was like okay we're gonna nail this like we have our plan and a meet like almost immediately it was like oh wait this is a lot this is so like we're we're working on the individual pieces of the plan so
10:59
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, outsourcing what we can to fit the plan.
11:03
[SPEAKER_03]: But it certainly wasn't a light switch.
11:06
[SPEAKER_03]: Like it's taking a little bit of time to sort of work up to the full.
11:12
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
11:12
[SPEAKER_03]: And I think that that's a
11:14
[SPEAKER_03]: That's a problem many of us have, right?
11:17
[SPEAKER_03]: Like you, you can't, especially as people who own our own businesses, drivers, like you were saying, Leanne, you liked that beginning middle and end of a transaction.
11:30
[SPEAKER_03]: When it comes to building a plan, your marketing strategy, your branding strategy, it's a long game.
11:38
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, it's an eighteen to twenty four month time period before you really start to see the fruits of your labor.
11:47
[SPEAKER_03]: And so I think that's one thing to give yourself some grace on, which is
11:53
[SPEAKER_03]: When you start to implement something, be patient.
11:57
[SPEAKER_03]: It's going to take time for people to really understand, to start to become aware of you, to start to trust you, know like and trust you, right?
12:08
[SPEAKER_03]: Know like and trust you over time.
12:11
[SPEAKER_03]: And so when you talk about sort of the plan,
12:14
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, there was a lot in that plan.
12:16
[SPEAKER_03]: And one of the biggest things was leaning into your strengths, which you guys in the last year, I think you doubled your business in the last twelve months, is that right?
12:28
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, more than doubled.
12:29
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
12:29
[SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
12:30
[SPEAKER_03]: So that's amazing.
12:30
[SPEAKER_03]: So I think, you know, in the last year, you take a look at what you were able to accomplish with that plan, which was number one, you leaned into your strengths.
12:38
[SPEAKER_03]: You hired Matthew to execute a lot of that administrative stuff and automate a lot of that administrative stuff that you knew you wanted to actually get done, but you just
12:50
[SPEAKER_03]: It wasn't the best use of your time.
12:51
[SPEAKER_03]: It wasn't even that you didn't have time.
12:53
[SPEAKER_03]: It just wasn't the best use of your time, right?
12:57
[SPEAKER_03]: He took on your social media.
12:59
[SPEAKER_03]: He took on your graphic design.
13:02
[SPEAKER_03]: Was there anything else that he took on?
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[SPEAKER_03]: probably still head CEO of our social media, I would say.
13:12
[SPEAKER_03]: But I think because we put Matt and charge of some of the other things, like most recently, just handing over our database and being like,
13:23
[SPEAKER_03]: I worked on that database for five years and never got anything done.
13:26
[SPEAKER_03]: It's like here take this a lot.
13:28
[SPEAKER_03]: Well fine, but it wasn't, I mean, that's generous.
13:30
[SPEAKER_03]: But, you know, we brought him in and then even that has been like a
13:37
[SPEAKER_03]: It's taken time to figure out exactly what we want him to do.
13:42
[SPEAKER_03]: Because the personality on Instagram and social media is kind of important to not hand over that piece entirely.
13:50
[SPEAKER_03]: And I mean, I don't do a lot of it.
13:53
[SPEAKER_03]: I'll get water dumped on my head or make a fool out of myself.
13:56
[SPEAKER_03]: But Lee and's actually delivering really potent information.
13:59
[SPEAKER_03]: And it's good to have
14:02
[SPEAKER_03]: hopefully the time and the energy to put into our social media and then give Matt control again, realizing like if I could make a video for Instagram or work on the database, the mailing list, it's going to be Instagram for me neither right now.
14:22
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I mean, I would totally agree with you that content creation should come from you guys because that's the only way to express your personalities.
14:30
[SPEAKER_03]: And there's so much more that he can do behind the scenes, like even scheduling the stuff.
14:34
[SPEAKER_03]: So you don't have to deal with the, you know, the execution of that.
14:37
[SPEAKER_03]: I want to talk about some of the other things as it relates to sort of building this huge plan.
14:42
[SPEAKER_03]: I think we had talked about
14:44
[SPEAKER_03]: doing some events, both from a client gathering perspective as well as some seminars, things like that.
14:52
[SPEAKER_03]: We also talked about email marketing as being something that's really important.
14:58
[SPEAKER_03]: And I know that sort of was tough for you guys to sort of get going on that.
15:05
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, it's not tough anymore.
15:06
[SPEAKER_03]: We're getting there, right?
15:08
[SPEAKER_03]: We're getting there.
15:10
[SPEAKER_03]: You're starting to automate that stuff, right?
15:12
[SPEAKER_03]: You're automating your email, which is really important.
15:16
[SPEAKER_03]: Email marketing is crucial to
15:20
[SPEAKER_03]: staying top of mind with people so that when they're ready to buy or sell, they know somebody is they're going to call you.
15:26
[SPEAKER_03]: It's the cheapest way to do it.
15:28
[SPEAKER_03]: And it's really the most expensive way to express your personality and build your authority.
15:34
[SPEAKER_03]: So automating that is is really important.
15:36
[SPEAKER_03]: I think bringing on Matthew or Matt as you call him is
15:40
[SPEAKER_03]: huge in terms of executing stuff like keeping your database clean, scheduling your social media and doing some of those other sort of implementation pieces that allow you guys to continue to stay at the forefront with your clients, whether you're working actively with a client or you're going out there building those relationships to bring in additional business.
16:03
[SPEAKER_03]: Your strengths are to make it rain.
16:07
[SPEAKER_03]: Like making it rain is
16:10
[SPEAKER_03]: is the best and highest use of your time.
16:13
[SPEAKER_03]: And so, delegating everything else becomes critically important.
16:17
[SPEAKER_03]: And it is an investment, as you know, right?
16:20
[SPEAKER_03]: But if you think about the investment as one more transaction or two more transactions or three more transactions at the cost of, you know, half of one, I mean, that would be a huge return on your investment.
16:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I think something that we've been getting more comfortable with is there's a couple pieces of this, but asking the correct people for the job for help.
16:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, obviously, you're the best example of that for us because what you provide amongst many skill sets is a high level of certainty about what you do, which for us
17:08
[SPEAKER_01]: is extremely valuable because where we lack.
17:13
[SPEAKER_01]: currently like a high level of evidence and certainty about certain things.
17:19
[SPEAKER_01]: You do not lack certainty.
17:22
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think because we have a high level in trust in you and you are very confident on what you do.
17:28
[SPEAKER_01]: That's been very helpful for us in having done that when we hired Matt, which was your suggestion.
17:35
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there was an understanding between Elizabeth and I that it was like, we may not need
17:42
[SPEAKER_01]: need to hire at this moment in time.
17:47
[SPEAKER_01]: But if we want to grow our brand, it is better to hire before we need to than it is to hire in dire straits.
17:57
[SPEAKER_01]: The other piece of that is that in having kind of built a little bit of a skill in asking the right people for help, which is doesn't come easily to either of us, we have also managed to get some of the people we've worked with for years, like referral partners.
18:14
[SPEAKER_01]: to contribute to the cost of the things that we do.
18:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And it can be difficult, I think, to talk to people about money, but the reality is that those people have probably been offering that for a while, and we've been not taking them up on it.
18:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And they're happy to do it because we've sent them a ton of business, and many of them we've become good friends with.
18:39
[SPEAKER_01]: taking a lot of the burn out of it too.
18:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
18:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the hard part of that is that like you said, like our job is the making it rain.
18:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
18:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Something that I've struggled with is like taking time off is not
18:53
[SPEAKER_01]: easy for me.
18:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I think when you start a business and you scrape and you claw to get yourself to where you are, time off is really difficult and delegating is also very difficult.
19:07
[SPEAKER_01]: So I have actually found myself with a lot more energy to put
19:13
[SPEAKER_01]: towards the money making activities, but then almost like not knowing how to fill the space.
19:19
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes, it takes practice.
19:21
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it really takes practice.
19:24
[SPEAKER_03]: For sure.
19:24
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I love all of what you just said.
19:28
[SPEAKER_03]: because essentially that's what we've been working on together, right?
19:31
[SPEAKER_03]: Like delegating out, and also I love what you guys said about taking one step at a time.
19:37
[SPEAKER_03]: Because the plan alone can be extremely overwhelming, especially like you said, when you don't have the evidence of what works and what doesn't work, but when you lean into
19:48
[SPEAKER_03]: I guess a coach like myself and then just take it at your own pace, like we do as the Yogis, right?
19:54
[SPEAKER_03]: Like take it at your own pace, meet yourself where you're at, check off one thing at a time, and then continue.
20:03
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, that's the first step.
20:05
[SPEAKER_03]: And then the next step is to start to let go of control.
20:10
[SPEAKER_03]: But that happens.
20:11
[SPEAKER_03]: That's a four-day.
20:15
[SPEAKER_03]: Now, Matt, I'm sure, right?
20:17
[SPEAKER_03]: I'd like to, I guess I'm going to ask the question, like, have you been able to back off a little bit?
20:22
[SPEAKER_03]: Because, Leyen, when you talk about, I want to be able to take time off.
20:25
[SPEAKER_03]: You guys said that at the very beginning.
20:27
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, heck, Elizabeth, your baby is two months old.
20:31
[SPEAKER_03]: No, right?
20:32
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, two months old.
20:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
20:33
[SPEAKER_03]: And you're, you're working, right?
20:36
[SPEAKER_03]: Like you should,
20:37
[SPEAKER_03]: At some point for the next baby, you'll be able to take that.
20:41
[SPEAKER_03]: Hey, you sound like Lee Ann.
20:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
20:44
[SPEAKER_01]: For recognizing that I have, in fact, told you to take a materially Ann, multiple times.
20:49
[SPEAKER_03]: I showed up like when the baby was a day and a half old, I showed up and everybody's looking at Lee Ann, like why is she here?
20:55
[SPEAKER_03]: And I realized, um,
20:58
[SPEAKER_03]: for some reason everybody was like, what is Leanne making?
21:01
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, okay, I'm gonna go away so people don't give you a heart time because for whatever reason everybody was giving Leanne a heart time.
21:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I think that they look at us like platonic life partners and they're like, I'm the father of your children.
21:21
[SPEAKER_03]: I think it was funny, the question you just asked about Matt, like, if we were able to back off a little, like, in true fashion, we sort of let Matt do what it as he does.
21:32
[SPEAKER_03]: And, Leanne and I will be talking, just, you know, recapping or whatever we'll be.
21:38
[SPEAKER_03]: I don't really know what Matt's up to, like, do we have to give Matt more work?
21:41
[SPEAKER_03]: Like, what is Matt doing?
21:42
[SPEAKER_03]: And then we'll ask him, and he will
21:46
[SPEAKER_03]: show us just like oh I'm working on this and I've implemented this and here's a new way for us to and we're like oh you you're quite busy like you're taking a sort of I think we still have a little bit of growth to go I mean probably a lot but I mean I would say that we definitely I think we both feel like we hired the right person because he had experience and
22:10
[SPEAKER_03]: You guys are lucky in that respect because it doesn't always come so easy for many teams to try to hire.
22:17
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I mean, I related to trying to hire like a nanny or a babysitter where you're just like, you go on and you know, try somebody immediately.
22:26
[SPEAKER_03]: You're like, who, what have I done?
22:27
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.
22:28
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, she looks so good on paper.
22:29
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you're good to say.
22:30
[SPEAKER_03]: So yeah, one of your babies.
22:32
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
22:33
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
22:33
[SPEAKER_03]: I think the next step with Matt would be to help not so I mean, it's great that he takes initiative.
22:40
[SPEAKER_03]: You definitely want somebody who's taking initiative.
22:43
[SPEAKER_03]: And you also want to bring him into your goals so that he's helping
22:49
[SPEAKER_01]: you know to you know get you where you want to be ultimately the thing about Elizabeth and I is that I'm going to speak for you to is that okay yeah well we both love to have two hands on the wheel some might even say white knuckling
23:07
[SPEAKER_01]: We're not micro managers in Matt work really well with that because we've actually known Matt for eight, eight or eight years or so in the real estate world.
23:17
[SPEAKER_01]: So he kind of knew what our brand was like.
23:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I think he would probably would benefit from a little bit more direction, not because he is in
23:28
[SPEAKER_01]: really good at what he does and finding things to do.
23:31
[SPEAKER_01]: But more so I think it's like we don't know even what to point him towards sometimes.
23:38
[SPEAKER_03]: I was gonna say it's probably more part of our process still of getting ducks in the row, like slowly kind of getting organized to eventually be to a point where we can be very specific.
23:53
[SPEAKER_03]: Also, like our follow up isn't great all the time.
23:55
[SPEAKER_03]: Like, you know, with math,
23:58
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah, Matt's like, hey, can we have this?
24:01
[SPEAKER_03]: Can I have this?
24:02
[SPEAKER_03]: I need this to get this done and we're like, dude, to do we're out?
24:05
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, I mean, not really.
24:05
[SPEAKER_03]: We're not twiddling our thumbs.
24:06
[SPEAKER_03]: We're out doing other things.
24:08
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, that's what we're working.
24:10
[SPEAKER_03]: As we continue to outsource certain things and get more organized during the lows, we'll be able to get more specific.
24:19
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, because the end goal is so that not so your business goes like this, but that your business goes like this, right?
24:25
[SPEAKER_03]: So it's like a slow wave or a gentle wave.
24:30
[SPEAKER_03]: And it was funny because I was going to suggest this to you guys for those of you who are listening, I am working with full disclosure.
24:38
[SPEAKER_03]: Lee Animal is a bit on a couple of things.
24:40
[SPEAKER_03]: One is an email newsletter and the other is a direct
24:42
[SPEAKER_03]: male piece, which we put in your plan for last year, and it just wasn't realistic to execute it last year.
24:48
[SPEAKER_03]: So now, well, I think it was realistic.
24:51
[SPEAKER_02]: I think we didn't execute it.
24:55
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, I think you guys had a lot in that plan, right?
24:58
[SPEAKER_03]: You had a lot in that plan.
24:59
[SPEAKER_03]: And so you ticked off the things that you knew you could do, which was your social consistency in your social media content and math.
25:06
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, those were two humongous things that you got done last year.
25:09
[SPEAKER_03]: And so now you're ready to do this direct mail piece.
25:13
[SPEAKER_03]: And so the thing that I was going to suggest to you, because I did notice that sometimes it's hard to get a response to from you myself.
25:21
[SPEAKER_03]: I thought it might be helpful for us to get on a Slack channel, not just with the three of us, but with Matt as well, because Matt's an integral part of this.
25:30
[SPEAKER_03]: Sometimes Matt and I can speak and we don't need you guys in the picture, right?
25:35
[SPEAKER_03]: But a Slack channel will allow us to all have vision for what the projects are, what the deadlines are, without you guys, so you're in the know, but not having to respond all the time.
25:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, right.
25:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's what I mean when I say that we're not micro managers like if we if we have hired somebody for something and we feel that we trust them, I'll stop responding is the highest level of trust total because we're like, and we and make a mistake, we're aware that it's annoying that it can be frustrating and that doing our best doesn't always, you know,
26:12
[SPEAKER_01]: get things across the finish line.
26:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Having things that that's kind of what we we really need is is a way to connect everybody we actually now.
26:23
[SPEAKER_01]: We have an intern for the next couple of months as well.
26:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, she has also been finding that we were quite difficult to pin down.
26:32
[SPEAKER_03]: When I met her, I said, we, we don't mind constant like poking.
26:38
[SPEAKER_03]: Like we don't mind it.
26:40
[SPEAKER_03]: Just if you need information from us, we, we appreciate you and you may like badger us.
26:47
[SPEAKER_03]: It was like the second thing I said to her.
26:49
[SPEAKER_03]: And you got to personally.
26:52
[SPEAKER_03]: You are amazing about that, which it puts you far ahead of some agents because some agents just talk about white knuckle and micromanaging.
27:01
[SPEAKER_03]: They're really afraid to lose control when they give things to other people to execute.
27:07
[SPEAKER_03]: you are very trusting, which is wonderful.
27:12
[SPEAKER_03]: I do think having a platform like Slack.
27:15
[SPEAKER_03]: And that's one of the things I'm going to do when we get off the phone here or the Zoom.
27:18
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to set us up on Slack so that and your intern should be in there too so that we can all we have this platform that your entire team is now communicating on whatever it might be.
27:30
[SPEAKER_03]: I think that's going to help you guys
27:34
[SPEAKER_03]: go a long way in terms of a, staying on top of all the projects and b, you know, just staying organized.
27:42
[SPEAKER_03]: So that you're actually continuing to move the ball forward, instead of wondering where everything is and continuing to get overwhelmed.
27:49
[SPEAKER_03]: And then I think the ultimate goal for you guys is to take some time off this summer.
27:55
[SPEAKER_03]: Like that would be my goal for you.
27:59
[SPEAKER_03]: is to take some time off this summer before the fall market hits so that you can decompress, relax a little bit, enjoy that baby, enjoy George and Remi, and your spouses, right?
28:17
[SPEAKER_03]: Maybe not.
28:22
[SPEAKER_01]: We just made you know, we love them.
28:24
[SPEAKER_01]: We love them, but we're great.
28:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, in a thank you for us is like I would I think that this is the same for both of us, but it's certainly for me.
28:34
[SPEAKER_01]: There may be time, but I think.
28:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Something that does not get talked about that much.
28:42
[SPEAKER_01]: It might perhaps it does for entrepreneurs is I may I may have time off, but my brain.
28:51
[SPEAKER_01]: doesn't so building the trust isn't even about like certainly we've had time up yesterday we spent the whole day at the pool good and we you know we have had time off certainly physically it's just whether or not we have enough trust in the process that we have time off mentally and emotionally well and now it's going to come over time right
29:12
[SPEAKER_03]: So the first step is to organize the projects, organize the process.
29:18
[SPEAKER_03]: Now you have multiple people working on your team to support the business.
29:22
[SPEAKER_03]: I would also, I would maybe even recommend Monday.com or Asana.com, some type of project management, but I would say let's start with Slack.
29:33
[SPEAKER_03]: because that's a leads a good communication vehicle.
29:37
[SPEAKER_03]: And ultimately, as your business grows, you're going to need something like Monday.com to be able to manage all of the transactions because you're going to be that busy.
29:47
[SPEAKER_01]: So you think that, well, you would know, I suppose that there are agents or teams of agents that
29:56
[SPEAKER_01]: don't have as many highs and lows.
30:00
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I know that ours can be very distinct.
30:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's put it that way.
30:04
[SPEAKER_01]: But that are consistent throughout the entire year, even throughout changes in season.
30:10
[SPEAKER_03]: There's always going to be a little bit more of a bump in the seasons for sure.
30:13
[SPEAKER_03]: You're springing your fall markets.
30:16
[SPEAKER_03]: But what you don't want to happen is you don't want to have those deep lows where you just you don't have anything in your pipeline so nothing's coming through.
30:27
[SPEAKER_03]: You want to have it even out during those off time so that you're constantly working and not having to figure out like what's my fall going to be like what's my spring going to be like you have enough to sustain in those in betweens.
30:42
[SPEAKER_03]: So that you're not, it's not all happening in the spring or in the fall.
30:46
[SPEAKER_03]: And yes, absolutely.
30:47
[SPEAKER_03]: There are teams.
30:49
[SPEAKER_03]: that do a great job of that because they have the systems in place, the right team members.
30:54
[SPEAKER_03]: I feel like you both have the right team members.
30:57
[SPEAKER_03]: We just need to put some more systems in place.
30:59
[SPEAKER_03]: We need some project management.
31:01
[SPEAKER_03]: We need a communication vehicle so that the plan is being executed consistently from January through December.
31:13
[SPEAKER_03]: You've got the plan, you've got the right people, now let's organize it so that it's happening and you guys don't even have to think about it happening.
31:25
[SPEAKER_03]: Your team is going to need your approvals on things, your team is going to need you to give the go ahead on things, but outside of that,
31:37
[SPEAKER_03]: Let all of that happen and then all you need to worry about is the business that's coming in as a result of it.
31:43
[SPEAKER_03]: That's ideal.
31:45
[SPEAKER_01]: And what we would love to do in terms of adding in things that are newer.
31:53
[SPEAKER_01]: For example, the direct mail campaign?
31:56
[SPEAKER_01]: What is a reasonable amount of time in your experience to be able to know if those things are producing at a high enough level for their return on investment?
32:09
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I mean, so, you know, I look at that direct mail piece.
32:15
[SPEAKER_03]: So for those of you who are listening and are wondering what we're talking about, one of the things that Leanne and Elizabeth put in their plan last year is a farming piece, a direct mail piece, a high quality direct mail piece, not a postcard, but an eleven and a half by seventeen folded direct mail piece that is very targeted.
32:32
[SPEAKER_03]: Again, that is not something that, you know, if you are a couple of years into the business, it's a significant investment of time and money.
32:40
[SPEAKER_03]: So it's not something you want to invest in until you have momentum behind your business, which is Alianne and Elizabeth too.
32:47
[SPEAKER_03]: In terms of the return on that, I've seen agents who implement that consistently over years get upwards of nine listings.
32:58
[SPEAKER_03]: And that's ultimately what you're looking for.
32:59
[SPEAKER_03]: As you're looking for listings with a piece like that, not additional buyers.
33:06
[SPEAKER_03]: Like I was saying in the beginning, it takes time.
33:09
[SPEAKER_03]: It takes eighteen to twenty four months for you to see a return on that.
33:13
[SPEAKER_03]: But what that can do is it can
33:17
[SPEAKER_03]: create other opportunities.
33:18
[SPEAKER_03]: So I know you have a very set target market that you want to look at for that piece.
33:24
[SPEAKER_03]: What is going to happen over the next year is you're going to get calls from people.
33:30
[SPEAKER_03]: You're going to get some listings and then that's going to create additional ideas to continue to support that neighborhood or that market that you're looking at.
33:40
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, it opens up, you know, it's not just one and done.
33:44
[SPEAKER_03]: It opens up additional opportunities for marketing and building relationships.
33:50
[SPEAKER_03]: But again, it takes time.
33:51
[SPEAKER_03]: It's going to take, you know, a year, maybe a year and a half before you see like money in your pocket.
33:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't think like for us,
34:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not even really like, oh, when are we going to make money off of something?
34:05
[SPEAKER_01]: It's really like when will we know that the investment of time and money is
34:14
[SPEAKER_01]: worse hour time and money essentially so I suppose it is exactly that but it's it's less so like how can we get rich quick and more so like how can we ascertain what the very specific things that we are doing if they are valuable yeah
34:33
[SPEAKER_03]: If we have like five to seven lead gen activities and we want those to be, you know, things that work eventually, is this, is this worthy of one of those spots or do we need to go out and find a differently gen activity?
34:48
[SPEAKER_03]: I think is one of the ways to know if what you're doing is resonating is when you get engagement.
34:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, which reminds me,
34:59
[SPEAKER_01]: the newsletter that you just sent for us that first one did get engagement a client of ours who did not know that we teach yoga because that is not the connection that we we had with that client had reached out and asked if we wanted to teach a class and invite our clients in a space that he owns and just for the record we have had other e-news letters and we have never gotten ever heard
35:28
[SPEAKER_02]: That's great.
35:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So well done, Christine.
35:33
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, the fact that it got sent out alone is a major winner.
35:38
[SPEAKER_01]: How many lead, Jen?
35:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I know this is not one size fits all.
35:41
[SPEAKER_01]: In your opinion, for our business, how many lead gen sources do you think we should have to garner consistency?
35:50
[SPEAKER_03]: I sort of a weird question.
35:52
[SPEAKER_03]: I think you need an online lead gen system and you need an offline.
35:57
[SPEAKER_03]: lead system.
35:58
[SPEAKER_03]: And your online lead gen system is your social media and your email.
36:04
[SPEAKER_03]: You're offline.
36:05
[SPEAKER_03]: And when I say social media, it's not just you guys putting out content.
36:08
[SPEAKER_03]: It's it's you engaging with other people's content, making sure that not only are you gaining followers, but you're also following your clients.
36:19
[SPEAKER_03]: so that you can continue to nurture those relationships.
36:22
[SPEAKER_03]: And then you're offline, in my opinion, in our industry, in the real estate industry, your offline, lead generation is probably even more important.
36:33
[SPEAKER_03]: I might even argue that it's more important because this is such a relationship built business.
36:38
[SPEAKER_03]: Social media and email allow you to nurture and build relationships at scale, which is why they're so important.
36:47
[SPEAKER_03]: But from an offline perspective, doing what you're doing in terms of the yoga community, getting out there and building relationships with vendors.
36:59
[SPEAKER_03]: meeting with people, all doing the things to stay in touch with your past clients.
37:05
[SPEAKER_03]: Those things are critically important from a lead generation standpoint, because they keep you top of mind.
37:11
[SPEAKER_03]: When people have had a good experience with you, they want to support you.
37:15
[SPEAKER_03]: But if you don't stay top of mind, they could potentially forget who you are.
37:21
[SPEAKER_03]: And that does happen.
37:22
[SPEAKER_03]: A lot of agents miss out on referrals because
37:27
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, they had a first time home buyer who they helped buy a house and then they didn't keep in touch.
37:32
[SPEAKER_03]: And then when they go to up size, they don't remember who their agent was or somebody else has kind of become top of mine.
37:41
[SPEAKER_03]: And so they hire that person.
37:43
[SPEAKER_03]: So I think you need an online strategy and an offline strategy.
37:46
[SPEAKER_03]: And both are just very important in terms of continuing to prospect nurture relationships.
37:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Before we started working with you, we had gotten to that point in kind of hit a ceiling, doing offline exclusively for the most part.
38:06
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm feeling like what I'm hearing is that the consistency comes from doing a lot of the online stuff and the direct mail to kind of fill like the top of the funnel, so we're not always going out and having to
38:19
[SPEAKER_03]: get the next call yes yes it's a recipe right it's a it's a recipe there's not like you said one size fits all you can't just do one thing and expect a business to come it's a recipe of of
38:33
[SPEAKER_03]: many different things that will continue to generate business for you.
38:40
[SPEAKER_03]: You guys, I think one of the reasons why you've done so well is what you do put out there is your authenticity, your personality.
38:50
[SPEAKER_03]: And so people before they even have met you, they know what it's probably like to work with you because you're out there in such a really authentic way.
38:59
[SPEAKER_03]: And when I talk to agents,
39:02
[SPEAKER_03]: Um, that's probably one of the most important things that you can do.
39:05
[SPEAKER_03]: Whatever you decide to do, whether it's one thing or five things, you got to do it in a really authentic way.
39:11
[SPEAKER_03]: Because people are trading, you know, you're trusting you with their largest asset.
39:15
[SPEAKER_03]: They want to be able to feel like they can trust you, you know?
39:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
39:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And I mean, I think that something that I have realized through teaching yoga, but also through building a really
39:31
[SPEAKER_01]: connected sphere that for as many people as find out that they probably would like working with us.
39:37
[SPEAKER_01]: There are some that find out that they wouldn't and I think that that's equally as valuable because we now have the luxury of being able to know that there are certain people that perhaps we don't want to chase that lead as hard because they do not matter our culture or your values.
39:55
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that was a huge kind of thing for us that kind of happened over the past year.
40:01
[SPEAKER_03]: I would say.
40:02
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and when you don't need it, you don't.
40:05
[SPEAKER_03]: You don't need it.
40:06
[SPEAKER_03]: And when you think about the burnout, the energy that you would need to put out there for someone who doesn't who isn't the right fit, that'll cause you burnout in an instant.
40:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And you don't, well, that's the killer of our consistency is those clients that it's mostly not the client.
40:24
[SPEAKER_01]: It's mostly other agents, but it's the clients that maybe they don't like that we're involved in the logo.
40:31
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, if they don't like that we are spending time doing yoga, you know, because God forbid a gal have a hobby.
40:39
[SPEAKER_01]: then they're not your people.
40:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It's probably not going to work.
40:42
[SPEAKER_03]: I'd say like even the best clients like ninety five percent of transactions can get difficult in one way or another.
40:51
[SPEAKER_03]: Why do you want to then have the added layer of the client being
40:57
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, not aligned.
40:59
[SPEAKER_03]: Exactly.
40:59
[SPEAKER_03]: It makes it impossible to do the job well.
41:03
[SPEAKER_03]: And we found that with the clients that don't fit, they end up getting through the transaction, we get them to the finish line.
41:09
[SPEAKER_03]: But those relationships never stay in place.
41:12
[SPEAKER_03]: They're gone.
41:13
[SPEAKER_03]: We're like, we don't want to see you again.
41:16
[SPEAKER_03]: And you probably don't want to see us again.
41:17
[SPEAKER_03]: Because so it's just not, we want the clients that stay forever.
41:24
[SPEAKER_03]: that want to know what we're doing, that want to follow us on social media.
41:28
[SPEAKER_03]: We want to know how their families are growing, or their renovations are happening.
41:31
[SPEAKER_03]: We want the connection to last, so it is not worth chasing down a lead where we know at the end of the transaction, everybody is going to be just so happy that it is over.
41:41
[SPEAKER_03]: And it goes back to
41:46
[SPEAKER_03]: the consistency, which is, you know, your main challenge, the more consistent you are, whether it's putting out consistent content, which you have started to do, or, you know, putting a system in place to make sure that you stay consistent.
42:03
[SPEAKER_03]: That is what's going to ultimately attract the right people.
42:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I think something that you have
42:11
[SPEAKER_01]: Intimated and probably explicitly said before is that I think a lot of salespeople but especially like what I find about myself is that I have a tendency to be very all or nothing.
42:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I think the reason that the social media has become more consistent is because any level of consistency is better than no level of consistency.
42:33
[SPEAKER_01]: So like once one thing you had said to us but social media you were like post once a week and I was like
42:39
[SPEAKER_01]: to you okay what's week sure you know inevitably what ended up happening was that I tried to post many times a week couldn't keep up with it eventually said okay we're gonna do this one really authentic enjoyable weekly campaign that has been very easy to be consisted with
42:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And we're going to sprinkle in other stuff when we have the, you know, we always post videos of our listings, of course, and that type of thing.
43:06
[SPEAKER_01]: And it works because I think there's a level of like expectation that our, our people build.
43:14
[SPEAKER_01]: So they know that they're going to see something.
43:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that realistically that consistency builds trust and then creates consistency in our business.
43:25
[SPEAKER_03]: One hundred percent.
43:26
[SPEAKER_03]: And for those of you who are listening, what Lian is specifically talking about is her market report from the map.
43:34
[SPEAKER_03]: Which I mean,
43:38
[SPEAKER_03]: y'all have to go to Mitchell Gadotim on Instagram and check it out because I mean every time I watch it I'm like how is she it's like walking and chewing gum it's like how is she able to do the yoga because as well she's talking about the mark I mean it's fascinating to watch and so yes the bloopers
43:58
[SPEAKER_01]: are many.
43:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Put them in.
44:00
[SPEAKER_01]: I've usually it.
44:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll do a blue real it.
44:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, there's a lot of f-bombs in the blue reals, but at the end of them, I'm always out of breath too.
44:07
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think I've just really built a strong practice in pretending.
44:11
[SPEAKER_03]: It's brilliant.
44:12
[SPEAKER_03]: It's brilliant.
44:13
[SPEAKER_03]: Okay, so let me ask you guys.
44:14
[SPEAKER_03]: So we started out your biggest challenge at the moment was consistency.
44:20
[SPEAKER_03]: From really what I heard you say was from an automation standpoint, because you've started to be more consistent with your content creation.
44:26
[SPEAKER_03]: You said you were scared.
44:27
[SPEAKER_03]: You felt it made you feel scared out of control overwhelmed.
44:30
[SPEAKER_03]: We talked about putting some systems in place.
44:32
[SPEAKER_03]: We talked about slack.
44:33
[SPEAKER_03]: We talked about potentially Monday.com hiring the rate people.
44:38
[SPEAKER_03]: And we also talked about making a commitment to taking time off.
44:44
[SPEAKER_03]: How are you feeling now?
44:45
[SPEAKER_03]: Leon and I are always like
44:48
[SPEAKER_03]: thinking about new things and generating more and doing more and what can we do to be better and get overwhelmed and sort of in our heads maybe like overcommitted to certain things so it's always nice to have a conversation where we can like scale.
45:04
[SPEAKER_03]: back were fine.
45:06
[SPEAKER_03]: It's good to have a lot of ideas.
45:07
[SPEAKER_03]: It's good to try a lot of new things, but it's always nice to have a conversation to scale it back because I think in having smaller attainable goals comes consistency and then, you know, we all feel better about ourselves.
45:21
[SPEAKER_03]: Leon and Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining me today.
45:24
[SPEAKER_03]: I love having you guys on and for those of you listening, I would highly encourage you to follow Leon and Elizabeth on Instagram.
45:33
[SPEAKER_03]: They're at the Mitchell Gado team.
45:36
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you so much.
45:39
[SPEAKER_03]: Thanks for listening to the show today and make sure to click the follow button on your podcast app to make sure you never miss another episode.
45:46
[SPEAKER_03]: Sign up for my newsletter, the sunbeam at postenbeamcreative.com.
45:50
[SPEAKER_03]: And if you're thinking, I could use this clarity in my business, head on over to coaching with ChristineGeorge.com and apply to be on a future episode.
45:58
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm ChristineGeorge and you've been listening to No Like Trust for Real Estate.