
Key takeaways
- Runs a fixed schedule: role play at 7:00, prospecting 8:00 to 11:00, lead follow-up to 11:30, a second role play, then lunch
- Takes the business plan and goal board down off the wall each morning and reads them, so they do not become background noise
- Took about 10 deals from her database this year against 2 last year, after her first full year of prospecting consistently
- Uses the Mike Ferry scripts verbatim and says going off script is usually when things go wrong
- Writes out scripts and objections every day with an accountability partner in order to internalise them
- Pre-qualifies on the spot rather than calling back, because commitment drops once the seller has slept on it
- Sends the CMA with her price a day before the appointment, so the seller has already argued themselves round to the number
Transcript
00:00 — Prospecting on the days you do not feel like it
Ren Jones00:02
You prospect five days a week. Is that about right?
Mary Anne Gorey00:05
Yeah.
Ren Jones00:05
So, are there days of those five days when you’re scheduled to do that that you’re just like, “I don’t want to.”
Mary Anne Gorey00:10
Oh yeah, all the time.
Ren Jones00:11
So, how do you do that? What is the accountability component or what is it that causes you to do it on the days you don’t feel like?
Mary Anne Gorey00:22
I think reviewing my goals has been really important. That was something I didn’t do last year, which I’ve been doing this year. So before I even get started this year, I take out my business plan for the year and I also have a little goal board. And rather than just having it on my wall and it becoming kind of background noise, I just take the time to get it out and actually look at it and that definitely just reminds me of what I need to do.
Ren Jones00:49
It’s that time. Welcome to Roadmap, how to take three listings a week until you’re ready for more. Each week we interview a great agent who’s consistently taking several listings each month, and we have an exciting guest today. Let me introduce my cohost from San Diego, Carly Hathaway. That’s carlyhathaway.com. How’s real estate business, Carly?
Carley Hathaway01:31
Hi, Ren. Hi, everybody. Real estate is booming as we know. It’s definitely a seller’s market. Best time to be a listing agent.
Ren Jones01:40
I know, I know, I know. So, we have an exciting guest. It’s Mary Anne Gorey from Hartford, Connecticut is here today. I am so excited about that. And you know Mary Anne, don’t you?
Carley Hathaway01:51
I do. I know Mary Anne from the Prospecting Clinic. I love listening to her prospect. She’s amazing. She’s really-
Ren Jones01:57
Good.
Carley Hathaway01:57
… really good.
Ren Jones01:58
And here she is. Welcome Mary Anne.
Mary Anne Gorey02:01
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Ren Jones02:03
Glad you’re here. We’re excited. You’re only a couple years in the business. You just started your second year and you’re already blowing it up.
Mary Anne Gorey02:11
Yeah, it was very exciting. I mean, it’s definitely an exciting time to be in real estate for sure. Like Carley mentioned, it’s definitely a sellers’ market right now.
Ren Jones02:19
Do you consider yourself a listing agent as your primary business?
Mary Anne Gorey02:23
Well, actually yeah. This year, so it was quite exciting. So, last year about 80% of my business was buyers. But this year 80% is sellers, so…
Ren Jones02:28
Woo.
Mary Anne Gorey02:28
… surprised me.
Carley Hathaway02:28
Wow.
Ren Jones02:33
Yeah, and you did something … Yes, that is fantastic. So, you flipped it. So now, what do they say? Buyers take time, listings take skill. So, you’re going to have money and the time to enjoy it, huh?
Mary Anne Gorey02:43
Well, exactly. That’s the idea, right?
Ren Jones02:45
Fantastic. Good.
Carley Hathaway02:46
And you’re happy you’re not spending all those gas prices, right?
Mary Anne Gorey02:50
Well, right. And right now, a ton of offers just being out.
Carley Hathaway02:55
Good. Good. Okay. So, what is your goal for this year?
Mary Anne Gorey02:58
My goal for this year is 50 transactions.
Ren Jones03:01
That’s pretty good for only having done … You’ve been a year and five months in the business, so that’s not bad. That’s great.
Carley Hathaway03:10
If you did 50 deals, how much money is that?
Mary Anne Gorey03:12
Oh, 200 and … About 240,000.
Ren Jones03:15
Nice.
Carley Hathaway03:19
I love it. Okay, good. All right, well let’s get right into it. How do you get all these listings? What do you do?
Mary Anne Gorey03:27
Well, prospecting really. Coming from the UK, I didn’t really have a very large database here. I mean, all my friends are real estate agents, so that has been quite challenging. So really, just prospecting, the phones, expireds, sell by owners, just listed, just solds. This year I was able to get a lot more from my database, which is exciting. But yeah, my primary would be expireds.
Carley Hathaway03:58
Expireds, okay. Good. And when you’re calling … Okay, wait, let’s go back a step. Do you have a daily routine, a schedule you stick to?
Mary Anne Gorey04:06
Well, in the morning, prospecting first thing. Your role play, prospecting. After prospecting, I do some lead followup and then jump into a listing presentation, role play. And then after that, just admin and go on appointments.
Carley Hathaway04:23
Okay. I love it. Okay. And how important are those role plays? Has that changed your business?
Mary Anne Gorey04:29
Oh, absolutely. For the past year, I’ve been in a role play group, which has been very beneficial. There’s some really powerful agents on there and I’ve definitely learned a lot. I’ve only done the listing presentation role play for the past four months, and that has just been very invaluable as well.
Carley Hathaway04:51
I love it. Okay. And so, you have role plays, you get on the phones. What’s your daily contact goal?
Mary Anne Gorey04:59
20 contacts a day for me.
Carley Hathaway05:01
Okay. And how long does that take you usually?
Mary Anne Gorey05:05
It depends what sources I’m calling. Expireds have been a little bit slower. If I’m calling my database, if I’m calling just listed, just sold, I tend to get quite a few more contacts in an hour. But I can definitely get those 20 in those three hours.
Carley Hathaway05:23
Are you a competitive person?
Mary Anne Gorey05:26
Yeah, I would say I’m competitive. Yeah.
Carley Hathaway05:29
A little bit. Do you think that helps your business?
Mary Anne Gorey05:31
Yeah, it definitely helps my business for sure.
Carley Hathaway05:33
Okay. Who are you the most competitive with in your office?
Mary Anne Gorey05:39
Probably my partner, Jeff. Yeah.
Carley Hathaway05:44
Okay. I love it. Okay. So, if he gets a listing appointment, are you going after the same listing appointment?
Mary Anne Gorey05:49
Well, yeah. I mean, we prospect the same leads, so quite often we may make an appointment with the same leads, sure.
Carley Hathaway05:58
Okay. I like it. And it doesn’t bother you?
Mary Anne Gorey06:01
No, it doesn’t. I mean, sometimes we’ll decide to go on it together. Sometimes we’ll compete against each other. But I mean, we really don’t mind.
Carley Hathaway06:11
Good.
Mary Anne Gorey06:12
As long as one of us gets it, that’s what we care about.
Carley Hathaway06:14
Exactly. That’s a great attitude to have. One of the two of you has to get it.
Mary Anne Gorey06:18
Right.
Ren Jones06:19
What do you do on the days you don’t feel like doing this? Or do you have days that you don’t feel like doing it? You seem very enthusiastic about the whole thing.
Mary Anne Gorey06:26
Yeah, I mean, I like my downtime, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, I like to horse ride and stuff like that, so I do that on my spare time. We have a dog as well, so…
Ren Jones06:38
If you’re doing this … What, you do … You prospect five days a week, is that about right?
Mary Anne Gorey06:41
Yeah.
Ren Jones06:42
So, are there days of those five days when you’re scheduled to do that that you’re just like, “I don’t want to.”
Mary Anne Gorey06:48
Oh yeah, all the time.
Ren Jones06:50
Well, what do you … So, how do you do that? What is the accountability component or what is it that causes you to do it on the days you don’t feel like?
06:58 — Taking the goal board down off the wall
Mary Anne Gorey06:58
I think reviewing my goals has been really important. That was something I didn’t do last year, which I’ve been doing this year. So, before I even get started this year, I take out my business plan for the year and I also have a little goal board. And rather than just having it on my wall and it becoming kind of background noise, I just take the time to get it out and actually look at it. And that definitely just reminds me of what I need to do.
Ren Jones07:26
Mary Anne, Mary Anne, you must understand, most agents do not have a written business plan and a goal board.
Mary Anne Gorey07:33
Cool.
Ren Jones07:33
So, obviously you’re getting-
Carley Hathaway07:36
That’s totally refreshing.
Ren Jones07:36
… somebody is in your ear. Who’s in your ear? Where are you getting these ideas that you need to do a business plan? Nobody does that.
Mary Anne Gorey07:43
Well, I mean, I’ve been part of the Mike Ferry coaching now-
Ren Jones07:46
Oh, you’re in a coaching program? Which one?
Mary Anne Gorey07:48
Mike Ferry.
Ren Jones07:50
Okay. Mike Ferry coaching. Okay, fantastic. Good. All right. I mean, because I’m hearing all these numbers and organizational things that when you said business plan, like okay, she’s involved in something. Because you don’t have, I mean-
08:03And you’re going to make a quarter of a million dollars in your second year in the business.
Mary Anne Gorey08:07
Yep.
Carley Hathaway08:08
Amazing. And you said last year you did 80% buyers.
Mary Anne Gorey08:13
Right.
Carley Hathaway08:14
What are you doing this year to not work with those buyers?
Ren Jones08:18
To be 20% buyers, 80% sellers?
Carley Hathaway08:20
Yeah.
08:21 — Ten deals from the database this year against two last
Mary Anne Gorey08:21
Yeah, I mean that’s a great question. Carley. I’ve been focusing a lot on my prospecting. I think my skills have got a lot better as well. Last year was really the first year I started really prospecting all the time. And now my skills have just grown. So, I’m able to just convert those sellers a lot more. And as well, I’ve got a lot more for my database as well. I think last year I might have done two deals for my database last year and this year I’ve done about maybe 10 deals now for my database. So, I think that definitely helps as well.
Carley Hathaway08:57
Good.
Ren Jones08:59
Is everybody that you’re selling moving out of town? I mean, how can you be only 20% buyers? You’re going to have people that sell their home and then they’re going to go, “I want to buy an even bigger house and I need to buy it now.” And I mean, aren’t you going to just stop doing what’s making you successful or do you have somebody helping you with the buyers?
Mary Anne Gorey09:20
Well, that’s something I’m looking into now, actually. Looking into how I’m going to kind of organize that time, because it has been a challenge and I have been capping out a little bit with how many buyers I can work with at a time. So, I am looking at how I can leverage that for sure.
Carley Hathaway09:40
Okay. So, I know you were saying you role play, you have time that you’re on the phone. Do you have a set schedule timing wise? 7:00 AM this, 8:00 AM this?
09:52 — The daily schedule, 7:00 through to lunch
Mary Anne Gorey09:52
Yeah, so 7:00 AM is when I role play and then I get on the phone at 8:00. 8:00 to 11:00 would be just the prospecting. 11:00 to 11:30 is lead followup. 11:30 is when I jump straight onto a role play. And then 12:00, I’ll just take a lunch break then. And then after that is my afternoon schedule with … I mean, that’s the one that fluctuates. Between admin and appointments, it’s never the same.
Carley Hathaway10:21
And how important is that schedule for you?
Mary Anne Gorey10:23
I mean, super important. I mean, my schedule’s what gets you through those hard times, for sure. There’s some days we just don’t want to do the activities, but just doing them and keeping to the schedule, that’s what just keeps you going, for sure.
Carley Hathaway10:43
Amazing. Amazing. And let me ask you, what did you do before real estate?
10:48 — From an accessory business to full time real estate
Mary Anne Gorey10:48
I had an accessory company. My sister started the company in the UK, which I worked with her on. And then when I moved to the US, we decided to open a business up here, the same business in America. So, I started that and launched that and then I went full time in real estate.
Carley Hathaway11:07
And if you don’t mind me asking, how much did you used to make a year?
Mary Anne Gorey11:12
Oh, my goodness.
Carley Hathaway11:14
You don’t have to answer if you don’t want. But, I mean-
Mary Anne Gorey11:19
I mean, a lot less than what I make in real estate.
Carley Hathaway11:21
Okay. That’s a better answer, just a lot less.
Ren Jones11:25
If you’re going to do a quarter of a million dollars in your second year, would it be fair to say, year three you’ll be what?
Mary Anne Gorey11:31
I’m sorry, what was that? I missed that.
Ren Jones11:33
If 250,000 is what you’re going to make in this year, and then you’re going to be what, 375 in the third year and then 500,000 in your fourth year? Is that the trajectory you’re on?
Mary Anne Gorey11:46
I mean, that’s the idea.
Ren Jones11:48
Yeah. I mean, we see this a lot with people that have … And I keep going back to this, a business plan. So, you have a written business plan that you’re looking at, is that right?
Mary Anne Gorey11:57
Right.
Ren Jones11:58
How many pages is this business plan?
Mary Anne Gorey12:01
Oh, it’s about eight pages.
Ren Jones12:02
Eight pages.
Carley Hathaway12:05
Oh, wow.
Ren Jones12:05
Okay. So, you have numbers and then you have some components-
Carley Hathaway12:09
Right, so-
Ren Jones12:10
… of things you need to accomplish.
Mary Anne Gorey12:11
Right. The numbers component is about two pages. That’s a recap and also what I’m going to be doing this year. And then, after that-
Ren Jones12:17
Okay. The recap of last year, which you would do in a normal business to, look, this is where I’m coming from, this is where I’m going to, right?
Mary Anne Gorey12:24
Right.
Ren Jones12:24
Okay. And what else is in the business plan?
Mary Anne Gorey12:29
A schedule.
Ren Jones12:30
Schedule. Okay. So, you have a schedule that you follow, like a weekday schedule, is that it, basically?
12:35If you’re on a listing side of the business, it’s kind of a weekday schedule, right?
Mary Anne Gorey12:38
Right, exactly. What I want my schedule to look like. I mean, that’s forever changing. I’m always making some adjustments to that. And then, after that, there are just some challenges and solutions. So, just some challenges that-
Ren Jones12:52
Challenges and solutions. Okay.
Mary Anne Gorey12:54
Yeah.
Ren Jones12:54
Gotcha. Okay. So, you state the challenge and then you write some solutions, and you state a challenge and you write some more solutions. Is that it?
Mary Anne Gorey13:01
Yep.
Ren Jones13:01
Okay. And this is based on where you were last year and what the pain points were that you have to go through to solve for this year, is that right?
Mary Anne Gorey13:11
Exactly right.
13:12 — What to do with the sellers who become buyers
Ren Jones13:12
And one of them is, what are you going to do with all the homeless people when you sell their home? Do you stop looking for more listings and start just working the buyers again and then be down at the bottom of the trough? Or do you find somebody to help you with that?
Mary Anne Gorey13:26
I’m definitely going to find someone to help me with that.
Ren Jones13:29
Yeah. Because, I mean, you’re going to be faced with that next week, right?
Mary Anne Gorey13:33
Yeah. We’re playing around with different ideas from buyers agents and showing agents and what’s the right move for the business at this point. And that’s really what we’re playing around with. We haven’t really made a decision on that yet.
Ren Jones13:49
Yeah, because, let’s say, if you sell their home and you could make a $9,000 commission, but then they’re going to buy something bigger and you’d make an $18,000 commission, but you spend the next two weeks showing them property to do that and all the time and then you stop taking three or four more listings, you actually make a lot less money.
Mary Anne Gorey14:11
Well, yeah, absolutely.
Ren Jones14:13
Versus making maybe half of that, letting somebody else make the other half and then you just take three or four more listings.
Mary Anne Gorey14:21
Right.
Ren Jones14:21
So, you got to get that solved pretty quickly.
Mary Anne Gorey14:24
Yep, exactly.
Ren Jones14:25
I mean, isn’t this the middle of May?
Mary Anne Gorey14:27
I know, it’s getting to that peak time, right?
Ren Jones14:29
I know. I mean, aren’t there going to be a whole bunch of homeless people knocking on your door saying, “Help?”
Mary Anne Gorey14:36
I mean, well that’s definitely a good problem to have. So I’ll definitely welcome that problem.
Carley Hathaway14:39
That’s true.
Ren Jones14:40
I know, I know, I know.
Carley Hathaway14:42
What are you doing right now? Are you still working with the buyers?
Mary Anne Gorey14:45
Yeah, right now I’m still doing both. I just-
14:48… I haven’t been able … I’m sorry?
Carley Hathaway14:51
Ren’s going to be very upset at you if you keep working with buyers
Ren Jones14:53
At Sunday night, you must be tired.
Mary Anne Gorey14:56
Yeah, I’ve been pretty good at scheduling. Not on the … Well, I say not on the weekend, but for me, doing one or two is a day off.
Ren Jones15:09
Okay.
Mary Anne Gorey15:09
So, I’ve been good at doing that, but I got to get better with it, because the buyer’s definitely a lot of time
Ren Jones15:16
Right, if you’re going to get to 500,000, you can’t keep doing this.
Mary Anne Gorey15:17
Right. You’re absolutely right.
Ren Jones15:18
Yeah.
Carley Hathaway15:18
Yeah.
Ren Jones15:19
I’m just checking. Just checking, Mary. Just checking.
Carley Hathaway15:24
Okay, so you sound amazing on the phone. You have a beautiful voice. Do you wing it? Do you use scripts? What do you do?
Mary Anne Gorey15:31
Scripts, 100%.
Ren Jones15:32
Okay.
Carley Hathaway15:33
Why-
Ren Jones15:34
So, everything’s a canned … You know people like, “Oh, I would never use a script. Now, you use scripts. If you use a script, it gets you a predictable result. It’s kind of funny. People, they have antibodies to the idea that they would actually be scripted. What say you?
15:52 — Scripts on orientation day, and reading them as not me
Mary Anne Gorey15:52
Well, right. I mean, I remember when I first … I’m very lucky to be part of my brokerage, who’s the Mike Ferry Brokerage. So, straight away orientation day, the first thing I was given was scripts. And I remember reading them and thinking, “Oh my goodness, this doesn’t sound like me. I don’t think I could use these.” I had that same instant thought
Ren Jones16:16
Okay. So, that’s a normal thought then? Okay.
Mary Anne Gorey16:18
Well, it’s normal, but-
Carley Hathaway16:18
This isn’t my normal language. It feels uncomfortable.
16:22 — Why she no longer goes off script
Mary Anne Gorey16:22
Exactly. Exactly. And I mean, the more I practice them, the more I made … I still do them verbatim, but they sound like me more. And when I go off script, I mean, that’s usually when things go wrong. So, I don’t go off script anymore.
Carley Hathaway16:39
It’s so true. It’s so true. Okay. So, once you get the scripts, you internalize them, you make them your own, and then it is comfortable.
Mary Anne Gorey16:49
Exactly. Exactly.
Carley Hathaway16:52
Yeah. [inaudible
Ren Jones16:52
Yeah. I mean, it’s only the poor use of a script that’s offensive. If you’ve internalized anything that you do, any way you do it’s going to sound a lot … It’s going to sound like you.
Mary Anne Gorey17:03
Exactly.
Ren Jones17:03
And that takes some practice. You’re doing a lot of role playing practice.
17:07 — Writing out scripts and objections every day
Mary Anne Gorey17:07
Right, exactly. And I was doing some accountability with a Monica from Florida and we would be chatting and writing down either scripts or objections every single day. So, just really internalize them, so just some additional practice there.
Ren Jones17:27
Yeah.
Carley Hathaway17:28
Yeah
Ren Jones17:28
You want to do a little role play of one type or another? Is there something in mind-
17:32… you’d be open to role play?
Mary Anne Gorey17:36
Oh my goodness. Okay, now, we’re going on the spot.
Ren Jones17:39
But here’s the thing, Mary Anne, you do it every day.
Mary Anne Gorey17:42
This is true.
Ren Jones17:44
So, if you were to pick one, what would you pick?
Mary Anne Gorey17:46
Oh God, it’d have to be an expired.
Ren Jones17:48
You’d do an expired?
Mary Anne Gorey17:52
Yeah, I guess so. You make me nervous now.
Carley Hathaway17:54
I promise I’ll be easy.
Ren Jones17:54
Carley is a good-
Carley Hathaway17:54
I’ll be easy on you.
Ren Jones17:55
Carley can be a good homeowner.
Mary Anne Gorey17:57
Oh, okay.
Ren Jones17:58
Carley owns a beautiful home in Hartford.
Mary Anne Gorey18:01
Oh, okay. Beautiful home in Hartford. All right. So-
Carley Hathaway18:06
Let’s do it.
Mary Anne Gorey18:07
All right. Ring, ring.
Carley Hathaway18:08
Hello?
Mary Anne Gorey18:09
Oh, hello. I’m looking for Carley.
Carley Hathaway18:11
This is Carly. Please don’t tell me you’re another real estate agent.
18:14 — The expired opener, live
Mary Anne Gorey18:14
Oh, hi Carly. Yes, my name is Mary Anne. I’m a real estate agent with Century 21. By your expression, I’m sure you figured out that your home has come up online. It’s an expired listing. And I was calling to see when do you plan on interviewing the right agent for the job of selling your home?
Carley Hathaway18:32
Well, how do you know my agent wasn’t the right agent?
Mary Anne Gorey18:35
Well, that’s a great question, Carley. And I guess really it falls back on is your house sold yet?
Carley Hathaway18:39
No.
Mary Anne Gorey18:43
No. Oh my goodness. And that sounds very disappointing. Where are you planning on moving to when your home did sell?
Carley Hathaway18:48
Oh my gosh, I’m moving to Florida. I want that hot weather, that beautiful ocean. Sick of it here in Hartford.
Mary Anne Gorey18:56
Florida. Oh wow, that’s so exciting. And how soon you have to be in Florida, Carley?
Carley Hathaway19:01
What’s that?
Mary Anne Gorey19:03
How soon did you have to be in Florida?
Carley Hathaway19:05
I don’t have to be there soon, but I would love nice weather.
Mary Anne Gorey19:11
Okay. So, you don’t really have a timeline, you just want to get there for the ocean and the better weather, is that right?
Carley Hathaway19:17
Yes. Oh my God, the ocean. Yes.
Mary Anne Gorey19:18
You want to be in that ocean.
Carley Hathaway19:19
Yes.
Mary Anne Gorey19:23
Absolutely. And I mean, I guess the question is, Carley, I’m sure you’re aware right now, this is definitely a sellers’ market and in your area alone about 90 homes were listed, a hundred of those homes went into deposit. Did you know that?
Carley Hathaway19:36
I did not know that.
Mary Anne Gorey19:39
Right. So, what’s interesting is why yours wasn’t one of them. I mean, why do you think your home didn’t sell?
Carley Hathaway19:46
My agent sucks.
Mary Anne Gorey19:49
Wow, okay. So, you weren’t happy with the agent that you chose, is that right?
Carley Hathaway19:55
Well, my agent is my brother’s sister’s cousin, so we felt obligated.
Mary Anne Gorey20:00
Oh my goodness. So, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that. Absolutely. I mean, is there anything they did that you like best?
Carley Hathaway20:07
No.
Mary Anne Gorey20:08
No. Nothing at all?
Carley Hathaway20:10
No. Miserable.
Mary Anne Gorey20:12
Oh my goodness.
Carley Hathaway20:13
Oh wait, they lit a candle once during a showing. That was it.
Mary Anne Gorey20:17
They lit a candle during a showing. That sounds like a fire hazard, Carley.
Carley Hathaway20:24
You’re funny, Mary Anne. I like you.
Mary Anne Gorey20:25
And I like you too. And I mean, Carley, if we get you closer to Florida and get your household and show you different ways of how we could get your home sold quicker and for more money, would that be worth 15 minutes of your time to explore that?
Carley Hathaway20:42
Yeah, I think. Well, yeah, I think so, maybe.
Mary Anne Gorey20:48
All right. What would be a good time for us to get together? I have some availability tomorrow or would Saturday be better for you? Depending what day it is.
Carley Hathaway20:58
Friday.
Mary Anne Gorey20:59
Friday, great. And I have 2:00 or would 4:00 be better for you on Friday, Carley?
Carley Hathaway21:04
Well, I work till 5:00, but I guess I could take off a little bit early, but I don’t want any pressure selling.
Mary Anne Gorey21:14
No
Carley Hathaway21:14
… the market for so long, I’ve been living not comfortably. I can’t leave my stuff everywhere. I have to keep everything tight, so I’m not sure.
Mary Anne Gorey21:23
Right. Well, it’s definitely my goal to make this as stress free as possible. And of course, there is no obligation. This is just a conversation just to make sure that you’re making the right decision. Okay?
Carley Hathaway21:35
Yeah, that sounds good.
Mary Anne Gorey21:36
All right, great. Well, if you work until 5:00, would 5:30 or 6:00 be better for you?
Carley Hathaway21:41
5:30 would be good, yeah.
Mary Anne Gorey21:43
Okay, 5:30. Great. So, Carley, before we get together tomorrow, there’s just some questions I need to ask you just to make sure I’m in line with the goals that you’d like to achieve. Okay?
Carley Hathaway21:51
Okay.
21:55Nice.
Ren Jones21:58
Love it.
Mary Anne Gorey21:59
Thank you.
Carley Hathaway22:00
Isn’t she spot on, Ren?
Ren Jones22:02
She is spot on. She is spot on. That is good-
Carley Hathaway22:07
And can I just say, Mary Anne, I’ve listened to you a lot, and you are the only one that goes straight into the pre-qual and I feel like that’s why you get so many listings.
22:16 — Pre-qualifying on the spot rather than calling back
Mary Anne Gorey22:16
Well, I find if I don’t pre-qual on the spot, I find it incredibly hard to get them back on the phone. And also, I find the commitment level isn’t quite the same, at least when I have … I’ve pre-qualed them, I can get the packet out and the appointment’s more likely to happen. Whereas, if I say I’ll call you back later to pre-qualify and by that time they’ve spoken to their significant other and all that stuff and they’ve had time to think about it, I end up closing again.
Carley Hathaway22:50
Yeah, exactly. Okay. I heard you say I sent out the packet. So, you sent a pre-listing packet?
Mary Anne Gorey22:56
Yes.
Carley Hathaway22:57
What do you include in that packet?
Mary Anne Gorey22:59
So, I have my pre-listing packet, which is a full CMA, my marketing plan of action. I have some market stats in there, some references, and then I’ll send a copy of the contract and the disclosures. Basically, all the paperwork we would be signing.
Carley Hathaway23:18
Wow.
Mary Anne Gorey23:18
I send that all in one packet to the prospect.
Carley Hathaway23:23
Including the price.
Mary Anne Gorey23:24
Including the price, yeah.
Carley Hathaway23:26
And that doesn’t scare you or intimidate you.
Mary Anne Gorey23:28
No.
Carley Hathaway23:30
Good.
Mary Anne Gorey23:31
I’d rather know about the price ahead of time so I can prepare for that objection.
Carley Hathaway23:36
Yeah, that shock value-
Ren Jones23:38
They don’t cancel out at all when they look at that price. They’re like, “She wasn’t listening to me. We wanted 700 and she’s saying six and a quarter.”
Mary Anne Gorey23:47
Well, right. I mean, they’re going to try, of course, but if I have … I’m going to have the data to back up what I’m saying.
Ren Jones23:55
But they’re not going to cancel the appointment?
Mary Anne Gorey23:57
They might try to cancel the appointment, but unless it’s crazy off price and they’ll say, “We’ll never list below this,” and I know that it’s never going to sell for that, which is quite rare, then I might cancel it. But if we’re close, then I’m going to go on it anyway.
24:19 — Sending the CMA with the price before the appointment
Ren Jones24:19
Good. So, everybody needs to listen to this. She’s sending over a CMA with a full price on there already ahead of time. Now, on the upside of that … On the downside, sometimes they’ll leave you a message and cancel and don’t come. On the upside, think about what happens. If she had not done that, they want 700, she’s saying 625. She goes there, presents it cold, 625. They go, “Oh, we weren’t prepared for this. We got to think about it.” 24 hours later, Coldwell banker’s sitting in front of her. Okay?
Mary Anne Gorey24:51
Right.
Ren Jones24:52
And Coldwell banker gets it. She sends it ahead of time, they look at it a day ahead, they go, “625, she must be crazy.” And then they look and they go, “Yeah, she must be crazy.” And they look online, they go, “Well, look, this is the Harrison’s house down the street and that’s … Oh my God … ” And they spend some time with it. And then they wake up the next day after looking at it and they think, “Well, she’s probably right.” And then she comes in and they’ve already realized this is pretty accurate. So, then they don’t have to think it over it for 24 hours and have the next Coldwell banker sitting there. So, it’s a good strategy and a lot of…
Carley Hathaway25:31
It’s good and it shows
Ren Jones25:33
… most of you out here are going to be afraid to do it. Most agents are going to be afraid to do that.
Carley Hathaway25:38
We challenge you.
Ren Jones25:39
And Mary Anne, it works for you, is that right?
Mary Anne Gorey25:42
Yeah, it definitely works. And I mean, the listing presentation itself from the beginning, it’s really setting them up for that price and how buyers are…
Ren Jones25:53
Yeah, and you’re in front of them at that point. You’re in front of them at that point.
Mary Anne Gorey25:56
Right, exactly.
Ren Jones25:56
I’m just saying, most agents are afraid to send over a full CMA with a price on it because they’re afraid they’ll get canceled. And to be fair, that does happen once in a while.
Mary Anne Gorey26:05
Well, right.
Ren Jones26:05
Because it does. Once in a while, it does happen. But it’s an interesting strategy.
Mary Anne Gorey26:12
It does happen. And to be honest with you, Ren, I would much rather have them cancel on the phone than me sat in front of them for an hour, drive there, sit in front of them for an hour to have to go
Ren Jones26:23
Right. But it balances because on the other side, they’re ready when you get there with this price that they weren’t expecting. Because it takes-
Mary Anne Gorey26:31
Exactly.
Ren Jones26:32
… 24 hours to get mad about it and then to resolve it in their head. It takes a day. If they’re thinking seven and then you throw six and a quarter, they’re not necessarily going to sign right away. Unless they’ve had a day to think about it, which you’ve done for them. So, it’s a good point.
Carley Hathaway26:50
Very good point.
Ren Jones26:51
Now, we’re going-
Mary Anne Gorey26:51
And-
Ren Jones26:51
… to have people watching this and want to know how to reach you for a variety of reasons. Hopefully, one, to either list a home or send a referral.
Carley Hathaway26:59
Referrals.
Ren Jones27:00
What’s the best way to reach you?
Mary Anne Gorey27:03
Best way would be my cell phone. It’d be 860-515-0228. Yeah, that would be the way to reach me.
Ren Jones27:11
Okay. And is there an email or a website or something like that that we should … In case they want to reach out?
Mary Anne Gorey27:18
Yeah, so my email would be Maryanne … I’m going to have to start that again, I can’t remember my email now. Maryanne.century21@gmail.com.
Ren Jones27:28
Fantastic.
Carley Hathaway27:30
Love it. I’m so excited. This was one of my favorite, most favorite interviews. I’m going to re-watch it 17 times to put it in my brain. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
Mary Anne Gorey27:42
No, thank you guys. It’s a pleasure to come on. And yeah, it was great fun.
Carley Hathaway27:46
Good.
Ren Jones27:47
This has been wonderful. Thanks everybody for being here. We’re going to have another exciting guest next week who is blowing it up. And it’s fun, Mary Anne. A year and five months in the business, last year you did 32. This year you’re tracking for 50, which gives you a quarter of million dollars in your second year in the business. Congratulations.
Mary Anne Gorey28:06
Very exciting, yeah.
Ren Jones28:06
And 80% sellers, last year was 80% buyers. That’s a good … People are going to want to watch this and figure out how to do this.
Carley Hathaway28:17
And Ren, what’s Mary Anne’s secret?
Ren Jones28:19
Mary Anne’s secret? Oh, we all know what Mary Anne’s secret is. She starts her day with a bowl of Cheerios. No, I don’t know, actually. What she does is she goes through her process and she practices and role plays. She gets on the phone, she prospects, then she returns calls and it’s near lunchtime. But does she go for lunch? No. She goes to the freezer and she gets delicious Graeter’s mint chocolate chip. This is the one for listings. The other flavors are … She used to last year. You know what her favorite ice cream was? Carley, you know what it was. You know what her-
Carley Hathaway28:50
Rocky Road.
Ren Jones28:52
It was Rocky Road, because she was working with buyers
Carley Hathaway28:55
Buyers.
Ren Jones28:56
She was working with Rocky Road. Now she has the Graeter’s mint chocolate chip. Graeters.com, go there. You can find it in your market all over North America. We’ll see you guys next week when we have another exciting guest-
Carley Hathaway29:09
Thank you so much.
Ren Jones29:09
… blowing it up and doing crazy, exciting things, making a lot of money and having the time to enjoy it. See you guys.
29:09
Questions this episode answers
What does a listing agent’s daily schedule look like?
Mary Anne Gorey role plays at 7:00, prospects from 8:00 to 11:00, does lead follow-up from 11:00 to 11:30, then a second role play at 11:30 and lunch at 12:00. Afternoons vary between admin and appointments. She credits the schedule itself with carrying her through the days she does not feel like it.
Should you use real estate scripts word for word?
Gorey uses them verbatim. Her first reaction on orientation day was that they did not sound like her, but she found the more she practised the more they sounded like her. She says going off script is usually when things go wrong, so she no longer does it.
When should you pre-qualify a seller?
Gorey pre-qualifies on the call rather than arranging to call back. She finds it hard to get sellers back on the phone, and that the commitment level drops once they have spoken to a partner and had time to think. Pre-qualified appointments are far more likely to actually happen.
Should you send a price before the listing appointment?
Gorey sends the CMA with her price a day ahead. Ren Jones explains the logic: a seller who wants 700 and is shown 625 cold will want to think it over, and a competing agent gets the next day. Sent ahead, they spend that day looking at comparables and arrive having accepted the number.
How do you keep prospecting on the days you do not want to?
Gorey says she feels like that all the time. What gets her through is the schedule itself, plus taking her business plan and goal board down and actually reading them each morning, rather than letting them hang on the wall as background noise.
Mary Anne Gorey
Sells in Hartford, Connecticut with a Mike Ferry brokerage, having previously run an accessory business.
Ready to take more listings?
Vulcan7 delivers expired, FSBO and FRBO leads with verified contact data, every morning.


