Alexa DePaolo on the systems that fix the follow-up failure 80% of agents share

Alexa DePaolo00:02

80% of realtors and lenders do not have a proper follow-up. It’s why so many of us are not sitting in the top 1% of closings. It’s because we just lack systems and follow-up. Motivation is not discipline, but systems help keep discipline in place. The point of having a system is learning how to connect better, which is what builds proper business growth.

00:22This is absolutely what is going to lead into stronger databases and more income with less work, and more enjoyable work.

Melissa Zurin00:35

All right. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us today. From the mortgage industry, Alexa DePaolo is here with us today to share with us the industry secrets that can literally change your business trajectory. She built a thriving career helping others turn their grit into momentum. And with over 16 years in lending and a reputation for inspiring action, Alexa now empowers real estate professionals, entrepreneurs, and sales teams to master mindset, build sustainable systems, and create businesses that they love.

01:17So with that said, get your notebooks ready, because we’re going to dive into mastering a simple yet high-level prospecting system designed to help agents to stay focused, increase output, and follow up with confidence, so you can list more properties and take control and grow your business.

Alexa DePaolo01:38

Thank you.

Alexa DePaolo01:39

Awesome. Again, thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here. And I am talking about the high-impact prospecting systems. It’s a daily structure that really drives real results. And what I’ve learned is it’s not just about scripts, this is about systems, right? Having the right systems in place.

02:00And this presentation, we specifically designed for real estate agents with unpredictable schedules. And on the lending side, we know what it’s like to have an unpredictable schedule as well. And so that’s why these systems work for both of us. We also build our business, or at least I do, I build my business very similarly to what realtors do.

02:20I build my business from the client directly, and so these systems are designed for that, right? It’s designed for you, ’cause it matches the way you guys build your business. Now, the real problem with most people is not skill, but it’s actually true structure. There’s too many options, no clear priorities, reactive days instead of intentional mornings, and follow-up tends to fall through the cracks because of it.

02:41So inconsistent effort can lead to inconsistent results. And it’s just because, again, in this business, we are pulled in so many different directions, and it ends up creating inconsistencies, which then creates the inconsistencies in our results, which is why we cannot predict what next month or next year is gonna look like from an income standpoint.

02:58And again, it comes from not lack of skill. Most of us have the skills to be able to do it, but it’s the lack of structure. So a lot of times this can lead to overwhelm, avoidance. Sometimes we feel guilt or shame, and it’s normal. Actually, I do not know anybody who either hasn’t felt this or doesn’t still feel this, and we tend to feel really alone in those emotional responses, right?

03:20We’re feeling guilt that they’re doing what they’re supposed to, but I’m not. Most people aren’t doing what they’re supposed to. Or we get so overwhelmed that we just start to avoid it. But it’s very common, and it’s actually not failure, and this is what we need to know, because when we start associating it with failure, we start feeling more guilt and shame in it, and then that creates even more inconsistencies, ’cause then we get stuck in that.

Alexa DePaolo03:42

But the cost of inconsistencies is you lose momentum, you have long dry spells, and then there’s lower confidence in the follow-up, right? We get really out of practice. I’ll use an example, when rates started to increase. So business for lenders in 2020 and in 2021 was very reactive. I didn’t have to do anything to be proactive.

04:02I could walk into a room and just say, “I’m a lender,” and I could get 10 deals. But when 2022 rolled around and interest rates started to increase on us, it felt so much harder to just pick up the phone and be proactive with my work. I was out of practice, right? So then my confidence is down, and then I lack in the follow-up, and then I have these dry spells, and I lose the momentum, because it’s not something that’s coming naturally to me right now.

04:27And then it just creates this emotional rollercoaster, but also an income rollercoaster. If you’ve ever felt like that. If you’ve ever had a great week, followed by a quiet one, right? The inconsistencies of the business. It’s very, very normal to see this, and it happens to all of us.

Alexa DePaolo04:46

So that’s the cost of inconsistencies. Most of us go through it, I would say probably 80% of the business, but there’s ways to avoid this, and it really comes down to systems. Systems are always going to beat motivation. Motivation is unreliable. Today I might wake up and I might feel motivated to do it, but tomorrow I might not, which again, is gonna lead to even more inconsistencies.

05:11But the systems create default action even when I’m not feeling motivated to do it. It creates a structure, and then it removes decision fatigue. I think all of us can probably relate with decision fatigue. At least I know I do, of being a mom and being a business owner and running a lending team, decision fatigue is so real.

05:29So the structure allows me to avoid decision fatigue. I know what I’m doing every morning, I know what I’m doing every afternoon, I know what I’m doing in the evenings, and it just becomes automatic. That’s what the point of consistencies are, right? The point of building in systems, it’s so it becomes automatic for me.

05:46And I really wanna press on this. Motivation is not discipline, but systems help keep discipline in place. A lot of us will only stay disciplined when we’re feeling really motivated, but those are not the same thing. We have to have discipline even when the motivation lacks. So you don’t have to rise to motivation, you just fall to the systems.

06:05That’s what you need to do. It’s a very important baseline to remember, is don’t try to always feel motivated to do it. Just put the right systems in place, and then always lean on those systems to create that consistency for you. It’s the strength that top producers have at their business. Well, four pillars of high-impact prospecting.

Alexa DePaolo06:26

These are my rocks, what I refer to as rocks. Some of you may have heard that. A rock in the schedule, the analogy behind what a rock means is, if I had a jar and I was gonna pour sand in that jar, and then I was gonna try to put rocks inside of it, the rocks are no longer gonna fit. But if I put rocks in the jar first, and then I pour sand into the jar, both the rocks and the sand will both fit, okay?

06:49So it’s really important to have non-negotiable daily structures, and that’s always what I refer to as my rocks. And this, I always put, like, what is gonna be highest-impact prospecting into my day. So I do a lot of flexible time blocking as well. I have non-negotiable time blocks, and then I have flexible time blocks.

07:08So what that means, I’ll give you an example, is maybe from six AM to ten AM is a non-negotiable structure, right? I have breakfast with the kids, I’m taking them to school. This is family time for me. Maybe this is setting my intentions for the day. But then after a certain time, I’ve got, let’s say, eleven AM to one PM or two PM, this is gonna be flexible time for me.

07:31This is time where I don’t necessarily have anything booked into this timeframe, but I can do all my last-minute appointments. I can do a last-minute showing. This is when I can be really flexible with lunch meetings that happen last minute. Those are specifically blocked out, so that way my rocks don’t get interrupted.

07:47But then my flexible hours, I can throw some last-minute stuff in there that, again, is going to be high impact. That’s really important, because obviously as realtors, you can’t just time block everything. You don’t know when someone’s gonna need to show up to see a house. You don’t always know what their schedule’s gonna look like with every client.

08:05So what I think is really important is introducing the non-negotiables and then introducing time blocking for last-minute stuff that you need to be able to add in there. And if you end up not being able to fill that time during the week or during the days, then we fill it with different rocks, right?

08:20We find ways to fill that time. Or if that’s something that you need, if you need to take a break to take care of yourself, then we take an hour to do that. You need to be able to take care of yourself as well. So those flexible time blocks are really important as well. And then a simple follow-up system.

08:36You really wanna be introducing habits that protect the momentum. Okay. So these are the four pillars of high-impact prospecting. So I’m gonna go through it again. It’s a non-negotiable daily structure, so what I call is my rocks. Non-negotiables, we don’t move them. I create time blocks either on days or, like, a full day.

08:52This whole day is gonna be really flexible, I can throw whatever I want into this day. Or I do it for portions of the day, right? A few hours a day, these are my flexible time periods. So you can do one or the other. And then you need a simple follow-up system. And then this is all gonna lead to the fourth one.

Alexa DePaolo09:11

These are habits that protect your momentum, okay? Because without creating the habits, you’re gonna lose all of it. The point of creating these systems is to create the habits, is to create strength in the high-impact prospecting. Now, top producers before noon, this is really important. What do top producers do before noon?

09:31Prospecting happens early. I don’t know what it’s like for you, but I know at least in my world, I would imagine again that it’s pretty similar, is once I let the afternoon get too late into the day, if I haven’t already done my prospecting, I’m getting interrupted at that point. That’s when most of my clients are calling me, because they might be looking at houses that evening.

09:49That’s when most of my realtors are calling me, because they’re submitting offers. The day gets crazy, typically after twelve PM. And so I do all of my prospecting and all of my non-negotiables before noon. I let most of my flexible times be noon and later, because that’s gonna allow me to show up for the clients I need to show up for.

Alexa DePaolo10:08

I need to be flexible for that. But it’s gonna give me the time to make sure that my non-negotiables don’t change. So I make the touch points before any of my distractions start. The other thing I do here is I don’t make any excuses for this. This is one of the biggest issues that I see when I’m training lenders or realtors, is there’s a lot of excuses, and I’m not a fan of excuses.

10:29Life happens to all of us, okay? Now, I don’t mean severe excuses. I had someone on the team, they had two family members pass away back to back, and that’s an acceptable excuse, okay? Like, we have to be able to take care of each other. We have to be able to take care of our family. We have to be able to step out at times.

10:46But what I mean by no excuses is, he also needed to be given an appropriate amount of time to mourn, and then he needs to get back into the game. Otherwise, his career is gonna plateau, right? It’s gonna fall short. So he needs to be able to give himself those days, those weeks, and sometimes those months to be able to emotionally recover, and then the no excuses start again.

11:08We have to be able to take care of ourselves, but that’s different than making excuses. I actually time block into my day, again, another non-negotiable is me time. I always schedule in Alexa time and family time into the business schedule, ’cause that’s what allows me to avoid burnout. But that’s not me creating an excuse.

11:26This is what also takes care of me. If I’m not okay, the business isn’t okay. If I’m not okay, the family’s not okay. So taking care of me is a part of the business plan, that’s not an excuse. What gets dangerous is when you do this too often, when I make too many excuses to do everything except work, when I do everything except the follow-up and everything except the prospecting.

11:46That’s when making excuses becomes something that’s dangerous, right? So you wanna really make sure that you’re reflecting on, okay, what am I doing? Am I actually making excuses? Do I get caught up watching Netflix? Do I get caught up staring at my phone and doom scrolling?

12:02What are you doing to fill the time, and are you actually protecting your non-negotiables? So what this looks like for me is, before noon, I have one primary must-do activity every single day. It gives me, like, a clear start and a clear finish to the day, okay? ‘Cause I know exactly how I’m gonna start it, I know exactly how I wanna finish strong, and that doesn’t mean that necessarily I closed the deal today.

12:24Finishing strong is just, I did everything that I need to do to make sure that business is gonna continue to come in down the road, and so I’m good. I finished today with a clear mind, because I know that I did everything I needed to to create forward momentum in the business. So I can wash my hands clean of today, spend time with the family, spend time with my husband, go to bed, and then start all over again tomorrow.

12:44It doesn’t mean I needed to close a deal to feel like it was a win today. I just know that I needed clear forward movement. I also spend my time on high income-based activities and not time-based. Okay? The high income-based activities is where I spend my time, and it’s for all of us. We are all business owners.

13:01I run my business, you run your business. So it’s really important that I spend my time on the high income-based activities, because in this industry, we are worth more. Like, if you were to break down your hourly pay, you are probably worth more than you realize. So that’s where my time needs to be best spent.

Alexa DePaolo13:17

Is this income producing? If I am going to spend the time doing this… staring at my phone for two hours is not high income producing. So I avoid that as often as I can, especially before noon. Okay? Now, here’s a little bit of an example with some structure. Connect, nurture, follow up. So that is what I do before noon, is I’m gonna do whatever I can to be connecting with people very authentically and organically.

13:39I’m gonna make sure that I’m nurturing relationships, and I’m gonna make sure that I’m doing follow-up. Again, these are non-negotiables. I make sure that I do all of my natural follow-up. If I’ve got a client who maybe is a year out from buying, I’m still following up with them on a regular basis, because if they’re ready a year from now and I haven’t talked to them in 12 months, I am no longer relevant, and they are going to forget about me.

14:05They’re gonna move on to the next lender or move on to the next realtor. So I do consistent follow-up. All right? Again, these are non-negotiables before 12:00 PM, because connecting, nurturing, and proper follow-up is high income producing. It’s guaranteed to make me money, and it’s guaranteed to make me good money.

14:22So that’s where I spend my time. And honestly, this clarity is gonna help you remove procrastination. When you get really clear on where your highest producing income activities exist, that is gonna help you avoid any sort of procrastination, because now you’re really clear on where your focus needs to be.

14:40And it’s not about working longer, ’cause that’s not what this is about. I have more time. I’ve made more money the last few years, and I have more time with my family, because I’ve been able to create clarity and consistency and non-negotiables. So it’s not about working longer, ’cause that, again, creates the burnout.

14:58But this is not about let’s burn everybody out. This is, how do I work cleaner and smarter, so I have more time to take care of myself, I have more time to take care of my family, and then I have more time to enjoy the business. So one of the reasons I actually love Vulcan7 is ’cause they have systems to actually provide this.

Alexa DePaolo15:16

They’re one of my favorite systems for realtors for this exact reason, right? Your prospecting system needs fuel. That’s where quality data comes in. Having quality data matters. You can buy leads anywhere, but quality leads is rare, and relationships are key in this business. So I want quality leads, and I want strong relationships with these people.

15:37Those are absolutely key for high income producing activities. So what does that mean? Sometimes relationships start with clients rather than referral partners. I know for me, my business is similar to a realtor’s business. Again, I build it from clients only. About thirty percent of my business comes from realtors.

15:54The rest of it is database, it’s clients. And so that’s who my target market is. So I build the relationships with the clients, and that’s where it starts and where it builds. And then I get the most of my referrals from my database as well. I track all of my leads, so I know that that’s where my time and money is best spent.

16:12And again, it’s very similar for realtors, because that’s where your guys’ clients come from. I’m sorry, that’s where your business comes from. It’s the client directly. So why we like Vulcan7 is because it provides continuously updated seller leads, and they’re always gonna focus on quality leads.

16:29People who, again, expired, FSBO, circling prospects. This is really important because, again, they are quality. These are people you can build relationships with. I know that Vulcan7 also includes a dialer and a CRM, so that way you can stay on track of the tech systems, and it keeps it nice and simple for you.

Alexa DePaolo16:48

I am huge on a CRM. CRMs, my business lives and dies with my CRM. Okay? I always refer to my database as, like, my baby, and if I feed it and I nurture it and I take good care of it, it’s gonna grow big and strong. That’s my CRM. I put my database into my CRM. My CRM allows me to nurture it and feed it and keep it strong, and it’s only going to grow.

17:09Because again, if I’ve got a client that really connected with me, they’re likely going to refer me to their friends and their family, which is gonna continue to build my database. And then to notate, this is where seventy percent of my business comes from. It’s my clients, or it’s my clients’ referrals.

17:26It’s not actually realtor partners or other referral partners. So having immediate touch points with these clients, and being able to stay on top of this with a quality lead, is absolutely vital in business. So the best fit for Vulcan7 are agents or listing agents who thrive on consistency and measurable daily activity.

17:49It’s really nice to be able to see and measure what I’m actually doing. It just helps keep us kind of positive, and helps add to the momentum and that motivation. And the reason I love this is because, again, it’s gonna make the relationship with one person even stronger, which then leads to even more referrals.

18:05And this is what my business lives and dies with. So if you’ve got a strong relationship, if you know how to make good connections with people, it’s only gonna continue to strengthen your database, which is going to lead to more sales and more buyers, and it’s gonna connect you to even more people, which only gives you more exposure, and that is where business strength lives and dies.

18:29Again, I just cannot stress that enough. It’s absolutely vital. It’s why we like Vulcan7, because their messaging aligns with how we build our business. It’s so strong for you guys. Now, when it comes to, this is really important, when it comes to being able to avoid burnout, you really need to be able to stop doing everything.

Alexa DePaolo18:46

What I had to learn is, I had to learn how to delegate, and what that meant is, I was doing all the things. I knew how to do all the things. I built the business from the ground up. I knew how to do everything really well. So why wouldn’t I do it? Why would I go pay somebody else to do what I already know how to do?

19:03Well, again, I was burning out, and what I needed to realize is that my time was valuable. And there was parts of the job that I didn’t love doing anymore. So now I spend time doing high-income producing activities only, and I delegate non-high producing activities. If I’m worth $300 an hour, I am not gonna do something that I can pay somebody $15 an hour to do for me.

19:26I can pay somebody to do that, and I can pay them next to nothing to have my time back. Why would I not pour into that? ‘Cause that just, again, opens up more time for my kids, more time for my husband, more time for myself. And then, again, my business does better when I’m in a good head space, because I’ve learned to delegate, and I learned to spend my time where it’s used highest and best capacity.

Alexa DePaolo19:49

So your routine should be building your future and not maintaining your past. I control what I can, and the rest of it’s gonna be fine. It just brings me more peace to be able to stay on top of things a bit more peacefully. Now, where money is actually lost, I think this is really important, a lot of us don’t always realize where we’re actually losing money, and it is in the lack of follow-up.

20:15It’s not laziness. A lot of us will feel a lot of guilt and shame that it’s gonna come from, “I’m just being lazy, and that’s why I’ve lost the money,” but that’s really not where it’s coming from. We just lack the systems, and we lack the system in structuring our days. We lack the systems in protecting certain time blocks of our day, and then we might lack systems within the business.

20:38Again, maybe tracking leads or CRMs. This is so vital to your business, is to be able to track this stuff and to be able to keep everything organized. This is where follow-up failure exists. 80% of realtors and lenders do not have a proper follow-up. It’s why so many of us are not sitting in the top 1% of closings.

20:59It’s because we just lack systems and follow-up. So what’s gonna set you aside is going to be implementing proper systems. Again, flexible time blocks or flexible days, rocks in your days, and systems, proper systems that are gonna allow you to stay organized, and that way you’re not just hoping for motivation.

21:18You are staying disciplined, and you can always fall back on a system to make sure everything is always moving the needle forward. And when you do this, it’s gonna create your confidence, which is gonna then lead to even more follow-up, and it’s just gonna continue to repeat. Follow-up should be something that’s repeatable and boring.

21:33I should have a system that’s like, “This is just what I do every single day. I can copy and paste messages to people, but I’m still showing up authentically.” The point of systems, a lot of people struggle with this, the point of systems is not about learning to sell better. The point of having a system is learning how to connect better, which is what builds proper business growth.

21:54This is absolutely what is going to lead into stronger databases and more income with less work, and more enjoyable work. This is absolutely most important. Again, it’s one of the reasons I like Vulcan7 so much, and thank you so much for having me today. I love Vulcan7 because you guys create simplicity in the follow-up.

22:12You have the CRM. You have everything that they need to be able to make sure that you are staying on top of everything that you need to stay on top of, so you guys can either maintain a top producer level or you can be a top producer. So again, Vulcan7, thank you so much for having me, and feel free to scan the QR codes.

22:31You can follow me on my newsletter. You can follow me on Instagram. We talk about this stuff often, and if you ever just wanna touch base and get any tips on what I’m doing that might be a little different, you can always reach out.

Melissa Zurin22:44

Hey, Alexa. Oh my, Alexa, I’ll tell you what, so many gold nuggets in this.

22:51I mean, I don’t know how you do it, but you covered so much, and I think one of the things that I love is how you give everybody the flexibility and permission to adjust their schedule when they need to. And if you’re not having a good day and you know you need to be at an event 100%, give yourself the ability to be flexible if you’re able to, so that you can rest or be there for your family.

23:21And I mean, that’s such an important component to, I think, having that balance in life.

Alexa DePaolo23:26

Thank you. I’m really passionate about it. If you can’t tell, I really love taking care of us in this business, and having the freedom and flexibility that the business allows for, but protecting it at all cost.

Melissa Zurin23:37

Alexa, thank you so much for being here today with us, and we really appreciate you. Great stuff. And you guys, you need to contact Alexa. Connect with her on her website, connect with her on Instagram, and if you need seller leads, please check out the Vulcan7 seller leads, so that you can be getting those every day, and you have somebody to call every day.

24:02You don’t have to think about it. They’re there for you.

Alexa DePaolo24:05

Thank you.

Melissa Zurin24:06

All right, guys. Thank you. See y’all later. Bye-bye.