How Brandon Hatchett took 15 listings in his first year calling expireds daily

Brandon Hatchett00:00

The most impactful thing that I’ve learned is just be consistent. At one point, I’ve had four properties under contract. I couldn’t even believe it happened like that, but what I realized is it doesn’t matter if you’re not consistent. So the main thing is just practice your objections and call every day no matter what.

00:15Let’s say I had four under contract, I was so focused on making sure those deals get to the closing table. Once those closed, if I wasn’t calling, then that following month was a little dry for me. So the main thing that I learned is prospecting comes before everything. Just stay on the phones.

Aaron Wittenstein00:38

What’s going on everybody? It’s me, it’s Aaron Wittenstein, and I would like to welcome you to Vulcan7 Roadmap. This is where we interview agents across the country on how they take an additional one, two, three, four, five, six, just a lot of listings a week. And this is kinda like a full circle moment for me right here, everybody.

00:55From Northern Virginia, my buddy Brandon Hatchett. Brandon has been selling for about a year, okay? And he took 15 listings last year, with the majority of them being through Vulcan7. So I kinda wanna give you a hug right now, man. Right?

Brandon Hatchett01:13

Exactly.

Aaron Wittenstein01:14

So, that’s awesome,

01:15man.

01:15Oh, my gosh. So talk to me. So just what’s been going on?

Brandon Hatchett01:21

So this is like 100% a full circle moment, ’cause I remember when we first met, it was like the beginning of the year. I wasn’t even picking up the phones yet, and I was just real nervous.

01:30And then you actually are the one that pointed me to the direction of Vulcan7, ’cause I was hand dialing at first, and it used to take me forever. And you’re like, “Look, man, this will save you a bunch of time.” So I started working with Vulcan7. You showed me how to set up my folders and stuff like that.

01:44And then after that, once I got over the fear of the nos and just picking up the phone, the rest was history, man.

Aaron Wittenstein01:51

All right. Let me ask you this. Like I said, I remember when we did first speak, you did have a little bit of call reluctance. You know what I mean? A little bit of fear of rejection, if you will.

02:00Okay? Can you walk us through how you got over that?

Brandon Hatchett02:06

I got over it by realizing, one, a majority of it was just me being in my head. Once I realized the worst they can say is no, and at the end of the day, if they say no, they hang up, I’ll probably never even talk to this person again.

02:22Once I realized that, and once I realized it’s kind of a numbers game, right? There’s no way I get 100 nos in a row. Eventually I’m gonna get a yes. So that’s how my approach was. Instead of being bummed out about a no, I looked at it like, “Okay, I have a yes that’s on the way.”

02:38So basically how I looked at it is that’s how I got over my fear.

Aaron Wittenstein02:42

So, all right. So how long did it take from when you started, okay, which is like January. It wasn’t like a year ago, just for time purposes. So

Brandon Hatchett02:53

About a year ago. Exactly.

Aaron Wittenstein02:54

So in that year period, or I’m sorry, within what period of time did it take to go from “Ah,” to “Yeah, we got this”?

Brandon Hatchett03:06

I would say once I got my first appointment, then I got my first listing, ’cause then once that closed, I ended up getting two to three listings the following month. So it was really once I got paid and once I saw myself, like I can actually do this, you know what I mean?

03:26And the sellers were trusting me over the phone, then after that it was history. It was just really just having confidence in myself.

Aaron Wittenstein03:32

So what I’m hearing here is that you took the action, and when you started seeing the results, it all became much easier.

Brandon Hatchett03:44

Exactly.

Aaron Wittenstein03:46

Okay. Got it. So if you had to give someone one piece of advice when it comes to call reluctance, what would that piece of advice be?

Brandon Hatchett03:56

It’s a numbers game. The worst they can say is no, and the good thing about calling expired and canceleds is we have unlimited amount of data. You don’t have to call this month. You can call… Like this morning, I was calling expired and canceleds from December 2023. You know what I mean? So it’s not like you only have a limited amount of leads.

04:18So that would be my one piece of advice.

Aaron Wittenstein04:21

Right. So how many hours a day right now would you say that you’re calling?

Brandon Hatchett04:26

Three. So I call from 8:00 to 11:00, and then if I have extra time in the afternoon around 3:00, 5:00, I’ll call, but normally that’s when I’m out showing or servicing clients.

Aaron Wittenstein04:38

Got it. All right. I didn’t tell you I was gonna put you on the spot, but I’m gonna put you on the spot. Is that okay?

Brandon Hatchett04:45

Oh, man. I guess so. Yeah, let’s do it.

Aaron Wittenstein04:47

All right. Are you open to doing a role play with me?

Brandon Hatchett04:51

That’s all I do. Let’s get in.

Aaron Wittenstein04:53

All right, give me a call. Give me a ring, ring.

Brandon Hatchett04:56

All right. Ring, ring.

Aaron Wittenstein04:57

Hello.

Brandon Hatchett04:58

Hey, Aaron?

Aaron Wittenstein05:00

Yes.

Brandon Hatchett05:01

Hey, Aaron. This is Brandon. You may not like me for this, Aaron, but I’m a realtor with the local Samson office. Do you wanna hang up now or you give me 30 quick seconds to tell you why I’m calling?

Aaron Wittenstein05:11

What do you want? What do you got?

Brandon Hatchett05:14

So the reason for my call, Aaron, and I appreciate you giving me the time.

05:17The reason for my call is I noticed your home came off the market as expired listing. And I was just trying to figure out, how in the world did your home on 123 Main Street not sell?

Aaron Wittenstein05:26

I have no idea. You’re like the 14th agent to call me, so I have no clue why it didn’t sell.

Brandon Hatchett05:31

Oh, man. Oh, man, Aaron.

05:33And look, I can tell you’ve been real popular lately, and I know the last thing you expected was to get bombarded with phone calls, so I’ll make this quick. When your agent was updating you once or twice a week, what kind of feedback was he giving you?

Aaron Wittenstein05:44

Oh, they didn’t do that.

Brandon Hatchett05:47

Oh, wow. So he wasn’t giving you any feedback as to why you weren’t receiving the offers that you originally expected?

Aaron Wittenstein05:52

No.

Brandon Hatchett05:53

Wow, Aaron. Well, look, man, I’m so sorry to hear that, and let me be the first to tell you, you definitely deserve better service than that. A lot of the people I’ve been talking to recently, that’s one of the main things they tell me. They’re telling me that agents tend to blame the market or outside factors instead of themselves, so I’m sorry you had to go through that, Aaron.

06:07And let me ask you, your home is absolutely lovely. It’s in a great area. What had you guys thinking about selling in the first place?

Aaron Wittenstein06:13

We need to be closer to my mother-in-law in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Brandon Hatchett06:18

Okay. Be closer to Tulsa, Oklahoma with the family. Okay. And let me ask you, is this move to be closer to the family, is that still a goal of you guys, or did you guys close that door on that forever?

Aaron Wittenstein06:27

Yeah,

06:27I mean, we are, but like I said, you’re probably like the 35th agent to call me in regards to this. And I think we’re gonna wind up putting the home up ourselves at this point, so.

Brandon Hatchett06:40

Okay, okay. Put it back for yourselves.

06:41And let me ask you, if I could show you a proven strategy that could help you get your number in the next 30 to 40 days, is that something you would be open to at least further discuss?

Aaron Wittenstein06:51

I mean, how would you possibly do that if our other agent didn’t do it?

Brandon Hatchett06:56

So that’s a great question, Aaron. So I know that in my business the talk is the same, but the results are completely different, and it’s really not a question of what we’re gonna do differently, right, Aaron?

07:05It’s really a question of what we’re gonna do better. So that’s not the question. We know that works, right? The real question is just us trying to figure out what you’re looking to accomplish and why, then coming up with a game plan to help you get what you want in the time you want. Does that make sense?

Aaron Wittenstein07:18

Totally. That makes total sense. It does. It kind of does.

Brandon Hatchett07:20

All right. Perfect, Aaron. Perfect. So look, let’s do this, right? ‘Cause based on what you’ve been kind enough to share with me, I’m hearing a couple things, right? I’m hearing, one, you guys definitely still wanna sell, and two, that you guys wanna get closer to your family.

07:32And another thing that I’m hearing is it’s really no fault of your own, Aaron. You’re not really specifically clear as to why you’re not receiving the offers that you originally expected and what you need to change to make sure that happens. So may I make a quick suggestion, Aaron?

Aaron Wittenstein07:45

Sure.

Brandon Hatchett07:47

So what I’d like to do is this, and I really wouldn’t mind, I’m in your area all the time anyways.

07:51I’d like to pop by, take a quick look at the home so I can have a good understanding of what’s going on, and from there I’ll show you two things very clearly, Aaron. The first thing is very specifically on why it didn’t sell and what you need to change in terms of a more proactive and aggressive approach to make sure that it does.

08:06And the second thing is exactly how much money me and my team are gonna put in your pocket once the home sells. That way, whatever you decide to do, whether it’s sooner or later, you’ll have all the information you need to make the best decision for you and your family. Does that make sense?

Aaron Wittenstein08:20

Yeah, no, that definitely makes sense.

Brandon Hatchett08:22

All right. Sounds good, Aaron. So under regular normal circumstances, what works better for you, afternoons or evenings?

Aaron Wittenstein08:27

Mornings.

Brandon Hatchett08:30

Mornings. All right, perfect. So I have Friday morning at 10, and I have Saturday at 9. Which one works better for you, Aaron?

Aaron Wittenstein08:35

Saturday at 10.

Brandon Hatchett08:37

Saturday at 10, then boom. After that, I would just go on a pre-call, see what decision-makers are there, and then

Aaron Wittenstein08:43

Well, you know what? Sure, let’s

08:44continue. Let’s go into the pre-call.

Brandon Hatchett08:46

Okay. So then I would ask them, “Okay, Aaron, so just so I’m being respectful of your time when we meet, do you have a quick second for two extra questions for me real quick?”

Aaron Wittenstein08:56

Sure.

Brandon Hatchett08:57

All right, perfect. So the first question is, I know I’ve only spoken to you thus far, but are there any other decision-makers that should be present when we meet?

Aaron Wittenstein09:03

Yeah, my wife, Lisa. She’ll be present.

Brandon Hatchett09:07

All right, perfect. Perfect. And the next question I wanted to ask you, Aaron, is… I’m guessing you still pay a mortgage on this property, correct?

Aaron Wittenstein09:14

No, it’s paid off.

Brandon Hatchett09:15

It’s paid off? All right. The reason why I was asking was, I was gonna bring you a seller net sheet, but if your property’s already paid off, then no worries.

09:21And then the next thing I was gonna ask is, what’s your email, Aaron? I’m gonna send you a calendar invite here shortly.

Aaron Wittenstein09:26

Brandon@BrandonHatchettdidagreatjob.biz.

Brandon Hatchett09:31

Got it. Thank you. And then after that, what I would just do is I would send them two documents. One would be my credentials, so basically give them an idea of exactly what experience I have in their neighborhood.

09:42And in my credential, it has listings that I’ve sold, 30 to 50 to $100,000 over asking. And then the second thing is a list of what me and my team provides as far as marketing. That way they have something to review. It’s not like they’re just meeting a stranger. And then I send them my business card.

09:57That way they can put a face to the name, and that’s basically it.

Aaron Wittenstein10:02

That was really good.

Brandon Hatchett10:04

Hey, that was better than the first time. You remember the first time we met, I couldn’t even role play with you. I had to turn the camera off like I was screening you.

Aaron Wittenstein10:09

Oh, yeah. The camera had to go off. You couldn’t see my face, nothing like that.

10:11Yeah. That was really good. And your intro… Can you do your intro, that first line one more? I really like the way that sounded, your initial intro. Do you remember that?

Brandon Hatchett10:21

Oh, so my intro goes, I say, “Hey, Aaron.” And if it’s the right person, they’ll say, “Yes.” I’m like, “Hey, Aaron.

10:27This is Brandon. You may not like me for this, but I’m a realtor with the local Samson office. Do you wanna hang up now or you give me 30 quick seconds to tell you why I’m calling?”

Aaron Wittenstein10:35

Yeah, sounds good. And then you get into it right there. No, and like I said, the nice part is I can tell you’ve said this a lot and it’s really smooth.

10:47It’s really smooth. Are you practicing on a regular basis right now? Oh, you got them on your card.

Brandon Hatchett10:52

Yeah, I have note cards, and this literally says, “Don’t practice till you get it right. Practice till you can’t get it wrong.” So I do these once a day and I try to have different role play partners every morning before I get on the phones.

Aaron Wittenstein11:03

So you’re role-playing once a day, basically.

Brandon Hatchett11:06

Once a day.

Aaron Wittenstein11:07

And then

11:07you

11:07also… What are those note cards that you had right there?

Brandon Hatchett11:10

So these note cards are just strictly objections. So what I’ve realized is when I’m making a lot of these calls, especially expired and canceled, it’s normally the same objections.

11:18Like, “Hey, we need to talk to my wife,” or, “We’re re-signing with the same agent,” or, “We just took it off the market. We’ll relist in the summer.” It’s all the same objections. So what I realized is instead of me getting caught up on the same objections, I might as well master these objections. That way when I get on the phone, it’s gonna be like a cakewalk.

Aaron Wittenstein11:37

Got it. No, that makes perfect sense.

11:39So I know, like I said, when we first spoke, you were kind of all over the place with stuff. Well, you really were. What does your routine look like nowadays in the morning? ‘Cause I know you must have changed that. Am I right?

Brandon Hatchett11:55

100%. I had to. I had to.

Aaron Wittenstein11:57

What does that look like now?

Brandon Hatchett11:59

So in the morning, what I’ve found is I work better when I don’t just wake up and get straight on the phone. So what I’ll do is I get to the office at 6:00 AM. I try to run a mile. I take a cold shower to wake me up.

12:13And then an hour before I get on the phones, for 30 minutes, I review my note cards. And then at 7:30, I start to role play, and that typically takes 30 minutes. And then by 8:00 AM, I’m on the phone. So from 8 to 11, I’m on the phones. And then from 11 to 1, I’m following up with clients, active deals.

12:31I’m making sure my deal gets to the closing table, things like that. And then after that, from 2 to 6, I’m either doing showings or I’m back on the phones or I’m following up with clients that I’ve spoken to a month, two months, three months ago type of thing.

Aaron Wittenstein12:45

So you’re working hard then?

Brandon Hatchett12:47

Trying to. I’m trying to, man.

Aaron Wittenstein12:48

You’re not trying, dude. You are doing. You are doing that. You are doing. So within the last… I mean, we were looking at a calendar year here, right? What is the biggest thing that you’ve learned in the last calendar year?

Brandon Hatchett13:03

The biggest thing that I’ve learned

Aaron Wittenstein13:04

Let me refresh this.

13:06What is the most impactful thing that you have learned within the last year?

Brandon Hatchett13:12

The most impactful thing that I’ve learned is just be consistent. So I’ve had a couple good… At one point I’ve had four properties under contract, and I couldn’t even believe it. I couldn’t even believe it happened like that.

13:25But what I realized is it doesn’t matter if you’re not consistent. So the main thing is just practice your objections and call every day no matter what. ‘Cause what I found is, let’s say I had four under contract, I was so focused on making sure those deals get to the closing table. Once those closed, if I wasn’t calling, then that following month was a little dry for me.

13:45You know what I mean? So the main thing that I learned is prospecting comes before everything. Just stay on the phones.

Aaron Wittenstein13:51

Ooh, repeat that.

Brandon Hatchett13:53

Prospecting comes before everything. Stay on the phones.

Aaron Wittenstein13:56

Prospecting comes before everything. Everybody write that down. Okay, write that down. Write that down.

14:01Write that down. Okay. For sure. So no, that’s absolutely amazing. So how much are you into your numbers right now? Are you calculating your numbers? Are you tracking your numbers? What does that look like?

Brandon Hatchett14:13

Yeah. I’m heavy into my numbers, and I actually gotta tip my hat off to you because you’re the one that got me into that.

14:19So right now my goal is 20 conversations a day on the phones and then 30 total. So I want 20 conversations as far as expired and canceled, and then once I get off the phones, I want at least 10 conversations with follow-ups. So how I look at it is if I can have 30 conversations a day over a span of a year, then I should be able to hit my goals this year.

Aaron Wittenstein14:41

And what are your goals this year?

Brandon Hatchett14:42

My goals is to double what I did last year. So I want at a minimum of 24 transactions, I want two listings a month, and I think… Actually, I wrote it down. So the volume would be around 12 million if my average sales price was around 500,000, and then that would require me to have at a minimum of 400 dials a day.

Aaron Wittenstein15:05

400 what? What did you say?

Brandon Hatchett15:06

400 dials. So I try to break everything down just so it makes sense to me.

15:12You know what I mean?

Aaron Wittenstein15:13

Well, because, I mean, the numbers don’t lie. And the thing is, when you can bring it down to basic, right? You know that I make $273 a day. I speak to 30 people a day.

15:26The numbers should just work out. And the thing is, if the numbers don’t work out, then that means you don’t have a numbers problem, you have a skill set problem.

15:36I hear that. Or the market just changed on you, which you can’t fix the market, right? So no. So I mean, you really got this stuff dialed in now then, huh?

Brandon Hatchett15:43

I’m

15:44doing my best. I’m doing my best, and I’m just trying to stay cons… That’s my two things on this year is just stay consistent and stay persistent. I believe if I do those two things, then I’ll hit my goals.

Aaron Wittenstein15:54

No, I have no doubt in my mind, man, that you’re gonna hit your goals this year.

15:57I have no doubt in my mind. The question is, how far above your goals are you going to hit right now?

16:02So how did… Did you dial today?

Brandon Hatchett16:06

Of course. Of course.

Aaron Wittenstein16:07

How did your dial session go today?

Brandon Hatchett16:11

So my dials went good. I didn’t hit my 20 conversations. I ended up getting 14, but out of all those leads, I have one good follow-up call.

16:18He wanted me to call him later on today. He definitely wants to sell, but we just have to go over a couple things ’cause I guess he’s going through a divorce right now.

16:26So I think if I follow up with him, I’ll have a good chance of locking that in, but it went pretty good. I can’t complain.

16:34It’s 13. I used to beat myself up like, “Oh man, I didn’t get 20.” But as long as I’m in here calling every day, ’cause some days I’ll get 25, and that’ll even everything out type of thing.

Aaron Wittenstein16:43

Yeah. And I mean, are you gonna pop in this afternoon and do an extra 45 minutes to see if you can hit the 20 or no?

Brandon Hatchett16:50

100%.

Aaron Wittenstein16:50

There we go.

Brandon Hatchett16:51

100. I don’t have showings later on in the book, so I have time for extra calls, and since I didn’t hit my numbers, if at the end of my day I don’t hit my numbers, it kinda bothers me. So if I have extra time, then I’m definitely getting back on the phones.

Aaron Wittenstein17:02

That’s great.

17:03What’s the longest call session you’ve ever put in?

Brandon Hatchett17:07

The longest call session I’ve ever put in was about six hours.

Aaron Wittenstein17:13

Six hours.

Brandon Hatchett17:14

Yeah.

Aaron Wittenstein17:14

See, that takes some stamina right there now, doesn’t it, my friend?

Brandon Hatchett17:17

Yeah, it takes… You definitely gotta have thick skin ’cause I’ve gotten cussed out, all types of things.

Aaron Wittenstein17:24

All right. So then let me ask you this then, okay? A lot of people, when they get yelled at in that shape or form, okay? They’re like, “Ugh, I can’t do it anymore, I can’t do it anymore.” What do you… I mean, at this point, for you, it’s just second nature, right?

17:41It’s just second nature.

Brandon Hatchett17:43

Trying, yeah, trying.

Aaron Wittenstein17:44

But I mean…

Brandon Hatchett17:45

Sometimes it still gets to me, though. I’m gonna be honest, sometimes it gets to me, and at that point, if I’ve been calling all day, I haven’t been getting any luck, I’ll get off the phones and just do a reset. Because if I start feeling myself getting frustrated, then that affects my conversations and my closing.

18:00So sometimes if you have to, I would just say get off the phones for a little bit, take a reset, go outside, take a breather, get some water, and then get back to it.

Aaron Wittenstein18:07

I love that. And how long does a typical reset last?

Brandon Hatchett18:12

It depends on how brutal the phones are that day. Typically 10 minutes, but sometimes I’ll do 30 minutes.

18:20I’ll go grab food real quick and come back, and then normally I’ll be good after that.

Aaron Wittenstein18:25

Cool. All right, my friend. So let’s say you’re sitting there, you’re on your dialer. You’re on Vulcan, you’re making a couple phone calls, and a new agent comes and knocks on your door and says, “Brandon, I heard you had an amazing year.

18:35I heard you had an absolutely amazing year. I wanna learn from you. What is one piece of advice that you could give to me?”

Brandon Hatchett18:42

So I would say… So my team has gotten really good. At first, I would struggle. I’d be in the middle of prospecting, my friends would call me, I’d answer. But what I’ve learned is, I even have a sign on my door that basically says, “Prospecting,” “Leave me alone.”

18:58So my team has gotten real good at not bothering me from 8:00 to 11:00 during my prospecting hours. But my one piece of advice is when you’re prospecting, turn your phone on silent. Try to limit as many distractions as possible, that way you can just fully focus on prospecting.

Aaron Wittenstein19:12

There you go. It’s all about focus, man.

19:13It’s all about focus. All right, so let’s wrap this up in a nice little bow here. All right? What is one final last piece of advice that you have for wonderful Vulcan7 Nation?

Brandon Hatchett19:24

Vulcan7 Nation is… Dang, that’s a good one. One piece of advice for Vulcan7. It’s just don’t get discouraged. Don’t get discouraged and just believe in yourself.

19:36That’s the main thing. If you don’t believe in yourself and you don’t have confidence, then the other person on the phone, sometimes they can sense that, you know? So if you have confidence in yourself and you practice your objections, then by the time you get on the phones, it should be simple.

19:50So that would be my two things, is just believe in yourself and then practice when you’re not on the phones. That way, when you pick up the phones, it’s gonna be too easy.

Aaron Wittenstein19:59

Beautiful. I love it, man. This is a lot of good stuff here. Like I said, man, I’m just like… I feel like you’re one of my children growing up in front of me right now.

20:07You have no idea. I mean…

Brandon Hatchett20:08

I told you, I told you you’d remember me. I told you.

Aaron Wittenstein20:09

Oh, I will never forget you. And it’s just like… but you just sound… What you sound like is somebody that has been putting in the work three to four to five to six hours a day for a year.

20:23That’s what you sound like. And you should, as you are, be extremely proud of yourself, man. How does one get in touch with you?

Brandon Hatchett20:30

So you can either call me, I’m always on my phone, so you can call me. My number’s 703-344-8112, or you can follow me on Instagram. It’s homeswith_hatch. So homeswith_hatch. That would be my best two ways to reach out to me, and if I don’t answer, I’m sure I’ll call you back within the next five minutes, because I call every new lead.

20:52Don’t call between

Aaron Wittenstein20:52

8:00 and

Brandon Hatchett20:53

11:00. 8:00 to… Yeah. Facts. It’ll be on silent if you call 8:00 to 11:00, but other than that, I’ll call you back.

Aaron Wittenstein20:58

Call you back. All right, my friend. Thank you very much. This was amazing. Keep up the good work. All right?

Brandon Hatchett21:02

Thank you. Likewise.

Aaron Wittenstein21:03

You’re very welcome.

21:04And just remember, everybody, go make some money, and don’t forget to, boom, trust the process. Y’all take care of yourselves now. Be good. 100%.