How John Dietz converts 75% of FSBO and expired conversations into appointments

John Dietz00:00

Okay. So what we’re seeing in the real estate industry right now is, on average, it’s 100 conversations for every sale closed. What if that was gonna be the one conversation that led to a million dollar listing that day? So create those daily standards and then hold yourself accountable to those standards, follow up systematically, unconditionally, and follow up without exception, meaning there’s nothing that person can say that’s gonna cause me to stop following up.

Loida Velasquez00:31

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to a brand new episode of Vulcan7 Coaches and Mentors, where we bring you some of the best in the industry to share with you their tips and strategies so that you can implement them in your business immediately. On today’s episode, our guest is going to be talking about lead generation and lead conversion, so make sure to have a pen and paper ready because you’re definitely gonna be taking a lot of notes.

00:54So with that being said, John Dietz, welcome to the show.

John Dietz00:58

Glad to be here.

Loida Velasquez01:00

So for everyone that’s watching that maybe is not too familiar, go ahead and give us a little bit about your background.

John Dietz01:06

Yeah, sure. So I’ve been in real estate since 2002. I built a real estate business that closed 60 homes in the first year and went on to sell an average of over 100 homes every year after that.

01:22I focused on the listing side of the business. I built a prospecting-based business, marketing enhanced, and slowly created a repeat and referral business throughout the years as my business grew. 100% of the business that I’ve done is on the listing side of the business. I’ve never worked with a buyer.

01:45I took an average of 10 seller listings every year for more than 10 years. And then a couple years ago, I leveraged that production business to start my own coaching company and to build a real estate business that I own on a national cloud-based platform. The coaching business is going really, really well.

02:08I have a waiting list of real estate agents who wanna coach with me. We focus on prospecting-based lead generation and lead conversion to take more seller listings. And the real estate business that I’m building is going very, very well as well. I am co-partners of a group based out of North Carolina that has 2,600 agents.

02:33Then we started building a group here in Florida that is at 72 agents in eight locations and growing by an average of four to five agents every month.

Loida Velasquez02:42

That’s awesome. So a lot of experience, a lot of exciting things happening on your end. A question that I love to ask all of my guests is, did you do anything prior to getting into real estate?

02:54Or what did that look like? Or what made you get into this business?

John Dietz02:57

So my degree is in education. I was actually a school teacher. I didn’t last very long in that field. It didn’t take me very long to realize that it was a better opportunity for me. I had a friend who was in sales who said, “John, you’d be great in sales.”

03:14He was in the product fundraising business, so I kind of followed him. From ’92 until 2002, that’s what I did, built a very successful business. And honestly, I got bored doing that. My wife said, “You don’t really like your job anymore.” I’m like, “No, I don’t, but it pays really good money.” And she said, “You should get your real estate license.”

03:37And I’m like, “No way. I am not selling real estate.” Then I got a hold of a book that I don’t even know if it’s in print anymore, How to Master the Art of Listing and Selling Real Estate by Tom Hopkins. And I realized, you know what? You can make a living in real estate just working the listing side of the business.

03:56And that kind of resonated with me because it’s a sales conversation, which I love. And I love the hunt for seller listings. I’ve always told my coaching clients, work like a farmer, think like a hunter. So every day I would just show up to work, get on the phone, start making calls, mostly calling for sale by owners and expireds and converting those conversations to appointments, which turned into seller listings.

Loida Velasquez04:29

That’s awesome. It’s always exciting and great to hear what coaches and their backgrounds are. And it sounds like even though you didn’t go into education or teaching, that’s what you’re doing now, but to agents, and kind of teaching them exactly what worked for you and how to succeed, right?

John Dietz04:46

Exactly. That’s what I do.

Loida Velasquez04:48

So when it comes to lead generation and specifically focusing on listings, which I love listings, I think it’s a great source. What are you teaching your agents right now, or what are some of the things that they need to be focusing on?

John Dietz05:03

Yeah. So first of all, most real estate coaches will tell you qualify and only go if it’s a listing appointment.

05:12I think that’s a mistake. I think we’re judging away a lot of opportunity if we do that. So I tell my agents the purpose of the call is to get the appointment. So if you’re an expired listing, for example, Loida, I’m calling you, “Hey, Loida, John Dietz, local real estate expert. I noticed your home came off the market.

05:31Are you still interested in selling your home? If I had an offer on your home, would you want me to bring you the offer?” And they’re gonna have some objections, which is fine. You’ll overcome those objections and you’ll convert those conversations to appointments. My contact to close ratio when it comes to scheduling an appointment with an expired listing or with a for sale by owner is I’m gonna convert about 75% of those conversations to appointments.

06:00The other thing I’m telling all of my real estate agents that I’m coaching and also the agents that are part of my team is set daily standards for how many calls you’re gonna make, how many conversations you’re gonna have, and how many appointments you’re gonna schedule. And you gotta schedule at least one appointment every day with somebody who is thinking of selling their home.

06:22Now when you do that, you’re face-to-face with 250 potential sellers every single year. And then it’s systematic follow-up in order to create emotional proximity. And emotional proximity simply means that when I get serious about selling my home, I’m gonna look up and I’m gonna hire the real estate agent who did the best job of following up with me in order to create emotional proximity.

Loida Velasquez06:46

Absolutely. So when it comes to follow-up, I know that that’s a very popular question, especially sometimes with for sale by owners or expireds, depending on what they say. Is there a rule of thumb that you go by in terms of follow-up, whether it’s calling, texting, visiting in person, sending something in the mail, or what can that look like?

John Dietz07:06

Yeah. So I’m gonna follow up at least once a week for the first four weeks, and then I’m gonna follow up every other week for the next two months. And then I’m gonna follow up every month after that. And I tell my agents to be pleasantly persistent and to follow up without exception, be persistent without exception.

07:29Everybody says they’re persistent until they’re not. And the difference between failure and success in this business is following up without exception. So I’ve had a lot of sellers over the years tell me, “You know, John, if I ever list my home, I’ve already got an agent. You don’t need to call me.”

07:47And my response to that has always been, “I understand and I’ll call you in two weeks.” Or, “John, we’re never gonna hire you.” “No worries. Talk to you in a couple weeks.” And I just keep following up because if I do, they can change their mind. And if I don’t, they’re never gonna work with me. The other thing that everybody should pay attention to is nobody’s ever gonna change their mind, but they will make a new decision based on new information.

08:14So one of my goals in those follow-up conversations is to help that homeowner make a new decision based on new information. So for example, Loida, if you’re a for sale by owner and I’m following up with you and you’re not getting offers, your home’s not selling, but you’re frustrated because you don’t know why your home isn’t selling, one of the questions that I would ask you is, what does a really good buyer look like?

08:42And it’s funny because I’ve written two books on this. People look me up on Google or Amazon, they’ll find me. Scripts for Success in Real Estate and Rainmaker, A Blueprint for Success and Lead Generation. And when I ask a seller, “What does a really good buyer look like to you?”

09:03Their answer is always the same. It’s somebody who could afford my home. And my response is, “Got it. Can I share with you what a really good buyer looks like to me?” A really good buyer is somebody who sold their home yesterday and they need to buy a home in the next 30 days. Or a really good buyer is somebody who’s in town for the weekend to buy a home.

09:22Now, if you were that buyer, are you out driving around looking up for sale by owners, or are you working with a professional like me? And they’re gonna respond, “Well, of course, I’m working with a real estate agent.” Now, if you’re the agent who’s working with that buyer, are you out driving them around looking up for sale by owners, or are you showing them homes that are listed by a professional like me?

09:43And their response, of course, is, “I’m showing them homes that are listed by a real estate agent.” Okay. So if you’re not attracting a buyer that we just described as a really good buyer, who are you attracting? And the only answer is everybody else. Now, if I could show you how I could sell your home for more money in the least amount of time, would you be interested in seeing how I could do that?

10:08And it’s a really good question because I’m not asking you, “Can I come over and talk to you about listing your home?” It’s a curiosity question. Loida, if I can show you how I could sell your home for more money in less time, are you at least curious to see how I would do that?

Loida Velasquez10:24

I love it.

10:26Everything that you just mentioned right now, I think the audience, once they’re watching this, they’re gonna have to rewind and play it like two to three times because, like I said, everything that you just mentioned, I haven’t really heard anybody using it. And again, it goes back to, obviously, you’re a coach and you’ve done this so many times, and I believe this is what separates you and your agents from every other agent that’s calling these for sale by owners.

10:49And even asking, what does a really good buyer look like? Even the way that you described what a really good buyer looks like to you as an agent, I don’t think many agents would even know how to explain that to a for sale by owner or an expired.

John Dietz11:03

Yeah. So you’re not wrong, and it is a really good example of somebody making a new decision based on new information.

11:12So now you have a homeowner who’s like, “You know what? That makes sense. Why don’t you come over and tell me what you would do?” And this is somebody who has told you over and over again they’re never gonna list their home, which is fine. 75% of for sale by owners will eventually hire a real estate agent.

11:31I know that, so it’s just all numbers for me. I’m going to make sure I hit my standards, go on appointments and follow up.

Loida Velasquez11:40

So do you also suggest agents do previews on for sale by owners or expireds or properties?

John Dietz11:47

100%. So that’s the first appointment. That’s what comes after you ask the question, “If I had an offer on your home, would you want me to bring you the offer?

11:57Now, in order for me to bring you an offer, I need to see your home. I need to come over. I need to pop by.” Use those words. One of the reasons agents are getting no is because they think you wanna move in with them. Let them know it’s gonna be a short meeting. I need to pop by, ask you some questions, take some notes so I could potentially bring you that offer.

12:18I’ve got this afternoon at 4:00. Would tomorrow at 3:00 be better for you?

Loida Velasquez12:23

So what do you think are some of the mistakes that agents are making when it comes to converting leads? Is it what they’re saying? Is it what they’re not saying? Or what do you think?

John Dietz12:35

So there’s three questions every seller is asking themselves about real estate agents when an agent shows up at their door.

12:41Even when a seller says they’re not gonna hire a real estate agent, they’re still asking themselves those three questions. So whether agents know it or not, they’re always being interviewed. And the three questions that those sellers are asking about you, the agent, are, “Can I trust you? Do you care about me?

13:00And can you help me?” So everything that I do on that appointment is done intentionally to convey, “I care about you, you can trust me, and I can help you.” The other mistake that real estate agents are making is they judge away opportunity, and I hear it all the time. They’ll call me and they’re like, “John, I did exactly everything you said.

13:21It’s amazing. I got the appointment, but…” And as soon as I hear “but,” I know they’re gonna tell me some reason why it’s a bad opportunity. The seller’s unrealistic. They want more money for their home than it’s worth. They’re not willing to pay a commission. All this stuff that I call white noise, and I tell my agents, “Just ignore it.

13:39It’s noise.” If you judge away the opportunity, you’re not going to follow up. But if you follow up with everyone that you meet with, unconditionally, systematically, without exception, a large percentage of them are eventually gonna hire you.

Loida Velasquez14:02

So when it comes to expireds, let’s say we have agents that are prospecting expireds, they’re reaching out, but the expired might say something along the lines of, we sat on the market for a long time right now.

14:15We’re not even sure what we wanna do. Homes are sitting. There’s so many in our area. What is the approach that you train your agents on when it comes to taking those listings?

John Dietz14:26

So logic makes us think and emotion makes us act. So I need to get to emotion with that expired seller. So I’m gonna ask them, just out of curiosity, if your home sold, where were you moving to?

14:39And what’s important about moving to Tampa, for example? Have you given up on that goal? It’s a really powerful question because nobody wants to give up. Nobody wants to be a quitter. Have you given up on that goal, or do you still wanna move to Tampa in order to be closer to your family? In my experience, when a home doesn’t sell that shouldn’t have, like yours, it comes down to one of three reasons, either price, presentation, or marketing.

15:04Now, just out of curiosity, which one of those do you believe is the reason your home didn’t sell? And whatever they say, I understand. And not only could I potentially bring you an offer by seeing your home, but I’ll also be able to tell you why your home didn’t sell.

Loida Velasquez15:21

Exactly. Awesome. So tell us about your coaching and what you do with your agents, because I’m sure that after the last couple minutes, agents watching this are probably gonna watch the replay a couple times, and maybe they wanna learn more from you.

15:36So tell us exactly everything that you have going on with your coaching.

John Dietz15:40

Well, I started John Dietz Coaching after working for one of the national coaching companies and interviewing with these other coaching companies as a coach. And it seems like all of them are charging their coaching clients $1,000 a month, seems like the going rate.

15:59Part of the money goes to the organization and part goes to the coach. And I thought, if I start my own real estate company, I can get rid of the middleman and they’re working directly with me. Not only can I provide real estate agents with a proven model to follow that’s gonna get results, but I can do that at a discount.

16:20So my coaching fee is only $500 a month. It’s a bargain. My own clients are telling me all the time, “John, raise your rates.” I’m like, “No. I’m not going to.” And I believe because I’m getting results and because I’m a good deal, I’ve got a waiting list of people who wanna coach with me.

Loida Velasquez16:40

That’s awesome. So if someone is interested in possibly getting on that waiting list, where do they have to go?

John Dietz16:46

Well, my website is John Dietz Coaching, or they can reach out to me by phone. Am I allowed to give out my phone number here?

Loida Velasquez16:54

Yes, absolutely.

John Dietz16:55

So my phone number is 727-686-0404, or they can email me at coachjohndietz. Dietz is spelled D-I-E-T-Z. So they can email me at coachjohndietz@gmail.com.

Loida Velasquez17:14

Awesome.

17:14So as we wrap up, what would you say are three things that agents need to be doing right now if they wanna make sure to have a successful 2025?

John Dietz17:24

Okay. So what we’re seeing in the real estate industry right now is, on average, it’s 100 conversations for every sale closed. So depending on what your goal is, begin with the end in mind.

17:37This is how many homes I wanna sell. Then the next thing is create a daily standard for how many people you’re gonna speak to. Always hit your standard. If your standard is 20 conversations a day, it’s 20. It’s not 19. It’s not 18. I see agents settling all of the time. And the biggest challenge for me with that is if I stop at 18 conversations, I didn’t have the 19th or 20th conversation. What if that was gonna be the one conversation that led to a million dollar listing that day?

18:08So create those daily standards and then hold yourself accountable to those standards. You also have to find one person every day that’s thinking of selling their home and get face-to-face, belly to belly with one potential seller every single day, and then follow up. Follow up systematically, unconditionally, and follow up without exception, meaning there’s nothing that person can say that’s gonna cause me to stop following up.

Loida Velasquez18:36

Awesome. Yes. Well, John, thank you so much for coming on here on Coaches and Mentors. I know that you have given a lot of great information. Even the lines that you use and what you say are things that agents are gonna be able to apply once they watch this. So thank you once again for being here, and for all of you that are watching, we’ll see you on the next one.

18:54Bye.