How Josh Brown makes 120 calls an hour and adds 2 expired listings a month

Josh Brown00:00

I wish I would’ve found a system like Vulcan earlier in life. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I was so used to dialing manually, and just hitting a button on Vulcan and it dials and it just goes to the next one. You’re done. Amazing amount of time management. It’s just quick. I can do 120 phone calls an hour roughly.

00:20I usually have five to seven an hour conversations, good quality conversations.

Aaron Wittenstein00:45

What’s going on everybody? It’s me, it’s Aaron Wittenstein, and we are here with Vulcan7 Roadmap. We’re gonna teach you, from agents across the country, how to take an additional two, three, four listings a week, okay? And we actually have someone that I’ve known for a bit over here. He’s always on Vulcan7 Pregame.

01:02He’s always on Take 52. Josh Brown from Northern Illinois, can you please give everybody a big hello?

Josh Brown01:09

Hello to the Vulcan7 community. I’m Josh Brown. I’m with Berkshire Hathaway here in northern Illinois.

Aaron Wittenstein01:15

So, like I said, Josh and I got the ability to kinda meet one another through Pregame. How can I put this?

01:21What I love about Josh, he’s always the one raising his hand. He’s always the one to give his opinions and give help to people. And I just think that’s absolutely amazing, because he’s right there. And Josh, what I found was interesting is we were talking a little bit before over here, you used to go and actually get all your data on your own.

01:41Is that correct?

Josh Brown01:43

Yeah. So I have a local database we use, and I used to print off all my phone numbers and I would dial them manually for a long time. And I mean, it worked. I got deals that way. And then a while back, a year, year and a half ago, I found Vulcan7 and it’s like, wow, I can just put all this information into this.

02:08I mean, Vulcan’s great ’cause you can get the expireds and physicals, all that. But I do a lot of my business, Aaron, in probates and inherited properties, absentee owners, multifamily, single family. So I was able to put templates in there, and I love the dialer. I absolutely love it. I can just create my own thing and go.

02:27It makes life much easier, much quicker, and I can keep notes. So yeah, that’s a big improvement, and the efficiency is up well over 200% in the last 12 months from dialing more and just making better conversations.

Aaron Wittenstein02:48

So I mean, we’re in a very interesting market, is the best way to put it here.

02:51So tell me, how has your last 30 days done? What are you most proud of in your production, in general, but how have the last 30 days been for you?

Josh Brown02:59

Last 30 days have been pretty good. We’ve closed about five deals, mostly single family. Three of those were list side, two were buy side, and four of those were new clients, one was a past client.

03:13So things are going pretty good in my market here. We’re still seeing multiple offers and things like that, and one of those deals was a multiple offer. So those are still happening, depending on the purchase price range. I’ve got no complaints. It’s been good, and I’m looking forward to a good September,

03:34October.

Aaron Wittenstein03:34

No, that’s amazing. So in general, you said you used to do REO transactions and then you shifted. What year was it that you shifted into doing non-REO deals?

Josh Brown03:46

Yeah. So I’ve been a broker over 10 years, and I started in REOs with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, local banks, stuff like that, back in ’13. That was how I started out, ’cause it’s where the market was.

03:59I was doing one to two a month, then I got up to five a month, six a month, and it was a great business. But as time went by, the market improved, we had less REOs. So about 2016, the volume I was doing was probably less than half of what I started out. So I was building my database with friends and family, clients, past clients and friends, to build my business.

04:23And so I transitioned into that over a period of probably two years. And then I think by ’18, REOs were pretty much gone. So it was a big, big transition for me from having a pipeline of business. You had to do a lot of work for those, but you had the business coming in. You didn’t have to prospect in that sense.

04:41It was one customer, but I can tell you, when you have one or two customers and your inventory goes away, you gotta get out there and work. And so finding a system, obviously I did it manually for a while, but finally finding a better system like Vulcan, where you can just put it all in there and go, made a big efficiency for me and my business.

04:59That brings us to today, where I’m doing expireds now, probates, and absentee owners of all kinds. That’s the majority of my business. Some of that’s past clients and sellers and things like that. So it was a great transition.

Aaron Wittenstein05:12

So what would you say you’re doing, what, 25% absentee, 25% probate, 25% expired, and, like, 25% database, something like that?

05:18I mean, am I in the wheelhouse?

Josh Brown05:21

Yeah, I’d say it’s pretty close to that. I’d say the absentee’s a lot higher. I’d say absentee’s probably 35%. Cancelled and expired’s probably 25%. And then probate, inherited properties, trustees, that kind of stuff’s probably, I don’t know, 25, 30%.

05:40The rest is just common, average everyday friends or relatives, or people that just need to do a regular sale.

Aaron Wittenstein05:50

So when it comes to expireds, it sounds like you’ve really gotten into that. Did I catch right? Like, over the last year, is that correct?

Josh Brown05:58

Yeah. I never really did a lot of expireds, but one of Vulcan’s premier features is the expireds and cancels.

06:05It’s the lowest hanging fruit, so it was a little different mindset for me, where I had to be on top of the game 8:00 every morning, learn the script, and get very good at the script through practicing. And I didn’t really have a role play partner, so for me it was just excessively doing it to get good at it, and that’s kinda what helped me out.

06:30So on average, I probably get two listings a month from just expireds.

Aaron Wittenstein06:34

So it’s two listings out of 24. I mean, that’s pretty solid. You know what I mean? For only doing it for, like, a year. And so let me ask you this, because people get rolling, they get started.

06:46And how long did it take you until you started seeing results? Was it, like, right out of the gate? Did it take a little bit of time?

Josh Brown06:52

You know, it’s funny, because the first week I did it, I called an expired. And they’re like, “Yeah, why don’t you just come on over?” And I called them first thing in the morning, I came over, and it’s like, “Wow, this is great,

07:07me my first time.” And yeah, we closed on it, and it was a nice price range. But that was kind of a one-off on its own. After that, I bet it was probably 90 days of really grinding the script three hours a day, expireds, past expireds. What I mean by past expireds is, like, 30, 60, 90 days. Sometimes I go back as far as 180.

07:26And the 4th or 5th phone call or follow-up or circling around with them, that’s where I really got the majority of them. I still get some on the first phone call. That could just be because I’m calling at the right time or I’m the first agent. But the majority of them were three, four, five calls, following up over a period of time.

Aaron Wittenstein07:44

So that’s the way, and you know this as well as I do, when you put the work in, you get the results 90 days later. And you get a win here and there, right? Just to kinda get it going. But, all right, so do you have a particular script that you work with right now?

08:06Or, like, what are you saying to people?

Josh Brown08:09

I just use the Mike Ferry script. That pretty much works for me real well.

Aaron Wittenstein08:13

Tried and true right there, man. Tried and true when you go with that script. So right now, how many hours a day are you dialing, and what is your dial session like? Do you have a system in place for what you dial in general right now?

Josh Brown08:29

Yeah, so I just use the Vulcan7 system. I have a headset that just connects right to my laptop, so I dial through my browser. And I’m on at 8:00 every morning to 11:00. That’s my morning session. And then from 11 to 1, it’s all the follow-ups, emails, all that. And I usually do appointments from probably 2 to 5 most of the time.

08:51Sometimes they’re a little before or after that. But if I don’t have appointments, I’m usually on doing an afternoon session for 90 minutes. Sometimes just a little bit longer, ’cause I don’t wanna sit still. My actions and my time spent today produce for tomorrow or the day after.

Aaron Wittenstein09:09

Can you repeat that?

09:11Would you mind repeating what you just said? Can you do that one more time?

Josh Brown09:14

Yeah. My actions that I do today, meaning how much time I spend today, is the fruit of my labor for tomorrow and the day after. And so I have learned that, yeah, I could just do three hours a morning and hit my 16 or 17 contacts, but, well, I can do more than that.

09:31I guess it all depends. I’m driven. I wanna get to a point where I’m getting four listings a month consistently. I’m not there yet, and to me that means more dialing, the better quality of dialing, and that’s the only way I know how to… you’ll get it done quicker.

Aaron Wittenstein09:47

You know what I love about that statement?

09:50You probably never realized you said it. “I’m not there yet.” I don’t even know if you notice the power in what you said right there. “I’m not there yet.” Yet you will be there soon. You know what I mean? Just by what you shared with us here, the work ethic alone by doing that, like that’s just…

10:07People don’t realize, it’s like, if you don’t have anything going on, pick up the phone. Because what do you have better to do? Are you gonna go have a second lunch or watch some TV or something like that?

Josh Brown10:21

Yeah, you could, but I don’t know how to… I’m goal-oriented. Maybe not everybody’s goal-oriented, but I am, and I want results.

10:26And when I got to two listings a month, that’s great. All right, let’s set a new one, four listings a month. I’m not there yet, but when I get there, then I’ll shoot for six listings a month. It will happen. But that’s all based off of my habits, how much I’m putting into it. I mean, whether you’re an investor, a broker, a realtor, whatever, real estate gives you what you put into it.

10:49It’s that simple.

Aaron Wittenstein10:51

No, it’s true. And realistically that goes with anything that you do. When you put the activity in, you know the results will follow. But that’s what it comes down to, is you do the work, you will get the result. It may not be today yet, yet it will be tomorrow. So all right, so you’re dialing 8:00 to 11:00.

11:09Let’s say you’re Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 11:00. How can I put this? Who are you calling first, who are you calling second, who are you calling third? What does that look like?

Josh Brown11:18

Yeah, Aaron. So the first thing I do, I’m usually on about 7:30. I’m going through my Vulcan account, looking through all my new expireds.

11:29I get all of them. I get industrial, I get land. I don’t always do some of those. So I kinda go through them real quick, just make sure, hey, I wanna spend my time as efficiently as I can, right? So I can do more calls. So I typically do single families, duplexes, residential properties mainly.

11:52As soon as 8:00 comes, I hit the dialer, I’m going on that first one, and I just go through them till I get through all of them, all the new expireds. And I have a folder system that Jim Chamberlain gave me. I do one through 10, basically, and I move them up every time. After that, I move right into probate, ’cause they are a very hot commodity too.

12:14You wanna get to those. So I do my probates. I do a similar folder system, one through five, with the probates. And then I typically hit just sold. So, like, if I list a property and I sell it, I do circle prospecting, and I do what’s called just sold right away. That’s my next group, and then I’ll hit absentee owners.

12:32So I’ll hit absentee owners. I have a couple different folders, for one hour solid. And then I typically do some type of circle prospecting, which would be, like, multifamily or just neighborhood areas. And then that consists of most of my day. I have a file called service partners, like my attorneys, accountants, professionals on my team, contractors I use, that I touch base with once a month, ’cause they are a great referral source.

13:01I try to give them business, and they give it back to me, so that’s another important group for me. And then after that, usually twice a week, it might be more in the afternoon, I’ll do, like, my sphere. My past clients, sellers, people like that, friends.

Aaron Wittenstein13:16

So what it sounds like to me is, with the effort you’re putting in and the diversified effort you’re putting in right now, is you’re really building a market-proof system.

13:25Because let’s say absentee slows down, you have probate. Probate slows down, you’ve got your database, so you got expireds. Because, as we know, you gotta have five to seven spokes in the wheel. And it sounds to me as though you’re doing that. Am I right?

Josh Brown13:43

Yes, absolutely.

13:43My five main ones are expired, cancelled, probate, just listed, just sold, absentee, and circle prospecting. Those are the five I try to hit every day. Sometimes the volume in those groups is a little bit higher or lower depending on what’s going on in the marketplace, and then I circle back around with those other ones.

14:02I have no problem calling for three hours a day. I mean, I have a new list of 562 absentee owners. So I have no problem through the Vulcan system pulling numbers to call.

Aaron Wittenstein14:19

I guess, I mean, here’s my question. That’s a lot. How do you fit this all in?

Josh Brown14:26

Call more than three hours a day?

Aaron Wittenstein14:28

But, like you said, you got deals going, all this type of stuff. It’s pretty impressive, ’cause I’m just curious how you kinda get it all in. That’s a lot of work.

Josh Brown14:39

Here, this might help. I’ll go over my daily routine. Would that be something you’d wanna hear?

Aaron Wittenstein14:42

That was gonna be my next question. That’s perfect.

Josh Brown14:46

Thank you. So my daily routine, I get up at 4:00 AM every morning. I kinda do my 20 minutes of exercising, stretches, whatever that may be. I hit the shower, do that. 6:00 comes. I’m sorry, 5:00 comes. I have everything set up to come up on my MLS at 5:00.

15:01So at 5:00, I’m hitting all the new hot sheets, meaning new, private network, closed, under contract. Then I have searches for my buyers. I hit through all of them. Okay, I’m checking through my emails. Anything I can answer, I get back to that, okay? That’s usually between 5:00 and 6:30. 6:30 to 7:00, it’s just getting my sons off to school.

15:277:30, I’m back here going through my script practice, calling Vulcan, checking that out. 8:00 to 11:00, I’m on Vulcan dialing between those hours. And I actually hold a mastermind group, Midwest Dialers, so if anybody’s interested in that, we’re on there, too.

15:4611:00 to 1:00, I have a quick lunch. I’m doing phone calls and emails, catching up, servicing the accounts, deals that are under contract right now, things along that nature. And then I have appointments usually from about 1:00 to 5:00, depending on the day, going out on listing appointments, or if there’s any type of property that needs my attention through a contingent property.

16:12And if I’m not doing listing appointments, I’m back dialing, and I usually do that, like, 2:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. And then once in a while I get an evening appointment, and then it’s basically family time in the evening. And I do my listing inputs, my marketing, all that stuff in the early morning. So that’s basically my daily routine.

16:33I get up at 4:00 seven days a week, okay? I don’t dial on Sunday. That’s kinda the family day, but I’m still checking stuff. That’s my habits pretty much. And they took a long time to get that way, too. 8:30 or

Aaron Wittenstein16:50

9:00. All right, so let me just get this straight. I just wanna make sure everybody’s clear here.

16:55You’re up at 4:00, you’re working from 5:00, but you’re done by 5:00 every day. And you get to spend the evening with your family.

Josh Brown17:05

Yeah. I’m done by 5:00 most of the time. Once in a while I’ll get an appointment that, you know, it’s a good deal, I gotta make it at 6:00, otherwise I can do a Zoom call.

17:15I prefer in person, but a lot of the absentee owners, they’re out of state. That’s a specific group, out-of-state absentee owners. So I do Zoom meetings with them, and I can do that during the business day.

Aaron Wittenstein17:27

No, it’s just nice to see you’re very system-oriented, and that’s it.

17:32Your time management is phenomenal. And I’m gonna venture to guess, just kinda knowing what you’ve shared, you don’t stray from that. Your time is your time, you respect your time, and that’s what happens. Am I right?

Josh Brown17:44

Yeah. Very rarely do I stray from it. I’m still human, so we still have some of that stuff, but if for some reason I’m on a trip for a day or something’s just going on, it feels very funny not doing my morning routine and dialing and all that stuff.

18:00Like, it’s conscious, it’s there. And I think that’s a good thing to have, ’cause it’s like that’s where you should be.

Aaron Wittenstein18:07

All right. So let me put you on the spot here for a second. Let’s say it’s 8:47 and a phone call comes in with an offer from Sally the agent on Main Street. Do you take that phone call or do you wait till after 11:00?

Josh Brown18:24

I wait till 11:00.

18:26I can’t, you know, I used to. A long time ago I used to, but it interrupts my pattern. And the phone’s just, the ringer’s off, it’s on vibrate, whatever you wanna do, and I just have to stay focused on dialing. Because you know what? We all get referrals, we all have past clients and sellers, but outbound prospecting I’ve found to be the next best thing.

18:49And yeah, in the beginning, shiny things did help me a little bit, and that wasn’t the best, but I just cut all that out, and my efficiency’s probably two to 300 times better just ignoring all that. It’s not like someone was in an emergency, right? Nothing’s gonna happen till 11:00.

19:05It can wait, right? That’s kinda how I view it. We’re still gonna put our deals together, we’re still gonna get our contracts signed and stuff, but I have plenty of time for that outside of 8:00 to 11:00.

Aaron Wittenstein19:15

That’s the answer that I was hoping to hear, and I did not expect anything less than that answer right there, my friend.

19:22So all right, I ask everybody this question, all right? You’re sitting at your desk and a new agent walks by your office and says, “Josh, what is one piece of advice that you can give me?” What is that one piece of advice?

Josh Brown19:35

I wish I would’ve found a system like Vulcan earlier in life. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and I was so used to, we had spreadsheets of numbers and I dialed manually, versus just hitting a button on Vulcan and it dials and it just goes to the next one.

19:51You’re done. Amazing amount of time management. And going through your browser on Wi-Fi is how I dial it, so, not that I paid more for it, but it’s just quick. I can do 120 phone calls an hour, roughly. I think that’s about right. But obviously, you’re gonna have some conversations.

20:11I usually have five to seven an hour conversations, good quality conversations. And that didn’t happen right away. It took my skills base to get better, asking the right questions. My biggest hurdle that I had, even a few months into dialing it manually, was not knowing how to respond to a no.

20:33And so I had to get better at, when someone says no, to have another question. And that’s with absentee or probate or expired, any of those. So changing that made me ask better questions and get better answers and results.

Aaron Wittenstein20:50

It’s good advice. That’s good advice.

20:52So final words, my friend, what do you got?

Josh Brown20:56

I guess, if people have interest in a dialing system, I’ve found Vulcan7 to be very good. I think it’s priced great for the market and what you get. They got the neighborhood search data that you can pull. I’m an organized person, I’m a numbers person. That all makes sense to me.

21:16So if people are not on the system yet, hopefully this testimonial maybe gives you some light on that and things like that.

Aaron Wittenstein21:24

No, I wanna thank you for coming on here. Like I said, regularly we hang out on the Pregame show, yet what you’re bringing to the business, and it’s not just that.

21:36What I love about you right now, honestly, you’re calm, cool, and collected, and I think, if you don’t notice, that is so important, just to stay that even keel, because this business, we go up and down and up and down, and I’m gonna venture to guess you kinda maintain this level

21:53all the time.

Josh Brown21:53

It is, and you have to maintain the discipline. I mean, the last 30 days have been great, but June and July I’m still dialing, but I have events with kids going on in the summer, and when you don’t do as much work, your listing business can go down. But you know what? You have the opportunity, like now when everything’s back, I guess school’s on, you can do it more again.

22:16And what other business and system, regardless of your system, what other business can you decide how busy you wanna be and how much money you wanna make? Maybe there is another one, I don’t know, but I’ve found this one to be, just put the work in, and it’s not easy. It is not easy, Aaron.

22:34It’s a very simple business, but it’s not easy. It takes months, but if you do it more than three hours a day, five or six, you’re gonna get results quicker, I think.

Aaron Wittenstein22:42

And we’re gonna leave

22:43it at that.

22:44That was phenomenal, my friend. Josh, thank you very much for being here, and, everybody, look out for more Vulcan7 Roadmap.

22:51Take care.