How Kirk Chatman calls expireds up to 10 times and lists 9 of 10 appointments

Kirk Chatman00:00

Walk, don’t run, and be patient. A lot of people get into the real estate business thinking they’re gonna make a lot of money and it’s gonna happen overnight. So I would say build your clientele or your client base. Make sure you stay in touch with your previous clients as you get them, letting them know that you’re still here.

00:16Be patient about the business because you’re building a business. If you wanna go out here and sell one house a year, go for it, but you wanna build a business, and you gotta treat it like that.

Aaron Wittenstein00:32

Hey, what’s going on everybody? It’s me, it’s Aaron Wittenstein, and I would like to welcome you all to Vulcan7 Roadmap. This is where we speak to agents across the country on ways to taking the additional one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, and 10, a lot of listings a week, all right? And we have Kirk Chatman here.

00:49Kirk covers Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia. Did I guess that right?

Kirk Chatman00:55

That is correct.

Aaron Wittenstein00:56

Okay. And he did approximately $20 million last year, with half of that, and if you can’t divide, half of 20 million is $10 million in business from Vulcan7. Is that correct?

Kirk Chatman01:10

That is very correct.

Aaron Wittenstein01:11

Okay. So when I hear this, somebody doing really good business, what do you feel like attributes to it?

Kirk Chatman01:21

I think it’s a little bit of everything, right? So I’m the type of agent, I like to… If I hear something, I heard something good about Vulcan7, so I had to give it a shot and try it out. And I was pointed to it by my coach, Andrew Lacy, and it was just a game changer for me, to be honest with you.

01:42So.

Aaron Wittenstein01:43

That’s, no, that’s cool. So now when you have that 10 million of prospecting, are you an expired guy, a for sale by owner guy, circle dialing? What do you enjoy doing?

Kirk Chatman01:54

I dive into the expired

01:56leads. For sale by owners, I’ll let them sit for a minute before I go to them because they can be a little difficult at times, so I’ll let them stew into their stuff, and then I’ll come back to them.

02:10But a lot of times, more than likely, my success comes from the expired leads.

Aaron Wittenstein02:15

Okay. Do you have a system behind the expireds that you’re working, or are you just kind of click and dial?

Kirk Chatman02:20

I click and dial, but I also have two monitors. So I’ll have the listing up along with the information for the seller in front of me, and then I’ll try to call them back probably about 10 times.

02:35If I don’t get any success from them, then I’ll put them into one of my other folders in the

02:38system. Yeah, 10 times. I have to call them because if, say if I call them one time, I may not get them, so I’ll put them on maybe later during the week when I don’t have a lot going on, I’ll give them a call again just to touch bases with them.

02:56‘Cause I feel like you have to touch them a few times really to become successful. And I may get lucky the first time and get them when I call and then they’ll talk to me and I’ll get the appointment, I go into the house and I… Nine times out of 10, when I get into the house, I’ll get the listing.

Aaron Wittenstein03:13

Okay.

03:13Well, that’s… All right. So then walk me… because a bunch of things are going through my mind right now. But you said if you go on an expired appointment, nine out of 10 times you’re taking that listing. Is that correct?

Kirk Chatman03:25

Yep. Yep. That is correct.

Aaron Wittenstein03:27

Okay. If you would do me a favor, ’cause that’s a really, really good ratio.

03:32A 90% conversion ratio, that’s probably one of the best I’ve ever heard. Can you walk me through the process of what it looks like while you’re there?

Kirk Chatman03:42

Okay. Yeah. I’ll go in there. If it’s another person on the deed, like a husband and wife, I’ll make sure both of them are there because I don’t wanna go in there and one of them’s not there, and then the other one’s…

03:53I have to make an appointment to come back. So I wanna solidify everything while I’m there. Once I walk in the house, I introduce myself, they introduce themselves to me personally. I ask them to give me a tour of their property, walk through. I do a lot of presumptions, as far as, “Hey, when I sell your house or when I put your house on the market, this is what I wanna do.”

04:13And I give them advice. Advice is free, so they can get it from anywhere. So I try to do things to set myself apart from the agents that’s coming in after me or before me. And I think the most important thing is I’m a little more personable by nature as a person, so I want them to know that I really care about selling their house.

04:33And I want the option not to take the listing also. So if I go in there and they’re being stubborn about the price or certain things that we can’t agree on, then I don’t become attached to it either.

Aaron Wittenstein04:46

Okay. So you’re on the appointment. I’m assuming you have a phenomenal ability to build rapport with people, correct?

Kirk Chatman04:53

That is correct.

Aaron Wittenstein04:54

Okay. Is this just something… I would assume something you naturally do, yet you gotta have some tips and tactics on how to build a rapport with people when you’re in their home.

Kirk Chatman05:05

Well, I mean, it’s just me. I hate to say it like that, but when I walk in there, I just try to break down that wall.

05:14I try to find some common interests that we have together. And then at that point, that’s when I’ll find my leeway into the house and just walk around the house and make sure that they know that they can trust me and know that I know what I’m doing to get their home sold. And at that point, if they listen to me, then I have their home sold. That’s the end result.

Aaron Wittenstein05:34

Okay.

05:35So the one thing that I think, yeah, I think it’s a triangle. It’s building rapport, it’s trust, like, and respect, okay? Trust, like, and respect is the triangle as I call it, okay? You can have trust with… They may like you, they may trust you, but they don’t respect you.

05:53They may respect you and like you, but they don’t trust you, all right? So from what it sounds like to me is you’re very good at building that triangle, if you will, correct?

Kirk Chatman06:02

That is correct.

Aaron Wittenstein06:03

Okay. So do you mind if maybe we break this down one by one, because it sounds like to me like that’s something people at least, they don’t understand.

06:14They don’t understand. So you get them to like you by building rapport, by finding commonality, correct?

Kirk Chatman06:20

Right. That’s correct.

Aaron Wittenstein06:21

Okay. Now, how do you get people… The second one you mentioned was trust, okay? What do you do to build trust in yourself?

Kirk Chatman06:35

I think the trust factor is knowing that I care, right? Pointing out certain things that I would do, right? And I go above and beyond for my clients. So at that point, they know if they like me, they’re gonna trust me, because at that point, I’m gonna give them every reason to trust me, right? And I could refer to, “Hey, I just sold a house.”

06:58That’s a sales tactic to me, right? Say, “Hey, I just sold this house around the corner.” But at the end of the day, I wanna be personable with them. I want them to know that I’m like family to you, and this means something to me that you’re letting me come into your house and you’re trusting me.

07:14So now you can trust… And now I can trust you. So it’s a mutual respect of trust with each other. I hope that makes sense.

Aaron Wittenstein07:25

No, I get what you’re throwing at me there. I totally understand. I totally get it. And then when it comes down to that, it’s respect, right?

07:31You know,

07:31the bottom is

07:32respect. And I think once you get these two, this is easier to gain, but how do you feel that you gain respect when you’re there with them?

Kirk Chatman07:40

By the conversation we’re having, right? They may tell me some personal things about themselves, right? Or just anything. And you can pick up on it when people start to trust you.

07:50And I’m giving them information. Nothing too personal, but just, “Hey, I’m human,” right? We’re gonna be working on a common goal and we’re a team, right? So I let them know, “We’re a team, and we’re gonna sell your house together. It’s not just gonna be me. We’re gonna work together because you have to do certain things to your house to prepare it for the market, and you may not have been doing that all along.”

08:11And they’ll be like, “Oh, wow, I wish the other realtor would’ve told me that,” or something like that.

Aaron Wittenstein08:18

So, all right. So with the high conversion rate that you have, what percentage are you getting like at the appointment? I mean, are you taking all of them down at the appointment?

08:30Are you getting like 50% now, 50% later? Okay. What does that look like?

Kirk Chatman08:34

I would say 50%. I wouldn’t say all of them because I’ve walked out… Some of them I’ve actually just talked to on the phone. They may be out of state.

08:43And so once I get to talking to them, they know… And I’m retired Air Force, so they would say, “Oh, I’m in the military too,” or, “My husband was,” something like that.

08:54So at that point they say, “Hey, I’m gonna go with you because you’re prior military, and I know that you’re about your business.”

Aaron Wittenstein09:06

That’s a whole different animal right there.

Kirk Chatman09:06

Yeah. That helps me too, but I take it seriously.

09:10This is my life. This is my business.

Aaron Wittenstein09:12

So at least from talking to and knowing a lot of former military, you’re extremely systematic with what you do, I’m gonna venture to guess. Correct?

Kirk Chatman09:22

That is correct.

Aaron Wittenstein09:23

Okay. Systematic and methodical is, because I personally think some of the best real estate agents that are made, in sales in general, are prior military and prior athletes, okay?

09:35Just because you have a work ethic built in you. So how can you relate what you did in the Air Force to what you’re doing in real estate?

Kirk Chatman09:49

Okay. So of course you have to be disciplined, right?

09:54Right? I’m disciplined. My tenacity, right? My dedication. Now, in the military, I was in telephone systems and electronics, so I’m good with computers also.

10:05And then also think outside the box, right? A lot of people don’t think outside the box and a lot of clients don’t, so you have to help them think outside the box. So that helped me out a lot. And then also I was in the financial field when I was in the military also.

10:21So that helps out a lot.

10:22So I’m building up

Aaron Wittenstein10:22

Yeah. So you’re financially driven, former Air Force, that worked on computers. This is like wrapped in a bow of someone who’s gonna succeed in real estate. I mean, it’s putting all… So let me ask you this then.

10:38So with the background that you have, how did you get into real estate? Because it’s such

10:44a good fit.

Kirk Chatman10:45

Strange thing.

10:46I’m gonna tell you what happened. So back in 2003, I had a townhouse, and I was selling my townhouse, and the buyer’s agent that came to the house, I guess for the inspection, I was leaving out, we started talking, we had a little conversation.

11:00He said, “Hey, you ever thought about getting into real estate?” And I was like, “I never thought about it.” So he said, “You should. You have a great, great personality. You would do well.” So 20 years later, here I am.

Aaron Wittenstein11:13

And you’re still doing… So you’ve seen every market, you know what I mean?

11:18You’ve seen… So how can I put this? Out of all the character traits that you have with everything that you’ve done, okay?

11:28What do you think is the easiest to train an agent on to do well to be able to succeed?

Kirk Chatman11:36

Learn the business. I think I would train them, especially agents that come to me for advice, I say, “I want you to learn the business first.

11:44I don’t want you to go out here and say, ‘I’m gonna go sell a house.'” I didn’t have the nurturing of a mentor to show me how to write contracts or anything else like that, so I kind of learned everything on my own. But I think if you learn the business, just the steps as far as, okay, let me read this contract first or find out what I’m writing for you to sign, right?

12:08Or what I’m having you sign. How to be on time. That’s very important, right? Be respectful. For example, I just closed the deal, and I hate to say this, but the lady said, “What we got?” I said, “What happened with you and your other agent?” And she said, “I saw something or something happened.”

12:31And she said the agent said… Like he was frustrated with it. I was like, “What?” So to me it’s customer service too. And back when I started business, my broker, I was finding my way, she gave me a book, I think it was… What is it? 300… Can I look real quick? It was a great book.

12:53I mean, it was one of my favorites, and I listen to it all the time, so I’m always trying to educate myself on just 212 Degrees, The Extra Degree. And I really, really love that book, and I can listen to it 100 times.

13:14And I guess the moral of the story is it takes 212 degrees for water to boil.

13:19At 211 degrees, the water will not boil. It’s just as hot. So that extra degree

13:25can push a locomotive, like a train. You get what I’m saying? So a steam train, boom. So just that extra degree of service in anything you do can take you to another level, and that’s what I live by.

Aaron Wittenstein13:39

Oh, that makes a lot of sense. It’s interesting when you put it that way, ’cause it’s like you’re right there and then right there and then right there and then right there. Okay. So you would say, I mean, with your business right now, you turn it up that extra degree then, right?

Kirk Chatman13:57

Yes.

13:59In everything I do in life, though. So if I’m gonna give you 100%, I wanna give you 110%, so that helps me a lot with my clients and when I go on my listing appointments.

Aaron Wittenstein14:11

All right. So you’re at a listing appointment. And because I think a lot of agents struggle with this in general, okay?

14:18Is when you’ve hit the point where it’s time to close. Okay?

14:22A lot of people, they don’t know what to do. What is your favorite closing line?

Kirk Chatman14:29

“Hey, can we get started today? Let me get your house on the market today.”

Aaron Wittenstein14:33

So it’s that easy?

Kirk Chatman14:35

It’s that. For me it is. Why am I gonna sugarcoat it, right?

14:39Either you’re with me or you’re not, right? If they start saying, “Well, I wanna interview more agents,” blah, blah, blah, then I’ll just say, “You gonna let the best agent or the only agent that can sell your house walk out the door today?” So at that point, I’m taking control of the situation and making them think or really letting them know that I’m the guy for them.

Aaron Wittenstein15:04

So it’s pure confidence is what it comes down to. I mean,

15:08it’s just knowing that you know what to do, you know how to do it, and you’re going to do it. And I mean, you’ve been doing this a long time, and you have the background to kind of back it up a lot

15:21in general. So yeah. I just love seeing the confidence, so.

Kirk Chatman15:27

Yeah. I hope it’s not overconfidence, but I’m sure about what I’m doing in a nutshell. And another thing, Aaron, is when I got into Vulcan7, I was a little nervous about making the phone calls, right? But then I thought about it.

15:41My coach told me, he said, “Hey, some will, some won’t. So what? Move on.”

15:45Right? So you can’t be nervous. I don’t know these people that I’m calling, but I wanna get to know them, and I wanna let them know that I’m the guy for them or the realtor for them.

Aaron Wittenstein15:53

100%. 100%. So, all right. So you’ve answered this question quite a few times already, but I wanna kind of ask it because I think you got a good answer here, okay?

16:00Okay. So let’s say that a brand new agent comes and knocks on your door and says, “Kirk, I hear you’re the man. I hear you’re really, really good at what you do. What is one piece of advice that you could give me?”

Kirk Chatman16:15

I would say walk, don’t run. And be patient, right? A lot of people get into the real estate business thinking they’re gonna make a lot of money and it’s gonna happen overnight. So I would say build your clientele or your client base. Make sure you stay in touch with your previous clients as you get them, letting them know that you’re still here.

16:41You’d be surprised how many people I’ve come across that had an agent, and in the back of my mind, I’m like, “Well, why didn’t you call your other agent?” And they’re like, “I lost touch with them.” Right? So when I would tell them that information, I would just say, “Walk, don’t run.”

16:59Right? Be patient about the business because you’re building a business. If you wanna go ahead and sell one house a year, go for it, but you wanna build a business, and you gotta treat it like that. So that’s the piece of advice I would give you.

Aaron Wittenstein17:14

Perfect. All right, my friend, let’s tie this up in a nice little bow here, okay?

17:18Okay.

17:18What

17:18is one final piece of advice or word that you have for Vulcan7 Nation?

Kirk Chatman17:25

I wanna say thank you, Vulcan7. Vulcan7 Nation, stick with it. I’ve been very successful at this, and you’re gonna get in what you get out of it, right? If you put into it, you’re gonna get something out of it.

17:38If you don’t put anything into it, if you’re not consistent, don’t even waste your time, but be consistent about what you’re doing, and make your phone calls. Go down the list and you will see and watch your business grow.

Aaron Wittenstein17:50

Perfect. I love it, man. All right. Let’s say, for example, somebody has a buyer that’s moving to either Maryland or DC or Northern Virginia or some other area that you cover that I don’t know.

18:02How can someone get in touch with you, my friend?

Kirk Chatman18:06

Please, you can give me a phone call. My cell phone number is 240-447-1977, or you can email me at kirk.chatman, with a T, @tkc.group. I thank you, Aaron.

Aaron Wittenstein18:23

Perfect. All right, my friend. Well, thank you very much. This is absolutely amazing. And guys, like I said, if anybody, get in touch with Kirk, otherwise y’all remember, go make some money and don’t forget to boom, right there, trust the process.

18:34Y’all take care of yourself. Be well.