How Matt Freedman turned one expired call into five transactions in two years

Matt Freedman00:00

What’s really important for people that are listening is you can make a phone call, you don’t know what’s going to be on the other end of that line, right? It’s either gonna be somebody hanging up on you or somebody that turns into five transactions, right? Because that’s absolutely happened for me.

00:19Multiple clients of mine who I’ve called through expireds have turned into multiple transactions, right? And when I say five, that’s not just a made up number. When I first started using Vulcan, I remember calling a client. He’s now a client and a friend, right? And he said to me, “Look, can you give me a call back in about a month?”

00:44I followed up, and that’s turned into five transactions in two years, right? One phone call, or we’ll call it two, because I followed up with him, right? That’s all it took. That’s five transactions.

Aaron Wittenstein01:16

Hey, what’s going on, everybody? It’s me, it’s Aaron Wittenstein, and we’re here with Vulcan7 Roadmap. This is where we teach you how to take an additional two, three, four listings a week, and we have a very special guest. I’ve been chatting with him a little bit ago, and he runs a phenomenal business.

01:32He’s not my friend yet, but my soon-to-be friend, you know, the more that we dive into him and his business here. Matt Freedman out of wonderful Portland, Maine right now. I’m assuming that the weather is very nice and fall-ish out there. Is that right?

Matt Freedman01:47

We’ve got a wonderful fall day today.

01:49It’s perfect out. These are the days that we live for out here.

Aaron Wittenstein01:52

Oh, exactly. And you know what? It’s funny, what we were talking about a little bit before we got started here is that, you know, I think we’ve all made the realization that I don’t know if this is much of a sales business as it is a psychology-based business, right?

02:06And what were you telling me a little bit about that, in your opinion, about that?

Matt Freedman02:12

Yeah, it’s a really interesting concept, is that I don’t sell anybody anything, right? The psychology behind this business, there’s a lot to it, but once you realize that what my job is, is to help people purchase the home that they wanna buy, and I will help them sell the home that they wanna sell.

02:27So I’m not selling anything to anybody. Really the only thing I need to sell people is myself, right? They wanna have to work with me, so I’m the only thing that I’ve gotta sell. Everything else falls into place as we go through the process.

Aaron Wittenstein02:39

I mean, let’s leverage this and… I don’t know if that’s the right word I’m looking for here.

02:46So, you know, I wanna take this a little bit onto the listing side and the prospecting side, if you will. Okay? So talk to me a little bit about that. When you’re prospecting somebody, because everybody, you know, I don’t think, I know, you know, a lot of agents, they get very transactional, okay?

03:02They get very transactional. I’m the first one to say I do that, all right?

03:07So how do you keep that mindset and mentality?

Matt Freedman03:12

You know, I’ve never really thought of it that way, so that’s a great question. What I think happens for me is, look, I like to talk, right? I’ll talk all day long. I went to law school.

03:23I’m a law school graduate. That’s what we do. We talk, right? So once that person answers the phone, that’s where I’m at. I’m in conversation mode with them, because, right? You know, that’s what we do. That’s what these scripts are. You internalize them until they’re simply a conversation for you to have with somebody else.

03:45So that’s where my focus is. Somebody answers the phone, I go into my script, but I know where I’m going to go with that, so it’s just a conversation. And that’s how I feel it comes across on the other end as well.

Aaron Wittenstein03:57

So basically, you’re walking a path, if you will, with that potential client.

04:02You know, and I don’t wanna say lead, because it’s not a lead. Anyone is a potential client that you’re working with. So I mean, do you have a particular script that you work with when you’re contacting expired, a for sale by owner, a circle… I mean, like, do you have one you’d like to share?

Matt Freedman04:18

When I started with Vulcan, I was using, you know, you hear this a lot, it’s a Tom Ferry script that we’d go through, and it was a whole entire page. But Aaron, you know this script, ’cause I believe you taught it. It is, “Hey, this is Matt Freedman at Breakwater Realty Group. I’m calling you about your home on 2 Main Street.

04:36I’m just wondering how in the world did that property not sell,” right? That has been gold. You use that script, you’re asking them a question. They have to answer you, because that’s the end of my intro. They have to answer. Now, they’re either gonna say to me, “Who is this? What are you calling about?”

04:58And I’ll just repeat it maybe a little bit slower, but now they’ve taken it in.

Aaron Wittenstein05:04

Right.

Matt Freedman05:04

They hear what I’m saying. They’re going to answer me. And then we know the second part of that is, well, right, there’s three things that usually stop a home from selling. That’s either price, location, or marketing. And what I have found is that I hone in on the marketing.

05:23I’ll be honest with you. In my market, when I look at what people are putting in for their remark sections or the photos, it’s terrible, right? So I’m able to hone in on that and then tell people, “Look, if we did X, Y, Z, if we did professional photos, if we did professional video, if I was able to get your home marketed on multiple social media platforms and out there, you know, just in my own company, 80,000 people, do you think that would help your home sell versus what your last agent did for you?”

06:01And you know what they say?

06:03Because their last agent has, you know, a two-sentence paragraph and 30 iPhone pictures. Their house doesn’t look so great. So that’s where I typically take those phone calls, and as soon as I learned that script from you, I think that’s when I landed a $5.4 million listing.

Aaron Wittenstein06:21

Ooh.

06:21Referral fee, please. I’ll only take 36% of a referral fee. Right? That’s fine with me. 5.4 mil, that’s a heck of a payday right there, huh?

Matt Freedman06:34

Expired.

06:35So as we’ve grown, we’ve gotta recreate new systems to bring us to the next level. And part of that is bringing in other folks that can do what I’ve been doing-

06:46so I can get back to focusing on listings and calling expireds, because you’re exactly right, it works well.

Aaron Wittenstein06:56

Right.

Matt Freedman06:57

Right? I was sitting here in my office, say, six weeks ago, with one of our newer agents, and he was asking me, “Hey, how can I get more listings?” I said, “Dave, you know, we’ve talked about this a little bit before.

07:09I’m more than happy to get you hooked up with Vulcan. You can make some expireds, FSBOs, whatever you choose to do.” I said, “Why don’t we hop on right now, right? Let me pull up some info. Let’s get going. You can sit and listen to me make some phone calls.” And I love this story, because it doesn’t get any better than this.

07:26We hop on, he’s listening to me, and in, like, 20 minutes, I had set an appointment, got the listing, we’re under contract, and we’re supposed to close in, like, another week. That’s how you want this to go, right? But he saw, like, this works. Matt’s not just blowing smoke, right? He hopped on, made phone calls, and in about 20 minutes was able to set an appointment and get a listing.

Aaron Wittenstein07:52

I’m happy to see that, because you seem, like I said, man, it just makes my heart sing when you’re using my old script, you know? So that makes me smile.

Matt Freedman08:00

I’ve been telling people, that one was a game changer for me. It really was. I’m not saying those other scripts don’t work. They do.

08:07But this just gets right to the point, and they have to answer your questions. And from there, it’s so simple. It’s beautiful. I love it.

Aaron Wittenstein08:15

Well, I appreciate that, man. Like I said, you made my heart smile today. So I really appreciate that, thank you. So what can you share?

08:25‘Cause, I mean, it sounds like you’re running a heck of a business over that way, right? And so what are you most proud of about your production right now? Like, what makes your heart smile, if you will?

Matt Freedman08:38

You know what? Watching everybody on my team succeed-

08:42and bring us to a place that I’d hoped that we could get to, and we’ve reached it, but it’s not the end, right?

08:51We still have a long way to go to continue growing. And that’s what makes my heart swell, you know, as you’re asking, is watching everybody else succeed, taking the things that they’re learning, that we’re teaching and coaching them to do, and watching them be successful. So it’s great. I’m loving it.

Aaron Wittenstein09:10

That’s great. And I mean, you know, it’s funny, it’s like, you know, the year’s coming to an end. I don’t even know what the heck happened to this year. And so, like, where would you say is, like… I mean, you could say financially, business-wise, you know, the most significant increase in growth?

09:24Like, where would you kinda pinpoint that right now?

Matt Freedman09:26

For me, it will be taking more and more and more listings-

09:29so that everybody else on my team can have more of the buyers that we generate, but also the buyers that come through my listings.

09:38Because some of my agents have seen it when, you know, the listings that I am taking, they’re seeing some fruits of that as well, as I’m able to take the buyers that call in off the sign or whatever, and shift them over to our other agents.

09:54So they see how that all works, right? And we all know that listings is where it’s at, ultimately. In any market, you’ve gotta be taking listings to thrive. So that’s really where my personal focus is. And then as a team, we’re really just looking to get everybody to their own personal goals so that our team hits our overall goal.

Aaron Wittenstein10:17

Yeah.

Matt Freedman10:17

And quite honestly, that’s always to be the top producing team for our brokerage in our state.

Aaron Wittenstein10:24

That’s amazing. And then, so, are you on point for the goals this year? Is that looking good for you?

Matt Freedman10:31

We are. We are. And you know, what’s exciting for me is Breakwater has been in business for two years.

10:41Right? We started off, there was just two of us, myself and my wife, who’s my business partner. It was just the two of us, and there are eight of us now. So we’re growing steadily, and, again, Vulcan has been instrumental in that. What’s really important for people that are listening is you can make a phone call, you don’t know what’s going to be on the other end of that line, right?

11:06It’s either gonna be somebody hanging up on you or somebody that turns into five transactions, right? Because that’s absolutely happened for me. Multiple clients of mine who I’ve called through expireds have turned into multiple transactions, right? And when I say five, that’s not just a made up number.

11:22When I first started using Vulcan, I remember calling a client. He’s now a client and a friend, right? And he said to me, “Look, can you give me a call back in about a month? My wife just passed away.” Right? Like, oh my God, right? Okay. So I did, though, right? I followed up. And that’s turned into five transactions in two years.

11:47Right? One phone call, or we’ll call it two, because I followed up with them, right? That’s all it took. Acquired land listing, take the overpriced listing, and this is a true story. Took the overpriced land listing, but I took it because I knew where I was putting my sign was on a heavily trafficked road, right?

12:06Off of that sign came a client who I’ve had two transactions with. So while the original expired never transacted, it brought me two transactions off of that sign. And so these are the things that happen when you’re making these phone calls. You just don’t know what’s gonna be on the other end and what that brings in the future.

Aaron Wittenstein12:31

It’s called prospecting karma, because, you know, it’s that activity begets activity. It just matters that the results come. Because when you sit on the phone for two, three, four hours a day, you may get a past client that calls you right away. But it’s prospecting karma, you know? Is the best way to put it.

12:47So, interesting. So basically what you’re saying is, like, you’re trying to take the transaction… ‘Cause you know, like I said, we’re doing the expired stuff. It’s a bit more on the transactional side, and you’re trying to relay that into the relational side-

13:00to be able to build the business, because that’s what you should be doing, right?

Matt Freedman13:05

Right. You want… Again, when it comes to what we were talking about earlier in terms of I don’t sell anybody anything, right? Once they get to know me and we’ve been able to build that relationship, the idea is to keep me top of mind, to stay in touch with them in whatever means that takes, whatever form that takes, so that when they’re ready to do something again, they’re just calling me back.

13:30So it’s all about meeting them where they’re at, setting that appointment, and getting in front of them.

Aaron Wittenstein13:34

100%, man. No, I gotta say, you’re throwing so much good stuff here today, and I’m not just saying that to be nice, either. I can definitely tell you have a very nice handle for the business.

13:45You know, you’ve been doing it long enough, you know? Yet still, you know, it’s building those relationships and doing that. So, all right, so let me ask you this, okay? You’re sitting at your desk, you’re sitting at your office, all right? And a brand new agent comes across. And they knock on your door.

13:57And they’re like, “Matt, what’s one piece of advice you have for me?” What is that one piece of advice you’d have for that new agent?

Matt Freedman14:05

Scripts. Learn your scripts. That’s what’s gonna help you succeed and make money in this business. You have to know what to say to people, right?

14:15And you will eventually get to a point where you know what they’re going to say before they even ask you the question, so that you’re just ticking down through your head, “What answers do I have to this? Which one is best going to suit this situation?” And that’s when you can really relax, right? And make this a conversation.

14:36It doesn’t have to take a decade, you just have to talk a lot, make a lot of phone calls, do a lot of prospecting, and six months to a year, you’ll be an entirely different realtor than you were, you know, when you started this. Or even if you’ve been a realtor for 5, 10 years but never used a Vulcan dialer or any type of script situation, learn your scripts, learn when to use them, get your objections down, and it’s a game changer.

Aaron Wittenstein15:03

One more question. Just one more, ’cause this just came to the top of my head here.

15:10You get that brand new agent, like, “I don’t wanna sound scripted. I don’t wanna sound scripted. I don’t wanna sound like everybody else.” What do you have to say to that?

Matt Freedman15:18

Here’s what we do. We practice, man.

15:20That’s what we do. Look, 8:30 this morning I was on a Zoom with one of my brand new agents, right? And that’s what we were doing. We were practicing phone calls, right? I’d do one, she’d do one, right? And even just in that hour, right, she got better, right? And by better, I mean she was able to begin internalizing the script more, so that if I gave an answer that wasn’t what she thought it was gonna be, we weren’t taking an immediate right turn where all of a sudden she’s completely off the rails, right?

15:58So it’s not that it takes a long time, it’s just, like you said, repetition. Internalize these and you’re going to know how to control where the conversation goes.

Aaron Wittenstein16:06

For sure. For sure. Yeah. All right, my friend, thank you very much for being here today. You’re very welcome.

16:14You’re very welcome. Let’s say someone has a referral in wonderful Portland, Maine. What is the best way for them to get in touch with you?

Matt Freedman16:21

Yeah, they can call or text me at 207-712-4041, or they can email me, matt@breakwaterrealtygroup.com.

Aaron Wittenstein16:27

Excellent. There you go. He’s a good guy. He’s a good guy, and I think he knows a little bit about this real estate business. So Matt, thank you very much, my friend.

16:39It was a pleasure. Okay. And, guys and girls, we look forward to seeing you on the next Vulcan7 Roadmap. Take care. Bye-bye.