S3 E1: Newer to business yet Highly Successful
Meet Mega Agent Adam Prather from Phoenix, AZ. Adam has tremendous confidence which carries the day. He has a system that helps him get a couple listings each week. Watch as we drill down and get very specific details that you can apply immediately.
Ren Jones (00:01):
Welcome to RoadMap, how to take three listings a week until you’re ready for more. Each week, we interview a great agent who’s consistently taking two, three, four listings, and we have an exciting guest today. We encourage you to take notes, apply as much of their knowledge as quickly as you can, and then use the copycat principle. If you’re watching on Vulcan7 or the Lead Gen Facebook Group, you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions during the broadcast. Type in your questions early, folks. Type in your questions early. Let me introduce my co-host from San Diego, Carley Hathaway. That’s carleyhathaway.com. Hi, Carley. How’s the real estate business?
Carley Hathaway (00:44):
Hi, Ren. Real estate business is great as always. Everything’s going smoothly. Definitely a good time to be a listing agent.
Ren Jones (00:52):
Good, and are you a listing agent?
Carley Hathaway (00:54):
I sure am.
Ren Jones (00:55):
You don’t want to be listless.
Carley Hathaway (00:57):
No.
Ren Jones (00:57):
Well, good. Before I introduce our guest today, I want to remind everyone, we are also simulcasting the show on The Private Lead Gen Group on Facebook. They have, I looked, it was like 49,000, almost 50,000/ Are they at 50,000 yet? Anybody know? Nigel? Scott? Anybody? Nobody knows? Around 50,000 members, so we have a large audience there today as well. We’ll be pausing for a commercial message during the show as a thank you to the Lead Gen folks. Let’s welcome our guests today from the cold, freezing Phoenix/Scottsdale area where it’s snowing like crazy, Mr. Adam Prather.
Adam Prather (01:36):
Hello. Thanks for having me on.
Carley Hathaway (01:38):
Hi, Adam. Thanks for being here. We’re really excited to hear from you today.
Ren Jones (01:42):
Yeah, actually it’s snowing here and it’s nice there.
Carley Hathaway (01:44):
Yeah.
Adam Prather (01:46):
Yeah, yeah, so it’s only 66 here, so we, like Carly said, heater on in the way into the office today.
Carley Hathaway (01:53):
Yep.
Ren Jones (01:53):
Heated seats? Do you have the heated seats and the heated steering wheel?
Adam Prather (01:56):
That’s right. Yeah.
Carley Hathaway (01:56):
Yep.
Ren Jones (02:00):
Good, so let’s make it easy for people to reach you because people are always sending people back and forth to that part of the world or buying a second home. We have the Vulcan7 Challenge. Who is going to buy a second home in Phoenix? There’s the challenge-
Adam Prather (02:16):
That’s right. That’s right, and I’m in the lovely Southeast Valley, so adamprather.com, that’s my website. Then-
Ren Jones (02:22):
Perfect.
Adam Prather (02:22):
… it’s easy, adam@adamprather.com, that’s my email.
Ren Jones (02:26):
That’s as good as it gets, and they can go to adamprather.com and really learn a lot about what you’re doing and-
Adam Prather (02:30):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (02:31):
… all your secrets.
Adam Prather (02:33):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (02:33):
Good.
Adam Prather (02:33):
Email me. I’d be happy to share. I’ve been the beneficiary of a lot of people sharing, so your copycat principle works, so-
Ren Jones (02:40):
Copycat principal works. Fantastic. Good. Well, hopefully we’re going to have a lot of great ideas that people can use in their market and make some things happen, and if they can take an extra couple listings this month as a result of some ideas here, then everybody wins.
Adam Prather (02:56):
That’s right.
Ren Jones (02:57):
Good.
Carley Hathaway (02:57):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (02:58):
Good. Well, let’s jump in.
Carley Hathaway (02:59):
So what… Can we just get right into it? What’s your goal-
Adam Prather (03:03):
Sure.
Carley Hathaway (03:03):
… for this year?
Adam Prather (03:05):
My goal is 77, and I pulled my numbers this morning. I’m on track for 76, so-
Carley Hathaway (03:10):
Nice.
Adam Prather (03:11):
Yeah.
Carley Hathaway (03:11):
Nice, good for you. Good.
Ren Jones (03:11):
Fantastic.
Carley Hathaway (03:14):
Where do you get most of your… Are you listing agent or buyer’s agent or both?
Adam Prather (03:18):
I’m the lead list agent. I’ve got a buyer’s agent on my team and another guy that calls. He just started yesterday, so I’m excited to have him on-
Carley Hathaway (03:26):
Nice.
Adam Prather (03:26):
… but it’s just me mostly and, yeah, I’m the lead list agent, so I mostly pass off my buyer referrals unless they’re friends or family.
Carley Hathaway (03:34):
Great, great-
Ren Jones (03:35):
Fantastic.
Carley Hathaway (03:36):
… and so where do you get most of your listings? Where do you get your leads? How does your business come?
Adam Prather (03:41):
Yeah, I’m an eclectic man. I get stuff from my past clients. I get stuff from, well, my expireds. I do probate, I do just listed/just sold, I’ll door knock, FSBOs, just all of it. I get stuff pretty much from everywhere.
Carley Hathaway (03:59):
Mm-hmm.
Ren Jones (04:00):
How long you been doing-
Adam Prather (04:01):
From other clients.
Ren Jones (04:02):
… how long have you been doing this?
Adam Prather (04:04):
Let’s see, middle of July it’ll be three full years, so I got my license in 2015. I did one deal for my sister, God bless her, my first six months in real estate, and then I was like, “Where’s the rest of the business come from?” The second year I did 25, the-
Carley Hathaway (04:25):
Wow.
Adam Prather (04:26):
… and so 2016, I did 25. Last year, I did 55 closed and pending at the end of the year, and then, like I said, today we’re on track for 76.
Ren Jones (04:35):
That’s a beautiful thing.
Carley Hathaway (04:39):
That’s great.
Ren Jones (04:39):
Yeah-
Carley Hathaway (04:39):
You haven’t-
Ren Jones (04:39):
… and even though… Yeah, that’s a wonderful thing in such a short amount of time and basically a year and a half just that you’ve been really having any consistent product, so that’s… I mean, there’s some great ideas here because people can look and go, “Well, I’ve only been in the business about that length of time. How can I get where Adam is?” This could be-
Adam Prather (04:57):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (04:58):
… so we could have a couple good thoughts here. Tell me about probate.
Adam Prather (05:03):
Yeah, so I’ve been… I’ll get the list. I’ll call the petitioners and just a real respectful phone call. I ask them if they have any real estate needs that they have for settling within the estate and it’s either a yes or no. It’s really easy. It’s a super simple call-
Ren Jones (05:21):
You got some-
Adam Prather (05:21):
… so-
Ren Jones (05:21):
… hits on that?
Adam Prather (05:22):
Yeah. Yep.
Ren Jones (05:23):
You’re getting hits on that. Good, and let me go back a notch because being only in the business a couple of years, what did you do before this?
Adam Prather (05:32):
Yeah, great question, so out of high school, I jumped into banking. I worked for a bank for about six years and started out as a teller. Just kind of doing financial sales while I was in college. Then, about… I began… I was like an assistant manager at the branch, and then I decided I needed something different, so I switched over to financial planning. I was an admin, kind of an appointment setter for a financial planner. Got my license after about a year and a half and told my sales manager, I was like, “I’d like to sell. I want to have my own clients.” He’s like, “Well, we’ll start taking referrals if you can find your own business,” and I said, “All right, let’s do it.”
(06:17):
I found my first five clients in a couple of months and got their assets rolled over and started managing that, so then I did that for another six years. Then, oddly enough, I’m a pretty active member at my church, and though I… They asked me if I wanted to become a pastor for the college kids. I said, “Yeah, that’d great,” so I kind of left it all behind and went and did like a year training at the seminary, that was the church group I was a part of. Came back and served at my church for a couple of years, so I did that. It was kind of like a three-year hiatus. One thing led to another, where they were going to put me. I had some family medical things, needed to stay in Phoenix, and so needed to jump back in. I thought, “All my financial planning licenses are expired now, so what financial sales can I do and get into quick?” Real estate was the answer, so…
Ren Jones (07:18):
Aah.
Carley Hathaway (07:18):
Nice, and you’ve grown-
Adam Prather (07:18):
… that was fun.
Carley Hathaway (07:19):
… you’ve grown your business so fast in just three years. It’s pretty amazing. Is there any kind of tips you can give on people how to build their business as quickly as you have in such a short time? Anything-
Adam Prather (07:30):
Yeah, absolutely-
Carley Hathaway (07:30):
… kind of little tidbits?
Adam Prather (07:31):
… absolutely. A lot of it’s based off of what Ren’s saying about the copycat principle. I mean, so number one, you have to get a coach. You need a coach because you don’t know what you don’t know, and you have your own impressions about how you’re coming across, how you sound, what you look like, just everything professionally speaking. You’ve got to have somebody from the outside looking in and just helping you with that. It’s so important, so number one would be a coach.
Ren Jones (07:57):
Okay, then you have one?
Adam Prather (08:00):
Yeah, I do. I do. Yeah, so I’m coached through the Mike Ferry system and my coach is Steve Powers, so I’ve had two-
Ren Jones (08:07):
Well, that-
Adam Prather (08:08):
… coaches.
Ren Jones (08:11):
… yeah, now, that’s a different church, isn’t it?
Adam Prather (08:15):
Yeah, that’s right. It’s a tribe unto itself. That’s right. Yeah, but I love it. I love it. It’s been a great resource. All the agents there, they attract a lot of the top agents across the country, and so when I go, I benefit from their coaching, from their other coaches, from all the people that go, and so it’s just… it’s been fantastic, so-
Ren Jones (08:32):
Yeah, because we interview a lot of people and it’s rare for us to have somebody who is highly successful or us to find anybody that’s highly successful that doesn’t have some sort of coaching or mentorship piece going on, the accountability and the knowledge and the sharing and all that, so that’s-
Adam Prather (08:50):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (08:50):
… just curious. What is, and I’m sure they’re all the same, whether it’s KW or Mike Ferry or Tom Ferry. what does it cost to be in something like that? What are you spending?
Adam Prather (09:00):
Yeah, I mean, with the Mike Ferry organization, you can get into coaching as low as $600 a month, which is-
Ren Jones (09:04):
Gotcha.
Adam Prather (09:05):
… incredible, and then you can upgrade into a thousand dollars a month if you want a little bit more, but yeah, $600 a month is nothing once you start closing a couple deals. I mean-
Ren Jones (09:14):
Right, and this isn’t a commercial for coaching, but there is a parallel, and we have to acknowledge that, that there’s obviously an ROI, return on investment, for people that do that. I mean-
Adam Prather (09:25):
Right.
Ren Jones (09:26):
… didn’t that feel like a lot of money when you started? Weren’t you like biting your like-
Adam Prather (09:31):
Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely, but I tell you right now, I wouldn’t have anticipated doing the number of deals I was doing without my coach-
Ren Jones (09:39):
Gotcha.
Adam Prather (09:39):
… on that.
Ren Jones (09:40):
Okay. All right. Fair enough. Good.
Adam Prather (09:42):
That’s another thing that the coach does is he helps expand your mind I was talking to my coach, Steve, and we were doing business planning for 2018. I said, “Okay, I think I want to do 70.” He’s like, “How about 77?” I was like, “All right, let’s do 77.” Now, you look at my numbers and the activities, I’m on track, so…
Ren Jones (09:59):
He bumped you up 10%. I like that.
Adam Prather (10:01):
Yeah, so they help you think bigger than what you’re already doing, which is important.
Carley Hathaway (10:04):
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ren Jones (10:05):
The mindset is a big piece, so what do you do on the I don’t want to… I mean, what’s your morning routine like? Doesn’t the I don’t ant to voice come up every once in a while and-
Adam Prather (10:14):
Yeah, it does. Well, yeah, I have a very specific routine that I follow, and I’ve got high levels of accountability for it. I get up at 4:00 in the morning. I’m working out by 4:15. Yep, 4:00, yep. I mean, you don’t have to get up at 4:00 to be successful in real estate, but-
Ren Jones (10:31):
4:00 AM.
Adam Prather (10:32):
Yeah, 4:00 AM.
Ren Jones (10:33):
I’ve went to bed at 4:00 AM. No, I’m teasing.
Adam Prather (10:35):
That’s right. 9:00, 9:30, that’s when I’m in bed.
Ren Jones (10:38):
Okay. Okay, good.
Carley Hathaway (10:39):
Good.
Adam Prather (10:41):
I’m working out. I have a routine. I develop myself spiritually, mentally in the morning after that, and then I immediately jump into… like I’m reviewing my numbers. I’ve got a set of practice things I’m working on. Then, I have some role-play, and then I jump on the phone, so-
Carley Hathaway (11:03):
Mm-hmm, and so that sounds amazing. When you jump on the phones, do you have certain ones you like to call first? Do you like to start with referrals? Do you like to start with FSBOs? What’s your number ones?
Adam Prather (11:13):
Right, so I was… Ren was telling me, “Think about the newer person or somebody that’s kind of struggling to get into this.” The biggest thing for me is I’m thinking profitability. I’m thinking profitability, so if I look at my past clients and my centers of influence, I probably can get a referral that I’m not going to have to compete for one every 40 calls.
Carley Hathaway (11:38):
Okay.
Adam Prather (11:38):
That’s a highly profitable call, and all these people like me, so just keep calling them. That’s a huge return on the amount of time invested that you’re putting in.
Carley Hathaway (11:47):
Okay.
Ren Jones (11:48):
Well, so if they only make one contact a day, it’s going to take a month and a half. How many contacts do you make a day?
Adam Prather (11:54):
I’m at 30 minimum, so-3
Ren Jones (11:57):
30 minimum. Okay, that’s your base?
Adam Prather (11:58):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (11:58):
Okay.
Adam Prather (11:59):
I focus on setting the appointment. My coach has me… He wants me zeroed in on the appointment. He’s like, “You don’t leave until you get your qualified listing appointment set,” and so sometimes I get that in the second call, but then I got to keep working.
Carley Hathaway (12:12):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (12:13):
Sometimes you keep calling, and so, I mean, what’s the longest you’ve gone in calling till you get your appointment?
Adam Prather (12:20):
8:00.
Ren Jones (12:20):
You… 8:00 at night?
Adam Prather (12:20):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (12:24):
You-
Carley Hathaway (12:24):
Wow.
Ren Jones (12:24):
… started in the morning and you never got your appointment, so you went till 8:00 at night? Do you call Uber Eats in between? Or what were you-
Adam Prather (12:33):
Yeah, exactly. No, I mean, I’ll step out to grab a quick bite or check in with my assistant or whatever, but if I don’t have an appointment that I’m going on, what other activities could be doing to make any money? So-
Carley Hathaway (12:43):
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Ren Jones (12:46):
So 8:00-
(12:46):
… at night, so you’re talking like… That’s like a marathon.
Carley Hathaway (12:49):
Yeah, I was going to say, how did you get to the point to build your stamina to be able to stay on the phone that long?
Adam Prather (12:56):
Mike Ferry says you have to strengthen the connection between the amount of money you make and your activities, and so that’s one thing. You always have to be strengthening that. What’s… Break down your numbers. If you make this much money, how does that break down into the number of contacts? I know right now I think I make… If I break down my earnings, I’m making like 70-something dollars a contact, so I got to strengthen that-
Carley Hathaway (13:23):
Okay.
Adam Prather (13:24):
… you know? One every 17 contacts I’m setting an appointment, so you have to strengthen your numbers for that, which is really important, the connection between the money and your activities.
Carley Hathaway (13:35):
Yeah, and let me ask you this, especially for newer people just getting into this and that are just getting hammered on the phone. How do you kind of shake it off when you get someone that’s just like, “Stop calling me, I hate you,” whatever? How do you overcome that in the beginning?
Adam Prather (13:49):
Right. Well, that’s a really good question. You know how you get on the phone, you have some kind of expectation that somebody’s going to say some kind of objection back to you, right?
Carley Hathaway (14:00):
Right.
Adam Prather (14:01):
I’ve already got another agent. We have these knee-jerk reactions that we cultivate where I say, “You know,” I’ll say something them them, “Well, when are you getting a second opinion?” That’s like a knee-jerk reaction that I have. So-
Ren Jones (14:15):
Uh-huh.
Adam Prather (14:15):
… just like you can develop a knee-jerk reaction where you’re not even thinking to that, you can develop a knee-jerk reaction to the bad stuff, too.
Ren Jones (14:23):
You’re saying-
Adam Prather (14:23):
you’re-
Ren Jones (14:24):
… like unconscious confidence, it just comes rolling out of your mouth?
Adam Prather (14:27):
Yeah, yeah, so something might… If they’re screaming and yelling at me and they won’t even ask my questions, I mean, honestly, I like having the people that are screaming and yelling because I can find out what they’re mad about. If it’s mad about the fact that their house didn’t sell, I’m the guy. I can-
(14:45):
… help.
Ren Jones (14:46):
… you bring up a good-
Adam Prather (14:47):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (14:47):
… point because sometimes the highest level hostility is with the seller that really wanted it to sell and they’re super, super motivated. If you go straight back at them, they like it.
Adam Prather (15:01):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (15:02):
… and most people are afraid of that and they’ll just-
Adam Prather (15:03):
Yeah, exactly. That’s huge. That’s huge, so just-
(15:07):
… like you can develop that, with your role-play partners, you could practice that like, “Si say this to me, and then I’m going to react and I want to be calm, cool. Mirror your emotions and then redirect the conversation into a different area. It’s fun. It’s really challenging in the beginning, but then all of a sudden you begin go feel invincible because there’s nothing that can be thrown at you on the phone that you can’t develop some controlled response to.
Carley Hathaway (15:34):
Mm-hmm. I love it. Can we do a little role-play? Would you be comfortable?
Adam Prather (15:38):
Sure, that’s fine.
Carley Hathaway (15:40):
What do you want to do? You want to do an expired or a FSBO?
Adam Prather (15:43):
Let’s do an expired. That’s fine.
Carley Hathaway (15:45):
Okay.
Adam Prather (15:46):
Here’s a tip.
Carley Hathaway (15:47):
Okay.
Adam Prather (15:47):
Here’s a tip-
Carley Hathaway (15:48):
Okay.
Adam Prather (15:48):
… so when you role-play, it’s important you have the things defined. You’ve got to instruct your role-play partners on what you’re looking to practice, so if I’m the first call, that’s a totally different call than if I’m the 15th call.
Carley Hathaway (16:02):
Okay.
Adam Prather (16:03):
Does that make sense?
Carley Hathaway (16:04):
Yeah, definitely. Well, let’s get into it, let’s say-
Adam Prather (16:06):
Let’s say it’s the 15th call where you’re a little upset about it.
Carley Hathaway (16:09):
Okay, let’s do it.
Adam Prather (16:10):
All right. Ring, ring.
Carley Hathaway (16:11):
Hello.
Adam Prather (16:12):
Good morning, Carley. This is Adam Prather, local realtor. How are you today?
Carley Hathaway (16:16):
Oh my God, not another realtor. Are you guys… How did you get my phone number?
Adam Prather (16:20):
Oh my gosh. You’ve been getting so many phone calls today?
Carley Hathaway (16:23):
Yeah, I can’t even deal, serious.
Adam Prather (16:25):
Oh my gosh. Well, let me be quick. When are you planning to sit down and talk to the right agent for the job of helping you get this home sold?
Carley Hathaway (16:31):
I’m not.
Adam Prather (16:32):
You’re not? Really? Well, I see you’re on the market for 90 days. Where were you planning to go if you had sold the home?
Carley Hathaway (16:39):
Florida.
Adam Prather (16:40):
Florida. Wow, that’s exciting. What was taking you to Florida?
Carley Hathaway (16:45):
The weather.
Adam Prather (16:46):
The weather, that sounds wonderful. Well-
Carley Hathaway (16:48):
Yeah, it would have been.
Adam Prather (16:49):
… Carley, let me ask you, if we had a highly qualified buyer for you who could clos in the next 30 days, we could get you over to Florida, start enjoying that weather, would you have 15 minutes to meet with me later today?
Carley Hathaway (17:01):
No, it’s been on the market for 90 days. Why don’t you bring me a buyer then?
Adam Prather (17:04):
Oh, that is a great question. You’re talking to an agent who’s selling a home every five days. We’ve had over the last three months, while you’re home was on the market, we’ve put about nine sold signs in people’s yards. Would you like to have a sold sign in your yard?
Carley Hathaway (17:18):
Yes.
Adam Prather (17:19):
Yes. I’ll see you at 5:00.
Carley Hathaway (17:22):
Okay, I’ll see you at 5:00.
Ren Jones (17:23):
That quick? Wow.
Adam Prather (17:25):
I literally don’t say that, but then you keep going.
Carley Hathaway (17:26):
Yeah. That was great.
Adam Prather (17:28):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (17:28):
You do a lot of role-play with a lot of… several different people? Or what does that-
Adam Prather (17:32):
Yeah.
(17:33):
Yep. Yeah, I… and so the… Yeah, the role-play’s important because role-play exposes your skill level-
Carley Hathaway (17:41):
Mm-hmm.
Adam Prather (17:41):
… you know?
Carley Hathaway (17:42):
Are you role-playing every day? I mean, five days a week?
Adam Prather (17:45):
Yeah, I usually role-play a couple times, a couple times.
(17:50):
I’ll give you guys something else.
Ren Jones (17:51):
… where do you find your role-play… Where does somebody find a role-play partner?
Adam Prather (17:54):
Yeah, I mean, you should be able to find good role-play partners within some of the coaching events you go to. If you-
Ren Jones (17:59):
Absolutely.
Adam Prather (18:00):
… ever go to any trainings, if you’re online with any Masterminds on Facebook or you’re a part of any of those groups, just start asking people.
Ren Jones (18:06):
Gotcha.
Adam Prather (18:07):
You know?
Ren Jones (18:07):
Okay.
Adam Prather (18:09):
Sometimes you have to just find somebody who’s willing and then you have to both get better at the same time.
Carley Hathaway (18:13):
Uh-huh. Yeah, and do you sometimes like… do you go through the expired script? Or do you sometimes just focus on objections? Or what’s kind of your way to practice?
Adam Prather (18:24):
I look at… Okay, so here’s something important, too. Role-play isn’t necessarily practice unless you’re really trying to work on one thing. If it’s just a, “Give me a random situation, let’s just do an expired,” that’s like doing a scrimmage. You’re in a basketball game. They’re just testing your skills. What’s game time going to look like? That’s the main important thing for role-play. Practice, on the other hand, is when you’ve narrowed down a certain skill and you’re trying to drill into it and figure that out because when you put the hard work in with the practice, it starts showing up in your role-plays, and then you have more confidence when you’re in game time, when you’re on the phone.
Carley Hathaway (19:05):
Got it. That makes a lot of sense.
Adam Prather (19:07):
Practice is super important, whether it’s memorizing your script, whether it’s getting your tonality down, and that’s where your role-play partners can be really helpful in exposing where you need to grow. If they’re like, “Adam, you just don’t sound natural on the phone,” so now I got to go through my scripts, like record myself. Do I sound natural? Am I not? Those are little things that you can do to just really get your skills up to where they need to be.
Carley Hathaway (19:30):
Yeah. Wonderful.
Adam Prather (19:31):
You can record yourself, give it to your coach, and your coach will be like, “Repeat after me.”I mean, you could get as basic as you need to, but sometimes we just haven’t had that training-
Carley Hathaway (19:41):
Yeah, I-
Adam Prather (19:41):
… and it’s important to have.
Carley Hathaway (19:42):
… yeah, great advice, great advice.
Adam Prather (19:44):
Yeah.
Carley Hathaway (19:46):
Okay, so can we talk about mindset a little bit?
Adam Prather (19:49):
Sure. Yeah.
Carley Hathaway (19:49):
How you kind of stay focused? What’s your… Are you doing affirmations? What… Can we talk… Just give us some advice.
Adam Prather (19:58):
Right. For… Yeah, well, some people use affirmations. Sometimes I do. If I’m having like particularly… Maybe it’s the time between when I’ve taken listings. Maybe it’s just a little discouraging or maybe there’s something going on at home, that can be helpful to kind of reengage myself. What I find is the most important is having a systematic routine. If I do the same thing, it’s going to launch me into the same way every day, so if I follow my… It becomes a thing where I’m not even thinking, like I don’t even… When my alarm goes off to get on the phone, I don’t even think about it. I take my headset, I put it on my head, and I start dialing. It’s like because it’s a routine, it’s not challenging, so-
Ren Jones (20:46):
Yeah.
Adam Prather (20:46):
… I work really hard on developing that routine.
Ren Jones (20:49):
Kind of like Pavlov’s realtor, right?
Adam Prather (20:51):
Yeah, yeah
Ren Jones (20:52):
The bell rings, you put your headset on, you start making calls.
Adam Prather (20:54):
Right, and then identifying, what is that most difficult first step for you? You know?
Carley Hathaway (21:00):
Okay.
Adam Prather (21:01):
For me, it’s like my alarm goes off. It’s actually getting started on it, so I have a high level of accountability there. I have a good friend and partner up in Seattle and I text him at 4:00 in the morning.
Carley Hathaway (21:12):
Oh gosh.
Adam Prather (21:13):
Yeah, and I text him so he knows I’m up, and if he doesn’t get that text from me, he’s got a $250 check he cashes.
Ren Jones (21:20):
Wow-
(21:21):
… all right. Now, we’re talking about some high levels of accountability. That’s-
Adam Prather (21:24):
Yeah.
Carley Hathaway (21:24):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (21:25):
… well, let’s jump in-
Adam Prather (21:25):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (21:25):
… with some Q&A. We’re getting a few things. We did talk about a probate script where he said what he says. That was one. Oh, Desiree wants to know, “What’s the best practice to master cold-calling and objections without coaching? I guess probably YouTube where you could watch something.
Adam Prather (21:43):
Yeah. Yeah.
Ren Jones (21:43):
I think-
Adam Prather (21:44):
Yeah, I mean, most coaching client, most coaches have their scripts, so it’s just get them downloaded, get them going.
Ren Jones (21:52):
Yeah.
Adam Prather (21:52):
Get a partner that’s committed with you.
Ren Jones (21:54):
A lot of times if they can go shadow somebody or they can watch somebody doing it, I guess is as close to live as you can get. Or they need to go somewhere live.
Adam Prather (22:03):
Yeah, right.
Ren Jones (22:05):
Yeah.
Adam Prather (22:05):
Another thing, too, that to answer her question is getting a handful of agents that you can prospect with, whether it’s through a system like this or a hangout-type system or something. I do that and that’s really helpful.
Carley Hathaway (22:21):
Yeah, and you said you do a lot of door-knocking. What’s kind of your… What do you door knock? What houses are you going to? Or…
Adam Prather (22:29):
Yeah. Yeah, so whether it’s… I mean, just solds are like my favorite because you have instant credibility in the neighborhood. You sold a house. They saw your sign go up. Now they see a sold sign on there, and so now you’ve got great news. You have current market information for them, and so whether it’s door-knocking, I’ll go put the sold sign on and I knock on five doors either side and 10 across the street, or there’s a list. There’s an expired listing I really want, do maybe I’ll go knock on that one and since I’m out there, I’ll knock on a few more.
Carley Hathaway (23:02):
Nice. Okay, good.
Ren Jones (23:03):
Beautiful. Thanks. Good, good. Mark on Facebook, Mark Zarnecki is saying, what is your follow-up system? What does that look like as far as an expired on the first day and then continuing it? How often are you following it up? Are you mailing, emailing, calling, what are you doing?
Adam Prather (23:24):
Yeah, I mean, I’ve found when you get good on the phone, there’s nothing more effective than just trying to have that conversation with them. I mean, I’ve tried different things before where I mail things or try to email them or things like that, but the most effective thing is going to be just trying to get them back on the phone. I always just try to think, “Okay, so the first thing in the morning, that’s going to be the best time. Maybe I catch them at lunch, maybe I catch them at night, and then the weekends.” There’s really not any other time of day. Maybe they’re just not available in the morning or not available, and so it’s just. how badly do you want it? Do you have any other appointments? Like if you know, so-
Carley Hathaway (24:05):
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Then, let me as you this. For sale by owners, they usually have their own open houses. Do you ever pop by those and try to kind of get in there that way?
Adam Prather (24:15):
Yeah, yeah, so I’ll go in there and my goal is to try to find out when they’re going to do something. I’ll go in there and just like I gave you with that expired script. “I’m trying to be excited with you, trying to hae a lot of energy and enthusiasm. That’s one thing maybe I’d say for new guys as well and gals is you are now a performer, so you better… When you go, you’re going to feel a little awkward. I’m an analytical guy, and so I could be the calm and reserved and monotone, but you’ve got to push yourself out side of that,
(24:56):
You are now a performer, so you’ve got to show them great energy and enthusiasm and smiles and everything. It’s going to put you outside of your comfort zone, but that’s what they’re looking for. They want somebody that’s excited to help them do what they’re doing.
Ren Jones (25:12):
It’s showtime.
Adam Prather (25:14):
That’s right.
Ren Jones (25:14):
That’s it.
Carley Hathaway (25:15):
I agree. That’s great.
Ren Jones (25:16):
Yeah. Well, that energy is critical, and then we have to really know what we’re talking about when we-
Carley Hathaway (25:20):
Yeah.
Adam Prather (25:20):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (25:20):
… so do you have a canned listening presentation? Or do you just try to build a relationship? “Oh, what a lovely dog. I love dog.” What do you-
Adam Prather (25:30):
Yeah. Yeah. No, I go… I stick to my listing presentation as much as I can. Everybody always tries to take you odd, but it’s just engage them. We’re real people in real situations, and so they might have a question pop in their head. It’s not making them feel wrong that they had that question in the middle of your presentation, but if there’s a better time to address it, or maybe it’ll already be addressed in your presentation to say, “You know, that’s a really good question. Write it down. We’ll make sure we cover that. Let’s get back to this.” Then, you take them back through.
Ren Jones (26:04):
Okay.
Carley Hathaway (26:04):
Mm-hmm. Nice, and how long does your average listing presentation take?
Adam Prather (26:10):
Usually it’s about 10 minutes to get in. Sometimes they just really want to show you the house, and then I’m probably 15, 20 minutes through the bulk of it. Then, a lot of it’s just the end. What extraneous details do we have to address? I’d say I’m probably about an hour to an hour and a half all-in, arrive at the door and leave, so-
Carley Hathaway (26:35):
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Good.
Ren Jones (26:37):
Mary Huber wants to know, and maybe we can do it kind of a little piece of a role-play. It’s a for sale by owner, and then you’re talking to them and they say, “You know, I’m not listing it, Adam. Bring me a buyer and I’ll pay you 2%.”
Adam Prather (26:51):
Is this on the phone or am I in person?
Ren Jones (26:54):
Sure, yeah, it’s over the phone-
Adam Prather (26:56):
Okay.
Ren Jones (26:57):
… and I’ll pay you 2%. Bring me a buyer and, yeah.
Adam Prather (26:59):
I’d say, “Excellent. I’ll show you exactly how we bring that buyer. I’ll see at 5:00.”
Ren Jones (27:04):
No, no, no. Just if you have a buyer, you’re welcome to show it and I’ll pay you 2%, Adam.
Adam Prather (27:10):
Yeah, well, that’s very generous of you to pay, and then I would level shift into something else.
Ren Jones (27:16):
Okay, like?
Adam Prather (27:17):
Like so I’d like to know where they’re going. Like-
Ren Jones (27:21):
Okay.
Adam Prather (27:22):
Yeah-
Ren Jones (27:22):
You get a little better-
Adam Prather (27:23):
… so-
Ren Jones (27:23):
… background. Then, you’ll circle back around.
Adam Prather (27:24):
Right, right.
Ren Jones (27:25):
“I’d like to apply for the job of selling your or home,” or something, or-
Adam Prather (27:27):
Mm-hmm.
Ren Jones (27:28):
Okay.
Adam Prather (27:28):
Yeah.
Carley Hathaway (27:29):
Okay, so you know what I find difficult at times? Is that especially in San Diego, a lot of these people don’t live in the home and they’re not moving. It’s investment properties or rental properties, or they’ve already-
Adam Prather (27:39):
I love it.
Carley Hathaway (27:40):
… moved. Vacant.
Adam Prather (27:40):
I love it. Those are the-
Carley Hathaway (27:40):
How-
Adam Prather (27:40):
… best-
Carley Hathaway (27:41):
… how do you-
Adam Prather (27:41):
… because… Go ahead.
Carley Hathaway (27:44):
Go ahead. Well, no, because you can’t ask that question, “Where are you going?” Then, get excited for them to move there because they’re not moving, How do you get around that?
Adam Prather (27:51):
Right, so it’s similar to like the probate where it’s just like it’s kind of black or white what they’re going to do. If they’re an investor, they’re going to rent it out again or they would’ve just preferred to sell it. I’ll ask them the same question, just slightly different. I’ll say, “So when you sell this property, what are your plans next?” You know?
Carley Hathaway (28:10):
Gotcha. Like a new investment or something like that?
Adam Prather (28:12):
Yeah, so are you looking to cash this property out and improve your investment portfolio? Is that what you’re trying to do?
Carley Hathaway (28:17):
Mm-hmm.
Adam Prather (28:19):
So you’re-
Carley Hathaway (28:19):
I like it.
Adam Prather (28:20):
… trying to get it going-
Carley Hathaway (28:22):
Yeah.
Adam Prather (28:22):
… but a lot of times, I try… Maybe a good way of saying this is like when other people have been listed previously with an expired FSBO or whatever, they’ve got… they’ve built a certain environment and expectations around themselves, right? So it’s-
Carley Hathaway (28:40):
Right.
Adam Prather (28:40):
… been on the market for 90 days or 120 days and they’re like, “There’s just nobody out here.” They’re kind of inoculated to their situation, and so my goal when I come into this is to try to change the temperature of the water a little bit. I talk about it differently. “That was very generous of you to give 90 days to your last agent. However, are you aware that we’re virtually selling homes in 10 days right now?” I change the temperature of the water a little bit-
Ren Jones (29:05):
Yeah.
Carley Hathaway (29:05):
Wow.
Adam Prather (29:05):
… so whether it’s… Or maybe it’s an investor and they’ve got a lazy partner for such a long time. I’ll say, “It sounds like you need a different approach, a more aggressive approach. Let’s talk later today on the phone at 4:00. I can do my presentation over the phone. I’ll send you the information, and then I’ll go from there with them. If I’m changing the temperature of the water, it’s getting them to think. They’re like, “This is a little different.”
Carley Hathaway (29:32):
Mm-hmm.
Ren Jones (29:32):
Gotcha-
Carley Hathaway (29:32):
I like it. I like it.
Ren Jones (29:35):
… and Carley, where else… Because Carley’s making calls every day, where else are you getting stuck? What’s an objection you’re having trouble getting through?
Carley Hathaway (29:45):
Let me think. I had quite a few objections yesterday. Just that they’re not selling their home anymore. “We’re just not selling it. we’re not selling it,” but you know they want to.
Adam Prather (29:54):
Yeah. You know, Carley, it’s not uncommon to lose interest, especially being on the market for 120 days. Where were you trying to go once you sell the home? Get their motivation, just give it to me.
Carley Hathaway (30:07):
We aren’t moving. It’s a rental property.
Adam Prather (30:13):
Okay, so the… Okay, so we’re not selling is part of like a… Okay, so-
Carley Hathaway (30:16):
I think they’re just frustrated and they’re just trying to get off the phone.
Adam Prather (30:19):
Sure, sure, so that’s you’re –
Ren Jones (30:21):
I mean, they were selling it a few days ago.
Adam Prather (30:22):
… you’re giving them some kind of reaction back. You’re sympathizing. You’re mirroring them and then you’re just turning them. You’re trying to find out what happened, so say, “Okay, so you’re an investor. It’s not uncommon to lose interest. What were your original plans when you put it on the market 90 days ago?”
Carley Hathaway (30:39):
We wanted to buy more of an apartment complex, like a four-unit complex rather than this house.
Adam Prather (30:45):
Carley, you’re so smart. Are you aware that you can virtually get this home sold in the next 10 days and then we can actually put that money to better use? I’ve got a couple of multi-units that we could connect you with. Do you have some time tonight at 5:00 where we can talk about that?
Carley Hathaway (31:03):
No, I mean, I have an agent. He wasn’t able to sell it. You’re not going to do anything different.
Adam Prather (31:09):
Well, Carley, I mean, you’re talking to an agent. I’m selling a home every five days and we’re virtually selling them in every tent, so if you’d still accept an offer on your property and like to be closed and moved on to that new property here within the next 30 to 45 days, let’s meet. I’ll see you at 5:00.
Carley Hathaway (31:26):
I have to talk to my husband.
Adam Prather (31:28):
You know, is he on the title of the home?
Carley Hathaway (31:31):
Unfortunately he is.
Adam Prather (31:32):
Unfortunately he is. Well, I’m sure he’d want to be involved in this as well, so you talk to your husband and then if we need to make any changes, we can always do so. I’ll see you tonight at 5:00.
Carley Hathaway (31:45):
Fine,
Adam Prather (31:46):
Fine. Great.
Ren Jones (31:49):
Alex Vincent wants to know, “What about the objection, ‘Just call me in two weeks and we can talk?'”
Carley Hathaway (31:54):
Yeah.
Adam Prather (31:54):
Yeah. I can call you. Yeah, I can call you in two weeks. I got you down on my calendar. However, if we were able to actually get your home sold by this weekend, I mean, would you be happy about that?
Ren Jones (32:03):
Yeah. Come on-
Carley Hathaway (32:05):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (32:05):
… over.
Adam Prather (32:05):
Yeah.
Ren Jones (32:08):
Good. This has been great. Adam, this has been just a real treat. A lot of great ideas. People can… Carley, you can take a listing this afternoon. It’s only… Gosh, it’s only 10:30 in the morning there, Carley.
Carley Hathaway (32:20):
I know, and I’ve only made-
Ren Jones (32:21):
You could get one-
Carley Hathaway (32:21):
… two contacts.
Ren Jones (32:21):
… before lunch.
Carley Hathaway (32:22):
I know-
(32:23):
… I’ve only made two contacts and my goal’s 27, so I think I can do it.
Adam Prather (32:26):
Yep. There you go.
Ren Jones (32:27):
There you go.
Adam Prather (32:28):
There you go-
Ren Jones (32:30):
Yeah, so good deal. Well, Carley, go get another listing. Adam, it was a treat having you here. Let me read-
Adam Prather (32:34):
Okay.
Ren Jones (32:35):
… oh, we got… I have to… Sarah, thank you. If you’re watching on Lead Gen, if you’re watching on Vulcan7 and you want to get involved with The Lead Gen Group that simulcasts this show on Facebook, they’re at facebook.com/groups/gotobjections. Also, I want to mention that Aaron, who runs the group, is a real giver. He runs a program called expiredmasteryelite.com. Finally, if you’re watching on Facebook and you’re not yet involved with Vulcan7, you should be. Make sure to sign up at vulcan7.com/leadgen for a special deal. Then, if… Adam always does. This is Adam’s secret he’s not telling you. As soon as he sets that appointment, he goes and gets delicious, right down the street from him, you can find it, too, delicious Graeter’s Mint Chocolate Chip.
Carley Hathaway (33:24):
Yummy.
Ren Jones (33:26):
That’s his secret. Now, you-
Adam Prather (33:28):
That’s right.
(33:29):
… I like mint chip. That’s right.
Ren Jones (33:30):
That’s the one. Go to graeters.com so you can find out where you can get it in your market, right down the street in most cases. Anywhere in North America, and in Phoenix, it melts fast.
Adam Prather (33:43):
That’s right. You got to eat it quick.
Ren Jones (33:44):
We can eat it real quick. It melts cream-
Carley Hathaway (33:47):
Thank you so much.
(33:47):
That was-
Ren Jones (33:47):
You have to eat it in the freezer.
Adam Prather (33:47):
Exactly.
Carley Hathaway (33:47):
Yeah.
(33:50):
Thank you so much. I think we all had some great takeaways. Great, great show. Thank you so much.
Adam Prather (33:56):
Absolutely. Happy to help.
Ren Jones (33:59):
Good deal. Art McGibbon, he wanted to know what the Facebook group is again. It is Lead Gen. It’s facebook.com/groups/gotobjections. Hope that helps you. Art. See everybody next week.
Carley Hathaway (34:15):
Bye, everybody. Thank you.
Ren Jones (34:16):
We have another exciting guest.