S8 E11: Overcoming Call Reluctance

Ehab Korabi (00:04):
I have an architectural degree, double major in urban planning. I’m an architect, urban planner. And I do real estate as business, and as a business decision, not emotional decisions. And I started using Vulcan 7 June 25th. I’m new to prospecting, I’m new to listings, I’m new to the whole everything. So first thing, I had to change my mindset, and I had to adjust my mind on prospecting and that’s it. I had some cold reluctance probably for one or two months, and I told my coach, my ferry coach, and I told also Vulcan 7 team support that I am having cold reluctance. And you supported me in every way possible. I used to have those phone calls every day almost from Vulcan 7 just to follow up with me, and I made it. It didn’t last long, just one month and next month I had almost eight listings, $5.6 million, and the snowball started rolling.

Ren Jones (01:17):
It’s that time.

(01:20):
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 several listings each month and we have an exciting guest today. We encourage you to take notes as quickly as you can, and apply their knowledge and then use the copycat principle. Let me introduce my co-host. My co-host is from nearby here outside Cincinnati, Camp Dennison, Ohio. Historic site, where the horses roam free, is the owner of a very large real estate company with 550, 560 agents, and has a powerful real estate team herself. Sarah Close. Welcome, Sarah.

Sarah Close (02:07):
Ren, Thanks for having me. Happy to be here today.

Ren Jones (02:10):
Glad you can be, glad you can be. It’s nice when you have a co-host that also does what a lot of our guests do, and that is set those appointments, take those listings, and sell like crazy, have a lot of fun with a listing driven business. So glad you can be here. Let’s welcome our guest today from somewhere I would like to be.

Sarah Close (02:31):
Yeah, me too.

Ren Jones (02:33):
Tampa St. Petersburg, all around there in Florida, Ehab Korabi. Welcome, Ehab.

Ehab Korabi (02:41):
Thank you very much for having me.

Sarah Close (02:42):
Thanks for being here.

Ehab Korabi (02:44):
Thank you so much. It’s my honor.

Sarah Close (02:45):
So before we were talking off camera a little bit before we got started, it sounds like you’ve had a pretty amazing month. Tell us a little bit about that.

Ehab Korabi (02:55):
Well, I just signed today I received two offers on our listing. Two days ago it was under market, and today I received full asking price, $2.2 million, and I represent both sides, which is a great.

Sarah Close (03:08):
That’s a beautiful thing.

Ehab Korabi (03:11):
And this is my third under contract this month on my listings. Second, I represent both sides, so it’s great.

Sarah Close (03:20):
Oh, that’s exciting. Good for you. Tell us a little bit about what your business looks like. Tell us kind of like what your target audience is, and how do you get in touch with them. Just give us a little profile.

Ehab Korabi (03:32):
So I’m an architect, urban planner. And I do real estate as business, and as a business decision, not emotional decisions. And I started using Vulcan 7 June 25th. I’m new to prospecting, I’m new to listings, I’m new to the whole everything. So first thing, I had to change my mindset, and I had to adjust my mind on prospecting, and that’s it. I had some cold reluctance probably for one or two months, and I told my coach, my ferry coach, and I told also Vulcan 7 team support that I am having cold reluctance, and you supported me in every way possible. I used to have those phone calls every day almost from Vulcan 7 just to follow up with me, and I made it. It didn’t last long, just one month, and next month I had almost eight listings, $5.6 million, and the snowball started rolling.

Sarah Close (04:34):
That’s very exciting. Talk to us a little bit about something you said, it was pretty interesting. You said you look at real estate as a business decision. Talk to us a little bit about that. What does that mean to you as an agent?

Ehab Korabi (04:47):
Just straightforward at the beginning when someone used to give me some hard answers, I said, “Okay, I don’t want to keep moving on.” And then I said, “No, I don’t see him, I just see his wallet.” Keep dialing. Keep calling, keep calling, keep calling. And I made it. Now even if they give me so hard answer, so hard time, uh-huh, so tough, I will never give up until they give up and give me this listing. So this is the decision which I took. It is business, it’s not the emotions, uh-huh.

Ren Jones (05:22):
It sounds more like sports, a very competitive, that you’re just honing a skill, and it’s to hit a certain skill level, a certain batting average, if you will.

Sarah Close (05:36):
Talk to us a little bit about what a follow-up plan might look like for you. So you encounter prospective seller, and on that first call they’re not signing hard, making three copies. What does your follow-up look like with them? Talk to us about how you schedule that, and what does that process look like?

Ehab Korabi (05:56):
Well, most of them, I mean, it’s not easy to call someone probably who is trying to sell by himself or herself getting the most amount of money, and then tell them, “Okay, I will list it.” They think, “Uh-huh, we are losing money.” So first of all they say no. I don’t give up, I try to explain to them how to net them the most amount of money. If they keep saying no, I follow up next day, third day, fourth day, until they give up and they say, “Okay, come on, let’s sign it.”

Ren Jones (06:24):
Well, you’re modeling the ideal thing, don’t they want somebody like you representing them, something that with a little bit of an aggressive strong posture, they know you’re going to be the one they want to represent them in the sale of that property.

Ehab Korabi (06:38):
Exactly. This approach, I mean, it showed them that I am aggressive getting them the best fit buyer, the most amount of money. That’s why I’m aggressive to sell their home finding best buyers. And most of the time it works. Actually, this year I did not lose any listing appointment, so obviously it’s working.

Sarah Close (06:59):
That’s exciting.

Ehab Korabi (06:59):
Thank you.

Sarah Close (07:00):
That’s very exciting. So the anatomy of your calling schedule. So when you’re thinking about doing your prospecting, or your lead gen for the day, how do you lay out your time that you’re going to be on the phone? What is sort of your hierarchy and how do you go through that?

Ehab Korabi (07:17):
Well, my day starts every morning 5:30. I start prospecting 8:00 sharp, 8:00 to 12:00. Then 12:00 I need a break, it’s a lot prospecting, almost four hours. And I like also prospecting from 5:00, or 4:00, it depends on my schedule. If I don’t have a listing appointment, 4:00 to 6:00. Also, this time is great, because people are driving back from their work. So mainly 8:00 to 12:00, 4:00 to 6:00, those are my main times for prospecting.

Sarah Close (07:52):
Okay, terrific. And how many people do you normally find that you’re talking to on an average day free prospecting wise?

Ehab Korabi (07:59):
As number of calls, or number of clients, contacts?

Sarah Close (08:02):
I would say contacts. Two-way conversations that you’re having with the decision makers.

Ehab Korabi (08:08):
I do not stop calling until I have between 17 to 19 live answer contacts. So whether I achieve them in three hours, two hours, seven hours, these are my minimum numbers. So if I hit them before my shift, it’s great, which means I will enjoy some spare time. If not, I’ll keep calling.

Sarah Close (08:29):
That’s great. That’s really terrific. And out of those 17 to 19 live answers that you have, generally speaking, what does that conversion rate look like for appointments, usually?

Ehab Korabi (08:41):
Well, as I said, this year, my conversion rate from appointment to listing is 100%. From phone call to appointment, it’s almost 80%.

Sarah Close (08:53):
Wow, that’s really high.

Ehab Korabi (08:55):
Thank you.

Ren Jones (08:56):
Yeah, that’s quite amazing. Yeah.

Sarah Close (08:58):
Really is. What do you attribute that to?

Ren Jones (09:04):
You got the right mug, that’s for sure. He’s got the right mug.

Sarah Close (09:09):
That is awesome.

Ehab Korabi (09:11):
Actually, in Vulcan 7 you are really giving us the tools to be successful.

Ren Jones (09:17):
One of the biggest things we encourage people to do is to have a coach, somebody that you have to be accountable to once a week for 30 minutes, or whatever it may be, something like that to take it to the next level you want, and you’re and you’re doing that. Can you want to explain the value of that in this process versus trying to be a self-starter and go alone and do it yourself and just show up to best practices?

Ehab Korabi (09:43):
Yeah, learning is a continuous process. So I mean, when I see myself few months ago now, and I see how much the difference is. And every time I come up with a question with a situation, I don’t know how to handle it, I check with my coach. Although it’s once a week, but those coaches, when they start seeing our success, they will not just call us once a week. So they are almost ready every time whenever we have a situation. I text her, she calls me back and she tells me do this and do this. So I’m having this great support from everybody. My coach, Jim, Vulcan 7.

Ren Jones (10:25):
You surround yourself with knowledge and accountability.

Ehab Korabi (10:28):
Exactly. And if I don’t work, I feel so guilty. Everybody is supporting me, “Go, just go prospecting.”

Ren Jones (10:36):
How big can this get? How big can you get?

Ehab Korabi (10:44):
As much as I am still working hard, absorbing all this new technology and ideas, learning from professionals, the sky is the limit.

Ren Jones (10:57):
What’s the goal for next year? Because every year you compound over what you did the year before. What’s the goal for next year?

Ehab Korabi (11:04):
Well, this is interesting question. I started writing my book from three, to three, in three. So I want to achieve $3 million net profit 2023, net profit. This is my goal, and I’m working for…

Ren Jones (11:21):
$3 million in net profit in 2023. Is that it?

Ehab Korabi (11:25):
Yes.

Ren Jones (11:26):
So you might only be a million and a half next year, is that it? Or 2 million?

Ehab Korabi (11:30):
Well, I’ll do my best. If I achieve my goal before, it’ll be great. If not, I’m still working on it.

Ren Jones (11:34):
Good. I love it.

Sarah Close (11:38):
So when you’re using Vulcan 7, what all kinds of prospecting are you doing? Are you doing circle prospecting? Are you doing expireds, cancels for sale by owner? Which part of the tools are you finding yourself using the most?

Ehab Korabi (11:49):
Expired for sale by owner and circle prospecting. Normally when I list any property, so this is the circle prospecting, we take almost half my radius and we start calling everybody. Expired for sale by owner every day. And when we still have time, when I still have time, still did not make my $1 million every day, go back to the old expireds.

Sarah Close (12:13):
Very cool. So do you have a particular type of prospecting that you like the most? Do you prefer for sale by owners over expireds, or where do you find you have the highest success rate? I realize that the amounts of them change over time.

Ehab Korabi (12:27):
Expireds. And for some reason, the luxury properties, expired luxury listings, which couldn’t sell, I feel it’s a challenge for me, to go to get those listings and sell it. So for example, the one which is under contract last month, it was listed three times, 600 something days on the market, couldn’t sell, and it was under contract with me in 20 something days. So I felt so good.

Sarah Close (12:58):
What do you differently that causes a home to sell with you when it couldn’t sell with another agent? What do you think? What is your secret sauce?

Ehab Korabi (13:08):
Well, I don’t know what other agents did, because when you asked the owner what he did or what she did, they don’t know everything what he did. For example, they don’t know what certain techniques he or she did for marketing. So I use my marketing tools. So as I said, I create beautiful website, I create beautiful presentation. So it’s how to produce any product to the public. And also marketing everywhere internationally, locally, because I am also a licensed international realtor. So everywhere. I don’t save any resource of marketing my tools, everywhere, locally, internationally, globally, everywhere. And as I said, we create a different entity to any listing, which is very appealing. So we are all salespeople. The difference is how you present your product. So this is my answer.

Sarah Close (14:05):
No, that’s awesome. Very cool. That’s very cool. Are you doing with your coaching that you’re working on, do you have a structured role play that you work on, or script practice that you follow as far as a routine for that?

Ehab Korabi (14:20):
Yes. As I said, I use Mike Ferry scripts, and we are on also accountability partners, teams, we do it every morning. And also sometimes I role play with my coach. So it’s helping. But all my scripts are Mike Ferry scripts.

Ren Jones (14:37):
So you have somebody you role play with, another human being that you do, and you do it that just before you get on the phones, or do you have a routine?

Ehab Korabi (14:44):
Yeah, 7:30 to 8:00 every morning.

Ren Jones (14:47):
7:30 to 8:0 every morning. Is it the same person each time, or do you rotate that?

Ehab Korabi (14:51):
No, no, no, no. They are different people, because clients are different, it’s not one client. So I keep changing.

Ren Jones (14:57):
Okay. So you have real discipline about that. That is great.

Sarah Close (15:00):
It really is.

Ren Jones (15:02):
And it makes a big difference. As far as getting warmed up when you think about it, because I’m sure it happens to all of us, there’s a day where we don’t have our role play partner for one reason or another, and we have to go on the phone straight. Do you notice the difference between not roleplaying? And I say this because there are people that are not roleplaying, they go straight in. Do you notice when you’ve role played and then go on the phone, a difference?

Ehab Korabi (15:28):
Yeah, you cannot start doing body building without forming up. So it’s the same. Or you cannot go for body building in life getting those listings, without forming up with accountability partners, role playing. You need someone who is professional in what you are doing and tells you this is wrong, your tonality is wrong, you have to say this, you have to say this.

Ren Jones (15:50):
So you’ve got role play partners, you’re giving you feedback. Good.

Ehab Korabi (15:53):
Exactly, yes.

Ren Jones (15:54):
Good. Are you roleplaying the listing presentation?

Ehab Korabi (15:56):
Yes.

Ren Jones (15:57):
You do? Okay, good. Which can be a long thing.

Ehab Korabi (16:03):
And sometimes I do it, I bring my team, and they are like the owners, and I am the listing agent, and I tell them, you just give me all the objections. So we do it live, also, so I have to practice. That’s why this year, I don’t know if this is coincidence or it’s happening, every listing appointment I went there, I got it, I did not lose anyone.

Ren Jones (16:28):
You’re selling all these properties, you’re building up a sphere of influence, a database, people in your sphere, past clients. Do you have a system for working that yet, or is it not big enough, or what do you do in that area?

Ehab Korabi (16:41):
No, I have great CRM system, of course, for the follow-up, because now I am building, and if I do not control those number of clients through follow-up, I will not be able to control them after probably six months from now, or one year. Because everyone, even if they did transaction with me, they will sell or buy in the future, or they know somebody who wants to buy or sell. So I don’t want to be out of their mind. So that’s why my CMR is always very active, and my assistant, she is following up almost every week with everyone on cards, Thanksgiving, Christmas. So I am in their minds always.

Sarah Close (17:25):
That’s perfect. Very cool.

Ehab Korabi (17:29):
Thank you.

Sarah Close (17:30):
Very exciting. We’ve got some great things coming on.

Ren Jones (17:34):
What motivates you? Because you’re very driven. What motivates you to do all this? Do you have a dream board, or places you want to go, things you want to do, things you want to have? How do you motivate yourself?

Ehab Korabi (17:52):
Well, I’ll start with, I don’t know, probably, it’s a silly story, but I love it. When I started first take 52, and I was listening to all those successful agents, and I was looking at them saying, “They’re doing really good money and I’m doing nothing.” I was so broke, not so broke, broke. So I said I want to challenge myself. So I like the Mercedes-AMG G 63, which is 225 pound dollars. I don’t have this money for this car. So I went to the dealership, I told them I want to buy this car, but I want it to be delivered 2022 on May, and I will pay the down payments. And I built in my car, and I paid $15,000, which is all the money which I had. And I got my car and they put in front of me. And that was on June something, and the car paid in full two month ago.

Ren Jones (18:50):
That’s nice. And so you had a picture of it and it focused you, basically. Are you going to do that again? And obviously the next thing will be bigger.

Ehab Korabi (19:00):
The other wall is my dream home, which is I know where it is. And every day I jog in front of this home saying, “I’ll buy you.” And I took a picture to that, so it’s in front of me. So this is my next one.

Ren Jones (19:13):
Okay. So that really works. So people listening to this, if you don’t have a picture of what you want, what are the odds of getting there?

Ehab Korabi (19:26):
You should dream it to get it. You should see your dream in front of you in order to work hard to get it.

Ren Jones (19:33):
Yeah. Isn’t that what it is? It shows up that way, it really does. Thanks for sharing that, that’s pretty exciting. That’s really cool. And then once you have this dream house, which I guess will be what, in the spring?

Ehab Korabi (19:49):
Well, I don’t know. I checked the last price for 3.8, and I love this home.

Ren Jones (19:57):
Yeah, you’ll get there pretty fast.

Ehab Korabi (20:00):
Not far away. Yeah, I don’t believe it’ll be far away.

Ren Jones (20:03):
No, no, I know. And then you just do a VA loan on it, or something.

Ehab Korabi (20:09):
No, I don’t like loans.

Ren Jones (20:11):
Just kidding.

Ehab Korabi (20:15):
I like paying cash.

Ren Jones (20:15):
That’s awesome. Good. And then something bigger than that, what would be bigger than that? A yacht? Sky’s the limit, huh? You can make enough to start giving away a lot too.

Ehab Korabi (20:30):
No, I don’t believe it’s measured by how much money after a certain amount. It’s measured by success, how much you are successful within this period of time, and what impact you do on others. And this is how I look about it. I’ve been here in states only for almost six years. And no matter what I say, I cannot thank this country as much… I mean, the United States gave me, and next week I’ll be a citizen.

Ren Jones (21:03):
Next week?

Ehab Korabi (21:04):
Next week.

Ren Jones (21:07):
That’s exciting.

Sarah Close (21:07):
Congratulations.

Ehab Korabi (21:07):
It’s super exciting, thank you so much. So for someone who came here just within these six years, doing this whole change, I feel super good. And I feel that, probably the next coming six years, I’ll be in a totally different location.

Ren Jones (21:24):
Before you got into real estate, what were you doing?

Ehab Korabi (21:27):
I’m an architect, and I’m an urban planner.

Ren Jones (21:30):
Oh, wow.

Ehab Korabi (21:31):
Yeah, that’s why it’s close to real estate. And I like the similarities between both, because in real estate now I understand zoning and regulations. I understand everything about any property, the future development, the whole region. So when I give any clients my feedback or my assessments to everything, my studies, it is covering everything. So that’s why it’s a business presentation, it’s business decision. So I try to net them the most amount of money through all my experiences. Real estate, business, architecture, urban planning.

Sarah Close (22:11):
That sounds good.

Ren Jones (22:12):
This has been one, this is wonderful, and this is some good information. And hopefully a lot of our people will get a very specific goal they want and get as motivated as Ehab is, and follow in your footsteps. And we’d certainly like to invite you back to the show again too. Check on see how you are doing next year. And of course, anybody that goes into the state of Florida at that point will end up knowing you, because you’ll be dominating.

Ehab Korabi (22:42):
Well…

Ren Jones (22:43):
By the way, what’s the best way for them to reach you? Because when you think about it, there are a lot of people watching this where they either want a second home in Florida, or they want to move to Florida, seems to be the thing to do lately, is to move to Florida. So let’s wait for them to reach you.

Ehab Korabi (22:59):
My phone number, which is (727) 238-4657. Or my website, which is royalkeygroup.com.

Ren Jones (23:14):
Royalkeygroup.com. Okay.

Ehab Korabi (23:15):
Yes, because I believe every home is our kingdom. And when you buy or sell, I’ll give you the key for that kingdom.

Ren Jones (23:21):
Perfect. Good deal. Good deal.

Sarah Close (23:24):
That is awesome.

Ehab Korabi (23:24):
Thank you.

Ren Jones (23:25):
Well, we want to thank you again, and we appreciate you being here. And thank you, Sarah.

Sarah Close (23:31):
Absolutely. Congratulations again on your next week, that’s very exciting. Terrific.

Ren Jones (23:40):
That’s a thrill. That is a thrill.

Ehab Korabi (23:42):
Thank you for having me, and thank you for helping all of us. You are the major tool for our success. Thank you so much.

Ren Jones (23:53):
And thank you for your participation.

(23:55):
Thanks everybody. We’ll see everybody next week.