How Maureen Buchanan measures her day by appointments set, not calls made

Sarah Close00:00

If you were thinking about your career from when you started as a brand newly-minted agent to where you are today, what do you wish that you knew then, I guess, that now? What advice would you share with a newly licensed agent?

Maureen Buchanan00:22

I would definitely use scripts, I would role play and practice them and internalize them. Pick up the phone and call, because if you’re going to sit there and wait for the business, you won’t be in business. I guarantee it 100%. You’ve got to be active, get yourself out there by door knocking, I did door knocking, I looked at it as a sense of exercise and I get to know people. Just get out there, get on the phones even if you don’t want to, it’s all a numbers game. You’re going to start… It might not be instant, but you will launch your career and it will be a phenomenal career.

Ren Jones01:15

It’s that time, 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 and apply as much of their knowledge as quickly as you can, and then use the copycat principle. Let me introduce my co-host from the Greater Cincinnati area, Sarah Close. Welcome, Sarah.

Sarah Close01:49

Hi, Ren, thanks for having me.

Ren Jones01:51

Sarah, it’s a real privilege because she has been doing this for a good long time. You own co-own several real estate offices in southern Ohio, serving northern Kentucky and eastern Indiana and 555, 650, somewhere in that range, hundreds of agents. And runs a team, and for many, many years, starts the day off, headset on, shoulders back, smile on face, and the goal their sales this year is?

Sarah Close02:25

250 for this year.

Ren Jones02:27

250 for this year, you on track?

Sarah Close02:29

We’re a little behind. We’re working on it.

Ren Jones02:30

You’re a little behind, but you know the recipe.

Sarah Close02:34

We do.

Ren Jones02:36

Good, good, good. That’s a lot of fun and it’s nice to have a co-host with such a wealth of experience.

Sarah Close02:42

That’s nice.

Ren Jones02:47

We have an agent who… I don’t know how this works out, how you can have an agent that lives and works in paradise.

Sarah Close02:54

Sure sounds like it.

Ren Jones02:56

She does, and it’s an area called Payson, Arizona and it is just breathtaking and gorgeous. Maureen Buchanan, welcome.

Maureen Buchanan03:05

Thank you, Ren. Hi, Sarah.

Sarah Close03:06

Hi, Maureen, thanks for coming today.

Maureen Buchanan03:08

Thanks for having me, I’m honored.

Ren Jones03:11

Let’s dive in, I want to learn all about what you’re doing, what the answers to everything is.

Sarah Close03:19

What is that? The world’s secrets?

Ren Jones03:24

How do we help the folks that are watching this add an extra listing a week, maybe two listings a week, depending on where they are in their career, add an extra listing take in a week? For most of us in the US, with a few exceptions, listing a well-priced listing taken, you get paid about six weeks later.

Sarah Close03:47

That’s a good formula.

Ren Jones03:48

Good.

Sarah Close03:48

Yeah, tell us a little bit about your business?

Maureen Buchanan03:51

Well, I live up in the Rim country, it’s called. My real estate offices is in Payson, Arizona, but I handle other areas as well. I am a single agent, I don’t have a team. I have an assistant that helps me out as far as doing lock boxes, meeting with people, setting up different appointments, so on and so forth.

Sarah Close04:17

Is that a full-time person that helps you?

Maureen Buchanan04:20

It is now, it is a full-time person that helps me. Yeah, I had to go full-time, it was just way too much.

Sarah Close04:28

As far as your target units for the year, what does that look like for you here in 2022?

Maureen Buchanan04:35

In 2022, it’s going to be 63 deals closed and I’m on target to do that.

Sarah Close04:41

Terrific, what do you find your breakdown to be between buyers and sellers normally?

Maureen Buchanan04:48

My breakdown for sellers is about 80%, and then off of the the sellers, a lot of times. Yeah, I’m primarily a listing agent. Then I deal with buyers, but a lot of times the buyers are calling because of the listings. I’m able to double end those transactions, which is really nice.

Ren Jones05:07

Nice, and then the rest of them are probably just homeless people that you’ve… Because you’ve sold their home and they have nowhere to live.

Maureen Buchanan05:16

We live in paradise, there’s no homeless.

Ren Jones05:18

Well, no, I mean you sold their home and they have nowhere to live. You sold their home, you have to get out on Wednesday, we’ve sold your home. You help those people, don’t you?

Maureen Buchanan05:28

Absolutely, I’ll make sure that they have a home to go to and they won’t be on the streets.

Ren Jones05:33

Good.

Sarah Close05:35

That’s a really exciting ratio of listings to buyers as far as quality of life, tell us a little bit about what your lead generation looks like, how have you been able to purposefully develop that business? That’s a great model that you’re working.

Maureen Buchanan05:49

Thank you. Well, I’m coached by Mike Ferry Organization and I was coached years ago. Then I thought I knew it all and then I stopped, and my business just went way down. I don’t know it all, and the accountability is really important. Having your coach call you every week and checking in and making sure you do your job, so on and so forth. Just like all professional CEOs, Tiger Woods, major players, they all have a coach. I think that’s really important. Even if you can’t afford a coach, say you’re starting out, getting good accountability partners is really the key.

Sarah Close06:32

That’s great.

Maureen Buchanan06:32

Then also, I do the Vulcan dialer system and the lead gen from that. I found that working at various platforms before, the information that I get from Vulcan is priceless. I mean, the number so on and so forth is so much superior than other platforms out there, so it’s really helped me out a great deal.

Sarah Close06:59

Having good quality numbers to call is a beautiful thing, it really is. Talk to us a little bit about your lead gen anatomy, when you think about approaching your lead generation, what are your goals that you set for yourself? How does the anatomy of your calling or prospecting time work?

Maureen Buchanan07:17

My prospecting time works… I’m very schedule prone, so I have a schedule. From the time I wake up in the morning to the time I get to the office, I know exactly when I do my role play. I have role play partners and then I get on the phones and prospect. I don’t stop until that time is up. Then if I didn’t meet my goals, then I will continue to prospect in the afternoon. It’s all about the numbers, it’s a numbers game.

Sarah Close07:48

I got you, so when you set your prospecting goals for the week, is that a certain number of contacts, or a certain number of appointments set, or what do you use as your metrics? What’s motivating for you?

Maureen Buchanan07:58

The metrics is the amount of appointments I set, because if… You can prospect, I’m not going to stop in two hours just because I met my contact goal. I’m going to continue on until I can try to get an appointment, do everything I possibly can to get an appointment. One thing I learned years ago is if you are going to lose your job, say this is a job, a career, and say your boss was there and said, “If you don’t make an appointment today, you’re fired.” That’s the mentality I have that if I don’t make an appointment today, so it’s not necessarily the contacts and then I quit, or the number of hours I spend prospecting, my goal is to set that appointment.

Sarah Close08:45

Wow.

Ren Jones08:45

How did you acquire that mindset? That is a difficult mindset to acquire, because they tell themselves a story, well, I can do this tomorrow. I’m not going to be fired, I am self-employed. If it was a real job, they would be doing exactly what you’re doing. But how do you do that?

Maureen Buchanan09:04

I did it through coaching. It wasn’t easy, because there’s no accountability. When I come into the office, first of all, I’m usually the only one here until my assistant gets in here. Sometimes I see no other realtors at all for the whole day. It’s just a portion of the accountability and having really good, strong accountability partners to keep you on track. If I need to set that appointment, I just think in my mind my job is to get into the office, get on Vulcan, do the dialer system and set that appointment. If I don’t, I’ll fire myself type of thing, it’s just a mindset.

Ren Jones09:51

I know, it’s just I acknowledge how great that is, because that’s not an easy task to do, mindset piece of our business, it’s not that this is not an easy thing. You pick up the phone, you call through, you follow a script. It’s simple, but I mean the mindset piece is… I think it’s probably the largest piece, wouldn’t you agree, Sarah?

Sarah Close10:17

Yeah, absolutely.

Ren Jones10:19

That’s pretty amazing, so the coaching is what drives that? Is that right?

Maureen Buchanan10:22

It is, because if I’m paying for a coach, I need to do what my coach tells me to do. Because you know what? They’re at a higher level, that’s why they’re coaches. It doesn’t matter if it’s just… There’s a lot of great coaches out there. I just chose Mike Ferry and I’ve been with Mike Ferry… Like I said, I stopped doing it because I thought I knew it all and then I saw my business decline, and because there was no accountability at that point.

Ren Jones10:49

Folks listening to this, the reason she left coaching, because she thought it was to get information, she got all the information and then business went down. It’s not about the information, it’s about the structure, the accountability. We’re running it like a business and having that mentor there every week that you have to report to. Because a lot of times, we drift for months, we drift for months. But if you have to every seven days she has a coach calling her up at a certain time and saying, “Maureen, what in the heck are you doing?” Every seven days, “What in the heck are you doing?” If you have that, I don’t care who you sign up with, but get somebody strong that’s going to hold you accountable. Would it be fair to say whatever you pay, there’s a yield of what, 10 to one, 20 to one, 30 to one on whatever you’re paying for coaching?

Maureen Buchanan11:42

The thing is to me it’s what, two, maybe two and a half deals, depending on the commission. To me, it’s priceless. Like I said, I thought I knew it all. I didn’t do the coaching, I quit and then I was losing business, I was losing that track. Because we’re all human, and at times we have squirrel moments is what I call them. I think I need to work on this file, or I think I need to do this, or do that, and…

Ren Jones12:10

I’m going to work on my pending singular.

Maureen Buchanan12:17

Like I said, Ren, we’re all human, we all have those squirrel moments. But I know Wednesday at 1:30, I’m on a coaching call and I better have done what I needed to do, otherwise it’s not going to be a pleasant call.

Ren Jones12:33

You’re hiring a boss, basically?

Maureen Buchanan12:35

Well, yeah.

Ren Jones12:38

When you quit for a little while, you saved 12,000 and lost 80,000, something like that. Well, I saved 12,000 but I lost 80,000.

Maureen Buchanan12:47

Right, but like I said, if people are starting out brand new and they can’t afford a coach, that’s okay, because I started out brand new at one point too. It’s just really important to… There’s the take 52 groups, there’s a lot of great community within Vulcan that you can sign up for and get the accountability that you need and not to have to pay for it. But you have a strong network, which is phenomenal, and that will take you alone to the next level.

Ren Jones13:20

It’s a good place to get them started, and in the long haul, if they get involved in coaching, they’re going to catapult way beyond the basic best practices.

Maureen Buchanan13:29

Exactly.

Ren Jones13:31

Yeah, can’t say enough about that.

Sarah Close13:33

If you were thinking about your career from when you started as a brand newly-minted agent to where you are today, what do you wish that you knew then? I guess that now, what advice would you share with a newly licensed agent?

Maureen Buchanan13:52

I would definitely use scripts, I would role play and practice them and internalize them. Pick up the phone and call, because if you’re going to sit there and wait for the business, you won’t be in business. I guarantee it 100%. You’ve got to be active, get yourself out there by door knocking, I did door knocking, I looked at it as a sense of exercise and I get to know people. Just get out there, get on the phones even if you don’t want to, it’s all a numbers game. You’re going to start… It might not be instant, but you will launch your career and it will be a phenomenal career.

Sarah Close14:36

Sure.

Ren Jones14:37

What do you say when they… Because you’re kind of rolling past that, you should use scripts and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But then they’re like, “What? Scripts? That’s not who I am, I’m don’t use… I have my own style, I don’t use scripts.” What say you, Maureen Buchanan?

Maureen Buchanan14:56

Oh my gosh, people say, “I don’t want to use scripts. It’s too scripted, they’re going to know I’m reading a script,” they have no clue on the telephone that you’re reading from a script and taking notes. Plus, if you’re analytical and… No, excuse me, expressive. If you’re expressive, they have a tendency to go off out on left field and talk about themselves, talk about anything, and nobody really cares about us. They want to know how you’re going to help them sell their home or find a home for them to buy, either way.

Ren Jones15:35

It keeps them on track.

Maureen Buchanan15:35

Exactly.

Ren Jones15:37

… it’s a predictable and duplicatable process. Would it be fair to say the poor use of a script is offensive?

Maureen Buchanan15:44

Exactly.

Ren Jones15:45

If you’re reading it, there’s no response pattern, you don’t repeat back anything they say. You say, “Okay,” and then ask the next question, something like that. We have to get good at those scripts, how did you get good at those scripts? Because they have to sound very conversational, is that correct?

Maureen Buchanan16:02

I have really strong role play partners that are honest, truthfully honest. Where if you’re not doing very well, they will help you and give you corrective criticism, and good criticism, and it just makes you better. Taking a script, just stick with that script, stick with the program. A lot of this information is free, all you have to do is download it, get some role play partners and just keep on practicing.

Ren Jones16:36

Perfect.

Sarah Close16:36

That’s great.

Ren Jones16:38

Love it.

Maureen Buchanan16:38

Practice makes perfect.

Sarah Close16:40

Now how long are your role play sessions?

Maureen Buchanan16:44

Half an hour, start at 7:30 and goes until 8:00, Monday through Friday.

Ren Jones16:48

You do it at 7:30 in the morning, okay. Then when do you make your first call?

Maureen Buchanan16:52

I get on the phones at 8:15.

Ren Jones16:55

Okay, at 8:15. Okay, so you take a little break and then go on at 8:15, good.

Maureen Buchanan16:58

Right.

Ren Jones16:59

Perfect.

Maureen Buchanan17:01

I take a 10 minute break every hour, just to get my energy back up or whatever I need to do

Ren Jones17:12

Because we hear agents go, “I would never call anybody at 8:15 in the morning,” what say you?

Maureen Buchanan17:20

The reason I had that mindset, because I live in a demographic where there’s a lot of elderly and secondary homeowners. But if I don’t start calling early, somebody else is going to get the listing, and I want to be first in. It’s a lot of people in big metro areas even start at seven o’clock in the morning. I start at 8:15 and I haven’t gotten yelled at, so why not?

Ren Jones17:48

You might get yelled at if you call at 9:15.

Maureen Buchanan17:49

Yeah

Ren Jones17:54

It’s interesting how they’ll tell you where you fall in the rank, you’re in the 11th caller today.

Sarah Close17:59

What’s interesting about what you’ve shared with us when we are getting onto the call is that while you have a very structured calendar that’s given you an incredible amount of calendared freedom, you took the entire month of July off this year.

Maureen Buchanan18:14

Yes I did, I make it a plan to take at least a month to five weeks all at once. I have other vacations in between those too. But yeah, I took the month of July off, actually it was about five and a half weeks total. Traveled, and saw family, and just had a really great time with my husband.

Sarah Close18:35

That’s wonderful.

Maureen Buchanan18:36

Yeah.

Ren Jones18:37

It’s the only business you can sell homes while you’re away.

Maureen Buchanan18:41

You know what? I take time off but I still work, I still monitor things. You can’t just walk away from real estate and expect to walk back in your office and everybody’s there for you, it doesn’t work that way.

Ren Jones18:56

But isn’t it nice, you come back and they go, “Well, you sold this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one.” Well, great.

Maureen Buchanan19:00

I was collecting paychecks was on vacation, now how great is that.

Ren Jones19:04

That’s nice, that’s wonder about being on the listing side of the business. You have money and the time to enjoy it.

Maureen Buchanan19:13

Right, and you can work anywhere. I mean, I’d set three listing appointments the last week I was on vacation just to set up the week that I got back. I just called some people that were low hanging fruit, and I just called them and got the appointments. Didn’t have to tell him I was out of town, just tell that my next available is this day.

Ren Jones19:41

Perfect. Yeah, Technology’s grand, isn’t it?

Maureen Buchanan19:43

I know.

Ren Jones19:43

That is fantastic.

Maureen Buchanan19:43

Yes

Ren Jones19:43

Go ahead, Sarah?

Sarah Close19:52

I was going to say talk to us a little bit about when you schedule an appointment with a prospective seller, what is your process then? Do you have a pre-listing script that you use? Do you have a pre-listing packet you send out? What does the anatomy of your process look like?

Maureen Buchanan20:08

Okay, so when I set an appointment, first of all, before I set the appointment, I pre-qualify them, but I pre-qualify 100% of the time. I never miss one of those questions on the script, because it’s so important that you make sure that you’re not wasting your time going on an appointment. Then I send them my pre-listing package and then I go over it with them, a lot of my appointments are done not virtual, the Zoom thing was all new to me but is on the telephone. Because if I’m dealing with a secondary homeowner, I don’t hardly ever meet them, very seldom will I meet them.

Ren Jones20:55

Because you have a market where the sellers don’t live there.

Maureen Buchanan20:58

Correct.

Ren Jones20:59

Isn’t that great?

Maureen Buchanan21:01

Yeah, I mean that’s a big portion of our market there is… It’s also a retiree community, so I do go and meet them at their home if they’re living there. You have to be strong on the pre-qualification, because if you’re not… There was a time where I wasn’t and I would waste my time going to their house, and then all of a sudden, they would ask me a question, I’m like, “Crap, I should have done the pre-qual and I would’ve known.”

Sarah Close21:31

Right. What do you put in your pre-listing package? What does that package look like for you?

Maureen Buchanan21:37

It’s very simple, I don’t brag about myself or anything, I don’t brag about the company. I do a nice cover letter, which is very brief. I’m a driver, so I don’t like to go on and on it, that it, and the contract, and all the documents with the contract.

Ren Jones21:57

Ready to sign with a place to sign.

Maureen Buchanan21:58

Ready to sign

Ren Jones22:00

They get this thing with a contract and nobody else is sending a contract, and you’re sending a… Now, the $20 million question, are you sending them comps?

Maureen Buchanan22:10

I do send them comps in there, because I already set the price on the house. I’m not afraid to put the price on the contract documents that I send them. At least when you do the pre-qualification, one of the questions is what price won’t you go below? They usually will tell you, so you know if you’re in that price range. I do put the price on the contract and sometimes people are like, “How did you come up with this price? Or it’s too low or whatever,” but it’s just… You explain the market, you explain the comps, and you go over it with them, whether you’re face to face or you’re doing it by telephone, but at least they have that information in front of them. Some people are so old in my area, that they don’t even have computers, so there’s even mail or you just go and visit them or whatever. If they’re out of the area, you just sometimes have to mail them.

Ren Jones23:11

Through a pigeon or something.

Maureen Buchanan23:12

Pardon?

Ren Jones23:13

You attach it to a pigeon.

Maureen Buchanan23:15

Yeah, it’s a little heavy, I tried that before and the bird just…

Ren Jones23:20

I didn’t know if they had carrier pigeons there.

Maureen Buchanan23:21

Animal cruelty.

Ren Jones23:22

Package is too heavy for a carrier pigeon. This is what I hear from time to time, “My coach told me I need to send a full contract and a CMA with a price circled.” They said they wouldn’t go below 400 and really they need to be at 350, and they call me up and they go, they’re offended and they say, “Well you might as well not come,” what do you do when that happens?

Maureen Buchanan23:51

Well, that very seldom happens.

Ren Jones23:57

Or doesn’t it happen very often?

Maureen Buchanan23:59

No, I can’t really even answer that, because it really doesn’t happen, because you’ve already gone through the pre-qual, so you know where they stand, so…

Ren Jones24:10

But if you’re $50,000, you’ve done the comps, you’ve sent it to them and they’re like, “She didn’t listen to us, we said we wouldn’t go below 400 and she’s saying 350 all day long with a big circle around it, tell her not to come out,” I mean, you don’t get that?

Maureen Buchanan24:26

Very seldom do I get that, but if I do, I still confirm the appointment. I go over the pre-qual, make sure that nothing’s changed, I ask them the questions over. If they’re motivated enough… It’s all in the motivation, if they’re really motivated then very seldom will they yell at… They may yell at you, but they get over it. That’s one of the first things that we’ll cover when I see you tomorrow at 4:00, okay?

Ren Jones24:54

Okay, what is the upside of having them see that price 24 hours before you arrive? What is the upside of that?

Maureen Buchanan25:04

The upside is because you know what the objection’s going to be when you… You’re not blindsided when you come in the door, you know…

Ren Jones25:11

Does it make it easier for them to not need to think it over anymore on the price and then 24 hours later your competitor is there?

Maureen Buchanan25:22

If they voice it to you that they’re upset about the price, you know that’s the objection that you’re going to get. You still confirm the appointment, you still go on the appointment. By that time, a lot of times, they’ve cooled down. It’s not all about the price of the home, there’s a lot of different factors that come into play. Anyone can ask anything for their home, but is it going to sell?

Ren Jones25:45

Folks that are listening to this, I know many of you, you’re just bringing something like, “This is why our company’s great, this is why I’m great.” Then you’re asking them where they’re moving to as soon as you get there, as opposed to ahead of time. Poor pre-qualifying, look at what she’s doing. Was there a stage, Maureen, where you didn’t send over the comps with a final price and where you did, and if so, did you notice an efficiency piece when you started doing it or have you always done that?

Maureen Buchanan26:16

No, I was scared to. I was really afraid

Ren Jones26:21

What did you notice? so now you’re doing it and you probably… I don’t think you’re going to go back. Why wouldn’t you go back?

Maureen Buchanan26:27

Because I’ve had more success putting the price on there, even if they were to yell at me or call me names or whatever, at least it’s out, it’s out in the open. I know when you don’t put the price in and I know a lot of successful agents don’t and that works for them, it didn’t work for me. I was afraid to put the price in, but then I’ve noticed when I did have a listing employment, whether it was on the phone or in person, and they were still mad because they didn’t get the chance to vent that, it was all festering inside them. You walk in the door and it’s just right in your face and it’s really hard to overcome it at that point. You don’t handle objections, at least I don’t handle objections over the phone. That’s a major no, no. I handle them in person, but at least I know what I’m walking into, whether it’s in person or on the phone, and I don’t have surprises anymore, which is really, really nice.

Ren Jones27:33

Yeah, so if you’re going into a wasp nest, you know where the netting or whatever.

Maureen Buchanan27:37

[laugh].

Ren Jones27:41

It sounds like it works and I’m guessing they’re just blown away by your extremely high level of professionalism. Nobody sends over a contract ready to fill out, nobody sends over comp with the bottom line number circled, nobody sends over… Everybody’s sends over braggadocious material and yet you do not. It’s bound to stand out against the other people they’re talking to. What’s your batting average? You go on 10 appointments, 10 competitive appointments, how many do you take.

Maureen Buchanan28:13

Say that again?

Ren Jones28:15

If you go on 10 listing appointments where you’re competing, how many of the 10 will you take?

Maureen Buchanan28:21

At least eight.

Ren Jones28:23

With the pre-qualifying sent in… At least eight? Folks, you know what the average is? It’s 10 to 20% and she’s at 80 plus percent, so there’s something good.

Maureen Buchanan28:33

I was a lot lower, it just comes with experience and confidence that you are the best person to help them get the job done. Whether it’s buying or selling, it’s confidence build up. Because if you don’t think you’re the best, trust me, it’s going to come across. Even if you’re not the best, that’s okay, fake it till you make it type of thing.

Sarah Close29:00

What I’m hearing you say, Maureen, is that you know your numbers, you follow a predictable schedule, and you follow a predictable prospecting and listing presentation process, so that you’ve taken so much of the guesswork out of every day by doing something predictable, there’s no wonder you have a great deal of confidence from that, because you know what your outcomes are going to be. Really makes a difference.

Maureen Buchanan29:24

It does, and I track my numbers, I track the numbers of our area. The question people want… If I’m in the grocery store and someone asks me, “Hey, how’s the real estate market?” I can tell them, “As of today, we have 147 homes on the market, and last month 35 sold and can you believe it?” You come across as a professional instead of real estate, it’s good, it’s wonderful.

Ren Jones29:56

You don’t know the numbers, you’re just watching the news, like I am, okay.

Sarah Close30:08

That’s great, that’s great.

Ren Jones30:09

This is fantastic, this is powerful stuff, this is powerful stuff. I’m grateful for this and I think this is going to help a lot of people. I need to revisit that whole thing. I remember wrestling with that, he wants me to give him a CMA with the price circled, oh no. But it works and you have no intention of going back.

Maureen Buchanan30:34

Well, when you did…

Ren Jones30:34

You’re digging 80%, something’s working.

Maureen Buchanan30:37

Yeah, something’s working, exactly. If it works, stick with it and just get better at it, regardless of however you do your business. If something is working, stick with it and give it your all. Every day, give it your all. You’ll be successful beyond your wildest dreams.

Ren Jones30:57

Awesome, and you are. What’s the best way for people to reach you? Because they’re going to want to reach you for a variety of reasons, some to send you business, hopefully something to buy a house there, or to ask you a question here and there. What’s the best way for them to reach you?

Maureen Buchanan31:10

They can reach me on my cell phone, which is 9289510525.

Ren Jones31:17

Super. Now, we appreciate this so much, we’ll have to do this again, see how things are going and learn several more things. Thanks for the contribution you’ve made to a lot of people on here in their path to being able to take an extra listing every week and to get it sold. To go on appointments and take eight, which means that the other two that you didn’t get one, you probably turned them down or did you turn both of them down? I don’t know.

Maureen Buchanan31:48

What’s amazing is with the market shifting, right now… It’s definitely shifted in my area and it’s really shifted fast, keeping track of your numbers, you’re ahead of the game and you see that coming and it doesn’t catch you off surprise. But I have turned down more listings this last probably five weeks, four weeks… Well, since I’ve been back from vacation, I turned down four listings so far.

Ren Jones32:19

Well the great pricing doesn’t work, it worked up until six months ago, you could put anything on it, a cow pie would sell in a minute. We’re hearing that Arizona and Texas have kind of been hit unusually hard, relative to other parts of the US.

Maureen Buchanan32:34

Right, it has. With that being said, if the people that came on during the… I call it the COVID buying frenzy, those people, they hit the market as realtors right away and everything was working, everything was working. But my suggestion to them is get your skills down and get them down fast, because if you don’t, we won’t see you. You’ll be gone, because you have to have the skills and now is the most important time, because the market is becoming more normalized. You really have to get on the phones, and you really have to prospect, and you really have to know your scripts, and do your job. It’s your job, it’s your career, it’s your decision on if you want to be successful or not, nobody else’s.

Ren Jones33:32

Right, there are about 450 to 500,000 agents that are leaving the industry, but nobody’s told them.

Maureen Buchanan33:41

Bye-bye.

Sarah Close33:43

Oh dear.

Maureen Buchanan33:45

Yeah

Ren Jones33:45

Go get some the skills, everybody, master the skills. Get involved and study this, get a coach, be involved in best practices. You too will take an extra listing a week, get your unfair share.

Maureen Buchanan34:00

It really isn’t that difficult if you put in the time and the energy to learn the skills, you really have to. Like I just mentioned, without beating a dead horse, if you don’t, we won’t see you. Because it’s not easy anymore and it’s going to continue to get harder, as the interest rates go up and the economy and all this kind of uncertainty, you really have to be a great sales person. We are sales people, we’re not entrepreneurs, we are sales people. Put your selling hat on, learn your stuff, and you’ll be successful.

Ren Jones34:34

Woo hoo.

Sarah Close34:35

That’s great advice.

Ren Jones34:37

Thank you so much, Maureen. This has been a treat, look forward to seeing you again soon and having you back, if we can invite you back.

Maureen Buchanan34:45

Absolutely, I’d love it. Thank you so much, I’m so honored to be a part of this.

Ren Jones34:48

And we are-

Maureen Buchanan34:48

It means a lot to me.

Ren Jones34:49

It means a lot to us.

Sarah Close34:53

Congratulations on a great year.

Maureen Buchanan34:55

Thank you.

Ren Jones34:56

Thanks, everybody.

34:56