How Sam Cohen got 15 people through an open house by calling 500 neighbors

Sam Cohen00:00

You need to be as happy about building the pipeline as you are about closing the deals. It’s about creating relationships, right? And if you’re not as excited about creating a new relationship as you are as cashing a check, it’s just never gonna work. Don’t worry about the sales. Worry about doing a good job for everybody and actually putting the work in and enjoying the process, and you’ll be a great agent.

Aaron Wittenstein00:28

Hey, what’s going on everybody? It’s me, it’s Aaron Wittenstein, and I would like to welcome you to Vulcan7 Roadmap. This is where we meet agents across the country to learn how to take 7, 12, 53, 96, 137 listings a week. Okay? So we have, all the way from Las Vegas, Nevada, even though he’s out of town this weekend on a wedding and still made time to chat with us, my guy, Sam Cohen.

00:52Sam, how are you doing today, my friend?

Sam Cohen00:54

Doing great, Aaron. How are you doing?

Aaron Wittenstein00:56

I’m doing good. So all right, so just… Where are you right now?

Sam Cohen01:00

I’m in a place called Sheridan, Wyoming.

Aaron Wittenstein01:02

What time do you start working in the morning?

Sam Cohen01:05

7:00 AM. I get to the office at 7:00 AM.

Aaron Wittenstein01:08

You turn the lights on, right?

Sam Cohen01:10

Yeah.

01:10I come through the door at 7:00 AM.

Aaron Wittenstein01:14

7:00 AM. And so what time do you start prospecting?

Sam Cohen01:20

15 before 8:00.

Aaron Wittenstein01:21

Okay. Got it. So within that first 45 minutes or hour before prospecting, okay, what does that look like? Because to me, ’cause I turn the lights on as well in my office, that’s kinda like my Zen time, if you will, to get in the zone, all that type of stuff.

01:36Get the stuff out of the way. What does that first hour look like to you?

Sam Cohen01:42

The first thing I do is I read whatever script I’m gonna work on for that day five times. Then I write it out. I am part of a role play group, so I get rotated on different partners every week at 7:30.

01:55I end up on a role play. The minute that role play is done, I then start dialing. I’ll initially look at expireds, and I’ll kinda go through them real quick to see if there’s any addresses that are really good, because I wanna jot down the ones that I wanna repeatedly call, ’cause those are great listings that I’d like to potentially get the opportunity to work.

Aaron Wittenstein02:21

Got it. So the moment you come in, it’s basically get your mind right and then get on the phones and make your money, right, correct?

Sam Cohen02:30

Yes. Well, coffee first. Always coffee first, right?

Aaron Wittenstein02:33

But that doesn’t even need to be said though, does it? You gotta get your coffee, man.

02:36You gotta get your coffee.

02:38So, all right. So dialing session, how long do you typically dial for?

Sam Cohen02:43

A minimum of two hours.

Aaron Wittenstein02:45

Okay. Got it. And-

Sam Cohen02:47

So basically from 8:00 to 10:00.

Aaron Wittenstein02:49

Okay. What are your expectations for yourself within that two-hour window?

Sam Cohen02:54

That’s really evolved over time, right?

02:56In the beginning, it’s just being able to sit there for two hours. Then it’s making contacts. But for me, I wanna set at least one appointment or one follow-up, decent follow-up call. Somebody I talk to that I feel like with repeated follow-up I will eventually set an appointment with.

Aaron Wittenstein03:18

Right now, on average, how many appointments are you setting a week, would you say?

Sam Cohen03:26

I’d say with the two hours, appointments, maybe one every 10 days.

Aaron Wittenstein03:32

Okay. But how many leads are you generating then? ‘Cause it sounds like the leads is the most important thing to you right now.

03:43Is that right?

Sam Cohen03:44

Well, yeah, and I think that was one of the biggest turning points, right? I think when I first got started, I’ve only been doing this now for about 10 months. I’ve ran a pretty successful business prior to this, but I never did calls. I had never really learned about them.

04:01And then I started getting into this, which I love it, and at the first you think you’re gonna memorize these scripts and you’re gonna get so good at these scripts, you’re gonna convert people that don’t wanna talk to you. And I don’t know why, and I feel like everybody who starts thinks that, but that’s not the process, right?

04:16I feel like it’s making really good notes and getting ahold of people that will talk to you and having follow-up. And I think I’m starting to learn now, too, most expireds on average are about two months away from relisting. They need some time to go through whatever they go through. FSBOs, you’re not gonna just talk to them on the first phone call, and they’re gonna be like, “Yeah, forget selling on my own.

04:40I’ll sell with you,” you know? It’s following up, maybe making an appointment, going over there. It’s just kind of understanding everything. But yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, one thing that I’ve always said throughout my career, it’s probably my mantra for real estate, is you have to be as happy about building a pipeline as you are about closing deals.

Aaron Wittenstein04:58

Can you just say that again for those in the back? Would you mind saying that again?

Sam Cohen05:03

You need to be as happy about building the pipeline as you are about closing the deals.

Aaron Wittenstein05:08

See, it’s-

Sam Cohen05:08

It’s about creating relationships, right? And if you’re not as excited about creating a new relationship as you are as cashing a check, it’s just never gonna work.

Aaron Wittenstein05:18

It’s true. And I mean, all right, so here’s the one question that I get a lot, is they’re like, “What does your follow-up system look like?” A lot of people, they know how to lead gen. They can pick up the phone, they can make the phone calls, but when it comes down to the follow-up systems in place, they just don’t have them.

05:34I’m assuming it’s not as, what’s the word? Difficult as you would think. Yet, what does your follow-up system look like?

Sam Cohen05:40

Vulcan7 is phenomenal with the follow-up. So I use Vulcan7, and basically I could just set up a follow-up appointment, or today’s calls it’s called, and then basically an appointment is an appointment, something that I need to strictly remember, and I have that on my day-to-day calendar where I can go through and I make sure I have a very specific reason I’m calling.

06:00Or if it’s just people with time that I’m hoping to get a little bit further, I’ll just put them in that follow-up call section. And then if they do become a really strong lead and I’ve called them twice or something and they remember exactly who I am, then I’ll just move them over to my CRM and I’ll put them in the appropriate stage.

Aaron Wittenstein06:19

Okay, so how often? You get somebody, you talk to them today, they’re like, “We’re gonna do something in a month,” let’s just say, okay? What does that phone call process or email or whatever process look like for that month?

Sam Cohen06:32

Well, great. I’m gonna go ahead and send you over all my information.

06:36It’ll have my website on there, and I will keep you in mind, and I’ll follow up with you in between now and a month to make sure there’s nothing you need in the meantime. I’ll probably call him back in five days.

Aaron Wittenstein06:46

Got it. And then what… ‘Cause they’re like, “Okay,” so they’re like, “This guy told me…

06:51I can’t even talk. He said follow up in a month. They call up in five days.” Everybody’s gonna be like, “That’s a little quick, don’t you think?” What does that conversation look like?

Sam Cohen07:00

Well, they just said they want to relist in a month. They didn’t say to call back in a month, you know? And even if they tell you to call back in a month, I’m gonna tell you, on average you think they know who you are?

07:10They’re getting so many of these calls that I’m just gonna call back and say, “Hey, this is Sam Cohen. You and I chatted. You said you wanted to be listed in a month. We agreed that I’d follow up. Right now I’m just making sure that there’s nothing else that you need in the meantime.”

Aaron Wittenstein07:27

So you just throw out what…

07:29Not throw out what they say, but it’s like you’re basically sending your information out, and then less than a week later you’re following up with them just to make sure that you don’t lose it. Is that right?

Sam Cohen07:41

Yeah, correct. And they don’t really know. You have to think, if you call a brand-new expired, they’ve gotten 100 calls that day, and it’s a little redundant, right?

07:52But if they’re answering the phone for you, even through all that mayhem, I think the one thing I’m gonna take away from that particular incident is they’re answering the phone when a million people are calling them. They’re for sure gonna answer the phone for me in five days when most of these people quit.

Aaron Wittenstein08:08

Exactly, because we all know the process just dwindles and dwindles and dwindles. All right. So would you be open to doing a quick expired role play? I haven’t done one in a bit on Roadmap. Would you be open to that?

Sam Cohen08:23

Yeah, sure.

Aaron Wittenstein08:23

All right.

08:24Give me a call. Give me a ring, ring.

Sam Cohen08:28

Ring, ring.

Aaron Wittenstein08:28

Hello.

Sam Cohen08:29

Good morning, Aaron?

Aaron Wittenstein08:31

Yes.

Sam Cohen08:31

Hey. Good morning, Aaron. This is Sam. I’m a realtor over at Huntington & Ellis. I saw your home was recently expired from the MLS. I was just wondering, when do you plan on relisting this home?

Aaron Wittenstein08:43

I think we’re gonna hold off for probably the next couple of months.

08:48I’m just sick of people coming through my house.

Sam Cohen08:51

You’re sick of people coming through your house, and you’re thinking of holding off for a few months. What was the reason for wanting to sell in the first place?

Aaron Wittenstein08:59

Like I said, we’re just ready for a change. But I do think that if we do relist, we may relist with Sally Mae.

09:08She’s done business with us in the past. So I do appreciate your phone call, though.

Sam Cohen09:12

Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to call with me as well, but I do see that you had it listed with Sally Mae prior for about six months, and the sale didn’t happen. Let me ask you, what was your timeline for wanting to move?

Aaron Wittenstein09:27

I mean, we wanted to be out already. It just didn’t work out.

Sam Cohen09:35

Okay. So if Sally Mae had it listed for six months and your goal was to be moved already, don’t you think it’d be in your best interest to possibly interview more than one agent just to make sure that you have the right fit?

Aaron Wittenstein09:47

Yeah, but, I mean, what would you do differently?

Sam Cohen09:55

Well, I mean, that’s a great thing to ask. I’d love to go through all that with you. I’m fully confident I can get this home sold for you, and I would be able to help you get moved into your new place. I’d like to discuss that all in person.

10:09Do you happen to have a time either today or tomorrow that would work for you for me to swing by and show you?

Aaron Wittenstein10:15

Well, I mean, between you and me, all right, she was giving us a steal of a deal on this thing, okay? How much do you charge?

Sam Cohen10:22

As far as commission, I never discuss that over the phone.

10:25But the great thing for you to know is it’s always negotiable.

Aaron Wittenstein10:29

Okay. All right. I mean, I guess if you want, I mean, we’re not signing anything.

Sam Cohen10:37

Oh, I would never expect you to commit to me prior to me even coming to the home. I just wanna come by, show you exactly what I can do, show you my track record, and tell you how I would be able to get your home sold in the timeframe that you want.

Aaron Wittenstein10:51

Okay.

10:52Yeah, I mean, you’re more than welcome. You could stop by tomorrow at 3:00.

Sam Cohen10:57

Okay, great. At 3:00, and your wife will be home at 3:00 PM?

Aaron Wittenstein11:02

AM, actually.

Sam Cohen11:02

You want me to come over at 3:00 AM?

Aaron Wittenstein11:07

Yes. We’re early risers.

Sam Cohen11:09

Wonderful. I normally wake up at 4:00, but I don’t have a problem waking up at 2:00.

11:13I’ll swing right by. I’ll be there at 2:45.

Aaron Wittenstein11:15

Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you then.

11:17I had to throw a little wrinkle at you. No, it’s funny. Imagine if someone said, “Be at my house at 3:00.” “PM?” “No, AM.”

11:27So I can tell you’re practicing, which is, it just comes off the top of your head.

11:32You’re doing it. How often? Are you role-playing daily right now, or what is the-

Sam Cohen11:38

Yeah. I do it daily, and I think the big part for me at least is, I think it depends on how you learn. I like the role-playing, right? But I like writing them out. I think writing them out, after studying it five times and then I write it out, I think that kinda gets me there, and I like role-playing with some people better than others.

11:59Those people that are so tough, I mean, I’m gonna be honest with you, we make a bulk of calls. If somebody’s just being so rude, and just completely… But they’re going through the call with me, I’m probably just gonna try and set a follow-up call before I try and set the appointment.

12:15Even if it’s in three days, whatever it is, I’m gonna wait for them to calm down when they’re not getting a million phone calls. Because those people are not the ones that, at least from my experience, I’m gonna be able to get to sign with me.

Aaron Wittenstein12:29

Right. So do you have a favorite objection handler that you like to handle?

Sam Cohen12:35

Well, I mean, it just kinda depends which one. I mean, I love the commission objection handler, but I like it in person, and it’s just very simple. Are you more concerned with commissions or netting the most money? ‘Cause I have a great track record for netting people top dollar.

12:52Especially with for sale by owners and things like that, but even when people bring it up, the other part of the objection handler is what? How can you trust an agent to stand up for the dollar amount that you want when they can’t even stand up for their own commissions?

13:07I’m confident to stand up for my worth. Do you feel that I can sell your home? It’s pretty simple, right? And you need to be able to do that. I will say this, I’ve gotten expireds. I will say my greatest success has been just listed, just sold.

Aaron Wittenstein13:28

Hmm. Tell me more about that.

Sam Cohen13:30

Well, especially if you’re already doing a lot of business in a neighborhood.

13:33I just put a listing up in a neighborhood, and I already do a lot of business up there. I called all the neighbors, I held an open house, I had them come by and see me. I had the agents on my team do the rest of them, but I definitely started off on the first couple weekends doing it myself and calling everybody, inviting them.

13:50That gets me in front of their face. Now I’m having more hits. Now I just got another listing I’m gonna call again. We’re doing a price reduction on the other house, so I’m gonna go ahead and call around, let them know about the price reduction and the incentives to buying the home, and check in again to see if they know anybody that wants to move in the neighborhood.

14:09Then I’m gonna call with this other listing, which is a rare listing, that I actually normally do get somebody to tell me that they know somebody. I’ll get that, then I’ll get the just solds, I’ll send out the mailers, I’ll do the calls, and then I’ll probably get another one. And when you’re working one area in specific, it will just start compiling.

14:26You’re so in tune with these people. And not only that, you genuinely know the neighborhood. Because when you’re doing that much sales, your value’s there just through your experience.

Aaron Wittenstein14:36

All right, so let’s say you sell 123 Main Street, okay? I’m sorry, you list 123 Main Street.

14:42You’re gonna do an open house. You have one price reduction on it, and you close it, all right? Are you doing four phone calls to the same neighborhood?

Sam Cohen14:50

Well, it just kind of depends on the house, right? If it sells really quickly… Like on this price reduction, it’s an expensive house.

15:00It’s a $1.5 million house, and we’re doing a substantial price drop. So I feel that that’s good to call all the neighbors, especially since this is the second most expensive neighborhood in the area. I’ve noticed a lot of times that people that live in this area like staying in it, and maybe they wanna upsize, and now maybe this is affordable enough for them.

15:20So I feel that it’s a good phone call. But normally I just do the just listed, and when I do the just listed, I don’t just do the normal just listed. I’ll just call and kind of say, “Hey, good morning, Erin. This is Sam. I’m your neighbors’, the Weinstein family’s realtor. We’re holding an open house this weekend from 11 to 3 on both Saturday and Sunday, and the Weinstein family told me to personally call you and invite you to the open house.

15:43You think you can swing by?” It builds a connection, right? You’re there. And I do tell my clients that I’m gonna call the neighborhood, and I ask them if I should invite everybody in the neighborhood, and I tell them about the pros. And a lot of times you will get a buyer, and they say, “Yeah, please call the whole neighborhood.”

16:04So really my clients are asking me to call, right? So it’s a great thing, plus also you get a lot of traffic in the open house, and it does help your seller. So I’m not just doing it for me, I’m doing it for my sellers as well, because I do wanna sell the home and I do wanna get them top dollar and I do wanna get them as much exposure as possible.

Aaron Wittenstein16:23

All right, so let’s say for example, you have a listing in area one. Let’s call it area one, okay? And that property we’re discussing right there. How many neighbors do you… ‘Cause we all know that open houses should be done to get listings as well, listings in the neighborhood, which is very smart.

16:41So how many sellers usually come? If you call 100 people, how many do you think would come through? Ballpark.

Sam Cohen16:48

I think in this particular neighborhood, I think I called five different subdivisions, and it was probably about 500 people, and I probably got 15 people in the door.

Aaron Wittenstein16:57

That’s not bad.

16:58And I mean, out of those 15 people, that could be one potential seller, you know? Because 500 people, that’s what, a three, four, five-hour shift to call those people?

Sam Cohen17:09

Yeah. I mean, I think what I did is I just took a subdivision for the week and I called each subdivision Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,

17:15Friday. And then by the end of Friday, I was doing the open house. It’s Saturday, Sunday.

Aaron Wittenstein17:20

Got it. What does your just listed phone call look like?

Sam Cohen17:23

Exactly what I- And then from there it’s just, I go into my Ferry scripts, to be honest with you. But yeah, I always start it with the open house.

17:31From there, if they go, “Well, I don’t know. We really can’t swing by.” “Well, do you know any friends or family that are looking into moving into the neighborhood? It’s a great home.” “Oh, well, no, we don’t really know anybody looking to move in the neighborhood.” “Well, thanks for taking the time to think about that.

17:44Just quick question, have you thought about moving recently?” “Well, no, we’re not thinking about moving,” and then you just go through the script, right? But the one good thing is, I feel that you’ve made a little bit more of a connection by saying a family. And a lot of people in these neighborhoods know their neighbors too, so it’s not like-

18:00So I think for me it’s good.

Aaron Wittenstein18:05

Perfect. And are you mailing them out a card or something, or what are you doing as follow-up with them?

Sam Cohen18:11

Well, in this particular neighborhood, I do a really big, expensive mailer piece every month. I really like this neighborhood. I used to live in it. I actually moved away from it and built another house.

18:22But I still like it because when they were creating this neighborhood, I was the first one to pinpoint it, and I was the first one to buy a house in any of the subdivisions when they started building.

Aaron Wittenstein18:33

So they know. At this point, you’re ingrained there. They know who you are, and when you pick up the phone, odds are they know Sam, right?

Sam Cohen18:41

Somewhat, yeah. I mean, I think there’s been a lot of turnover, and I think that I didn’t have any business in there for a while, and I was kind of not honing in on it as much as I could, and you’d be surprised how quick you can lose traction.

Aaron Wittenstein18:53

Oh, I can just imagine.

Sam Cohen18:55

But I’m building it back now.

Aaron Wittenstein18:57

Hey, there you go. And I know you will do it. Just like the slopes on the cold plunge.

Sam Cohen19:03

Yeah. That was nice.

Aaron Wittenstein19:05

Oh, yeah. All right, my friend. So let’s say someone knocks on your door, brand-new agent, brand new to the business, knocks on your door.

19:13Sam, what’s one piece of advice that you have for me as a new agent? What would that be?

Sam Cohen19:19

Long-term consistency with whatever your schedule is. The longer you can be consistent with that schedule, the more successful you’re gonna be. I think a lot of people overthink this stuff, and just having a strong schedule is probably the most important.

Aaron Wittenstein19:35

Easy enough right there. All right, my friend, I wanna tie this up in a nice little bow here, okay? We crammed a lot of information here into 25 minutes. What’s your final last words for Vulcan7 Nation?

Sam Cohen19:50

Just learn to enjoy the process. It’s difficult at times, but most of the top agents all do this, so it is a great thing.

20:00And then also, the one thing I love about Vulcan7 and MFO and everything that kinda ties in with these programs is literally the best part about it is you wanna be the best agent you can be. Don’t worry about the sales. Worry about doing a good job for everybody and actually putting the work in and enjoying the process, and you’ll be a great agent.

Aaron Wittenstein20:22

There we go, man, 100%. All right, so someone’s moving to Nevada, Las Vegas from St. Louis, Missouri, and they need to refer you business, or someone would like to get in contact with you, what is the best way to get in touch with you, my friend?

Sam Cohen20:39

My phone number is 702-884-8276. Again, that’s 702-884-8276.

20:49Or you could just simply email me at sam@cohengrouplv.com. Also, you could just look up my website, cohengrouplv.com.

Aaron Wittenstein20:55

That’s C-O-H-E-N, correct?

Sam Cohen20:57

Yep. C-O-H-E-N G-R-O-U-P, LV as in Las Vegas, .com.

Aaron Wittenstein21:02

There we go. There we go. All right, Sam, I wanna say thank you so much for being here. This was great to chat with you. And I just wanna remind everybody, do me a favor, trust the process

21:15and go make some money. Okay, you guys? Take care.

Sam Cohen21:17

Later, Aaron.

Aaron Wittenstein21:18

Thank you. All right,

21:19take care. You’re welcome. Bye-bye.