Chris Prefontaine leads associates through their coaching wins: finding their personal why and building it into daily routines, qualifying leads more directly on first calls, and distinguishing active from passive prospects. John shares a lead that took 19 months of follow-up before closing, showing that hard leads beat quick wins.
Chapters
Let's talk about any ahas that you guys got out of that. A bunch of you guys were taking notes. What were some of the ahas that you got out of that first piece? Uh, just to rewatch that Mastermind video that Rick did, um, about the why.
Yep, good one.
So action item. Uh, other ahas or action items, you guys? Just so we— I don't want to go through a whole other hot seat and lose what we just did.
Yeah, though once we've gone through the why and know what our why is, add it to my morning routine, review what it is, do some visualization, and yeah, just to internalize it.
Awesome. Avi, side note here, but good for everybody. You're still moving out of country August, is it?
Don't have a definitive date, but probably in August. Yes.
Close to August.
Yeah.
Okay, so Avi's not leaving his W-2, he's like leaving the country. So it's a whole different plan we're working on.
Yeah.
To still operate here somewhat local. So again, it's going to be just like a W-2 type of exit, but it's going to be a little different. Other ahas and action items, Carla?
To look back at your calendar or your 15-minute diary to identify roadblocks.
Yeah. Um, sometimes that's scary, but the diary exercise is powerful, but your calendar will, will tell the same story too, right? If you need to look back. I like it. So is there an action item there? Are you gonna maybe look at that, Carla and everybody, for like, look back?
Absolutely.
Yeah. Until you're ecstatic with your— everybody, until you're ecstatic with your results, your bank account, your schedule, you gotta look back and see, is it supporting what I say I'm— I want? Sometimes the sacrifice, I get it. Michael?
Uh, my month— or my, uh, wow, my aha was, uh, the monthly gut check that you mentioned to just keep reanalyzing to make sure that you're progressing forward and not just keep stuck in the same pattern, which I definitely tend to do.
Well, I think I said the way I said it, the stuckness, Michael, and everyone is— I, I think I said on this, maybe I'm mixing my videos up today. But if we keep rowing in the exact same direction we're going now, maybe I didn't say this on this call, are we going to be happy with it? You're the only one that can answer that. That's something I check all the time. Would we be happy if we don't change anything for the next 90 days, 120 days, year? That's something Kim and I do a lot.
Yeah, Chris, the gut check that you brought up is looking at your why and doing a gut check on does your activity match Achieving that, boy.
Yeah, because we can beat ourselves up, but if we're, if we're not putting the right stuff in chambers, it ain't gonna matter. Not gonna be firing. Anyone else want to share before we pivot?
I think an aha that I had was that we've been really soft on our first initial call about asking if they're okay with waiting for the money just because we want the lead. So just to be harder, more direct. I'm more direct on the second call, but on the first call, we're just really nice and we'll buy your house just to get the lead. So I think that's kind of an aha for me is just to be a little more direct on the initial call.
Yeah. And Michelle, this is good because even if they say to your example, I need the money now, Guess what? I would be shocked if they all don't say that. If you call me, I'm going to be going, yeah, yeah, I want the money. No kidding. So there's a script for that, right? 99% of the homes we buy, the seller did want all the money out full price tomorrow. And I say that facetiously to them, like kidding, laughing a little bit, right? But, and you drop the seeds of the market. Does that mean that's not a lead for you now? No, it's a lead. They didn't sell yet.
Okay. So still count it as a lead, but just not as strong of a lead?
It's, it's a passive lead, right?
Okay.
You can chime in here.
Yeah.
A lead is anybody you're going to follow up with in the future, whether it's tomorrow or a year from now.
Okay. It's a lead.
So here's the key, Michelle, and everyone for that. Couple things. I get it. Is there— like, you probably heard some of my recent calls I posted in the channel for you guys. I get you want— so if it doesn't happen, what's the plan? I'll just keep it. Okay, not so great a lead. I think it was— I think there was one last week I asked 3 or 4 different ways, and no matter what I said, they were gonna keep it. So I just— it's gone now. I sent a— I sent a letter and then left it alone. Uh, if they say no, no, no, I— if it's not sold by May 1st, I, I'm gonna have a challenge. I gotta do something. Okay, different type of lead, higher level. You just gotta ask, what if not? They'll say, well, it's going to sell. I know, but hypothetically, if it didn't, is there a reason for me ever to follow up, or you just lower the price lower and lower until it's sold, given the market and the tough climate for buyers to get financed? I'm just curious. I don't want to bug you.
Okay.
So it's still a lead. Don't be afraid of letting go of it.
Yeah, but not going over that question, Chris, is kind of doing a disservice to yourself in a way, right? Because you're kind of pushing, kicking the can down the road a little bit on yourself, you know, instead of attacking it on that first call while you have them on the phone. Um, you're just, you know, pushing that question down more, and you want to have the higher-level leads up front and know that they're good right out the gate. That way you can act accordingly.
Yeah, that's a good point. So you'd be bogged down in the mud, right? You'd be just calling them all back, same urgency.
Yeah.
All right, thank you.
Yeah, that's a good point. Um, we'll go Jessica and John.
I just have a thought I wanted to share that's kind of relative to— I shared it with Judy, but what you guys are talking about with wanting to take the easy way and staying stuck if you don't change your direction. The Darren Dailey episode this morning was really good and said that things are Never going to get easy. People just get better at handling the hard stuff. And so people who are sitting there at the bus stop waiting for that easy bus to come along, they're just going to stay stuck there. And that the people that are successful and get places are the ones who just get better at handling the hard stuff. So that's just been really resonating with me. So I wanted to share it with everyone.
Perfect. Very applicable. That's a nice subscribe if you guys haven't. A nice reminder. He's had that for I don't know how many years, a decade. John?
I was just, uh, gonna make a comment about, uh, the point that you were making about, uh, people that want their money right away. The, the ones that have said that they're into the doing the financing are the ones that seem to, uh, fall apart, like the ones that we, we just recently had there a couple of days ago.
Yes, John, that's worth sharing. I'll share it if it's okay. Yeah, so John does the right thing, gets the lead, says, hey, this lady's open. Okay, we both get on the phone. Lady's like almost too happy to do this with us, like, yep, do it, let's get this deal done tomorrow. I'm like, okay, I know owner financing. So we send her, uh, Rusty is the type where we do the P&S for the owner financing. We're gonna find the buyer and assign the A contract. We write up her exact terms that she emailed John on the purchase and sales, not ours, hers. And she writes John back this scathing email that, you guys are taking advantage of people. I'm like, where did this come from? We just wrote what you told us to write. So no matter what you do, sometimes this lady was too overly happy. And so to your point, I almost get cautious. Like she was jumping through the phone for us to do it. And then someone got in her ear. I did send her an email just because I, I don't get why she said what she said, but we won't follow up if she doesn't answer it, right?
So it's, it's the ones that you don't have to— or that, that don't say that, that you got to work a little bit at. Like, uh, Bob Hartman, I had to work 19 months on him and we got him now, you know?
So yeah, um, that is a good example because he wasn't easy, but he wasn't easy because he was truly trying to understand it over the last year and a half.
Right.
Um, side note, do you have activity on that yet or no?
Uh, I got a couple of calls, um, but nothing solid yet.
Okay, stay tight with Nick on that. That'd be nice. Not to mention he'd be blown away.
