337: Top Producer Mindset & Tips by Bryan Casella

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Hey, it's my pleasure to welcome Brian Casella. He is head of Team BC and I don't know if he wants to say it, but He's a real YouTube rock star and it's awesome. Brian, it's good to have you here. How are you, Jason?

Thanks for having me, brother. Excited 2020 is upon us now and things have been growing, things have been really exploding and I'm just running on all cylinders right now.

Yeah, good, good stuff. Well, you're in my old stomping ground. I spent the vast majority of my adult life in Orange County. Grew up in Los Angeles in Orange County. Made a lot of money in real estate in Orange county. So definitely a vibrant place and a. So as an agent, how long ago did you start your career?

I started about six and a half years ago now. I got licensed here in Southern California in the Downey area. I originally went with the Century 21 broker there.

Was that Jervis by chance?

No, but we were close to them. I was at a better service and they're pretty much rivals with All Stars, which is in Pico Rivera. I'm sure you've heard of them too.

Because I know the Jervis'. Yeah, for a long time. Yeah, good stuff. So you started there about six and a half years ago, you said?

Yeah, roughly.

And what got you interested in real estate? Did you come in from the brokerage side or the investor side or what was your impetus to get into it?

It was really kind of random. I actually played basketball professionally after college for a couple years and due to injuries, I kind of got my career cut short at age 25, 24. So for a year I was kind of lost in trying to really figure out what I wanted to do now in my adult life now that athletics were behind me. And as I started looking at possible career opportunities, when I looked at real estate and started getting around it and the people, I realized very quickly, hey, I can do very well in this. You know, I'm disciplined. You know, I understand learning fundamentals. I know this Business is more about the work that you put in, not where you're coming from or who you know. And you know, I have no boss, I have no ceiling. If I sell 10 houses my first couple months, hey, I'm going to make all that money. So this seems like a great opportunity and that's kind of what lit that flame and really caused me to just jump head on into real estate.

Yeah, that's fantastic. No question about is amazing. I have trained thousands of agents over the years and I know you've trained a whole bunch. I don't know your numbers, but when I used to do that years ago, it amazes me the number of agents who just squander this incredible opportunity. I mean, what a career. And it's just most people just kind of squander it. Isn't that sad. Yeah.

You know, I even noticed, I go into real estate offices before I found my initial broker, I was like, where is everybody? You know, I'm here at 10, 11am Taking a look and there's like one guy there drinking coffee corner, like why isn't anybody working? And that's when I started realizing very quickly, hey, I can come in here and carve a niche and really just do well right away. Because it seems like the state of the average real estate agent is just very low and the bar is set very low.

Yeah, yeah, it is. You know, I used to, in my talks, I used to call them the flock. The flock of agents who you know, are doing a couple of transactions a year and how the market is so concentrated with these top producing agents. But the thing about it, Brian, is that, and I don't know if it's different now that I've been out of it for a little while, the consumer, at least in my day, didn't really know the difference between the flock of agents who were, you know, like everybody's got a friend in real estate and you know, if you're just kind of a nice person and you know some people, you're going to pick up some business from your sphere of influence. Even if you're not very business minded, if you're just kind of hanging out. I called those the kind of country club agents that weren't real business people. They weren't, they didn't have any vision of having processes, building a business or anything. They were just kind of hanging around to skim the cream off the top. You know, does the consumer know the difference nowadays? Is it any different than when I was in the traditional side of the industry?

You know, as you're saying that it seems like it's pretty much still the same, you know, because my claim to fame we can say especially with YouTube and within the industry itself was I was doing a lot of prospecting, but I really got known for door knocking. In the beginning. I was just door knocking like a madman. And at that face to face level at the consumer's home, all those conversations I had, that's basically the conclusion I came to. I was like, man, I really got a shot here. You know, we being on the agent side, we see these powerhouse teams and we hear all these stories about them, how they're this big three headed monster and we're not going to be able to take them out or if we go up against them, we have no chance but to see how little feedback I'm getting from people saying oh yeah, so and so team is my go to team. They're the ones that I know, they're the ones I'd work with, they're the professionals. I rarely ever heard that. And I got so much business in the beginning just from having that face to face conversation or even a conversation over the phone. And I just happened to befriend these people, get to know them and they don't know the difference. They're not asking me, hey, you know, so and so team sold 360 homes last year. How do you stack up against them? Very rarely was I hearing that. So it was more about, you know, positioning yourself and then being that go to person because you actually had some live conversations with them and you were able to build that relationship over a few follow up calls and over time.

Absolutely. So what is your claim to fame as an agent? Door knocking obviously. Right, that sounds like one of your things. What else? Or is that kind of your focus? The door knocking?

That was the main focus in the beginning I would say. Apart from that, it was just my dedication to really understanding sales and I think that has really allowed me to carve a niche as well. Because people see that I've evolved so much with my communication skills. I've really made that a focal point of my business. And then also growing your brand and becoming also like this agent to agent referral machine which I've really built with my social media. I've been very purposeful with that and we're getting a ton of referrals. So I would say my brand, the focus on skills and then just the hardcore prospecting, being brand new and fresh in the business, I would say those are probably the three main pillars that I can Say, are my claim to fame.

That's great. In terms of the door knocking or prospecting in general, were you door knocking and doing other kinds of telephone prospecting and such to a farm area, like a specific neighborhood, or did you just sort of shotgun do it everywhere?

When I started being more naive and not really knowing much, I just shotgunned everywhere and I was able to start getting some business right away. And the mistake that I made, that I made the adjustment very quickly was, you know, as I was making all these contacts in the beginning, I was so deal hungry that if somebody wasn't ready in the next month or two, I just kind of like threw them away and said, okay, forget this person.

Because I need to not into nurturing. You were in the quick.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Right. Yeah.

Yeah.

So after the two or three month period is when I made that adjustment. And then my, my database and sphere of influence exploded just because of the sheer volume of conversations I was having. And now I'm reaping the benefits from that. But in the beginning it was very just, I'm throwing mud on the wall and see what sticks. I'm going to try this city. I like the price point. Let's go. You know, and it was more just that young, hungry energy, wanting to get out there and just do a lot of numbers. And as time went on then I started focusing more on certain cities and areas and we can say in a sense, farming them. As I started getting more business and really kind of finding my identity within the business.

Yeah, fantastic. Brian, you talked about studying sales technique and being really good at conversation and so forth. Who are the, the sales gurus or the books or the courses? There are different obviously philosophies toward the sales process. Right. What do you like?

Man, I've done and studied so much. I was really big in the beginning on all the classic people that everyone knows, like Tom Hopkins, Brian Tracy. I did study a lot of Mike Ferry in the beginning. I also have read a lot of books and done courses and certifications in nlp, neuro, Linguistic programming. I've gotten certified as a hypnotist as well and done that whole thing. So my fascination was more about the mind and communication versus just sales and techniques, if that makes sense. I did focus on sales, but I wanted an understanding of why does this stuff work? So I kind of geeked out on that and really started getting into that. And that's what really has allowed me, I think, to start changing things a little bit and kind of creating my own style within this whole sales realm. Because all the stuff out there is great, but I think sometimes people get too caught up in just parroting what someone else is saying instead of adopting their own style and molding it to their own individuality. Because I think that is the ultimate level for somebody to really get out there and perform at the highest level.

Sure, sure. When that becomes internalized and it becomes part of your overall competence. It takes a while for that to happen though, right? You go to, like, Tom Hopkins and then Brian Tracy, and then you study nlp and you probably read Bandler and Grinder and Tony Robbins, of course, sort of made it famous, but he did not invent the NLP concept and all of that different stuff. But then you take a little bit from here to there, and it sort of gels inside of you and becomes yours. Right? It's your. It's the Brian Casella style, ultimately. Right?

Yeah. And I think the disconnect for a lot of people is when I started it, I was obsessed with that stuff. Like, that became my world. It was all about real estate and learning this stuff and understanding the mind more and really just diving, you know, headfirst into communication and really studying that subject. I think a lot of people, especially agents in particular, they look at it as like this big bad wolf. And they're like, I don't want to mess with that stuff. I just want to do some social media, you know, put some ads on Facebook and get some people to call me. When. When you really look at this whole thing objectively from the outside, you realize, hey, no matter how I end up doing business, at the end of the day, I need to have a straight up, one on one conversation with a buyer or a seller. And that's what it boils down to. So all this studying, I knew, would ultimately help me dominate at that. And if I can dominate at that, then when I go up against these huge teams, I know I have a shot, a very good shot at getting that listing or getting that buyer, because I can really, really separate myself at that meeting. So that is kind of something I saw early on that I was trying to tell my peers, like, hey, this is it. But they seem to not really want to focus on it. And I think that's ultimately what caused me to do well and for them to just kind of become a statistic.

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And, you know, it reminds me of I used to sort of classify agents, or still do, you know, into kind of two broad categories. There were the agents that were all into, like, the latest and greatest technology tool, the latest and greatest marketing program and, you know, systems and having a structure for their business and all that kind of stuff, right? And then there were the other people like you said you were when you first started, you know, that were just like, shotgun approach, get out there, talk to everybody. And I think the thing is, Brian, that's interesting about it, the most effective agent, I believe, at least, is both of those things. Because I remember at my first office when I was 19 years old, okay. I was first year of college and I got my real estate license and, you know, wanted to become an investor. And that's why I got in to kind of learn the trade and ended up buying my first rental property and Huntington beach when I was 20. So that wasn't bad. There was this guy named Jim. He was such a loser. Loser, okay? And you know the type I'm talking about? He was at my Century 21 office, and I swear to God, the guy spent half his day, every day organizing his briefcase. Okay? I kid you not, right? And he was the type that was always getting ready to get ready and never actually talked to any people. You said you got to go out and talk to buyers and sellers. That's when everything. That's when the magic happens, right. When you're talking to people. But there are some winners that are kind of the getting ready to get ready type, too. They just don't spend too long on it, and they balance it with talking to buyers and sellers. Because the downside of the person who's like the massive action shotgun person is that their business always requires a lot of running on the treadmill to sustain it. Like you said, you used to throw away leads that didn't want to do anything for a couple of months, Right. Those weren't there. Those weren't proximate enough for you.

Yeah.

And so would you agree that, you know, when you. You coach a lot of agents, you've got like 300 agents in your coaching group, I think, and it's kind of a balance of both of those types of personalities, right?

Absolutely. And I think that that's really the key. And, you know, when I look at that, you're absolutely right. I did just kind of massive action shotgun approach, and there was no organization behind it. And even to this day, I know I still need to work with that. But that's why I've grown my team and put the individuals in their places, like my assistant, to help me with those types of things. Because I said, hey, that's not my forte. That's not my strong point. So in the beginning it was a rude awakening for me because I was way too much to one side. Now, on the flip side, what I see nowadays, especially with technology and social media, is I'm finding a lot more people on the opposite end of the spectrum, right. Just want to overanalyze, micromanage. And they don't want to take any action thinking that that next packaged up fancy little marketing plan or whatever it is is going to be the answer. When in reality they're just, hey, we need to get back to the basics and just go talk to buyers.

We got to talk to people. You're not going to make any money in front of a computer screen posting things on Facebook. Okay? That's not the real estate business. Let's just inform you right now, folks, that is not the real estate business. But you did it exactly right because in the beginning when you started, I'm guessing you pro probably didn't have any money or much money, right? Most people don't. And so the best thing to do is to just go take massive action and use that massive action to fund creating a business, creating some systems, spending money on some marketing programs, a team, an assistant, et cetera. Right? So that kind of, you know, Stephen Covey talked about that in the book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I'm sure you're familiar with it. It's great book. It's the P versus PC balance, production versus production capacity. You got to balance these two things. And that's great. That's great. Tell us some of the great techniques that you're covering in your coaching program with your students. Just share that with our listeners a little bit.

Yeah, absolutely. And one thing I want to add too, to what you were saying before I get into that is the biggest thing that I think I did in the beginning that I believe helped me tremendously was a lot of especially newer agents or people who aren't producing. All their focus and attention is on what they don't have and what they lack. And I never focused on that stuff. I looked at youth and being new as an advantage. I said, I got all the energy in the world. I don't have any bad habits. And that really is what steered me towards being able to make adjustments and keeping that fire lit. And I think that's one of the biggest downfalls for a lot of people is they look at what's missing or what they don't have instead of just saying, hey, I have these things, I'm going to adopt this perspective on it. And I'm just going to go out there and make it happen. Because how many stories, especially with the people you've met and coached of individuals who, from the outside, in the beginning, everyone's like, what the hell is that guy doing in real estate? He has no chance. And then they end up becoming extremely successful.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It can surprise you, for sure.

Yeah. And, you know, in regards to, you know, what I do on my coaching and that kind of stuff, I do focus a lot more on mindset. You know, I do have all the classic techniques, all the sales stuff, and all the, we can say, outer stuff that you need, systems, database, who to call, how to make the calls, the scripts, what to say, all the language patterns and all that stuff. But a lot of it is focused more on kind of what I just said, you know, that internal world. Because the more I get to know people, the more I see people over time, the more I realize we've become our biggest enemies, our own enemies, and so many inner wiring that we have crisscrossed, limited people. You know, like, I can meet an individual who I see already has all the potential in the world, but they themselves have been brought up to think that they can't do anything and they deserve to be there and they don't have a chance and they can't be great salesman and that stops them.

Yeah.

And it's sad. So a lot of my focus is on that because I feel like that really allows people to unleash more potential and really take the techniques that we give them, whether it's on your program, mine or YouTube or whatever it is, and really take that stuff and use it at level 10 instead of operating at level 1.

Absolutely, Brian. It's inner game, right? That's inner game, yeah. So important people who. They've got to understand that they are deserving, they have a right to be here, too. They have a right to carve out their place in the market. And we've all been surprised at these people that you never thought would have amounted to anything. They had, like, every disadvantage. And like you said at the start of this, you know, you can design your own life, you can make your own way. There's no limit, there's no cap to what you can do in this business. And we've all been so surprised. I remember when I was 24 years old, I sold and everybody thought this was incredible. Of course, the industry's matured a lot since then. But I was at ReMax of Irvine and I sold 78 properties when I was 24 years old and, you know, adjusted for inflation, that's like an $800,000 income now, you know, today. Right. So everybody thought that was incredible. But now you've got these super mega agents, you know, with big teams. I didn't have a big team. I was just me, really. I had an assistant who worked, you know, a few hours a week, you know, doing a couple things. But, you know, now it's become a more mature industry. Like, people are treating it like a business, right? Some are. Some are, yeah.

You know, I think we're seeing, I think they would say like the 80, 20 rule. Like 20% of the agents are doing 80% of the business. 90, 10 maybe, but I think it's happening now. It's more like 10, 90. And we're seeing a bigger gap being wedged between the people who are treating it like a business and taking it to the next level, and then the average person who's just doing two or three deals a year, just scraping by. That's what I see. But you're absolutely right, because. And the interesting part, I don't know if you've noticed this, they've released the statistics and the failure rate's actually going up. Even though we have all these extra free resources like YouTube and, you know, like, I look at even my channel, I have 1300 videos and probably a thousand are real estate related. And I'm sitting here scratching my head saying, man, I didn't have any of this when I started and I made it happen. How can the failure rate go up? This makes no sense. But, you know, I think a lot of it just has to do with people being so pulled every which way by all these different programs and gimmicks that they don't just stick to those basics. Like you brought up, hey, your systems, you know, the P and the PC. Keep it simple.

Right? Right, absolutely. That's a great point. I gotta ask you, before I ask, kind of the area I want to close on with you. What is with your crazy attire? I mean, for the people who are watching the video and not just hearing the audio right now, Brian has this jacket on that's like a card deck. And it's absolutely. I mean, you will not miss the guy, okay? You'll remember him. So tell us about that. Is that part of your brand? So you're memorable? I mean, give us a little insight into that.

You know, a lot of it has to do with just my development, you know, as an individual. Even in my younger days, like I remember being in High school and, like, dyeing my hair different colors. Like, it's always been a part of me. I just think when I got into the industry, I hadn't really developed my inner game yet or had that maturity to say, hey, you know, I need to embrace my individuality and show the world who I am. And I think a lot of it, just as I blossomed as an individual, a lot of the real me just started coming out. And I think it's a product of that. Some people think it's, well, he's trying to get attention, but the moment I saw this on the rack or some of these other things I'm wearing, I'm like, that's my name written all over it. I'm buying it. And the reason I wouldn't buy it before is because I would have thoughts like, well, what are my parents gonna think? Well, if I post it on Facebook, what are they gonna say? And I'm like, why am I thinking that? How is that the determining factor if I'm gonna get this or not? I'm buying it, and it has become a part of my brand. But I think as people develop their inner game, more things like this just will start to make sense to them in their own way, whatever that is.

Yeah. Good stuff. Good stuff. So any things I haven't asked you that you want to share with people today?

I mean, this business, what we do, and the process of growing it, has become so overanalyzed and overcomplicated. People are always looking for something new. I even see it on YouTube. Oh, man. All you guys who make content need to make new types of content. Like, what else do you want us to talk about?

Right.

We've covered these subjects and on these podcasts and on YouTube so much. You guys need to stop commenting here and go out and work. That's what needs to happen.

That's exactly that. Great point. I love it.

And I think that's kind of what the message I want to say is. You know, if you want to get a coach, if you don't, if you want to do this, just go out there and start doing. There's too much of the opposite side, which is, well, I'm going to overanalyze and create this perfect plan for six years, and then I'm going to go out and execute it. It's not the way it works. You got to get out there and work and apply these things, because there's not going to be some new thing coming out in a month or two months or next year. That's going to magically make everything easy.

Yeah, good point, good point. Well, okay, so speaking of that, let's just temper that one for just a second though. Are there any great tools that you like that you use in your business? Any particular software or an app or any tech? Even though we've said don't focus on this, get to work, go talk to some people, that's the best technology of all and of course YouTube. But anything else that's like behind the scenes that maybe people wouldn't see or know that you use.

Simple stuff, you know, we obviously have the softwares like Vulcan 7, you know, Cole Realty Resource that provide us phone numbers and leads to expireds and FSBOs and that kind of stuff. So if you can budget for that. Absolutely. Mojo. The triple line dialer I think is a must, especially if you're doing phone prospecting. That's huge. With EXP, we get KVCore, which is a CRM. It's a front, front end, kind of like a lead generation kind of site that you have. But on the back end it's a full CRM. Just like Liondesk would be your top producer or something like that. On the organization side, that I think is key. You can plug in all your leads, everybody in your sphere of influence. You have notes, you can set reminders, and that's simple. Those are, I would say, probably the three main staples of that back end systems and technology. For us, it's very simple.

That's awesome. Good stuff. Well, hey, let's wrap it up, Brian. First of all, give out your website.

Yeah. Briancassela.com and also my handles on Instagram and all that is just. Brian Casella.

Excellent closing thought.

Thank you for having me, man. It's refreshing to have just a straight up chat like this because I think this is what we need more of. Not fluff or us getting on here for an hour talking about technology. Hey, this business is simple. Most businesses are simple. Take the basics, learn them, apply them and over time you'll have success.

Absolutely. Great point. Don't over complicate it. All right everybody, happy selling and much success. Brian Casella, thanks for joining us, Jason.

Thank you, brother.

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