The Ultimate Spring Market Prep for Real Estate Agents | Tom Ferry Podcast Experience

Ever felt like you were starting over, but you really want to get ready for the spring market? Today's show is all about that.

So here's the thing. Entrepreneurs, leaders, salespeople, we all want to create consistent, repeatable, and scalable ways to grow our business and our income. And we want to do it better, faster, and more seamlessly. Why? So we can actually enjoy our lives, take vacations, and spend the quality time we want with the people that we love. How do we do all this without spending a fortune or running ourselves ragged? That's the big question. And this show is dedicated to the answer.

Hey, Carolyn Young. Welcome to the show. Super excited to have you.

Thanks, Tom, so much for having me.

So, Carolyn, taking a veteran. Veteran. Veteran. And asking you to sort of rewind in your mind, in your career to get everybody ready for the spring market, which most of us are thinking is going to be a boom. I challenged you, even though. How long have you been selling real estate? Are you up to 30 years now?

We quit counting after 30, but at that point, it doesn't matter anymore.

But 32 years, okay. It's like one of my friends who told me she was 60. 11. I was like 6. Yeah, I got it. Okay, Cool, Cool, cool, cool. Got it. So if somebody wanted to really get the most out of the spring market, I know you wrote down a bunch of thoughts around, and the three things I want to talk about are like, how do you get them? How do you win them? But I want to start first with what do you believe are the habits or the routines of someone that's really going to optimize and take advantage of the wave of business that's coming for the spring market. So I know you didn't prepare. I'm asking you, just what do you think? And let's go back and forth.

So, not that, you know, everybody does different things about what their goals are for that year. Right. But I think that the. The biggest thing, whether you're an individual agent and just want 10 listings that year, if you want 200 listings, I think that you have to wake up in the morning and have a routine.

Yes. Right, Carolyn? Everybody. Everybody has a routine.

I don't know if everyone does what they do.

No, everybody has a routine. They get up, they drink coffee, they turn on the news, they bitch moment. I'm not saying you. But like, you know, everybody has a routine. The question is, what. What impact does that routine have on their day? Is it like a slingshot that fires them off in the day, or is it like, oh, it's Tuesday, right?

They should have a great morning routine.

Yes. All right, so you say, you say great morning routine. I'll give you another one. I think the number, number two thing on the list would be if I want to have a fully optimized spring market, I need to spend time every single day in the MLS looking for correlations on what's selling and what's not. I would also try and do some research around the first quarter, second quarter of last year so I can talk about the mistakes to avoid. Mr. Mr. Seller, some of the things that we witnessed last year in the spring market was this. And yes, rates are similar. And you know what, the market certainly has improved a little bit. But if we make these mistakes, we're going to be in trouble. Right. So just trying to find those little nuances inside of the MLS last year, this year to be more effective. What do you think is number three to like get myself ready so I can actually go get the appointments.

So I do think like you have to have a good routine with any kind of listings that you're going for because you can't just like, you know, call in the middle of the day and show up. I think you have to say like for me, I just what works for me. Okay, so for me it's get up in the morning and I know that I'm going to check email, I'm going to get ready for the day, but then I know when for me at 9:30 to 12. That is all the prospecting for listings.

Yes.

And then you would have a time in the evening, maybe five to six. The ones that are not the AM people, they're the only ones I would have to call, you know, follow up with in the evening. Yes, but if you do it every day, then you consistently hit people and you know that that's your time to do it and that's when you're game on.

I agree. Now the average person just heard that and they went like this.

And 9:30 until noon on the phone. Prospecting, Isn't that what dirty old men did in California in the river, trying to find the gold? Like they have this like weird negative association to it. I like to refer to activities like that in the end result of what I want. Right. Do you, for the person watching right now, give us in the comments. Do you want to prospect or do you want to book appointments with wonderful clients? Which one do you want? Do you want a prospect or do you want to book appointments with wonderful clients? Put it in your notes. Put it in the notes.

Below.

I'm just curious, but you and I both know you don't prospect, you book appointments. I know.

So, but the thing is, is that, is there different forms of prospecting that might be like, you know, over, like, expires? Oh, my God.

Right, right.

But the big thing is that if, even if you're calling somebody that you contacted that mentioned, but you have to, you know, make your connections and follow up and offer value to people.

Yes, yes.

Hey, Tom, I saw the neighbor's house just sold down the street. It's going to directly impact the value. Would you like to know more about how, how that affected it?

Yes.

So you just got it. You can't just call and say, are you ready to list? But if you're every morning feeding value to people, they're going to want you to sell their home.

I think we should back up. Even though you've been on the show many times and you know how much I appreciate that. Carolyn, you went to an event, I'm guessing it was probably in your local marketplace. My client Tom Toole was on stage. You were already at that point, like two decades plus into your career. You were wildly successful, working mainly just past clients in sphere. Like you'd arrived, you built that brand, everyone knew who you were, and you'd make 300, $400,000 a year, which let me tell you, is not chopped liver. That's really good. You went to that event, you found one thing. And I remember the story because Jeff Mays reminds me all the time one thing, and for her it was expired list things. Think of the insanity of that selection or the brilliance of a couple decade veteran who's like, I'm gonna go after expireds. What was the origin thought behind that? Because you were like, you were doing Popeyes and you were doing all the traditional, all referral based stuff and then you go after expireds.

Well, it's hard to not want to do things even like, you know, this week being at Elite has just been so grateful because there's so many just amazing people that I just love. I love the way everybody does something a little different and it works.

Right.

But for me at that time, I had already been in it for like 24 years.

Yes.

So I needed something. Like if someone told me right now I need to get like 10 listings right now, I would say call your expires and cancels because it's not anybody. I have to find out they want.

To sell because they've already raised their hand. Exactly.

They're already ready. So for me, when I heard, you know, Tom talking on the panel about it. I was like, that is amazing for me, because it's just sweat equity. I don't have to invest. I just have to pick up the phone.

No cost to call them, right? Exactly.

It's very, very little in.

Yeah.

So I did it because of that. And of course, you know, I had amazing results with it.

So just for the. For the listener, we did. We did a live show about expireds in the fourth quarter of last year. Recognizing that what we. What we saw in the data was there was about a $450 million listing volume, jump ball, call it 130 to 140,000 expired listings. And I was talking to some clients who were like, yeah, we had, like, 2100 expireds.

Bananas.

And I'm like, hell. And, you know, I would post on Instagram, hey, there was a, you know, $430 million jump. All of expired listings. Did you. Did you, like, try and serve them? Did you call them and, like, yes. No. And people are like, no, what? But I get it.

There's scary.

Yeah.

And it's not.

Yeah, yeah. But is there another way to frame that for the person listening? And then we'll get into your five things and your three things. I would ask you to consider this.

Those people had a bad experience. That's why there's a negative association to expireds. Because if you put yourself in their shoes, I always tell people all the time, like, if you put yourself in the customer's shoes, it frames the way you think. So I say, like, have you ever gone on a date and been ghosted before? Like, you know, you show up, you're sitting there, they're like, oh, they're five minutes late. They're 10 minutes late, they're 15 minutes late, 30 minutes late, and they. No show on you. Well, I want you to compound that by six months, including open houses and showings, how does that person feel? And then all of a sudden, 5, 7, 10, 30, 40 people call and say, I'm number one. And I can, you know, like, I love to help you. And, like, whatever it is, that's the problem. It's a massive turnoff.

That's the problem that people call trying to be number one.

Right.

So all these people want. And to me, it, I think, makes the conversation a lot easier. And because I've now got agents on my team that I'm training to do, because we went all back in, I got fired up, too, with David and Jimmy. I'm like, you know what? There's Too much money on the table here.

Right? Go get that money, Carol.

Getting them all in it. But I said, you're not calling to say your house expired. You need me. I'm number one. Because they get 30 of them calls and they just don't even like agents right now. Right, right. But if you call and just say, hey, you know, I'm trying to help, you come from a mindset that you didn't sell, you're in my market, I have the marketing that you are missing, and I could help you. I have a lot of buyers, and if you need help, I want to let you know I'm here to help. Then people feel that you're coming from a different place, and it's not that hard to get in to talk to them.

I think that's a big shift. And for my friend, listening, when you think about making phone calls to maybe someone you don't know, do you think of as a sales call or a service call? Right. I think when you can shift the mindset, your coach is the king of this. Right. Like when you shift the mindset to I am calling it to be of service. I'm calling to let you know that your neighbor's home just sold and your equity just went up, down, or remained flat, whatever it may be, that's a service call. You are providing value to the marketplace, and we know the numbers. It's like 1 out of 11 people are interested, and you don't make the other 10 wrong for it. Oh, screw you. You're not sure. Click. No, you. It's a service call, and I don't know, you're going to. You're going to say no. Just make the damn calls. But I got to help this person frame their mind around. Like, it's really valuable what you do. It's really valuable what you do.

I mean, I think it's really rare that you will hear when I call, that I'm ever calling, hey, your house didn't sell. I'm number one. But then you get some people sometimes. Yeah, well, you know, I didn't have enough showings. You know, there's always a problem, so you got to be a problem solver. Yes. Like, but the main thing is, is you know what? I just want to come look at your house. I can give you some of the best advice you're going to have available in the industry, so at least you can make a good decision about the next time. Yes.

Yes, that's it. I was talking to Ben Balak. Right. He and I. He and I. Played golf in. In December and shout out to all my friends in la, man, the fires. It's just insane, right? He's in. He's in Beverly Hills. And, you know, every. Every January 1st, 2nd, 3rd, it is like. Like he'll, you know, kiss his girlfriend and say, I'm gonna go make a bunch of money really fast. It's New Year's Day. Let's go. Like, it's. For many, it is one of the most exciting ways to start the year, but let's get back to the spring market. So I challenge you. When you walked in, I'm like, hey, Carolyn, let's talk about today. She has, like, 30 salespeople on her team, and she's going to 40. And she's built this monster empire. But it all started with the things that you learned to grow, and then you've been transferring those skills to others. But I'm like, let's. Let's get seven years. It's all in seven years, right? But I'm like, let's get back to the roots. Let's get back to the roots. Like, so. So for the person listening right now, if they're like, okay, all right, I'm thinking about expiring, but like, okay, how do I get ready for the spring market? So what do you. What do you think of the four or five things every single person could do? They only need one or two, but they could do to get themselves ready to get more listing opportunities for the spring market. What's your list?

So I think I wrote down some things, Tom, and I think that, like, how to get them. I do think I. There would be a few sources that I would go after that I would say, these are good opportunities, but to go after them first, you got to make sure that you just, like, come on, your scripts are all over the place. Like, know what to say.

Yes.

Practice what to say. Know the numbers in your market so when you call, you know what you're talking about.

Yes.

Right?

Yes.

So that's kind of important. So.

And then you go back to the research every day on the mls. Know the data so you're more intelligent. So what's number two?

And then I would say, you gotta be prepared to be a problem solver and to help people.

Right.

And if you have. And you've got to have a good listing presentation, like, I don't care if you just, you know, print something, anything out. Like, but you've got to have a good presentation about, you know, what your services are, who you are, and what you can Offer. If it's not you, it's your brokerage.

Yes.

Like, our broker is number one. Like, whatever.

So if you. Hold on. If you go back on my YouTube channel, you and I did this live, but it was the. We were somewhere at a team event, and I was like, hey, Carolyn, will you just do your listing presentation?

Maybe it's summit.

Right there was that one, too. But I was thinking of the. The intimacy of that team event when every one of her pieces that she would show to a potential seller were laminated.

Laminated.

And all of a sudden she's got this stack like this, and it's. Excuse me, it's answering every. I'm having a moment on my own podcast. All of the best players have the best coaches.

You and your business are no different.

It's time to get in the game.

Find your real estate coach.

Today.

As my goals change, then the coaches change with me. And now my goals are about really enjoying this part of my life, spending time with family. So there's some shift in my goals, and they are totally on board with me.

After joining the coaching program, the beginning of last year, we actually over doubled our business. So in 2023, we closed 19 million as a team and did 69 transactions. Last year, I'm proud to say we did 42 million in volume and closed 97 transactions.

So specifically, what has been done is to teach me how to maintain my client database, how to maintain contact with them in an efficient way so that I have more time. That kind of structure and the systems that I've learned here have allowed me to just expand my life beautifully. And I am so grateful.

Tell them what you did.

So what I did. And of course, I got this from somebody else that was in our system, Jackie. And so I took and laminated, like, everything we do, whether it's on, you know, our YouTube, our Facebook, our stats, our.

It's gonna go on these portals and.

Like, you can just think of a lot of stuff to put on, but what it is, instead of scrolling through a computer where it looks very, I think, you know, not personal, but when you lay them all out on the table, it's a very visual to how much that you've put together and how much you offer.

Yes.

And so people, to me, that's like, just like a killer presentation because people feel like that, you know, you do a lot for them.

Yeah, there's. There is so much. Like, coach Christy Jenks and I were talking about this recently. I had her do a basically research piece of a bunch of the highest Performing clients that she's working with or people like yourself. And when she looked across, a lot of people had. The way she described it was, oh, yeah, everyone does that. So the average agent might not know that, you know, she said, if you're. If your marketing strategy says, I'm going to put it in the mls, someone should punch you. Of course you're going to put it in the MLS. If you're. If your marketing plan your 11 things, 20 things, 33 things, say, and I'm going to put a sign in the front yard as an example. She's like, you should almost create the list called everyone does this. But here's the stuff I know that really works. Like, this is just the of course. Right? This is like everyone, but this is the list. And when I saw your display, you have the of course, but you got a lot of these things. And I think that's what really makes it stand out. I would challenge the listener, go to ChatGPT and say, well, what does the typical real estate agent present when they say, this is how I'm gonna get the home sold. Get that list. Laminate that as the of course. And then look at what you already do that stands out. That's different. Do you. Do you do something extraordinary? Do you do something special? Do you. Something unique? Do you do something that only you do, that you're aware of? That's the reason you're gonna create that degree of separation. They're gonna say, I choose you versus that other person who was also very nice and warm and blah, blah, blah, same price, same fees. You got to stand out.

Because the worst thing is to go on especially. And most listings are competitive, and they say, oh, it looks like you all do about the same.

Yes.

Can't have that. There has to be a factor that's different.

Yeah.

So.

So what's next on your list?

So I would say.

You know, where. You know, places that you could always go for with which expires and cancels are by far the best. Yeah, you want to make sure that you call around solds. That's to me, like a real easy call circle dialing, just to say, hey, this property just sold. Would you like to know how it impacted the sale of your home? Honestly, it doesn't really matter if it's your listing or not because you're just being the, you know, person delivering the information. So I like how you.

You're like, free to do. Free to do, but requires sweat equity.

Yeah.

Can I give them one more? Have you sent out the email from listing leads that says, how much equity did you gain in 2024? That email, because you're just trying to find the hand raisers. The thing that. The thing that crushed in 2022 and 2023 and crushed in 2024 was a screenshot of somebody Zillow, Zestimate saying, you know, hey, Carolyn, just, you know, thinking about you and Hans today. I was on Zillow looking at your home price appreciation since you guys moved in because Zillow did the, you know, the Zestimate. Wrong price history. Here we go. Right. It looks like you guys have gained $485,000 since you guys bought that property. Congratulations. I've got my opinion on their zestimate at 1.6 million. What are your thoughts? That continues to crush. And again, all we're trying to do is notify people. Right. Inform people. But ultimately I'm just looking for the hand raisers.

Yeah.

Are there any other sources? So we're doing.

We're doing a lot of. But if you have someone that says, you know, I don't really have that big of a database.

Yeah. What do you recommend?

Maybe they're just new in a market or something. It's, you know, going to. Having an open house. Hosting an open house for someone. And invite the neighbors only to find people that. Sellers that are thinking about selling.

Yes.

Offering seller workshops. So there's a lot of things that you can do to meet new people. But of course, if you have the database, you definitely. We're doing the listing to leads. That's awesome. We're getting a great response out of that, too.

Yeah, we're really proud of that company. All right, so how do I win more listings? So I'm going to try and do all this activity to generate.

How do I win the listings?

So I think to win them, they're not you.

So how do they. How do they win? How does she. How does he win the listings? What. What can they add or improve upon to make sure they walk out? Either with a. Yes. A signed contract or such a clear degree of separation between themselves and the competition.

You know, there was something I loved about yesterday.

The girl that Terry Shodine.

Yeah. It was talking about being informative versus persuasive. I really like that because I have a girl on my team who's so good and she's like, why are people all of a sudden not signing? I said, you're getting too informative. I text her yesterday. I said, you got to be more persuasive. But I think always being Persuasive when you're in the conversation with people and. And just like subtly, like, you know, like my photographer is going to do 3D Matterport of the home. I could probably get that scheduled for you next week. So you just want to make sure you're constantly bringing them along, that we're on the same path so when you get to the end, that you can close them. But honestly, if you know your stats, if you feel like you're really going in there to win because you've kind of practiced all of the dialogue and objections that. And the pushback you're gonna get. Be willing to push through three or four no's. Don't take no.

Yes.

The other thing is, don't ever walk out with a listing. Thank you so much for coming. And then walk out the door. Just don't do that. Always have the next step.

Always book the next appointment.

Always. Sometimes you're not gonna say, hey, let's get going right now, and then have them sign.

I think that that's because whenever you don't have a next step, that's usually when you get ghosted.

Yeah.

So you have. If they won't make a decision. But you know, one way that we've been doing a lot with getting them to make a decision is that something that has set us apart. Like, everybody in the MLS has a coming soon campaign. Right. And that is a status in the mls. It just means you're going to be coming soon.

That's not in every mls, not in every Hurricane. Per mls. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. So we have the ability to do coming soon and it's just really a status. And so I've said. So we've developed a whole pre marketing campaign.

Yes.

So that is that. We're gonna network it to all the agents in our office as office exclusive. I've developed 4,500 agents that do a lot of business in our area. We're gonna network it out to them. We have ISAs in house that are gonna call buyers in our database. And if you, you know, whatever you have, they can call. Right.

Yeah.

So anyway, so we developed a whole pre marketing campaign. So I always tell people how exciting this is, that when we hit the market, we're not just going in the MLS and you're active. We're gonna have all the work done ahead of time so that we can assure ourselves that you're gonna get the most eyes and the highest price.

So have you ever gotten an offer.

Before it actually got in the mls? Yeah, we tell them that I Just think of. So I have a. I have this new friend from Eastern Europe who is. He's the cold call expert of Europe. Does a bunch of training for cold calling. And he has this wonderful line. He's like, would it make it the worst Wednesday of your life if I told you this was a cold call? Right. Like, that's how he'll open up. But I think when you were saying that, I was like, hey, Carolyn, would it make it like the worst Wednesday of your life? I told you, I already have an offer before we hit the mls. It's just such a funny way to frame the question.

It lightens it up, right?

It lightens it up. And they're like, what? You've already. But I think I would. As I was presenting in our pre campaign, we do this and this and this and this and this. I'm curious though, would I be the worst real estate agent ever if I got you an offer before it hit the mls? And again, I'm afraid it's an assumptive way to say, like, I know this stuff works. Right. And I haven't won the listing yet. But like earlier, when you're saying you got to do those check closes, would that be okay if I said to the photographer in a week. Right. Like, all of that is just getting agreement, and that's being influential versus what did we see with Terry yesterday? All of her research says the average salesperson finishes a presentation and they do one of two horrible things. They go, so what do you think?

Yeah, but, you know, so the pre. But the thing on the end, the closing with the pre marketing.

Yeah.

Instead of like going through everything and saying, like, I never say, are you okay to sign a listing agreement? Or I have. I just say, you know, I'm. What do you think about the pre marketing? Has anybody explained that to you? And most people don't.

Right.

I'm just saying. So. So I'm all. So we kind of. Our team is using it. Well, I. I have all the paperwork and I would be so excited to get the pre marketing started today. Are you ready? Not like, are you ready? And they're usually like, yeah, because it's exciting.

That was her close. She was like, should we get started? Yeah, should we get started?

We put the pre marketing in place for you based on your timing. Whether your timing's two weeks, two months, four months.

Yes.

I can run it for as quick or as long as needed. But what do you think about starting the pre marketing today? And if they say, yeah, great, what do we have to Do I got the paperwork right here?

Yes. How often do you role play? I'd love to see the answer to that question in the comments. And by the way, I know the vast majority of people don't role play. And I said with like, love and a little confrontation. So many people don't role play until they get with a client and that's when they practice.

So.

That's a scary thought.

It is the worst time to say something is when you know the worst.

Time to think about what you're gonna say. Right.

Little.

Little Phil Jones.

When it's time to do it. Right. So I'm real big on that with my team. My. My team. And you know, Tom, like, I. When I first started like seven years ago, the biggest year I ever had was 20 listings.

Yes.

And the first year I went into expireds, I listed like 60 of them, which is crazy. So it's. So we've had a lot of experience over the years growing the team with it. But I'm big on. On role play because that. That gives the. An agent. Gives your self confidence to be able to like. Because it's not like there's that many things that you have to learn how to say, but if you do them over and over enough when it comes to. You're like, oh, I. You know, it's not that it's that I would say you become scripted or it's just something that. It's information you have.

Yes.

That you can confidently share and help change your perspective of what somebody's thinking.

I think people that practice at a high level are like the greatest jazz musicians ever. They can just jam with people. Right. Like, so much of persuasion and influence is the ability to dance. And if you can't dance, if you only got one thing like Terry's, you know. So what do you think? Or what was the other worst thing she said? Documented all the thousands of salespeople that she did the research on. It was something like. Okay, so I'm gonna let you guys think about this.

That's terrible.

Like, all of us in the room are like, ha ha. But a lot of people do.

But sometimes too, like, you can go into it and say this pre marketing. This is amazing. No one's doing it. Well, I'm ready to get started today. What you do you think like, this would be perfect for your property? Sometimes they'll move along. But if you're doing assumptive too, if you're talking to people you know, Tom Firefit is so nice. Would this be conveying you Know, I. Oh, my gosh. I want my photographer to get a picture of your outdoor living area. Like, this is going to be great. I think I would even want this on one of the front photos. We'll do a collage. And if they're kind of going along with it, Right. Because they're engaged or excited. Excited. Then you just have to start saying, well, let me ask you. I just start filling out the paperwork because it's already like.

It's called assuming the sale.

Yeah.

And sometimes they'll be like, wait, am I signing paper? I'm. Yeah, yeah. That's what we have to do.

Well, we agreed on the photographer Thursday. And you agree.

Okay.

Yeah.

So, yeah, it just moves along. You just have to be passionate, excited, and willing to help and offer information, offer value, and people follow that lead. They like that. I agree.

I agree. All right. This was super valuable. Let us know in the comments. What was the takeaway for you? If you're not following Carolyn Young on Instagram, I absolutely, highly recommend it. If they wanted to reach out and ask you a question, should they DM you there, can they email you? What's the best way for people to reach out?

You know, it's either Instagram, Facebook is the Carolyn Young team, and then my email is kicked carolyn@carolyn youngteam.com. so either way, we're always happy to help.

Love it. So how many homes you guys going to sell in 2025.

2025 is going to be 750.

Let's go. Congratulations. I mean, think like we met. You were. I mean, you were phenomenal. Like, 300,000. $400,000 in GCI. How many homes are you selling then?

40 deals a year.

40 deals a year, and now you are doing 10. Oh, my goodness. What is that, like, like 18 times the amount? 17 times the amount. I mean, it's just absolutely bananas.

We went from fifth. When I started with you, I was doing around 15 million. And then really, for me, sometimes it's overwhelming because I'm just so grateful for everybody in the organization, but, like, it's just been amazing. But, yeah, after last year was 285 million. So it's been a big. It's been a big growth, and I love it. It's been fun, too.

Proud of you. Proud of Hans. Proud of the whole team. Like, it's. It's really exceptional. All right, make sure you follow this gal if you got a question. Absolutely. Hook her up. Thank you so much for being a part of my community and watching the show. We will look forward to seeing you on the next one. If you want more information about this episode, including my show, notes, mentions, links and everything else, make sure you visit tomferry.com podcast that's tomferry.com podcast. Thanks again and talk to you soon.