How Andrew Altman Revamped His Business Systems for "Exponential" Results

So I've been in real estate for. This is my third year. After my second year in the business, it just kind of hit a ceiling where I didn't know really where I was going. I just couldn't get past that 70 transaction. Mark and I stumbled across Lars at a conference. We went to lunch, and I think we hung out later and kind of talked about what I was doing in my business and kind of what I was doing wrong. And that's kind of what led me to helm.

Okay, so could you describe how your business was doing at that point? You know, what your team looked like, what kind of production were you doing, that sort of thing?

Sure. At first, when I got in the business, it was me and my wife, and we were working, you know, mad hours. We started off really quick. Our first year in the business. I think we had 43 transactions, so we started out really quick. She stepped out of the business after that first year, and I had one buyer's agent, so I had one buyer's agent and me. And then when I met Lars, that's when I started hiring additional people.

Okay, and what did Lars notice? What did you guys discuss? What did you notice that you had to start working on right away?

So the very first thing we did when I met Lars was look at our financials and look at where I was spending money and where I wasn't spending money, knowing the numbers. I really didn't know any of my numbers, to tell you the truth. We were just kind of muddling along and trying to do the best we could with all the activity we had and pretty much no systems or organization to it. It was just whoever called that day, that's who was getting my attention. Whatever email came in, that's what was getting done. Then Lars kind of taught me how to reallocate my money, be more proactive instead of reactive on the business side, and started getting those systems in place. So I was getting business calling me instead of me calling them.

Yeah. So what systems more specifically did you implement to start making those changes?

Well, very first one was our financial systems, so we got those tracked, so. So that I could track every dollar that was coming in and going out. That was huge. Just knowing the numbers changed the way I did business. The second thing was time management. He talked to me about time blocking, getting those first couple hours in the morning of prospecting without my phone on. And admittedly, that was super hard to do. I was thinking about all the people that were calling and leaving voicemails when I was doing it to tell you the truth. But in the end, once you see the results after two, three weeks, you see the massive change in your business, it's a lot easier to make those changes that he's suggesting rather than just kind of blindly trusting him. So that was probably the second system we put in place. And then we started working on the buyer system and getting my buyer agent an actual system, a way to follow up with me without having to talk to me every single day, spreadsheets, things like that, to check that it was a lot more easy. I would get reports emailed to me daily of what was going on, instead of me having to call them two, three times a day and check in and see what was going on that way.

Okay, so what kind of results have you been seeing since making those kind of big changes in your business?

It's been exponential. I mean, I can't keep up with the change. I've been with Lars now for about a year, and the amount of people calling me for business, I mean, I would say it tripled, but it's way beyond that. I didn't have anyone calling me before, so I have people calling me. I have my staff that actually have a plan and know what they're doing and feel comfortable in what they're doing. Yeah, I can't even. It's so much change from when I met Lars that I can't even go through it all because it's just the whole business is totally different and just runs so much smoother. Like I said before, it was wake up, see who emailed, see who called, and just react all day long until I was dead tired and I was about falling over. And then I would go in the house and basically be unavailable to my family. Now I get to work usually around 8 o'. Clock. I mean, I get up before that and do some routines and things like that, but I actually get to work about 8 o' clock and I usually leave about 5:30 every single day.

Okay, and so it sounds like, you know, really big change in your business. How is Lars coaching different from anything you've done in the past as far as coaching or any outside help that you've had?

The thing that attracted me to Lars was he was actually still in the business and he actually had these problems himself. So when I would talk to him about problems, he would say, I have the same problem, or Paul, this is how we handled it. Not a coach that's been out of the business for 20 years and they may hear from other people what's going on, but I just felt it was a better fit for me to work with someone who had been in the business. The other thing about Lars is he honestly, truly cares about every single person in his program. I guess a lot of people probably say that, and you don't actually believe it until you get in the program and see what he does. But he truly does care about you. He wants to see you succeed. He gives you everything. I mean, he is like an open book. If you ask him about his marriage, he will tell you about his marriage. If you ask him about how he handles buyers, he will tell you that. So open book in the business. Those are the two things that really just really attracted me to Lars.

And Lars likes to talk a lot about having a balanced work and family life. Do you have any stories of improving your personal life outside of the business?

Yeah, absolutely. The first year, after the first year, my wife backed out of business, partly because I was a jerk to work for and partly because of some medical scares that we had. So it was an interesting time, to say the least. After that first year, when she backed out, we didn't really know what we were going to do because I didn't really have a buyer agent, you know, on board ready to come in. But Larry's kind of taught me that, you know, obviously family is more important. Sometimes you know it, but you lose sight of it. And he's really big on reinforcing that. You know, he takes time, all the time with his kids and his wife. And you see that and you just kind of follow by example. And I could see my relationship getting better and better. And now, actually, my wife stepped back into the business this year, and it's going really well because we have those boundaries in place and those systems in place to handle when things get busy, opposed to when things are slow or whatever, everything's usually fine. But when things are busy, that's when things get iffy in your relationships and just knowing how to handle that. And he's been through it, so he can advise you on that.

And I met you down in Charlotte for Lars October High Performance Intensive Workshop. Could you describe your experience there and what you got out of it?

Oh, yeah. You know, a lot of that stuff he had already taught us. But being in person, working with other agents that are in the same boat as you, or even a little bit further or even a little bit behind, you can take all those experiences and it just like supercharges your growth and your education. So just being in that room, not only is Lars, I know he doesn't Think he's good in front of an audience, but he's real. And that's really what's important, at least to me, that you can see that he's 100% real. He really cares about you, and he wants you to succeed. So being there with him and being there with all the other people, like I said, it just supercharges your learning.

Were you skeptical at all before signing up with Lars? I'm not sure how much you knew about him going in.

You know, I was skeptical in general about coaching. I always thought coaching was a motivational thing, and I knew I had no lack of motivation. So getting ready to make that investment where I was at in the business was scary. And it was also scary, like you said, trusting someone that you do not know at all. But I think all the worries went away about week two. Once he starts getting into it and showing you what you can do and you start seeing those results, you see the results immediately. So when you see the results, all that goes away. But, yeah, to answer your question, I was super skeptic.

So what advice or tips would you offer to someone who's in the middle of the program right now or just starting out?

I would say just. It's hard to do but blindly follow the system. We decided we're going to spend this amount of money on coaching, then we need to be dedicated to it, and we need to listen to who we're trusting. So basically just kind of trust what he's teaching you. Go in the order he's teaching you to go in, and you will see the results almost immediately.

Okay, so what does success look like to you? Lars likes to ask if, you know, we're sitting here in three years, what would have had to have happened for you to feel like, you know, this program was a success for you?

Yeah. Three years from now, I would like to be working when I want to work, opposed to now. I know I need to be in the office every single day. I'd like to have a bigger team and not only just have a bigger team, not a big fan of having a bigger team just for the sake of having a big team. So you can say you have a big team. I want the profit to come with it, really monitoring those profit margins and making sure that each person that comes on the team is adding value to the team and adding money to the bottom line. Just being able to. If I want to work two days, one week and go out to San Diego or go over to New York for a little while, just having that option to be able to pick up and go and know that my business is going to run by itself and that I have the right people in place that are responsible people that are going to help me get to the next level.

You guys were talking about really increasing your traveling. Weren't you there for a while?

Yeah, we have. I didn't take a vacation. Even in my past job, I was in the engineering field. I worked for a civil engineer. I never took a vacation. I just never did. If someone died, I would take a vacation. That was my vacation time. I was working 70 hours a week in that profession. I got into real estate and I thought, I'm going to have more time here. I'm going to work for myself. Yeah, well, be careful what you wish for. You end up working even more when you get in this business. Until I got the systems in place, we traveled. I think the first year I was with Lars. Last year, I think we took five or six vacations. That was totally foreign to me. It felt odd. But the leaps and bounds that it made for my family life and my relationships, it's just undeniable.

Okay, great. Anything else you want to add before we wrap up?

No. You know, I guess the only thing I would say to people is don't wait. You know, I have a lot of people call me for references for Lars program, and they're always like, well, I don't have the money. Or, you know, it's just probably not the right time. Or, you know, you know, they have all these excuses. I had every one of those, plus 10 more. Just do it. Just make the money. You know, look at your budget, find what you can cut to add Lars. Because in the end, you're going to get that money back tenfold at the end of the year, and you're going to have a great relationship with Lars. He's a great guy. He's going to put you in the right direction. He's not going to give you a bunch of bs. That's what I liked about Lars is when I would tell him something, he would cut through the bs. He would tell me that I'm just being a baby. Basically, just get on it, do it. And when I would do things, he told me my business is just in such a better position now than it was.