0078: The Secret to Consistently Growing your Company Year After Year with CEO John Wentworth III

EA interviews episode 78 inspiration, transformation, success stories and the imperfect action round. Seven days a week, join Mario Ficcini for today's Expert Authority Effect interview. Have you ever wanted to grow a successful company? Of course you do. You probably already have a company, but is it to the point where you want it to be? I encountered John last year and we had a great conversation. We've stayed in touch and I'm so excited to have him here to be sharing with you. He has not only the seed CEO of the John Wentworth Company but he has grown it substantially year after year in only six short years. Now I've had friends that are real estate agents and they're selling homes and I don't know their exact numbers but when I start hearing numbers like 200, 300, 400, 500 homes in a year, it piques my interest because I know that all successful business owners have their keys to success. And whether it's real estate, whether it's video production, whether it's book publishing, whether it's an auto body place, whatever your business is, there are some commonalities and I'm excited to dig into that with John in just a second. But I also want to say he's the most humble and gracious down to earth guy I've met in the last couple of years. So yes, he's the CEO, but more importantly, he actually cares and he's going to be sharing this information with you right after we thank our sponsor, why every business needs a book, including yours. Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect, generate more leads and profit in your business? Now visit businessbookchecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. John Wentworth. John, how are you doing today?

I'm doing great, Mario Brother man. Thank you for having me on. Let's rock.

I am excited for you to share. It's my pleasure. What inspired you to start your company? I know a little bit of your background but why, why take all the risk? Why start everything? I mean you didn't need to. What inspired you to want to do so well?

I mean when I got into real estate I had one primary, you know, need and that was to eat. I had just, I had just left another industry where I was training standard bred racehorses. I love that. I was passionate about, did well in it but I ended up living in Canada and I moved back home and I had no education. I did not want to go work for just kind of a norm job. If you Will. And so we started flipping houses and then moved into real estate. And from that moment forward, my job was to eat. I didn't have any money, and I was 35 years old and trying to figure things out.

What's your favorite thing to eat? What kind of foods you into?

You know what? I'm kind of goofy. Like, I eat for taste one time a day. So in the morning, I literally eat four or five eggs every single morning. And my wife says, how in the hell can you eat that? And I said, well, I'm not eating it for taste. I'm just eating it for fuel. It's just what I do. But growing up, my dad, who raised me, you know, if we were having chicken for dinner, we had chicken for dinner. There were no sides. It was just a chicken. And if you liked it, well, then you had chicken again the next day.

Any particular flavor? I mean, do you like to season it or just plain?

Well, I mean, look, what is my favorite meal? I mean, I think if I'm going to go have a nice dinner with my wife, you know, it's either salmon or filet and a good wine.

I like that. I like that. So you got started because you wanted to eat. So tell me about the first couple of years. You. You obviously got past that. What was the first couple of years like when you were at that point, how did you get to the point where that wasn't a concern so much anymore?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, look, when I got into real estate, the market had just tanked. You know, as I mentioned, I went from horses to flipping houses, and then the market went stagnant, and so we couldn't sell the homes that we were trying to flip. And so then I transitioned into, well, then I'll sell real estate. And I felt like, you know, as we were selling those homes, you know, I was seeing what people were doing and that they had some success. And, you know, I felt like kind of in everything that I've done, you know, if you're passionate about something, you're going to have some success in it. And so I just started working my tail off, you know, I. I started learning all that I could and just, you know, every single day going and grinding. But, you know, at that time, also, I wasn't where I needed to be personally. Right. And that's kind of what we talked about earlier is, you know, personal development equals and grows professional development. And at that time, I was kind of. I don't want to say I was going through the motions, but you Know, my first goal was to eat and, you know, put some money in my pocket and be able to pay the bills. You know, I was renting a. I was renting an $800 house, and I had a roommate to pay. Half. I got him. I actually got it for a little more than half. But, you know, I just. So it's. Look, it's evolved, right? I never set out to have this amazing team of, you know, 30, 35 people. That was. That was not the vision, you know, and still to this day, like, what is next for us? You know, I just feel like I'm gonna let the Lord lead me in that, and I'm gonna show up every day and do the best that I can do for everybody around me.

Well, that's what I find so great about you, because so many people, they only attach a dollar amount to it. And while I take my own clients through a profitability matrix. And yes, you need revenue goals and profitability goals and all that, for sure. It's not always just about that. I mean, what are you doing beyond that? So let's dig deeper to what you're saying about the personal development side of things, because I'm sure you could rattle off here, you know, here's a strategy on how to grow from, you know, zero agents to five or five to 10. But what. But I know there's an underlying current that most might not know about. What would you say is the most important aspect of what you've done over the last six years to go from where you were at to where you're at now?

That's a great question. I, you know, I was asked this question in the past, and I wasn't sure, but it's very clear now. And it was adding people, you know, adding people with the intent of helping people, right? Not just, hey, if we add more people, the company makes more money. Because it's really not the case, actually. You know, so really being intentful in, you know, bringing people aboard that I can positively. And not just me, right? That the culture that we've created here can positive. Can have a positive impact on somebody's life. And, you know, we see that. We see people join our team, and in one year, you know, you know, you see personal growth that you feel like, wow, this person has gained 5, 10 years of knowledge because there's so much collaborative knowledge inside of our. Inside of our floor that, you know, it really does. It helps shape people. And for me, I'm in constant. I'm no perfect person by any means, and I'm okay with that. Right. I think it's important that people know who they are, and I think it's important that people know who they aren't. Because I think what I'm always in search of is being content and being fulfilled and. And you said it. I mean, money won't bring you those things. It gives you some great choices. Right. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's something to strive for. My wife and I are going to a mastermind in Calgary tomorrow. And, you know, and because, you know, we've had some success, we get to then go into Banff and stay up in the Castle and Banff. But, but, but again, it didn't start with that vision in mind.

What's one of the coolest transformations you've seen over the course of starting the.

Company to now.

In people or in the business?

Give me one of each.

So in people, I think the coolest transformation there is no single transformation. You know, we see people that inside of our accountability groups, inside of the structure, the support from each other, you know, people, whether it's.

We had a gentleman that was, you know, left college waiting tables, you know, and this person's gonna make six figures this year selling real estate. So is it about the money? No. But that certainly affords him a different lifestyle than it did making 30 grand. But then the flip side to that is the maturity that I've seen in him in such a short amount of time. We have people on the team. We've got a gal right now inside of our accountability group. She's down £40 in six weeks. So there's so many different things that's happening. And I think one of the things that we've all learned is that the whole is bigger than the part. Right? Everybody inside of this, you know, this group is very supportive of each other. And that's a very different environment than what, you know, we. Well, if you're not in the real estate industry, you don't know. But if you're in the real estate industry, you know that very often it's, hey, thanks for joining. You've got a heartbeat. There's your office. Best of luck. And here it's a lot of support, a lot of lifting people up, a lot of, you know, mentoring, and that goes a long way. And I think the, you know, the coolest thing about the growth of our business, again, there's a plethora of things, but if I had to narrow it down, it would be, you know, the impact that we're having on our community.

You know, something that I never. I never thought of. Right. Like, again, I just set out trying to eat. Now we're. Now we're able to impact the community. And why? Because the whole. The whole is so great. And when you've got so many people, you know, moving in the same direction, you can really do powerful stuff. So now we're looking at, you know, our marketing used to be about, all right, post on Facebook, send out postcards, do a newspaper ad, put up a billboard. Like, that used to be the marketing. Now our marketing is like, okay, what can we do this year to impact our community? And so just, you know, again, it evolves and it changes. And, you know, one thing I think that just everybody, if they start making their day about how they can impact and help others, instead of, what can you get out of it, man? You know, things take care of themselves at that point.

I would have to agree. So many people get stressed out over nothing, and it's like, you know, let go, let God, and everything's going to work out. Do what you can control. So to the point of, you know, focusing on other people and putting out the intention that you were talking about. Share a little bit of what you do in the morning. Do you have a success routine that you found really helps out?

Oh, gosh, look, I love the question, and I'm super transparent, right? I don't, you know, for me, that's. I'm trying not to swear, right, Because I just get wound up. But to me, that shit's kind of hokey and I know some people need it, right? So I don't want to say, hey, don't do it, or it's bad for me. And I think this, you know, I said this earlier. You've got to know who you aren't also, and you got to be okay with that. You know, I was involved, for example, in something called the 5am 5am 5am club. And I would encourage people to check that out. I do need to get a drink of water here.

But, you know, I was fortunate because 5am it was in California, so it was really 8am and it just wasn't my thing. Right. I'm jumping on every day, and I just wasn't jiving with it. And so I checked out. And I kind of felt bad for that. I still chime in, you know, I've been fortunate enough the guy that runs that Shrivaza, who's a mentor of mine and a friend of mine, you know, I've been on the show maybe four times. It's A five minute thing in the morning. So would that be one of those things that, you know, someone might tune into to kind of get dialed in the morning? Look, I wake up and I go, I wake up at 5:30, I'm at the gym at 5:45 because it's like one mile from my house, which is great. And I just do the same thing over and over and over. You know, I don't get too tied to what became of the day. I believe we make our day. I believe that, you know, talk about the weather, I don't care. People talk about what somebody else is doing, I don't care. I know what I need to do and the best thing that I can do is to show up. And you know, people talk about who's your greatest competition, not me. Right. And I think that if people take that stance, more of, you know, it's about what I'm going to do today instead of what everybody else is doing it. Well, one, it's going to propel you forward, but two, it takes a lot of weight off your shoulders. You know, I think people clutter their mind with so much stuff that is out of their control that, you know, I mean, I think that takes away from their happiness.

Well, from what I'm hearing, whether you want to call it a morning routine or not, it sounds like you wake up at the same time and working out is part of it. And you also just don't let stuff clutter your mind, like you just said. And I know so many people, they wake up, maybe not, not so much entrepreneurs, but people that aren't. It's like they wake up within 20 to 25 minutes of when they have to leave. And it's like from the second they wake up, they're just on the go. On the go. Then you're in traffic, then you're doing this. And it's no wonder they're anxious by 5, 6pm when they're done.

Yeah, it becomes anarchy. You know what I mean? Look, here's how I set my day, right? I have a 8 and a 9 year old and a night here. 19 year old. My 19 year old doesn't live at home anymore. But I set up my day based on what do I need to do for my children today and what do I need to do to support my wife today. And then once I take care of those things, like for example, you know, I'm leaving town, as I mentioned, my daughter's in horse camp. She's never gone before. I'm, I'm not loving the fact that I'm going to be gone Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and I'm going to miss her show on Friday, I'm okay with it. I'm not in love with it. So my commitment this week was, you know, I'm packing an entire week into two days. But one thing for sure is I'm going to drop her off at horse camp in the morning. I'm going to pick her up in the afternoon, right? And so as long as I meet those things and I keep a smile on my wife's face, then, you know, everything else is going to. Is going to be okay. I'm not looking to change the world. I'm certainly not looking to change it today. I want to have an impact, but I don't need to change it.

I love how humble you are about it because whether you realize it or not, you are changing the world. And I remember when we first got connected. Within a couple of days, I saw what you were doing and I was like, just really impressed. I mean, I know it's not about you, but the impact you are making, I'm seeing it. And it's one of the reasons I invited you on the show. Because my whole goal is to elevate all the great people because there's enough negative in the world and frankly, we need more positive.

Well, I appreciate it, and I don't, you know, I think something that's odd about me is I don't seek approval. I don't look for a tap on the back. Now, don't get me wrong, if somebody says, you know, I appreciate that, but I don't. I don't tie myself to the fact that, you know, I think about how do we find contentment or how can I be fulfilled? And again, money won't do it. You know, people that lead with ego, I don't want to be around, you know, so when we look at people that we're going to bring on our team, we're looking for people that don't lead with ego, that are humble, hungry and honest and understand that we're all going to make mistakes. Fine. We're human, okay? There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to own it. And then you have to do what you can to fix it. And the only way you can do that is to reflect on yourself. And look, I appreciate that. I really do, because, you know, I gotta sometimes put myself on a billboard. I can't stand that now. I'm probably the only person that's on a billboard and doesn't go drive and look at the darn thing. Now it's just part of our business.

And at the same time, I want people to really know who I am as opposed to the perception that they see, you know. You know, I've gone through a lot of. A lot of crazy shit that. That. That I could have a lot of excuses. Right. And I don't believe in excuses. And I. And so, you know, I don't know. I'm a. I'm a. I'm a weird word when it comes to some of that stuff, but it is what it is, and I'm okay with it.

Well, I think you've done a good job marketing and branding not just your company, but yourself. And you've been using live streams to do a lot of that, and I've caught a fair amount of them. How has live streaming helped your business?

You know, again, I didn't set out to say, wow, I'm going to go live because it's going to improve my business. Now we co. I mean, I've been going live for, honestly, like three years and, you know, and then again, it wasn't with the intent of. I just thought it was fun. And I'm a very open book. I'm happy to share things with people, the good, the bad, the ugly. And so I just was going live because I felt that one of the things that I'm seeking is authenticity, you know, amongst myself, amongst my family, amongst the people in our environment. Because I think that the tough guy role, the tough guy act, I think that's over. You know, there used to be that time that you had to put out that Persona in our society, and I feel like that's fading a little bit, which is a good thing. So I'm looking for the people that are vulnerable, people that are like, I'm in touch with my feminine side. Right. Whatever that means. I don't know. People say, oh, I like your pink. I'm surprised you wear pink. I don't think about this stuff. I don't look in the mirror in the morning. I have three hairs. I throw some lotion on my face. It goes in my hair as well, and I leave. You know, I like to wear nice clothes, but that's part of my business. That's part of my representation of professionalism for our clients. It's not because I want people to say, oh, wow, you, nice suit. Right? I don't know. I get running on. On this stuff, but, you know, just who I am. It's all good. You know who's my favorite? Mike Tyson. And people say, well, how the hell can you like Mike Tyson? Because I understand what he lived through. Because I lived through a lot of similar things to that in my childhood. And so, you know, I just embrace who I am. I embrace the people in my life. I thank God every day he delivered my wife, but he didn't deliver her to me until I was vulnerable, until I was ready. And that was the change that I went through, you know, when I, when I met Todd Crandall.

Well, I appreciate you for sharing that and I can relate because I've always liked fashion, but I also like function. You know, just because it looks good doesn't mean you should get it. I personally think it has to have a point also. Not just its pretty, however, I can't stand bland either. I mean, obviously I'm wearing a teal tie, but.

Right, exactly. You know, to me it's an expression of, you know, it's fun. Like I wear suits with a pair of tennis shoes. Right? I mean I wear this pair of shoes all the time. And I mean, I'm not thinking about what people think. I don't care. It's just, I like it, it's fun and I'm on my feet all darn day. So it's better to wear tennis shoes than some of the other alternatives.

And that's what I think a lot of people need to realize is the business is about you. And what worked for you to create your zero to success, if you will, might not work for everyone else, but the reason it worked for you is because you tuned into yourself. And so many other people are just looking for a ABC cookie cutter system. And even if it's something that isn't with their, their flow, they still try doing it. And they're actually going against them. They're going against the grain, if you will. And it's. Would you agree that people need to look more inward instead of outward?

Oh, a thousand percent. You know how I know it for sure? Because I was there. I mean everybody's gone through that phase, right? I mean, you know, I was, I was insecure as a child. I was, you know, I, you know, my mother passed when I was younger. My dad raised me. I mean, I was in a single wide trailer baby. I mean, and I, and I'm okay with that. You know, my dad used to buy me. I mean, some of our viewers might remember Sears had a clothing line and it had a dragon on it. Right. Well, you know, I went to Grand Bike high school. Man, all those people had Polos and so I literally would begin to buy clothing. Well, I would. I would take the clothing that my dad would buy, and I would take polo emblems off of other things and put them on my clothes.

I would take.

A jacket, for example. My dad had this old hunting jacket. This is a great story. And I took a polo emblem off of something else and sewed it into this jacket. And I sold that sucker to a guy named Shiram Espahani. Hi, Shahram.

You know, I mean, so, you know, maybe that's where the clothing thing, you know, comes from. But, yeah, you know, outward is so shallow, you know, and here's the other thing. I mean, if you try to be everything to everyone, you end up being no one to anybody. And so instead of looking at, you know, you know, if you want to live like a rapper, my friend John Sheplag, my mentor, always says, if you want to live like a rapper, go for it. But it doesn't mean you're going to be fulfilled.

I agree. I agree 100%. And I can relate to your story. Also. I never got. I've always liked fashion, and when I was doing modeling and filming photography, I was around it all the time. I've always thought about having my own clothing line, but I never did it in high school. I'll tell you what I did do in high school. You want to talk about profitability, who do you remember Blockbuster?

Oh, yeah.

So I loved movies, hence video. And I always wanted to make movies. I love acting and all that stuff. But I would always, every Christmas, every birthday, everything, I'd get those Blockbuster gift cards. And the common sense side of me, the function would go, well, you can rent the movie for 350 or 450, whatever it was, for 24 hours, or if you look over to the little bin when you walk in the store, they always had 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, $10 VHS that might be dating me a little bit, but they had the movie.

I remember you.

You could buy the movie and keep it. And I was like, who would rent it when you can, you know, like, who would want to rent it when you can buy it? So not only did I use the gift money to get the cards, to buy it, to keep it, and watch all those with my friends. Later on, when I transitioned to DVDs, I sold all those movies for more than I paid for them. So it was like zero on inventory, 100% profit. And then I rolled that over into a PS2 and DVDs, and that's entrepreneur, baby. You just need an idea. So for Anyone listening? And if your kids aren't doing great in school, Because a lot of people have reached out to me recently going, my kids are doing this, that I go, you might have someone that's really smart. They're just bored in school like I was. And I could show grade. Grade cards, postcards, postcards, whatever, gift card, whatever that thing's called, the report card. There we go. Got one. Right? Right.

I never saw one either. So I don't. I know what you're saying.

So would you say that academics. Where do you think academics plays a role in entrepreneurial spirit ability, companies?

Yeah, I mean, I don't want to get into, you know, the whole Gary Veal college is stupid. And this is stupid, you know, because it draws attention.

I do feel like, you know, too often, I mean, look, I was, I just, I love gym class. Other than that, I did not want any part of school. And so I, you know, I barely graduated high school. It wasn't whether I was smart or not. It just like you said, I was extremely bored with it. Right. I'm high pace. I need to go. Go, go, go, go. And so school was just, I mean, it was a lullaby. I mean, I couldn't stand it. I had some amazing teachers. Right. I made some great friends. But where does it fit into entrepreneur prison? Excuse me, I need more water. Into being an entrepreneur. I don't know, you know, I mean, I think it's different for everybody. I know another thing that I've learned, you know, in my businesses, I don't need to have the answer for everything. I need to surround myself with other people that are smarter than me. Right. You know, I think for me, understanding where am I good and where am I weak? And instead of trying to be better at where I'm weak, just focus on where, on what my strengths are. Luckily enough for me, it's people and it's, you know, and that relates into selling. But when it comes to organization of paperwork and so that's kind of how we built this business, I think differently is that I've recognized that the personality trait that is good in the field with people and selling is probably the same person that does not have good paperwork skills. It does not have a lot of the things that are clerical type things. And so, you know, all of our agents are free of having to do those tasks. We have people in place to handle, you know, the ordering this and the title work and the pictures and all of the things are in place to support that agent so that they can go out and serve More people. And that made a big difference. So where does it land? You know, I don't think the beautiful thing about this in real estate is there's zero stock answer for anything you can ask me because there's so many different balls in the air. You know, what do you do if a house appraised is low? Well, I need to know what are the five other factors at hand? What were the comps? You know what I mean? There's so many layers, and that's the personal growth, too. I mean, there's a lot of layers, and you got to be willing to dig deep.

That is a great answer. And I don't want stock answers. I want the real answer. I want that authenticity. So thank you for sharing it. One last question before we go to the imperfect action round. How has speaking helped your business.

Again? I don't know. I don't know that you can quantify it. You know, I was blessed enough to. I was asked to speak at a conference in New Orleans by a friend of mine, Jason Will, and his wife Diana. And it was a real estate conference. And I spoke nothing about real estate. You know, I shared a personal story of mine, you know, with my mother. You know, the things that I went through with my mother.

And really focused on, you know, how. How can people find. Because, look, you know, you need to sell homes if you're in real estate, right? I mean, you do. I think that goes without saying. And we're at this conference with many, many amazing speakers that are all going to speak about real estate. And I just went the other way, you know, and I talked about life and I talked about, you know, trying to. Trying to find contentment and understanding that you're not going to find it necessarily in money. You know, like I said before, there's never been enough money to keep a marriage together. So money isn't, you know, isn't the thing that you should be seeking, you know, and just kind of really shared from my heart. And that had an effect on those people. You know, I had people coming up to me afterwards crying that they had lived through abuse as well, and bringing some of that those layers forward. So how did it help my business? I don't really know that it did or care that it did. You know, I'm seeking, how can I help other people? If I help other people, then, you know, the good Lord's going to be abundant in what we're doing here in our business.

It sounds like you were able to reach more people and impact them in a way you couldn't do with a brochure or just a letter or something.

Sure. Just to talk about real estate. I mean, there's 15 more speakers that are going to talk about real estate. So, you know, I mean, I hate to say big deal, but like that, that wasn't why I was there. I was there to deliver my, you know, my things that I live through. Right. And then share that. Look, if I can do it, anyone can do it, you know, And I think that's really the message, you know, I mean, I lived through some crazy stuff as a child. You know, my mother committed suicide when I was five. You know, very abusive in any way you could think imaginable. And, you know, my dad really struggled after her passing. You know, he lived a lot of anger, you know, a lot of anger on his heart. And I was able to, you know, I never had a relationship with the Lord. And, and when that occurred six years ago, that changed my life. That. That was the piece where. Okay, yeah, I'm doing good. I'm kicking butt. Okay, cool. And then I leave this men's retreat that I go to and I'm floored. I'm like, okay, everything has changed now. And, you know, by the grace of God, I was able to leave my dad to him after he got off a ventilator. He was on a ventilator for two weeks, almost passed. And I was able to lead him to the Lord. And he's been sober now three years.

You know, he. He was over on Father's Day. He was at my daughter's dance recital doing things that he never did in the past.

I'm really happy to hear that.

Yeah, thank you.

I'm really happy to hear that.

Yeah, it's a game changer, man. You know, people try to find it in themselves. And, you know, I don't stand up on a Bible and preach or, you know, I'm not a perfect Christian by any means, but I will tell you, I've got a foundation with the Lord that sustains me.

I'm glad you're sharing it and you keep doing what you're doing. You don't need to be quoting scripture or anything to be making an impact.

I can't read, so I don't know how I'm to going to quote scripture.

All right, well, we're gonna go to the imperfect action round and we're gonna come back with the rapid fire 60 second questions.

Awesome.

Why every business needs a book, including yours. Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect? Generate more leads and profit in your business. Now visit businessbookchecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. And we are back with the imperfect action round. John, are you ready to take imperfect action?

I do that every day, brother. So let's go.

This is my favorite part of the show because it's for entrepreneurs, and we do take imperfect action every day. So 60 seconds.

You know, people get too attached to perfection, man. Just take action.

I love that. I agree. Imperfect action. Question one. 60 seconds or less. What's the fastest path to the cash?

There isn't one, brother. The lottery.

You don't think there's any way other than the lottery in business?

The fastest path to cash?

Yeah. If someone was starting out right now.

In our business in real estate or just in general.

In business.

I don't know. Start an app.

Build an app. I do have a great idea. I need somebody to reach out and investor. I've got a great idea. Save a lot of lives. Invent something.

Okay. Inventing is a lot of fun. Inventing is a lot of fun. Innovating. Love it. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and what's the fastest way they can fix it?

The biggest problem that I see. My prospects meaning the consumer.

Yes. The people you're serving.

Well, yeah. So I think, boy, that's a. That's like There's. We need 6,000 seconds for that. Only because they're not educated enough. And I think the biggest thing I see right now in the marketplace is that because the market is strong, people feel like they could just put whatever price they want on something that's going to sell. And so we're actually seeing a lot of homes sitting as great as it is if it's priced right. And obviously if it's tied to a great marketing program. Right. Like we have, then you're selling and you're selling for top dollar. You're doing it in a timely manner. And then as great as the market is, you can still overprice. And so I'm seeing overpricing right now. I mean, there's 16 homes for sale right now on Lake Benton. There's 15 on Lob Dell. And of those 15, 16, 10 plus have been in the market for over 100 days.

What. Let me ask you this. I'm going to throw this in. How long should someone expect the home to be on the market? Because it sounds to me like 100 days is quite a long time for sure.

And it's a great question. And again, like I said, earlier, there's no stock answer because I think that would depend on, you know, what is the price point of that home and where is it located, right? I mean, if it's $2 million in Genesee county, that's going to take a little bit longer. If it's $250,000 anywhere, it better be sold in 15 days, overpriced and or under marketed, you know, and I always say, like in this market, anybody can sell a house that's listed, that's worth 200,000, that's listed for 199. But without a strategy, without marketing, is that home going to sell for 195 or 192 or the way we do it, it's going to sell for 215. So there is a strategy to what we're doing when we're bringing homes to the market.

That is very interesting.

Shameless plug, I would say.

No, it's honest to God answer because I have friends that sold their house in 10 days and other ones it was six, eight months. And it's like, you know, what are you doing?

Well, here's the other thing, though. I just watched this. You know, somebody underpriced a home, which we price them aggressively sometimes, but we protect the seller in that. Right. We have again this strategy, which I won't go into too much, but you know, if you're pricing aggressively and you take the first offer that comes along and high five your realtor, well, you've left money on the table. So we do have a strategy in place to make sure that that doesn't happen, which I think it's super, super, super important.

I like that you said the one that anyone can sell a 200 grand home for 199, but you sell it for 215.

Well, that's the goal. We're certainly going to try to do that. And that's the reality. And look, there's a lot of new real estate agents in the marketplace because it's easy, right? And I was new once, so, you know, it's nothing. That's, you know, I would support them any way I could here. But I know that in the natural environment of real estate, so often people are brought in, they've got a heartbeat. You know, you drive down the road and you see in front of a real estate office now hiring agents like, you know, I just, that's. We don't, we don't hire just on anybody and we don't hire just based on production. We hire based on people.

I like that. I like that. A lot. So the third one is, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

Oh, that's a great question. And that's a difficult question, especially in this industry. You know, in this industry, here are the things that are super difficult. All of them, right. Because there's so many people involved. You've got the listing agent, you've got the seller, you've got the buy agent, you've got the buyer, you've got the inspector, you've got the appraisal, you've got the title work, you've got the. I mean, there's so many layers here. And so again, what we really focus on is understanding that many times when we're in a transaction with another agent, we're going to do their job for them. Right? I mean, it just is what it is and we embrace it because that's how we're going to get to the closing. So I forgot the question. I'm sorry.

Best way to maximize customer lifetime value.

Be authentic, baby. You know, you got to love your people. You've got to. Look.

I'm human, right? I'm not perfect. Okay. And to grow this business, I have to look at, you know, where are the pain points for the consumer and how do we fix them before they happen and when we miss them, how do we then get ahead of them and correct them so that they don't happen again? So I think you've got to have a very good working relationship with them. And I see too often realtors trying to make their clients their buddies because they feel like that's how they're going to hold on to them. I'm very clear with my people. I'm here to do a job for you. Right. I don't need your friendship. If after the job is done, that. That occurs, and it does often. Awesome. But until then, I've got a job to you because that way I can remove emotion, right. And I can be very diligent in what I'm doing to service you best as a client. So I still don't think I answered the question, though.

It sounds like, stay focused on the results you're promising them and don't turn it into a party till after the fact.

Yeah. Amen. You know, it's not about you, it's about them. And I think that's the main thing, making it about them and making sure that they're, you know, that they're communicated with super well. And I think that goes back to. Look, you know, in our team, you know, there's a lot of Support. So the customer is going to come. Come in contact with more than just me because guess what? I can't be everywhere all the time. So we have the support staff in place to handle the things that they need to handle, right. I don't need to be the one that puts the sign in the yard. I don't need to be the one that orders your title work or your photographs. You know, when we have a professional come out and do the photos. So we have somebody in place to handle those so that I can be available when we're, you know, marketing, when we're negotiated deal, when we're getting past an inspection or dealing with an appraisal issue to get you to closing. So, you know, just be very intentful with your communication with your people.

Over.

Communicate. Over. Communicate. Over. Communicate.

Great answer. All right. What book has made the biggest impact in your life?

You know, I've always said, like, because I do these podcasts, right, where I'm. I'm the host, if you will. And I'm like, I fuck at this. I'd just be better if somebody asked me the questions. So that's another great question. Here are the three books I've read in my life, okay? And this. This, these are the only books I've ever finished in my life. Old Yeller. Okay. I think I was in 6th grade. 7th grade. Karen. Training of the Trotter and Pacer. And that sucker's like this.

Say that name again.

Karen. Training of the Trotter and Pacer.

Cool.

So when I was getting into horse. Horsey. Racing horses, I had no background. I had never touched a horse. Within 10 years, I was one of the leading drivers and trainers in North America because I was so passionate about it. I just. And I think that's what people miss, man. If you're passionate about something, you'll do anything to get there, right? So I read this. Big ass. Excuse me, I read this great big book. And I mean, it's literally this big. So that was the second book that I've read in my life. The third book is.

I don't even know the name of it. Million Dollar Real Estate Agent or something along those lines. And this is now when I'm getting into real estate, right? And I had no mentorship, and I certainly didn't have any of the support or leads or anything like we offer here to our agents. So I read this book and I just took a ton of those tactics. You know, I've been really big, always on. Like, when I got into training horses, I worked for four, five, six different people. I took all the good that they did, I applied it, then went on my own and threw out all the bad. Same thing in real estate. I looked at all of these things, applied common sense, and just took action. And I think that goes back to what we said earlier. You got to take action. You got to be willing to fail, because that's when you find gold. Really, where I failed is where I can improve the most.

So Old Yeller is your final answer. Old Yeller, I'm teasing a little bit. You made some good points, but there's a fourth one you didn't mention that you may have not read all of it. I don't know too many people who have read all of it. But.

What is it? The Bible?

Yeah. Scripture?

Yeah. I can't. I can't, man. Look, when my dad, you know, after my dad got out of the hospital, he. He lived in our house, you know. And the lady says to me, well, we're going to release your dad in a couple of days. I said, okay. Where's he going? They said, we don't know. I thought they're going to put. I mean, he was in the hospital, so he ends up moving in our house. And.

I read Proverbs to him every day, you know, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, all the way through, and we'd start again. And, you know, when I first started doing that, he was spiteful, he was mad, he was angry. He didn't want to hear it.

And.

That was powerful. So I have read the Proverbs, but when I tried and I cry so often, and my friend Tony Tone, who's. Who's here earlier, you saw, you know, Tony's got a tremendous.

Roots in his faith. His daddy was a preacher. And Tony said to me, you know, instead of. Because, you know, you feel like you have to read a lot, right? He's like, if you read three sentences and that third sentence is impactful, then just sit on that, close it up, and move on. Now, you know, as I said earlier, I'm no perfect Christian. I get. Man, I'll get dialed in, and I'll be doing that, and then I'll get pulled away from it. So. But I have not read the Bible.

I would pretty much promise you that the Lord knows there's no shot I'm ever going to read that entire book because the wording is really difficult for me.

That's okay. Because God. God doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called Amen.

Amen. And he's equipped Me every day in my natural surrounding. And you know, it's just, I can't sell, but I can't spell, but I can sell.

That's awesome.

He's a lot better.

That, that reminds me of one of my favorite authors, Robert Kiyosaki. And I'll never forget I was reading one of his books and he was talking about getting interviewed and someone's like, there's all, I've always wanted to write a book, but there's all these spelling mistakes and grammar and he's like, it says best selling, not best written.

Amen. You know, And I do, I do, I do want to write a book someday, which is going to be interesting because I can't, I can, I don't spell well and my, my attention span is not great. And I think, you know, I've started a ton of books. I mean, I've started a ton of books but I get a couple chapters in and I just can't read them. You know, Mike Tyson has a book out that, you know, he wrote a long time ago, obviously. And I got real deep into that and I just kind of, you know, it just fell away. I start a ton of books, whether, you know, it's self help or it's business related and I get two or three chapters in and I just, I don't know, I just don't, you know what? And I'm okay with it. I don't find fulfillment in that. I don't, I know what I need to do every day and it doesn't mean I can't learn more, but I know where to go to learn it. And for me it's just not a book. You know, I need to interact.

I failed. I failed English seven times.

I assure you you can write a book because you don't need to write it. We could turn this into a book if we wanted to. If someone asked you questions, could you answer them?

Yes.

Done deal.

Then there you go. And that's what people said, you know, just do an audio style type book. But you know, look, my book is going to be, you know, and we've talked about this. When is that going to happen? Why are you waiting? You know, I just, I don't, you know, maybe I'm a little afraid to be honest. Right. Because it's, you know, there's a lot of depth to my story and it affects other people, not just me. And so you know, my mentor, Mr. Shep Black, as I mentioned earlier, I'm going to be seeing him in Calgary this week. But you Know, I would say, well, I'm worried about so and so in my life, you know, what are they going to think if I share this stuff? And then the next person, the next person, he said, you know, you're worried about three when you can change the lives of 300,000.

And as pretty as that sounds and as impactful as it was in the moment, I'm still scared.

So what if you just change. I agree 100%, but what if you just change the names or didn't use the real ones or made characters?

Yeah, I mean, I hear you. It's just not who I am, right. If I'm, if I'm going to do something, I mean, and here's the thing, and I think this is, this is what's helped our business. It's what helped me when I was in horses. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do the shit, right? I'm going to do it better than I can possibly like, you know, as we're getting ready. Is that right? Well, it doesn't have to be perfect. Yeah, it does. Right. Because you get one shot at stuff, you know, in our marketing. Well, are we gonna put a half page or a full page? Well, I'm gonna take the time to even do a page and we're doing the whole darn thing. Right. And so being very.

Deliberate.

Yeah, you can't, you can't half ass stuff. I mean, you've got to be willing to go all in on something. And if you're, especially if you want the result, you know, that you're looking for and our consumer, our customer, that's the value prop. They, they deserve that. Now I don't love the word deserve, right. Because I don't deserve anything. I want to earn everything that I get. But if I'm servicing somebody and they're paying me to do that, then they do deserve that. They deserve everything that I can possibly do to bring the best result for them.

See, that's the mentality that more people have. I'm so glad you're able to share it. Where can people find you to learn more?

Well, I don't know. I mean, I'm on Facebook all day, every day, so that'd be a good place to start, you know, so John Wentworth on Facebook and our website is john wentworthgroup.com but who cares about that? I mean, that's really estate more related, you know, it's there, everybody knows. And you know what? I'm here if I can support anybody in their path or their career, then, you know, that's what I'm called to do.

Well, John, it's been an absolute pleasure. I'm glad we were able to do this. You absolutely nailed it.

Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it. I appreciate you having me on. It's been awesome just kind of watching you grow this and so, hey, I'm proud to be a part of it.

Well, thank you very much. Well, expert Authority world, we got another great episode here. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Have a great day. God bless.

God bless you guys.

Why every business needs a book, including yours. Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect? Generate more leads and profit in your business? Now visit businessbookchecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. Hey, thanks for listening to today's episode. I hope you, you got a lot out of it. I know. I sure did. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show and also be sure to check out eainterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I'll see you tomorrow.