Sell 100+ Homes Per Year with These Prospecting Tips (Video Interview)

In this video you will discover…

…how to close deals without being annoying, what to say (and what NOT to say), and what to do to get in front of prospects who you have the best chance of actually doing business with.  

Here are some of the things they cover:

– What to say to close a deal
– The best way to track your success
– How to ask for business and not be annoying
– What activities are best for prospecting
– What is a VIP list (and how to get more deals from it)

…and so much more!

Here is the break down of what is covered in the video by minute.

1:25 Brian was on Baywatch
2:44 Prospecting sucks, so why do it?
3:59 What is the Greatness Tracker – Get a copy of the greatness tracker here.

5:45 Maximize face to face interactions
7:45 Whoever has the most relationships wins
8:36 How to ask for business: Close without being annoying

10:17 Invite prospects to events and outings
11:38 Keep it small and intimate
12:22 Have a VIP List

13:19 Attract like-minded people
14:08 What to say to close the deal

Transcription:

In The Know-Sell 100+ Homes Per Year With These Prospecting Tips

[Intro] I am super stoked to be out here today at Ballast point brewery in San Diego. I’m going to be talking to Brian Sciutto who is one of the top 1% of loan officers in the United States. We’re gonna be diving into how to get better results with your prospecting and how to track your results so that you can turn it into a predictable stream of business. We’re looking forward to getting started and having a couple beers and sharing some great stuff.

Oliver Graf: So we like to have a little fun with these interviews. We like to enjoy an adult beverage and San Diego has a lot of really great microbreweries that we like to visit. Today I’m enjoying the Longfin lager and Brian is having a–

Brian Sciutto: I am having a Commodore stout.

Oliver Graf: The Commodore Stout, thick and chocolatey and coffee-EY, just like he likes it. Cheers, let’s have a drink.
Today we’re going to be talking about how to get better results with your prospecting, we’re going to be diving into something that’s called the greatness tracker; it’s something that was developed by the core program which is something that Brian’s been a part of. Got some great insights by working with hundreds of realtors into what’s working, what’s not working and how to improve the results that you’re getting from your prospecting.
Before we get into that, I want to tell a little funny story about Brian. Brian used to be a lifeguard up in what Santa Monica.

Brian Sciutto: Malibu Santa Monica.

Oliver Graf: Up in Malibu and Santa Monica and he actually spent some time on Baywatch. He knows a little bit about how to be the Hoff and how to be hofftastic and how to charm his way onto the screen.

Brian Sciutto: I was in a lot better shape, I definitely didn’t make the night glow back in that day. I actually had a tan, believe it or not and it was a lot of fun getting to stare at Pamela Anderson back in her a day every single day.

Oliver Graf: Yeah that sounds pretty cool. So anyway sorry that was just a side note. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about the core program and what it’s all about and what it’s done for your business?

Brian Sciutto: Yeah absolutely. So I got introduced to the core in 2012 when I started producing in this industry and that year was a struggle for me, I was working 105 hours a week and I wasn’t making very much money and I got introduced to this program, introduced exactly to the greatness tracker, what we’re going to talk about today. I can tell you it literally changed my business, literally changed my life.

Oliver Graf: So why don’t we address the big elephant in the room, prospecting and prospecting sucks or at least that’s the big perception out there. No one wants the prospect, the phone is way too heavy in the mornings to even want to lift and start dialing and we’ve all kind of dealt with that but we also know that the fortune’s in the follow-up and that the more contacts you make, the more relationships you cultivate – the more relationships you cultivate, the better you’re going to do in this business. It’s really all about who you know. So as far as addressing the elephant in the room, how would you respond to someone that doesn’t want a prospect, doesn’t like to prospect, is afraid of prospecting?

Brian Sciutto: Yeah I mean if that’s the case, and you’re in the real estate business, I promise you you’re not going to last very long. So that’s exactly how I address it. It’s a necessary evil and we have to get comfortable with doing the uncomfortable, period. Just the way it is.

Oliver Graf: The main reason that people turn over in the business is because they’re not doing enough business. We’re going to take a look at what it takes to not only make the contact but what to say, how to say it, how to follow up, how to get in front of more people and then what to say to those people to generate business. So let’s dive into the meat and potatoes of this, you often teach something called the greatness tracker, why don’t you tell us a little bit about what that is and what it’s designed to do in terms of helping people prospect?

Brian Sciutto: Man I can’t be more excited to talk about the greatness tracker. Every time I talk about it, it brings me back to the day I was introduced to it. So what it is, is it’s really a tracking methodology. It’s an accountability scoreboard so to speak. So the core, we say the greatness is in the conversations, the greatness is in the activities. So the greatness tracker, like I said, it’s effectively a scoreboard. So if you do the activities and you’re honest with yourself in 90 or 120 days, you will see the fruits of your labor. So if the greatness tracker, if it’s not very full for that week, you know your business is going to, excuse my French here, but it’s going to suck in 90 to 120 days. If it’s filled out, your business is really going to start the boom in 90 to 120 days. So it’s really a exact scoreboard and what your business will look like based on the activities that you do today.

Oliver Graf: Cool. So we’ll make that form available, it’ll be easy to download for you so you can take look what it’s like and you can start using it for yourself but why don’t you tell us a little bit about what’s on the form? What are the things that they should be tracking?

Brian Sciutto: Yeah, absolutely. So face to face, it’s all about relationships in this business. So prospecting leads to relationships and getting in front of people and talking to more people, I always like to say and we’ll get to it here in a little bit as well, but whoever has the most relationships in this business wins. If you are a realtor with no relationships, you’re not going to survive. If you’re a realtor with a ton of relationships, you’re going to thrive, right. So first and foremost on the tracker which you’ll see is we track face to faces, so how many people can you get in front of on a weekly basis and at the core we believe if you have 15 quality and qualifying faces to faces where you’re literally asking for a relationship and asking for referrals or asking for somebody to be a new referral partner for you, your business is going to grow. So that’s the first thing. The second thing is breaking bread. In sales, I don’t know what it is, but there’s something magical about sharing a meal with somebody. So if you can get in front of a past client, a prospective client or even a prospective referral partner, if you can break bread with them, you’re 95 more percent more likely to get business from them and then if you don’t… the meat and potatoes of the greatness tracker is all about great calls and you’ll see it right in the middle, it’s the biggest portion of the greatness tracker. And we really feel like if you can make 60 great calls every single week, it’ll make everything else better in your business. You’ll get more face to faces, you’re set up more break breads, you’ll have more deals and you’ll get more leads.

Oliver Graf: Let me interject on that too, and I think that’s an important takeaway is, it’s not about making thousands of calls and thousands of dials, it’s about getting in front, talking to the right people saying the right things and then tracking the results. Sixty is… I mean that’s a little over 10 a day that’s very manageable for anybody whether they’re full time, part time to get in there and get started.

Brian Sciutto: Yeah absolutely. So 60 great calls is all it takes and by great calls, we don’t just mean calling Oliver and shooting the breeze with Oliver. I mean if I don’t qualify Oliver and I don’t close the sale through with Oliver to say basically Oliver “listen is there anybody that you know that you might be will be able to refer me to this week, or is there anything that I can do for you in helping you build your business that will in turn help me build my business this week,” Or inviting Oliver to something, “Oliver I’m putting together a mastermind next week or I’m doing a lunch and learn, I’m hosting a happy hour. Would you like to attend?” Like those are qualifying close for sale.

Oliver Graf: The definition of a great call means that they’ve contacted someone that’s either a path client or referral or whoever and actually asked for business.

Brian Sciutto: Yep. Listen every single time of year in sales, I don’t care if it’s your mom, your best friend, a past client, a prospective client. If you don’t close for the sale before you hang up you’re not building your business and that’s just a fact and I think one of the things that the core has taught me and the greatness tracker has allowed me to recognize, is to close for the sale every time. Otherwise, I can’t write that call down on my greatness tracker. It doesn’t make the scoreboard. So if I’m closing for the sale, it makes the scoreboard and then if I do that 60 times in a week, my business blows up. It’s just a reality.

Oliver Graf: You just brought up something really important and that was the closing aspect of the prospecting which I think makes a lot of people uncomfortable. I think a lot of people are scared to ask for the business, so how does the core and how do you teach asking for business in a way that doesn’t come off spamy or obnoxious.

Brian Sciutto: So a couple different ways that you can do that is qualifying the people you’re talking to and getting permission. So if you’re one of my really good friends, I would assume, I don’t know for a fact but I would assume that if I asked you if it was okay to get your help, you’ll probably say sure dude I want to help you, right. So we need to qualify, like ask your friends, families and the inner prospective business partners if it’s okay to ask them before you hang up the phone every time, if you can ask for a referral, if you can invite them to something or just something business related because it’s critical for your business so you can qualify it as I guess my answer to that. So don’t be afraid to ask permission, if they say no cool, don’t ever ask. But I guarantee you, if people know, love and trust you, if you say Oliver listen man I really need your help, so every time I call, would it be offensive to you if I ask you from time to time, if you know anybody that might need my help or would that be offensive or would you be willing to help me? If you knew, loved and trusted me. So qualifying is number one. Ask permission if you have to and if you need to feel comfortable in doing that.

Oliver Graf: I like the idea of pre-framing your calls. If you ask them in advance, hey is it okay if I’m contacting you? You’re gonna weed out the ones that say no pretty quickly and they’re probably not going to refer you any business anyways, you get them off your prospecting list and you keep working with the ones that are okay.

Brian Sciutto: Absolutely, and I couldn’t have said it better myself but you don’t always have to ask for referral when you’re calling people. Remember you can invite them to something that you host once a month, such as a happy hour drinking beer, such as a hike, such as a mastermind teaching prospective clients something, a first time homebuyer seminar. So there’s a lot of different things that you can do when you’re making these calls to get in front of people.

Oliver Graf: So that that’s a key component right, so the greatness tracker on the form, your tracking your face to face appointment, your tracking your number of break breads, how many times you’ve met with someone and had a meal or some drinks, you’re tracking 60 great calls a week, and then tell me a little bit more about the events and the last few items?

Brian Sciutto: Absolutely, so I think as real estate agents, one of the things that we get a little too caught up in is events. Like I think a lot of realtors go to a ton of events and the core says look, we get a little too wrapped up in that really we should do one or two events a week and that’s it because those are convenient distractions from prospecting. So oftentimes at events, people don’t ask for business, they don’t close for the business. It turns into being more about fun and hoping people like you and hopefully they follow up with you, but it never happens. So one event to two events per week, preferably something you host and if you host it, you’re more likely to get business from it.

Oliver Graf: I love the idea of hosting. I love the idea of smaller groups. You’re not trying to invite 50 people to an event, you’re trying to get in front of maybe 5, 10, 15, 20 at the most people. So what are some ways that they can do that, what are some ways that you guys right now are seeing success from events?

Brian Sciutto: It’s a good question. So to get back to your point, it’s really targeted call list so at the core. It’s one of the things that we’ll teach in a different conversation that we have, but it’s all about creating lists of people to call. So you’re literally calling the same people every week. We say call 12 of your top 50 favorite people in the world every single week. So again lists, the last list would be a VIP list. So we need to put together 50 business people that can help us grow our business and if we’re just calling those lists Oliver, a maximum of 150 people and we’re calling 12 a week, we’re literally inviting 36 to 50 people a week that’s going to get us four to five people that show up at our events and four to five people that are very likely to refer to us.

Oliver Graf: That’s awesome and what kind of events are you doing because I think a lot of people when they hear do events, they think that costs a lot of money that’s really expensive and it can if you’re taking people out to eat and doing happy hours and stuff like that, but what are some other events that they can do that are maybe lower costs, like take people to a hike, do a past client beach day or stuff like that.

Brian Sciutto: So we always preach at the core, look we prefer happy hours but if that seems a little bit too expensive, all we say is you need to buy people two happy hour drinks at a happy hour but if you’re not a drinker, if it’s not something you’re interested in, you need to do an event based around a hobby that is all about who you are. So if you invite people to a hiking club or a book club or to a beach or a barbecue club or whatever, a cooking club a wine club, if you invite people to things that you like, what will end up happening is people that like what you like will show up to those events and then you will have much more in common and again be much more likely to generate business with those people because they know, love and like you.

Oliver Graf: So in terms of how to take action on the great greatness tracker. It’s a perfect accountability tool. It gives you all the things step by step that you need to be doing each week, you just need to make sure that you’re hitting the numbers, hitting your calls, doing your events, basically getting belly-to-belly with more people. I think the challenge that a lot of people are still going to have or questions that are going to be left over is the, what to say when you’re calling, what to say when you’re meeting with these people to accomplish your objective of getting more business right but also not make them feel uncomfortable or that you have a hidden agenda or anything like that. So are there scripts that you recommend or are there things that we can provide that, that can kind of help with those things.

Brian Sciutto: Number one is you really have to qualify people and get their permission. So the biggest thing for real estate agents is every single real estate agent does a tremendous job of marketing. You all look like you’re the most professional person in the world, like you close more business than anybody that your businesses are just perfect and I think the biggest mistake in that is we don’t ask people for help. Then people don’t know that you need help because you seem like you’re perfect and you have more business than you need, the reality is number one we need to ask for help. Oliver I’m a real estate agent, did you even know that? So you need to let people know what you do. So you know that I’m a realtor now, I really need your help. Would you be willing to help me? And if they say yes, then we can go on, cool, would it be okay when and if I call you that I asked for your help? I am gonna ask if there’s anybody that week that you came across that might need my help? I’m a realtor, do you know anybody that’s looking to buy?
So I think those are the three main components; first of all letting people know that your Realtor, number two letting people know that yes even though you’re Realtor and you look super successful that you need help and number three asking people to help you. If you do those three things we can work on the rest later.

Oliver Graf: Cool and we’ll provide some links to a couple different scripts that you can use, so you’ll have access on the what to say part of things. What we believe to be is the number one key to success with your prospecting is two things, number one you have to be consistent. If you’re not doing it every day, you can’t try prospecting for a couple days and see how it goes and hope to have any success with it and number two is you’ve got to track your numbers, you got to know your numbers, you got to know how many calls you’ve made, how those calls are going, if they’re leading to appointments, if they’re leading the transactions and all of those things.

Brian Sciutto: Yeah I mean I’ll speak to that. So that’s where the greatness tracker is so brilliantly, even though the form is so simple, it’s so brilliant because it helps you do both of those things; consistency. You know every single week that you’re going to try to fill up that scoreboard as much as you can because you know the more it’s full, the more success you’re going to have and number two knowing the numbers. I mean the numbers don’t lie. So if you’re honest with yourself and you’re only writing down qualifying conversations, qualifying face-to-faces, qualifying belly to bellies, you will absolutely build your business. So that’s the brilliance of the greatest tracker, it’s so simple but it’s so accountable.

Oliver Graf: Awesome. Well Brian, always a pleasure, cheers and now you’re In the Know. We’ll catch you on the next one.

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Want some proven scripts to use? Here are some Mike Ferry scripts to help you get comfortable asking for business, prospecting and closing more deals. 

In the Know, The Oliver Graf Real Estate Show is presented and hosted by Oliver Graf, Co-founder and President of Big Block Realty, an Inc. 500 company, and Co-Founder of RealEstateAgentTrainers.com. 

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To your success,

Oliver Graf, Co-Founder & Coach

RealEstateAgentTrainers.com