Tom Ferry’s Blueprint to Start Fast and Stay Strong in 2023

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About This Episode

Next year, a fast start will be more important than ever. When fewer buyers and sellers are IN the market, you need to know how to get YOUR SHARE of the market. This week on The Walkthrough™, Tom Ferry shares a plan to help you start fast and stay strong in 2023. You’ll learn what you can do right now to set the stage for a strong January, and three keys that will help you keep your business strong all year long. Grab a pen and take some notes as you listen to this end-of-year coaching session from real estate’s #1 coach.

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Links and Show Notes

• TomFerry.com – Tom’s website with coaching, event info, etc.
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Full Transcript

(SPEAKER: Matt McGee, Host)

Matt: What a year it’s been. 2022 is coming to an end. There’ll be plenty of time to reflect and look back. Just not today, and not on this podcast. Today, we are all about the future. It’s our final episode of Season 3, and we’re looking ahead to 2023.

Tom: Doesn’t somebody have to die in the last episode, or a major hook, like, you gotta be ready for Season 4, Matt?

Matt: Hey, that’s the voice of Tom Ferry. And no, no people die in this episode. What’s gonna die are all the reasons you can’t have a great year in 2023. Tom’s gonna share a blueprint to help you start fast, and keep your business strong all year long. This is The Walkthrough™.

(INTRO MUSIC)

Matt: Hello, hello. My name’s Matt McGee. Welcome to The Walkthrough™. This is a weekly podcast. New episodes come out every Monday, except, that is, when we are in between seasons, which we are just about to be. This is the show where you’ll learn what’s working right now, from the best real estate agents and industry experts in the country. At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. We’re here to explore how great agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

I ran a poll in our Facebook mastermind group not long ago. I asked agents what word or words they would use to describe real estate in 2023. Two of the top three were “change” and “uncertainty.” Now, on a bright note, “positivity” was also in the top three. Definitely gotta keep a positive attitude through times of change.

But you also need a plan of attack. You need to know how you’re going to get your share of the market when fewer buyers and sellers are in the market. Well, that’s what you’re gonna get today. A plan to start fast and stay strong in 2023. And who better to tackle that topic than Tom Ferry.

Now, I imagine he needs no introduction, but, all right, just in case. Tom Ferry International is one of–well, probably–the top real estate coaching organizations in the world. It has more than 200 coaches, and they serve real estate agents in 31 countries. Tom himself regularly appears on all of those best real estate coaches lists, and he’s quite often in the number one spot. Tom continues to coach as well. He works hands-on with the cream of the crop in our industry. He’s been coaching for decades. He’s also a best-selling author. This is Tom’s second appearance on The Walkthrough™, and I can’t think of anyone else that I would rather have to wrap up our third season.

Now, on today’s show, Tom is gonna share, as I said, a blueprint for success in 2023. Listen for him to talk about the number one question you need to answer between now and January 1st, three keys that will help you get the results you want in 2023, and how you should think about playing offense and defense in the new year. I’ll also have a quick update on our plans for the holidays and Season 4, before we wrap things up today.

If you’ve ever heard Tom speak, you know this is gonna be great. You also know that it is gonna be just filled with ideas. So, seriously, have a pen and paper handy, or like, open up your laptop. You are gonna wanna take a lot of notes as you listen today. So, without further ado, let’s dive in. Here’s my conversation with Tom Ferry, a blueprint to start fast and finish strong in 2023.

(BEGIN CONVERSATION)

Matt: I would love for you to share a playbook with our listeners for how to make sure 2023 starts off strong, but before we dive into some specific tactics, step back. In the big picture, how is the 2023 playbook gonna look different from, say, 2022 or 2021? Big picture.

Tom: Big picture, it should look exactly the same for the people that are wildly successful, and it will look exactly the same for the people that are still trying to figure it out. Now, what’s gonna change is the tactics, the messaging, the market knowledge, the market insight. But you’re seeing the same thing I’m seeing. I just did a deep dive of, for the U.S.–so, if you’re watching outside of the U.S.–a study of the entire MLS landscape, and here’s what we discovered. Seventy-one percent of all the volume and about the same of all the transactions, are being done by the top 25% of all agents in the MLS, and the one big takeaway you need to understand–I’ll give you another number–is, what if I told you 51% of all the volume and all the transactions are being done by the top 10% of the agents in the MLS? You with me on this, Matt?

Matt: I’m with you. Yeah.

Tom: So, it is truly the rich and the rest, and those that are doubling down on what’s working and effective, releasing the stuff that is no longer effective, adding one or two more pillars, are going to cremate the market in 2023. Regardless of how hard it’s gonna be, they’re still gonna win. And a lot of other people that struggled during the pandemic are gonna struggle even more because they’re just unable to make the pivot, to make the adjustment, to acknowledge that the market’s the market, and it doesn’t matter what you say. Inflation is real, inventory is real, buyer demand is down, interest rates are up, and that creates for a very noisy real estate environment, that only professionals can navigate.

Matt: Do you expect 2023 to be harder than it’s been the last couple years?

Tom: This is exactly what the market’s gonna be. We’re in it right now. Anyone that’s paying attention, if you’re listening in the U.S., whether it was April, May or June, right? When the rates spiked, and inventory changed, and buyer psychology changed, in an instant, and you know it as you’re listening to this, the buyer psychology changed like this. What? 3.9? What? 4.9? What? 5.7? Negotiate. Price. Terms. The challenge was, at least for most of the summer of 2022, the vast majority of sellers still hadn’t caught up. They were still saying, “I want yesterday’s prices because my neighbor sold 6 months ago, and they had 47 offers, and they got, you know, all this, this, this, this, this, and more, and more, and more. Well, in almost every case, that market has changed where, you know, we’re still seeing, especially in the mid to low price points, the listener knows, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you’re working those price points, you’re still seeing multiple offers. You’re just not seeing as many, and you’re seeing terms and conditions now apply.

Matt: Let’s get into some tactical stuff, Tom. It’s early, it’s mid-November. I mean, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. The holidays are here. If I’m an agent, are there things I can be doing right now to lay the groundwork for a strong start in 2023?

Tom: So, here’s the challenge. Yes, you still have some time, but you probably should have started this at the end of September and the beginning of October, because you and I both know, Matt, and the listener knows, that everything in real estate runs in 90, 120-day, 180-day cycles. Matter of fact, just a fun fact, I would love for you, the listener, to do this with your own business. So, we study a lot of top agents. We work with some of these mega teams and the arbitrageurs, the ones that are working with HomeLight, and other arbitrage companies, Zillow, Realtor, right on down the line, 165 different lead sources. Here’s what we’re seeing. Thirty-five percent of their business, Matt, comes from, I met a client, and if they’re gonna convert, they convert in the first 90 days, right? So, 35% of those, if they’re gonna convert, they convert in the first 90 days.

Sixty-five percent are all in the long-term follow up and nurture. They bought something in six months, nine months, twelve months, a year, averaging your total of two out of 100, three out of 100, five out of 100, ten out of 100, right? The big game right now, as I’m sitting here sharing with you, is for the agent to think about how many people do I have in my long-term nurture right now? Because what you need to be thinking, or I would certainly encourage you, friend-to-friend, to be thinking about is, how many potential sellers do I have right now, for Q1? And do I know who they are? Am I nurturing? Am I gonna go see ’em during the holidays? Am I gonna drop off something that is meaningful, and separating me from the noise? Am I gonna talk about my decorator that’s gonna come in, my designer that’s gonna come in? Am I educating and making sure that I’m securing that listing?

And being just a coach for a moment, Matt, I would say, if you don’t have, hanging in your office behind you, your top 10 sellers for Q1 that you’re working on, your top 10 sellers–Tom and Kathy, Sabrina, you know, Tom and Kathy Ferry, Sabrina Terrace, don’t write down their cell phones. Someone in your office might be a knucklehead. But, you know, visual for you, in front of you. And then over here, here’s my top 10 next transactions. If you’re not keeping those two lists up in front of you at all times, you’re gonna miss the mark. Now, how do we get there? Can I go deeper, or do you wanna ask another question?

Matt: No, you go right ahead. Dive right in.

Tom: Okay. So, I’m gonna assume the role that wherever you are in your business right now, if you’re a brand new agent, if you’re a struggling veteran, if you’re a rockstar veteran, if you’re at the end of your career, if you’re a luxury agent, if you’re a second home community, like, I’m just gonna say, we’re friends, and we’re walking the lake by my office. I’m gonna say to you, question number one, “What are the three most important measurable results you wanna produce in 2023? What are the three big things?” And here’s what I wanna remind you. If you have one or two or three max, you are more likely to achieve your outcomes, instead of saying, “Here’s the 28 things that I wanna accomplish.” So, the biggest part for you is to make very certain that you’re picking the right three. So Matt, I just finished a workshop a month, now and a half ago in Phoenix, with about 700 agents, and then I’ve taken 15,000 of my coaching clients around the world through the discovery, and I’ll give you the punchline.

The vast majority of my clients are saying, “If I’m only gonna have three major business objectives for 2023, it looks like this. The number of listings I want that will sell at a price point that makes sense, with a gross commission income of X.” But let’s keep it simple. What it looks like is, “Sell 50 listings,” as an example. You with me?

Matt: Right. Yep.

Tom: But we wanna be clear and say, it’s sell 50 listings at $500,000 with, you know, this commission percentage to me, with this, you know, gross commission income to me. You wanna be very clear and specific on because if you just say “50 listings,” I can send you 50 listings that are, you know, bank-owned properties, and the person that’s giving it to you only wants to pay you 0.5% commission, and they’re all $93,000. So you got your goal, but you got screwed in the process. So, that would be number one. Be very clear about what you want on the listing side.

Number two is you’ve got to build a more reputable, how do I say, scaled brand. So, we know the studies. We see the data. Here’s what it says. Seventy-four percent of consumers are choosing reputable brands, local experts, people that say, “I wear glasses, Matt wears glasses. He’s my guy.” Right? Every agent knows what I’m talking about. You’re the most successful agent in your farm, and Larry gets the listing, because Larry just smiles a little bit more than you, and he just had a good time with, you know, Tom and Kathy at the table, right? So, likability still wins business, but what I want is I want every person watching to get more opportunities at bat.

So, then, if recognizable brand becomes the next big rock that you’re focusing on, now all the activities required. Is it my email marketing? Is it my video? Is it my direct mail? Like, there’s no one way to do it. You gotta do everything. You can’t be myopic in a descending transaction marketplace. You’ve gotta be doing five or six different marketing initiatives that put you at the center of attention. First, with your past clients and sphere. Second, with all those people named “Larry5551212” in your database, you have no idea who they are. And then, maybe it’s your geographic farms, because you want more listings, and then maybe it’s your Google local services ads, because you want…yhen it’s all that stuff.

But here’s the hook. If you do video, that’s awesome. If you don’t do video, you better do something. Is it the written word? Is it audio podcasts? How are you expressing to your community that you are the expert? That you are the agent of choice? And that they can make a clear separation between Courtney over here, who I respect and admire, but I do more than Courtney, without saying “I do more than Courtney.” Because you can’t be that agent that just goes, “I’m number one,” because everyone’s like, “Shit, how could you all be number one?”

Matt: Right, right. So, I mean, Tom…

Tom: That makes sense?

Matt: Yeah. Let me make sure I’m hearing you right. So, in this situation where we have a descending number of transactions, fewer people buying and selling, it becomes more important than ever that when Joe Buyer or Sally Seller says, “I need to transact,” this is the agent that I think of first.

Tom: Bingo. But they’re gonna do this: “My friend who got her license in 2021, and this gal who I see–I watch her videos, I know her, I read her newsletter, you can’t miss he–she’s everywhere. So I’m gonna call my friend and I’m gonna call that gal.” Right? And that gal’s gonna win most of the time, because in this market, you just look at what the consumers say. I want the hyper-local expert, with a track record, with a marketing plan. Someone that’s got a measurable degree of separation that can show me how I’m gonna do it. Someone that’s an educator, who has no commission breath, who just wants me to win, who will tell me, “No. Don’t buy. It’s not the right time.” They want that.

So, first one, whether you call it “rocks,” or “big goals,” whatever it may be, is listing. Second one is brand. The third one is leverage. Leverage. And if you were gonna have an outcome for 2023, recognizing we are in an environment now where whoever works the hardest and the longest hours is going to win, the one thing we’re all gonna need is more time. So, leverage is everything from, you know, I’m getting more leads from HomeLight. You with me? So, I don’t have to work a lead source. I gotta work the leads when they come in, as an example. That’s leverage. Versus, I have to make the phone calls, send the mailers, etc., right? But at the same time, are you using the in-house transaction coordinator? Are you using your in-house marketing solutions? Are you taking advantage of the services that your brokerage provides, or that the companies around you provide, that cost you nothing? They just want more and more of your business. They want more and more of your transactions. So, it’s ephemeralization, right?

So, you know, Matt, how do I get a lot, right? How do I get more by doing less and not spending another dime? Like, that’s the game. So, the one thing everyone’s gonna need is more time. How are you gonna get back more time so you can do the flip side of leverage, which is what is the highest and best use of your time? And it’s hard to argue against, right now…watch the simplicity of this, my friend. P-L-A-N. Prospecting, of any type. Prospecting of any type. Matt, this is prospecting for me now. I go on Instagram and I say, “Hey, I’m gonna be live today at three o’clock. You should join us,” or, “Hey, I’m working on such and such. Who do you know?” Like, that’s prospecting in 2022 and 2023.

Just like calling my past clients and saying, “Hey Matt, I read this article, and I don’t know if you saw it, but it actually stated that around the time that I sold you guys a house in June of 2020, 25% of the buyers that bought a home during that time essentially hated the experience, right? And, what was more interesting is inside this article, and maybe you’ve experienced this, Matt, is that 80% of the people that bought a home during the pandemic admitted that they compromised in their home purchase. And I was thinking about you this morning, and I just wanted to ask, “How’s the home working out for you?” That’s also prospecting. And so is doing open houses, and so is doing email, and so is doing direct mail, and so is doing DMs in Instagram.

So prospecting–P. L–lead follow-up. If it’s not in your schedule, it doesn’t exist. And every one of my clients knows it’s five, five, four. I do four lead follow-up contacts every day. Matt, 65% of all the transactions are people that you met in the first 90 days that didn’t take action. They’re gonna do it in month 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. So that’s why I said, you know, the first point of business is call every buyer you met when the rates started to spike, that stopped, and ask ’em, “How’s it going paying rent?” Don’t be that rude, but you all know what I’m saying. It’s the rent versus buy, let’s break down the table of, you know, what your payment would be today, and, you know, what’s a better scenario for you guys? Right? But that’s a good example. So, P is prospecting. L is lead follow-up. A is going on appointments.

Matt: Always.

Tom: Heads up. Here we are in mid-November. How many appointments could you go on with someone in your database that bought a house during the pandemic, or three years ago or longer, who would like to get an update on the market, and would like to know the current value of their home? We call it the “CMA-a-day campaign.” Everybody wants to know the value of their home. Everybody’s uncertain, right? You know, we had the global pandemic, then we had interest rates historically low, and we had a massive rise in real estate. Everybody wants to know the value of their home today. Now we’re out of that and into inflation, right? Geopolitical issues, the economy. And when people hear all that stuff, remember, everybody does the same thing. What does this home mean to me? What does this mean for me and my wife? What does this mean for me and my children? What does this mean for me and my business? What does it mean for the value of my home?

So, it’s hard to argue against a holiday. You show up, you bring them a beautiful holiday gift, and you say let’s sit down for 30 minutes. Let me show you some slides. Here’s what’s going on. This is what everybody’s predicting for 2023, and, you know, who else do you know that wants something like this? Does that make sense? So, that’s an appointment. Just like showing a house, just like meeting a buyer and doing a buyer consultation, just like going on a listing appointment, meeting with an investor, all those are appointments. And the last one is to negotiate, which is your job. So, follow the PLAN. Prospect every day, do lead follow-up every day, go on an appointment every day, and hopefully you’ll be in negotiations every day and not the negotiation with yourself of doing your job or not.

Matt: Hi. This is Matt McGee. How would you like to have a say in future episodes of The Walkthrough™? How would you like to ask my guests your own follow-up questions, and connect with other listeners to help them and learn from them? Well, you can do all of that and more in our Walkthrough™ mastermind community on Facebook. Go to Facebook, do a search for HomeLight Walkthrough™. It should be the first group you see. Click “Join,” and come be part of our community.

Matt: The calendar turns to 2023. The phone is starting to ring, people are starting to express interest. Am I pedal to the metal at this point?

Tom: First of all, let’s acknowledge the phone is only ringing for people that did the work. You with me? I mean, listen. Demand is down. So the only people that the phone’s gonna be ringing for are the ones that are…we talked about it before the show. You can’t be on defense. You gotta be on offense now, right? Offense with your direct mail, offense with your email, offense with your phone calls, offense with your content, offense with knocking on doors, offense with doing open houses. Offense, offense, offense, offense, offense. Go as hard as you can. So, for the people that are listening, that all sounds like it makes sense. Let me give you one strategy. One thing I want you to do. So, you and I sit down and you tell me, “I wanna have this many listings sell.” Now, of course, you’re gonna work buyers and everything else, but we want a listing concentration because whoever lists all the houses is in the driver’s seat. You list one house, you can do three deals. You take a buyer out, you sell a house, you sold one. There’s no leverage to that. There’s a lot of leverage, open houses and other listing opportunities and meet the neighbors, right? So you know what I’m saying?

So, you say that, and then you say brand, and then you say leverage, and then I ask you this. If there was only seven things you could do every day–your seven daily disciplines, your seven non-negotiables, your magical seven–whatever you wanna call ’em. “Tom, my favorite number is eight.” Go with eight. I don’t care. You with me? But don’t have it be 13. So, the more I get people, Matt, to say, “Here’s my non-negotiables.” Ready? “I get up in the morning, I brush my teeth, I go to the gym,” all that stuff’s separate, right? That’s, like, you do all that stuff. I wanna know what are the seven things that move the needle in your business?

Now, it could be I got a powerful morning routine, because I understand that if I feel good, I perform good. So I gotta do things that make me feel good. So, that could be one. Number two, I would make the argument for if you’re not in the MLS, studying the market, looking for correlations, and creating a daily update video, Instagram Reel, Facebook Live, TikTok, you know–wherever your tribe is–about the market that day, like, that would be number two.

But it’s more the discipline of, so when someone says, “Matt, how’s the market?” Well, condo market, low-end market, this side of the valley, that side of the valley? Which market are you talking about? Like, you know what I mean? Like, are you a buyer? Are you a seller? Are you an investor, are you a renter? Like, help me understand. Because you know all of it, because you’re paying attention on a micro level what’s happening in your market. That’s number two.

Number three, hard to argue against five, five, four. Hard to argue against five, five, four as the one thing guaranteed to move the needle. The first five is talk to five people in your database that know you, like you, and trust you. Five people in your database that know you, like you, and trust you. The next five is you gotta talk to five new people every day. This could be a HomeLight lead that came in. This could be a Google lead that came in. This could be someone that emailed you about a property. Or it could be calling five people that are in your database that you have no idea who they are, and you’re calling them. But you gotta talk to five new every day, to kind of chum the waters, if you will. And that sounds weird, because that sounds like getting the sharks going, but you all know what I’m saying, like, you gotta move the energy around. You gotta shake the tree, so an apple falls, and then you’ve gotta do four follow-up conversations. Not calls, conversations.

“Matt, I’m checking in. When we spoke last in October, you said you guys were thinking about waiting until the first quarter to make that move. I know you guys still said you’re committed to about a $600,000 price point. You wanted a three bedroom, two bath. I know of two off-market properties right now that I think match the criteria. I’m gonna go preview ’em for you. If they are right, are you guys ready?” Or whatever your script is. You with me? But you gotta do four every day, because 65% of all your money comes in the follow-up. And then if I added a two, which I mainly do for our clients, is I say, and you gotta shoot two videos every day. So five, five, four, two would be number three on my magical seven.

Number four, for me on my magical seven, would be schedule one appointment. Schedule one appointment. Every day. It’s your job. Your job is not to sit and move paper from here to there, right? If you’re a new agent, it would be preview property, right? As an example. As a veteran, it might even be preview property. But absolutely schedule an appointment and absolutely go on an appointment every day. And then whatever else you want on your list.

Matt: You talked about offense, offense, offense. Let me ask you though, Tom, about defense, because if I’m a team leader right now, if I’m running a brokerage, I’m thinking, all right, inflation, possibility of recession, transactions declining. Don’t I need to watch my expenses? Don’t I need to focus on profit? Isn’t there an element of defense in there? Like, be careful where I’m spending my money?

Tom: Of course, but I didn’t know how you were defining defense. So, if you’re defining defense as watch your bottom line, one thousand percent yes. One thousand percent yes. Rigorous accountability around ROI of every dollar being spent. Now, remember, there’s cost centers and there’s profit centers. Don’t cut the profit centers. Hey, Google’s working really well for us, but I don’t like, you know, that dollar amount every single month, so I’m gonna cut it. Well, you just cut off income. That’s stupid, right? Cost center. I have four CRMs. I don’t use any of them. Consolidate. You with me? But, cost center. I’ve run this ad in a local rag forever. I don’t have a QR code inside it, or a measurable phone number to know it ever works. Cut it. But I’d probably do a QR code in the ad first, to see if it actually worked, and then I would cut it.

Matt: Tom, as we get into 2023, and, you know, we’ve talked about these, right? The inflation, recession, uncertainty, change, all that sort of stuff. What are your thoughts on if I’m a team leader, what are your thoughts on expanding my team? Is this the time to expand, or should I be playing it a little more careful?

Tom: So, one of the things that I’ve shared with the thousands of teams that we work with all over the world is if your model is scalable, scale. If your model is scalable, scale. Right? So, one of my clients who is a big fan of you guys, big shout to Jamie McMartin in Houston, Texas. So, Jamie says to me when we start working together, “I’m already at X, but I wanna grow the size of the team, and do it with high per-person productivity, and I’d also like to get out of personal production, if I could, so I can spend my time nurturing relationships, being the visionary, helping my agents, working with marketing, you know, being, like, the CEO visionary, right? So I say, “Well, the first thing is we need eight net transactions to replace your income and your production, so let’s work on that.” “Well, I don’t have enough salespeople.” “Well, that means we need to scale.” And then we got to that point. And then it was, “Well now, I have more leads and opportunities than I have people. Everybody has too many leads, too much…” “Well, then we need to scale. ” So, if your model is scalable, the answer is scale, in any market. Does that make sense?

Now, what I would be cautious of, obviously, is how much capital will I put into things like a new lease? You with me? Hard cost space, long-term contracts. So I say, “What is the total addressable market of your area? How many transactions are being done in your marketplace? What is your current market percentage of transactions?” Most team leaders are gonna go, “1? 2? 0.5?”

And they’re selling 400 homes a year, and they’re one of the most successful teams on the planet. Grow where you’re already comfortable. Add where you’re already comfortable. That would be my advice. And if you don’t have skills, knowledge, mindset, playbooks, lead generation and execution, don’t scale. Because it takes all six of those.

Matt: Let’s wrap up this way, Tom. As we go into 2023, and we talk about this idea of change and uncertainty and where things are headed, give me a pep talk as far as mindset is concerned. Where does my mindset need to be as I get started on the new year and I want to just absolutely crush it?

Tom: I got three pieces of advice that I would say to you as a friend, just like I said to my 23-year-old son recently. Number one, you cannot afford to spend time with energy-sucking vampires. That’s number one. So if you’re spending time with, you know, the old metaphorical, two crabs in a bucket, someone’s always pulling you down or worse, you’re trying to constantly lift them up and they’re fighting for their lack of success, people gotta get involved in their own rescue. But that’s number one. Because you can’t surround yourself with toxicity right now. There’s already too much in the environment. There’s already too much in the world. So you gotta get that team around you of people that are, like, cheerleaders and ready to go.

Number two, what we’re dealing with right now will look like nothing in 20 years. So why not take the time to create, whether it’s a 10-year vision for your business or a 20-year letter for your life. So, Matt, you and I have never talked about this, but I could pull up my laptop and…so, I wrote it in 2015. So, it says, “In 2035,” and it starts out like this, “Kath and I have now been married for 42 years. More in love today than we’ve ever been,” right? Da, da, da. “Relationship, relationship, relationship. My boys are 32 and 34 years old. They’ve become men of tremendous character,” ba, ba, ba, and I describe everything about my boys. And then I describe where we live, and then I describe our lifestyle, and then I describe our contributions. “And we did this, and we made this impact here, and we feel great about this, and our health and vitality’s right.” I describe our entire life in detail, 20 years from now.

So, when the world hands you a shit burrito, which is what it’s currently handling you, I go, “Oh, that’s a nice shit burrito. I’m gonna put that over here, and I’m gonna focus on my 10-year vision of my business, my three most important goals in 2023, and I’m gonna remember that this is a micro blip in time.” And then number three is I’m gonna rewire my morning routine to include exercise, mental toughness training. I’m gonna go buy every Timmy Grover book, “Relentless.” I’m gonna go study David Goggins. I’m gonna spend time with people that have the stories of tragedy to triumph to remind myself that I am one of them too, and that this is my moment. And maybe I’m not in tragedy, but I am on the ascension of triumph, and all the money is made in this market, not in the last one.

(SHORT MUSIC TRANSITION)

Matt: So, who else is fired up to get the new year started? I know I am definitely ready. Tom Ferry, thanks so much for helping us finish Season 3 with a bang. Great, great stuff. And, oh yeah, nobody died during the final episode of the season, but I think we definitely killed the idea that you can’t start fast and have a great 2023.

If you wanna hear more from Tom, definitely follow him on social media. He is super active there. YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, the whole nine yards. We’ll have all the links that you need in today’s show notes. You can learn more about his coaching services, about the events that he and his team put on around the country, and much, much more. All of that is on his website. It’s tomferry.com.

In just a moment, I’ll have an update for you on our plans for the holidays, and Season 4 of The Walkthrough™. So stay tuned for that, so you can know what is coming down the road. For now, let’s do our takeaways segment. Here’s what stood out to me from Episode 106, “A Blueprint for 2023, with Tom Ferry.” If I’m being honest, I kind of feel like the whole episode was one big takeaway, but I’ll do my best to sum things up. Here we go.

Takeaway number one: If you wanna start fast in 2023, here’s what you need to do now. Between now and the end of the year, you need to be thinking about how many sellers are in your pipeline for quarter one of 2023. Now is the time to nurture them. Pay them a visit during the holidays, bring a gift, talk to them about the market, about how you stage and prep homes to sell for the maximum value. The idea is to lay the groundwork now, so that they’ll call you as soon as they’re ready to sell.

Takeaway number two: For sustained success all year long next year, there’s one big question you have to ask yourself. What are the three most important measurable results that you want in 2023? Tom said he went through this exercise with his coaching clients, and they came up with these three things. Result number one: What is the number of listings I want that will sell at a price point that makes sense with a gross commission income of X? Result number two: Build a more reputable, scaled brand. Tom said you’ve gotta be doing, like, five or six different marketing initiatives that put you at the center of attention with your past clients, your database, and your community. With less people buying and selling, it is more important than ever that those who do, think of you first. And then result number three: Create leverage. Tom suggested the PLAN acronym, P-L-A-N. Use that to focus on the highest and best use of your time. If you missed it, go back and listen to that section again, if you kind of, like, need a reminder on what PLAN is all about.

Takeaway number three: Figure out your–Tom called it the magical seven–you can give it a different name. What are the core disciplines that you’re gonna do every day, to move the needle in your business? He said it can be seven, it can be eight things, maybe five, but not, like, 13 or 15. That’s too many. You need to keep it manageable. Whatever your final list is, you have to act on it every day. Tom shared a bunch of suggestions. One of them, I remember, was spending time every day in the MLS, so that you know every facet of your local market.

Takeaway number four: It is time to play offense and defense in 2023. He said to go as hard as you can the offense side, with your marketing, making calls, working your database, door knocking, whatever it might be. But, you also need to be rigorous on the defensive side. Track your ROI. Manage your spending. The key: don’t cut your profit centers. Cut the wasteful spending that’s just not adding to your bottom line.

And then takeaway number five: When it comes to mindset, Tom shared a few ideas there at the end. I think there were three different things. The one that I loved the most is when he said, “What we’re going through now is a micro blip in time.” The idea is if you take a step back, you’ll realize that what we’re dealing with now is not gonna matter in 10 or 20 years. And those are your takeaways this week.

All right. As I said, this is our last episode of Season 3. Couple things for you to know going forward. Number one, look for an email from me in the next couple weeks. We’re gonna be doing our annual listener survey, and we would really love your feedback on how we’re doing.

Lisa and I have already started working on Season 4. We have some great ideas we’re gonna pursue. I don’t have an exact date for you yet, but I think Season 4 is gonna start back up maybe late January, maybe early or mid February, so keep an eye out for that. And one more thing, Lisa and I will be active over the holidays in our Facebook mastermind group, so you can reach us there, and that’s a good place to keep an eye out for more updates on the show.

All right, if you have any questions or feedback, couple different ways you can get in touch. Leave a voicemail or send a text. The number to use is 415-322-3328. You can send us an email. The address is walkthrough[at]homelight.com. Or find me and Lisa in our Facebook mastermind group. Just go to Facebook, do a search for HomeLight Walkthrough™, and the group should come right up.

That’s all for this week, and that is all for Season 3. Thanks so much to Tom Ferry for joining me today, and thank you for listening. My name’s Matt McGee, and you’ve been listening to The Walkthrough™. At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. We’re here to explore how great agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable. Go out and sell some homes. Happy holidays. We’ll talk to you again in the new year. Bye-bye.

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