Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Rich Scott, Vice President of Growth at milehimodern

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

Rich, affectionately known as the “Bow Tie Broker,” brings an impressive background and a unique approach to building strong client relationships.With a Master of Business Administration and over 20 years of military service, Rich’s expertise is a valuable addition to milehimodern. His two decades as a U.S. Army Officer, with deployments to various countries worldwide, have allowed him to build lasting relationships that now benefit his clients in international real estate transactions. He also served as the managing broker of a nationally recognized real estate brokerage, where he led the office to become the number one office in Colorado and 19th in the nation.As a Military Relocation Professional, Rich’s commitment to excellence is underscored by his dedication to continuing education and service. His passion for real estate is driven by a desire to serve others while helping clients build wealth through real estate investments. Clients consistently praise Rich for his meticulous attention to detail and unwavering commitment to their success.Learn more:https://www.mhmhomes.com/agent-detail/79043/rich-scott | https://www.linkedin.com/in/richscottjrElite Real Estate Leaders Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/elite-real-estate-leaders-podcastSource: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-rich-scott-vice-president-of-growth-at-milehimodern

Welcome to the Elite Real Estate Leaders Podcast, brought to you by Trailstone Insurance Group, bringing you interviews with the best real estate and mortgage professionals, empowering you to understand the current trends in the housing market so that you make the American dream your reality. Enjoy today's episode. Welcome to the Elite Real Estate Leaders podcast. Today we have with us, Rich Scott, who's the vice president of growth with Mile High Modern. Rich, welcome to the program. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be on.

Yeah, well, I love when I see companies and I can just tell what they're about just by glancing at their website or logo or just something about them. And I'm just really excited to learn what you do. You've got a really elegant look. And I just know that's the approach that you take. But before we dive into what you do and how you do it, give us a little bit of your story and background. And how did you get into the real estate industry? It's kind of funny. So I'm sorry. spent 20 years in the military. I retired out of the U.S. Army, and I thought I was retired, right? I went home, hung out, did nothing for a while, and one day my wife says, you know, sweetheart, you're getting on my nerves. I need you to do something with your time. So that kind of led me into real

estate. I went out, got my license, went to one of the big box brands, worked there for about a year. Didn't really find my place. So I went and worked for a boutique and really learned a lot about the industry and what it takes to be successful. But then I also realized that I kind of did need a bigger box, bigger brand, bigger company to kind of help me get to where I wanted to be. So I went and went to a different company and was there for about five years. So I had about six years of being an agent. I had a lot of success, won a lot of awards and helped a lot of people, you know, get into homes and things like that. But while I was there, I started to teach the contract class and realized that my real passion was helping agents grow. Like, that was really

what I love to do. So that led me into actually becoming a managing broker. I managed 120 agents for two years at one of the larger brokerages here in Colorado and took the company to 19th in the nation and then got an opportunity to partner with Mahi Modern. And that's how I'm here. That's neat. And you know, I really like that transition you mentioned from the military into real estate other than, you know, your wife said get out, you know, but, but it's kind of, it kind of makes me think about when, you know, when people get to the age of, well, I'm going to retire and then, then what? I mean, you got to have something to go to. And when you have the ability and flexibility to make your own schedule and all that. That just helps out, you know, that feeling. But I love that you said,

well, I wanted to go with someone that had kind of like that proven model to learn from. And it's kind of like that you needed to be taught at that point. Yeah, you got your license, but boy, you were just wet behind the ears and you didn't know what to do then. So you went and looked for some place that could teach you that you could model success because as we know, you know, success leaves clues. And so how did you find that location? Was that someone that you connected with? Or how did you look up to find that company to look up to? You know, you're right.

You got to have a company that's willing to teach you and help you grow. And it was actually a friend of mine that said, hey, come check out my brokerage. They're amazing. And of course, my response, like most agents, no, I'm happy where I'm at. I'm good. And, you know, it took a few. few weeks, months maybe, maybe a month, but I realized that I didn't really have what I needed to reach the level that I wanted to. So I reached back out to my friend and she connected me with

her employee broker and the rest of history. Yeah. I just kind of took off in there. I mean, I got a foundation I needed. I didn't hear you say, well, I went Googled or I saw this Facebook ad. You know, there's nothing wrong with those things. But I find that when we want to make big decisions. It's you kind of look, you look at those things and kind of learn a little bit. But when it comes time to pulling the trigger and making a move, it's like, okay, I want to go with someone that I know I can trust. And, and they are there and they're speaking highly. So that's at least going to get me, you know, that foot in the door. And I think that that relationship is huge. We've heard it said relationship marketing. Well, in reality, that's what she was

doing because she was like, look, she probably didn't get a dime for you coming on board. She was just like looking out for you. And so I think that that's really huge when we're thinking about growing a real estate agency. So if an agent is listening to this going, yeah, what's the key to growing my agency and my book of business? Boy, building those relationships, right? So I know that would be top notch that I would recommend. But what do you find that agents need to be doing to grow their business? What are some of the top three things that you teach?

Well, you know, I mean, you're dead on when you're, say relationships, that's definitely number one. You know, if you're not building relationships and not a relationship based on you want something, but genuinely building relationships with people just because you want to benefit them, you're missing a real opportunity in your business. Whether you're talking about an agent growing their business or a brokerage growing their business, it all comes down to you have to be willing to go out there and build some relationships. So that's definitely number one. The second thing I would say, you know, when you're talking about growing your business, growing your company, growing your individual business as an

agent is you have to be willing to do the hard things. It doesn't come easy. You know, there is no successful agent out there that's going to tell you that it was easy. It may look easy, and I think a lot of people get into the industry because it looks easy, but the reality is it's a lot of long, hard days and nights, you know, reaching out to your past clients and, you know, you building those relationships and becoming an expert in the industry. And then I would say number three is you got to be consistent. No matter what we're talking about, if you're not consistent, you are not going to have success in this industry.

You know, even in my role, you know, I tell agents all the time, I do what agents do. I prospect, I build relationships, I maintain these relationships. But at the end of the day, if I stop making calls, if I stop following up, if I take a month off because I had a little bit of success. Well, guess what? I'm right back to square one trying to start getting my pipeline going again. So you've got to be consistent in everything that you do.

You know, I've heard it said you go from hero to zero every month. You know, I mean, you had that big month. Congratulations. Let's high five. Let's, you know, have the accolades. And then here comes the first of the following month and the slate is clean. You know, did you, you got to start all over. So it really is that consistency of, you know, you can't just do a bunch of marketing and sales, get some clients in, and then totally focus on them because while you need to focus on them, you are now losing out.

The opportunity cost is that you're losing out on prospecting and networking and building relationships with the next group of incoming clients. So that probably means that you may need to consider having that team and having a concierge or a, you know, a transaction. coordinator that is going to take care of your people. So talk a little bit about some of the tools you recommend to keep that consistency going. Well, I would say the first thing you have to have is whether it be a CRM, Excel spreadsheet, you got to have something where you're tracking all your data and you can kind of keep in track of when was the last time you contacted this person? Because in our mind, I just spoke to them, but it could have been months ago because we are so busy in the industry. So, you know, having that strong,

database that you can go into and keep notes in. And if it's something that you can create, you know, a calendar with is very beneficial. So I use my database and it's got a calendar that tells me the last time I connected, tells me the next time I'm supposed to connect with someone. So in their minds, I'm just reaching out. But the truth is, my system's told me to do it. So it seems very effortless for me. I don't have to try to remember everybody's there, everybody's date of the last time I spoke to them. Then the second thing, you know, that I think is really just having a strong support system around you. Now, that depends on where you are in your business, because if you're a newer agent, you may not have a lot of business,

so it doesn't make sense to have a bunch of hired people doing your marketing and doing all these other things. I always say when you're a newer agent, you have a lot of time, but not a lot of money. But as you start to establish yourself, you end up having a lot of money, hopefully, but you don't have a lot of time. So you just have to make sure that as you're building out your business, you remember which phase of the business are you in? Are you in the building phase where maybe you have more time so you can take that time to create the marketing and to do some different touches that you may not have time to do later in your career? But now you've got the money and now it's time to start to hire the help so that you can continue to grow your

business. You know, I have a kind of a curious question for you because what I'm hearing a lot is you have, you have so much consistency and you have so much structure. Do you relate that more to your military background? Or would you say you are just this type of person? Because I know a lot of real estate agents out there are kind of listening like, why can't I be more structured? You know, that's just something like we kind of pound into people in this industry is you have to be structured. You have to be discipline. So what, what's your take on that? I would say that it's definitely my upbringing. I'm a country board from Kansas originally. So Midwest values kind of, you know, I've been instilling me from day one. But also the time in the military, of course, I think has helped me be a little

more organized, disciplined. But I don't think you have to have either of those to be successful because I know a lot of successful agents that don't have my background. The one thing that I seem to normally see in these agents, though, is they're disciplined in other areas of their life. Either they've been an athlete before or they've gone to school or they've done something. So they've had discipline in other areas of their life and they just roll it into this new career. And I think the biggest thing that any agent can remember is this is a job. You know, so while, yes, you get to make your own schedule and yes, you, have the flexibility to go to an happy hour and it could be work. You might be on the golf course

and you are actually working. You're not just playing golf, but you are meeting with other people that you're trying to, you know, partner with. But it's the discipline that reminds you that even though it's fun, it can be fun, that it is work. So you have to always treat it at such. You know, no one's going to reach the highest pinnacles working 20 hours a week, you know, when they start off their job. So why do we get into real estate and think, well, I'm going to work 15 hours and I'm going to make it big. Put in the time. You got to put it in. So whether you're this disciplined person or you just don't have that in you, because, you know, we know both and we know both can be successful in their own different ways.

But, you know, how much of an impact does a brokerage have on agents their success and their growth? Oh, more than I think I even realized. And being over at Mahan Modern has really helped me see the importance of being at the right brokerage for you. Because every brokerage is, there's a lot of options out there, but ultimately, there's a brokerage for every agent, right? And every brokerage is not the right brokerage for every agent. But I know at our brokerage, you know, we are pretty disciplined. And the things that we offer for our agents, it's consistent. you know, when they come to a sales meeting, they know that it's going to be one hour long.

It's not going to be an hour and 10 minutes because we're respectful of our agent's time. So they understand that they need to have that same level of discipline and professionalism when it comes to their clients because that's what they receive every day when they're at their brokerage, whether it's from education, whether it's from the support that they have. But, you know, I think too often as agents, we lack discipline or we lack the ability to see the importance of it because it's not shown to us in any other area of the industry. And that was part of why Mahan Modern was created, what they wanted to elevate the industry. It wasn't about just creating another brokerage. It wasn't about, oh, let's go make a bunch of money.

It was literally about let's elevate the industry. Let's help agents reach the highest of levels. So, Rich, I love when I hear action words like elevate. So when we think about the culture that Mal High Modern brings to your team and agents that come on board, what are some of the things that you guys are literally doing? What are the deliverables that describe how to elevate the industry? Well, you know, to me, it's education. That's a huge part. It's not just taking education for CE credit.

It's not just taking education and saying, I just want to learn more about inspections or whatever. But it's really about saying, you know what, there's a better way to do what we've been doing. You know, one of our values is when everybody else goes right, we go left. Excuse me, I put it back with everybody. Everybody goes left, we go right. So, you know, it's one of those things where it's like,

you don't have to be a disrupt. but you do have to be willing to say, why am I doing this in the first place? Are we doing this just because everybody else has done it? And I think a lot of brokers are out there are just growing for growth sake, or are they just doing things because, well, that's what the other brokerages are doing. And that's one of the things that's what's the part is we're not looking to be like everybody else. What's an example of when the industry is going left and you guys are going, yeah, but we're going to go right. What would that look like?

You know, I would say our marketing is one that when we started off just five years ago, people know my high modern listings. I spoke with an agent recently and they said, you know, when I was looking for a great photographer, I was going through listings that had recently hit the market. And I picked five different listings. And the crazy thing is every single of those listings belong to my high modern. They were like, the way that you all market the property. And they said, and I had no clue that everyone I was choosing was one of your agents. But when it comes to marketing, when it comes to our take on education, you know, like I said, I talk about it a lot. But we really do hang our hat on.

We have some of the best agents in the industry. They are extremely knowledgeable. I think back to last fall when there was a lot of conversations. around buyer agency, you know, after the antitrust stuff began to kind of become a bigger picture than I think people realized it was going to be. We didn't shy away from that. We didn't hide, we didn't hope that it would all just go away. We actually leaned into it. We brought our agents in and we had a lot of conversations around how do they show their value and how do they ensure that they are doing things the right way. Compliance is,

so important to us as a brokerage. We believe that that's our number one responsibility to our agents is to ensure that they're in compliance and everything that they do. I think proof isn't the pudding there, too. You say top agents, but they'll look up the numbers. You really do have the top agents in the industry at Mile High Modern. I've seen it. I think everyone else can kind of attest to it.

So I think that's brilliant. We really do. You know, one of the things that really impressed me, was when I looked at market chair, and I looked and I said, we're a company that is literally five years old. And when it comes to the luxury market, we are right there with the big dogs. Like, we are right neck and neck with companies that have been in this industry and been in our market for 15, 20 plus years. Five years, we are neck and neck with them and on the verge of surpassing some of these other brokerages.

And it's not like that, that wasn't our goal. Our goal wasn't, let's get in here and surpass everyone else. It was let's get in here. Let's change the industry by elevating what our agents are able to do, by providing them the support, by being there to help them understand the importance of how they show up for their clients. Right. And marketing is a huge piece to it, right?

I heard you mentioned marketing. And it's not really another coincidence that you mentioned that and that just so happens to be the way of the world, this digital world that we're living in. So, you know, hats off to you guys. I think you're doing a great job. Thank you. You know, Rich, I think one, there's an old saying, the only thing constant is change. You know, we wake up and we see what's changing, what's changing, what's changing, and you got to keep up with it. What are some of the trends that you see in the industry for your

luxury, a high-end industry that's your, working in? What are some of those trends that you're seeing coming in years to come that you guys are starting to be looking toward that are going to help your team be able to capture market share? I think the biggest thing is how we show up, right? I think that this industry, and this is no shade to anyone in the industry, but for the longest, we've been able to be mediocre. We've been able to just show up, you know, whether that was to enlist an appointment, whether that was to a lot of people didn't even have buyers appointments, but when they were working with a buyer, you know, there was a lot of conversation around agents that didn't have buyer agency signed

before they were taking buyers out. There were a lot of just very simple practices that had become the norm. And I just don't believe that that's what people want. People want to work with the best of the best. When you're selling a million dollar home, a $4 million home, a $350,000, thousand dollar home it doesn't matter the level of service that you should be providing it should be at a high level it should not be basic it should not be hey well if you're lucky to get me it should be i want to be the very bestness industry um i think of you know professional athletes i'm a huge kansas city chief fan go chiefs they just won a super bowl but uh shameless plug but uh you know what what i think about is those athletes get out there every day and they

bust their butts to be the very best. Even though they've won MVP's before, even though they've won all these great awards, even though they've won the crown of their sport, they still go out every day and work extremely hard to be the best in their field. And that's what I believe we try to do with Mahan Mater is challenge our agents no matter how much success you've had, no matter how many awards you've won, no matter how great you are, because I'm not diminishing the fact that these are some amazing agents out there at Mahan Modern and at other

brokers. They've done amazing things. But you don't sit back on your rules and just say, hey, look at me, I've done great. You continue to push yourself to be better. I love it. I couldn't agree more. And I think that when you have that kind of like Tony Robbins' approach of Knai, constant and never-ending improvement,

then whatever does come, you're not surprised by it because you know change happens. And then you're always always preparing to meet and exceed those expectation. So I think it's just been so neat to hear your perspectives on all of this, Rich. And I'd just like to wrap up with what if someone is listening to this and thinking, I'd like to hear more and learn more about the Mile High Modern team. What's the best way they can learn more and then also reach out and connect with you?

Well, you know, you can always start out by going to mhmhomes.com, our website. You can get a lot of information from our values to just seeing some of the other agents, the success stories we've out there. But then, of course, reaching out and giving me a call. You know, we have opportunities to help agents grow. We've doubled, even tripled agents' businesses and one to, you know, one year to two years of them being with us. So if you're an agent that is looking to grow, looking to take your business to another level, to a higher level, you know, give me a call. 720, 620-0-4-98. I'm always open to meet with agents. You know, like I said, When I found out when I realized that my passion was to grow agents, I'm all in.

That's what I do. Awesome. Well, Rich, thank you so much for coming on. It's been a real pleasure talking with you today. Well, thank you as well. I appreciate the opportunity. Thanks, Rich. Thank you for listening to the Elite Real Estate Leaders podcast.

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