KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Mastering High-Value Leads: How to Spot, Nurture, and Convert for Long-Term Success

Starting point is 00:00:00 High value for me, it's someone that I really align with that would be able to build some really good report with, which is going to lead to building trust, which is going to help you be able to do business with them. The seller's kid was having a birthday party in the backyard. They didn't realize open house meant the backyard too. This is KGCI Real Estate on Air Live, your weekly deep dive into the strategies, trends, and tools shaping the real estate industry, from market updates to actionable strategies and exclusive interviews with top agents. We are here to unlock your full potential and help you thrive. Thousands of agents trust KGCI every week. Now it's your turn. Let's go live. Here's Ian Wheatley.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Welcome back to Real Estate on air live where the market's always moving and so are those opportunities. If you know where to look, I'm Ian Wheatley. And this week we have seen quite a big shift. Homeowners who were once locked into those super low rates are starting to move again, not because rates are moving, but because. life is moving faster than the math. Meanwhile, builders are cutting prices and offering some big incentives to get homes sold before tariffs drive the costs up. And cash buyers, they're still winning that multiple offer game. So whether you're working with first-time home buyers, move-ups,

Starting point is 00:01:18 right-sizers, investors, the market is very much alive if you know how to spot the openings. Which brings us to today's main event. How to identify and convert high-value leads? I'll be joined by Shane Carvaho, the co-host of the top producing zone podcast streaming right here on KGCI Real Estate on air. You'll hear that Tuesdays shortly after we get off the air today. And we're going going deep into the heart of finding the right leads. The ones that may not be ready today, they may not be hot, but they're absolutely worth the long game. Plus, we'll be breaking down this week's housing headlines, including why waiting for rates to drop could be costing your buyers some legitimately real money and why builders are dealing, but not for long.

Starting point is 00:02:03 It's all happening right now on Real Estate on Air Live. It's time for housing headlines. It was a couple weeks back. I think it was three weeks ago. We were talking about how economic uncertainty and high mortgage rates were locking homeowners in place. It's called the lock-in effect. But today, we have some new data that shows this is starting to shift a bit. According to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors, lifestyle changes, not interest rates are what are driving homeowners to get on the move again. Marriage, divorce, kids, downsizing elder care. Long story short, life is outpacing the loan rate. So why does this matter? 44 million homeowners still have mortgage rates below 6%, but they're no longer chained to those numbers.

Starting point is 00:02:51 They're making moves based on life, not math. So agents, start reconnecting with those past clients. hopefully you've been doing that already, but if you haven't, start now. If you help them buy a home in the last five years, odds are life changes could be creating some opportunities right here, right now, even if rates stay high. There's also some good news. New home sales jumped 7.4% in March, and the average new home price is 4.7% lower than it was a year ago. What the heck's going on there?

Starting point is 00:03:25 Well, builders are trying to attract buyers with nearly one-third of builders planning price cuts or significant incentives because here's the deal. Right now, buyers, they could lock in a below-market pricing and often get perks like upgrades, closing costs, rate buy downs, etc. But there is a big catch. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that tariffs on materials could add $10,000 or likely more to the cost of building a home. and the builders on the ground are warning that this hesitation is real. So agents push urgency for new construction buyers. Right now, the builders are dealing, but higher costs are coming if tariffs end up biting. So waiting could mean paying more for less.

Starting point is 00:04:11 And last week we talked a bit about cash offers edging out finance buyers in multiple offer situations, and we see that trend starting to accelerate. according to the National Association of Realtors in their latest report, 21% of homes sold nationally are cash purchases. And first time home buyers are making up 32% of sales, but cash is still tilting that balance. So cash buyers, often people that have owned a home for a long time, they've got a high equity stake in the property,

Starting point is 00:04:40 as well as investors, are winning because they remove financing uncertainty in a market still obsessed with rates. Okay? So agents, coach your finance buyers. They need clean offers, fast timelines, and backup options like cash-backed approval programs to stay competitive. And that's the check of your housing headlines here on Real Estate on Air Live. I'm Ian Wheatley. KGCI Real Estate on Air Live, I'm Ian Wheatley.

Starting point is 00:05:12 And this week, Real Estate on Air Live, we are digging into a topic that every agent really needs to be thinking about. It's not just about who's hot and who's not. it's about who's high value and who's not. Because not every lead is urgent, but some are absolutely worth playing that long game for. Joining me is Shane Carvallo, the co-host of the top producing zone. He does that show along with Michael Jin. That one's streaming here on KGCI, Real Estate on Air, unpacking.

Starting point is 00:05:39 How to spot those high-value leads in your database. Shane, thanks for joining us at Real Estate on Air Live. Thanks, thanks for having me. Yeah, this is going to be awesome. So when we're thinking about high value leads, different than someone who's not or someone who's ready right now, how do you define what a high value lead is? I would say for me, because look, I mean, at the end of the day, there's experience agents, new agents, whatever, right? But I feel like part of it's like personality match and who you align with. And so I think that before you even dig in, because look, as a new agent or someone that just wants to go,

Starting point is 00:06:17 clothes and tools. I mean, obviously, we all want to make a living, but it's like, I think we're too quick to judge people on, you know, if they have a lot of money or if they're cash or this or that. Honestly, for me, it's, I think that the first thing is, are they open and transparent with you, right? Because, I mean, it's like, for instance, when you're standing at an open house and a client comes in, you know, you see those standoffish, they feel like they're walking into a car lot. Well, it's the same with your leads. If you're talking to somebody and they're standoffish, they're not really just opening up, for me, a high value lead is someone that, like, it's like, okay, look, I'm talking to trust the professional.

Starting point is 00:06:48 Here's what I want to accomplish. And so when we start having the conversation, you could tell if there's someone that's serious about doing something. I don't care if it's going to be next year. I don't care. I think just having that first conversation, figure out what their goals are, figure out if they're realistic goals,

Starting point is 00:07:02 if it's something that can happen, if they want to, if they're under the impression that they could buy, you know, a house for $200,000 in our 1.8 median price home market or something like that's off the window. But it's something like people are serious. Like,

Starting point is 00:07:15 And it's just they don't understand. They're very serious. They're not even messing with you, right? But, you know, just if you have the conversation and it's like, look, does it sound like you want to accomplish something realistic? Do you feel like you're vibing with them? Are they relatable, right? Like, I found that a lot of my high value clients, like, we like the same types of places

Starting point is 00:07:37 to travel. We play the same kind of sports, but maybe the same sports club. Like, we like the same type of food. Like, I mean, you don't have to have, like, everything. comment, but it's like when you're super relatable, it's like it almost like gives you like a shoe in on beating for what they're going to want, especially if it's something for themselves, right? Yeah. The money was an investment, but it's something with themselves.

Starting point is 00:07:58 So I think that, you know, high value for me, it's someone that I really align with that would be able to build some really good report with, which is going to lead to building trust, which is going to help you be able to do business with them. And so those are the important steps to getting started. But, you know, I want to kind of pass the mic back to you. I don't want to kind of go down on. Right. Look, you're the expert. I brought you in. We're talking to Shane Carvallo.

Starting point is 00:08:23 He is the co-host, the top producing zone podcast streaming here on KGCI, Real State on Air. We're talking about what makes a high value lead, a high value lead. And we're thinking about some of those. You mentioned some of them. But what are the other specific behaviors, signals, patterns that you're looking for to try to flag somebody as that high value lead early. Well, I mean, I think obviously some intent is good, right?

Starting point is 00:08:49 But then also just how committed they are to communication, right? Like, sometimes they don't want to give up too much, like, contact information, or they're just kind of like dipping their toe in the water, but they're just afraid to like, you know, for me, it's like, look, we're going to have an understanding that I'm not going to go chase you to buy a house. Right. That's kind of part of that initial trust. You got to trust each other that, look, that's fine.

Starting point is 00:09:13 I don't care if you're not buying something right now. Obviously, if you're going to spend a couple million dollars, you need to get information first. And I'm happy to give the information at no cost. So, you know, if we can get to that step, then they're in. But if, you know, if they're just standoff as even with that, you know, a lot of times for me, it's like, I'm not going to waste the time. Like it almost becomes like a disrespect of your time because you're offering them time and information for free, which down the line maybe you'll get paid because they'll do something but I don't really focus on the getting paid part I really truly like to help them and build a relationship but if while I'm already offering to build that free relationship

Starting point is 00:09:49 if they're not opening up they're not comfortable and they're not talking then yeah they're like on to the next one so I think for me that's the biggest one initially not like show me your pre-approval or show me your banking out it's like how real are you with me how open are you with me like can we have a real conversation are we trusting each other? So it's more of a conversation and it's more of a feel on the communication before going into any sort of, I'm going to do an underwriting of this customer then.

Starting point is 00:10:23 Right. Well, look, with high value, a lot of times it's someone that has experience. Maybe they've bought and sold. Maybe they own some investment properties. Maybe they want to buy a second home. And so it's like, you know, when you come at somebody up front,

Starting point is 00:10:36 like, oh, yeah, what do you? qualify for how much money do you got, it can be insulting to this kind of lead. Yeah. Because if they're being honest and transparent with you, there's already this assumption, like I already have this assumption that based on how this person's talking, I've been doing this for over 25 years, right? Right. I feel like I have a certain level of intuition and maybe a new age you might think a little more

Starting point is 00:10:56 Yeah. But I think where I'm at in my career and the thousands of transactions I've been involved in, it's like there's some, you know, intuition. Sometimes we're wrong. But it's like you just kind of, you rule with the. building that relationship. And then when that underwriting has to happen, it happens. And look, it's just in talking. Once you have their name and everything, like, it's not uncommon for me to get off the phone and go pull a property profile and see what they own or wear.

Starting point is 00:11:21 I mean, sure. These people have LLCs whenever you don't find everything. But it's like, you know, I'll Google the name or get a sense. I'll do some background just to make sure that I'm not following some weird, like fake person or impersonation or whatever, you know. That makes sense. So it's also good insight and also kind of leads me to once you've identified that high value lead, what does that follow-up strategy look like? And is it different, demonstrably different, no different at all than any other general nurture strategy? Look, my business, you know, with my coaching, you know, that I've done in the past and just the way I've built my business, it's built on repeat and referral business, right? So I can go that

Starting point is 00:12:03 even send my clients or I've done business with the business. remember they send me people. So what doesn't work for me is these drip campaigns. Like, they call or text me a little bit like, you know what? Can you get me off this shit? Like, fine, send me your newsletter, but this, sorry, I just said that's word, but it's all right. But my whole thing is that, you know, they get upset because they're like, you're sending me this garbage. Like one of them, she's this attorney that I worked with, you know, with then transactions with. She actually called me one day and this happened a couple years here. She said, look, Shane, she's like, I love hearing for me, but pick up the phone and call.

Starting point is 00:12:35 call me. Don't send me these things, right? So it's like, I think that, you know, for me as far as follow-up strategy, depending on how we leave the conversation, I'm going to call or text them. I'm not some kind of a, I don't do this. I'm going to put you on a drip. I don't do that. Okay. The only kind of dripage in my world is a monthly newsletter. Like, that's, there's that. And then I do send, you know, a couple other things periodically. And then as part of my nurturing, in my database, I do have calls that I do or check-ins. But then here's the other thing. If they're high-value lead, one of my categories in my database is what I call my top 50

Starting point is 00:13:14 BIPs. So I did be coaching back with the core back in the day and the core really aligned with my business. And so my database, sphere management is a hybrid between things I've created and things I learned there and just a couple of other things I've picked up. So if they're high value, they're going into what I call my top 50 VIPs. And this is a list of clients that they're either going to transact with you or they transacted or they send you a lot of referrals. But they're kind of on that level.

Starting point is 00:13:38 They're those kind of clients that you want to stay engaged with. And so clients in that category get invited to special mixers or special holiday parties. They get like this additional gifting, additional touch. Like they're just, it's like you're your VIPs. And so it's like they have a lot, you're a lot more engaged, a lot more contact. And the thing is is that these high value leads, they could be moved in and out. because I use Google contacts. Right?

Starting point is 00:14:03 So they might be a fast fine or a lead or whatever, but they might also be a top 50 BAP. Sometimes they're not at first, but then they become one or sometimes they get moved out of that when they're not hot or whatever. So that's another important step. So when you're talking about,

Starting point is 00:14:15 I know it's a long answer, but when you're talking about follow-up strategy or how you engage, you know, I put them in all these places so that I am in good contact. And if they say, hey, I'm not going to do anything for three months, then reach out them like in a month and a half, right?

Starting point is 00:14:29 Right. Whenever they say, I always divide it in half. Yes, yes, yes. I can't tell you how many listings I've lost or clients I've lost because I get really busy and I don't follow up. I lost almost $3 million listing last month. Even though I was somewhat engaged, they wanted to kind of be left alone, finish their remodel, they're going to reach out to me.

Starting point is 00:14:46 Well, I had gone out of town, I'd reach out to them. I got back. They just signed a listing on their agent. They're like, we know you're busy. We thought you didn't want to help us or you couldn't help us right now. We still like you, but we thought you were too busy. So I hate that. And I've gone through the database and I've added up millions of dollars because I haven't.

Starting point is 00:15:04 So don't do that to yourself unless it motivates you. But I mean, it can be painful. It can be painful, especially if you're, depending if you're, you know, I don't mean to throw Zillow under the bus. But let's just say you have a bunch of old Zillow leaves and you kind of comb through those and you look and you see. It's like, oh, man, like eight months after I stopped contact with that person who's sitting in my database with all their contact information. you know, my CRM is telling me that they executed a sale and you go, that's a bummer. That hurts a little bit.

Starting point is 00:15:36 There's two parts for that, though, right? So one of them is the fact that we give up follow up too soon. A lot of the conversion followups happens at 5, 6, 7, 8. That's where the conversion happens. So I'm aware of that. For me, it's more that I stay so busy that I'm not the best about getting there. And that's where a lot of people use their drip as the substance. for me, I just got to be better about keeping them in one of these groups to where I am

Starting point is 00:16:03 doing the appropriate follow-ups. And so, like, you know, on occasion, I'll drop the ball. Maybe I didn't classify them or put them in there, and I forgot about them. I've gotten way better the last few years about having them somewhere. Have you on a notepad and, you know, it's like, they would get lost or you're so busy on the daily that you forget about this person that maybe called you around the road. So what I do is I document it right away. If I'm on the road, I'll even put it with my, I have an operations group like for my assistants. Anything I get now, I'll put it in that group right away.

Starting point is 00:16:36 Hey, I just had this conversation, so on and so. Can you put them in? We've been using Trello. Can you put them in Trello? And then we've been using Slack from communication that's better with having everything in there. So I think that, you know, for me that it's, when it comes to the follow up, you have to make sure you have them in your system. Even if you're not doing the drip thing, at least have. in your system with a trigger to contact them and make sure there's somewhere where your

Starting point is 00:16:59 team can also remind you to contact them. And then the other thing I've been doing is I'll go out in the calendar and I'll actually put a calendar 15-minute call slot in my calendar further out with a notification to make 100% sure that this doesn't hack it. Right. Right. That's awesome. Shankarval, he is the co-stop producing zone podcast streaming here on KGCI Real Estate on Air. This is Real Estate on Air live. And we're talking about focusing on those high levels. leads and what makes or breaks a high value lead. What are some of those mistakes that most agents make with these longer-term higher value leads? And what would you recommend for an agent to go in and fix those mistakes? I think that a lot of agents are too quick to want to transact.

Starting point is 00:17:47 It's like they're essentially telling someone to just like, you know, Puber got off the plot, right? And that's a huge mistake, especially with a more sophisticated thing. I mean, look, this could be somebody that already has a large portfolio. They're maybe considering adding properties in your market to their portfolio. Maybe they've been doing some initial market research. They want to talk to someone locally. If you're, I mean, look, and I cringe when I see this, but these are the kind of people that I'll see an agent do the whole underwriting on the first goal A. So you cash fired.

Starting point is 00:18:16 What do you got? Like, where's your pre-approval? I mean, if you want to turn off a high value lead, that's how you lead off. Yeah. So look, you got to read the room. This is where like people skills, intuition, communicating, trying to build a relationship. I mean, like, look, this goes back to obviously I'm a certified mentor with a brokerage as well. So this is where like I'm telling you, I coach every new agent on this. Don't focus on the money. Focus on taking care of the client. The money will always follow. Bless as many people as you can. And I promise you, you will always be good. So if you can have that in your mind, somewhere when you're meeting these people you won't screw up because a lot of agents are and I don't want to speak for a lot of agents I don't want to be through anybody else then but I'm just saying I've seen it it's very common that you want it now you want it today where realistically like look looking back at some of my

Starting point is 00:19:09 clients that I've been working with that clients that come back to me after 20 like what 20 years with the transactions I mean even I asked me as some clients I've moved them they moved their primary right ready in the last 10 years and I've helped them buy and sell investment properties like you know I have another client was a VA first-time buyer helped them buy a 400,000 dollar property relocated here, helped them in his family buy a million dollar property just a couple years ago like I mean if you really like take care of your people from day one and always like serve them they will navigate through all the social media ads and getting bombarded by other agents to find you even if you're

Starting point is 00:19:45 not staying communication enough if you do a good enough job and you really build a relationship people love and trust you, they're going to come back. This whole like taking your high value lead and just trying to make them do something on day one, it makes your business a turn and burn business. And so if you want to go somewhere with this high value client, guess what? High value clients usually have high value friends, right? So it's like if you really are patient, the reason 90% of my business is repeating referrals because I was very patient with these high value leads who gave me more high value.

Starting point is 00:20:20 value leads and they continue to come back. If you want to be the whole turn and burn, then go by Zillow leads or whatever you want to do and just turn and burn and don't build a business and then just, you know, you'll blow a lot of these high value leads, but hey, you know, everybody does their business differently and I'm not going to judge you. If that's what works for you that's fine, but obviously you and I are here trying to help people actually take these high value leads and actually do something with them. And these high value leads become a pinnacle in your database, especially if you get, you only need a few of them to really build a successful business. I think, I think often about either you hear things when you're a new, when you're a new,

Starting point is 00:20:55 when you're a new, when you're a new, when you're a new, when you're a new, when you're a maybe not so fair, when you're an agent and you're kind of in that, in that typical average agent production range, right? You hear a lot of things. You hear a lot, what a lot of top producing agents say about how, how your business scales over time. And one of the things that I, would hear a lot, but it was, it was, I was slow to internalize is the connections of your, your next deal is in the deal that you're just closed, right? The next pending is in this deal somewhere. And you hear that and you go, I don't necessarily get it. But when you have three, four, five, six, in your case, 26, years of, you know, closings, you can very clearly see, oh,

Starting point is 00:21:48 Oh, this one came from this one, came from this one, came from this one, came from this one. And even in a market like this one, a good 70% of my transactions in 2024 came from a referral or a past client from 2023. Right. I tend to deal with a lot of investors. But, you know, when you have your investor clients referring you to their family members, it really does make a big difference. Putting the time in now to set the business up the right way is absolutely essential. So, Shane, if you were training a new agent today, how would you teach them to find and work these leads without maybe getting overwhelmed or discouraged? Be overwhelmed and discouraged in this realistic.

Starting point is 00:22:38 That's easy to do. Right. I think that, you know, like I was saying earlier, what I say about, you know, focusing on healthy people and not on the money. well there's two parts of that as a new agent in fact I was on a call with one of my mentees this morning and she just joined us just came on board you know last month too I'm so excited about our career not a lending but like you know we're just talking about this is that like look when you first start out you have to pretty much just cast the big net right you got to work with whatever comes to a certain extent like don't go like you know torture yourself with something awful but I mean it's like

Starting point is 00:23:11 you're going to be doing all the random difficult challenging deals and all the weird stuff and you just you just cast that wide net and you take care of it. And then it's like what you can do is then focus on the, like focus on marketing for the business you want. But in the meantime manager comes in. So as a new agent, what you have to learn and be quick to do for the sake of efficiency is to figure out each person like what buck in my prettibutist person in. And I help my students or my mentees.

Starting point is 00:23:42 Like I help them come up with these categories. We use Google contacts to make the tags. that we kind of put people where they need to be. And we kind of figure out, like, you know, where they're at. Like today she has this client that really wants to sell and move, but in the fall. But she doesn't really want to talk about it right now. So she was asking me, like, what do I do? I don't want to bother her because she doesn't want to be bothered.

Starting point is 00:24:01 You know, what do I do? And so it's like, I'm like, okay, well, look, you don't want to be in her face, like, you know, a used car sales person. So it's like, I told you her, you split the time. She wants to talk in September, call her on July 1st, you know, and just check in. I just so I think that you you have to take each person you talk to and understand that depending on what your lead sources are where you mean these people sometimes it's like maybe one out of a hundred will kind of whereas if it's your sphere then maybe it's one out of ten and so what I tell them is that look when you're fishing in the pond of just like the general public that may or may not be buying or whatever only a lot a certain amount of time for that spend most of your time on stuff that will converter has a chance to convert

Starting point is 00:24:43 Did I just lose you? No, I'm still here. I'm still here. You were on a roll, though. You were on a roll. Yeah, sorry about that. My power flash, let me make sure my power is good. Maybe it was a power.

Starting point is 00:24:55 I'm sorry, the power flash. It went off for a second. Anyway, what I'm saying, though, is what I was saying was, is this, is that, you know, you're talking about, like, not getting overwhelmed as a new agent, and now, essentially, how to handle all these leads and everything coming at you. It's like, look, you simply just start to kind of prequalify them into different friend categories. And then, like, for instance, with my, like, the way I break it down is I have my mentees spend an hour every day. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. So the five weekdays,

Starting point is 00:25:24 I have an hour slot each day they put in their calendar. And each day I have them hitting a certain segment. One of the hours is spent on Wednesdays hitting old leads, dead leads, right? So anything that doesn't seem like it's going to really bear fruit is just challenging. You're only putting an hour there, right? But then your top 50 VIPs, on Monday, you're, you're you've got a full hour for your top 50 babies. When I say top 50 as a new agent, maybe you have five or 10. You know, if it's called top 50, I have like 86 or something in mind right now. So it's like, it doesn't matter what it is, but it's like, you're, you're saying you're allocating time and for kind of each group.

Starting point is 00:25:59 And so if you organize yourself like that, then it's not overwhelming, right? And then you'll start to find your way, you know? And look, at the end of the day, like, I'm not opposed to people doing drips. Like old leads, dead leads, put them on a drip. right but right people that do know you that you talk to people you've done business with people are any business whether you're scared be real with them because you know you'll get the calls like i did if you're a very people person and they know you these drips are going to like irritate them but always deadly sure have the drip be like a little because you've got to be efficient right so

Starting point is 00:26:30 whatever help you can get from technology but um but essentially so not to get overwhelmed it's just breaking it down here's this group this group this group i'm going to spend most of my time where it's going to convert the most. And then here's an hour on this other day for stuff that may not convert. And that way, then the rest of the time, then you're doing whatever, but it's not an overwhelming process. You know, you mentioned like, you know, there is a time and a place for a drip, right? And a drip can be highly effective when deployed properly. The problem is what you can't necessarily do with a drip is deploy it across an entire uniform database, right? If you were to employ if you are, if you successfully classified different lead categories as high value,

Starting point is 00:27:17 you know, what that looks like. And maybe though that is a drip more of tasks for you to take action on versus emails and text messages. And you have a nurture group that you have an appropriate drip campaign for them. I mean, these can be very valuable leverage tools. But eventually, the drip only takes you so far. Eventually, there is going to need to be an action on the part of the agent to pick up the phone, make a phone call, send a personalized text. I don't know. Are bomb bomb video still a thing? I mean, those are kind of fun to still get those, right?

Starting point is 00:27:54 I mean, you know, whoever there's just even like a little record on your phone and just send it all over, hey, just thinking of you. I mean, these do help. So, Shane, if you were to, you know, boil it down into one thing, your brand new agent. and you've got this high value lead in front of you. What's the one thing I got to do? I think you have to build some common ground. But I think you also like, here's the thing is you, more than anything, you have to find that confidence as a new agent.

Starting point is 00:28:24 Because a lot of times you're going to be talking to somebody that maybe has a lot of experiences, you know, probably bought and sold more houses than you have in your entire career. But you have to understand that. You don't want to be dishonest or anything or be deceiving, but you have to at least write on the fact that you're a real estate professional. and perception is reality. You know, they're treating as a real estate professional.

Starting point is 00:28:44 Like, don't ever be dishonest if you don't know the answer to something, say you'll give back to them with that. But be confident because if you're at all insecure and you're not, you know, able to just handle yourself well with this high value lead, you're going to lose them, you know? And understand that. Like, there are high value leads that understand that everybody starts somewhere and they're okay with you being newer because a lot of times

Starting point is 00:29:06 they feel like you're going to be a lot more transparent. It's interesting because when talking to some of my allies, at least I work with over time, they feel like some of these older brokers can be shady. Like, it's interesting. Like, I, and the other thing, too, is that the other complaint that I get is that you, you see some guys are too busy, you know, so they feel like sometimes they can get someone that is new. So it's like, you know, it's not always a disadvantage to be a newer agent. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:29:32 You don't have to advertise it, but be confident in your interaction with Iowa, I lead. and try to build those commonalities. You know, maybe you don't have vacation and value where they do, you know. Maybe there's another place that you love that's amazing. Or maybe there's some fun facts. If you hear that they love this or that, then maybe you have some fun facts that maybe they didn't know about that place. You just have to find commonalities and build some rapport, you know,

Starting point is 00:29:58 and be likable. And I think that one thing that an advantage to for newer agents is the fact that, Like, I talk a lot in general, and I used to not listen enough because I do. I become a much better listener. I think that, you know, as a new agent, talking high value, ask a lot of questions, take a lot of notes. Don't overpower them with your speech. I just know the business tool. So I'm constantly trying to just like spit all this out there.

Starting point is 00:30:27 And it's not even so much because I'm trying to impress them. I feel like the credibility is already there just with my experience. But it's like, I don't know. You always feel like you have to like reinforce why. Right. You know, where's a new agent? Like, you don't have that in the body. That's not a bad habit you've developed yet.

Starting point is 00:30:41 You don't have the curse of knowledge yet. Right. So it's like, so ask a lot of questions. Be super curious, you know, and at the same time, like I said, try to build this commonality, you know, with them as much as you can. And hopefully it's a personality match. Sometimes it's just not a match. And you just have to respectfully just say, you know what I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:30:59 I'm not going to help you. But maybe you're from somebody else. Maybe it's like, hey, I have somebody that aligns with what you're trying to do. somebody specialized in that area or as somebody that's also in such and such an industry. I think that they be a good match for you. And, I mean, sometimes, hey, 25% referral, you move off the next one, right? You know, here's the thing. Another time, we will have a conversation about outbound and inbound referrals.

Starting point is 00:31:23 Shane Carvallo, this has been an absolutely excellent conversation for her agents listening right now. How can they get in touch it with you if they want to learn a little bit more? You know what? I love helping our agents. You can, I mean, look, on Instagram, a lot of people. people mess with me on there, which is Shane Carballo, our E team. There's a couple underscores in there. But I mean, my mobile, like myself, like I was 831, 588, 2, 3,774. I mean,

Starting point is 00:31:47 you text or call there anytime. And I'm always happy to set up like a 30-minute Zoom. You know, if someone wants to talk about something. And then, you know, I know, I know we're going to do the referral thing some other time, but I was a record holder and referrals here in the past at Brobridges. I love referral business. Oh. Yeah, globally, number one, globally with Century 21 in 2014 referrals whoa 41 that's my one claim to be my one award but I did close yeah so I that's another thing too that I love connecting with all y'all because I like to refer out referring so that's another reason people say oh you're willing to give us time I go yeah I'm always happy to

Starting point is 00:32:23 help people because like I said you take care of people you get blessed same with contact you know I'm not too busy to talk I'm always want to talk to people that are out out there hustling and working hard. People that aren't really working that are trying just waste your time. I don't have time for that. But if you're out there hustling and you're trying to be better or grow or whatever, I'm always, I always have time for people that want to hustle. Well, certainly appreciate your time today. Shane, thanks for joining us here at Real Estate on Air Live. Thanks. Thanks for having me. And if you appreciated Shane's insights, you can check out the Top Producing Zone podcast that is going to be streaming in about an hour right here on Real Estate on Air Live.

Starting point is 00:32:57 You can also check it out as podcast. Just search KGCI wherever you listen. to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, IHeart, anywhere you're listening to podcast, search KGCI, and you can check out the Top Producing Zone podcast there. Hope you were taking notes. I'm not going to shame you if you weren't. Here were my top five takeaways from that conversation with Shane Carvalho heard moments ago here on real estate on air live. Number one, eye value leads are built on transparency and rapport, okay?

Starting point is 00:33:27 Shane defines a high value lead, not just by income or readiness. but by their openness, honesty, and willingness to engage. If a prospect is standoffish or defensive, they likely aren't worth a long-term investment, at least of Shane's time. So agents look for leads who want to have a real conversation, not just ones who are flashing hot buying signals. Number two, trust first, underwrite later, don't jump to, how much are you qualified for?

Starting point is 00:33:56 Too fast, okay? High value leads, especially experienced clients. Expect trust in conversation before that financial pre-qualification. Okay, so agents, build the relationship first. The financial vetting will happen naturally once that trust is established. Number three, ditch the drip, personalize the follow-up. Shane does not rely on generic drip campaigns. His high-value leads get calls, tax, personal check-ins, not mass email.

Starting point is 00:34:24 So agents, for those best leads, replace the automated touchpoints with real human connection. Number four. How the hell do you do that? Well, create a VIP list to focus your energy on. Shane tags his high value leads as part of his top 50 VIPs inside of his CRM. Oh, there's that CRM coming up again. And there may be more than 50 of the top 50 VIPs, right? But these leads, they get special touches, invites to mixers, extra gifts, personalized follow-up. That's the important one because they're worth it. So agents, not every lead deserves a same level of attention. Building a VIP tier and treat them like gold can make you tens of thousands of dollars. And number five, stay organized or lose millions. Shane was the first to admit that he's lost listings, he's lost referrals for millions of dollars

Starting point is 00:35:20 in his market because he got too busy, didn't follow up. Now that he logs every conversation immediately and uses calendar reminders to avoid losing track of clients and leveraging those tools in our CRMs, he's done something very important that agents you need to listen to, because busy isn't an excuse. It's an opportunity to build systems that catch the leads you might otherwise drop. And if you're looking for more than just these five simple strategies and tactics that you could implement into your business, here's the move. Open up the app store on iPhone or Google Play on Android and search KGCI.

Starting point is 00:35:57 like the letter K, gross commission income. A bunch of light bulbs just went off there. And download the always free KGCI real estate on-air mobile app. It's going to integrate the streaming that you're listening to right now and all of the 1900 on-demand podcast at your fingertips anytime, anywhere. Because for this week's Friday focus, we are going to be diving even deeper on how to identify and convert high-value leads. We're going to be bringing insights from top producers,

Starting point is 00:36:27 from all around the United States and Canada to share what they do to attract and convert the leads that matter most. And it's all day on Friday, but if you forget to set the reminder on your phone, what's great about the app is I will just send you a little reminder right as we're getting started so that way you don't miss out on any of the six-plus hours of content

Starting point is 00:36:49 we're going to be bringing your way. But don't forget, if you do miss it, get busy, I understand. It's a Friday. All of it will be available. on demand same day. All right, it's time to lighten things up. It's time for real estate confessions. If you're new to the show,

Starting point is 00:37:04 Real Estate Confessions is the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moments that happen from the field in this wild world of real estate. Okay? And these are your stories, okay? What you do is you send us a message on Facebook or Instagram. Be sure to follow us too. And share that story that you share at the water cooler at the office. or at those association banquets at the end of the year.

Starting point is 00:37:31 All right, we all have at least one of these stories. But before we get started, we do have to get one thing straight. Real estate confessions features stories from the wild world of real estate. Names and details may have been changed to protect the innocent and occasionally the not-so-innocent. All confessions are shared in good humor and do not reflect the opinions of KGCI Real Estate on air, its hosts, or affiliates. No agent's licenses were harmed in the making of this segment. Enjoy responsibly. All right. It's time for real estate confessions. Because in real estate, truth is stranger than fiction. I arrived early to host an open house, balloons, streamers, cupcakes everywhere. Turns out

Starting point is 00:38:22 the seller's kid was having a birthday party in the backyard with a big bounce house. They didn't realize open house meant the backyard too. During a showing, I sat down on a perfectly staged couch to chat with my buyers, only to discover it was actually an inflatable couch. I slowly sank into the floor like a deflating balloon while trying to keep a straight face. The cellar decided that they were going to bake cookies before the open house to give it the homey smell. Instead, they accidentally burned a frozen pizza. We spent the open house explaining that it was artisan smoked crust.

Starting point is 00:39:00 I once uploaded a new listing to the MLS and didn't realize until later that one of the photos showed me, crouched behind the kitchen island, holding a Starbucks cup like I was in hiding. Stayed up for three days. Ah, that's this week's real estate confessions, because in real estate, if it can happen, it's gonna. You got a story of your own? Send us your real estate confession on Facebook or Instagram Messenger, and you might hear it next week right here on Real Estate on air live. Special thanks to Shane Carvalho, co-host of the Top Producing Zone podcast,

Starting point is 00:39:35 streaming here on KGCI Real Estate on Air. And don't forget to check into this week's Friday Focus all day. We're going even deeper on how to identify and convert high-value leads. I mean Wheatley. This is Real Estate on Air Live. Be good.

KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Mastering High-Value Leads: How to Spot, Nurture, and Convert for Long-Term Success

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