Find Your X Factor

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Welcome to Now Making Moves in Real Estate, episode 66.
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I'm your host, Michelle, aka the General, alongside with my co-host, Courtney Twist.
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And today we're joined by Wendy Forsyth, Chief Marketing Officer of EXP Realty, where she leads global marketing strategy and helps drive brand visibility and innovation across the company's worldwide agent network.
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Wendy brings more than two decades of leadership experience in real estate, having held executive roles at companies including Compass, Fathom Realty, and HomeSmart International, where she played a key role in scaling brand recognition and market growth.
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Well, she's also now the author of a brand new book, Leverage Your X Factor, the six-step framework to scale your real estate business and reclaim your life, where she shares a powerful system designed to help agents build businesses that align with their strengths and their lives, not just their workload.
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Please help us in welcoming Wendy Forsyth.
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Thank you, Michelle.
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Oh, that's awesome.
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I almost love it when people read like bios.
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It's such an uncomfortable, like, you know, few moments of a conversation, but I appreciate it.
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We have to brag on you, although it probably could have gone on for much longer because you are so accomplished.
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Ah, thank you so much.
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Yeah.
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So, Wendy, um, you've had an incredible career in real estate leadership across obviously major companies.
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When you look back on your journey that led you to becoming the CMO at EXP Realty, what were some of the pivotal moments that shaped your path?
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Oh, goodness.
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I mean, such a loaded question.
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We got some good ones for you.
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We got some good ones.
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Yeah.
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I mean, there's there's so many pivotal moments.
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I mean, where do you want me to start?
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So let's start at the beginning, right?
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I never could have imagined when I started my career as an agent in my early 20s that I would be having a conversation like this with you guys today.
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And I think that's one of the wonderful things about a real estate career.
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And it's one of the things I tell people today, starting out, is that this industry will open up doors of opportunity that you never could have imagined.
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Just lean into it and push those doors open.
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And that is one of the things that I have always done.
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I have tried to push those doors open.
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I have tried to find those doors to push open along the way.
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And I've tried to step through those doors.
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And sometimes that worked out.
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Not always.
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There's been some missteps along the way, but the opportunities have been there.
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And this is an industry that has ample opportunity to build a life that is bigger than probably any of us ever imagined starting out.
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So we're we're very fortunate to be in this industry.
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I agree.
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What remind me what year you transitioned from being in the sales side to doing more of the, you know, leadership or corporate side.
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I crossed over into the dark side of corporate real estate.
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Exactly.
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Um, it was um in the the late 90s.
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So I had my own real estate brokerage in the late 90s and I sold that business.
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And at the time I was a franchisee of a franchiseor in Canada, which is where I started my career.
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And you had to get permission to um I had to assign my franchise uh contract to the new owner of my business.
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And the franchiseor called me.
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And in Canada, it was a company called Royal Apage, which is a dominant um company in the Canadian market still today.
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Um, the the leadership that had to approve my franchise um transfer called me right away and said, What are you doing next?
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And as a franchisee, I had, you know, won several awards and had been in, you know, involved in the events and franchise counsel and things.
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And I was sort of a token young female franchise owner.
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So you can imagine that got a little bit of attention um, you know, back in the late 90s.
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Um, so I got the call.
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What are you doing next?
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And I said, look, I, you know, I don't know.
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Um, I want to travel, I want to, you know, do some things, I want to sell some real estate.
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I had started building a team.
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I was an owner who was also in production.
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Um, I said, I want to, you know, build out my team.
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Um, and they said, Well, you know, would you be interested in a corporate role?
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And part of my um sale was I needed to stay on um in a non-compete for a period of time to help, you know, the new owners of my brokerage make sure everything went smoothly.
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So I said, like, well, you know, I have to do this, which they were fully aware of.
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But they said, when the non-compete ends, like, would you be interested?
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And it required a move from my hometown where I was born, raised, went to college in Nova Scotia, Canada, to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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And part of the motivation for me selling my brokerage business was I wanted to travel and I wanted to experience kind of the world.
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And so when that sort of opportunity came to move into this corporate role, um, I jumped at it.
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So um, so I made that move.
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And I think that was uh the year 2000 was kind of when um I then sort of like stepped out of real estate sales and into my first corporate position, which was um a little bit like hitting a brick wall.
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Well, I was thinking about how you said you wanted to travel.
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Hopefully, you still want to travel because you sure travel a lot.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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But but it was a different, um, a different mindset of like not wanting to.
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I remember having a pivotal conversation with my dad, who has been a wonderful mentor for me throughout my career and still is.
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Um, but I knew at that point if I didn't leave my hometown, I probably was gonna be there my entire life.
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And so part of the motivation of kind of selling the business, taking this role in another province, moving, you know, across the country, um, was kind of getting so far outside of my comfort zone and taking such a big risk.
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And I remember my dad saying to me, you can always come home, but go out there and see that great big world and take the risk because you can always come home.
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Now's the time.
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Build that great big life and go see.
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And I've carried that advice.
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Like when I repeat those words, I hear his voice saying those words.
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And I've taken a few of those big jumps.
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Moving from Canada to the US was another one of those big jumps in my career.
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And and those words, and we had similar conversations when I made that move.
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And then, you know, there's been a few times throughout my career where I've made those like big risks, and uh they've paid off every time.
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Well, I mean, obviously they've paid off in dividends because you're the CMO of EXP Realty.
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I mean international global brokerage.
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And I'm just curious to share with our listeners a little bit about what your day looks like in that role because it must be slightly diverse and very busy.
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It is very diverse and it's very busy.
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Um, so a typical day starts between 4:30 and 5 a.m.
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Um, I get up, I have a cup of coffee.
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So I I am very much a morning routine person.
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I believe in a morning routine, but it's a cup of coffee with my amazing husband.
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I uh check in kind of on the world, so to speak.
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So I do tend to spend that first kind of half hour with coffee, husband, and phone and puppy dogs.
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So very but that that is the first sort of half hour of the day.
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Then um I exercise.
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So from kind of like five to six is like either running, uh, walking um or going to the gym.
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There's there, I'm doing some sort of like exercise.
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Whatever I'm doing, I'm always listening to something during that time.
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So I'm a big um audible or podcast fan.
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So I'm sort of feeding my mindset during that hour.
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And that just helps me get focused and lasered focused for the day.
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So I'm getting my body moving, I'm getting my mindset in the right day, energy is getting high, uh, back showered ready.
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I'm at my desk by, you know, quarter to seven, eight o'clock.
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And of course, we work remotely.
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So my desk is, you know, literally, you know, in my home.
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Uh, but we're rolling from that point.
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So from that point on, it is phone calls, it's video calls, um, and it's very diverse.
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I mean, it's everything from talking to, you know, agents that may be considering joining EXP to working with my team on, you know, initiatives that we're working on for the marketing team, from working cross-functionally with other teams within EXP on projects and initiatives that we're working on, um, to doing things like this and helping, you know, all of our um agents um to doing um, you know, other media things that we might be doing, um, to working to build the EXP uh brand.
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Um, it's very diverse.
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We wear a lot of hats.
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I can imagine.
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I am curious because I listen to a lot of podcasts too.
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What is your favorite podcast?
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Um, I have a bunch.
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Um, I very much enjoy Layla Homozy.
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So I like her podcast a lot.
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Um, I listen to um um Neil Patel, um, his marketing school podcast is um a favorite that I listen to.
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Um I listen to Amy Porterfield, her marketing uh podcasts, um, is is one that I listen to like like all the time, um, is a favorite.
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I listen to the real estate podcast.
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So I listen to Housing Wires podcasts, I listen to Tom Ferry podcasts, I listen to Brian Baffini podcast, like I have like the standard rotation of everything that's sort of happening in uh real estate.
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Um, I listen to John Chaplik's podcast.
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Like I'm a like I am a like I consume a lot of content of what's happening in the real estate world.
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Like I am a real estate content junkie.
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I want to know what are the, you know, what are the Jared James of the world?
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What are the coaches?
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What are the content creators?
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What are they talking about?
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What are they doing?
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What is the pulse of how we can offer value to our agents?
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That helps us from a marketing uh perspective as marketers, it helps us from a messaging perspective as the brand, because we're messaging to all of you every single day.
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We put out so much content on our own personal social, on the brand accounts.
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Uh, we have to consume a lot of content.
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So, speaking of the real estate market and um in the industry as a whole, um, there's a lot of noise with social media, branding, AI.
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We know you're like a huge AI aficionado for sure.
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Um, but from your perspective, what do you think agents are spending way too much time on right now that actually isn't moving the needle at all?
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Good question.
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I mean, I it it's hard to answer from a blanket perspective, right?
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If if we were having a coaching conversation about your particular business, I would look at your business, ask you a few questions, I would do an audit on your business and particularly what I saw from a social media perspective.
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Um, and that would help me give a more specific answer.
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So because it would be different.
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It might be different for you, Michelle, than it would be for you, Courtney, than it would be like for another agent.
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Um, but in generalities, sometimes what I see is agents who are not being unique enough in the content they're putting out.
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So speaking uh from a social media perspective, in what goes out there, I see agents put a lot of content out, but it's just so generic that like anybody could put it out there.
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It doesn't help me know anything about Michelle or Courtney or Wendy or Joe or Sally or Sue, like any of us could put that out there.
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So, what makes it unique?
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What makes working with Michelle any different than working with Courtney or working with Wendy?
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And that to go back to you, I mentioned the book in your intro.
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Thank you for that.
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I like that plug.
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What is that X factor, right?
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People will be attracted to working with a particular agent based on a connection that they have with you.
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And if we're all generic, if we're all the same, the only thing that's going to set us apart is price.
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And if we're all competing on price, then that's not a fun world to live in and compete in, right?
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So the classic cliche phrase is you can compete on value or you can compete on price.
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And if we're not doing anything to distinguish ourselves based on value, if we're not leaning into our X factor, then we're only competing on price.
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And if the consumer only sees price as a differentiator, then we've just become a commodity as an industry.
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And we're already in a tough enough spot as an industry as it is to just become a commodity based on price is not where we as the professionals of this industry should put ourselves.
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So that's why the uniqueness of the skills we have, the personalities we have, the abilities that we offer throughout the course of the transaction is our X factor that we all need to be building our brands around.
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And the more we do that, the more those uniquenesses set us apart and create the value that the consumer can understand.
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And then they relate to, oh, I see why they charge the commission they charge.
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It makes the pricing conversation much easier and almost unnecessary because we've built the value in the expertise that we offer.
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Well, so yeah.
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That's probably like a good segue into the book.
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Let's talk about the book.
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Because, all right, you know, sounds like it's appropriate.
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Um tell us a little bit about the why behind the book, what um what agents can expect to get out of it.
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Yeah, I would love to.
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So let me start with the why.
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And we we sort of touched on the why.
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So for years, I have observed agents come into the industry and work really, really hard.
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And you guys have known these agents, you've seen these agents, you've probably been at times on the brink of being this agent.
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You work so hard, you have everything it takes, but yet you're on the brink of that burnout.
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You're on the brink of, I don't know if I'm gonna make it.
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And that breaks my heart to see that because it takes so much to get your license.
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You pour so much into it, and the industry does, as we talked about in the opening, give so much opportunity.
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You can have such a big, amazing career in this industry, but you've got to learn how to find the right framework for that success.
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And it's not something we really talk about in the industry.
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We talk about the hustle and the grind and the work more hours and the do more of this and prospect more of that.
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And that is not what ultimately creates longevity in people's career.
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It typically creates burnout, and it typically is what causes that amazing light that people start out with when they're so excited about their real estate career to dim.
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So the framework that I created with X Factor has six parts to it it's focus, action, community, technology, operations, and resilience.
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And with that six-part framework, if you can build your business around that framework, the idea is that your X factor, that superpower, that excitement will not burn out.
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And in today's market, where we have these two forces, and I think of it as like a rope, it's pulling on either side.
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One side is kind of what we were just talking about with marketing and social media and everything being with AI so available that it's so generic now.
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Everybody can write the perfect post with AI.
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Everybody can create the perfect graphic with Canva and all the design tools that we have.
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You've got to be unique.
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You've got to be on video, you've got to be creating your unique brand.
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That has added even more pressure to us.
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So our need for our X factor, our personal brand, is pulling that one end of the rope.
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And then the other end of the rope is that burnout factor.
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It's a tough market.
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It's a challenging time.
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The industry is changing.
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So the rope, we're getting pulled and pulled.
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We have to find a framework that allows us to be excited about our careers.
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Because if we're not excited, if we're not finding the joy every day in what we do, we're going to burn out and we're not going to have a long, fulfilling career that we're excited about.
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And we deserve more.
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So that's what the X Factor is all about.
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And that's what leveraging your X Factor is all about.
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I love that.
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And I'm curious, because you know, obviously a lot of our talks are on social media.
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What if you had to pick like one platform that you think is the most critical to our success over the next 10 years?
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Would it be YouTube or do you know?
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I mean, I feel like all obviously the trends have been going all towards videos.
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But if we wanted to leverage our X factor, what platform should we focus on?
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So 10 years is too long.
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Okay.
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And this is one of the things that I talk about in the book, is that we have to think in shorter cycles.
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And in the book, I actually recommend that you think in terms of 90-day cycles.
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Because 90 days is long enough that you can have an uh an impact, but short enough that you can pivot and you can see when things need to be changed because the world is changing so quickly.
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So think about social media to go to your question.
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Social media is changing so quickly.
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The algorithms change so quickly that I might answer your question today and I might say, go all in on Instagram.
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Well, 90 days from now, something could change.
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There could be a whole new algorithm.
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There could be a whole new social media like channel that could completely change that.
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For example, Facebook is making a resurgence.
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So a lot of the gurus are saying, like, you may have moved away from Facebook.
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You might want to move back to Facebook.
00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:52.640
So, you know, it changes so much.
00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:59.359
But right now, my answer would be for most of us, Instagram is having a huge impact.
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.599
But I wouldn't discount YouTube.
00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:13.039
I mean, YouTube is definitely if you're doing sort of video, especially like long form horizontal video, but then you want to chop that up and you want to put it over on Instagram.
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:19.039
Um, I would point you in a direction of maybe some channels that you're not using.
00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:28.160
Um, and that would be like if you haven't gotten um involved in Substack, go look at Substack.
00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:43.119
So this is a newer social media channel that is getting a lot of leverage and it is feeding in well to the um LLMs, so to Chat GBT and to Gemini.
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:48.240
And a lot of the influencers are really leaning into Substack.
00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:57.599
So if you're early in, that is always really good, especially if you are a thought leader or a content creator, which I know both of you are.
00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:02.319
Um Substack is somewhere that you may want to go take a look at.
00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:04.160
Um, Reddit as well.
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.799
I know Reddit has been around forever.
00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:12.880
Um, we kind of like even when I say Reddit, I like scrunched my nose up and like got a look on my face.
00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:19.599
But Reddit and the LLMs are playing together, um, especially comments on Reddit.
00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:25.359
If you are a commenter on Reddit, um, Chat GPT loves Reddit.
00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:30.240
They're pulling info and sourcing Reddit for all kinds of things.
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:44.480
So, as a real estate professional, if you go into Reddit, find the threads on your community and start contributing to information on your local community as the real estate expert.
00:23:44.799 --> 00:24:03.839
And then when somebody goes to Chat GPT and asks questions on Sacramento, Reddit will pull your answers as a contributor from Reddit and source you as the real estate expert on Sacramento in the answer in Chat GPT.
00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:05.279
Okay, great homework.
00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:10.000
Substack Reddit, doing it I'm like, that's our gold nuggets for the day.
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:11.680
There you go.
00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:14.799
Wow.
00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:28.400
Before we wrap up, I did want to just ask, you know, if an agent's listening today and feels like they're pushing up, you know, that that boulder uphill, working harder than ever, but not getting the results they want.
00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:36.720
And this is true with attraction as so speaking to those that are building revenue share organizations as well.
00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:43.440
What is the first step this person should do today to leverage their own X factor?
00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:45.359
Get into action.
00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:46.400
Okay.
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.359
And that's the second part of the framework.
00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.440
So focus and action.
00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.000
Those are the first two parts of the framework.
00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:58.319
So when you get into action, you start momentum.
00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:06.880
And I think part of what keeps us stuck is when we don't get into action.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:21.839
So if you're feeling stuck, if you're feeling like I'm not hitting the goals, I'm not doing, I'm just not getting the results that I'm hoping to get, that I want to get, you've got to get into action.
00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:25.119
And that might be making the first call.
00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:28.240
That might be just reaching out to somebody.
00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:48.000
If you're looking to start to build your organization, if you want to try to find other agents to join you here at EXP and you're not sure what to do or what you've been doing doesn't seem to be working, reach out to somebody who is doing it well, who you admire.
00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:51.680
There's so many great attractors here at EXP.
00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:53.200
Get into action.
00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:59.359
Call one of those people, reach out to one of those people and say, hey, what would you do first?
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:01.279
What did you do first?
00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:04.880
Have that conversation and then go do it.
00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:10.559
And then say to that person that you like reached out to, can we talk next week?
00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:15.119
Will you hold me accountable to what we talked about doing today?
00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:22.720
Because when you get into action and when that action has accountability attached to it, you'll create momentum.
00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:25.200
Momentum will create results.
00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:27.279
So good.
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:31.519
I definitely think that that's like for at least for me, just being full transparency.
00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:46.400
I'm one of those super OCD individuals, which can get in the way because you're just like so fixated on things being done and doing in a certain way, and it must be structured at this time and then, which is good.
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:47.680
Ask the general.
00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:48.880
Yes.
00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:55.599
But then you're like, then sometimes you can't really even get moving because it's it just seems so big.
00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:09.039
So it's almost like, okay, maybe if I just am at peace with move getting into action and being okay with maybe getting 80% of it done or chipping away at you know, just the 10% just to get going.
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.799
Yes, done is better than perfect, right?
00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:18.000
Okay, but what about those of us that do too much action on too many different things?
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:23.039
That's why the first principle of the framework is focus, right?
00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:26.000
So focus, then action.
00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:28.480
So you got to know what to focus on, right?
00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:34.640
And that's why we start with focus as the first part of the framework, right?
00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:37.279
And and the acronym is factor, right?
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:39.039
And that's where you kind of like focus.
00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:40.720
You gotta know what to focus on first.
00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:51.039
Because if you're focusing on too many things and then you get into focusing on the wrong things, as you said, Courtney, like you're gonna have a problem there too.
00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:58.000
So you got to make sure you're focusing on the right things, and then that you're getting into action on those things as well.
00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:00.160
So you hit the nail on the head.
00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.680
You gotta have focus and make sure that you're focusing on the right things.
00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:06.559
It's like a reminder of that 12-week year, you know.
00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:08.720
Exactly what I was thinking, Michelle.
00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:09.759
The 12th December.
00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:15.920
Just a reminder of just like stop focusing on all stuff and just right there.
00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:28.079
Um, I do want to mention before I forget, because I think this is important, every single dollar from the book sale, correct, is going to exp, I believe, extend a hand, yes.
00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:32.640
So um, I'm actually would love to just learn more about that.
00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:34.640
And and thank you for that, by the way.
00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:35.599
You're welcome.
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:44.240
So Extend a Hand is our EXP charitable foundation, and we support EXP agents when they are in need.
00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:51.440
So it is um for our agents when disaster strikes.
00:28:51.839 --> 00:29:07.039
And so, you know, when um, you know, when you think of things that have happened in the last year, we had the LA fires, we had the hurricanes, we had dozens of our agents who were homeless.
00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:24.640
So we supported them with grants through Extend a Hand to help them with temporary housing, with rehousing, with, you know, clothing, with food, with all the things that they just needed when they had nothing.
00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:37.759
And um, you know, we support our agents in various ways, even in between sort of the those two examples are sort of natural disasters, but there are other things that, you know, happen in our agents' lives.
00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:45.599
So um we raise money so that when our agents need us, they um have us to lean on.
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:46.400
So, yes.
00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:50.880
So um I'm a trustee on our Extend a Hand Um Foundation.
00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:59.920
And I knew when um I committed to doing the project, um, and I committed to the Extend a Hand Board actually in January of 2025.
00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:03.279
Um, I said, you guys, I have this idea for the book.
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:04.880
Um, I'm gonna do this.
00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:13.279
I'm gonna write the book in 2025, and um the proceeds will go to extend a hand and accountability I mentioned, right?
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:19.359
You gotta take action and then you gotta like say it out loud so that people will hold you accountable.
00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:35.680
That was a big like gulp for me because I had no idea how I was gonna write the book, when I was gonna write the book, but I knew if I made the commitment to the board that I would have to find a way.
00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:37.599
And um, so I did.
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:46.319
So all throughout last year, it was on airplanes, it was on vacation, it was a little bit there, a little bit here, a little bit there.
00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:50.799
I worked with a book coach that helped me um flush out the ideas.
00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:55.759
And I had like a meeting with him on a regular basis that we sort of went through it.
00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:14.480
Um and and yeah, so so that was a commitment that I made um, that I wanted to be part of um our fundraiser for extend a hand because we know that agents are not good with those rainy days, right?
00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:17.759
With having money put aside for those rainy days.
00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:20.720
And um that's what Extend a Hand is for.
00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:29.359
So I'm very excited that um we'll we'll be able to help raise funds to make sure that we're we're here to help our agents when they need us.
00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:30.079
Great.
00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:31.599
Great, yeah.
00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:32.079
Wow.
00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:36.160
Well, Wendy, we so appreciate you coming on here and joining us.
00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:41.759
It was great seeing you last week in Cabo, and great seeing you again now and all that you're doing.
00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:43.920
You're so inspirational to Michelle and I.
00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:46.079
Thank you guys so much.
00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:48.079
Um I so enjoyed our conversation.
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:49.359
Thank you for having me.
00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:50.480
Thank you, Wendy.
00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:52.240
You've been you've been so supportive.
00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:56.559
I mean, we've only been with the XP for what, two, two years.
00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:05.440
And so um, just the fact that you take time to help um the agents in this robust company.
00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:07.279
I mean, there's just a few of us here.
00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:08.559
Just a few of us.
00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:10.000
Just a few of us.
00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:14.400
So uh we thank you for your support and we're looking forward to the future.
00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:29.680
And and speaking of the future, let's just have you close out with maybe kind of your vision for you know where you think the real estate industry is going and you know what you see um EXP doing to to you know the moves that we're gonna be making.
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:30.480
That would be great.
00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:31.440
Oh, goodness.
00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:33.599
Okay, well, that's a great closing question.
00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:37.920
Um you know, it's so let's talk about the rest of 2026.
00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:42.000
Um, you know, it's gonna continue to be a tough year for the industry, right?
00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:46.880
So from an economic perspective, um, hang on tight, work hard.
00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:49.519
It's gonna continue to be be a tough year.
00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:57.680
Um from an EXP perspective, we will continue to push forward at the forefront of the industry.
00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:09.599
We'll continue to double down on tools and services and marketing and support for all of you to go out there and compete in this market.
00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:14.559
Um, leverage the opportunity to build your listing inventory.
00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:26.960
I mean, even though we're seeing days on market go up, we're seeing listing inventory on market go up, this is an ideal market to build your brand through being a listing agent.
00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:47.279
So that would be, you know, my advice to all agents is really double down on being a strong listing agent and leverage all of the tools that we have to help um with that, whether it's from a marketing perspective, whether it's from our divisions, our luxury agent divisions, sports and entertainment.
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:50.079
We just launched our new our new homes.
00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:57.200
Um, if you um work with builders, that's a you know great opportunity to take those specialty, you know, divisions.
00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:03.119
So we'll continue to pour into um all of our agents for support um on that.
00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:11.840
So um I think that there is an adage that when the market is tough, that is when market share is gained.
00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:21.679
And that is what we believe for all of our agents at EXP is this is a time for all of us to work hard and gain market share.
00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:24.719
So that is what we'll all continue to focus on.
00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:30.159
And then finally, sorry, Courtney, I'm just like go for it.
00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:33.599
The uh the I'm just the curious cat.
00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:40.480
Um, I know I said finally on my last question, but this is just to like, you know, go into one more final thought.
00:34:40.719 --> 00:34:45.039
So real estate is first, obviously, for the bulk of our company.
00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:48.639
Um, but what about those that are focusing on attraction?
00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:54.079
Um speak to those agents that are, you know, building a business of revenue share.
00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:59.119
And so what can those people focus on, given what you just said about real estate industry?
00:34:59.440 --> 00:34:59.760
Yeah.
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:08.159
The best way to build your revenue share organization is through the skills of production, right?
00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:18.719
When agents are looking to make a move of brokerages, it is because they want to increase their production.
00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:25.519
Like that is the number one driver of making a move, is I'm at four transactions and I want to get to eight transactions.
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:27.679
I'm at eight transactions and I want to get to 12.
00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:29.679
I'm at 12, I want to get to 24.
00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:36.880
I'm a team leader doing, you know, 40 transactions and I want to get my team to 80 transactions.
00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:45.280
I'm at a team of 12 and I want to increase my, you know, cost per trend or my um profit per transaction, right?
00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:49.440
Like so those are it's always it's always production driven.
00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:57.599
So if you're looking to provide value as an attractor, do it from a production standpoint.
00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:08.000
So lead through that expertise you have as a producer that will help you attract other producers through your organization.
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:14.400
And when you look at our best attractors, it is because they are expert producers.
00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:21.760
Even the ones that may or may not be producing anymore still lead attraction through production.
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:25.280
It's because of the years that they were producers.
00:36:25.519 --> 00:36:32.159
They're still so skilled at sitting at the kitchen table and doing the listing presentation.
00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:35.440
They're still so skilled at how to handle the objection.
00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:37.199
We mentioned Cabo last week.
00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:39.199
You saw the people on the stage.
00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:46.000
They still knew how to do every single objection handling technique there was out there cold.
00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:47.760
Like on like Gene Fredericks.
00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:56.400
Like, I don't know the last time Gene Fredericks may have done a deal, but like I would take Gene Fredericks out to negotiate a deal with me any single day, right?
00:36:56.480 --> 00:36:59.119
Like the man is like an expert.
00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:08.480
So, so lean into that because what people want is they want to partner with people that will help them grow their business.
00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:14.239
So lead with value and demonstrate for them how you will help them grow their business.
00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:18.000
That is the best way you will attract people to your organization.
00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:20.400
There's our game plan for the year, Michelle.
00:37:23.519 --> 00:37:30.639
Well, Courtney, why don't you just close us up so we can um thank her once again and all the details on where to find her?
00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:31.920
Yeah, thanks, Wendy.
00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:33.039
We really appreciate you.
00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:39.440
Um, we'll obviously have this on our YouTube channel as well as all Apple, Spotify.
00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:40.800
But where can people find you?
00:37:40.880 --> 00:37:43.920
What's the best way to follow you and to get access to your new book?
00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:44.480
Yes.
00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:54.079
So you can find me on my website, WendyForsythe.com, follow along on social media at BrandWendy on Instagram is the best place.
00:37:54.239 --> 00:37:58.000
All the links everywhere else you can find off of Instagram.
00:37:58.239 --> 00:38:00.559
And you can find the book on Amazon.
00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:02.559
Leverage Your X Factor.
00:38:02.800 --> 00:38:03.280
Awesome.
00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:04.400
Thanks, Wendy.
00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:05.440
You're welcome.
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:06.400
Thank you guys.