Transcription
[Music]
I would like to thank our guest speakers for being here today: Roman Shar, Joe VRA, and Lawrence. My name is Lawrence Cal. I'm a local attorney; my office is in Huntington Valley. My name is Roman Shar, and I'm Lawrence's personal secretary, running an online watch and jewelry business for about 20 years. We are worldwide but located in Southampton.
My name is Joseph Bo. I'm a real estate broker in the area, been doing about 23 years. I went to Council Rock briefly. I had to take a leave of absence, went to Valley Forge Military Academy for 5 years, went to the college there, got my associate's. I went to Penn State in 98-99 for about a year, went to Temple, and then got into real estate and I never looked back. That's what I've been doing ever since. I always wanted to be in sales. I think I was always negotiating, trying to, you know, cut some sort of a deal growing up. My dad was doing real estate from a young age; I think he got into it in '82. I was like four, so I was always watching him make deals on the phone, in person, typing offers. I said, I think I can do this. When I was finishing up Valley Forge, the college, and I was here for a semester, my dad's like, "Get into real estate. See, you know, what's the worst that's going to happen?" I got into it in 01, and it was the beginning of what we're doing now. So, you know, thanks to my dad, we got into this business, and, you know, like I said, never looked back.
The negotiation—by far, the negotiation of getting the deal done—you're coming into every deal not knowing who the seller is, who the buyer is. You're kind of mediating the whole deal, and you don't know how they're going to respond. They're counting on you to point them in the right direction. So when you close that deal, there's no better feeling. [Music]
When Facebook came to be, and I started promoting my listings on Facebook back in 07-08, people were like, "What are you doing? Like, what are you promoting your listings on Facebook for? What are you trying to accomplish?" I'm like, "This is probably going to be the future at some point." I'm going to try to get in it from the beginning. I started posting, posting, posting, but not until I started with the help of Roman, you know, with Instagram and doing the reels and the videos—that's when things started coming together with the social media aspect of things. Because it's one thing posting pictures and posting different motivational quotes; it's a different thing when people actually see things in a video form. It totally changes the game. So once you start doing the video format with these listings on a consistent basis, that's when I saw things coming together more so than ever. [Music]
The plan is for them to, when they think about real estate, we need to come to mind. Same thing with Roman: people think about watches and jewelry, he should come to mind. With Lawrence and law, that should come to mind. So the plan is to continue to be in their face and make sure they know what you do always. That's the key. [Music]
My industry is more about, you know, I like dealing with sellers. When you have the inventory, those buyers are coming to you. Now, if I don't have the inventory they're looking for, that's when the difficult aspect of my business comes into play. I have to, you know, they're waiting, waiting, and waiting. And right now, with the market being the way it is, there's no inventory, so they're waiting, and they're getting frustrated, they're getting irritated. You need to kind of keep them comfortable, cuddle them, and let them know, "Listen, things are going to come together. Wait until after the New Year," whatever the case is. But you need to make them feel comfortable. Our job is to make our consumers feel comfortable, and that's why they want to come back to you and work with you in the future. [Music]
When I got in the business, I was looking for any deal I can possibly get. Slowly, through the years, I started dealing more with the higher and luxury market, but I never wanted the consumers out there to feel that now I'm not doing anything under half a million dollars or under $300,000. I'm doing any deal; I'm not too good for this deal or that deal. And I want the consumer to always understand that I'm there for them, no matter how small or big the deal is. [Music]
With that being personal, they're going to find somebody else. You need to stay in their face, continue to market. My particular market, my market's here, Jersey, recently in Florida. So those are the markets I'm hitting; I'm not hitting around the world or nationally. I'm hitting in those markets, and I want people to know in those three markets who I am, what I do, and make sure when they think about real estate, I'm the go-to. [Music] Complacency: don't get complacent. I will never get complacent. I will never get comfortable. I will be at the top of my game. Maybe somebody will be better than me or more successful, but I'll never stop doing what I'm doing until the day I die. And that's why we have to always be on top of things: know your industry, know your trade, be in people's faces, make sure people know that this is what you do, and this is why you do it, and this is why you're the best at what you do. [Music]
Employee retention is key, and in my industry, it's very difficult because a lot of agents get their license, they come work for me, they think they can do what I'm doing, and I try to teach and I try to mentor, but sometimes after working for a year or two, they want to go on their own. They think they can do better on their own. So maybe they can, maybe they can't; most of the time they can't because we give them the tools to do what they're doing. So it's tough, but as long as you give your employees the skills, the knowledge, and the ability to do what they know how to do, and you give them SOP and you kind of direct them the proper way, that's the way to keep them with you. [Music]
Yeah, in my industry, it's a work in progress. We are using, in baby steps, my listing coordinator Linda—when we do a description for a property we're listing, she puts it into ChatGPT. It's just comfortable, it's easy. I mean, you put the information in, so for these little jobs, it's perfect, but it's a work in progress, so we'll see what happens. [Music] Consistency can't stop; you know, that's one thing in this industry, with me as a person—that's why I think I've achieved some level of success. You have to be consistent; you can't ever stop. Look, we talked about before, don't get complacent, and that's the way you kind of continue to push forward in any industry. [Music]
So spreadsheets were the old-school way we used to monitor all our clients, you know, day-to-day, birthdays, anniversaries, whatever the case is, so we know what they're looking for. And then we also have a CRM, so that's how we monitor what our clients are looking for, where they're living. Maybe they've been in the house four to six years now; maybe it's time to send them an email, keep in touch with them again, staying in their face so they don't forget who you are. But that's the purpose of the CRM. [Music]
That's something I have to do on a regular basis because right now the market is a little slower. So luckily, I've been doing it a little longer than the majority of my team, so I have some experience—'08 and what happened in '13—and now we're kind of back to that right now. There's a little bit of a shift, so I need to reassure them that they need to continue doing what we've been doing, what I've been teaching them, what I've instilled in them, because eventually this too shall pass. And as long as they continue doing what I've taught them and what they've learned, they will be okay. So it's just more about reassuring them, making them feel comfortable, doing the, you know, again with the CRM, staying in their face, marketing, social media, Constant Contact. We have to continue to do that old-school business because that's what's going to bring, hopefully, an end to this shift. [Music]
Yeah, I mean, I think I speak for all three of us. I think there's no one that markets the way I do, the way that Roman does, the way that Lawrence does. Lawrence has the billboards, he's doing the PPC. Roman has the YouTube, the social media. I'm now getting more into the YouTube, but we've had billboards, we've had social media presence there. We want to make sure, like I said, we want to control the marketplace in our area, and I think after 23 years being in this industry, we've attained that exposure, that presence, and I'm building on that. I'm not going to take our foot off the gas; we're always thinking outside the box, and you have to always look at different opportunities, educate yourself, but again, stay in people's face, and I guarantee you will see the return. [Music]
I think it's a little bit of everything. I might pick up a potential agent who wants to come work for me; I might pick up a client that wants to buy or sell. It's obviously content for social media; content is key. I've learned anything that we can put in front of a camera could potentially be a game changer in our industry; it could go viral. But ultimately, it's the people you make it, it's the communication, it's the relationships, and that's what it's all about. [Music]
I'm trying to implement what I did here initially 23 years ago and kind of start from scratch. I'm starting to farm; I'm starting to—I didn't have social media 23 years ago—so I'm introducing myself in social media, which is helping a lot. I picked up three listings, believe it or not, from Instagram and TikTok in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and I'm working on another listing right now in Tampa Bay and another one in Miami. This is all social media. I wish I had this tool 20 years ago that I have now. So I'm using that in order to establish myself there, and it's slowly—I'm chipping away at it. I have a team down there right now; I have two young ladies that are helping me, so I'm getting my foot in the door. But you got to go the old-school route sometimes to get your foot in the door and reintroduce yourself to a market that's not familiar with you. [Music]
Starting out this business at 21 years old, I didn't know what to expect. I knew I wanted to work hard; I knew I wanted to make money. I met my wife; we got married. And you know, then the market crashed in '08, and I didn't know what to do. I literally didn't know what to do. I was nervous; I had two kids, and I needed to pay the mortgage and had expenses. I decided to go all in; I decided to go all in with advertising and marketing, and I decided to spend as much time as I could with work, but I also spent as much time with my kids. I made sure that I was there for dinner every single night. I went to work afterward, but I was there for every game, or almost every game. I wanted to be involved in their lives and my wife's life. And that's, you know, you—there are enough hours in the day. Get up earlier in the day, make time for your family because you only live once, but also bust your ass and do a little bit of both, and you'll be fine. [Music]
I think strong body, strong mind. Every day I wake up in the morning, I go to the gym. I make it a point to get up early in order to be with the family at some point during the day and be able to get my workday started. I feel when I go to the gym and I get it out of the way, it gives me energy for the day; it gives me the ability to think clearer, and I think that's a very intricate part of being successful. [Music]
Educating yourself is key in this industry, any industry. You have to be up with the times. An example is, if you guys have been watching what's going on with the real estate—the case that was just closed—they're trying to eliminate buyer agency from our industry. So they're trying to say that the realtors make too much money; they're trying to get rid of buyer agency to just have listing agents list the property; the buyer contacts a listing agent directly, and there's no more middleman. So instead of paying a 5 or 6% commission, they're only paying a 2.5 or 3% commission; it saves the consumer a ton of money, right? So now, if this thing happens, which it looks like it's happening, I got to change my whole entire game plan. I'm more of a listing-heavy agent, so it won't affect me as much as a buyer agent that works strictly with buyers; that's going to be tough for that person. Now they have to totally switch and shift their market to marketing sellers, not buyers. So it's going to be a work in progress, but that's how you have to educate yourself and enroll with the times. [Music]
My father taught me one thing when he got me into the industry: that inventory is the way to sales, and that goes for Roman's business, that goes for your business, my business. When you have the inventory, the buyers come to you; they will eventually come to you, whether they're represented by another buyer agent, but eventually, you have the inventory, you hold the cards, they're coming to you. [Music]
Early 2001, when I got into the real estate industry, the market was in an uptick, and I started making money. And I'll never forget my dad's like, "Take it easy; this is not going to be forever." And I was like, "Ah, you don't know." And then 05-06 hit, and I was making money, and then all of a sudden 08 hit, and all of a sudden there was a stoppage. Luckily, it wasn't too much exposure, but I was nervous; I was maybe spending more frivolously than I should have been. And now with what's going on right now—and I'm not saying it's '08 again—but it's definitely a shift. I took a step back; I had a very good two or three years; our company did, our team did, but I never took my foot off the pulse; I didn't get too cocky, too comfortable, that this is going to be forever because I learned back in 05-06 that this is not forever. There will be opportunity, and you got to take a step back and wait for things to correct and then go all in again. [Music]
I'm not going to tell you what you should do; I'm going to tell you what worked for me: consistency, taking care of your health, your family, having a strong mind, strong body. I think those are the traits, those are the items that you should be working on. Without those, I don't care what you do, you will not be successful. But you know, work on yourself, your family, be a good person, and bust your ass; don't ever quit. Thank you so much, Joe, Roman, and Lawrence. Please give them a round of applause. [Music]