This post continues coverage of eXp World Holdings” Shareholder Summit, which is being held May 12-15 in eXp’s virtual world environment. Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s General Session. We will share updates on events and highlights each day right here in eXp Life.
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Thousands of people attended today’s breakout sessions, which were held in eXp World and encompassed five tracks of learning, including a Mastermind series, ICON series, Growth, Sales and Expansion. Check the calendar for breakout sessions today through Friday or watch them here.
Here are takeaways from some of the sessions:
“We Were Built for This,” Hosted by Dave Conord with Special Guests
The morning kicked off with a panel of top agents hosted by President of U.S. Growth, Dave Conord. Conord discussed how eXp’s commitment to innovation, its cloud-based platform and world-class training are propelling eXp’s growth, even amidst a market shift. The session had more than 1,000 attendees in eXp World and nearly 500 more viewing via livestream.
eXp’s Brent Gove pumped up the audience with a heartfelt message of encouragement and conviction for our agents to live their best lives and be purposeful in their approach. Gove challenged the attendees to make sure they “don’t die with your music still in you.”
An all-star panel of six agents (Marsee Wilhems, Andy Gleason, Michelle Humes, Craig LePage, Karin Head and Tom Daves) represented a cumulative 2019 total of more than 2,300 closed units and more than $761 million in closed volume! Panelists shared how they’ve propelled their own businesses, going from an average producing agent to a massively successful team.
Karin Head, a high-producing agent from North Carolina, said it’s critical to have a strong network in your community and a compelling social media presence. She also emphasized the importance of investing in your business and bringing on talent who can help create systems and processes.
Wilhems, a top-producing agent from Arizona, discussed how she catapulted her career by learning from others. She attributes her quick rise in the business to learning from top-producers in other markets. Mentorship is critical, she said, to understanding what successful agents do and replicating those practices in your business.
“One Big Fire” With Jay Kinder
Agent Jay Kinder of Texas said 95% of real estate transactions are done by 5% of agents. What are they doing to succeed? One main thing is they are master marketers. “If your business is coming from unpredictable sources, you will have an unpredictable business.”
Kinder said it’s critical to understand your target market. Who you are talking to? First-time buyers? Moving from out of town? Those interested in new construction? Appeal to those personas.
“All great people in the world who are highly successful only found success by persevering through failure. Embrace the struggle and fall in love with the process,” Kinder concluded.
“Double Your Business Mastermind” With Jeff Sibbach & Phil Sexton
Mega ICON Scottsdale team Jeff Sibbach and Phil Sexton hosted a business growth mastermind. This duo has been partners since 2012.
Jeff Sibbach said when a call or a lead comes in, he likes to actually go to that house and take a video with his cell phone and then text the lead.
“It’s hard to convert from your couch,” said Sibbach. “Good lead converters need to spend time and show effort that you are interested in their question.”
“Ask a Coach Mastermind” with Devin Doherty and Vladimir Kats
California agent Devin Doherty and Maryland agent Vladimir Kats co-hosted a team leadership mastermind. The audience was asked to break into small groups and brainstorm some questions.
One big question was: “How do I add more production and add more recruiting. How do you build this ideal team to do both?”
“The reason people join your team is the value you bring to them,” said Kats. “To those of you who are team leaders, they have one reason to join you which is to reach their financial goals. The reason they leave your team is because they don’t reach financial goals or if they do reach their goals, they don’t relate their success to what you’ve done.”
“Rising Up For Your Community” with Michael Valdes
Michael Valdes, the newly named EVP of International Growth for eXp, led this panel for diversity and asked participants how they rise up for their groups and stay relevant.
This panel represented the first time that the leaders from the five largest Realtor diversity organizations met together on the same stage. Represented were AREAA, WCR, NAHREP, NAGLEREP and NAREB.
Antoine Thompson, National Executive Director (NAREB) said, “It’s the courage to lead and the ability to listen and service. It’s being the voice for the voiceless and power to the powerless. It’s an incredible responsibility for me to learn, listen and grow at same time.”
On the role of diversity groups, Pamela Banks said, “It’s raising the bar for professionalism for ourselves and the public. We look to create an atmosphere where the real estate industry is raised up a level. Each diverse group hits a different niche and can bring a level of excellence and performance to a higher level.”
“Let’s Talk Luxury” with Kris Anderson
Kris Anderson led a panel of ICONs talking luxury real estate including Vanessa Nunez, Ed Schmidt, Kinan Beck and Tina Caul.
In this current climate, the panel all agreed that reaching out to their clients and letting them know their asset is protected was important.
“Send them Omaha steaks, keeping conversations open, do little things to keep mind awareness. Let them know you care more about them than real estate,” said Ed Schmidt.
Kinan Beck said, “Keep them calm. Tell them what we encountered in 2008-09 and Y2K was rough, but pull up stats and data and show them that we will get through this, too. Here’s the data … your property will sell.”
“Creating Repeat and Referral Business” with Brian White
Brian White moderated a panel of ICONs talking repeat and referrals including special guests Betsy Birdsong, Madhu Baker, KC McKeown and Conda Davidson.
KC McKeown said he finds great success connecting with new or old clients via Facebook. He said the best responses are via private messaging on Facebook or tagging them (in a post). McKeown says he posts about once a week on Facebook.
“It’s a great way to touch past clients, but the posts need to serve a purpose and need to engage. There has to be some kind of depth with the post. There’s got to be a point about the post. Even if it’s just humor.”
White suggested contacting 25 people a week. “Start with five on a Wednesday, then five the next day and five the next day and so on. It will help not being overwhelmed each day. Make the connections personal and then follow up 30 days later you’ll be amazed with the connections you make and friendships you develop.”
“From Surviving to Thriving” with Brian Culhane, Tarek El Moussa and Hoss Pratt
Top attractor and eXp leader Brian Culhane led a panel about the psychology of attraction with special guests Tarek El Moussa and Hoss Pratt.
El Moussa talked about his early days of failure, selling Cutco steak knives and running his ATM account down to the bare bones. He started doing expired listings and that’s what helped him get his start. Read more about Tarek here.
“The only reason I have anything that I have is because I take action,” said El Moussa. “The second you get an idea, you have to get going. Don’t wait – you just need to get started.”
“ABCs of Agent Attraction” Hosted by AJ Mida
eXp agent AJ Mida moderated a panel about agent attraction. Top agents and influencers Adam Bailey, Daniel Beer, Clayton Gits and Gil Ramos shared best practices for helping other agents learn about the benefits of joining eXp and empowering them to grow their businesses.
Panelists echoed the same important sentiment: Listen, learn and focus on what’s important to prospective agents. The beginning of any conversation about eXp Realty should always start with learning about what appeals to agents, whether it’s revenue share, culture, training or technology.
Multiple panelists also emphasized the importance of the “three C’s” – “Connect, Cultivate, Close.” Connection and relationship building are critical when discussing the benefits of joining eXp.
Lastly, agents highlighted the benefits of agent attraction outside of revenue share. Clayton Gits, an eXp agent from Virginia, said that eXp “gives us a platform to help other agents grow.” California agent Daniel Beer added, “Revenue share unlocks the playbook of incredible people in the industry.”
Mida closed the session echoing the three-step process and remarked, “We’re building this company together.”
“Control Your Effort: Give 100%” with Ricky Carruth
Alabama’s Ricky Carruth said a successful agent has complete disregard for any emotion.
“Good agents are incredibly self-motivated and take massive action. They don’t care about getting hung up on, cussed out. They don’t get upset or take it personally. You can’t have fear.
“The highest producers needed a million clients yesterday. They’re behind in their minds. Average agents just meander into the business, get their business cards and get set up. But, they are trying to prolong the inevitable, which is talking to people. You need to talk to people to succeed.”
“How to Thrive Over the Next 18 Months” with Knolly Williams
Austin’s Knolly Williams talked about how to thrive over the next 18 months. One takeaway he shared was getting over the blank page – to start doing. For example, Williams does a video a day.
“It’s never too late to begin doing what you’re supposed to be doing. I didn’t have one video three years ago and now look at my page!”
He also said agents have to upgrade their teachability index.
“That means a high willingness to learn and a willingness to accept change,” Williams said. “Whenever someone comes to me, I need to learn how teachable they are. I use a scale of 1-10, where 1 is unwilling and 10 is very willing. That answer shows me how much they want to succeed.”
“OG Influencers Mastermind” with Dave Conord
Dave Conord hosted a mastermind with eXp’s top influencers and opened by saying eXp is an agent-driven company where agents are the engine, but lots of horsepower was added with the addition of these OGs (“Original Gangsters”) on the stage including Rob Flick, Traci Lewis, Dave Gagnon, Brent Gove, Sheila Fejeran, James Stroup, Gene Frederick and Pat Hays.
Agent Rob Flick had many great takeaways. Here are some:
- “I’m a cancer survivor so I’m in a different phase of life. It drove me to survive. That’s why you need to have a big WHY. It will drive everything you do.”
- “One thing I tell agents is to get two listings, two buyers and two agents a month. Build from there and you will soon have a business.”
- “I believe in people even better than they believe in themselves. I work with those people who are willing. The eXp model is so powerful, I just wanted agents to see the menu.”
Other notable nuggets from the panel included:
- Determine who you want to be in business with; find people with great energy
- Design your dream life and know why it’s important to you and what you will need to fund it
- Invest in people and relationships and set up systems to support your team
- Take massive action, be persistent, have patience, and ask for help
