Brevard County boasts some of Florida’s most scenic coastlines. (Courtesy of WeKnowBrevardHomes.com)
By Bob Montgomery
Like many top-notch real estate agents, Florida’s Brad Kuhns can rattle off his real estate prospecting statistics as quickly as a baseball fan who’s memorized their favorite player’s batting average or ERA. But there’s one number that stands above the rest: 100%.
That’s how many of the Realtors in his weekly Mastermind Group rely on the Mojo Dialer and its browser-based lead management system.
“I have a call every Wednesday from 2-3 p.m with 15 of the heaviest-hitting listing agents in the country,” says Brad, who sells residential property in Brevard County, on the outskirts of Cape Canaveral. “There’s three from California, two or three from Canada, one from Arizona, a few from Florida, one from South Carolina and we get on the phone and talk about what we can do as a group to help each other be better.”
“We have accountability partners and we make sure that we’re each doing what we said we’d do everyday,” he adds. “We encourage each other and it’s no accident that we all use Mojo.”
Mojo Helps You Stay Accountable
Now running the Brad Kuhns Realty Group of RE/MAX Elite, Brad has three buyer’s agents and two assistants on his team. However, when he was previously at Keller Williams Realty in Melbourne, he oversaw a team of 100 agents. It’s not so much the size of the team that determines success; it’s more about the way the team approaches each day.
“I set standards for my team and the people who work for me. Every time we do a buyer contract, there’s a list of 18 to 24 tasks that have to be done. I don’t like surprises. I don’t like deals falling apart,” says Brad. “And 99 percent of the time that can be prevented just by doing our jobs.”
“When you have your goals set up and you know there are certain things that you need to do everyday, that takes away the stress of trying to do it alone,” he adds. “I couldn’t be where I am today without organization. Mojo makes sure I stay focused. I couldn’t do what I do without Mojo.”
“Before Mojo, I had to use phone books and did everything manually. Our business is about getting on the phone every day. We have a goal for how many contacts we have to make per day to be successful. Mojo not only makes the call, but keeps track of how many calls we made, how long we’ve been on the phone, how many people had bad phone numbers, you name it.”
Brad’s Approach to Real Estate Prospecting: New School vs. Old School
Here are Brad’s raw numbers for success. He aims to:
- Prospect 5 days a week, 3.5 hours a day
- Make 35 contacts a day (about 10 an hour)
- Make 9,550 contacts per year
- Get 95 listings per year (1 out of every 100 contacts)
- Close 85 deals a year
“All we need to do is make one qualified listing appointment per day. Ever think about how simple that is?” he asks. “But to do that, you have to get on Mojo everyday and use it relentlessly through all the boredom. It’s kind of like fishing — you’re just waiting for that one fish to bite.”
“Mojo 2.0 has the sweetest dialer program I’ve ever seen!” says Brad, who has been a Mojo customer for four years. “I used to spend the first 30-45 minutes of the day getting ready to dial. I can say now that I’m ready to dial in five minutes.”
“We have so much more control over our data. I can download my new expired listings from Vulcan, Top Producer and BoomTown into Mojo every evening. I can transfer those contacts with the click of a button. Previously, I would have to type in the names, addresses and phone numbers, emails and notes for each one,” he adds.
Despite his love for Mojo’s technology, Brad’s business also depends on the old-school technique of tracking his prospects on 3-x-5-inch index cards.
The cards have the prospect’s name, phone number, where they came from, if they are a buyer or seller, the value of their property and what the commission would be. Brad always carries a stack of these cards with him so he can follow-up on calls when he is away from his office.
“When I am at my desk and have Mojo in front of me, I don’t like old school. I just like to get going and Mojo makes it easy. But when I’m in my car, for safety purposes and so I can focus, I want to slow down. I don’t want to be dialing three lines at a time.” (Note: If you’re not into index cards, Mojo Mobile tracks the same info and works for both Android and Apple phones.)
Brad’s rule is that after 3 or 4 calls – 75% of appointments are made from follow-up calls, not the initial contact – he throws the card away.
PROSPECTING ADVICE FOR NEW REALTORS
Brad, who credits real estate coach Steve Powers of the Mike Ferry Organization for much of his success, estimates that his teams have sold more than $150 million in property over the past 15 years. Here are some tips for those new to the business:
- GET OUT OF YOUR CHAIR – “Take a 10-minute break every hour. Get up and walk around the building. You gotta get up! You just gotta get up. Take a deep breath, get a glass of water or cup of coffee and then get right back at it again.”
- YOU HAVE 90 SECONDS TO START A RELATIONSHIP – “Make sure when someone picks up the phone, you hit it hard with all the excitement and enthusiasm that you can. It’s a 90-second opportunity. You’re either going to convince these people to meet with you – or you’re not.”
- MAKE YOUR CALLS EARLY – “Try to get all your real estate prospecting calls done in the morning when you are fresh and ready to go. If you wait until the afternoon, it’s going to be a disappointment. One of the keys is trying to figure out when are the best times to call. So don’t waste your time calling during when it’s not the best time to call. Why would you go fishing if you knew that the fish aren’t biting?”
- DON’T BE DISCOURAGED BY JERKS – “It only takes one person to call you nasty things to get your mind off what you’re supposed to do. I remind myself that I’m not trying to bother anybody. I’m always very polite. If it’s something they say they are not interested in, I thank them for taking my call and politely move on. If you’re having a bad day, just call one of your friends and tell them what you’re going through. Hopefully, they’ll give you some encouragement. It’s all about surrounding yourself with motivated, goal-oriented people.”
Having Fun at Work
Brad Kuhns’ real estate career has given him front row seats to history. (Public domain photo via Pixabay.com)
One of the fringe benefits of Brad’s job, that obviously doesn’t apply to Realtors in other parts of Florida or the country, is that he has box seats for all of NASA’s rocket and satellite launches at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. History is everywhere. The Best Western hotel in Cocoa Beach, a few steps away from Brad’s home, was once a popular hangout for John Glenn and some of the earliest astronauts.
“We’re just south of where they shoot the rockets off. I can stand on the beach in front of my condo and watch them shoot them off. They’ve had 4 or 5 different launches in the past two months or so. SpaceX (a private commercial space program) has pretty much taken over. I’ve been here since 2001, so I’ve probably seen 40 to 50 Space Shuttle launches and a ton of other rocket launches,” he says. “I have not sold a home to an astronaut yet, but have sold homes to lots of people who work for NASA!”
Space programs aside, Brad says he deeply enjoys the role of playing matchmaker. “When a deal falls through for a customer, I always say, ‘There’s a reason for that. It’s because we haven’t found you the perfect home.’ It’s amazing because 99 percent of the time, that’s accurate. I’ll find them a home and they’ll say, ‘I’m so glad that other place didn’t work out. This is the perfect home for us!’ That happens all the time.”
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To learn more about the latest real estate prospecting features included in Mojo 2.0, click here or watch this video to find out how Mojo can also be a vital sales tool for the mortgage, marketing and insurance industries.
