 Welcome to another episode of our real estate podcast hustle and motivate with Cyrus and Danny brought to you exclusively by the Pacific West Association of realtors All right, all right, we're excited to be back here today with another episode. Um, I'm I'm stoked for our guests today He is the number one real estate coach in the world Consistently sells a hundred plus homes a year as a solo agent, right? Mm-hmm Ricky Caruth my man. Boom. How you doing doing? Well, dude Welcome nice to see you too So happy to have you this is exciting We are stoked and I'm and and because we only have a short amount of time I want to get into the weeds really quickly here I want to ask you if you are a brand new agent or an agent revamping their career What's the advice you're gonna give them to get started to start their production as fast as possible? Yeah, so It's it's a really a lot deeper than that, right? Because the thing is is everybody has different stories goals Strengths and weaknesses, right? So every agent that I coach I have to really dig into what they've been doing, right? What their daily schedule is what's been working What's not been working? What were their struggles? What are their goals, right? Everybody has that that story is different for every agent, right? And it's kind of like when I go out and get a listing of a lot of people want the cookie cutter How do you convert? Right? And the thing is is I don't know until I know why that seller is trying to sell Right? What's going on behind the scenes in their life that's causing them to make that decision to sell that house, right? Is their daughter graduating from college in four months and they want a downgrade, right? Did they lose a job? Did they get a new job, right? Do they just want to upgrade? What is going on behind the scenes? It's not just the transaction, right? So until I can realize Why someone's trying to do something then I can't help them Yeah, and I have no idea what the next step in the process is Right because a lot of agents are like I talked to a seller and they said they want to sell in three months And I was like, okay, I'll call you back in three months. And I'm like, they're like, okay, cool I'll talk to you then and I'm like, wait a minute. You got to say what's got you thinking about selling in three months Yeah, and find out what the backstory is so that now we can actually create a timeline and a custom game plan around what their needs are Right same thing with agents. I have to dig into what they're doing why they're doing it What's been working what their strengths and weaknesses are because there's so many different ways to succeed and everything works It's just a matter of like I think a great coach is going to dig into somebody and unlock their true potential Behind what Avenue works best for them. I think a lot of coaches are like this is the path Yeah But no that might not be the path for this agent like so like I've built my business just cold-calling property owners Right doing a weekly email And doing some direct mail and stuff that that was my entire that was my avenue, right? That was my lane But like that lane is not going to work for everyone Yeah, so I got to dig in because I'm a firm believer that all the avenues work, right? It just depends on the agent so it's a very complicated process and like you you said you even made it more complicated when you're like Okay, what if I'm a new agent, right? Or what if I'm a trying to an agent trying to revamp my business, you know just to look at new agents is it completely like Like there's so much to unpack behind just being a new agent, right? And then if you're trying to revamp your business that means that we have a whole storyline of being in the industry already And we have data there behind what's been working. What's not been working, right? What the goals are how we can scale the business and so you got to understand that like for me Whether I'm dealing with a seller trying to list a property or an agent trying to help them You know reach their goals It's all gonna come down to me for a customized game plan around that cell or around that agent specifically Because every single one of them have a different goal motivation work ethic Everything right and then until I can break all that down I can't tell you the only thing I'm a firm believer in as far as like what the path is is that you have to be a great Communicator in terms of making 100% in terms of making people feel comfortable with you because the common denominator for all closings is a Conversation right regardless of where you get your leads from like it's like it's absurd like it's scary to me The amount of agents who spend thousands of dollars on leads to not to cold call like they spend Thousands of dollars not to cold call just to turn the right around and call those leads right It's absurd, right, but when I was doing prep when knowing that you were coming here I actually popped on Spotify was listening to some of your different podcasts and one of the things that I really love that you said was like If you really want to take your business to the next level I was like you need to make five new friends, you know And so people spend all of this money on all of these crazy leads when you can go out there And if you can have ten conversations with people To create five new friends create five new relationships people that you were gonna consistently be Interacting with and that you're going to develop that deeper bond with that's what's gonna help you scale your business Yeah, and another thing that you had said which I really appreciated was Everyone is different. Everyone has their own niche I market in a much different way that Cyrus markets and we have ways that we run our businesses that are gonna be great for Both of us, but you had said spend 15 20 minutes think about all of the different ways that you can lead Jen pick the top ones that you Relate best to because people are gonna automatically be drawn to authenticity. They're gonna know if you're BSing am I like to say BS? Yeah, yeah, they're gonna know if you're BSing and not being true to yourself, you know, and so You know not Exactly like and to to that point it Like it doesn't matter. I don't care how you get there Yeah in terms of having the conversations to create the relationships Yeah, you can go out and buy the leads you can go out and they're so there's there's a nice You know lists of different ways you could go out there and have these conversations But you can't get around the sweat equity You can't buy your way into this business a lot of people like there's definitely industries that you can acquire market share Right. This isn't one of them There's there you cannot get around the sweat equity part of this but so many people try to get around the sweat equity part of actually Filtering through the population one at a time conversation Like having conversations with as many people in market as possible to filter through the population to find that 20 to 30% of people who? Love you enough to do business with you. People don't want to put that work in they're trying to get work find a work Around yeah to that sweat equity part and you can't there's no way around that That's that that's the passage that you have to go through and I think that as a coach What I really admire is that you are like what works for you? Will work you just got to figure out what works for you when there's other coaches in the industry that like this is the way This is the way that you got to do it You have to do a or you have to do z and you're like look I don't care You know what's so great about that and why I feel like coaches may may veer that direction In the difference in me and and them and this is not a shot at paid coaches by the way Yeah, right. I'm done taking shots at paid coaches, but but the thing is is I'm free and So and so I have zero Like back-end Alteria motive to tell you this works or this doesn't work. You're not selling a new product So yeah, you just want people to kick buttermilk. So I'm just I'm just telling you what it is Yeah, right and so then you I can stand behind it, right that that you know I can say everything works. So I'm not trying to get you to do this so that you're paying me over here Yeah, exactly. Right. Yep. I know that one and then so then for me. It's more It's more of a like, okay. Do I make money from coaching? Yes Right. I did this to build a massive brand that I'm in the middle of like I'm in the beginning stages of You know, I'm five years in and I have a massive brand. It's nothing, right? I have a nice foundation to start on at this point But at the end of the day, do I make money? Yes, because I'm able to take that and parlay into different Sectors and businesses and different things like that right sponsorship deals and all kinds of other things And that was the goal, right? But the thing is the business models of the future is is where everyone wins Yep, right and so that that was my thing is I saw that with the direction of business Right, and you see this with a lot of companies now more so than ever that they've created a win-win for everyone Involved not just the corporation not just the coach not just the team leader Not just one side is doing all the winning. Yeah, right? And the other side basically is just giving giving giving and getting nothing in return Right. I saw that was the way it was going and like one of the big inspirations was Gary You know Gary V Because that like I really found him in the middle of me trying to figure this whole thing out Like how do I do this? How do I make an impact big enough where we actually do knock a dent in the failure rate in the industry? Like how do we get to that level of influence? You know what I mean? So and I think what's really cool is like you've you know going back to what you were saying is you can't go around that Sweat equity going back to I think the core of it is is like it's people right like you're you're you're breaking it down to understanding that people have value over over the monetary Gain the short-term monetary gain which will create long term monetary value, right? So like like you can't exactly what you were saying is you cannot buy Market share well, that's because you can't buy people Because people is your market share, right? Yeah. Well, you know, like I've seen people come on agents coming from out of town Right come into my market like back when the market was really I mean the market's been on fire very similar to like the 0304 05 Totally different kind of market like but similar in terms of how on fire it's been There were people that came into my market because I'm gonna I'm in a second-home beach community, right? We're like it's it's like everybody in my state like they envy us agents on the beach because you know I mean because the price points are so good There's a lot of turnover it's second-home investment And so there were a lot of out of town agents that came in and I saw what was happening that these people these agents were from other areas and they were coming in and they're like pouring money into advertisement Like you would see the billboards of agents you've never heard of before, right? And I would see advertisements all over like commercials and postcards and Like they were spinning. I know an ungodful amount of money just to try to build that name really fast Yeah, but you but those agents aren't there anymore Like they they were gone as soon as they came because they they burn up all that cash Trying to acquire market share in the industry that you can't buy market share Because even when you're spending all that money you need to have it needs to be filtered down see the funnels in real estate Aren't a funnel to a listing appointment a showing It's a it needs to be a funnel and the end of the funnel needs to Create a conversation with that lead that that's the that's the sale of the funnel is to get us on the phone or in person where we're talking to The prospect and then the conversion is making that person feel comfortable enough with us to do business with us now or later Like creating the business friendship relationship, right for now or later. That's the conversion. Let's let's let's dive into that now or Later, it doesn't matter. Yeah, when I'm talking to a prospect. I I could care less Exactly if they want to buy or sell now. I don't care about that. That's not even on my That is like 5% on my radar, right? I want to know But I want to know from a place of can I help you with this? I'm just trying to figure out what it is they want to do so that I can help them do it Exactly, right. It's not a You know, you don't want to buy now. Well, what if this? Yeah, a lot of the objection handlers that a lot of the You know Coaches and trainers, you know are focused on how to turn the situation around From a no to a yes and for me the objection is my prospect telling me what they want to do Right and I'm and I'm trying to listen and go with What they're what they want to do as opposed to trying to go against what they want to do to try to turn them around I want to go that's why I've sold so much property because I allow all my clients to basically do the deal on their terms Yeah, when it comes down to pricing. I'm like, here's the comps. Here's the data. Here's where we're going to price it out Here's the real number based on Data, right? Oh, but I I still want this great This is what's going to happen at that price. You sure you want to do this great. Let's go Yep, I don't care like right now. We're in a we're in the the phase of the market where It's seller denial that the market has has leveled out, right? And so all of our sellers are still thinking in that You know even 60 day ago market where you can price things 10 higher and you're gonna sell it Still gonna go. Yeah on that right that was the strategy for like the last 18 months that it's worked beautifully Right, that strategy does not work anymore But we're so early in this next phase of the market. They're kind of in denial So they're still pricing them 10 10 15 even 20 higher And we're taking those listings because we know that if they actually do want to sell Then reality is going to hit them as those properties sit on the market with no showings and they're going to release That's exactly what we're seeing like we're taking over price listings because we know we're in that phase the market Where we have to or they're not going to list or they're going to list with another agent But once we get them on paper, then we can work them from there and now we're getting huge reductions We're getting stuff under contract But our we we're selling more property now like our our sales have doubled since interest rates Like we've been praying I've been praying for interest rates to come up Right so that so that we could be on a more even playing field right because like we can take listings Right like more people are willing to list and demand is still incredibly high when agents that are kind of new to the game They're thinking like this this is over like our lives are over. Yeah, right? No, I was so excited So I um acquired some new clients and they sent me I set them up on a search They sent me a list of all of the properties that they want to see they were 55 55 showings that they're like we would like to see all of these houses And I'm like I remember three months ago that I would go through that same exact process And there were before and they were all at the top of the budget and I'm like you guys this isn't going to work out And so it was like I was so happy last night sitting down and realizing like this is going to be Like this is a good thing, you know, everyone is freaking out But honestly this is going to lead us into so much more of a healthy market where it's win-win for everybody Well, and this is exactly what I keep trying to tell people is like at the end of the day Like where the market's going for the agents that are going to stick it out and Crush it or and and keep pushing through where we're at right now It's only going to benefit us right. It's only going to benefit like I was saying at the at the talk yesterday And I've I've made videos about this But like I have a track track record of calling out what how things are going to play out The like we're at all time low in terms of transactions per agent because we have so many agents that got in during the pandemic We're in a perfect storm where dues coming up continue and add right after two years of the pandemic And people are like I haven't sold anything yet There's no need in paying more money or doing continuing that in the market where now we're going to have less transactions So it's a perfect storm of losing more agents in the industry than we've ever lost before because we're at an all-time high People thought it was going to be easy Right and so what we're going to have at the end of the year even though we're going to have less transactions is more Transactions per agent for the ones who don't get out of the business Which really doesn't change anything at all right that number is really predicated on A very inflated number of agents who aren't doing anything Whereas the viable agents the one was the ones with the pulse that are actually selling which I estimate to be around 400,000 agents out of the 3 million we have in the country Um Right that number is not going to change so like the number of transactions per viable agent is is x And as these this group of agents who aren't viable leave that transaction per viable agent is not going to change But overall when you do the calculations, it's going to be more transactions per rate I just see huge opportunity even for the new agents and everything if they can just wrap their head around the fact that This is unlimited over here Right like it like and like it's all predicated on how much you can handle behind Putting in the work to talk to the most people you can talk to if they can just wrap their head around that one thing And then put systems in place on the back end in terms of how are we prospecting how are we following up? How are we marketing and braining on the back end? That that's it. It's so simple right So that that's kind of what i'm trying to preach man is that You know you got the recipe for success anyone can do this right and i'm not saying this is the way to do it Yeah, i'm saying here's the foundational. Here's the here's the principles behind how to build this. Yeah Yesterday yesterday you had a huge event here in la. I mean it's freaking phenomenal every speaker that came up was amazing And and when you went up something that hit me Really really deeply and then we had talked about it afterwards was you asked Something along the lines of If you are here and before you found my coaching program or whatever you were on your way out of the industry You were ready to quit, but you're still here. Can you please stand up? And there were tons of people that stood up. You're gonna make me cry. That's so awesome It was amazing No, you know what's so funny is like I almost cried on stage and i'm sure probably people like I bet that was such like an affirming moment. I even said everybody there. That's like this is the real thing You give me the chills for sure. There was a lot of um things like before I came up that um like alexa was like how many How many people here like has like zero diamond and ricky like affected your business like an apartment like almost everyone raised their hand It's crazy Right, but when I did that the core mission statement of zero to diamond is to reduce the failure rate in the real estate industry One agent at a time. That's the mission statement. It has been from day one And I was like, let me take a risk right here Um, you know, if if you were if you were about to you know, have to quit the business, right? Nothing was working You were just you were like almost there to like walking away from the business and like somehow you found my content or coaching or whatever And it kept you in the game and now you're thriving Right stand up. Yeah, you know, I was like, let me take a risk because like I didn't know Yeah, I don't stand up or not. You know what I mean two people It was literally it was literally like 20 people or something. You know what I mean um And so many people like the stories like after I like before I go on stage and after Um of people that come up to me and say, you know, like this is life changing stuff And like you're you're all of your stuff is like completely changed my life and stuff is like It it's like I'm almost like fixing a breakdown right now Like it it it's the whole reason why I do this, right? Because I was going to quit several times like People don't know this but you know, I lost a hundred thousand a year for two years in the beginning of coaching because I was just Pouring money into trying to build it And I was taking 80 of my time spending on this that I'm losing money on and only 20 on this million dollar real estate business And I'm like, why this is out of wow And like I was like, maybe I shouldn't be doing that. I even told my dad I was like, I don't know that I can do this anymore. It's just not sustainable and everything But then I would get messages every day from agents saying this is working for me. This is changing my business. I'm getting listings I'm doing this. I'm doing that and every message I got it was like it kept me going That was the whole reason why I continued was from the support of the agents who were finding success in it But no, you're right, dude like seeing that those people stand up yesterday like I was I I said it on stage I was like, I'm like get emotional here for a second Isn't it crazy that that the people that you saved their careers saved your career really if you think about it Right because that support is the reason you're still coaching is the reason where you're at your number one coach in the world I mean and and and the coolest thing is again Number one coach but also a free coach, which is unreal like like your content Is is the best content in the real estate industry It hands down and it's crazy because you were gonna quit. Yeah. Yeah That's insane. I think there's a lot of stories like that, right? Yeah Um of like in different industries and different, you know genres that People are gonna quit and then they went on to be like superstars You know and and like I'm so far from where I want to be and I'm so humbled that like anybody even watches my content And says that it helped them and stuff like I'm still like that Alabama Teenager that was roofing houses with my dad type thing, you know, I mean like That's like where I am mentally is like I'm still a nobody, right? I'm trying I'm still trying to be somebody in terms of being that influential person that people can really relate to And used to like catapult their entire life, you know, it was like I was saying It's not a help you sell more property situation It's how to do more and less time to where you you have that that lifestyle that you want in terms of Happiness, right and being able to spend time with your family type stuff like um, we did the survey 7 out of 10 agents that completed the program get more listings close more deals 87 percent say they have better time management Right. It tells me that people that go through zero diamond Like produce more in less time, right and have time to spend with their family while producing more But 98.8 percent say they enjoy being a real estate agent more, right? And that's the one that really hit home with me. Yeah, right is that it's not just This is how you sell real estate, right? It's like this is how you live Right. This is a better quality of life Like because we got into your family for everything for everything because we got in this business for freedom Right, but but we but a lot of agents don't feel that way, right? Because you're jumping three feet in the air every time your phone rings You're working until 10 o'clock at night. You're stressed out. Yeah, you know and like for me I went through all that, right? But now I'm not, right? And I figured all that out a long time ago About like controlling your business not letting your business control you but that that's a big like core Like goal of zero to diamond is not like reducing the failure rate is one thing But reducing it through spreading the zero to diamond principles which create a quality of life Yeah, the reason we got into real estate, you know, we lose sight of the reason we got into real estate because Of how we're just trying to succeed and we get caught up in being number one and competing with all the other agents and stuff like that And honestly, it's not even about any of that. You know what I mean? Like people People don't understand like be just being a real estate agent like in this country You're in the top like zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one percent of the human race Yeah, right like like other countries other countries like they they don't have mls Yeah, right and said like they they go out and get like sellers Go out and hire eight different agents It's open mandates and the first agent that brings the buyer wins the rest of them lose Over here we get exclusive listings And we we like spend like five minutes putting it on mls and getting professional pictures And then we basically we may sell it ourselves like we're working hard, right? But in terms of like the efficiency behind having the entire population of agents in our market Basically fighting to sell that listing for us. Yep, and whoever sells it. It doesn't matter to us We we're gonna make half the money It's crazy. It's like it's like that's when you think about it. It's like insane. Yeah, right and like people are complaining Um, you know that they're they're making like six figure, right and they're complaining. They're not making seven figure and stuff It's it's nuts man. It's it's insane like how incredibly grateful we need to be as an industry, especially in this country Yeah for the infrastructure we have in place Um, the the amount of like gratitude we need to have to even just be here Even if you haven't sold anything just to have the opportunity to like be an agent You're you're you're like you have no idea how where you rank in the entire human race I love that so much because it really it just comes down to mindset because there are you can you can be of the mindset of There how many realtors are there in the entire world or in the you know, california or the united states or whatever But when you take it from that perspective and you're like, you know what this is pretty awesome Like look what a movement that we are a part of we need to be more proud to be who we are You know, so it was a really great message and you know what so is so much more incredible Um, is the fact that like like us as an industry and us as agents we just like the bottom line is like Like Technology like things have tried to take us out Like there's plenty of companies that would love to like Give us every single real estate deal and like just cut us out completely, right? Yeah, but it's so funny that every single company that's tried to do that has done nothing but enhance our situation Yeah, right. That's so so so like the company that like sells us leads, right? Yeah um Like people like people still to this day like i'm thinking god for that company Yeah, because the thing is is i used to have to Like people used to have to say ricky i'm looking for this house. I'm like, okay Let me find a list of all these houses. Let me send you this list of houses. Let you look at all them Let me know which ones you like and then See if they're still available set up the showings all that now They just call and say here's a list of everything I want to see It completely saved hours. Yeah of the time I used to spend with buyers. It literally Condensed it all down to where now i'm more efficient Because of the company the consumer finds the property and a lot of agents are still like they think this company is the devil And stuff right and i'm like thank god I don't have to like look up properties for people anymore. Like if you look at every single thing that has tried to take us out And honestly, I honestly believe that they tried to take us out It's not like now. I think those companies are playing it out like oh, we were never trying to take you out Right. Yeah, we were never trying to take you out guys because they failed at doing it But they were trying in my opinion and there's been several of them Right, but they've all failed and and every time that they try to do that. It's just nothing but help us It saves us time somewhere a i Like all the companies that try to do it have enhanced and like It they actually create a scenario where we sell more property because they tried that and they introduce something in the market that helps us Succeed more and I just I just I have a really strong belief that We're not going to get taken out. I just have a strong Strong belief that people need people to it's not like so when things happen and things change You just need to be adaptable Continue having those conversations with those people with those clients with those agents maintaining relationships It all goes back to the basics and I think it's I think it's it's something that you're saying is perspective, right? Like like the the interesting thing about I think that being surrounded by some of the most successful real estate agents some of the most successful real estate professionals in the country Is is really it comes down to perspective. It's you're either going to choose to say Oh woe is me XYZ company is here and they're going to ruin our careers or you're going to sit there and say Hey, this is a great opportunity for me. Yeah, and you're going to capitalize. That's what I see You like the discount brokerages that come up. I'm like great. How can I leverage this to my advantage? Here's how you leverage it. You let your clients go use them and see how bad their service is Come running right back to you. Right. That's what's happened. Yeah, that's what's happened So I have had clients go use the discount brokers and they come running back I'm like good. Go try it out. Go try to save some money because at the end of the day Like when someone uses another agent, right or or they buy for sell by owner Like there's agents that get mad at clients that go use somebody besides them And I'm like you need to congratulate them because they did what they thought was best for them And that's what you should have wanted And you should be saying awesome great job. You saved some money or you did this or that Let me know if I can help you with anything else moving forward We're never going to run out of houses to sell it. What's going to happen is is that that client that bought that from another agent Or bought it for sell by owner when they go to sell it There's a good chance if you handled it correctly and didn't make them feel bad For not using you they're going to come back and allow you to sell it So I have so many clients that came back to me that went and used other agents that came back to me Right because when when they did it, I'm like, you know, I didn't call and say why'd you do that or whatever I'm calling and saying good job Right and I'm congratulating them on that It's the same thing with the discount brokers when I've had clients that are like, I'm going to use this I'm going to I'm going to save like one percent. I'm like go Go do it. You know what I mean? Tell me what tell me what you think I'd love some feedback on that company and stuff like that You know, it's just and then I'm going to spend the time that I would have spent on that deal If they would have let me list it and go list five more properties See it's the future time that you get back. That's what people don't Don't value into the equation Is the time that you would have spent on that deal you can now take because that's our most Precious commodity, right? 100 so like you get that back future time Like they're literally giving you a gift a future time. Yeah that you can spend to go like Procure five more deals in the same amount of time that you would have spent on this listing Yes, sir instead of doing that a lot of agents are just sulking About the deal that got away. They're using the future time to sulk instead of that future time to be productive, right? That's huge and and and also the coolest thing is we're talking about, you know, you're you're when these people go and use somebody else Or whatever you're also realizing that this business is based on relationship That's what it comes down to at the end of the day, right? It's relationships that you're you're literally understanding So guess what when they go use someone else you're saying Congratulations. Hey, if you need anything, let me know. That's why they're coming back to you when it doesn't work out Well, the thing is is that they went to do something and since they chose that Then they felt like that was what was best for them. Yep And you that should be your goal is to help them do what they think is best for them So when they do that they need to be you need to feel like you won Yes, that they did what they felt was best for them If not Then that just tells everyone in the world that you're just doing this for money Yeah, and then and if what they do isn't best for you Then then this really wasn't the relationship that you made it out to be in the beginning Exactly, right, but there is a fine line, right between the fact that yeah, they're going to use you But there was the the part of the equation Where the relationship didn't matter to them. It was about they're going to save money Yeah, right So there was that part of the of the process where the relationship didn't matter Right to the client. Yeah, if they're going to get a better deal somewhere else Then money talks. Yep, and that's why Like moving forward in the industry And then this is a this is a big reason why i'm super flexible with my commission when i'm negotiating because A lot of coaches and trainers like six percent. You're worth six percent if you take less than six percent No, all this stuff I'm like you're going to turn down a relationship over a half a percent Whereas that relationship is going to turn into 10 to 20 deals to you over the life of your career Through through repeat business referrals and referrals of referrals And when you look at the referrals of the referrals who are going to be repeat business referrals and referrals over referrals Every relationship could be worth 100 deals to you over the life of your 30 year career, right? And you're going to turn down 100 deals 20 deals, whatever over a half a percent or even 1 percent It doesn't make sense to me. Yeah, right to to turn down a deal Over a quarter of a percent like you could have negotiated Down a tenth of a percent like I get I get I get a lot of listings that like 5.9 4.9 It's like I don't it doesn't have to be 4 4.5 5 5.5 like I can get it for 4.8 Right give the buyer agent two and a half and still walk away happy as can be And I think that like it's crazy because I'm still getting five and six And that's what I was getting 20 years ago when I got in the business right and like and like people are so like There's so much downward pressure on on commission rates and like different cities are different right with the tech cities and stuff It's different But even at a 4 percent, which is kind of becoming a norm like four or five percent in some markets When you're getting two percent two and two super lucrative Right the new agents coming into the business. They get two percent. They're happy as can be the ones that used to get three on deals They're sad It's like wait a minute like like two is still incredibly lucrative and I'm not saying I'm not an advocate on let's lower our commissions I'm an advocate on keeping it at five or six right but I'm not naive to the fact that we're moving into the future where there's going to be downward pressure because of how Easier see the thing like you're you're getting two and a half to three percent on the buyer side But you're not having to look up properties anymore Because of technology Right and all this technology is helping us be more efficient and sell more properties in less time Sure, there may be a little downward pressure, but you're selling more properties. Yeah, you know what I mean Like you're doing more volume 100. You know what I mean? So um, I think flexibility on commissions to And but being a good negotiator like I'm flexible, but I'm still I'm still know how to play the game when it comes Negotiating I still get a lot. I still get higher Commissions, right? I'm really good at at showing the value and getting a getting a you know, like, yeah I don't just come down. You know what I mean? Like I'm playing it out I'm feeling the amount to see to see like and I do it in increments to see where exactly I can land up because I know See, I know at the end of the day. I'll cut it all the way if I have to That's the thing like when they tell when they tell me like I would like to this I'm thinking I will do that in a heartbeat They don't know that let me see if I can squeeze another half a percent or something to make it work for the buyer side Because if I represent both sides, I'll take a lot less. Well, I love that that that I you know You just dropped a golden nugget for me is that 4.9, right? Like no like let's be honest here like that's huge Right because the reality is is like no one talks about that right no one talks that you could go down A tenth of a percent 4.95. They just want to see a four in front of it. Exactly, right? It's like advertising 399 9 They just want to see a three Exactly It's it's it's it's a it's a mindset shift and that's that's huge talk about like one tenth of a percent on a deal It's like nothing, but but to the consumer It's huge. It's like oh, I got in the fours with him. You know I'm saying Yeah, that's huge. That's a cool one and then and then um, you you mentioned you 20 years How long have you been in the industry 20 years? Yeah, I got in when I was 20 years old And uh, it was 2002. I want to put this I want to I want to lay it in perspective here Because I don't think we've ever talked about it. I don't know this But you've been in the industry for 20 years. How long did it take you to hit 100 deals a year? Let's see the first year I hit 100 was 2014. So that was uh, 12 years 12 years Or 100 deals a year, right that That 15 hours a day brah because I didn't have red X I didn't have like the the technology of today where I could click a button and get thousands of property owners information Click another button and automatically call all of them at three at a time You know, dude, do you do you understand like like where I would be? Like how quickly I would have got to 100 deals with the technology of today Yep, right, but like I'm in the gray area where I grew up where when we got when I got in real estate There was no social media Right. There was no Like facebook like started in like 2004 or five or something right youtube was like 2004 or five something like that Like there was nothing in 2002 when I got in and so like I'm old school enough to understand the work ethic behind and like growing up Roofing houses to to actually going out there and doing the sweat equity part of the business Right, but I'm still young enough to understand how to use technology Whereas you see like the brand that I built on social in the coaching world And so like that's the most dangerous agent who understands the old school And combines it with new school like if you can find that agent because most agents are one of the other They're either they're they're only doing old school. They're only doing new school, right? But they're not mixing the two and understanding the real core The core end goal of the funnel is a conversation Right, and that's that's the that's the thing too is like Someone someone asked me the other day is that same concept and I'm like they were like Well, how do you know you're so young and I'm like I read like I listen to every podcast You know you learn from experiences in life. That's what they don't need to be your own experiences That's the thing too. There was no podcast, right? So like in today's world You literally can learn from people that have been in the business 30 years Right all the way to the like the high-end luxury guys that are selling, you know 20 30 million dollar homes like they're sharing information So you have that that's a huge advantage right there because you're literally getting mentored by Some of the most incredible agents in the world right right there on your phone access to information And then the technology behind being able to communicate with more people quicker is like absurd Right, but like getting from zero to a hundred deals Can be done so much quicker nowadays, but still is a long process, right? Because it's interesting because like if you take an agent that's a that's a killer Right in another market one can probably attest to this right because he just moved from New York to to florida, right? I don't know if he's he's not trying to sell but like it like I've seen like Experience say that are good agents go to a different market take some six months to get to their first sale in that new market Okay, now if you take new agents, right? 90% don't make it so the 10% who do on average it takes them six months to get to their first deal So like I'm going based on real data that I see That it takes a new agent that's going to make it the top 10 percent average Why six months to get to their first deal experience agent killer in one market Go to another market takes them six months on average to get to their first deal So you have to realize when you look at that that it's not because you're a new agent that it that it takes You six months to get to your first deal, right? It's the fact of the amount of relationships that you have to create yeah, right and and and Get your name out there And build the the the amount of sweat equity to build enough relationships to build momentum in the business It's not because you're new Because it takes that long of really grinding it out to put the sweat equity in to to build enough relationships to build that momentum Right as it's interesting to think about that dynamic. You know what I mean? It's not about being new It's the fact that it takes that long to cultivate enough relationships to build the momentum to start the grain traction That's huge Dude ricky. I wish we had like four hours to do this thing because of what we're getting and the value I need to get to work. Can we wrap this up? I gotta get to the office Um, but I want to thank you. I want to thank you for coming on today I want to I want to also give you the opportunity to let people know where to find you Um, how to how to contact you I know that your your thing is you will respond to every dm in your in your messages So so I'll let you kind of take that from here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and like my g is totally like Blown up like it's broken right this second From the event and everything but I'm working through all those messages and I'll hit every single body back But um, i g is the best way at ricky caruth. Like that's where that's my hub really like communication Like I like when you hit me there, you know, you're going to get something back If you hit me on a different platform, it's a hit or miss like I may or may not I g is 100% can you spell it? I'm r i c k y c a r r uth It's just my name Right and then youtube's all this stuff, but the free coaching right 60 day challenge is at zero to diamond.com I'm going to do it and it the cool thing about zero to diamond.com is that we flip the switch and create 50,000 agents have went through the program And what's so cool is we flip the switch in december and and it now it's a social media platform where like you go create a Profile you can DM all the other agents on there. That's amazing. You create groups There's a you know, you post on your profile You you dress up your profile and then the 60 days attack is attached to it And we're creating an app so that it'll be an app on your phone where everything will be right there for you But um, yeah, we're just trying to continue to get better and better I've got 22 certified zero to diamond coaches who are basically little rikis. Yeah that are coaching agents for free I was gonna say isn't that a sticker? So like that's what you should call me on the roof actually Because my dad but we um every quarter right we do an application so the application will start this next month Um where you can put an application in to get free one-on-one coaching with one of our Certified coaches so like we're trying to take it to the next level every time you said you said how much does it goes It's nothing. Yeah No, we're doing one-on-one coaching for free like we offer full service coaching. Um, they help you through the 60 days Um, and then of course the 60 day completely free right and then i'm i'm accessible through instagram or whatever like I spend so many hours countless hours with new agents who probably aren't gonna succeed Right like all day. I'm just trying i'm just pouring as much as I can into Wasting as much time the more time I waste on people the more money I make right and I've always felt that I think that was true in in real estate and and even more so in this industry right because now it's a global We're on a global level now, right because i've got agents in all countries like and You know like it's crazy to see the differences in the different markets and everything that i'm learning and everything But yeah, um hit me up at any on instagram for sure is the main platform to follow me through my stories That's where I post like where you can really follow me through the day doing the deals helping the agents this that and the other Yeah, so And zero to diamond.com. That's it appreciate you man. Thank you so much for coming in. Absolutely, bro It was really really nice meeting you. Yeah Thank you for tuning in for this week's episode make sure to give us a follow on instagram at syris andre at danie femmel And at pacwest realtors keep hustling and stay motivated We want to remind everyone that these opinions are our own and may not reflect those