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For an agent to step away from production and focus on profit over volume, a system needs to be leveraged and followed closely. How does this system affect the roles of the people heading up the business? On this episode, Greg and Matt discuss this with Kerby Scurat - whose own business follows the visionary and integrator model built on the foundation of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
Takeaways + Tactics
Ask yourself what your process is and then work on how you can leverage a team to execute on that process.
Get the more dollar productive things on the agents’ plates and the low level stuff off their plates by hiring Virtual Assistants to take on some of the work
The best visionaries have had to do the integrator role at some point.
You can spend 100k on marketing but if you don’t have any type of efficiency to combat those leads and the bottom line, you’re wasting money.
-Kerby Scurat
Matt, Greg and Kerby kick off the show by discussing a listener question about price minimums and whether it’s a good idea turning down business because it goes below a certain amount. Greg and Kerby are of the opinion that using price minimums can stop agents from being able to build relationships with clients that could bring them even more business in the future. Kerby adds “every client has their own story and their own needs” and while they might not be up to a certain dollar amount, serving them means you retain their business long term. “55% of our business came from nurturing the database and never saying no to anyone who comes from that.”
Matt says being able to serve clients in this way is only possible if you have a team and a system. “You can do it but a solo operator has to be selective.” If there is the chance that you can hand them off to someone who is more equipped, do that. Kerby says in the case of having the lead flow problem of too many leads, it’s necessary to start leveraging the system or other people. He gives an example of lead flow as a railroad and the system as the kerosene that gets the train to its destination. “If you have all these leads coming at you, you have more control.”
Kerby goes into further detail about systematizing and how that benefitted his own business. In 2011 he began using Tigerlead, and then his team has layered in Zilo as well, with the aim of deepening the sphere of influence. Currently, Kerby’s team mail to 37 0000 homes and this method works thanks to a marketing budget that can drive these leads. Kerby’s success is build on the foundation of a solid team, led by him and his wife Cristina, who acts as the integrator while Kerby holds the role of visionary. Giving support are the marketing, sales and operations teams as well as 11 agents. Their target for each agent is 36 homes per year.
Kerby introduces the books Traction and Get a Grip by Gino Wickman which are the basis of their business model. When he and his wife decided that they wanted to get out of production and create more time for their growing family, they invested in the entrepreneurial operating system (EOS) outlined in Traction. The business required “A system that makes it possible to run it at a high level and scale it to the next level.”
They also work with an implementation coach who meets with the team 10 times over 2 years and ultimately the coach steps away so that the company can run EOS on their own. Kerry’s business stays on track with quarterly pulses with company rocks that everyone is responsible for and 3-7 initiatives over 90 days rocks that are overseen by the departmental heads. The system ensures that there is a clear picture of what needs to be achieved every single quarter.
With their focus on profit over volume and balancing it out with quality of life - Cristina, the integrator runs the day to day implementation while the visionary comes up with the overarching strategies. The integrator has to act as the filter for the visionary’s ideas and Kerby and Cristina have managed to achieve this as a husband and wife team, an excellent feat.
One of the most necessary moves Kerby and his team had to make was getting more efficient with the lead flow of the business. While a lot of money can be put into marketing, without efficiency and proper systems all this money goes to waste.
The conversation turns to social media and whether Kerby uses it or sees the need for it in his own business model. He says it’s a piece of the puzzle that he wants to get involved in. He plans to scale down on PPC which is labor intensive, and move towards an attraction mechanism which social media would serve as.
Speaking of attraction mechanisms, he uses Zilo which has a higher cost per lead - but is more efficient. For every lead that comes in, the team uses the follow up structure of 10 calls, 5 voicemails, 8 messages and 10 emails in 10 days. This is only possible because the CRM is powerful, and even though it requires a huge investment it is worth it.
The hangout closes with Kerby giving a quick rundown of his future plans - which include putting more time into a construction company he’s a partner in and getting involved in coaching.
Leveraging a system is a move that kicks the productivity of a business into high gear and it allows for benefits such as improved quality of life. With the employment of Virtual Assistants it becomes possible for agents to pour their energy and attention onto dollar productive tasks. Additionally, a visionary-integrator structure creates order that touches each part of the company. Success is achieved through a willingness to stick with the system, invest in a reliable and capable CRM and being goal and efficiency oriented.
Guest Bio
Kerby is a REMAX expert who is one half of a husband and wife team in Minnesota. With over 345 homes sold in 2015, Kerby and Cristina are the number 1 REMAX team in Minnesota. He began his real estate career back in 2006 and he has since began ventures in construction and coaching. To get in touch with Kerby and learn more about his work go to kerbyandcristina.com
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