Episode 10: The Matrix of Sales Success | Dan Railey

Dan Railey (00:00):

You have no restrictions on how successful you want to be. Your only restrictions are self-imposed.

Chris Cook (00:16):

Welcome, my really good friend, mentor, father figure, wonderful man all around golfer. I got a few things to learn about golfing as well as business from Mr. Dan Railey, so welcome to mind your real estate business podcast. Dan, I think this is your first podcast. Is this your first podcast you’ve ever done?

Dan Railey (00:39):

It is.

Chris Cook (00:40):

Alright, well this is super simple. I want to take some time here. First of all, thanking you for taking the time to meet with me even though our first time was missed by me and it’s apologies for that. But we are here and I appreciate your time. I want to dive right in and I guess first I’ll do a quick intro. Dan, you have operated a successful insurance company in Clearwater, Florida. When did you first start selling insurance in Florida?

Dan Railey (01:16):

I initiated the agency in 1978, April of 1978 and has been continuous ongoing.

Chris Cook (01:23):

Okay, and when you started, was it Allstate or Nationwide?

Dan Railey (01:30):

No, nationwide. Nationwide.

Chris Cook (01:33):

And so you had a franchise, a nationwide franchise there in Clearwater. Is that what that was?

Dan Railey (01:40):

That’s correct.

Chris Cook (01:41):

And I guess why insurance? Why did you go down that particular path?

Dan Railey (01:50):

I was working for a company that I’d been very successful with and they wanted to relocate me and Florida. I loved the Florida and I didn’t have any intention of wanting to move out. How did I select insurance? I was told a long time ago that if you can find a product that people will use over and over and over again without having to make a buying decision that it just automates itself, then you can be successful. Insurance is something that everybody needs, meaning that every person out there that I see, they’re friends that I just haven’t met yet, they’re not strangers, but that they will need that product. So therefore it seemed like a logical way to go when everybody has autos, homes, needs life, commercial, et cetera. So that’s why we chose that line.

Chris Cook (02:50):

In 1978 when you started, how many other agencies were there? How many other people were selling insurance in Florida that time or in Clearwater specifically?

Dan Railey (03:01):

Oh, in the given area, hundreds.

Chris Cook (03:04):

So it was a fairly crowded space.

Dan Railey (03:06):

Very,

Chris Cook (03:08):

Okay. When you started, what were your goals within that? How did you decide, this is what I want to do? What were those specific goals when you got started?

Dan Railey (03:20):

Well, the initial goal and the largest goal was to find something that the only restraints I would have would be self-imposed, meaning that I could have as much success or as little success depending on my own efforts and not anything that had to do with being time and grade or so many years to get to where you want to be.

Chris Cook (03:44):

Okay. More specifically, did you pick a niche that you wanted to service within that sector?

Dan Railey (03:56):

Well, the niche was already made for me because of the fact that every consumer out there had to have auto insurance, had to have home insurance, et cetera, so I had a natural market to draw on. It was a matter of they were going to spend that money somewhere that I just had to convince them that I was the best place to spend that given dollar.

Chris Cook (04:16):

Okay, and so it was personal lines where you started

Dan Railey (04:19):

Initially? Yeah, initially started with personal lines, yes.

Chris Cook (04:22):

Okay. And then expanded from there once you felt like you had a good handle on that, that’s when you looked at it, looked to more commercial stuff?

Dan Railey (04:30):

Yeah. Well, as the time grew, we started with the personal lines of the auto of the home. We did the life insurance and then we moved into the commercial and more estate planning, et cetera, as we matured in the business itself.

Chris Cook (04:42):

Yes. Okay. So I want to go, maybe this isn’t going back. I think it’s probably something that you kept on all the way through because I know it’s conversations that we’ve had. When you are building your business, when you’re building your pipeline of people, did you have specific numbers? Did you have this, I’ve got to make this many calls, talk to this many people to get this many appointments. Did you have a set of criteria that you had to meet on a regular basis?

Dan Railey (05:16):

I had a matrix that we set up on it, and what happens is that sales is all numbers. You can have a natural ability be gregarious, but it’s all numbers. So what I set up to do was that I was going to make a hundred calls. I would take the hundred calls and then I would figure out how many calls I had to make to get a presentation and how many presentations I had to make to get a sale. And then what I would do is I would convert that numbers to tell how much each call was worth to me. Example, if I make a hundred calls and let’s assume that I get 10 demos, I get five sales, the commission out of that five sales was $10,000. Then I divide that $10,000 into my a hundred calls and I realize even if I got nos, every call I made was worth a hundred dollars to me. Now when you initially started, you had to make more calls to be able to get more presentation, to be able to have a closing ratio because the motto is do it bad long enough, you’ll get good at

Chris Cook (06:30):

It.

Dan Railey (06:31):

So as a result of that, we would increase the numbers. Now, the way the rules should work in your syllabus is that as you do it badly long enough, you get good at it. Therefore you get more demos, therefore you get more sales. Therefore your sales is going to equate to better dollars and cents so that your a hundred dollars can move to where each call was worth 200. Why did we do that? And I had all my salespeople as I grew the organization follow the same matrix because I wanted them to know that every time they picked up the phone and they talked to somebody or they stopped and gave a card, et cetera, and guy said, well, I’m not interested. First thing, the first part of a yes is a no. The second thing is is that that call means, okay, I’ve gotten 14 nos.

(07:21):

I got a yes coming, but each call I made, it was a hundred dollars call. I was figured as a hundred and the numbers went from a hundred to 500 to a thousand and it was all because of the fact that the consistency was to keep doing it over and over again. When you saw people start figuring out the program, then they would cut down on their calls and if the same calls were less, then I also noticed that their production went down. So it’s not a case of being the smoothest talking person. I think it’s a case of following a matrix that has consistency that you do on a given basis and do it each day based on what your schedule is and don’t remove that matrix, that matrix works and the only time you’re going to change that matrix when it stops working.

Chris Cook (08:16):

Luckily for you, you are smooth talking.

Dan Railey (08:21):

Some days I think you’re pretty smooth

Chris Cook (08:23):

Some

Dan Railey (08:24):

Days.

Chris Cook (08:26):

So when you were prospecting, do you still prospect? Do you still call people? Just curious about that.

Dan Railey (08:33):

Well, the children now pretty much run it and the same matrix that we developed in 1978 when the three children came in, they had a natural wanting to be successful because they’re athletes and so they followed the same matrix and do they still make calls to this day? Absolutely, absolutely every day.

Chris Cook (08:53):

And how much time do you think is needed to sustain a vibrant business? How much time should you spend every day?

Dan Railey (09:03):

I don’t think you measure it in hours. I think you measure it in efforts because what happens if we are tired and not having a great day, that’s not a day to be calling that client. Let’s use that for follow-up work, paperwork, et cetera. But let’s pick a couple days a week that say if we say we want to do a hundred calls to the month, we know we got to have 25 a week. Let’s take two days a week and do 12 to 13 calls on that day to get to 25. If the numbers demand that you do more because the fact that your demos to call ratio is going higher, then you would increase your time, but you don’t want to make it. The thrill of the game is better than the sale. There’s just the fact of it is if you can consistently have fun doing it, then it’s great. It’s very much like the guy that goes in and ask the girl for a date and she says, no. Do you stop asking? No. You go ask another one and another one until somebody finally says yes.

Chris Cook (10:11):

I use the dating analogy all the time and I think that’s probably thanks to you. I use it and I just realized it was probably you. That’s what I getting from

Dan Railey (10:23):

It’s no, you got to remember the no is the first part of a yes.

Chris Cook (10:28):

That’s right. I love it. So the last time we talked, the last time we were together, we were playing golf and you said something,

Dan Railey (10:44):

Did I beat you?

Chris Cook (10:45):

Yeah, you beat me. You beat me all the time. Now that we got that recorded the last time when we played golf, the last time we saw each other in person, you said something that I loved and I think it was something along the lines of if the importance of your pipeline, the importance of your repeat referral, of keeping people coming back to you. And I think what you said was, if you’re shitty this year or next year as you were this year, your business will grow basically if you’re always adding people, what was it you said?

Dan Railey (11:30):

Here’s the analysis as if we decide that we’re going to do the business and we make this many calls, and as a result we get this many demos and we get this many sales one year later, assuming we got no better, we’re no better than what we were a year ago and we do the same thing and 90 of the business stays with you. Now you start off January the first or the second year with 90% of what you did the first year. Now if you do the same thing the next year, don’t get any more efficient, then at the end of two years you’re going to have twice as much business. And the cycle says that if you work it for a period of three to five years, your best clients, your best referrals are those who bought from you. So that is a source that you don’t ever want to delete. I always have a motto for the salespeople is to find your 60 prospects, reach out to ’em six times in the course of a year or two years, whatever. It’s 50% of those people will do business with you if you will follow that process. 60 prospects. That’s it in a bucket, six contacts. And I’m not saying call ’em on the phone every time, send ’em an email, send ’em an article, send ’em a happy birthday, et cetera, show that competence and caring will get you better than just a smooth presentation.

Chris Cook (13:02):

So our businesses are different and that we don’t have renewals. You guys have renewals, we get a bigger paycheck for the deals that we do do,

Dan Railey (13:15):

Yes.

Chris Cook (13:16):

But in my mind, even though we don’t have that renewal that comes every year, we don’t get paid next year on a house that we sold last year. But the importance of those referrals, the importance of that network is I think just as important, probably more important in our business in real estate as it is in insurance because we have that relationship that built up over time. The importance of those 60 people, as you put it, staying in touch with them and getting the referral, getting the repeat business that comes from them. I think that’s something that’s really important in a real estate business. Although we get paid differently, I think it’s just as important. Would you agree?

Dan Railey (14:07):

Absolutely. The thing that I would say to you and those that work within your organization is that even though you don’t have a next year purchase, again, the fact of the contact with that person, just a note, a call, how are things going, et cetera. You’ll be amazed at what people will tell you if you just let them talk. And if you’ve reached out to them, how’s the sale going? How’s the how’s? Have you made improvements? Are you happy with it? You’ll be amazed how many people say, we really like it, but we may outgrow this one. Great, you just created another lead. Two, my best friends are maybe starting to look for a house. So your best referrals come from the person that bought from you. They will refer you and they will buy from you again as long as they don’t lose touch with that line that you have established with them.

(15:08):

Too many salespeople a watch, treat it like a course salesman. They want to try to sell it today and go on to the next one tomorrow. Whereas your best diamonds can be right in your backyard from the success that you had with them first. And the other thing is to be perfectly honest with you, when you sold them that first year, you weren’t as experienced as you are now. And you’re going to learn more techniques, better techniques, and it’s always easier to talk with someone about a future deal when they have bought from you in a previous

Chris Cook (15:46):

Deal.

Dan Railey (15:47):

You don’t have to reestablish, it’s already there because you didn’t leave them just because you sold them. And they’ll help you if you allow them to help you. And I mean a nice restaurant gift for two, et cetera. Those things work. People laugh at ’em, but they work flowers on a birthday, they don’t forget it. And it’s a small amount of money for the commissions that you do make because your pricing of your homes up there, it’s extremely high. So it’s a nice sale once you get ’em. And same way with the commercial, same thing.

Chris Cook (16:21):

I remember the first time when I was buying a house and I remember you said, oh, Chris, tell me you’re not going to spend a million dollars on a house. I got no choice, Dan. That’s just what it’s

Dan Railey (16:38):

That’s funny, but that’s so true. When people talk about sales, I remember Michael Jordan making a statement that he said that he had missed 9,000 shots. He had lost 300 games. He had been called on 26 times for the winning basket and had missed. I failed over and over again and that’s why I am so successful today. I thought it was a wonderful statement for him. I had the pleasure of meeting him and playing at his golf course not long ago. He is really a very entertaining person, but extremely successful. Extremely.

Chris Cook (17:22):

You played on his golf course?

Dan Railey (17:24):

I did. I actually sat with him for a while. He invited us over to play and it was a funny story. The pro that I went over there with had been playing at Jack Lau Baris course, and Jonathan told me, he said, there’s this guy I didn’t know at the time who it was. It’s back there in the bet. And he’d go, and I’m playing the club pro and he says, I bet $2,000. He gets close as there’s a pen on this one and the other one. And so when we went in, Hewitt walked over to him, he said, thanks for an invitation. He says, you may not remember me, but I was playing over at Baris against the Club pro and you were in the crowd betting on me. He said, the hell, I don’t remember you. I won a ton of money off of you that day.

(18:08):

He said, you’re welcome anytime here. It was such a great experience. And the nice thing about is David Faulk, who is his manager, was there and he came over and we sit and talk for a while. It’s an interesting story to listen to him because they had a thing on about Michael Jordan and how his mother cut the contract with Nike and et cetera. And Falk said, I told them when they called me and asked me what I thought of the story, he said, look, if you expect people to believe that maybe you ought to do another one where you say Russia invented baseball in America. So David said, every contract that Michael had, nothing was done without his signature, nothing. So it was interesting to hear it, but it’s just neat to be around people like that so successful because it makes you say, gosh, he can do it.

(18:54):

I can do it. Martina Navida is a tennis star and she made a statement one time that said, the better I do makes me realize the better I can get. And it’s such a fact in sales too, because once you see that, that matrix works, you don’t have to be the smoothest talking person. You don’t have to be the most outgoing, gregarious person. You just got to follow the script that works for you. And that is where your personality may not fit one of your subordinates, but their own personality following the numbers, the matrix, it’s all numbers. It’s nothing more than numbers. The product can be different, but the numbers work the same always.

Chris Cook (19:43):

Yeah. I’ve got quite, because I actually don’t know the answer to this, some of the questions I’ve known you for so long, I know some of the answers, but did you ever spend money on marketing?

Dan Railey (19:59):

Yes, not a lot. Not a ton. I would pick the children now do this even in the agency today is single source today they have a image that they create within the network that they work and some of that that you do is advertising. Did I spend a lot of money on? I’ll send you so many leads for X amount of dollars. No, I didn’t do that. I firmly believe that one-on-ones in front of people and a handshake go a lot further than an email. Everybody doesn’t agree with that thought process, but your closing ratio is better when you had the person in front of you and he’s got to you no to your face as opposed by email. It’s easier to get out if it didn’t work that way. There wouldn’t be so many people sending stuff out on social media today. They realize that nobody’s going to see it or hear it.

(21:00):

They don’t know who did it. So I’ve always felt like that 1 0 1 in front is there. So that money that we would spend would be contributory to little League 10, something in the community that many would see and do because of the fact within that people just like in your market, they all have homes, they all be looking market and sometimes they give back to those that contribute. The same person who makes a lot of withdrawals, if he makes a lot of deposits at the same time, your status quo is really good in the area. So I would suggest if you’re going to do it, do things invested in that people are going to recognize and see. It may be an article in a newspaper, it might be word of mouth that you sponsored a little league team, but little league teams have 15 on a team. They got 15 parents, they got 15 houses, well spent dollars.

Chris Cook (22:00):

But making sure of course, that you don’t just sponsor the team, you have to show up, be involved.

Dan Railey (22:06):

Well, it’s a case of sometimes you got to do a little to get a lot and it’s worth it. But I think other thing, if you’re going to advertise and you’re going to spend money in marketing doing something that you like, not something you’re doing it just because of that, do something that you have an enjoyment with doing it rather it be around the kids. I know your children and you spend a lot of time with them, so pick things that they’re doing because they all got parents, they all got to buy insurance, they all got to buy houses. So if I’m going to spend my money, I’m going to spend my money that where people are going to recognize the fact that it came from Dan Ray or Chris Cook, et cetera. Now there are co-op deals out there that they have that you can get, but I have not seen that great of a impact as opposed to say in your business, if I was you, I would be trying to find a company, et cetera that is coming into your area that they’re relocating the executives and where you can be that finder for that, that would be an excellent point because they’re going to do business with that person that can take care for them and the most efficient and less time for them that they have to spend on it.

(23:25):

So a relocation process would be something where I might spend some money on the sea as far as picking up clients there because and when they come at that level, they’re not looking for the two bedroom link to, they’re looking for a nice place to establish themselves. So that’s a thought process there. If I was looking,

Chris Cook (23:42):

Yeah, I know that there’s, in some Ontario markets, there’s military relocations and stuff like that that are pretty lucrative and steady work,

Dan Railey (23:53):

And if that’s not something you want to do, then I would put one of my subordinates on it to see, let’s try it for 60, 90 days and see what we can bring up as far as relocation because there’s so many corporations that from states to Canada, Canada to states, et cetera, that where if you can get tied into it would be advantageous for you. I got to believe that that is a Toronto would be a big center for people being relocated. I got to believe

Chris Cook (24:21):

That. Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah.

Dan Railey (24:23):

Yeah.

Chris Cook (24:28):

So you chose Nationwide as your brokerage that you represent. You were one of the representatives, you had a franchise. Why did you pick Nationwide and how do you think that helped you?

Dan Railey (24:45):

Well, it helped me because of a couple things. I wanted to go with a direct writer because of one, an established name so that if I said nationwide, Allstate State Farm Crew Met Light, et cetera, people would know that name. So there’s always security in that. The second thing is is that I picked Nationwide over Allstate and State Farm. I got offers from each because Nationwide had a rule that said if it was unacceptable for their book of business, then I had the capability of being able to broker it to other companies. So they gave me that latitude within the contract and there were some things that Nationwide didn’t want to write, but still had a very lucrative commission and coverage. So I had that ability Nationwide allowed me to do it all. State and State Farm would not allow me to have any kind of brokerage whatsoever. They want you totally captured. So that’s the reason that I chose Nationwide

Chris Cook (25:44):

And that helped you. I imagine when you’re prospecting and when you’re talking to people, you’re introducing yourself. That affiliation with Nationwide, it got rid of the who you are pretty quickly.

Dan Railey (25:55):

It did because it eliminated name recognition was there. And the second thing, it eliminated me saying, no, we don’t write that. If we didn’t write that, then I could take alternative sources to go to be able to place that piece of business. And it expedited my growth immensely to where I was way ahead of the curve of where I wanted to be at the end of 2, 3, 4, and five years.

Chris Cook (26:19):

Yeah, interestingly, it’s the reason why I went to Max was because I wanted that name recognition. I wanted the ability to be able to get for people to understand who I am really quickly. If I was on a call, they knew that I was working with one of the most successful real estate brokerage in the world. It gets rid of a lot of that stuff. And I think a lot of people come into real estate and they think that the brokerage or the brand that they’re associated with doesn’t matter. I think it matters a lot.

Dan Railey (26:58):

Does this that we’re doing today, is this something that you want to use with your people within your organization also to encourage them?

Chris Cook (27:08):

Yeah, it is. I mean, the purpose actually is that I think that there’s a lot of people come into this, like I said right at the beginning, I think there’s a lot of people come into real estate without a lot of foundation set, without having a lot of coaching, without understanding how numbers oriented it is. I’ve actually had people tell me how surprised they are of how much sales are involved.

Dan Railey (27:36):

Really,

Chris Cook (27:37):

It’s in the name we are sales like you’re a salesperson. It’s actually what you are.

Dan Railey (27:44):

If someone said to me what was the best thing that I learned to do and why I got so successful in what I did, I would say that I had the ability to state a task in that I didn’t deviate the program if I would readjust it each year. But I didn’t deviate from the, I never wanted to stop making calls. I never wanted to go anywhere where I couldn’t hand my card. I didn’t ever want to be in a place where if someone needed me to volunteer in front of something to speak to a group that I did not have room on the schedule to do that. So my recommendation is you build an image. There’s two levels of success that I found and my children went through it. And most all the salespeople I work with went through it, including myself, is that the first level is the easier level.

(28:48):

That’s teaching the basis and getting them onto a matrix and allow ’em to follow it. The second level is more difficult because that’s the person that is successful and has reached a plateau where they’re happy and to try to get them to elevate to the next level. If you got 10 really good, maybe two out of that 10, we’ll step to that next level. They lower the expectations instead of raising the bar. And what they do is they deviate from what made ’em successful and their production goes down, but they got that plateau where they’re happy. And it’s always exciting to find that person that says, I want to be better than you. And I always felt that, and that’s what I got out of my three children. They wanted to be better than Annie and I, and I found that as probably the best compliment that I ever got out of the business world.

Chris Cook (29:46):

You have some three pretty motivated kids, I will say that I know,

Dan Railey (29:51):

Yeah, they enjoy the game as much as they do the results, but they enjoy the competition of the game. And that comes from all y’all being sailors and understanding that when you’re out in the water and you got a boat, you got the wind and you got a sail, any errors or your errors, you have no one to blame but yourself. You get bad breaks sometimes, but it’s, and it probably taught all of y’all the independence that you have no restrictions on how successful you want to be. Your only restrictions are self-imposed. And I think that the level there is pushed so much higher because of the competition that you had when you were younger. It’s somewhat said to me tomorrow, tell me the person you would go hire. The first thing I would put up at the top of the list, are you an athlete?

(30:44):

Do you like to win? I would say to you, if you’re looking for people, first of all, one, it’s difficult sometimes with salespeople as they get to that plateau and they just don’t want to do it anymore. And you try to, I use the expression sometimes it’s easier to give new birth than it is to drag around the dead. And sometimes those people, they just, they’re mellowing out itself. But if I was looking for people to come into a business, I love the term when they say they’re athletes because they’re competitive and that’s a good thing. And I have a motto when the children interview people now and I tell ’em, you got to want to be great. You got to want to be great. And if you can get them to think in those terms, like NVA says, the more I’m success, the more I realize how much better I can be. It’s just because it’s there. So you have a business that never goes out of style.

(32:00):

Someone’s always going to need a house. Someone’s always going to need a commercial piece of property. Someone’s always going to need to buy insurance. So it’s a market that you don’t have to create a need. It’s already there. You just got to have to find people that want to exercise that need. And that’s what a wonderful thing is of your business. And yes, the commissions are very good and you don’t have a repeat sale next year with that same person, but they might have three other friends that Chris did so well with this. Why don’t you call him and give him a shot to see if he can help you? I would heavily bank on referrals. If I’m going to invest marketing, I’d invest in marketing and local programs to where parents see your children, know your wife, know you, be a part of the community.

(32:48):

I tell you, a wonderful place to be able to gather clients is church. It’s a wonderful place. I cannot tell you how many clients have come from churches. So to use what is within your poor, don’t go outside of something that you’re not interested in and try to put dollars in it because if you don’t have instant results in it, you start getting a bad taste about it. So pick things you enjoy to build that image within the locale where you’re working, I would say. And as you get bigger, people will start referring you outside the area. You’ll start getting offers at different places. Like the kids are writing stuff in Alabama this week. I mean, it’s a case that as your reputation precedes you and you’ll be more successful and you’re doing great. So it’s just a matter of just don’t hang on to those that decide they don’t want to do it anymore. You got to give birth, give new birth to that new opportunity because when they came, you gave them new birth. And if you need to make changes, you make changes. You need to bring in, do bodies, new people, amazing, amazing, keep growing. It’s like the guy said, don’t keep trying to jump over a ocean for somebody if you won’t open the portal to at least talk to you.

Chris Cook (34:10):

We had to get one. We had to get one in. You’ve always got such great sayings. I’ve not heard them. That one’s pg. So I like that.

Dan Railey (34:22):

Yeah, there’s some stuff you can’t say. I remember one time I was in Miami, I had done a presentation to them and the guy asked me about the business. I said to him, I said, well, I can be a little colorful for you without being too bad. He said, what’s that? I said, I tell people that my business is like the first words that Adam said to eve in the garden. Stand back Eve. I don’t know how big this thing gets. And the guy just started howling. He said, you’re my guy. He says, you’re my guy. He said, I’ve never had anybody tell me that before. He did. It was funny.

Chris Cook (35:14):

Do you book with all this stuff in it or do you pick it up from other people? Where does this stuff come from?

Dan Railey (35:20):

Well, I don’t know. For whatever reason, I enjoy people that make people happy. I guess that’s what people ask me sometimes. What do you think God put you here for? And I said, I think he put me here to make other people smile and be happy. And I try to spend a lot of time doing that with jokes and liners and stuff. It just makes it fun. But sales has never been a job. A job is an acronym for just Over Broke. And I tried to not have those. I like the idea that if you can go out and have a day to make yourself five, $10,000, God bless you. It’s wonderful.

(36:05):

And if you do that on a regular basis, you get used to it. So I think success breeds success. It’s a great feeling. Success is not an event. It’s a habit. Just like losing can be a habit. Not winning is a habit. And the other thing is that when you miss one, your best critique is to sit down and figure out why you missed it. I remember when I was learning golf, I had a guy that’s pretty talented that I play with some, and he said, the person watching can see more than the person doing. So sometimes going with that person, you will be at a critique seeing what he’s doing. And I did this many times. I’d go with him, let him go, and then afterwards we talk. If we got it, you congratulate if you missed it, why did we miss it? And the biggest thing that people have in sales presentations is finding a response to objections.

(37:16):

There is no objection. And I have stood in front of many, many people and made this statement, there is no objection that cannot be overcome with a response. There’s not one. Rather, it’s his brother, his wife, whatever the case in point is, because you can learn how to overcome objections by just in a repetitious way. Whatever he says to you, Mr. Cook, I can appreciate why you might say that other than the fact that our price is too high. Is there any other reason? If we could take care of that, you wouldn’t do business with me today. You wouldn’t make me the agent of choice. Well, he’s my brother-in-law. I can appreciate why you might say that other than the fact that my price is too high and your brother is the agent. If we could overcome those two objections, any reason you wouldn’t do business today, you want to simplify it down to what is the objection?

(38:18):

What is the fire, not the smoke. And that crutch works. There was only one person in the whole world that could walk on water. If you see anybody else walking on water, they know where the rocks are. You as a salesperson need to know where your rocks are, what are your crutches that you can receive to help you get through that presentation? And you just have set ones that you learn, that you use. And it doesn’t matter if you’re selling cars, how the insurance, et cetera. Those responses can became automated to a point that it help you get through the difficulty of it.

(38:59):

The worst thing you can say is, let me go back to the office and see what I can do. The best response you get is that time, Mr. Kirk, what is it today that I have not shown you that we do better than others? Try to get it out of him. There’s something there when he says no. Well, I want to think about it and make the decision. What is it that you don’t know today that you’ll know tomorrow? It’s a simple process. It, nobody gets offended. I remember when I was first learning, when you ask a closing question, you don’t speak Mr. Cooker. You have, you made the decision that you’d like me to be aging a choice and you don’t say a word because the next one that speaks loses. And I was sitting down in Miami, this was $884,000 premium. It was a big boy.

(40:04):

And I asked him, and I sat there and he sat there and I sat there and he sat there and I knew this man muskie in sales because I mean, he was sitting there and he finally said to me, you’re not going to speak are you? And I said, I will now. And he started laughing. He said, write the thing up and take care of it for me. He says, I just wanted to see if you would break the ice. I said, no, but it was fun. But that’s why I’m saying in the sales, if you can get yourself and all your people to understand, it’s a fun process. Get it down to numbers to where you know what each call rather, the guy says, no, no, no. Okay, I made a hundred. I made 200. I’ve made $300 today. It’s just going to come later because you’ve got the no out of the way.

(41:00):

And if you make 18 calls, you’re going to get a demo. And if you get a demo, you know that five of ’em, you’re going to get a sale or whatever the numbers are for each. Every person’s different. But if they’ll follow those numbers, there’s no reason that anyone should fail in a business. There’s just no reason for it. If you do the numbers, some people got to make 200 talls. Other people that are more glib, they can do it in 75 talls. But you establish a matrix that works and work it every day, every single day. And in that program, take that day out where you do nothing because you get your motor started again, it refreshes. Take that day. Go do like what you’re doing. That’s a good thing you’re doing

Chris Cook (41:45):

Right there. That’s what I’m doing right now.

Dan Railey (41:46):

Yeah.

(41:47):

And just you refresh the motor. But I would say to any of your people, if you thought enough of them to be there, then they should think enough of the confidence to do the best they can. Lou Holt says There are four things. One, you got to have someone to love. Two, you got to have something to do. Three, you got to have something to look forward to. And four, you got to be something that you believe in. And to do those four things there, you got to do what’s right. There’s never a wrong time to do what’s right. There’s never a right time to do what’s wrong given a task. You have to give the maximum effort in the time you’re allocated for that task. And three, be kind to others. It’s a really simple process, but it works. It works. And it’ll work for you too.

Chris Cook (42:39):

Yeah,

Dan Railey (42:40):

It will.

Chris Cook (42:41):

Dan, I’m going to draw us to a close. I could talk to you about this stuff all day.

Dan Railey (42:47):

I know

Chris Cook (42:47):

I’m really honored that you took the time out to be here and chat to me. I probably don’t say it enough. You, Anne, and your family have been an absolute center point of my life, and I’m proud to call you guys my friends, and I wouldn’t be where I am without you and your guidance and the love of your family so

Dan Railey (43:16):

Appreciate. Well, let me tell a closing story on you that Doug will appreciate because he’s hearing this. Is that my children, when they decided they wanted to be Olympic athletes, we chose them to travel with Chris Cook and his entourage. And Annie and I came up to watch one of the regattas, and we had never seen Mr. Cook at that time. So we roll up in a car and there’s this van and there is stuff hanging out of this van everywhere, hanging out. I mean, you couldn’t see through the van. There was so much stuff in there. And I remember seeing this sticker on the next to the door and it said, don’t laugh. Your daughters could be in here somewhere. And then my son went off the beaten path with you and you made him sleep on a porch for a night. It was a great learning

Chris Cook (44:18):

Experience for him. Gave him baptism by fire.

Dan Railey (44:22):

But those guys that we met way back then, you and Oscar and Bernard and all them, you’re all still friends. We were just thrilled to have y’all stay at our home so much when you were down in the States. So thank you for the compliment allowing me to talk with y’all today. It was fun.

Chris Cook (44:38):

I agree. Yes, it was. Thank you.

Dan Railey (44:40):

Thank you so very much.

Chris Cook (44:51):

Okay, here are the top three things from Mr. Dan Railey here today. Number one, consistency wins. Dan stressed the importance of sticking to a proven sales matrix, making calls, tracking ratios, and never deviating from the process. Number two, relationships drive growth. He emphasized nurturing existing clients through consistent contact as referrals and repeat business that are the foundation of long-term success. Number three, brand and community matter. Dan highlighted the value of working with a strong recognized brand and investing in visible community involvement to build credibility and attract clients. I’d like to thank you for joining us today on Mind Your Real Estate Business. Please do like and subscribe, share this with somebody that you think can get value from this amazing podcast.