Sell It Like Serhant - How To Sell More, Earn More, and Become The Ultimate Sales Machine (PDFDrive)
Sell It Like Serhant - How To Sell More, Earn More, and Become The Ultimate Sales Machine (PDFDrive)
Sell It Like Serhant - How To Sell More, Earn More, and Become The Ultimate Sales Machine (PDFDrive)
Hachette Books
Hachette Book Group
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
hachettebooks.com
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E3-20180921-JV-PC
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Author’s Note
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Newsletters
This book is dedicated to my wife Emilia, for
believing in me from day one. You push me
to do more than I ever imagined possible and
inspire me to reach higher every day.
Serhant Secret #1
The secret to your success will be revealed in hindsight. You won’t
recognize it until you’ve already lived it.
Serhant Secret #2
Choose success first, no matter what—then back yourself into a career.
Every year, over 50,000 runners come from all over the
world to participate in the New York City marathon, as if
running 26.2 miles isn’t that big a deal. Do you know what
happened to the first guy who ran a marathon? He dropped
dead. Okay, so that was in Greece, where it is super hot,
and it was in the year 490 BC. There were no running shoes
or water bottles for easy hydration. Now practically anyone
can run a marathon with the right preparation. You train
carefully, increase your mileage, eat well—and then put
your name on a T-shirt in big glittery letters so when the
crowd shouts, “GO, RYAN,” you force yourself to keep
moving instead of sitting down on the curb and ordering a
pizza. With the proper training, it’s possible to cross the
finish line and live to Instagram about it. But what if, after
all that preparation, the race suddenly switched from a
marathon to a sprint? You’d been running slowly and
steadily, and now for some unexpected reason you have to
hustle like hell to get to the finish line? You start to
increase your speed, you’re doing it—but wait, stop! Never
mind! We’re going back to the really long and drawn-out
race… and good luck to you!
Whether you’re in sales for an employer or you’re an
entrepreneur, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
There are the crazy long deals stretched out over what
feels like years, a humble pilgrimage to the end result. And
there are the deals that are lightning quick, where you feel
like a genie—you nod and there’s the prize. Then there are
the ones that switch back and forth, nearly sucking you dry
of energy and sanity. Sales requires a tremendous amount
of endurance, and training yourself to be ready for any kind
of deal will give you a gigantic edge over your competitors.
Balls up!
Sales is like a race, except no one is going to tell you
what kind of race it is until that gun goes off. As you start
to sell more, it becomes clear that success is about how
hard you work—it’s about your endurance, it’s about your
ability to sustain a lot of balls. The more ads I placed, the
more showings I did, the more connections I made—the
more I sold. It wasn’t like acting; no one ever said, “I’m not
taking this well-priced-spacious-apartment-that’s-perfect-
for-me-in-every-way because I don’t like your face.” Sales is
about the work, simple as that.
The best thing about selling is that you can do whatever
you want to increase your stamina, survive that race, and
cross the finish line. No one is telling you to punch out. The
choice is yours. You decide how hard you want to work and
how much money you make. No salesperson ever got a call
like, “Hi. This is Pam, you know, from HR? I have to tell you
that you sold way too much this month. Your sales were,
like, way over the top—and exceeded everyone else’s.
You’re making too much money for this company. Consider
this a warning.” Am I right?
Early in my career, no matter what was thrown at me, I
wasn’t going to stop. That put me at a competitive
advantage over my colleagues. While other brokers were
going on vacation, in the Hamptons for the weekend, at a
movie, out for dinner, or sleeping, I would be hard at work,
ready to surge ahead of them. Sales is a crazy race. While
they were taking a hot yoga class or eating sushi with
friends, I was checking off my to-do list.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Re: Investment!
Dear Sirs:
I am seeking help to make a big real estate investment in New York City.
Please respond if you can help me make this investment.
Yours truly,
“Mr. X of Atlantis”*
I know you spend your time mostly in Atlantis dealing with “energy” and
you mentioned you have a home in Paris, so I’ll be coming through Paris
and would love to close this deal if you perhaps have a free second and
aren’t actually a criminal trying to steal my identity.
Serhant Secret #3
Never underestimate the power of a face-to-face meeting. Sometimes
emails and texts are not enough to get a deal closed.
Serhant Secret #4
Closing a deal means keeping your ego in check at all times.
Serhant Secret #5
There will be an objection with almost every single sale. The goal is to
turn negatives into positives.
I’m all about saying yes to more balls. But a big part of
turning those balls into closed sales and big commission
checks is about getting clients to say YES to what you’re
selling. I can’t tell you how many times a member of The
Serhant Team has walked into my office and asked me to
speak to a client, because “They’ll feel more comfortable
hearing it from me” or “They’ll believe it if they hear it
directly from Ryan.”
I’m always happy to help out—I want my team to
succeed and the brokers I work with to grow. But the truth
is, clients aren’t accepting my word because I’m some
powerful wizard—I’m not the Oz of real estate. Buyers and
sellers accept what I’m saying because I speak from a place
of complete confidence. My confidence assures people that
when I say things like, “This is a fantastic apartment; I
think you should snap it up,” it’s true, and they should buy
it. Not next week or next month—but today. If you want a
client to buy what you are selling, self-confidence needs to
be oozing out of your pores.
You must decide that there is no choice but to be the
BEST salesperson that has ever existed in the history of the
entire universe. Early on in my career, I bought myself a
one-way ticket to planet confidence and I’ve never looked
back. Am I joking when I say I’m the best broker in the
history of the entire universe? Sure, kind of. That is a
ridiculous statement to make. Does it mean I don’t make
mistakes or don’t have more to learn? Definitely not. But I
do know that I’ll work more and fight harder than anyone
else, and do absolutely everything in my power to get a
deal done and make my clients happy. And in my book,
that’s what makes me the best. You might be the best
salesperson for totally different reasons, and that’s
awesome.
I can walk into a room and tell anyone that I’m the greatest
salesperson in the universe. But that doesn’t mean I just
tossed off my shyness like a dirty gym T-shirt. It’s still
something I have to work on even to this day. Last Friday I
found myself in a room full of people I didn’t know. And I
hated it. I was meeting Emilia at a gala for the Hellenic
Initiative, a cause that’s important to her. I arrived before
she did and found myself in a giant room full of Greeks.
They were all happily chatting in groups, like they had all
known each other for decades. My first instinct was to
stand in the corner alone and look at my phone, or, better
yet, leave (but then my wife would kill me). I got a glass of
champagne from the bar and started awkwardly circling
the room while glancing at my phone to see if there were
any exciting news stories (there weren’t). After half an
hour of roaming the room like a weirdo, I finally had to
encourage myself to jump in the water. I didn’t want to—I
knew it would be cold and uncomfortable. But I forced
myself to walk up to whoever was closest to me and that
was the photographer who was shooting the event. I
decided to go with “Hi, I’m Ryan,” as my brilliant opener.
We chatted for a few minutes and he showed me a few
pictures of his kids. Okay, I didn’t sink—I survived that
initial plunge and was ready to dive deeper. Then the
photographer introduced me to some people he knew, and
they were nice and happy to talk to me. Things got better,
and I was able to tread water quite easily and then my
brother-in-law showed up. I’ve never been happier to see
him. I didn’t drown, and chances are that no one ever has
died from introducing themselves to a stranger at a social
event.
Many years after we walked down the street knocking on
doors, my family moved again, this time to Colorado. I was
already in college, so I didn’t have to worry about making
new friends again, but my little brother was in high school.
He had to start from scratch. He was nervous, as any high
school kid would be, but I was excited for him. High school
wasn’t easy for me. Even though I had found the theatre, I
was never really comfortable in my own skin. I wasn’t a
jock and I wasn’t super smart. I was the kid who liked to
recite poetry and wear loud Hawaiian shirts Every. Single.
Day. If I could send high school Ryan a message from
future Ryan, it would be this: Ditch the shyness. Don’t be
afraid to take risks; you have nothing to lose. Poetry and
Hawaiian shirts are awesome and it doesn’t matter that you
aren’t on the hockey team. Ask out any girl you want! I told
all of this to my brother. He took that advice to heart and
became one of the most popular kids in his high school
(although he did dress better than I did).
We are salespeople—that means we have to talk to
people and meet people all the time. We must always be on
the lookout for opportunities because anyone anywhere can
be our next best customer. I still have to remind myself that
my next big client could be that complete stranger I’m too
afraid to talk to at a party—and that I should put my phone
down and get out of the corner. I know that no matter what
heights I hit in my career, the first move is always going to
be hard to make. But I’m never going to let that stop me.
So the next time you feel apprehensive about taking a risk,
just remember that in the end, putting your phone in your
pocket, getting out of that corner, and letting the world see
how awesome you really are can take you somewhere
bigger and better than you’d ever thought you’d go.
And don’t you want to see where your story will take
you?
THE SERHANT WAY
Saying YES = Selling More. Don’t be afraid to say yes, even if you’re not
sure what you’re doing or where to start. You’d be surprised how many
salespeople say no to an opportunity just because the idea of stepping into
uncharted territory makes them uncomfortable. Saying yes gives you an
enormous advantage over your competition. But I understand how terrifying
it can be to say yes: I’ve said yes to many opportunities and those that
frightened me often turned out to be the most rewarding—financially and
emotionally. Don’t forget you have the power to figure things out. And if
someone thinks you’re crazy for saying yes? Even better! They don’t have
the courage to do what you’re doing.
Remember that getting to YES can mean:
Serhant Secret #6
People don’t like being sold, but they love shopping with friends.
Serhant Secret #7
Connection first, product second.
Serhant Secret #8
Social currency matters. The more people you meet, the more business
you’ll do.
It’s remarkable when a simple introduction or a passing
conversation turns into an unexpected sale or, even better,
a long-term client. I’ve sold apartments to people I’ve met
on the subway and in the bathroom. A connection can be
made anywhere. Emilia and I spent our honeymoon in New
Zealand, a place we’d always wanted to go. We were
staying at The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs, a small and gorgeous
hotel, located roughly 9,000 miles from our apartment in
SoHo. In other words, we were as far away from potential
New York buyers and sellers as possible.
At breakfast one day, a person walked up to me and said
what I swear sounded like “Care levitator.” New
Zealanders speak English with a Kiwi accent. I thought this
was a unique colloquialism, so I responded, “Care
levitator!” It turned out this was Mr. Fang Von
Tonnenberg* and his wife, Brunhilda, of the Upper East
Side of Manhattan. They were fans of Million Dollar Listing
New York, notably the episode in season two when I was
selling a $20 million penthouse in Chelsea with—wait for it
—a car elevator. We had a quick chat, exchanged contact
information, and went on with our vacations.
Fast-forward a few weeks, when we’re all back in New
York City. I send an email to remind them about our
random encounter in New Zealand. Brunhilda responds and
mentions their two children are about to graduate from
college, and they’ll need a place to live. Oh, really? I make
plans to show Brunhilda some apartments, and after
looking at several they settle on a $4 million two-bedroom
in West SoHo that will happily house both kids. This sale
wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t forced myself to turn
away from my delicious Belgian waffle and say hello to a
stranger on my honeymoon, and then engage with them.
Every single encounter and connection matters.
Just take a minute to think about your day. Where do you
encounter other people who share a common interest?
What’s your happy place? Where would it feel natural for
you to initiate a quick conversation? It can be anywhere—
the park, a coffee shop, yoga, etc. Start with something
simple like, “Oh, are those almond cookies? I’ve been
meaning to try those. How are they?” That’s all you need to
do. You don’t need to make plans to see a movie or agree to
walk their dog while they’re on vacation. Start with a
simple connection and let it slowly develop into something
bigger.
In a million years, I could never have imagined I would
meet over a hundred people in a week on average. I was
not born with people-meeting muscles; I built them up over
time. When weight training, you don’t show up the first day
and pick up the heaviest weight. You work with the one
that’s right for you, and as your body gets stronger you
increase the weight. It’s the same with meeting people.
Maybe you’ll start off meeting one new person per day.
That will get easier, and you’ll add a second person, no
problem—and then a third. All of this practice will soon
translate into more meaningful connections and lead to
more sales because people don’t want to be sold; they want
to go shopping with friends.
Serhant Secret #9
Don’t always sell the most expensive product.
You are not a used car salesman. Used car salesman are aggressive and
pushy; they work for the sale.
You are not a tour guide. Tour guides just point to things; they work for the
client.
Are relentless.
Have empathy.
Are patient.
Listen.
Bring value.
Have respect.
PRACTICE YOUR CRAFT
A salesperson’s body and voice are his tools. This all probably sounds crazy,
but if you are having any issues with being open and talking to customers,
you should try these exercises. If you’re thinking, “I don’t want to do these
things; I’ll feel ridiculous,” so what? It is ridiculous. Who cares? Especially if
you become so loosened up, you sell more than the salesperson next to
you. Would that be ridiculous? Or do these exercises at home, when you’re
alone (like I do). We’ll just keep it a little secret between two salespeople.
Posture First.
If you want your voice to convey qualities that assure customers they are
making the right move, start with your posture. You’ll sound best if you are
standing up tall and straight. You’ll also want to be relaxed—try not to be
rigid and stiff. You don’t want to look like you’ve just been thawed out after
spending several centuries frozen in a cryogenics facility. Stiff comes off as
weird. Good posture means easier breathing, which means sounding better.
If you want to speak clearly and confidently, practice tongue twisters. Get
used to really moving your mouth and your tongue when you talk.
Enunciate! Say the following over and over. It can be surprisingly difficult,
but as you practice you’ll soon see how your words come across loud and
clear.
Here are a few to get you started:
YOUR FACE
There are few things more jarring than talking to a person who does not
react using facial expressions. It’s unnatural and weird. Try to be aware of all
those tiny facial muscles so that they can be more expressive. Practice
scrunching up your face as tightly as you can. Think about scenarios that
would cause you to do that, like maybe you’ve accidentally eaten week-old
sushi. Hold that expression for a good 10–15 seconds, then release. Repeat
three times. Now stretch your face the other way by making a Surprise!
face. Imagine the face you would make if your dog suddenly spoke to you.
That would be so crazy! Hold that face 10–15 seconds and repeat three
times. Nice job.
YOUR PRESENCE
Back when my brothers used to tease me for being Cryin’ Ryan, I’d yell back
between sobs and sniffles, “I’m not Cryin’ Ryan! I’m Ryan the Lion!” The fact
that I was crying hysterically did not likely give off the impression that I was
much of a lion. However, this was a small, but helpful reminder to myself
that I was bigger and bolder than I appeared to be. Now for the weirdest
advice possibly ever given in the history of books: transform yourself into an
animal. If you need a boost of courage—if you need to have a bigger
personality—go bananas with this. Bark like a dog, roar like a lion, roll
around on the floor if you need to. Let every inhibition go. You have nothing
to lose. At the very least, speaking to a new customer or a potential client
will not seem challenging or awkward at all once you’ve allowed yourself to
trumpet like an elephant. It’s fine, really. I won’t tell anyone.
CHAPTER 4
Dear Sebastian:
Have you heard of the new development at 33 East 74th? It is six row
houses that used to belong to the Whitney Museum, now being converted
to condos.
10 units between 4,000 sf 3 bedrooms up to 10,000 sf 5 bedrooms.
Starting at 13M. Expected to be completed by 2015.
Hope you’re well. Could work well for you!
Ryan Serhant
From: Sebastian
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2013, 10:56 a.m.
To: Ryan Serhant
Subject: 33 East 74th
Ryan,
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten a new client
because that person never heard from their broker again
after a closing. Ever again. Why? The idea of someone not
following back with a customer makes me want to throw
up. It’s easy, and a sincere way to build a relationship with
a repeat customer. It’s also a way to keep a door open for
an opportunity that isn’t yours to be had at the moment. I
don’t get every job I pitch (very much to my dismay), but I
don’t see that as the end of the opportunity. I can still show
a developer or client how awesome I really am (and why
they should hire me next time) by following back.
The closing of the deal is just the beginning of the
relationship. It is a huge mistake to assume the relationship
with a customer ends when they buy your product. The
closing of the deal represents the beginning of a new
chapter in the relationship. Follow back after the sale—ask
how they are enjoying that hot tub, if the kitchen
renovation is going well, or even if the dress they bought
for their daughter’s wedding was a hit. Follow-back leads
to repeat customers.
Another big developer in New York had a new
condominium project I desperately wanted to sell in Park
Slope. I pitched my heart out for this project, but the
developer didn’t go with me—he thought I was too small at
the time. I could have just been annoyed or angry. Too
small?? Really? Or I could follow back to show that this
perceived flaw was ultimately something that didn’t matter
at all. I decided to send the developer a gift as a thank-you
for letting me pitch him. I ordered a 10-foot fig tree that
took four people to deliver and had it sent to his office with
a note that simply read, “IMPACT.” My new development
team may have been small at the time, but make no
mistake, I know how to make an impact.
He noticed. Two years later, after many follow-ups, he
called me and said he had a new project that will be
Brooklyn’s first super-tall skyscraper. He wanted me to
pitch him. I nailed it. At least I thought I did. That is, until
he said I would hear back from him in a couple of months.
What? I could be dead by then… except I’ll be alive because
I really want to sell this building.
I could let that drive me bananas and sit around by the
phone like a 16-year-old waiting for a girl to call, or I could
use this as an opportunity to follow back. My team and I
worked together to figure out how we could make another
impact, something bigger and more meaningful than a tree.
We bought a very attractive, modern, and architecturally
interesting bookcase, and had it delivered to his office. But
we didn’t stop there. The next day, we sent a book with a
note. We did the same thing the next day. And the next day.
Every. Single. Day. By the time he decides which broker to
use, he will have a well-curated collection of books sitting
on his beautiful bookshelf. I knew I was the right broker for
the project, and I was determined to send him a book a day
until he chose me. Did it guarantee it would get me the job?
No. It did not. But it would be impossible for him to not
think of my team, our passion, our determination, and our
generosity every time he walked into his office. And that is
a big impact.
A month later he sent me an email; the subject was
“BROOKLYN.” The body said: “U WIN. LET’S DO IT.
BOOKS CAN STOP NOW.”
As salespeople, we can’t get every single client. Hearing,
“No, I’ve gone with someone else,” is just part of our
business. It can suck. I hate it sooo much, but that doesn’t
necessarily have to be the end of the story. Deals can die,
but relationships never can. Using the Three F’s gives you
some control. Following up, following through, and
following back provide an extra, free, and easy opportunity
to show clients what you’re really made of (awesomeness,
etc.). The next time you don’t get a client you want, just
remember this isn’t necessarily the end of the chapter. Get
out your calendar, block out some time for follow-up, and
see where the Three F’s can take you. And if all else fails,
there’s always the fourth F: Fuck it.
THE SERHANT WAY
The Three F’s Rule is one of my most valuable sales secrets, and I don’t
understand why everyone isn’t doing it all the time! Block out time in your
calendar for follow-up, and watch how new business practically lands in your
lap.
THE FOLLOW-UP
THE FOLLOW-THROUGH
THE FOLLOW-BACK
The Push
The Pull
Persist
In some cases, neither the Push nor the Pull is quite right.
In these instances, a salesperson needs to Persist. You’re
not actively pushing, and you’re not pulling back, but you
are reminding them that the product they are considering
is perfect for them. Recently, I had a client who was
$100,000 away from closing a deal for an apartment on the
Upper West Side. He refused to move up if the seller
wouldn’t come down. I knew that the apartment was
actually priced right! To have come down from the asking
price would have been underselling it, and I knew that. I
persisted with my client. Every two days I sent him a
message about the deal. One message would be about how
I’m trying to hold it for him. Another message would be
about a new comp sale that justified the asking price. A
third message would be my suggesting he see it again. He
agreed to take another look. We talked about his issues and
it was clear he was in the fear stage. I used my tools to get
what was down back up and he bought it for $9 million.*
The element of surprise can give you the upper hand when
guiding a client through the stages of the sale. To be clear,
I’m not talking about throwing a party or dressing up in a
clown suit and popping out from a behind a bush yelling
“Surprise!” That would be terrifying, and scaring a
customer to death is a terrible idea. When my team uses
surprise, we’re incorporating an unexpected element into
the process to help move things along. We do this by how
we present information or manage expectations. There are
many situations where a salesperson has to present
unpleasant information. In my world that usually means a
buyer has backed out of a deal. When this happens, I will
milk every resource I have to find a new buyer ASAP. This
means I can call up a client and say, “The bad news is that
your buyer backed out because he decided to join a
competitive curling team in Moscow. But! The good news is
I got you another offer!” The bad news is instantly replaced
by the good news. For people who sell other things, this
could mean that a product won’t be ready on time or an
order was placed incorrectly. Instead of calling up your
customer and dropping the bad news, take time to think
about what little surprise you can add to remedy the
situation and maintain the relationship. “I’m so sorry that
your order won’t be received on time. Please know that I’ve
reduced my commission to make this a better deal for you,
you get free shipping, and 20 percent off your next order.”
Sometimes surprise comes in the simple form of exceeded
expectations. Sales is customer service—never forget that!
There are countless ways to show clients that you value
your relationship. Surprise clients with your tenacity,
persistence, empathy, and hard work. My team goes above
and beyond in this department.
“Ryan. You need to call Jackson Hitchcock. Now. He’s in
full-fledged stage three (Fear). You must save him! Then
you need to email Casey Monroe; she’s in stage four
(Disappointment)—but I’m anticipating a quick recovery
and she should be up to stage five (Acceptance) in no time.
But you’ll need to check in with her.” My assistant, Jordan,
is like a triage nurse. He knows the signs of each stage and
can detect if a client is slipping from stage two into the
dreaded stage three. He knows which case is the most dire
and requires my immediate attention. Knowing where my
clients are in the process emotionally is invaluable to me.
I’m not jumping on a phone call blindly; Jordan has
prepared me for what I’m about to face so I can be ready to
handle the situation with the most appropriate tool.
Knowing that Jackson Hitchcock has reached the fear stage
of the sale, I can think about what I can say or do to
reassure him and get him safely across the finish line to a
done deal and a champagne toast in his new apartment. If
Casey Monroe has hit disappointment, I can raise her
spirits by sharing the news that the exact same apartment
she just bought one floor higher has sold for $300,000
more than hers. Toss her that little element of surprise and
she’s well on her way to feeling relieved that she got such a
great deal. If I didn’t pay attention to my client’s emotional
needs, a great big pile of sad and lonely balls would
inevitably come crashing down, and it would be hard to get
them back in the air. These are deals that would have been
done if I had been doing my job correctly. Learning to
recognize these crucial stages that exist in nearly every
sale can help you keep your balls in play.
THE SERHANT WAY
Understanding and learning to identify the seven stages of the sale will not
only help you close deals faster, but it will make your life much easier.
1. Excitement: Wow, I love this. I’d better get ready because my life is about
to change.
2. Frustration: Wait! I can’t control every part of this; who can I take out my
frustrations on? I know! The guy who is selling me this suit, car,
refrigerator, or engagement ring!
3. Fear: What if I find something better? What if there is a better deal to be
had? Is this the best thing for me?
4. Disappointment: I did it. I spent all that money. I know I could have done
better.
5. Acceptance: Well, hell. I did it. Life is short.
6. Happiness: Actually, this is going to be awesome! I’m happy about this.
7. Relief: I’m so glad that’s over! It was definitely the right thing to do!
Hi, my name is Maximus. I have a postcard here from 2009 I’ve saved for
a while. Are you still a broker? I have an apartment I want to sell on the
69th floor of the Park Imperial on West 56th. It faces Central Park. Call me
back please.
The Finder
When you’re wearing your Finder hat (it’s a strictly
metaphorical hat), you’re working to create new business.
You’re taking pitches, working a sphere of influence, and
making decisions about how to steer the business forward.
The Finder thinks about the business as a whole movement.
The Finder must expand the company’s rolodex.
The Keeper
When you’re wearing your Keeper hat, you are focused on
the financial profile of your business. The Keeper is in
charge of economic forecasting, paying taxes, strategizing
on how to complete tasks efficiently, creating budgets—and
making decisions about how much the company will spend
on advertising and marketing, etc. When you want to set
goals for yourself, your team, or your business, reach for
your Keeper hat. The Keeper understands that those goals
must be realistic, and needs to know what must happen in
order to reach them. The Keeper also budgets time—
because time is currency for salespeople. How much time
should you devote to pitching a new client or pitching a
product that isn’t moving?
The Doer
The Doer carefully executes all the work that the Finder
has brought in, and the Keeper has strategized and
budgeted for. The Doer leads the business to victory. For
my team, the Doer sets up appointments, handles
showings, runs open houses, and processes applications
and contracts. The Doer’s work is the day-to-day work that
needs to happen for you to be successful.
Going back to the office after my trip to Mexico with the
Finder, Keeper, Doer method jotted down on the back of an
airplane barf bag helped my head feel like it was attached
to my shoulders once again. I didn’t have a crystal-clear
plan about what I was going to do, but I felt like I had taken
an important step as an entrepreneur. I wasn’t waking up
lost anymore. I now had a game plan for my day, literally
mapped out in my calendar in three separate groups. I got
to my office excited about putting my Finder hat on. That
meant I was gung-ho on finding new business as the Finder
of my company. It meant that I needed to take steps to
create relationships and locate new developments, because
the Finder specializes in the art of expansion. Forever. If
the Finder doesn’t do that, the Keeper has no projects to
manage and no money to budget or spend, and the Doer
won’t have any work to actually do. It all trickles down
from the Finder. I was mostly still doing rentals at the time,
so I decided I would create relationships with some
landlords. I cold-called them to introduce myself as
someone who would do a great job renting out their
apartments. Fueled by my new role as the Finder, I also
cold-called some For Sale by Owner ads, even though it
was as terrifying as that time I asked Liz Jose to the prom.
In my first week as the Finder I managed to get an
appointment with a couple selling an apartment at 401 East
60th Street. The apartment had been decorated by
Madonna’s interior designer—and everything inside it was
turquoise. When they asked me what properties I had sold
previously, I had to confess that I had no experience. Yet. I
convinced them to let me run their open house. The deal
was if someone bought it while I was there, they’d pay me a
commission, and if someone bought it any other time
during the week they owed me nothing. If you think I sold
this all-turquoise apartment in my very first week, I’m
afraid you are incorrect. They ended up hiring a broker
with 20 years of experience. It didn’t matter. I still felt good
about myself. I had put on my Finder hat and reached out
for business in a calculated and structured way, something
I had never done before. I had little money but had made
deliberate choices about how much money and time I would
spend on the turquoise apartment. With my Keeper hat on,
I decided that I could afford to spend $200 on advertising
and taxis. And I could dedicate about 10 hours each week
showing the apartment. This helped ensure that if I sold it I
would make a good profit.
Before developing my Finder, Keeper, Doer method, I
had just worked in Doer mode, only thinking like a Finder
here and there and definitely never thinking like a Keeper.
These three stages of work are going to look different
depending on where you are in your career. If you’re in the
early stages, most of your day will be spent doing Doer
work, like I did. That’s fine! But you must still block out
time for Finder and Keeper work. Maybe you get in to work
an hour earlier than everyone else, or use your lunchtime,
or force yourself to stay awake after you put the kids to
bed. It doesn’t matter when you do it! But you need to
devote Finder time to creating relationships and steering
your career forward, and Keeper time to making decisions
about your financial profile if you want to sell more than
anyone else! As you increase your sales, the amount of time
you spent doing Finder, Keeper, and Doer work will shift.
This is what getting FKD might look like for you:
Finder Work
Keeper Work
It doesn’t matter how much money you have to work with.
You must immediately start making decisions about
finances if you want your business to grow. How much will
you spend on marketing? What are your goals? How will
you meet those goals? I had very little money to work with
in the beginning. For every paycheck I received I saved 50
percent for taxes (as sure as death), 40 percent for rent
and food, and the remaining 10 percent went back into the
business. I used that 10 percent to make postcards or
maybe place one ad. Find a scenario that works for you, but
always make sure you’re investing back into the business.
As business starts to pick up, you can strategize about
other ways to use the money. Should you be buying gifts for
clients or taking them to dinner? Depending on your
ultimate goal, as you grow bigger you’ll need to make
decisions on a larger scale. Today I budget for my team,
and I’m making decisions about advertising costs,
marketing materials, staging, team outings, and lead
generation.
Doer Work
Doer work can be everything and anything. Turning on
lights, sending emails, answering the phones, opening mail,
placing ads, licking stamps, putting postcards in mailboxes
—whatever work has to be done to get the deal made. I did
everything from ordering Twizzlers in bulk to showing
apartments, to painting apartments, staging apartments,
and measuring apartments to make sure a couch would fit,
and taking out the garbage when a seller forgot to. For you
it might mean paperwork and contracts—whatever work it
takes to support the deal. If you are just starting out, the
bulk of your day will be filled with Doer work and that’s
fine! As you grow, you will spread into the Finder and
Keeper mode, but chances are there will always be a bit of
Doer work in your life. Eventually, you may have an
amazing team who takes care of the Doer work. Now that
my days of ordering Twizzlers are behind me (mostly), I am
able to focus on creating pitches, negotiating, maintaining
contact with developers, managing my team and admins—
and writing a book.
I wore all three hats for a long time. While today I wear my
Finder hat more than when I first entered the sales
business, I certainly pop on the Keeper hat and the Doer
hat every day, but for much less time. My Doer work has
transitioned from bugging a landlord for keys to a 5th-floor
walk-up in the East Village, to sitting down with a
developer and an architect to plan what types of
apartments we will build in a 200,000-square-foot condo
building. How many one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, and
three-bedrooms will the building have? But just because
your career is in the full-on three-hat-wearing stage doesn’t
mean you can’t outsource some of your work. Human
beings cannot be in more than one place at a time (I wish
this were not the case). When I was doing rentals, it wasn’t
unusual to have several appointments for showings at the
same time. If I could clone myself, I could do three
showings at once and potentially triple my income! But I
majored in theatre and knew nothing at all about somatic
cell nuclear transfer, so I’d ask another broker in my office
to help out. Instead of losing a client because I was too
busy, I had other brokers do the showings I couldn’t do
myself, and I would give them half the commission. I
learned early on that it’s much better to make 50 percent of
something than 100 percent of nothing. Don’t be afraid to
outsource or share the work to leverage yourself. You can’t
do everything. Do you work on a retail floor? Divide the
store in half with a coworker and share customers. That’s
called a zone defense in football, and it is highly effective.
4:30 a.m.: Wake-up time. Check emails and answer them. People will wake
up and see you mean business.*
4:45 a.m.: Healthy breakfast. I like oatmeal, but do you?
5:15 a.m.: Exercise. You need your body to work!
6:30 a.m.: Read newspapers, look for articles that are relevant to what you
do.
6:45 a.m.: Shower, get dressed, look awesome.
7:30 a.m.: Manage spouses, kids—packed lunches? Homework? Goodbye!
8:00 a.m.: Arrive at office, and DO YOUR HARDEST THING.
8:30 a.m.: Do your finder work. How can you expand your rolodex today?
9:30 a.m.: Check out your schedule for the day. How much time do you
have for keeper work, doer work, and follow-up?
9:45 a.m.: Team meeting: Talk to a team member about working together
on a project to create leverage.
10:30 a.m.: Follow-up: Call your hot and warm leads.
11:30 a.m.: Follow-back: Send an email to that client you lost, checking in
to see how things are going and informing them about the new
products you have.
11:45 a.m.: Keeper hour: Decide how much money you have to spend on
marketing for your next project.
12:30 p.m.: Lunch with potential client.
1:45 p.m.: Follow-through: Get client that information they asked for
during lunch.
2:00 p.m.: Doer work: selling, selling, selling.
5:00 p.m.: Follow back with that person you just met at Starbucks. Email
them right away!
5:15 p.m.: Doer work: Brainstorm about marketing materials.
6:15 p.m.: LIFE: Hello family, dog, girlfriend, children. How was your day?
11:00 p.m.: Quick email check. Answer emails to show people how you
dominate!
THE SERHANT WAY
In this chapter, I’ve just given you the secret sauce to my success. If you
want your business to thrive, you must carve out time for FKD every single
day, no matter where you are in your career. The Balls Up theory is the key
to volume sales. To the countless people who have asked me how I manage
my time, I can’t wait to hear about how your sales increase once you get
FKD.
GET FKD
The Finder
The Finder is the CEO who makes decisions about how to steer the business
forward.
The Keeper
The Keeper is the CFO who makes decisions about the financial profile of the
business.
The Doer
The Doer is like a soldier—carefully executing all the work that leads the
business to victory.
PRACTICE YOUR CRAFT
As you’ve learned by now, I say “ready, set, GO!” all the time. It’s
something my dad used to say to motivate my brother and me to get
moving when we were kids and it has stuck with me ever since. Now when I
say “ready, set, GO!” it’s like I’m sending a special signal to my brain—it’s
not just about the words, it’s what they mean to me. Saying “ready, set,
GO!” is my starting ritual.
The moment I utter those three simple words I’m cueing myself to focus,
take initiative, be awesome, work hard, and DOMINATE. I’m not necessarily
superstitious, I don’t think everything I’ve built would come crashing down if
I forgot to say “ready, set, GO!,” but, to be honest, something would feel off.
Those words center me and that’s why I make a point of starting each day
with this easy ritual. Consider creating your own ritual and working it into
your morning to get off to the right start:
I’m going to do you a favor right now and tell you the most
important thing you can do to improve your sales. Do
whatever you want with this book. But if you do anything,
please define your four tenets.* Not only will you sell more
and enjoy greater success, but if you do this you will lead a
more fulfilling life. Do you ever wake up nervous and
feeling lost? Do you come home feeling exhausted, but you
can’t pinpoint exactly why you are so tired? By defining
your Four Tenets, you will wake up easier and walk lighter.
You will have a clear purpose during your day, your week,
your month, and throughout your entire year. You will
never doubt why you do what you do, and why you are
working so hard for it every single day. I wish I had figured
this out sooner! I’ve thought back to when I was working
out what my tenets were, and I’m going to guide you
through the same process below. Please know, though, that
I’m here to help—we can work on these together. Seriously,
email me at [email protected].
I would like to leave a very big impact on the world. It’s not
just about selling and earning a large income (although
those things are enjoyable)—it’s about what you’re known
for when you die. Back to that taxi, the one I hope does not
run me over tomorrow—if it did, and the life of Ryan
Serhant came to an abrupt end on the corner of Broadway
and Houston Street, I’d probably be remembered as that
guy who was on that reality TV show about selling high-end
real estate in New York. That would be okay—I’ve been
incredibly fortunate to be on TV! But I’d like my legacy to
be bigger. I’d love to be remembered as the person who
changed the way sales is viewed as a profession. It would
be awesome if I inspired salespeople to take pride in their
work, and I was able to encourage people to fully embrace
a job that can be so rewarding if you just work for it. How
cool would it be if sales was viewed as a super-exciting
profession that people couldn’t wait to break into? Who
cares about glossy fashion magazine writing jobs?! Sales is
the place for me! If I could play even a small part in making
that happen—that would be a major win.
Before I encourage you to think about your Win, I want
to make it clear that a Win is not a reward. A car is a
reward. Buying a new suit or a piece of jewelry is a reward
—those are not wins. Rewards are something you buy for
yourself because you are either gifting or incentivizing
yourself. It’s perfectly acceptable to give yourself a reward.
A Win is something bigger. A Win is the legacy you leave
behind. And your Win doesn’t have to be as big as “change
the world”—but it needs to be real, it needs to change you,
and it needs to be something you really want. Are you a
struggling mother of two and you aspire to provide well for
your kids and maybe even pay for their college education in
full to set them on the right path? So when they come home
in their early 30s, they can afford to take care of you—
that’s a Win. Ask yourself…
I’ve known what my four tenets are for a long time, but
there have still been moments in my career when I’ve felt
beyond challenged, and staying positive, along with the
support of my wife, are the only things that keep it all from
falling apart. Positivity can seriously save your ass.
Five years ago, I pitched my heart out to the Colonnade
Group who had a building I wanted to sell. I kept refreshing
my email like a freak, hoping to get an email saying I’d
gotten the job. When I found out they were going with
someone else, I was devastated. Fast-forward four years,
and they call me. The penthouse still hasn’t sold, we’re
asking $7 million, would you like to try to sell it? YES, I
would! I throw myself into the Work. I stage the apartment
—it looks amazing—and market the hell out of it. I’m
thrilled this listing has come back to me full circle, and It.
Will. Sell. Month one goes by with no offers. Sigh. Months
two, three, and four? Zero offers. Now I’m getting nervous.
My exclusive agreement is about to expire, and I get the
dreaded phone call that they’ll be using someone else. Most
brokers would have thought, “That’s fine, it’s not selling—
I’ll let it go.” Most brokers would have had an excuse—it’s
the market, it’s too hot outside, Mercury is in retrograde!
But not me. Deep in my core I believed I could sell this
apartment. I was positive I could. Ready, set, GO! I called
everyone. I spent the entire day emailing and calling
people, trying to find a buyer. I never stopped believing I
could pull this off. And it worked—I found one! After two
weeks of negotiations, contracts were signed. Sold! To
celebrate, I popped by the apartment and jumped on top of
the counter (I made sure my shoes were clean first) to take
a picture for Instagram so I could shout about this sale to
the world. Follow-up, perseverance, and hard work matter
—but sometimes a deal is so challenging that your
positivity is the only thing that can get you through. When
it looked like I was going to lose the listing (again), I didn’t
waste an ounce of energy on fear or doubt. I shifted
everything into high gear, staying positive until we had a
signed contract.
Be positive, ignore all the reasons it seems like
something can’t be done—focus on what you can do, right
now, to get the deal done. When it feels like nothing is
working, your positivity can give you just the boost you
need to work a little harder, make one more phone call,
reach out to one more person, or try just one more thing—
and, suddenly, when it feels like all is lost, you’ve closed
your deal.
I really don’t know anything about jazz. But I do know
that a famous trumpeter named Roy Hargrove, who
skyrocketed to the top of his game at a young age, said
something very wise that I’ll always remember. He said, “If
you’re gonna be a musician, you’ve got to be open. Don’t
leave anything out. If you take care of the music, it will take
care of you.” I love this quote because what Hargrove
expressed so beautifully about his music is exactly how I
feel about my work as a salesperson. If I take care of the
work, the work will take care of me. Think about it. Life is
going to go up and down. You will have great days and
some you’d like to forget ever happened. You will have
good relationships and bad ones. It’s all inevitable. But if
you stay positive, stay thankful, and you take care of the
Work, the work will take care of you. But first you must
truly understand what your work entails. For Hargrove, his
Work is changing the face of music one song at a time, and
it gets him through the shit. Please, before you move onto
the next chapter, pound out your four tenets—and let your
work take care of you.
THE SERHANT WAY
If you do anything at all from this book, please take the time to think about
your four tenets and write down your thoughts in the space provided in the
chapter. I draw strength from mine regularly, and I’m not kidding when I say
that doing this can change your life. It was revolutionary for me to truly
understand the difference between working for the job and working for the
career! Knowing my Why and my Win reminds me why all this hard work
and effort matter! And remembering my Wall makes me feel gratitude about
where I am in life today, but also makes it much easier to get out of bed and
get to work in the morning. I couldn’t afford yogurt! I also make a point of
revisiting my tenets because reminding myself why I do all this keeps me
centered, focused, and inspired to work harder and achieve more. And don’t
forget that your answers might change over time, and that’s fine! Make
revisiting and refining your tenets a regular part of your sales practice.
Positivity: Don’t underestimate the power of positivity. It’s the oil that
keeps it all running smoothly.
CHAPTER 8
Establish Your Base Camp: Create a Hook and Get Ready to Climb
Your first hook as a salesperson is that special thing about
you. It’s what makes someone want to buy from you, rather
than anyone else. When Frank and I got back from our road
trip to Pennsylvania, we worked on what made him the best
person to buy cabinets from. Frank decided his hook was
that he was the “soup to nuts” kitchen guy. He was the guy
who vowed to work with customers until their dream
kitchen was finished. He’d guide them throughout the
entire process—from picking out the cabinets, to
measurements and installation, right up until the moment
those cabinets were filled with coffee cups. He wasn’t
going to sell you some cabinets and then ditch you to figure
the rest out on your own—Frank’s thing was that he stuck
around.
Who you are as a salesperson today may not be who you
are tomorrow, or next year. Sure, for now Frank is the
“soup to nuts” kitchen guy, and that’s great. But should
Frank be hanging out at a neighborhood barbecue when
he’s introduced to Joe, the Guy Who Owns 50 Apartment
Buildings, then Frank should become the One Who
arranges for high-quality kitchen cabinets to be installed in
large apartment buildings. His sales would instantly
increase. Becoming the best salesperson means having a
hook but also being flexible, and open to playing with
different kinds of balls. In a million years, I would have
never imagined I’d be known as the One Who breaks real
estate sales records in Brooklyn. Selling real estate in
Brooklyn has become a huge part of my business, and had I
not been willing to change from being the One Who sells
apartments in Manhattan to the guy who also sells them in
Brooklyn, I would have missed out on a massive
opportunity for myself and my team. Your original hook is
your starting point, but don’t be afraid to change it—as the
wind blows, you go.
1. Establish Your Base Camp: Create a Hook and Get Ready to Climb
2. Go with the Wind: Be Flexible
3. Shout It from the Mountaintop
4. Climb Higher: Don’t Look for the Business You Already Have
5. Embrace Longevity: Enjoy the View from the Top
To push a ball back into the wind, keep the dialogue moving—even
if your client is reluctant to keep talking.
Listen carefully and craft an appropriate response to your client’s
concerns.
Spread the win around: What else can be thrown into the deal to
make everyone feel like they are in a winning situation? Example: I
once got two parties who were at odds to agree to a deal when the
seller threw in the dining-room set for free.
1. Failure to communicate.
2. You’re replying, not responding.
3. You’ve set unrealistic expectations.
4. You don’t know your shit.
5. Your approach is stale.
6. You’re overly focused on the money.
Just don’t quit. But in case you are thinking about it (but don’t)…
When You Feel Like Quitting, Ask Yourself:
1. Just seriously say nothing for 20 minutes. Stay silent. Do you have any
idea how difficult this is? I mean, I’ve never done it myself, but I imagine
it would be really hard. Joking aside, this exercise can really help you
think before you speak so that you can respond to clients in a thoughtful
manner.
2. Sell something silently. Try selling anything—your car, your dog, your
husband—to a friend. You can only use facial expressions and hand
gestures to express why this purchase should be made. It’s hard!
CHAPTER 10
Do It Right NOW
I’ve been going to the same dentist for years. I’ve often
thought about switching dentists, because it would be
much more convenient for me to go to one that’s closer to
my office. Time is money! But my dentist is so thoughtful
with his follow-back that I think he’s probably going to be
my dentist for life. About six weeks before I’m due for a
cleaning, he sends a quick follow-up reminding me to
schedule my appointment, and he includes jokes! I get his
email, laugh at a tooth joke, and schedule my appointment.
Get creative and personal with your follow-back. What can
you do to keep yourself in the minds of your customers? Do
you sell gardening supplies? Maybe you write the best-ever
newsletter, sharing great tips for getting your yard ready
for different seasons. Or maybe you pick up the phone
every day and call each client who has a birthday on that
day. That’s the easiest form of follow-back there is, and I’ll
bet you’re reading this and you don’t do it! And P.S. follow-
back and newsletters are also totally free!
Plan a Trip
Where have you always wanted to go? For our first
wedding anniversary, Emilia and I wanted to go back to
Greece. But this time, instead of renting a villa and filling it
with everyone we know and bringing along a TV crew, we
were going to cruise the Greek islands in our own private
yacht. I also had made big plans to eat ice cream during
every day of this vacation. Our anniversary is the first week
of July, and I marked it on my calendar in red. I’ve been
doing this for years, and now the trips I take are just more
extravagant. Every time I see the date of my vacation, (a) I
get really excited; and (b) I feel incentivized to push myself
harder—I want to make sure I’m earning this vacation. I’m
not suggesting you do something outrageous like rent out
the QE2 or charter a private jet (but someday, yes, you
should), but plan something that incentivizes you. Have
something on the calendar that makes you want to work
harder—and pushes you during those moments when it
seems too hard to get to the other side of that fence.
ENERGY
ENTHUSIASM
ENDURANCE
“e”DUCATION
I’ve given sales all I’ve got, and it’s been good to me. But as
I write about this crazy ride I remember that it all started
with an insecure kid who couldn’t handle a single ball to
save his life. He was the anti-salesman. If someone had told
that kid, “Listen, it’s going to get better. Someday you’ll be
the most successful real estate agent in New York City!
You’re going to star in a hit reality TV show, and you’ll be
so good at sales you’ll get your own show called Sell It Like
Serhant,” Cryin’ Ryan wouldn’t have believed it in a million
years. That kid would have just snuck into the kitchen for
another contraband chocolate pudding, hoping his mother
was asleep so he wouldn’t get busted. My career in sales
has taken me places I never imagined I’d go. Every time I
work with a salesperson, I get excited about the
possibilities opening up in front of them. Because I’ve been
there, and sales has changed everything for me.
There are many people I admire, but I don’t have a hero.
I don’t look up to anyone else but me. Everything I do is for
Future Ryan. And ideally Future Ryan has worked so hard
and has been so successful that he can buy his own island
and spend the rest of his days eating nothing but Oreos and
ice cream. That would be awesome.
It would be even more awesome if he had changed the
way the world views sales, especially real estate brokerage
sales. That would be my Win. But until I turn the world of
sales on its head and swap the island of Manhattan for the
island of snack foods, I’m going to keep pushing myself to
do more every single day. I have no interest in being the
most improved player from fifth grade. If I’m not growing,
I’m dying—and I’m definitely not ready to do that yet. I
have a photograph of Old Man Ryan in my office that I
made with an app. Everything I do is ultimately for that
guy, Future Ryan.
What does the Future You look like? Are you drinking wine
on your spectacular Tuscan estate and reminiscing about
how whenever you faced a big fence, you’d remember your
Why and find the energy to leap over? Is Future You taking
your annual trip to Disney with all your grandkids, so
grateful you did the Work, and that the effort it took to
climb over every fence was so worth it? Can Future You
even remember what it felt like to have your back against a
wall? Does Future You remember all the challenges? Sales
is a race, and it’s a long one. Whether you’ve been running
for years or you just heard the gun go off, you’re still going
to hit some major highs and lows. But no matter where you
are on your course, just keep going. Don’t stop. Your
biggest sale, your best week, your most amazing year is
still to come. Your Future You will thank you.
Ready, Set, GO!
THE SERHANT WAY
Never forget that fences are penetrable—they’re not walls. There is always
a way to get to the other side. A wall is something your back is up against. A
fence is a mere obstacle.
There Is No Fence That Is Too Big for You to Get Over
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