We Are Selling with Lee Woodward
We Are Selling is a weekly podcast about real estate, business and tackling life's challenges. Hosted by renowned real estate industry coach, Lee Woodward, learn from experts in their field and maximise your life.
We Are Selling with Lee Woodward
166 - The Power of Introduction: How Great Connections Build Business
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Charles Tarbey shares powerful insights on how the method of introduction determines success in real estate, demonstrating that who introduces you to potential clients matters more than marketing tactics or cold approaches.
• The quality of an introduction predetermines your likelihood of success with potential clients
• Charles shares how a single phone call from an influential connection opened doors when trying to acquire a real estate brand
• When at a listing presentation, agents should ask themselves, "How did I get here?" to evaluate their business generation methods
• Building relationships with centres of influence like lawyers, accountants and bankers create access to clients experiencing the "four Ds" - death, departure, divorce and dbank
• Strategic media presence in trusted publications like Women's Weekly creates credibility at scale
• Australia leads the world in real estate systems, structure and professionalism
• Solo agents can succeed but need strong personal brands and established relationships to thrive without corporate backing
• Brand recognition eliminates the need to justify your presence in listing presentations
For those attending the Complete Salesperson course, please say hello if you're listening to the podcast and share which episodes you've loved the most.
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Hello and welcome back to the podcast we Are Selling. My name's Lee Woodward, the author of the Complete Salesperson Course. Today's podcast is brought to you by our sponsor, nexar. Nexar is a dedicated real estate platform specializing in lead generation and database management of the entire real estate company For BDMs and agents. Working as one platform to generate opportunity. Nexar seamlessly integrates into your business systems, allowing you to have an extended solution. Let's get started with this week's episode. Hi, hi everybody, and welcome back to the podcast. Today's topic method of introduction. Our guest by popular demand. They want him back Mr Charles Tarby For our new listeners. Charles Tarby is the owner of Century 21 Better Homes and Gardens, australasia and also the Kangaroo Valley Golf Resort. Charles is also the author of the Top 100 Business Stories and Life Lessons of Charles Tarby, the leadership podcast that we produced, and he joins us today to discuss method of introduction.
Speaker 1:Let's go to our interview. Charles, in doing the research for today's one, I'm really looking forward to this one Method of introduction. Take us into it.
Speaker 2:Look, I had a chance. It comes at different levels, obviously, but the one that comes to mind the most was when I had purchased this large property management business purchase this large property management business. Prior to having purchased it, I was on the board of this public company and the then chairman of the business said to me what more can we do to make this business bigger and grow and whatever else? I said, look, we should be looking at buying, if we can, other real estate chains and consolidating, and this is something that's been going through my head for 30 years. And so there was one that came up. A very iconic Australian real estate brand came up and I started to do my research and out came the information, the IM, on this particular business. So I rang a particular chap and he answered the phone very quickly and I said, oh, I'm interested in putting an offer on this business. And he said what's your offer? Just like that, a chap. He was very blunt what's your offer? I said, well, we need to see more information, but roughly, it's going to be this. He said, no, goodbye, talk a little, hang up, just like that. It was like wow, you know, and I thought what's going on here and I couldn't get any information. They weren't interested in talking to me and so I was on a golf cart believe it or not with a mate of mine. We do these little golf trips every so often and he happened to be the chairman of a very large insurance company in Australia and is be the chairman of a very large insurance company in Australia and is now the chairman of a very large telecommunications company. And I was chatting to him about it and by the time we got into the second T, I was on the phone to the CEO of the company that owned this real estate company that I wanted to buy the company that owned this real estate company, that I wanted to buy the method of introduction, if I wanted to get something, because I was telling you he says I know him, how about I just I'll give him a call now and you'll be able to get some.
Speaker 2:And well, of course, everything changed all of a sudden. They were talking to me more openly and so on. But if I wanted to for example, if I had a great idea for real estate to connect it to a home loans business and I thought, oh well, I'll use CBA. They've got a big home loans business. They've bought Aussie and Aussie Lendy all these sorts of mergers that have gone on recently. I can't just walk into the foyer of CBA and ask to speak to the head guy. It doesn't work that way. So if I know somebody who knows somebody, and I have a relationship with those people, a relationship they trust. For instance, you never ask a friend for a discount. You know that sort of thing. These people, they're great, solid relationships. They're going to not only introduce me to the person I want to speak to, but they're going to introduce me in a glowing fashion.
Speaker 2:So the method of introduction for me is absolutely critical. And when I look at it and I take it right down to being at the front door of somebody's home, you're about to go in to do a listing presentation. We always said to our agents if you want to determine how successful you're going to be now and in the future, when you're standing at that front door, ask yourself this question how did I get here? Did I get here because I had a fancy flyer that I put around the area? Did I get here because I told everybody I'm going to be in their street next week doing free market opinions? Did I get there because somebody referred me to these people, and the more that you were referred, the more the method of introduction was solid. The more it was built on a relationship, the better the opportunity. And some people sit there and they go. How is it that that guy does so? Damn well. They don't seem to work anywhere near as hard as me and I think that's the key the method introduction.
Speaker 1:This is such a powerful lesson today because a lot of our listeners all of our listeners have been putting a lot of time and effort into how they generate future business. But what if that's not the best method of introduction? Because it's like social, you know it might get your name out there but it's nothing compared to an advocate referring you, passing on your name and you turn up pre-sold and Charles method of introduction for yourself. Over these incredible years of business, media has been a huge method of introduction for you.
Speaker 2:It has been. Yeah, I mentioned to you before I do everything I can to talk at different social clubs and so on, and when I got the opportunity to appear on television it was regular. It was quite interesting. I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I started doing radio all the way back in the 80s. And again, I think we've spoken about this with Ron Casey, the chap who was famous for punching Normie Rowe live on a TV show and later did one of those tea I think, dillmar tea or whatever commercials with each other. I don't think it was Dillmar, it was something else, and I was on radio as a mid-20s guy and it just kept going. It just kept going.
Speaker 2:So next thing, you know, somebody would say who do I get on TV and who do I get to do this? And I just recently appeared on the Bolt Report for the last two Tuesdays in a row because Steve Price, who I worked with at 2GB, was doing the show for Andrew Bolt. And when there's a real estate question and there's one every day nowadays, particularly with interest rates and so on, the first person they get on is me and that has helped build a. It's hard to say what people think of you when you're out there speaking, but it helps build a form of reputation that you seemingly know what you're talking about. Again, one thing I say to a lot of our guys is that look like you know what you're talking about, because if you look like you know what you're talking about, you probably get the chance to show people that you don't know what the hell you're talking about. But at least you got the chance, and I think that's part of it.
Speaker 1:In following on from this method of introduction. I think one of the greatest opportunities you have is when people are working with you yet they're not employing you as yet. So for myself, charles, my number one listing stream that gave me all my business, because everyone said, oh, how did you do it, where'd you get all the business from? I enjoyed and became really good at buyer management and I enjoyed their stories why they were buying and so forth, and I could do 26 buyer appointments a week, which is a lot of face-to-face work. Everybody else thought I was nuts, but I'd pull six or seven appraisals out of those.
Speaker 1:But the difference was and it just hit me then as we were talking the method of introduction I'd be shown them properties and I've always asked that question you know the property now, are you going to hang on to that one, or they'd finish it. Oh, we just want to make sure we find somewhere first. And just want to make sure we find somewhere first. And I wouldn't push. I wouldn't push. I would wait for this one moment where they would say Lee, would you have any time to come and see our place? And there's such a difference of being invited in a door versus getting in a door, isn't it?
Speaker 2:It's such a big difference. I can sit with people I know I've done business with and I'll say oh Charles, I want this much for my property. And I'll go Fred, mate, you're wasting your time, come on, yeah. But I said no, no, we can put it on at that price if you like, but if it's not sold within a few weeks you know, our marketing is strong it's going to be you, mate, it's going to be you Now. You can't do that if you don't have that structure with people.
Speaker 2:And so I always say that when people ask me what's the difference between real estate today and what it was like 20 years ago, I say well, the difference is in the delivery of our message.
Speaker 2:Years ago, we deliver through letters or through flyers or through brochures. Now you do EDMs or you SMS people or you do podcasts or you do a social media or a Facebook or a TikTok video, things of that nature. That's the only difference. It's in the delivery of the message, the way in which we communicate with people, as, again, at the risk of repeating myself a dozen times face-to-face, voice-to-voice, belly-to-belly, contact-to-contact method of introduction will always give me a result better than going down a street where I've promised to go and do a market opinion, and I'll be in your street next Tuesday night and I go down this street and I speak to all these people, which is great, but they are not people that I have a relationship or somebody who might introduce me to that person, being that method of introduction that makes all the difference with the result. Why is it that I spend less time getting a better result? It's because I manage who it is I speak to and how I am introduced to them.
Speaker 1:Charles, question for you. As a leader of two very big organizations, you're sort of in charge of the method of introduction to the businesses, the franchise, every agent who represents you under your colors for both brands. Decision regarding method of introduction in the marketing side with your connection, or let's call it, the stickability of magazines, just for our audience that wouldn't know what you've done there, what was the thinking behind it and what have you done?
Speaker 2:Well, we try to do something different. We try to deliver a message to people who we know are decision makers. Both. Century 21 is now in the Women's Weekly magazine. People said to me well, what are you doing there? Well, we all know that man might be the head of the household, but the woman is the neck and she decides which way the head turns right. That's what you hear. And they are big decision makers. And they're big decision makers when people come to buy and sell.
Speaker 2:So why wouldn't I, why wouldn't we put ourselves in such a credible area? The Better Homes and Gardens magazine for Better Homes and Gardens real estate and the Better Homes and Gardens website, which has over a million followers. Go and have a look in there. You click on that site and people are going in there to find out all sorts of information. Well, bugger me. What appears down there? Market opinion, better Homes and Gardens real estate. Scroll up a bit more. What appears there? A picture of a home. You click on. You're now in our website. So we're trying to create a media representation of real estate, which is not being done by anybody, which is, again a method of introduction, because we are going into these people's homes through two credible entities. Women's Weekly and Better Homes and Gardens magazine are two of the most credible magazines in this country. And who's in there? We are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love this. I was chatting with your CEO about the strategy and how it works because in a training level I've got to then communicate that through to your real estate salespeople the connection of that. But today's topic just hits on a beautifully method of introduction and I think for all our listeners you know, when someone says I've got this opportunity coming up, what was the method of introduction? It's a question you need to ask to make sure you're doing all you can to edge yourself in there.
Speaker 2:And you know a lot of people don't? A lot of real estate practitioners don't even know how they get business. They think it's about them and most of the time it is if they're doing all the right work. But I've seen people who will look in your window and if you have a window display and they'll walk in and the administration person might say they might have asked you why you came into the office. Oh, we saw a beautiful home in the window. What they didn't tell you was that there was a sign out in the suburbs that they saw first and they thought let's go down to that real estate agent's office and have a look what they've got in the window.
Speaker 2:So now the method of introduction or the way you introduce those people is now listed incorrectly. So for me, having people wanting to do business with you is probably the hardest thing that a real estate practitioner, the barrier they need to cross, but it is the most successful barrier that they need to cross. Would I go out and knock on doors today? Absolutely not. Would I call a lawyer, an accountant, a banker who see 100 people a week that I can't have the time to see, who talk to them about all of their personal things, who have a relationship with them. So if I had a cup of coffee with those three people each week?
Speaker 2:I'm now communicating to 300 people a week where there might be opportunity and we all talk about the four serious motivations in real estate for a seller. We call it the four Ds death, departure, divorce and debank. They're the four we talk about and those people, whether it's an accountant or a lawyer or a banker, they're going to know that history, they're going to know that story. And if I've been a good real estate practicing agent in their area and I've got a relationship with those three people and I communicate with those three people on a regular basis, well, guess what? I'm getting a method of introduction that is so powerful that it's almost a waste of time for all of the other real estate agents to even turn up for a potential listing presentation.
Speaker 1:What a great point. What's your view on social LinkedIn or Facebook or Instagram or any of the channels as the method of introduction? What would you give as a bit of a guidance there of what's good?
Speaker 2:what's bad. I think it needs to be supported. Again, I think it's like anything else If you're going to put on social, remember now that on social media you're in there with everybody. Now, so who are you? A lot of guys and girls do tricky videos to make themselves stand out. That doesn't necessarily mean that people are going to do business with you Just because all your friends like your fancy video.
Speaker 2:You're talking about somebody's home, not the house the home. You need to make sure that if you're talking about somebody's home, not the house the home, you need to make sure that if you're going to do anything on social or anything with any type of campaign, that there's some sort of follow-up mechanism. As we've all said before, I can get more out of a conversation with one person. I randomly meet an agent who sends out an EDM to 1,000 people in a broadcast. I can get more out of one person and I think that's the key.
Speaker 2:It's a small world. We talk about it all the time. It's a very small world and there are people who know people who know somebody else. And again, when somebody's thinking about selling or they've just sold, or somebody's thinking about buying or they've just bought, do you think they just sit at home and don't tell anybody. They tell everybody, like the Jewish rabbi in New York was walking through the streets telling every of these people I'd made love to an 18-year-old girl. I made love to an 18-year-old girl. And this guy says what are you telling me for? He says I'm telling everybody. That's what it's about. And I think that if you can't get that message out and follow it up with something small world, you're not going to get that best method of introduction that you should get or could get. That's going to give you a result.
Speaker 1:Charles, what's your total business time now?
Speaker 2:Sorry about my Jewish accent there. It wasn't that great. Sorry, what's my business?
Speaker 1:time. Now your total time in business.
Speaker 2:Most of my time now is trying to review everything we do on a consistent basis to ensure that we keep up with change with people, and it is communicating directly with people within my organisation when they least expect it. So they might be expecting a service person to call them, but the owner of the company calls them and I think I get more out of those conversations than I can get from, say, my service person who might be communicating with that principal. They're not going to communicate the same way and so when I sit down and I do that a lot of the time I speak to a lot of people in business. I try to attend as many meetings about different business situations that are going on to ensure that if there's any opportunity, they're put in front of us. And that method of introduction we talk about or we started off with has helped me so much just in the last week because I've been presented with opportunities from people who I've known for 40 years in real estate. I might not have seen them for 20 years, but they bring people to me because they know that I've been around long enough to perhaps get involved in another business or help that client and that method of introduction just saves me so much time.
Speaker 2:It's very rare for me to talk to people I've never met before. I did a talk recently. I mentioned it in one of the podcasts at church and I'm still communicating with people from that church. I've never met them before, but when Father Joe stood up and said that I was the owner of Century 21 Australasia, as it's known, better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and Charles is going to talk to our congregation, before I even said a word, I was the expert, because I was not only standing in front of these people, but I was introduced by the priest who offered me two passes to heaven for doing the tour at the same time. So that method of introduction is absolutely critical.
Speaker 1:Charles, a lot of business opportunities come your way. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2:Again, I think it's because you build a reputation over the years, build relationships with people, and many of those people go on to be very successful and if you've dealt with them in an appropriate manner, you'll be part of their conversation, you'll be part of their method of introduction. You'll be part of it because when they think real estate, they'll go oh, if it's something to do with that, let me bring this guy in. I've known him for years, got a great relationship with him, and I'd like to introduce him to you. Well, I'm being introduced at a very top level in many, many different business situations now, lee, and I think that's benefiting our network, because a lot of our people don't realize they get business from certain organizations. It's because of the relationship I have with people and how I was introduced to those people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've got an amazing stickability in the industry where people return back, stick with you. But even I know myself and I get to go through these wonderful podcasts and situations and we get to chat in between them. You know everything going on in this country right now, which is, and internationally, why is there such a big international interest in real estate in Australia?
Speaker 2:As I've travelled around the world, I've realised that Australia is probably the most advanced real estate country in terms of how it operates, how it's structured legally, etc. The way in which we run our businesses and training. I'm always amazed, no matter which country I go to. I've lectured in Spain, portugal, for C21, c21 in France, in Canada, in the US, mexico, of course, new Zealand, manila. I spent some time there doing some training with the people that were part of Century 21, and they were always fascinated by how structured our industry is, how it's been set up from a legal perspective, the rules and regulations we have, even with America. When I looked at what they do in America, they're very brand-focused, very training-focused, and I always believe that our organization in particular and most real estate companies in the country it's that same old saying here all the time systems run the business and people run the systems and there's a certain structure, particularly in New South Wales in the early days, where we had to pay wages.
Speaker 2:Right from a very early stage. We had to pay wages, so you had to make sure that you had a system and a structure in place that allowed these people to be successful, and if they weren't going to be successful. You needed to do something about it because they were now costing you a fortune. We always talked about how much a desk costs per person, and that's not the case in most of the countries around the world. There's a lot of commission-only people. There are a lot of people floating around the industry.
Speaker 2:When you get in a taxi in New York, again, it's not something that people don't know. If you're in a taxi with a client, you never talk real estate, or if you're on your own, you never talk real estate because invariably, the taxi driver has a real estate agent's license. So that's what I've noticed. The difference is about this country. So many people want to learn. I was at the Australian Embassy in Warsaw. I got invited there as a guest when I was speaking over there and I was introduced to a chappy who was there on behalf of the Polish government to find a way to introduce the Torrens title system, which is the most advanced, really realistically system in the world developed out of Adelaide, I believe and they were trying to introduce that in parts of Poland and the new subdivisions things they were doing. These are countries that have been around for decades, centuries, centuries, centuries, millenniums. Here we are in Australia and they're all learning from us, and I think that's probably the one thing that I've noticed.
Speaker 1:Final question for you. I know you've been doing some research into this at the moment and it's the solo agent and although you have your franchise, you have an interest right across the marketplace and we're seeing all these types of solo opportunities pop up where people work from home or work on that business. What's attracted that model into this country and where do you think that will go?
Speaker 2:I think there's a place for all different kinds of models. What people have to accept is that the way in which they operate will make you feel differently. If you're a person that's not strong and not motivated and you want to sit at home under a mobile model and you don't have that strength, character and you're just sitting there waiting for something to happen, it's going to be a horrible experience for you. If you're an experienced agent, you have a client base, you have a contact base, you have that method of introduction because the relationships you've built, they can be very, very viable for you. But there's not a lot of agents that are like that. That's the thing.
Speaker 2:And most of these people are working under brands that are not consumer-facing brands. We in the industry might know all of these brands, but if you go out in the street and you say brand A, brand B, brand C to a consumer, they wouldn't have a clue what you're talking about. So there again, if you're starting from a base where you're not strong and you're not motivating yourself and then you're working under a brand that's not consumer facing I don't care what anybody says in the marketplace that we're in right now, which is back in real estate again. You're going to do it very tough.
Speaker 1:So, charles, what you've built is a method of introduction for the agents.
Speaker 2:We would hope so, we would hope so. We would hope so that when I was a young agent going into a home, I spent the first 20 minutes trying to justify why I was even sitting there, while my competitors who had large brands and again we were at the risk of repeating myself I'd watch people walk into some of the larger brands. They'd trip on the front step and sign an agency agreement before they hit the floor. That's how easy it was, and I think that if people know you, know of you or are familiar with you in some way, if your brand has some form of recognition out there, absolutely it makes life easier for you.
Speaker 1:Mr Charles Tarby, thank you so much for coming back on the program we Are Selling. You're back by popular demand and I urge everyone to listen to the top 100 business stories and life lessons of Mr Charles Tarby. For those of you attending the Complete Salesperson course, please come up and say hello if you are listening to the podcast and which editions you've loved the most. I'm Lee Woodward. I will see you next week.