Kenny on Selling One House Per Day For Last Nine Years

Steve Trang: Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Real Estate Disruptors. Today, we've got Kenny Klaus with the Klaus team, and he's here to show his team has sold one house a day for the last nine years, an unbelievable

Kenny Klaus: number.

Steve: If this is your first time tuning in, I'm Steve Trang, broker owner of Stunning Homes Realty and the cofounder of the OfferFast app, the only app you need for wholesaling, and I help people become real estate entrepreneurs. If you're excited for today's show, please give me a wave, give me a thumbs up. And before we get started, I started the show because we wanna give back to our community. So, we've struggled before. I've heard some of the struggles that you've gone through, and we wanna shortcut that struggle for as many young leaders as possible.

So So I don't charge a dime for this show. I don't make any money doing this. So here's the only thing that I ask. If it if you get value out of this show, either, tag your friend below, share this episode right now, or tell them your best takeaway. That way we can all grow together.

And don't forget this is a live show. So if you're willing to ask the questions, Kenny is happy to answer them for you. So we'll start with a softball here. What got you into real estate?

Kenny: Wow. Well, first of all, Ben, it's an honor, and, thanks for the opportunity. I apologize. I'm, was a little under the weather today and Yeah. But I couldn't, couldn't miss this opportunity to spend spend some time with you.

Hopefully, I won't get anybody sick here today, but so I'm not, not dressed in my realtor gear today, but, here it goes. We're gonna have some fun. So, what got me into real estate, you know, for those who know a little bit of my story, I was a FedEx guy for thirteen years. And, during that time, it started a little pest control business, built that up, sold it, and, when

Steve: While running FedEx? Yeah.

Kenny: I was still there. I just go to, like, four twelves. And so, you know, you had three days off, so you had had to do something. And and then, so the entrepreneur side, I I saw a lot of guys there that I still am friends with today and respect a lot. But I just knew at at my age and time in life that, I knew there was a ceiling there.

I felt like there was. And so started looking around. I had a manager one time lean across the belt. We were unloading packages, and he showed me a check. And it was for about $5,400, and I said, oh, what's that?

And he's like, well, I sold the house, and this was back, obviously, like, nineteen, twenty years ago now. And, I said, wow. And he goes, you know what? He goes, I think you'd be really good at this. Yeah.

You're a real people person, dah dah. And I just saw that check. Like, you know, I didn't I never had the zero. It was, like, $540 would have been a check. You know?

So it was like, wow. And and, you know, you wake up every day unemployed, which is a motivator. Mhmm. And yet, you wake up every day and and, you know, there's no ceiling on on opportunity. It's how hard do you wanna work, how, much do you wanna grow.

And so I started doing it part time and took me about four years because I was very nervous and conservative with having a family and, you know, going to all commission income income with having good benefits. And so I went from far, full time to part time to, I'll say, really part time. And I was working about twelve hours a week unloading cans just to keep the benefits. Mhmm. And after about my fourth year, and, you know, I was well into 6 figures in GCI, I was able to, to make the break.

So our goal was have no debt and have $10,000 in the bank because that would have been a huge opportunity milestone back then. Yeah. And, we went over that number, you know, well past that number because I was still nervous because you just don't know and, and then broke free and, the rest is, you know. But it it helped you learn, you know, who you are and a lot of the things that hopefully we'll talk about today Right. Will come from those experiences.

And, you know, life puts you in places for a reason, and you just take take away what you can from it and and keep growing and driving.

Steve: Very cool. So, starting part time, what were some of the early struggles

Kenny: in the past? Hours. I mean, just having a life along the way, you know, having two kids already at the time and, you know, you get those buyers. And, of course, back then, you work with mainly buyers and, you know, how that fun is is, you know, it's kind of their schedule. You know, most of us get into real estate for our own schedule and, and the freedom and

Steve: It's the biggest shock.

Kenny: And we realize none of that happens. And, and so but, you know, I'd say the struggles were just, you know, growth at the time. And growth, by the way, has been the biggest struggle throughout the entire time. I just you don't know it at each phase that you're going through because you're in the middle of it. Right.

And, but it was really going from from just working all day every day and, you know, and the disappointments that come disappointments that come with real estate. Meaning, you got that buyer, you finally got one.

Steve: Mhmm.

Kenny: You're doing everything you can, and they go buy a FSBO without you, which is an experience, obviously, I had. And so, and so, you know, it was just that those challenges. But, but growing through that time, was was really, you know, a challenge because I didn't know what I didn't know. And I was with a small independent company, and there was obviously no training and everything. You just wheeled your way through it.

And, but just perseverance, my favorite word's relentless. So just it was just relentless. Just, you know, just gonna make it happen.

Steve: Well, I think the growth thing is is is an interesting thing. Right? Because I wanted to do this about half a dozen times where I was like, oh, I figured it out. Right. I can take it easy now.

Kenny: For that moment. Right.

Steve: Right? For that moment, and then life lets you know. Life humbles you very quickly.

Kenny: Very quickly.

Steve: Yeah. So what what are the first two or three things you would do differently if you were starting real estate today? Oh, man.

Kenny: It's a great question. I think the easiest thing would be just personal growth, just becoming a better person, from leadership standpoint to communication style to negotiation to just understanding people better. I think I just you know, I failed forward through that, and I look back and, you know, to to sit here now nineteen years later still humbling and crazy to me to think, but to know the lives that I came across during that time in my organization and some of the relationships that, you know, I wished I would have done a better job or been a better leader as I was growing. Yeah. But I'd say personal growth above all else, is is the key to to success in anything that you're doing because, you know, your world can only grow to the extent you grow.

And so if you don't grow and yet you expect the world to give you something, it's not gonna do it. No. And it's really not that hard. I mean, you've hung out with me a little bit. You know, it's like, hey.

He's kind of a simple dude. Like, there's not a lot there. Like, it's not it's not rocket science, but it's a desire to just get better every day. And I know we hear all the cliches, but I mean, truly to go do it. And, you know, Buffini taught me kind of the five circles and, you know, your spiritual and financial and physical and personal and, emotional growth.

And it was it's just a mission since o five was I just have to get get better. And, I mean, I can tell you, going through Catholic grade school, high school, I mean, I got by. Alright. I don't know that I ever read a whole book. I'm sure mom and dad aren't listening, so we're good.

But, I don't know that I ever read a whole book, and now it's like I can't wait to you know, whether it's a little bit audible, a little bit this, a little bit that. Sometimes I just have too many going, but, you just take a few nuggets out of each one. And I think too much in life, people spend too much time looking out the window instead of looking in the mirror. And they want change, but they always want someone else to go first. And I think that we all have it in us.

I mean, the the cool thing about real estate is it doesn't take much to get into. And, honestly, it doesn't take a whole lot to be wildly successful if you just put some fundamentals in place and simple as please and thank you and smile. I mean, just So

Steve: let's go back there. Alright. So personal growth is number one. That's the first thing you would do. What's another thing that you would make sure that they do?

Kenny: In starting out would be, you know, who you're, who you're surrounding yourself with Mhmm. Because there's a lot of characters in our business and a lot of people that come and go Yeah. And a lot of people get licenses and, you know, drive the new Mercedes and and what what their outsides look like aren't what their insides are like or what's in front of the curtain isn't always what's behind. And so I think surrounding yourself by the right leadership, and that was a turning point in my career when I moved from franchises was, I was I was I'll say I was wise enough at the time. I didn't realize it to follow, I would say, what I felt was the better what my heart told me I should be doing, not what ego or other things said you could go do.

Steve: Yeah.

Kenny: In looking back, I'm going, wow. Thank goodness because it was a you know, it's one of those two, you know, where your where your wife has that intuition and says, I think we should go this way. And you're like, yeah. But here's all this, and I know this and this and and we have our own franchise, and we do this. And she's like, yeah.

It's just that doesn't feel right. And you go, okay. We're you know, this is the way we went. And you look up now and you go, thank goodness. Because the the people you've met and come across are are what makes it possible.

For me and you to sit here today is such a small part of me and such a big part of we. So much of it is, the opportunities that and I won't say I won't be ignorant. In fact, I haven't earned some of them. Yeah. But at the same time, been given the opportunity and then just not let anyone down.

You know? And Right.

Steve: And I think there's also something there too that the wife, you know, listens to the wife because that more often when I don't listen to

Kenny: her, it just takes up. Yeah. When no one loves you more is gonna support you more or have your back more and have nothing other than your best interest. So it's just a you know, it's a it's a cool place to be because it's, you know, I got I got shared, oh, maybe six months ago or so. We the word wisdom came up.

When we started talking about wisdom Mhmm. It's funny having four kids and having grandkids now. And you think about wisdom and, you know, you try to share with them. And yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And they gotta go do it themselves. You know that outlet over there? They still gotta go put the fork in it.

It's just how it works. Right? We gotta go do it and just gotta say, I don't know. It happened to you, but probably not to me. And guess what?

And then all of a sudden, you get wisdom in your life. And I have mentors like Gary Keller and Steve Chater and some of the people who who genuinely have no other interest than to help me be better and to shortcut some of the things that I could. And I finally went, I just need to start listening to that stuff. I just need to go they don't have a motive. They truly care.

But it's not everybody. It's a it's a small circle that that the wisdom is genuine. It's not out for their best interest. And I my goal is to help instill that in a few people that trust in me and close to me that, you know, we wanna share the journey because there's a lot to take away and a lot of lot of stuff we can avoid, you know, along the way.

Steve: So I've heard that you're the king of farming. So, we're talking about that FedEx driver thing. So what I heard and I don't know this is true. But while you're driving, there was a piece of mail, and there was a piece of something from Kenny. Right?

So you're you're farming while you're still driving. Oh, yeah. You're dropping all your packages. You wanna talk about that a little bit?

Kenny: Well, in that I mean, you know, that was, I was in Moon Valley back in the days with FedEx, so 7th Street, and that was my route. Oh,

Steve: this is way before Mesa.

Kenny: Oh, yeah. Way before. And, well, actually, I was kinda I was probably living out this way, Tempe or Mesa at the time, but that's where my FedEx route was. And, the Valentine's was this? This would have been got licensed in '99, so probably right at ninety nine two thousand, 2001 to 2002.

And, the Valentine's were it was probably even before that, so probably '97, '98 Mhmm. Because I was anyway, and the Valentine's, were everywhere I'd go, I'd see their signs all over there.

Steve: They own it.

Kenny: I delivered to their house, and and, it was just interesting to me. And I went, wow. This just it seems so efficient. Why would you wanna shotgun all over the place? And, you know, when I'd run my route, I got to know everybody.

Oh, yeah. And your efficiencies. And, you know, you go to a a customer's All

Steve: the mailboxes at their house.

Kenny: Mailbox, box, backdoor, front door, if it was a business, who was signing, when they like pickup. Meaning, your customer service level went through the roof. Right? Whereas, if I had a swing driver, someone doing my route, or I had to be a swing driver and do someone else's route, my efficiencies weren't as good. I was nervous because I didn't know where to go.

My customer service wasn't as good because I was running scared half the temperature. Always late.

Steve: We're in behind. Yep.

Kenny: You know, when you're the regular guy. So it was like when I got to East Mesa, I started Alma School in Baseline. We lived there for four years then moved out to Augusta Ranch. And I said, you know what? We're just gonna we're just gonna we're gonna we're gonna put our heads down for ten years.

We're gonna work our butts off to make this thing work and look up. And if we're still here in ten years, then we we're probably gonna be okay.

Steve: Yeah.

Kenny: And that was on a one year budget, but it was a ten year vision. And,

Steve: Very cool.

Kenny: It's crazy to think we're in that same house still today and, it's just kind of funny, yeah, how how fast things have went. But Yeah. You know, the FedEx concept and and I think that's why I share that story sometimes for people because it helps them relate. Mhmm. You know, the FedEx guys don't take a package and then you take one and the next guy takes one.

They all take an area, and they just learn it really, really well. And that's the same thing I did in real estate, was get to know the business owners, get to know the product, right, what homes are there, get to know the schools, the principals, get to know everything about it because I was better serving the area and the community. And I got comfortable. Someone would call and I'd be like, oh, you're in the Ryland, you know, the 10 foot ceilings, the split floor plan. Did you do the den option or this?

Did you do the full patio? And they're like, okay. Okay. You'll come list the house. Yeah.

We we know you know what you're doing or know the area. But the confidence went up and the efficiencies. And so it just became, you know, it just became fun. And then growth happened from there. Right.

And that's why when Gary wrote The ONE Thing, it was like, wow. I looked up and I went, oh, here it was ten years later. More than that since he wrote that book since when I started twelve, fifteen years. And it was like, that was my one thing. I just didn't realize it.

Like, everything else was a distraction. As long as the newsletter went out Mhmm. As long as I ran the route, everything else was just, if it gets done, it gets done. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But this is the this is the one thing.

This is the priority, not priorities. It was the priority.

Steve: It's awesome. So let's talk about farming. I mean, I know you got the it's a CLME. Mhmm. Right?

But let's just talk about someone that hasn't heard of it, and they wanna get farming. What's some two what two or three things that you say, you know what? Here's what you gotta do if you wanna farm your neighborhood. Be be the expert.

Kenny: I would just say call us. Well, let's just get in business together, and, we'll go rock this thing. Yeah. No. Well, that too.

But, you know, we teach a class because, Gary finally told me, look. You gotta come up with something because people call, email, text, whatever, and they want your time, but then they don't go do anything. So at least if they invest in our program, then it's like, hey. Now let's help you because you're you've taken that first step.

Steve: Skin's in the game.

Kenny: Yep. Some skin in the game, and and you've kinda gotten over that first wave of questioning because I've already given it to you. Like, I don't hide anything. It's right there. I mean, I'm it's not rocket science, geographic farming.

The interesting thing is if you go back through all the markets way before we ever were in real estate Mhmm. People farm. People farm all kinds of different businesses, meaning whether it's your database as a farm. I mean, you're just you're just taking care of that database. You're farming that you know, you're just basically keeping in touch.

It's a it's a putting a fence post or a, you know, drawing something and say that

Steve: keep out.

Kenny: So you could call it a niche or a farm, whatever, but that's what it is. But as far as starting today, I would just say say sorry. As we go through, farming, there's a lot of different pieces. Right? I mean, we we always say, you know, make make a business decision, not with your heart.

Because too many people, I wanna farm this area. What's the turnover rate? What's an average sales price? Do you wanna be here for the next fifteen, twenty years? Because this is where you're gonna own a business.

I mean, that's the vision anyway. Right? To go from having a real estate job to owning a real estate business Mhmm. In a geographic area. I mean, I don't want you just to have a database.

Those are hard to sell. But if you have a brand in a geographic area that people are doing business with the brand, that's a business that can outlast you. I mean, you can turn that over and keep it going. So I think that the vision being, you know, pick an area where there's some turnover rate, you know, 5%, 7%, if you can find some of those kind of numbers, an area you like that you don't mind doing home inspections in those areas, you know, if it's older homes or it's newer because some crazy

Steve: stuff

Kenny: out there. Yeah. And, and then just a budget. You know, I always tell people that my first year was like you know, I was spending about $1,000 a month on print. We didn't have EDDM.

We didn't have the color printing like we do today, the ease, the cost, of it. But have a so I had $12,000 we'd set aside. And it wasn't the fact it was $12,000. Just happened to be all the money we had. And so I was like, okay.

We're gonna make or break, but we're not gonna quit.

Steve: Yeah.

Kenny: And so we did this little newsletter thing and, got a listing on the very first one. And I thought, well, this was easy. Why doesn't everybody do this? Keep doing it. Yeah.

Steve: And then

Kenny: I went seven months without one. And it was

Steve: just let

Kenny: me tell you about quitting points along the way. Like, everybody wanted free ads in my newsletter, but nobody was doing business with me. Mhmm. And you go through, kinda like a seller does when their house isn't selling. Like, what's wrong?

It's either the agent or it's my house or me or what's wrong. You start going, you know, am I doing something? You know, am I too young? Am I too Do I not know what I'm doing? But I wasn't even getting to that.

I wasn't even getting to the table. Right? Mhmm. Then the month seven, I got three calls in that one month, and I landed all three. And from there on, I honestly didn't track anything.

I wouldn't track anything today if it wasn't for Scott on our team. So amen to him. He's he runs the operation. He's I'm blessed. He's he's amazing.

Steve: So, you started Augusta Ranch?

Kenny: Yeah. So Augusta Ranch was about 1,700 homes. Okay.

Steve: So you started 1,700. That was the

Kenny: That was the initial for about a little over two years and stuff until I really started to get some market share in there. And then I started getting listings outside of there because there was kind of a a bleed over people, new people in the other community and say, hey. Call these guys or call this guy. And so we went to 5,000, did that for about two and a half, three more years Mhmm. Then went to 8,000, did that for about two or three more years, then went to 12,000, then 17,000.

And now we just do the all the whole ZIP, which is about 21, 22,000 homes a month.

Steve: And which ZIP code

Kenny: is that?

Steve: 85209 and 85212. Okay. So stay out of 209212 if you're in a farm.

Kenny: Well, if you wanna cut I love you know, when people do, it's awesome because it just it just fires me up.

Steve: I'm like, alright.

Kenny: We gotta go buy another moving truck. Let's go do this. Let's go we gotta do more of this. You know, just you step up your game. Right.

And, sometimes you get a little bit, you know, complacent. And that's one thing I think we're blessed because of the people I'm in business with today that there's no complacency. It's we have big scoreboards in our office. And on each side, success team and the sales team, everybody sees what everyone's doing, and it's a pretty competitive deal.

Steve: What's the success team?

Kenny: Well, a lot of people call their admin team or that, but success team is just they make the team successful. I mean, without them doing what they do to make us look good because we're salespeople. I mean, you know, we like to go out and shoot it and drag it back to camp and then go do something else.

Steve: Well, that's awesome. Right? Because, yeah, the the salespeople normally get all the glory. So call them the success team. I mean, I I like that because you're celebrating the people that make things happen.

Kenny: And they are. And and and they truly are. And it it is. And, you know, it really is a we mentality around our office. There's no heroes.

I mean, our clients are the heroes at the end of the day. Mhmm. We're just the guides along the way to help get them what they're what they're after. Right. And everybody shares in their role.

You know, we do profit sharing, you know, four zero one k. I mean, we really want people to my goal, you know, we call it career visioning within KW, and they're really to have the opportunity to achieve their goals under our umbrella. It's not about can we make Kenny more money. It's about can we hit our goals? And if we can, then everybody can.

And so we've started creating all these divisions within our team. We have our silver group now. You have your investor side, you know, ISA side that there's an opportunity, builder relations. It's just and all of a sudden, you start finding opportunities for people to lead those things, and it gives them that same entrepreneur spirit, but within an organization where there's no ceiling to their growth

Steve: or opportunity. Or something called it an entrepreneurship? Uh-huh.

Kenny: Yep. Right. Yep. Yep. Yep.

Yep.

Steve: Yeah. That's cool. That's awesome. Alright. So, so we talked about farming.

That's number one resource. Database is up there too.

Kenny: Yeah. Those those, we were on a we were doing our coaching thing this morning, and, it's interesting because when I started, I I again, like I shared with you, I didn't track anything. You know, my p and l was there's more money coming in than going out. See. No.

There's no see. Organization. I don't think it even registered. So Yeah. But, you know, the the goal of all of it, you know, going back to that was we didn't sort and track It's a week me.

I didn't sort or track. I was just, like, hey. More business, more business, and and most of it was all farming. Fast forward, you know, now, today, we consider a lot of sub database, but it's really if you track back the origination Mhmm. They bought and sold us in 2001, 2003, 2005, then they bought again and sold.

And over the time, it's become a database, past client, when really the origination. So we're close to 65 to 68% of our business is all database farming, that piece of it. Mhmm. You know, the Internet stuff is is truly, just, you know, icing on the cake, if you will. But the cake is not meant to need icing if you don't have to.

Steve: What's the third leg then?

Kenny: Well, I would so I would say, you know, our biggest pieces, again, like you said, is farming and then database sphere, you know, agent to agent referral. We do a fair amount of referral.

Steve: Okay.

Kenny: And then So that's,

Steve: like, out of state?

Kenny: Yeah. Out of state. We're looking. Yep. A lot of that kind of stuff.

Okay. And then, and then beyond that, you start getting into, like, your Zillow, Dave Ramsey, which is really such a minimal part Mhmm. Even if anymore. And then, you know, open house, those those kind of things. So

Steve: Well and it's interesting. Right?

Kenny: You were

Steve: talking about the database. You farmed, and then you had the database, which you originated all back to the farm. And that's the Callaway's story. Right?

Kenny: Yep. Same.

Steve: I can't remember. It's, like, 85255255254. 254. 254. And they just started with just this farm, then they went for the whole ZIP code right off the bat.

Yep. But they have this, like, county wide farm, but the base is still 852254.

Kenny: Yeah. You have the hub. Right? You have the the center point. That's the one thing.

It's just that's the the hub, basically. Yeah.

Steve: It's very cool. Okay. So how has technology impacted your business?

Kenny: You know, it's funny. That's, It's a hot topic. It's a hot topic, man. Technology is you know, it's like 2018 is the the technology conversation and, and '19. Because Arizona is where everybody comes and tests their new toys out.

I don't know.

Steve: The heck

Kenny: out of here. We get all of them. We get all of them on top of each other and and all spin offs and, you know, and I think that's the that's the battle right now is, you know, robot versus realtor. And and, you know, I look at our team and go, hey. If if a robot could do it or or technology could do it, they're not gonna need us.

Steve: Right.

Kenny: What is it that separates us? It's it's the emotions. It's the negotiations. It's the knowledge. It's the, you know, creating that experience for the client so that they go, wow.

This was a value having you on my team. Mhmm. Because when I teach classes, I always start with, you know, how many people in here or, you know, how did you get into real estate? I think you asked me earlier. A bunch of them go, well, it's when I bought my own house.

I couldn't believe they made $8 on that, and I saw them twice, and they weren't even at the closing. You're like, what do you mean they weren't at the closing? Oh, they weren't at the closing. I'm like, well, I I can't imagine going to court with my attorneys going, well, hey. We're good.

I got you to this point. You know? I'd I I don't need to be here for this. Like, and so I think we always have to look at if a robot could do what you're doing, then we're in trouble.

Steve: Yeah.

Kenny: But if we can create that experience, people do this every five years, seven years, ten years moving that is. Mhmm. It's I mean, if I ask you how many homes have you owned, not as your primary residence, the other wouldn't be fair, but as primary residence, you'd know right off the top. And then your mind would start going, I remember memories there. I remember memory.

And I see it all the time. Taking an Uber, no big deal. Cab company, technology wasn't a challenge. Mhmm. Picking a flight, no problem.

Right. Buying a house, there's still an opportunity for us to protect our industry Mhmm. But we have to truly create an experience for the client. And Yeah. And I think that comes from, you know, all the standard stuff that people do, but really raising our game as far as our negotiation skills so they see the value in in that we're providing, you know, market value.

We've been doing these homeowner workshops, and I'm just I've been amazed at the amount of people. It's it's all questions about getting the home ready to go go to market. And it's so great that they come out early because I have samples of here's some of the and they're just like, I didn't know you could do that for that price. I didn't know you could do that. That's value.

Right? And that's when you feel really, really good about servicing somebody, you know, helping them achieve their goal. You know, our why is to help people build wealth, to help people achieve the American dream and build wealth through homeownership.

Steve: Yeah. And I think we talked about this or we're talking about this before we started the show. I mean, you do your homeowner workshop. It's gonna be in your office moving forward.

Kenny: Moving forward. Yep.

Steve: Right? And it's just homeowners coming in, and you're you're you're giving them options.

Kenny: Yep. So

Steve: I think that's phenomenal. I mean, if you wanna provide value because right now, the biggest challenge is the homeowner is like, oh, I just want the open door or I I just did this. Yep. And the reason why is because they saw no value in talking to you.

Kenny: It was so convenient. I'm okay to leave ten or twelve grand on the table because it was so convenient, and more in some cases, some cases not. It just depends on the price range, of course. But they make it they've they've simplified it. So much they go, what do I need you for?

Until there's an experience or a challenge or Right. Home inspections dev or appraisal, you know, and then all of a sudden

Steve: And you've communicated to your sphere, your entire sphere, hey. There's a homeownership workshop. Find out what you can do before selling your home. Yeah. Right?

And that's all of adding value and the human experience. So that's great.

Kenny: 100%. You know, kind of the tagline right now is confused on selling in today's market. Mhmm. Because, you know, Rayology now announced that Coldwell Banker is gonna be doing their iBuyer. Yeah.

Fantastic. I hope everybody does one. Yeah. It levels the playing field, and let's go compete again. Yeah.

We all have one. Great. If it makes sense to the consumer, let's do that deal. If it doesn't, let's help you get as much as you can. But our opportunities, people are confused right now.

I mean, go on the Internet for any subject, and it's super confusing. I mean, you don't know which one to trust.

Steve: A tremendous number of great arguments on both sides.

Kenny: 100%. Yep.

Steve: There's no

Kenny: It's it's like politicians. Right? I mean, you listen to they're bashing each other right now, and you're just like like, is this really TV that we need to have on? But You

Steve: can argue both sides.

Kenny: A 100%. No problem. 100%.

Steve: So, the other thing so you and I were on a panel together Yeah.

Kenny: Speaking on technology. Yeah. But we didn't talk about technology.

Steve: No. We didn't. So, there's one of the things we talked about was you can either try to fight it or figure out how you can work with it. Right? And so you've got Offer Depot going on.

Can we talk about that?

Kenny: Yeah. And so, I mean, the idea with sorry, with tech is it's meant to be a tool that you control the tech. What's happened is tech is trying to control you. Mhmm. And then once that happens, you're an Uber driver, driver, basically.

I mean, you you that's where we're headed if we don't continue to push it. So, basically, I mean, just simplifying the process. Like, we had, clients in our own farm, and they're going, well, we gotta check this other thing out. And I'm going, why wouldn't you just go through us? We'll just help you with the whole thing.

Mhmm. So we just kinda create our own program called offerdepot.com. And, basically, it's like Trivago is to real or to travel or Expedia is to travel. Mhmm. Offer Depot is to real estate.

We go to the markets. We get you multiple offers. We give you a professional home valuation. Put it in a one page simple side by side comparison.

Steve: Mhmm.

Kenny: You decide what's right for you. Either way, you're represented. Yeah. Because the big difference is is you go to a builder, you're not represented. You go to an iBuyer, you're not represented.

Mhmm. Just the facts. I mean, they they work for themselves. That's that's what it is. And I don't care how many cookies they give you or how nice the people are on the phone with the ad.

Steve: They're pretty good.

Kenny: They should. Good. And it's good to go get some, but not to, to still have your agent with you. Right?

Steve: Right.

Kenny: But we just saw a need that the consumer ultimately still needs guidance. Mhmm. You know, I've watched some where they fill out those forms and they forget to put key things about their house because it didn't ask that question Yeah. Or they didn't take the right pictures or they didn't market to the iBuyer like we market to them. We're used to describing a home.

You know, oversized corner lot, 10 foot RV gate, extended covered patio, you know, blah blah blah. Whereas, they're just gonna put in the basics. And they're and by the way, they're not gonna go to, you know, all of them. I mean, it's just it's a lot of work. Load all the photos, do all that, then they're all calling you, and then your data is not safe.

If they don't buy it, there's a chance that somebody else might, you know, all of a sudden. Whereas, when they go through us, we were submitted under us. Yeah. So there's no no phone numbers being shared, no anything being shared. So, it was just a tool that we thought would be a good idea in our community to be able to share with people and give them choices again.

Put the seller back in control of all their options with their trusted resource.

Steve: So I liked a lot of what you said there because we're we're the good guys again. Right? Yep. We're not the like, I don't wanna bother him or it's the we'll just skip him. We're the heroes again.

And the way we do that is we tell them, here are the things you can do to get your home ready, and here are ways that we get you more cash offers so you can compare so that you're protected versus just leaving them alone and then they're you're just not part of the equation. Because you you provided no value. So that was I'm in a couple of different masterminds, and that's always the continuing continuous challenge. How do we make sure that we're providing value versus, like, oh my goodness. You already went over there.

Right. It's too late. So I love what you said there. That's really Well,

Kenny: the key is that that we wanna keep for us is keeping that relationship. Right? Because there's there could be a buy on the other end of that. There could be a sell buy. They down the road, the referral.

But if they feel like they had to go around you, odds are they're gonna be embarrassed to call you in the future. They're not gonna

Steve: refer you.

Kenny: We just need to again, I look at it like I always when I when I talk to and teach with people, I'm like, make sure that you're the voice of what's happening in the market instead of defending and getting upset that Zillow says this or the media says this. You're letting them talk to your database. Mhmm. You should be the expert and say, you know, give them a video update. Give them a a something of value.

Give them somewhere you tell them this is what's happening in your market, not the market, but your market. And and I just think that's the mistake we make because we kinda wait and think we did such a good job that they'll call us again Mhmm. Instead of you know, it's a contact sport. You gotta keep contacting people.

Steve: And that goes back to what you're talking earlier, using technology. Right? So we got Viral or BombBomb or whatever.

Kenny: There's a ton of tools. Right. Yeah. I mean, we can $39.95 ourselves a month to death in this business. That's for sure.

You know? Because this is gonna change your life. And and by the way, I I've, I've signed up for enough of those, so I can speak to the and I'm looking in the mirror when I say that one. But, it it's like everything. You know, I had a I had a little, little outburst in our sales team meeting last weekend and Yeah.

Not you. No. And I usually and I guy I got some slack from it. But what I got from it was massive action Mhmm. After the meeting and the amount of calls people made to invite people to their to our network or to our homeowner workshop that weekend because I was a little upset that we hadn't called enough people.

The whole idea of doing that workshop was give them a reason to call people.

Steve: Opportunity to call.

Kenny: Call. Even if they don't come, you're an authority. You're out in front of it. You're educating. Hey.

Is there any questions that you have? It's a soft call. It's not, you know, the whole Ford idea, you know, the family occupation, you know, all trying to go through all that process, make stuff up. Mhmm. It's on purpose.

So I got a little fired up, and, we had one of our one of our agents call. And, she ended up, end up cold calling through which we don't do as as a team, but she did in a in a neighborhood. Just made 20 calls to invite him to an open house. And the guy said, well, I'm actually looking at selling my house. Turns out he's buying a new house too.

Mhmm. And we made it up with both sides of that, which is just crazy in one one little push. And that's what I'm saying, guys. You gotta go take do activities. We can't sit and wait.

And, you know, we're in the shift now. We're we're we might as well just call it what it is. We're we're there. So you have to start doubling down and doing the things that you didn't necessarily have to do when the fish were jumping in the boat the last few years. It's going to weed out some.

It's gonna get challenging. Yeah. Two years from now, I think it's gonna look a lot different. I think we'll see a lot of mergers and acquisitions in our industry.

Steve: Yeah. That's actually a question we'll be asking a little bit.

Kenny: Is it yeah. So

Steve: so the next question is, you said, you know, you're a simple guy, but you're obviously wildly successful as well. So what do you attribute your success to?

Kenny: You know, I just truthfully, I just love I love people. I love meeting people. I love personal growth and helping share things with people. And, I just think it's, for me, it's just a relentless effort to to figure it out. You know, there's always solutions.

There's always, you know, I was you know, some people I forget the quote. You know, like, there's a stone and some people, you know, look at it as as something to trip over and other people look at it as a stepping stone. Like, there's it's just how you look at things and, you know, we're we we share the two one two philosophy in our office, you know, 200 and degrees, and that's been really our motto since 2005 is just, you know, just that extra degree in everything you do. And and so I think

Steve: You wanna explain for people that haven't read the book what

Kenny: well, it's 211 degrees. Water's hot. At 212, it boils. Boiling water creates steam, and steam's powerful enough to move a locomotive. It's that one extra degree.

Steve: Right.

Kenny: And I always say, it takes things from ordinary to extraordinary. Yeah. So even our restaurants, like, our happy hour is at 02:12. Like, I just it has to be fun and unique, but it forces the servers to have to explain to our clients that we go two one two here. Like, everything we do, it's just gotta be it just can't be average.

You know, I tell my kids, I say, you you want average life? Just do average things at school. My daughter fires her up every time. She's like, dad. Like, well, you know, just if you want, you know, average life, just do average things.

And, you know, it just it's it's it's that simple and that hard. Right? Right. It's true.

Steve: And that's one of my, big takeaways when I was at I went to the high performance forum with Darren Hardy.

Kenny: Oh, yeah. Yeah. And he was

Steve: saying that, you know He's

Kenny: he's one

Steve: of my favorites. Back in the day, average was good. Yeah. Right? Good was good enough, and you you had a good living.

Today, if you're average, you're suffering. Like, it's your business

Kenny: is dying. Ever look at your kids and go, man, Ryan, I just hope you grow to be average, buddy. If you can just be average, like, this would be so great. Just let's go for average. Okay?

Well, that's what they teach them in school.

Steve: That is what they teach them in school.

Kenny: Average GPA, average test scores, average score. I thought you just get to average.

Steve: Right.

Kenny: What? That's that's not we're teaching the wrong stuff. So it but it starts in our own houses. It starts with us. Again, remember going back to us and then outwardly from there is, you know, controlling the environments and just and just pushing a little bit.

Honestly, it doesn't take much to be wildly successful. Mhmm. I mean, I've proven that, and I wouldn't say I'm wildly successful but had some success, just by getting up every day and staying focused on what your what your goals and what your missions are.

Steve: Yep. So you're coaching lots of people. Got a national, you know, what's the word, reach? Yep. Who's coaching you?

Kenny: So my coach, for several years just took over and started, KW Business Coaching for Keller Williams. It's MAPS coaching business mastery. So he's teaching outside of the real estate space. Keller Williams has evolved to business coaching. So for outside, not real estate related.

So which tells you who I was coaching with. He was an awesome I mean, to be able to for Gary to put him in the position that he he's president of that organization is is awesome. So, that he he's president of that organization is is awesome. So, I currently have, a coach within, KW within Keller Williams and MAPS coach that I've had for well, since Abe's, I've only had the two. Yeah.

And that's and then I and then I coach a couple agents throughout the country.

Steve: So Mapp's coaching.

Kenny: Mhmm. And

Steve: I'm assuming Gary's involved too.

Kenny: And then I've been fortunate that we have a real good relationship with with GK and, get to spend time with him, quite a bit. So I was actually supposed to go to Austin again next week. Been really blessed to spend a lot of time with with him and really get to see, firsthand someone who just completely bleeds for the real estate agent. I mean, he is a he is a martyr. I mean, you know, what happened in February when when at family reunion and how that got spun with, you know, some of the things that he shared up there because he he fired everybody up.

And you look up six, eight months later, you're going, here it is. It's happening.

Steve: He wasn't wrong.

Kenny: He wasn't wrong. Mhmm. And because he doesn't care in the sense that he's gonna speak the truth, he's not trying to be what do you wanna hear. It's it's like going to the doctor. Right?

Right. Do you wanna hear what you wanna hear? Do you wanna hear the truth? Like, I wanna hear the truth. I wanna get fixed.

What's wrong? I think that he just can come across sometimes as shock and awe because everybody wants it to be happy and okay. It's a grind right now, man. This is a this is gonna I mean, this is a defining time we're in here, this next, you know, I'll even say six to eighteen months is it's crazy. What how much we've seen even this year in in technology push and changes in the way we do things.

Yeah. Yet the consumer, by the way, doesn't notice most of it yet.

Steve: Not yet.

Kenny: That's the interesting thing.

Steve: So Gustavo Placeros is asking what was the name. So Gary Keller is who we're talking about right now. Oh, no. No. I mean, you and I.

Right? But, okay. So what does your team look like today? Right? I mean, you're doing a a house a day.

I mean, what does what does it take? How many bodies are there? How many agents and so on?

Kenny: Yeah. So we have, Scott who runs our team, and

Steve: then we have, And you're coaching.

Kenny: Yes. And he does coaching. So we have, two full time transaction coordinators. We've been interviewing for a third listing manager. And then I have my assistant, who's Stephanie, who's been with me for fifteen plus years.

She's kind of our, I'll say, my assistant database integrity, role. But, like, today, we have someone that's on vacation this week. She's hopping back into that role because she's been there with me since it was me.

Steve: She knows how

Kenny: it's not. Yeah. And then, we have a full time runner, drives our little wrap vehicle. He checks on all our properties, you know, carries tools, supplies, smoke detector batteries, sweep up, pick up newspapers, check, make sure thermostats, like, just kinda overseas. Huge asset to our team.

He's Awesome. Okay. Every two weeks on certain properties, every week on certain ones. Mhmm. And then we hang all our own signs, lock boxes.

We want everything to be done a certain way. Mhmm. And then he does, something unique, I think, that we do in the business is and I've done it for a couple years. We do seller walk throughs.

Steve: Mhmm.

Kenny: So most people do a buyer walk through. It's very standard. I do we do a seller walk through. So Doug goes through, as the seller's moving out and takes pictures and sure that the house is in condition Mhmm.

Steve: For the buyer.

Kenny: Because sometimes sellers' perspective of leaving the house ready to move in Mhmm. And three broken, you know, shovels and 17 half empty paint cans that have been dried up and cleaning supplies and, you know, that broken fire pit out back and that crap that

Steve: Right.

Kenny: We know, especially when they're moving into our farm, that at the end of the day, the buyer sees our sign in the yard. Mhmm. And if the house looks a certain way, we have to take responsibility for it. So we do he does seller walk throughs for us. And anything really, they

Steve: just He's got something happens with the house, not broken windows, but, like, just crap in the backyard. He's hauling it away?

Kenny: Yeah. So we'll haul it away. You obviously get permission from the sellers. Hey. Did you guys forget this stuff?

And, you know, just try to make it, like, okay. We have your permission to haul it away. Because at the end of the day, you know, there's nothing worse. I've been on the other end of as an agent with your buyer, and it's exciting. You go do a walk through, and you're like, what the hell just happened?

Like, you know, we went from this high of excitement to down here, and it just creates and it's never at a convenient time.

Steve: No. So it's like scrambling.

Kenny: How don't we just get rid of that stuff? You know, you do enough business, you learn. How how do we just get rid of it? It's worth investing in in somebody like that that is such a value to our team. And if you ask the agents, I mean, he wins our culture award.

Matter of fact, we had to tell him to quit. He just gets the award. Now who else do we get this shot? Because he's just that guy. He'll be empty in the trashes.

He'll run and do whatever, which is we're really blessed to have that on our team. And my brother does the majority of our listing side. Ty Lusk, who we've been blessed to get in business with, is changing lives already, man. It's huge. It's so it's I get I get emotional thinking about it.

It's so cool and such an honor that, that he chose to be in business with us too. Out of all the choices, amazing people he was talking to, it was super humbling but super cool that, that he found his place with us culturally and opportunity wise. And, man, he has not rested since he's been there. He is growing us. When you say people, I I know I think we have two or three more starting next week.

But, you know, the benefit we have is that, you know, our franchise can be the navy in my mind, and we can we can hire the navy seals. So we get a chance to pick who we're in business with, and we go through quite a process because we want experts because we know our team brand. When we're doing a cross sale or anything, we know it helps us get deals done if if our reputation is solid. So our sales team has continued to grow, have some newer people, have some people who've been with us quite a while. And so I we're probably in the mid twenties right now, on our team.

We're, actually, my wife was doing it today. I went and got a storage unit, bought a bunch of stuff out of model homes, and we're starting to stage homes again on our own for our team. It's just an added value.

Steve: Nice.

Kenny: Because I know as this market gets tougher, it's at $2.01 2. Right? It's that, hey. That house is vacant, but we know how that shows compared to we we know that the first showing on a house today is not through the front door anymore. Mhmm.

It's online.

Steve: Oh, yeah.

Kenny: They've looked at it, narrowed it down. If we don't even make that list so the pictures bring life to it. And so, just, you know, really working hard to do what we can to just take the initiative and say, what's it cost us? Not that much more Mhmm. To go out and and then have a seller go, wow.

Like, that was that was pretty awesome. So More

Steve: than I asked for.

Kenny: More than I asked for. At the end of the day, we're in the solution business. Yeah. We gotta solve the problem. They give us a piece of crap to sell.

We gotta go if we're taking the listing, you put your name on the listing, you now have to go help figure out how to sell it. It's not yeah. It can be their fault, but at the end of the day, the neighbors see your name, your sign hanging out there. So I go, we gotta take responsibility on how to solve this.

Steve: So with your business model the way it is, do you have an ISA?

Kenny: We don't. We've went back and forth on that. Mhmm. The agents really wanted to keep that in house, because they felt like they were responding promptly. We are testing a new system right now.

We've partnered out some of the leads through one of these programs to try the the live answer and the the ISA type piece. So the answer is we haven't, have we do have one, virtual assistant currently that does, data entry, all the listing entry, a lot of the back end stuff on the listing side to get it ready to go to market, and then it comes back to the listing manager to finalize and make sure all the the quality control.

Steve: Okay. So I'm driving around in 85212. Right? And I see a Kenya cloud sign and I call it. Where does that number go?

Kenny: Right to our office. Right to your office. And so then, during the day, it rings right to the office, and then it gets sent right to a salesperson. Mhmm. Evenings and weekends, it just rotates to the whole sales team and whoever answers it first.

So it's always a live live answer.

Steve: Very nice. Is there a tool, system, CRM that you cannot live without?

Kenny: I mean, currently, the answer is BoomTown. We've been using since 2013, and we just I don't wanna say mastered it, but because of Scott, we've really learned how to use that system because he's built all of the the toy the toys that it offers. Mhmm. You know, most people jump systems and say this system, this system, but they don't really we're agents. We're we're realtors.

I mean, we're not, like, to know how to build a campaign and to do all these things where he set all that up for the agents. And so, basically, you know, if it's a nurture, a watch, whatever it is, that once it hits, there's a text campaign, an email cam whatever. It's already done. It's it's plug and play. So to answer that, that would be on the on the incubation and the lead gen side.

That's by far you have to have something like that.

Steve: Okay. And then we're, the question was gonna be where you see the business in three to five years. We're talking maybe six to eighteen months. So I don't know. Year and a half, two years, where do you see this business going?

Kenny: You know, again, you know, none of us know for sure. Right? So we're we're sitting here with neither one of us have that crystal ball. But I think that scale is gonna be very important for agents because it takes a lot money to run a real estate business today. I mean, I there's a lot of fixed cost every month to make it look good and to run it the way it needs to.

And I think that, the opportunity to get in business with other people will continue to be, bigger than worrying about whose name's on the building or on the shirt or that kind of stuff. Mhmm. It'll be are we achieving our goals? Do we have a quality of life within it? And I so I do think that you'll see some teams merge.

I think you'll see a lot of agents end up on teams that are good agents. Nothing wrong with that. They just don't wanna deal with all the stuff. They're good salespeople. They don't wanna deal.

They wanna go make their money and and and that's it. And there's by the way, there's nothing wrong with that. I wanna buy some flips and do that. But if I'm running a business, I gotta deal with running a business. It takes me away from doing

Steve: so the the the there's multiple parts where we're we're in the relationship business. We're in the sales and marketing business. We're in the leadership business. We're on a lot of different businesses. And there's and there's a lot of parts of it that just suck.

Yep. Right? So I I think that's interesting perspective. You're saying that, you know, there'll be good agents that are willing to, you know, sacrifice their ego a little bit just to do the things that they enjoy the most.

Kenny: You know, and and you know because you you know Ty personally too. And I know it's like the Ty show now. Right? We we love Ty, but We all love Ty. Him coming over has been so like, it it it gave me I didn't even know we were in the in I didn't even know he was thinking about it, first of all.

And now we're even in the running for it. Someone had to say, hey. Do you know Tai's looking like you should talk to him? Like, if he wants to, he knows, you know, he knows where we're at, and I'm not gonna go bug him. I mean, I don't anyway.

And so he did, and we talked. And, but it's been really fun to see because he is like, I hear him on the phone telling his friends or people he's talking to or past clients how how excited he is because he's getting to do the part that he's so good at, and that is helping our sales team. And and he's our six he's our sales director. He's making helping make our sales team be the best that they can be through training, through answering questions, through quality control, through their weekly four one ones. So to see that, it made me go, it's possible.

Like, we need to start looking out there for who's really good at something Mhmm. That we don't have, that if we were in business with them, would make them and us better because they could make that a monster within the industry because they wouldn't have to worry about having food with their meals because there's already an income coming in because they can go now exploit what they're doing. And that's what, you know, we see happening for him right now. And and we see that as, we have a whole opportunity map that we mapped out and go, okay. Now who do we need?

Who who can we find that would would be a leader in those roles to make this thing? Because I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with fifty, sixty people on our team in a year to now. It's not about quantity, by the way. And some people focus on the quantity. It's not is everyone hitting their numbers?

Are they getting the results? Like, we're working on our GPSs for next year so we could provide our our team goal because our retreat's in two week or three weeks. And,

Steve: Elaborate what GPS stands for.

Kenny: Goals, priorities, and strategies. So it's basically a one page business plan. So it's like, okay, how much do you wanna make next year? How much do you wanna make? Not how much do I wanna make you.

How much do you wanna make? And then we just list out, okay, what are the strategies to do it, or what are the priorities? So if it's farming, if it's database, if it's open houses, whatever your three are, and then what are the five strategies Right. To make those things get you to that goal? So it's written down.

And then we just take all of those and say, okay, that's how much that helps for the team. But the team wants to be at this number. So we need to find

Steve: More people.

Kenny: Three more people or five more people that do this amount of business that can hit that under our umbrella Mhmm. And and go make it as big as they possibly impact lives. Like, our charity is doing so well right now. We're raising money and and just be able to give back. We've done a couple things recently.

And now I have a new goal. I just wanna keep pushing that. Like, I wanna go build a house for somebody eventually. We wanna go, you know, start doing where we're putting the new AC on and where we're doing this. And and but it's all achievable through through the power of we Yeah.

Pulling together. So it's super exciting. I don't not saying the individual agent can't still still flourish. It's just a lot of hats to wear. And if you look online in in in tech, we can't avoid it.

Like, you go to Zillow, for example, which was what most consumers are looking at still. They're gonna look on there. And if they're I mean, even in our own market where we have been on their doorstep for ten years, they still go look there Mhmm. And they see, step for ten years, they still go look there Mhmm. And they see how many homes you've sold in that ZIP code, how many homes you've sold, in the last twelve months, how many reviews you have.

Right. So when you combine that, like we have, and we're at 600 and some reviews now, I mean, that's pretty solid compared to the poor person who may have a great year and sell 24 homes and get 12 of those to do do reviews.

Steve: Alright.

Kenny: They could be a great salesperson, but they get dominated by this. Right or wrong, it's it's just

Steve: what's happening. Through the noise.

Kenny: And and that's it. It's the noise. And so I I do think that from a scale perspective and cost, like, if everybody has to have outgoing you know, everybody's have a BoomTown account. Everybody has to have transaction management. Everybody has to have this.

You just add all that up, and you're like, I gotta make x just to start, or I just go do the part I really love, and it's all upside. It's all net.

Steve: So what would happen to your organization if the market took a dip?

Kenny: We are actually somewhat in our sales team meeting this morning. We actually talked about how Yeah. Awesome that will be in in in the sense of market share growth. And that's where even in the short sale market, once I decided we had to do short sales because I didn't want to in the beginning, no one did, but I truly just, like, yeah. No.

We realized that having our newsletter, what it did is it created an audience for us. So the newsletter was the same every month, just the the message and it changed. So we went from avoid foreclosure, know your options, and we had a short sale workshop. We had a CPA, an attorney, and myself there, and we would teach the people about because they trusted us. Right?

And the yellow bandit signs and all the stuff that was going on. So we had that going, and then it was road back home. So we had a program to help people get on the road back home because their head was buried in the sand. They were it was embarrassing. Right?

I don't wanna own a home again. Well, by the way, you can own right now for, like, half price. So I mean, might be a real good time. And now the homeowner workshop, which is just an outreach to the community to say, hey. We're here to stand in front of you and be an authority in the area and in the market.

And whether you come to the event or not, people are seeing it in the newsletter every month that, hey. They're out doing this. So we just,

Steve: So you've got the medium. The message just changes.

Kenny: Mhmm. And

Steve: so even if there's a dip, you already have the medium.

Kenny: And the dip is, as we saw the last time, be a lot more a lot more really nice houses available to to buy. And, you know, I shoulda, coulda, would all over myself this last time. Right? I mean, I sold 16 houses to one lady. I'm going, why wasn't I that guy?

I mean, two and a half times her money in, you know, twenty four months. And you're going, man, I mean, I did a couple, and it was awesome, but I didn't have the connections or the cash then. I'm going, that won't happen this time. I mean and I'm not saying by the way, I don't think we're gonna see when we say dip, it's getting back to a normal

Steve: market. Adjustment.

Kenny: It's ninety to a hundred and twenty days to sell a house. We just don't know what that is because a lot of people have been in the business have only seen three to nine days on the market. It's like, holy cow. It's taking that long. I don't think it's necessarily bad, but the problem is is that we have to be out there.

Like, we we had the Cromford report at our meeting this morning to show people. So our team is educated on amount of price reductions happening already in the in the last quarter, average prices, listing inventory going up a little bit. It's not scary, but it's moving. Yeah. And the fact it's moving and it is consistently tells us that it's it's coming.

So the opportunity is there to double down on activities while everybody else starts going, uh-oh. We better see if our old employer will take us back or this or that because the fish aren't jumping in the boat. It's it's hard work again. So I think it's a cleansing and an opportunity to gain market share, quite honestly.

Steve: What is your biggest struggle right now?

Kenny: Time. You know, just wanting to do so many things. Like, there's just opportunities right now and, trying to sort and qualify those. But, I would just say time because I just wanna love on everybody and just sit down and grab their little cheeks and just let's talk and how can I help you and, you know, and you just you just have to sometimes realize you keep moving? It's like, today, I got out of bed at 06:30 this morning.

She's like, where are you going? You're you're sick. You've been coughing all night. You're a mess. And I'm like, I gotta go.

I gotta meet the the painters at the office because we've done this expansion at seven, and then I haven't stopped since. And the whole thing is is that, you know, you just do what you gotta do. But I'd say, you know, time and then people because we have so many, what I would say, opportunities right now Mhmm. Because I kinda feel like we've created a small this is probably a terrible analogy, but, like, almost like a small Amazon, if you will. Like, right?

We wanna be the hub. Like so if they need home services, we should have that division. Like, that's my like, hub home services, I've already got it registered. Like, that's next. Like, why not just service that client and keep that house perpetually maintained for the life that they're in it?

Mhmm. That's a huge value piece. Right.

Steve: I

Kenny: need someone to run that for me. Mhmm. Our investor division. Start teaching workshops to investors on self directed IRAs and those kind of things. So it's that those who's that actually take the ball and run and don't give it back.

Like, just own that piece. But we have, when I say Amazon, what I mean by this, you have the customer base. Like, we have you know, we sold 531 homes last year. You compound that year over year over year the last several years, you know, three to four to 500 houses. It's a lot of people who trusted you.

And I realized some of those moved out of state, so I get that. Yeah. Still a ton of people that how else can we service them besides just one real estate? How do we talk to them about who they wanna invest, helping their kids buy their first home? Like, there's so many other pieces.

We started our silver group, which is helping people, excuse me, from active adult into assisted and memory care. Mhmm. That's already become now starting to become a conversation point for people, and we have someone leading that. She meant she's still doing real estate transactions, you know, while we're building And that's the benefit we have. You can still be in the sales team doing business, but then building this part, this arm of our organization.

Steve: Yeah. So so what is your favorite, best, or most interesting failure?

Kenny: This is a Darren Hardy moment. Right? I mean, just fail faster, fail to do it more often. Man, I I just think, you know, just not planning things out and just trying them, because there's always new shiny objects for us and saying, hey, guys. With the team, hey.

We're gonna go do this. This is the greatest thing ever. And then it falls flat because we didn't think it through and, you know, kinda it's like kinda going to a convention or a workshop and you come back like Moses coming down from the mountain, like, we're gonna fix you all, and we've got this. Now it's like we have an agreement one week. Like, come back.

You can't talk about any of it for a week. Like, just don't talk because because it gives your emotions time to come back down too and go, yeah. That was a dumb idea. I was just high as I was excited about you getting the thing. You're jazzed up.

Shopping cart ads, I did one time. I remember I got I got sold on I was still working at FedEx. That was probably my second year. And then someone called me and they're like, oh, yeah. We did a poll in front of Safeway, and we asked, you know, who you knew in real estate, and your name kept coming up.

And I'm like, woah. No way. Like, that is so cool. And I can remember, this is great. You know?

And there went $3,500 or whatever that I didn't have and, you know, still have kids' butts on my face.

Steve: I always feel so bad when I'm at the grocery store. I was like, oh, that sucker got sold.

Kenny: Oh, gosh. It was and and yet I say that, and I'm on the ad sticks at Safeway in our in our farm, and those things have a tremendous return because everybody sees them. The point is But

Steve: it's in your farm.

Kenny: There ain't no grocery guards were in my farm. Great conversation because you're playing sometimes in a farm, you playing as much defense as you are offense. Right? You're just keeping people out too. But, you know, failures, I would just say, would be moving too fast, not having a hiring process, really, until I went to Keller Williams.

And all of a sudden, you're like, holy cow. This is world class hiring stuff here. And we use it in our restaurants. A lot of the same process. It's just business model.

Steve: Mhmm.

Kenny: It just you have to have systems. And and and systems are what makes things work, not you know you know, we're the visionary. Right? Did you read Rocket Fuel?

Steve: Oh, yeah.

Kenny: Right. So until I found Scott, and I said I found Scott because I was thinking, did I say that right? Yeah. Until, really, I was fortunate enough to have to get in business with him. Mhmm.

I had new ideas six, seven times a day. Day. Like, this is gonna be great. My poor brother had to deal with all that at the time.

Steve: And they're all great ideas.

Kenny: They're all great ideas at the moment, but now Scott implements them. Yeah. And we've watched our business. Like, if you came into our office and see our scoreboards and see the marketing materials that go out in our newsletter, you can just see when he took it over and the quality and the events that we're doing. And and now we have ideas, and it's like, boom.

He lets us go do execute as he puts together that part of it. And it's just a it's it's huge. Rocket fuel is huge. I understand. Until I have that person, everything else is just I'm just a hot mess.

Yeah. Like, I'm just just tripping over myself.

Steve: So on that topic, what book would you say has had the greatest impact to you in the last year or two?

Kenny: Man, I should pull my phone out for that. There's so many. You know, I think, you know, there's gosh. When I think of what book, currently, I would say building a story brand has been game changing for us. Yeah.

And you've heard me use some of the analogies without even reading the book yet, but really making the client the hero Mhmm. Being the guide through the process. If you look at our new business cards and our websites, everything is pictures of house and stuff versus awards and that kind of stuff because it's gotta be all about the the the They don't

Steve: care about your voice.

Kenny: They don't they don't give a crap. I mean, honestly

Steve: Only people who care are you and your mom.

Kenny: Really, I I would say you're probably pretty close to that and and who got second. Other than that, it really doesn't you know, after that, it really doesn't matter. And you quickly realize that. You know? If you've never won, you know, one of the awards, you go, oh, that's gonna change my life.

And you get it, and you're like, it just made me a bigger target. It didn't really didn't really do much. And clients go, that's great. So how much more money do I need to make you? Like, that's not you you just stay humble, stay hungry.

Right? And just, just go serve people and money becomes a byproduct. It's just, you create creating opportunities. But books building a story brand, I would say, there was a book Getting to Yes, which kinda was on negotiation and some things like that. And I realized there's a ton of human psychology that I didn't understand on how to get people to do what they want when they didn't necessarily wanna do it.

Mhmm. And, I mean, I could go on and on traction, which is all part of the rocket fuel series, EOS, that stuff. I I would say those would be the main energy buses as a, you know, a flight to San Diego, read John Gordon, but it just kinda gave me that positive, like, you know, is everybody in the right seat in the bus and and that type of thing.

Steve: So I like that you brought up traction because, so next week, one of the guests we're gonna have is Gary Harper, and he runs Sharper Solutions, which is he's a traction coach. Wow. Okay. That's gonna be awesome

Kenny: to have him on the

Steve: show because many people many guests say they love traction, so that's gonna be a lot of fun. Okay. So that was awesome. That was a lot of really good actionable tips. So thank you so much.

You too. Thank you guys for tuning in. And then don't forget, we got another one next week, 02:00, and we got The Godfather coming in. We got Russell Shaw

Kenny: Oh, man. So

Steve: Yeah. I wouldn't wanna go after him. So way. No way. Yeah.

Alright. So thank you. My friend.

Kenny: Yep. It was awesome. Well, thank you, for the opportunity, and it was a pleasure.

Steve: So glad you're able to power through it.

Kenny: Yes. Yeah. I mean, I'll go home and get some sleep.

Steve: So Get Get some rest.

Kenny: Yep.

Steve: Alright. Cool. See you guys. Everybody.