Ep 120: Bryan Casella – Become a Master Communicator

Bryan Casella is the leader of Team BC Real Estate, a top-producing real estate agent, and an in-demand coach. He’s also the host of the Supreme Being podcast, and his YouTube channel has more than 148,000 subscribers.

Today on Stay Paid, Bryan discusses the prospecting strategies that have made him one of the most respected real estate professionals in the country.

Key Points:

• When you project confidence, you’ll keep your prospects engaged.
• You need to find a happy medium between honing your craft and taking action.
• Your ability to mirror and match the tone of prospects is critical to your success.

Q: Introduce yourself to our audience.

I’ve been in Southern California pretty much my whole life. At age 11, I was obsessed with basketball. I wanted to be in the NBA. I wasn’t tall or physically gifted. That didn’t happen until after high school. People told me basketball was a waste of my time. But I played in high school, college, and then professionally overseas.

That always stuck with me, and I brought it with me into the real estate business. After an injury, I came back to the states. I felt like my dream got yanked away from me. Then one day, I realized I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself. I still had my whole life ahead of me.

I knew for a fact I didn’t want a 9–5 job. I stumbled across a real estate office. The broker was named David. He was my first junior varsity basketball coach, who I’d forgotten was in real estate.

We ended up talking. I liked what I saw and heard. He remembered how I was as a kid, practicing everything until I mastered it. He thought real estate would be really good for me. I told him to sign me up.

I got my license in 2013. I originally followed Mike Ferry on YouTube when I was getting started. I signed up for his coaching for a year. I took everything he said as gospel. I was on the phone and knocking on doors.

I wanted to be a master communicator. I’d be able to call up anybody and get along with them. To me, that is the key. Now that we have so much technology in our phones, I believe people have forgotten the importance of communication.

My first few years in real estate were hard. I worked 6–7 days a week, knocking on at least 100 residential doors and making 200 calls a day.

After some success doing that, I began building my team and started doing video.

I saw that my clients would always respond when I used videos. After that, the next interaction shifted. I realized there was something there.

I started doing a video blog. For the first year or two, I didn’t do any teaching videos. I was just showing listings, telling people what I was going through, and talking about what books I was reading. It evolved from there.

When people started asking for help, I started shifting more into teaching.

Q: What has your experience been with cold calling?

I remember my broker telling me about cold calling and door knocking, and it blew my mind. I saw an opportunity.

Yeah, you’ll get cussed out and told to take off. But who else can call someone and make the kind of money you can make in real estate? Give me a phone. I want to get in front of somebody.

Even if you don’t sell real estate, it’s crazy that you can call somebody or knock on their door and get their personal information so quickly.

I realized I was creating scenarios and fears in my mind. Every interaction I had, I was able to get better and better. Now I can sit and listen to anybody talk, and I actually get compliments for being a good listener.

After a year of cold calling, I started doing really well. I didn’t have someone like me on YouTube. All I had was a coaching call one day a week. I realized I needed a response that would make people not hang up.

The first mistake I see people make is spending too much time listening to podcasts and watching videos, but not doing anything. Then you have other people who take a lot of action but never work on their craft. You need to find the happy medium between taking action and working on your craft.

That’s how I began building my skills.

Q: What are some of the tactics you use when someone says they’re not interested?

I’ve experimented a lot with this and realized that some people will hang up on you or shut the door no matter what.

The first thing I say is that I’m not selling anything. Or, I’ll introduce myself and say I have two quick questions before I have to run. That buys me the next 20 or 30 seconds, which gets me ahead of the “not interested” before I hear it.

When I do hear “not interested,” I acknowledge it and continue asking questions. More than half of the people I talk to will keep talking to me anyway. I realized that most people say “not interested” as a programmed response.

I think a lot people want to come up with a magic response. There’s not one line that will work on everybody. It’s more about your viewpoint and how you approach each situation. You need to be confident and also know what you’re talking about.

I’m also calm on the phone. Even if I’m nervous, I make sure my speech comes out a certain way. I make sure my throat is clear and that I’m standing up, so that what I say comes out more clearly.

When I was starting, I practiced two hours a day. That might seem like overkill, but it’s how obsessed you have to be with communication if you want to be good.

No one enjoys an activity that they suck at. You need to earn your position, be good, and then enjoy it.

I put in so many hours. That’s why I got good.

Q: Do you try to mirror and match people’s tone?

Absolutely. We know that human beings like being around people who are like them. People who are more expressive don’t typically hang out with wallflowers, or vice versa.

When we mirror and match, we’re being strategic. People will listen when you match where they’re at. If someone is aggressive and you’re super soft, people will think you’re weak. If someone is soft and you’re loud, they’ll think you’re a little crazy.

As the communicator, it’s your job to make the communication happen. It’s on you to lessen or remove barriers to the conversation.

Q: What do you do when you’re going for the close? How do you know when you’ve built enough comfort?

I think of the sale as being from the moment we first interact to the moment we sign. If they don’t sign, it’s typically because you messed something up. An I wasn’t dotted, or a T wasn’t crossed.

Sometimes, we have people who are too aggressive. What I might do is say, “Hey, Mr. Seller, do you know what most people are doing in this situation?” And then they usually do whatever I ask.

Are you using the proper language patterns, or are you missing something in your presentation or prequalification? Were you unable to establish trust or address an objection?

I think of this tactically, like war. Every phase needs to be done properly—I win every battle—so that at the end, they surrender and sign.

Q: Are you still doing cold calling today?

I’m not as hardcore as I used to be. We have a team, and we’re all making calls. We’re still doing regular prospecting, as I did before.

We’ve done about 52–53 transactions this year (2019) at an average price of about $630,000–640,000.

At this point, I’m making about 50 calls a day. My team is making closer to 200–300 calls a day.

There are so many people I’ve come across while prospecting who I’ve wondered hasn’t met with an agent. There’s always going to be a percentage of people who won’t be ready to move forward until they meet with the right person.

That needs to be your mantra every single day.

Q: How have you implemented video into your sales and follow-up processes?

Whenever we meet anyone—whether it’s through a phone call or door-to-door prospecting efforts—they get a video within 24 hours. Once they’re in our database, we send them one email a week. Two out of the four monthly emails contain a video—whether it’s educational, a testimonial, or a listing.

Everything we’re doing on social media is branded. At the beginning and the end, we say who and where we are. But we also say we can help people worldwide. My network is huge, and I can look in my phone to see who I know. I talk to the client, then send the referral. I get 25 percent of that transaction.

Q: Which routines have driven success for you?

Every day, I spend at least two hours reading or listening to something educational. I don’t think there’s any replacement for reading a paperback book. I like to sit down and read and highlight.

I meditate at least 20–30 minutes a day, typically in the morning. I find myself having less emotional swings, and it keeps me levelheaded.

I went vegan four years ago. It helped me tremendously with my focus, my skin, and my energy. It’s been a blessing for me physically and mentally.

When I was being coached by Mike Ferry, it was $1,000 a month for a 30-minute call a week. But it was worth it. I spend thousands of dollars a year on education. You have to level up with your success.

Action Items:

• Practice the art of making people comfortable. Increase the frequency of your cold calling so that you can become more certain and confident.

Connect with Bryan:

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