Ep 95: How to Empower Your Business by Investing in Real Estate (with Linzee Ciprani)

Linzee Ciprani is a real estate agent, broker, and a business owner, based in Chester County, PA. She’s the founder and CEO of Round Table Real Estate Services, as well as Ciprani Consulting—an organization that recruits and trains employees for businesses across the country.

Today on Stay Paid, Linzee discusses the power of systems and checklists, and explains why she asks all her employees to invest in real estate.

Key Points:

• Systems and checklists are the key to closing more deals.
• It’s important for new agents to set boundaries with clients.
• By investing in real estate, agents can generate wealth and create a better understanding of what they’re selling.

Q: Introduce yourself to our audience.

After college, I jumped from job to job trying to figure out what I wanted to do. A mentor of mine was in title insurance and convinced me to come work in their office. Through that experience, I got to understand real estate from a very different place.

I parted ways with that office, and I went to work for a couple different companies. Then, that mentor came back to me and asked me to run his team of real estate agents. I went to work for him and helped build processes that grew his business.

After having my first child, I realized I wanted to have my own business. I went out on my own in real estate, where people asked if I’d help run their teams. That’s why I started Ciprani Consulting, where I’d hire and train people for those businesses. I began doing this for many of the top teams all over the country.

Q: After you started these businesses, where did your focus go?

The consulting company started to grow really quickly after I closed 16 deals the first year (and doubled that the second year). With the consulting firm, I’d stumbled upon this niche, and I decided to dive into that as much as I could. I called up one of my friends from the consulting company and asked him to take over my real estate business. That was a good partnership. After that, I started fully focusing on Ciprani Consulting.

A year later, the friend who’d taken control of my real estate business got an offer to run a different brokerage. A lot of the team ended up staying with me, and we launched a new brand from scratch (Round Table Real Estate). Within the first year, we closed $20 million in sales.

Q: Could you give some insight into the operational side of what you’ve built?

We learn something new in every transaction. But every time we go under contract, certain steps need to happen. For me, it’s all about creating processes and procedures. Then, if we have a breakdown in communication, we know where it happened.

At the end of the day, if an agent takes the steps that need to be taken, they will trip over business at some point. Those systems are what I live and breathe, and we put them in place for all the teams that we work with.

Q: Which forms of lead generation do you find most successful?

Each year, it’s been a little bit different. When we first launched, we were really heavy into calling FSBOs and expired listings.  We had systems like Vulcan and Mojo that we used to call these leads. These processes are still very present in our business right now, but, in the beginning, they represented about 70 percent of our business.

We also pay for Brivity (CRM). We use Google ads, Facebook ads, and other internet/social media platforms. We also have internet leads based on providing CMAs (comparative market analyses).

We’ve started to really focus on our sphere of influence. We are giving away something of value once a month—for example, cleaning sessions, AirPods, etc. The way for people to enter is to call us. We also offer additional chances to win when callers give us referrals.

Q: Why do you think real estate agents should invest in what they’re selling?

For a long time, I’ve watched agents grind it out. It’s one of those things where you don’t have to work as hard if you start investing and creating wealth. Yes, property management is challenging. But, at the end of the day, we’re creating wealth.

Now that I know how to do this, I’ve become a better agent as well. This has become a huge priority for my teams—both my agents and my consulting team.

Once a month, we meet with our employees and look at an investing goal, a professional goal, a personal goal, as well as a “big hairy” goal. This has become really important to us.

Download a PDF sample of American Lifestyle to stay in touch with past clients.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake you see new agents making?

I think new agents have an issue with not setting boundaries. You teach people how to treat you. If I’m going to answer my phone at 8 or 9 p.m., the client and I should be aware that we might not make as good a decision as we would in the morning. Not everything is an emergency. If multiple offers come in at night, we can talk them over in the morning and make the right choice.

I think it’s also important to work with the right clients. If someone is never going to listen to you, walk away and work with the person who is the right fit.

Q: Which routines have driven success for you?

Implementing processes and procedures has been a big thing for me. I learned that a long time ago, and that’s where I’ve lived ever since. The second thing is that I’m trying to be less of a night owl. If I can wake up in the morning and be fresh, I am going to be so much better.

The third thing is being really vulnerable in my leadership—allowing my team to see when I’m struggling.

When I fail, I’m going to own it, and we’re going to figure out a way forward. This has been one of the biggest changes for me over the past few years. The failures are what have gotten me to where I am today.

Action Items:

• Implement A-Z checklists for every action you have in your business.

Connect with Linzee:

Facebook
Cipraniconsulting.com
Roundtablerealestateservices.com