‘Unfiltered’: Want leads? ‘Become obsessed with your database’ 

Editor's note: The Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered podcast explores the people and forces that shape the real estate industry. Check out our top takeaways and this episode from NextHome co-CEOs James Dwiggins and Keith Robinson.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in the Real Estate Insiders podcast belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.

On this episode of Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered, Ryan Young — co-founder and CEO of the lead generation platform Fello — shares how hard work helped him thrive in real estate and explains why keeping CRMs updated can be a hidden key to profitability.

As a former professional chef who made the switch to real estate in his late 20s, Young knows firsthand how difficult it is to build a top-producing team. Identifying the right client messaging strategies is vital to carving out success, but so is simple dedication, he says.

"There is an abundance of opportunities for anyone that's willing to put in the work," Young said. "I applied a lot of that restaurant work ethic, where I was working 14 hours a day, six days a week. I applied that to the real estate industry, and it's just crazy how quickly I started to see traction — even in a really tough market."

The 3 ingredients a new team needs: For those who are thinking about starting a team, Young's advice boils down to three main points. "Work your ass off, lead with revenue, focus on building your own brand — not someone else's," he said.

And practice is key — especially with trickier tasks. "If you just lead generate one hour a day — even if you suck at it — over time, you're eventually just going to get better if you just do it," he said. "Repetition, repetition. Don't overcomplicate this business."

Commitment is key: Launching a team isn't the right move for everyone, Young noted. "I know so many individual agents that are so much more profitable than these big teams because they have no cost of sale, they have no lead expense, they build a great organic referral-based business," he said. 

"So when people are thinking, 'Do I build a team?' You have to be really committed to what building a team operationally actually looks like and what the real opportunity is."

Keep your database current and your message on target: Many CRMs have outdated info, Young said, which means clients aren't necessarily getting timely or relevant information from their agents.

When communicating with clients, "I want to make sure that it's the right message to the right person at the right time," Young explained — and new technology can help. "This is where intelligence becomes really good, because intelligence can, in real time, analyze all those data points and identify what is the right message to James today and to Keith today or tomorrow, and that ultimately you actually find interesting and engaging."

The valuable tool hiding in plain sight: "Start to become obsessed with your database and look at it like an asset," he encouraged, adding that agents should "become extremely intentional with building a quality database."

Because that's how "the profitable businesses, the predictable businesses, will make it through all the volatility and all the changes that we're going through," he said.