The ONE Strategy Every Top Agent Uses (And You're Probably Ignoring It) | Matthew Ferrara

Summary

Stay Paid Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: The ONE Strategy Every Top Agent Uses (And You're Probably Ignoring It)
Host: ReminderMedia (Luke Acrey & Josh Stike)
Guest: Matthew Ferrara
Date: April 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this value-packed episode, real estate industry thought leader Matthew Ferrara joins hosts Luke Acrey and Josh Stike to reveal “the one strategy every top agent uses”—and why so many overlook it. Against a backdrop of continuous industry upheaval (lawsuits, AI disruption, shifting market share), Ferrara shares wisdom from his 35+ years of experience. They discuss focusing on consumer over industry drama, the real story behind industry statistics, the right and wrong ways to use AI, innovation in brokerages, the ethics and realities of private listings, and what really builds enduring business success.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Avoiding the Industry “Doom Scroll”

Timestamp: 02:04–04:42

• Ferrara warns agents not to fixate on the industry’s internal strife, lawsuits, and changes that don’t affect their direct relationship with consumers.
• “Success in this business comes from when we interact with consumers, not amongst ourselves.” (Ferrara, 02:10)
• Internal politics may drain energy and productivity—focus instead on client service.
• “No one ever writes you a thank you note and says: thank you for your lockbox. They don’t care about your tools... they care that you help them buy or sell a home.” (Ferrara, 02:56)

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2. Mental Resilience—Opportunity Amidst Chaos

Timestamp: 04:47–05:31

• Real estate will always face turbulence—be it economic downturns, new technologies, or industry scandals—but top agents find ways to thrive.
• “In the middle of all of that, somebody will be having their best year ever.” (Ferrara, 04:50)
• The choice is between freezing up from negativity or recognizing opportunity regardless of market conditions.

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3. Debunking Industry Data and Defining Success

Timestamp: 06:03–08:11

• Ferrara provides context on alarming stats like “71% of Realtors didn’t close a deal.”
  • Not all Realtors are active salespeople—many have licenses but work in mortgages, admin, etc.
• The core differentiator: top agents list to last.
  • “If you don’t list in this business, you will not last.” (Ferrara, 06:50)
  • Listing agents have control over their destiny; working only with buyers often leads to burnout.

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4. AI in Real Estate: Hype vs. Reality

Timestamp: 09:37–16:01

• Hosts and Ferrara poke fun at the tired adage about AI replacing agents.
• Ferrara’s practical take: AI is a valuable tool, not a replacement for human connection.
  • “Nobody wants to hug a vending machine when they’re buying or selling a home.” (Ferrara, 11:05)
• Effective AI uses:
  • Practice presentations
  • Brainstorming marketing ideas (with agent oversight)
  • Prepping negotiation scenarios
• Ineffective (even harmful) AI uses:
  • Pretending to be in relationship with clients via avatars
  • Fully automating content without review, resulting in generic or obvious AI-generated posts
• Hosts agree: AI should enhance efficiency, not replace authentic human input.
  • “I use AI to help me come up with my post, but I’ll try to tweak how it looks and how it sounds... make it look like it actually [came from me].” (Acree, 15:29)

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5. How Brokerages Are Really Leveraging AI

Timestamp: 17:42–20:02

• Forward-thinking firms use AI to analyze agent performance, tool adoption, and training needs, supplying managers with actionable reports.
• “The companies that are taking this seriously...it’s the behind-the-scenes empowerment of management and leadership...that will really drive growth here.” (Ferrara, 19:22)
• AI’s true power isn’t in the flashy front-end, but deep, data-driven management.

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6. Industry Innovation, Consolidation & Private Listings

Timestamp: 21:34–28:05

• Ferrara clarifies terminology: “exclusive” and “pre-listing” are longstanding, often misunderstood practices; ethical issues arise with “private” or “pocket” listings.
• As the landscape shifts with mergers and exclusivity plays (“real estate’s airline industry moment”), Ferrara urges agents to keep consumer needs central.
• “If you want to know whether private listing networks are in the best interest of the industry, don’t ask the industry. Ask consumers.” (Ferrara, 26:05)
• The golden rule: When sellers become buyers, they’ll want full access to inventory—so operate with transparency.
• Much of the “arms race” in exclusives is actually a recruiting play for company agents; the market will correct when conditions shift.

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7. Abundance Mindset and Lasting Success

Timestamp: 32:04–34:22

• Ferrara’s advice to his younger self: embrace abundance, not fear.
• “The universe and industry is not out to get me...it is more likely someone wants to help you than hinder you.” (Ferrara, 32:10)
• Focus on inspiring and attracting clients, not defeating the competition.
• “I don’t have a zero sum mentality. I don’t need to destroy their business to grow mine.” (Ferrara, 29:03)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Don’t overdose on what I call the industry’s doom scroll. We are so well good, right? [at doomscrolling].” (Ferrara, 02:50)
• “No one ever writes you a thank you note… for your lockbox.” (Ferrara, 02:57)
• “If you don’t list in this business, you will not last.” (Ferrara, 06:50)
• “Nobody wants to hug a vending machine when they’re buying or selling a home.” (Ferrara, 11:05)
• “Ask consumers: when you become a buyer, would you like all the inventory or just some of it?” (Ferrara, 26:13)
• “It is more likely someone wants to help you than hinder you… open yourself up to the possibilities that a rising tide will lift all of the boats.” (Ferrara, 32:13)
• “What’s one thing you can do to surprise and delight your consumer today?” (Acree, 35:41, closing action item)

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Actionable Takeaways (from Luke Acree, 35:41)

• Shift your focus from competitors and industry noise to the hearts and minds of your consumer.
• Surprise and delight your clients today—meaningful, memorable service trumps everything else.
• Top producers take action—don’t just think about these principles, implement them!

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Connect with Matthew Ferrara

• Newsletter: alwaysinspiring.com
• Social: Facebook & Instagram

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Useful Timestamps

• 02:04 – Avoiding industry “doom scroll”
• 06:03 – The “listing to last” strategy
• 09:37 – The real role and value of AI in real estate
• 17:42 – How high-level brokerages are truly leveraging AI
• 21:34 – The rise of exclusivity, private listings, and industry consolidation
• 32:04 – Ferrara’s abundance mindset and philosophy
• 35:41 – Hosts’ actionable wrap-up and closing advice

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For those who missed the episode:
This summary delivers the core lessons—focus on clients, list to last, use AI as an enhancement (not a replacement), keep an abundance mindset, and don’t get distracted by industry drama. Top agents create value and relationships that withstand all market changes.

Transcript

[Josh Dyke]

Foreign,

[Luke Acrey]

Your number one sales and marketing podcast on a mission to help you close more deals, keep more clients, and build the life of freedom you are working towards. That can only happen if you're willing to take action today. My name is Josh Dyke, Chief marketing officer here at Reminder Media, joined as always by Luke Acrey, president of Reminder Media. And our guest today is Matthew Ferreira. Matthew is a renowned thought leader in the real estate industry and strategic consultant with over three decades of experience. He founded a leading technology training and consulting firm and created the industry's foremost technical support call center and online learning portal, impacting brokerages and associations across 49 states and 36 countries. We got to hear what the one state was Matthew here in a little bit. A seasoned keynote speaker and mentor, Matthew combines lessons from business and literature into practical strategies. While his photography work supports various charitable causes. Beth, you're welcome to stay paid. Thanks for being here.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Thanks for having me. Really glad for today's discussion.

[Josh Dyke]

Yeah, man, really excited to have you on the show. He also has a great newsletter, always inspiring dot com. You guys check that out. I got the chance to meet Matthew at the Home Smart conference. We were both speaking there and not only had a phenomenal talk, what was really awesome is after the fact, Daryl and I. So Darrell's our EVP of partnerships and stuff. We got to pick Matthew's brain for had to be an hour and this guy's like the industry whisperer of real estate. So you're in for a real treat. With that being said, Matthew, I'd love to throw you out the first question, which is, you know, you have all this change happening and battles happening in terms of lawsuits and obviously the compass deal with anywhere you have, you know, the industry shifting with AI and everything coming in. What are you telling agents that their focus should be right now in the midst of all this change? Like, where should their North Star be? Or can you even choose a North Star with all the change going on?

[Matthew Ferreira]

That is a great question to start with. It is the number one thing on people's minds right now. So let me tell you how I've been approaching it and, and I've been approaching it this way with agents, I've been approaching it this way with broker owners and even corporate leaders, mlss, you know, realtor executives, franchise executives. Doesn't matter who I'm approaching with. Basically my approach has two pieces. Part number one is this. Let's remember that success in this business comes from when we interact with consumers, not amongst ourselves. So a lot of what's Going on in the business right now is like internal naval gazing, you know, strife and struggle that consumers neither care about nor frankly are paying attention to. So we want to be cautious that we're not filling our day with paying attention to like this, you know, internal politics of our business, if you will, because none of that brings you any money. Okay? You could be right or wrong or bigger or smaller or faster or whatever it is internally to the industry and still be broken. It's irrelevant unless you engage the consumer. And the consumer could care less whether you had a 27 part scheme to do this or that or, you know, no one ever writes you a thank you note and says thank you for your lockbox. It was the most lockable lockbox you ever like. They don't care about your tools, they don't care about your systems. They care about the fact that they're trying to sell a home or buy a home or both, and that you can be the right person to be with them on that mission. Okay? So I tell agents, I tell brokers, I said just be careful. You're not overdosing on internal politics. That don't bring you any profit of any kind. They don't actually help your mindset. They make you grumpy, they make you feel combative to your colleagues that, you know, 70% of homes are co broke in the United States. You're going to have to deal with other brokers and other agents. You better have a positive mindset around that. So that's the first thing I say, is just be careful not to overdose on what I call the industry's doom scroll. We are so well good, right? And we're really good at doom scrolling. So that's number one. And then number two is this. You've got to remember that no matter what happens in this business, you've got this. There's nothing that I've experienced In the past 35 years in this business that we haven't turned into opportunity. Nothing. You name it. Financial meltdowns, recessions, pandemics, portals I buyers, algorithms, murder hornets, you name it, whatever the heck they throw at us.

[Josh Dyke]

Wait, when was the murder Hornets? I don't remember that.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Not only do we have a pandemic, but then they discovered murder hornets in the Northwest or something, so that's so funny. What else can they throw at us, right? Like it's crazy. But here's what I know. Here's what I know, Luke, is that in the middle of all of that, somebody will be having their best year ever. In the middle of all this chaos in the middle of all of these troubles that we call them or strife or whatever it is, someone's going to have their best year ever. Now some people are only going to see the negative and freeze up and do nothing, but others are going to say, you know what, none of this really matters to my ability to do 25 deals, 50 deals, 100 deals, a thousand deals, whatever the number is. Well, we see going to cover you to that point.

[Josh Dyke]

We see like this. It's always been the top 20% does 80% of the business, but now it is literally the top 5% are doing 95% of the business. It feels, and I think the data is proving that out. Why do you think that is? Why do you think that the industry is drifting to where it's like 71% of agents didn't close a deal according to that Inman article or whatever you know, going around the way. What is it that the top teams agents are doing that you're seeing that is closing the market basically?

[Matthew Ferreira]

All right, I'll answer that, but I want to caveat it first. Okay, I will tell you what the top teams, the top agents are doing to stay in control of their destiny. But before I do, I just want to add one caveat, one little caveat at which is when you see These numbers like 71% of realtors did not close a deal last year. You got to back up, you got to take a deep breath because realtors, 1.5 million realtors are not all salespeople. My manager is a realtor, but he doesn't sell. My assistant's a realtor, but she doesn't sell. Mortgage guys and gals are realtors, but they don't sell. So that data is real. It's a real skewed false flag. Okay. That data is meaningless.

[Josh Dyke]

That's good to know.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Okay, so just to be cautious around that. There's lots of realtors, because I'm a realtor and I don't sell homes anymore, right? So I fall into that percentage that don't sell. But I'm, I'm a member of the trade association. So you got to be real, real, real cautious. Okay, but put that caveat aside again. It's just, that's just, that's just candy. That's clickbait candy. But, but if we talk about what do people really do that are keeping them in control of their destiny? It's simple. They listen to the age old wisdom that what I was taught 35 years ago is more true today than ever. They list to last. It's it. If you want to look at everyone who's doing well, no matter what interest rates are doing, no matter what days on market are doing, no matter what's going on with buyer interest or the demographic shift of who's selling, they're listing, if you don't list in this business, you will not last. And I love my buyer agent friends out there, but they're the ones who burn out faster than any listing agent ever. And so if you want to control your destiny, you'll list. And if you want to work with buyers, you can work with buyers. You work with buyers formerly known as your sellers, meaning you sell the seller's home and they go on to buy a house and you help them buy. And that's cool because you got two deals out of one customer. That's the shift. That, that's the shift. It's strategic.

[Josh Dyke]

And you see it with teams too, of like they will be listing centric and then they hire a buyer's agent or a. Or a 10. Exactly. But they are. They are still fundamentally grounded in trying to get the listing. We had an interesting combo the other day. It hasn't released yet with Adam Boxman. He's the only guy that I've ever met that focuses on buyers like a. When I say there's so many agents focused on buyers, but this guy is like preaching. He has figured out how to go and work with buyers and make it a sustainable life. That's really because to your point, people who work with buyers, they get burnt out and it's just. You're all over the place. I actually think the buyer's consultation and getting the agreement signed is helping the industry because it helps you get away with all the non committal people. Okay, so let's shift gears a little bit. Right. Because I just also want to get your take on AI Right. And I don't know how much you're seeing or if you know, started to talk to people of the effects of AI within the industry. You know, the, the doom and gloom is AI is going to replace everything. Right. The, the, the thing that we're all sick of that the broke agent put out the other day, which is if somebody else says to me, the agent that uses AI you know, it's not the AI going to replace you, it's the agent that uses AI like everybody is sick of that trope. Right. It's. Where are you seeing the effects of AI in the business right now? From all the people you're connected with?

[Matthew Ferreira]

Yeah. So let's just talk about that trope for a split second. You know, I'm old enough to remember when we used to say, the agent who uses a pencil will replace the agent who doesn't use a pencil. And then we said the agent who uses a calculator. Financial calculator. And then we said the agent who uses the Internet thingy.

[Josh Dyke]

The funniest thing is that people's reaction to this thing that like, somebody said it at a conference. Now everybody says it and everybody's clapping like it's the most earth shattering thing. Like, what are you even talking about?

[Matthew Ferreira]

Yeah, right. I'm so with you on this. So it's good to be the old man in the room. Here's what I know about AI. It's another tool that the real estate industry is going to adapt and use to delight customers, drive profitability, expand our ability to scale our business. So there should be nothing worrisome about using a tool. Now, what could be worrisome are some of the weird things people are being told to do with the tool. Right. Like, we were never, we never told agents, oh, make a web page and then don't interact with customers. Right. Like, we never said that. We never said to agents, oh, make some marketing, but don't answer your phone. Like, we never said that. But people are being told to do weird things with AI, like make an avatar of yourself so it can pretend to be in relationship with customers and clients.

[Josh Dyke]

Right?

[Matthew Ferreira]

Like, totally bad idea. Nobody wants to hug a vending machine when they're buying or selling a home.

[Josh Dyke]

Right?

[Matthew Ferreira]

Like, totally bad idea.

[Josh Dyke]

Yet depends what the vending machine looks like. That's what Josh is saying, right? Right.

[Matthew Ferreira]

It's just. It's so weird. So what do I think about AI? I think it's a fabulous partner tool, but I want to, I want to share with you again. This is good about being the old man in the room. You know, in the 1970s, IBM used to have a page in its manual, its management and leadership manual that said, if a computer cannot be held responsible, a computer should never be given decisions. And what they meant was, these are tools to empower humans. So how do I use my AI? I use it to role play with me so I can get better at making my presentation. How do I use my AI? I use it to ask me questions so that I can then think of the marketing that I want to write myself. Not to. Not to turn my business over to it and tell it to write my marketing for me. How do I use AI? I say, hey, I've got a challenging negotiation going on right now. Let me upload what I think is going on and spar with me, interact with me, interview me to help me generate ideas so that I can create a win for everybody. That's how I use AI. But I'm not going to turn my business over to an AI. That's just ludicrous. Because not only is that bad business, but more importantly, what's the point? Why are you showing up to build a career?

[Josh Dyke]

Don't you think, though, like, what you should be thinking about, or at least this is the way I'm thinking about it these days, is like, um, it's the workflows in your business. You should be thinking, what is the workflow for essentially everything that I do? And how could I use an agent, an agentic, you know, agent to go and do that thing? Because you mentioned I don't want it to write my marketing where I would push back and go, well, I do want it to write 90%, 98%, and give me different options. I just want to be the approver, the reviewer, the tweaker, if that makes sense, or however you want to want to say that. So that, like, that's the way I think about it. It's like, what do I do? So, case in point would be like, this podcast. It's like we're trying to work on going, take this podcast, give it to the agent. The agent then transcribes it, right? It's transcripted. Then we ask the agent, find us the moments in the podcast that stand out the most, give us three different options, and that saves me all that busy work of what I used to do. And now I can just review the clips, right? I'm still the person that reviews it, but it's doing all the work in essence. Like, I think that's the age we're moving into, if that makes sense.

[Matthew Ferreira]

So I agree with that. Again, with one twist. Everything you mentioned is a great use of AI, a great use of it to edit it, take out the mistakes we make, clean it up, make the sound better, find some clips, make a transcript, even turn that transcript into an ebook. So the people who prefer to read rather than listen, all that's great, but here's what you said and what I think we're in agreement on. We didn't say, hey, do the podcast for us. We didn't say, the bullet points for today's conversation is this. Now simulate the discussion. And that's where I say, if someone wants to use AI to write marketing I say, hey, I'm going to promote this house. Let me tell you about the house. Ask me some questions, and together we'll create a draft, and then I'll take that draft and I'll, as you say, edit it, wrap it up, and go from there. But what I don't say is here's a picture of the house. It's got three bedrooms, two baths, this many. You do it all on this location. You come up with some AI slope, and then I copy and paste it into MLS and I take out.

[Josh Dyke]

And that's definitely happening a lot.

[Matthew Ferreira]

There's a lot of totally happening.

[Josh Dyke]

It is pretty. And the funniest thing is the EM dashes that people still are not attuned to. Like, hey, you know, like. But even, like, I'm seeing now the new one. The new one is like, when you write a social media post, it lays it out in a certain format so you can immediately tell on Facebook right now.

[Luke Acrey]

Or.

[Josh Dyke]

Or, you know, LinkedIn, who didn't write their post, they wrote it by LinkedIn because you can tell. Or, sorry, they wrote it by AI because you can tell it. Tell by the way it lays it out. It lays it out not the way you would probably lay it out because you're not going to do three words and then go to the next line. Three words. Like, it's laying it out in a certain way. And so, like, for me, this full transparency. I'll use AI to help me come up with my post, but I'll try to tweak how it looks and how it sounds like, hey, this doesn't sound. This sounds too, you know, AI, this looks too. I need to make it look like it's actually a really.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Yes. No, you're absolutely right. Listen, you know, AI language models have a certain modality of speaking. They use triads, they use not this, but that. They use all of those kinds of formula. And that's simply because of the way algorithmic predictability systems are created. It's built into the code. Okay? Now, human beings don't talk like that. I don't say, well, Luke, it's not this, but that. And let me give you three reasons. And we just have a conversation, right? I wouldn't hang out with Josh and be like, you know, it's, it's. I wouldn't use a certain cadence of conversation that you can easily detect in these. In these AIs. Now, again, having said that, nothing wrong with using it as a brainstormer. Nothing wrong with using it as a first drafter. Nothing wrong with using it as an idea generator. I mean, I frequently will say to AI, I've just written an article and it's making a certain point, and I would like some practical ideas that correspond to this article philosophically. And then it will generate 10 of them for me, and I'll pick three, and then I'll take those three and I will. I'll Mattify them. I'll turn them into Matt's version of those three. Really good.

[Josh Dyke]

That's perfectly cool because that's how you drive efficiency. Yeah, that's how you drive efficiency, but still keep the human authentic authenticity, I guess, to what you're trying to do. Do you think the leaders in these real estate firms have any idea what's going on with AI? Are you feeling that they are connected? Like you're so connected in the industry. I'm just curious, is like, do you think it's like Congress was with Facebook where you watched it and you're like, like, how do you make money? These people are lo. These people are running our government.

[Luke Acrey]

We run.

[Josh Dyke]

You know what I mean? I'm. I just curious your take. Do you think the real estate industry and the powers that be understand what's happening in AI? Are they kind of lost or like, what's. What's your feel in the industry?

[Matthew Ferreira]

I gotta tell you, I must be blessed because the broker, owners and leaders that I work with are totally locked onto this. Now, granted, this is gonna be like any industry. Some people will be way out in left field and some people be way ahead of it. But the ones I work with are very locked onto this. And I'm just gonna give you a simple example. I'm working with the firm in the Northwest, Pacific Northwest. These guys are so good at this. They have not. They're not interested in whether AI will write marketing or make a TikTok video. Here's what they're doing. They're mining their data for gold. So here's an example. They recently pulled together a massive language model that brings in all of their agents productivity stats, what kind of deals, what price, what profitability, what average brokerage commission rate, everything. And they married it up with what systems and tools in our organization are they using, what training did they go to, what have their trends been like, and are they beating the MLS trends or not? They married all that data up. And then at scale, the AI is generating custom coaching reports for the managers to say, you've got a struggling agent because she doesn't come to any meetings. She's never logged into these 12 products we offer and she hasn't had a listing appointment and has four people in her CRM.

[Josh Dyke]

Yeah. So powerful, right?

[Matthew Ferreira]

It's so cool. This is that, trust me, the, the companies that know what they're doing here and the companies that are taking this seriously. It is not about the front end of where AI is making the best data analysis. It's the behind the scenes empowerment of management and leadership and the talent attraction that is going to really drive growth here.

[Josh Dyke]

It is so interesting because I have found in my journey that I've been impressed with the real estate industry and how fast they are adopting AI and I just, I wonder if that's because historically maybe they haven't been the best and it's a new age and everybody knows it and so they're really running towards it. But I, everybody I meet is start is using it it and so I don't know agent level, but at least

[Luke Acrey]

at the brokerage the barrier to entry is so low.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Yeah, yeah, good point. Right. The barrier to entry is lower than other technologies. Right. Used to be expensive to have to buy other technologies. And then if I could just say so in a kind, gentle way, the people who were asked to adapt to computers 40 years ago and the Internet 20 years ago aren't in the business anymore. We have a different generation of people who are a little more digital first than analog first. So it was really hard to go from carrying the MLS book around to now having global data on my smartphone. That was a big leap for people. But you've got generations now of business leaders who have been on the transition and forefront of digital technology of all kinds. And so when AI comes along, they're like, oh, that's weird, but it's not from outer space, right? So it's been a better adoption curve right now because you've got leaders who have been part of, of that aspect of the transition. Now the funny part is they don't know the old lessons. They know how to deal with the digital stuff, but they don't know about listing the last and they don't know about, you know, how, how and why buyer agency came about, how and why breaking up MLS is a terrible idea. How the federal government sued us in the 1980s FTC cases like, so the new people are really good at AI, but they have no idea how the sausage is made in this business. And so there are other things that they might struggle with.

[Josh Dyke]

Well, it's interesting you say that. I'm curious your take. You know, the word on the street is that through what you know, Compass is doing with, you know, buying anywhere and what they're doing with exclusive listings and all that stuff, they're basically going to be forcing the industry there. You're going to see basically like the airline industry happen is the example people are using, Right. That there's going to be American, United, Delta, there's going to be three big to four big real estate firms. And so the next years we'll see tons of acquisitions and you'll see this rolling up. Is that your take? Is that do you believe what is happening with exclusive listings and stuff is good for the industry or are you opposed to it?

[Matthew Ferreira]

Yeah. So just to clarify and for full disclosure, I have no insight into anyone's corporate strategy. So just to be clear there. Sure. From my perspective, however, let's just be also clear on the difference between exclusive pre listing and private listings. Right. So totally into exclusive listing. It's the best system in the world. One representative per seller. Okay, great. Pre listing, it's a non issue. We've been doing pre listing for 30 years. People have had internal office. We used to send sticky notes around. Okay, that's really not a big game. What I love about what's happening this week on that is that at least the people who are doing some of these pre listing stuff, it's really coming soon and it's open to everybody, no secret handshake required. I'm all into full open access, full transparency. But I will say this, I also strongly believe as an economist, so I got my degree in philosophy and in economics as an economist, consumers deserve all market signals, including how long something's been on the market and how many times it's experienced a price change. And the reason that's important is because otherwise they're not fully informed and their information is asymmetric. If you go to the car dealer and you try to negotiate a car and you don't know that the dealer has a $3,000 rebate coming from the manufacturer, you're asymmetric, you don't have all the data and so you're not getting a fair shake at a fair access to the best deal. So I don't believe in excluding any data from the consumer's mindset. I believe in the consumer and I believe in our value to help guide the consumer. So that's just my personal take. Now go one step further. I am not a fan of private listing networks and that's simply because twofold one, a rising tide lifts all boats and everybody who's saying, well, we're going to Have a secret network today. Let me give you one good recession, okay? When all of a sudden it switches from being a listing seller market to a buyer market, and you will be begging co brokes to bring you buyers to your list listing, okay? The market changes like that. So let's not. Let's not forget that private listings benefit listing agents. But when the listing is sitting on the market for 6, 12, 18 months, and that market can happen at any time, you'll be glad that any buyer's agent brings you an offer.

[Luke Acrey]

Okay?

[Matthew Ferreira]

Like, so let's be careful not to create enemies in a business because it's. It's a cooperative business. They're called co brokes for a reason. They're cooperating broker. So I'm not a fan of. Of balkanizing our business. I'm not a fan. Look, the funny thing is, someone might own you tomorrow. The same company that you're poking in the eye with, your private network may buy you tomorrow. And then what? Like, you know, I don't really like this adversarial mechanism.

[Josh Dyke]

Yeah, I tend to agree with that. It's like, what choice do the brokerages have at this point? It's almost like a snowball effect. And we're just brainstorming here, right. We're just discussing it, but it's like, it's a snowball effect. So Compass, you know, does it. Right. And then, you know, compass basically does it. And then now you go, okay, you got the home smarts of the world, the realty ones of the world that, you know, they're not as big, but they have a lot of market share in certain zones.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Yeah.

[Josh Dyke]

And, you know, are they forced at that moment to. To. To. To do it and create. And now all of a sudden, you literally have created this weird effect right, in the industry. So it's a really complicated issue.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Well, you've created an arms race is what's happened. And here's the danger of the arms race, right? Twofold. Number one, it may destroy mls because even if everyone backs off of this nonsense at some point and just, you know, it becomes less of an issue, you may have damaged MLS rules and processes and technology. And once you break that, it is hard to repair that. Now, some people may. That may be their plan, all the power to them. But something beautiful has happened with MLS in America that the rest of the world looks at and says, we wish we had such a dynamically operating marketplace. So there is that danger. But here's. I'm just going to answer it a little differently here. Ready if you want to know whether private listing networks or not are in the best interest of the industry, don't ask the industry. Ask consumers. And here's how I do it. I just. I'm an. I'm a simple guy. I believe in the golden rule. So I go to a seller And I say, Mr. And Mrs. Seller. Mr. And Mrs. Seller. When you sell your home, you'd like as many people as possible to see it or not. That's up to you. That's your choice. But when you sell your home, what magically is going to happen is that you will cease to be a seller and you will become a buyer. And when you become a buyer, would you like to have access to all of the inventory or just some of it? Would you like to have all of the data or just some of it? In other words, the golden rule. So we don't have to have an arms race in this business. Some people could take a deep breath and say, it may be temporarily disadvantageous for me not to build up my arms in this case, but in the long run, I'm going to serve the consumer. And let's just go back to where we started today. I'm not worried about the competitor. Good luck to the competitor. I wish them well. In the meantime, I'm going to focus on the consumer. And. And I'm going to have them live by the gold rule, the golden rule. And the golden rule for them is they'll say, you know what? Yeah, I want to have full access when I'm a buyer. So I guess I have to treat people the way I want to be treated as well.

[Josh Dyke]

That's so well said. It transcends real estate. It's really business. Any good business?

[Matthew Ferreira]

Yes.

[Josh Dyke]

And we're learning this at Reminder Media. I mean, we're 20, 21 years in, and we're learning this, you know, and focused on it more and more. It's like, okay, all that matters is the consumer that you serve. Winning. And if you keep your eyes there, then all the noise of competitors and changes of technology and stuff like that actually has a place. Because it's just like, okay, what do I need to do to serve my consumer? So if a competitor comes along and they have a better mousetrap to serve the consumer, then you should pay attention and go, can we deliver this mousetrap? Because the consumer is at our heart, not the competitor. And where most people, it's like they think about the competitor, they think about all the noise, and they don't stay focused. And the thing that will you'll never lose. If you serve the consumer the best, you always have a job.

[Matthew Ferreira]

You know, let me just. Yeah, let me just add a couple of thoughts that I really, really agree with you there. First of all, there are other people who do what I do in the business, and I don't make any decisions to try and crush or defeat them. All I do is make decisions to attract and delight my customers and clients. In other words, I don't have a zero sum mentality. I don't need to destroy their business in order to grow my business. And you the same thing in your business. There's other people who do what your organization do or ancillary to it, and you can grow and they can grow. And there's plenty left over that neither of you have in that case. So that's just my philosophy. But let's just go one step beyond that and remind ourselves that, you know, as you're competing, as you're designing your, your strategy going forward, what you want to create is something that creates the law of attraction that that brings. People start to say it and they say, is this the kind of person I want to be around? Is this the kind of organization that has my best interests at heart? So. So it's not just the operational or the financial aspect that matters. Now here's something that no one's talking about. I don't know if this is an angle that makes a lot of sense to many people, but to me it does. A lot of this actually has nothing to do with the consumer. A lot of all of this arms race right now is a recruiting play. Okay. I'm old enough to remember before we had open MLS systems when people would say, hey, I've got a lot of inventory, but if you want to see it, you've got to be a member of my company. Because we didn't even have fax machines back then. We didn't have MLS systems back then. So if you want to browse my MLS books, you have to come into my office and you got to work for me. It's just a recruiting play. Is all this really is just enhanced by technology at this point. And so a lot of what's going on is to say, well, we've got the most inventory. If you're a buyer's agent. Agent, how are you going to do a cma? How are you going to help people structure offers if the data is not available?

[Josh Dyke]

Yes.

[Luke Acrey]

Not available.

[Josh Dyke]

Yeah.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Right. So you're either gonna have to join the company, so you're gonna have to recruit yourself over there or you're out of business. So again, it is a viable business strategy. I'm not saying that this is not possible. I'm just saying it's 1975 again, for some reason. And I think we've grown beyond that. And I also think that one good recession flips this who on its head, and we will look Pennywise and pound foolish.

[Josh Dyke]

Yeah, man. So interesting. Yeah. I feel like I could talk to you literally forever. Then you are like the industry whisperer. So I'm just curious for your own career, right? And you know, as we wrap up is you've been in this industry a really long time. You have, you know, are connected to so many people. When you look back at your life and look back at yourself and you go, okay, what advice would you give young Matthew, you know, that college age student? What would you tell them to focus on be successful? What advice would you give?

[Matthew Ferreira]

Well, I think the most important advice I would give myself is to remember that the universe and the industry is not out to get me. It's not out against me. In fact, everything I've accomplished in this business has been because someone has reached out a hand to help me. Every one of my clients, contacts, colleagues, people who have called me up and said, said, hey, Matt, you know, I think you're getting a little out over your skis and some of your opinions, could I help you with that? And they've dialed me back when I got a little head full of steam. Or they've said, hey, Matt, there's an opportunity that I think would be great for you. Go get it. And it didn't matter if they were also going after it as well. So what I would remind myself is this. We are blessed to be in a business, an industry in which it is more likely someone wants to help you than hinder you. So stop thinking of everything as a danger or a warning or a negativity and open yourself up to the possibilities that this rise, a rising tide, will lift all of the boats, and that it's more likely that you will be successful than you will be prevented from being successful if you start from a. An attitude of abundance first. It's why my newsletter is called Always Inspiring. Because my, my mental hashtag, I don't make a hashtag for Internet purposes, but my mental hashtag is to be always inspiring. Wake up every day and not be concerned about defeating or cornering or destroying, but instead to be inspiring. And that serves me well, I'll tell you. I kind of hate to say this on a on a podcast about such an awesome marketing company, But I don't even have a logo. I do hardly any marketing. I probably should do more marketing.

[Josh Dyke]

We're gonna help you with that, bro. Come on.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Right, but broadly speaking, how is it that for 35 years I've worked in 49 states and 36 countries by just showing up and trying to do my bit and make a great living at it, but to do so in a way that other people say, boy, I'd like to help you do more of that. And that, to me, is what I would remind myself as a young person in this business.

[Josh Dyke]

So well said, man. That's the dream. That's the dream. A business by design. A business that actually, at the end of the day, you feel good about. Like you feel good about. Because the story is all too common that people chase this success and the number and they get it and they caught the car and they find out it's not the car, they actually want it. And that happens far too often in this industry, in many, many industries. So, well, well said, man.

[Luke Acrey]

Awesome. Matthew, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. Obviously, they can check out your newsletter alwaysinspiring.com anywhere else you would like them to follow you or get in touch much.

[Matthew Ferreira]

Well, I'm real easy to find on Facebook and Instagram if you like, so, you know, check me out there. But if you just grab my newsletter and connect with me there, I'd be thrilled because it's just my opportunity to inspire people a little bit every week and to. And keep living my dream.

[Josh Dyke]

Awesome.

[Luke Acrey]

Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you all so much for listening. You can get the show notes for this episode as well as the links that we mentioned [e-mail] if you enjoyed this episode and want to show your support, go to YouTube.com reminder media. Make sure you're subscribed to the channel. Give this episode a thumbs up there on YouTube and if the best way to show your support is simply share this episode with somebody that you know to get hold of me or Luke, you can email us podcast remindermedia.com and of course you can follow us on social. We are at Stay Paid podcast for this episode of Stay Paid. I'm Josh Tyke.

[Josh Dyke]

Guys, I'm Luke Acrey. Matt, thank you so much for coming on the show, man. We'll have to have you back. Really love picking your brain. You're full of wisdom and knowledge. My action item for everybody listening to this, right? I love the focus that Matt gave us, which is get your eyes off the competition, get your eyes off the industry, and get your eyes on the consumer. And then I love what he said about, hey, how do you surprise and delight your consumer today? It's like, what's one thing you can do to surprise and delight them? Because it doesn't matter what the industry is doing or the, you know, competitors are doing, it matters what's happening in the hearts and minds of your consumers. And most of us are not focused there enough. So my challenge to you is to focus on surprising and delighting your consumer today. Difference between a top producer and a mediocre producer in every industry is top producers. Take action. Take action on that today. Sam.