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

Stay Paid Podcast

Mon Apr 13 2026

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

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.

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)

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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)

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)

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!

Connect with Matthew Ferrara

Newsletter: alwaysinspiring.com
Social: Facebook & Instagram

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

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.

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Transcript

Josh Dyke (0:00)

Foreign,

Luke Acrey (0:05)

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 (0:58)

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

Josh Dyke (1:01)

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 (2:04)

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.

Matthew Ferreira (22:15)

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.

Matthew Ferreira (25:58)

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.

Matthew Ferreira (28:59)

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?