Unlocking Secrets to Off-Market Deals and High-End Clients

Summary

Stay Paid Podcast: Unlocking Secrets to Off-Market Deals and High-End Clients

Hosted by ReminderMedia | Release Date: January 6, 2025

---

1. Introduction and Guest Background

In this episode of the Stay Paid Podcast, hosts Luke Acree and Joshua Stike welcome returning guest Frank Isolde, a distinguished luxury real estate agent from New Jersey. Frank boasts an impressive array of accolades, including being named in Real Trends America's Best Real Estate Agents, securing the New Jersey Association of Realtors Circle of Excellence Sales Awards for 20 consecutive years, and earning a coveted spot in the Global Bankers International Society of Excellence—a recognition reserved for the top 1% of Coldwell Banker agents globally ([00:29] - [01:46]).

2. Consistent Lead Generation and Marketing Strategies

Frank attributes his sustained success to relentless consistency and strategic positioning within the luxury market. He emphasizes the importance of being present in the right circles, such as joining a country club to connect with affluent clients. Frank shares, “If it didn't work, I wouldn't keep doing it” ([01:41]), highlighting his commitment to proven methods. His partnership with Coldwell Banker has been pivotal, utilizing their top-tier luxury program to maintain a strong presence in the high-end real estate sector ([04:42]).

3. Off-Market Deals and Relationship Building

Addressing the scarcity of upper-end inventory in New Jersey, Frank discusses his strategy of focusing on off-market deals. By leveraging his deep local knowledge and extensive network, he successfully matches buyers with sellers discreetly. Frank recounts a recent instance where he sold a neighbor’s property within two days by being proactive and connected within his community ([04:42] - [06:07]). He underscores the significance of trust and privacy in handling high-value transactions, stating, “Trust, it's a small town... We try to conduct an extremely ethical business” ([04:27]).

4. Database Management and Referrals

Frank maintains a meticulously managed database of 200 to 300 core clients, ensuring regular and meaningful engagement. He credits Coldwell Banker’s luxury program and the support of his marketing team, including his VP of Marketing from Aston Martin, for sustaining this high level of client interaction ([04:42] - [05:55]). Stephen Acrey adds that Frank’s approach demonstrates the importance of depth over breadth in relationship building, advocating for a focused database to maximize referrals and repeat business ([08:24] - [09:00]).

5. The Future of Real Estate and Technology

Frank addresses the evolving landscape of real estate, particularly the integration of AI and the consolidation within the industry, such as Compass’s acquisition of App Properties and Christie’s International. He remains optimistic, believing that while technology like AI will augment realtors’ capabilities, it won’t replace the invaluable human element of trust and relationship-building. Frank advises embracing technological tools to enhance efficiency while maintaining personal connections ([20:03] - [21:53]).

6. Trust and Deep Relationships

A recurring theme is the paramount importance of trust in real estate. Frank illustrates how his consistent and genuine interactions, from personalized greetings to community events like his annual tree lighting, foster deep relationships. Luke Acree echoes this sentiment, emphasizing that trust is built through regular, value-driven touchpoints rather than mere information dissemination. As Frank puts it, “You gotta spend money to make money” when it comes to high-quality marketing materials that resonate with clients ([21:11] - [25:29]).

7. Advice and Key Takeaways

Reflecting on his extensive career, Frank shares two pivotal lessons:

1. Hire an Exceptional Assistant: Frank credits his success to having a reliable assistant, stating, “Without her I'd be nothing” ([26:57]).
2. Enter the Upper End Market Sooner: He advises new agents to target higher-end properties earlier in their careers to maximize earnings and establish a strong market presence ([26:35]).

Luke Acree concludes the episode by urging listeners to build and nurture their databases diligently, reminding them that deep, meaningful relationships are the cornerstone of long-term success in real estate.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Frank Isolde ([01:41]): “If it didn't work, I wouldn't keep doing it.”
• Frank Isolde ([04:27]): “Trust, it's a small town... We try to conduct an extremely ethical business.”
• Frank Isolde ([21:11]): “You gotta spend money to make money.”
• Frank Isolde ([26:57]): “Without her I'd be nothing.”

---

Connect with Frank Isolde:

• Instagram: @frank.d.isolde
• Phone: [phone]

Stay Paid Podcast:

• Website: staypaidpodcast.com
• Email: [e-mail]
• Instagram: @staypaidpodcast

---

Key Takeaways:

• Consistency is King: Regular engagement and presence in the right circles are crucial for sustained success.
• Deep Relationships Over Broad Outreach: Focusing on a curated database of clients fosters trust and maximizes referral potential.
• Embrace Technology, Maintain Trust: Leveraging AI and advanced tools can enhance efficiency without replacing the essential human connections.
• Invest in Quality Marketing: High-quality, personalized marketing materials can significantly impact client engagement and lead generation.

---

By following Frank Isolde’s proven strategies and embracing a relationship-centric approach, agents and entrepreneurs can unlock growth and create a life of freedom in the competitive luxury real estate market.

Transcript

[Luke Acree]

Welcome to the Stay Paid podcast where we help agents and entrepreneurs master the latest business trends to unlock growth and create a life of freedom. Brought to you by Reminder Media.

[Joshua Stike]

Welcome to Stay Paid. I'm Joshua Stike.

[Luke Acree]

And I'm Luke Acree.

[Joshua Stike]

And before we bring on our panel of guests today, we'd love you to take a minute to subscribe to Stay Paid on Apple Podcast or Spotify. While you're there, drop us a review. We'll read it here on the show. Joining us this week from Lynchburg, Virginia, the number one real estate team in Lynchburg, Virginia, Stephen Acrey. Welcome, Stephen.

[Stephen Acrey]

Glad to be back again.

[Joshua Stike]

And rejoining returning to the pod is Frank Isolde. Frank is a luxury real estate agent in New Jersey where he has piled up a plethora of prestigious awards, including being named Real Trends America's best real estate agents, receiving the New Jersey association of Realtors Circle of Excellence Sales Awards 20 years running, if I read that right, and is a member of Global Bankers International Society of Excellence, an award given to less than the top 1% of Coldwell Banker agents internationally. That's just scratching the surface. So, wow, Frank, welcome back.

[Frank Isolde]

Glad to be here.

[Luke Acree]

This is exciting now, Frank, man, I'm super excited to have you back. You know, we've been connected. You've been a client of ours for many, many years, but you are just a, I mean, beast in the industry of your production. And really, you can tell how good somebody is by the, how long they can do something and how well they do it over long periods of time. It's like, what do people say about success and showing up doing what you don't want to do, the highest levels for long periods of time. And you are really an example of that because you've been with us for years. I think you first started our magazine back in 2006.

[Frank Isolde]

That sounds about right. Yeah.

[Luke Acree]

Which is just wild to me.

[Joshua Stike]

Maybe there's a correlation between all those awards.

[Frank Isolde]

100%. If it didn't work, I wouldn't keep doing it.

[Luke Acree]

Exactly. But really want to pick your brain on this podcast we were talking before you came on, you're always in between like 30 and 50 sales a year. But it's. I call it luxury. Maybe it's not considered luxury in New Jersey, but you're around a million and a half in average sale price, which is just unreal. Like, it's just phenomenal. The volume you're doing, the consistency you're doing it at. Can you speak a little to how, where is your business coming from? How Are you getting that consistent consistency from a lead flow? How do you think about it that way? And then we'll dive into some luxury marketing tactics.

[Frank Isolde]

So just like anything in business, you know, it didn't happen overnight. Certainly didn't grow up in a wealthy family. You know, my father was a fireman. My mom owned her own business. We weren't hanging around country clubs and meeting those type of people. So it took a long time, you know, to get my reputation going and then breaking into that market and, you know, part of breaking into that level is you need to be around those people. So, you know, I did join a country club. I don't play golf, but I needed to be seen there. I needed to, you know, they want to work with people that they feel are similar to them. So little by little, I got myself kind of in that circle. And then the other thing is, you know, it's trust, it's privacy. You know, money talks, wealth whispers. Like they don't want people running around talking about their business, why they're selling. You know, sometimes it's a happy reason, sometimes it's not. So that level of, you know, being very discreet is super important. And we were talking earlier, you know, New Jersey has a major inventory problem, including our upper end. You know, 3 million plus is very light, and we have a ton of buyers trying to get into that price point. So we did a ton of off market deals this year. And it kind of was like, all right, these guys aren't going to move unless they have a place to go. I have a buyer for their house for sure. I got to find them a place first. So it was like just putting the puzzle pieces together all year. I feel like we were doing that, figuring out how do we get these guys a house so that I could free up this listing at three and a half or four million dollars, because I know that the buyers are out there. And then like I said, it just becomes trust, you know, people. It's a small town, you know, we only have 30,000 residents here. I was born and raised here. My father was born and raised here. We try to conduct an extremely ethical business. And, and like I said, I'm just very discreet.

[Luke Acree]

I really, I didn't realize the town was that small that you're in. That's even more impressive. How big is your database of clients that you would consider? Like, these are core relationships. How big is that?

[Frank Isolde]

So if we just focus on like the luxury. Yeah, I have 200 to 200 to 300 that I hit on a regular basis. So I have to say, and I got to give shout out to Caldwell Banker. I mean, I feel like I have an advantage because Caldwell Banker's luxury program is, bar none, in my opinion, the best out there. Michael Altnew, who runs our global luxury division, puts out a report that we all customize, customize and I send to these 200 people. It's by far, I feel, the best in the business. And then the commitment now has gone even further. You know, we just hired Brandon Newman, who is the VP of marketing, who came from Aston Martin. Before that he was with Mercedes, with Mercedes Benz. So, you know, there is a huge push for maintaining our presence in the luxury market at callbanker. So I feel a little bit blessed to have that support. But beyond that, you know, and I've heard you guys talk about this all the time. It's consistency, it's getting up, it's doing the job. You know, some days you don't want to do it, but you gotta keep the grind going. And for us right now, with so few transactions, you know, it's even harder. You know, there's less out there.

[Stephen Acrey]

I'm curious, how do you approach the. Because we do the off market deals as well and that tends to generate a lot of activity with our clients. How do you approach like off the market deals?

[Frank Isolde]

So, you know, this is ironic. So I was at a restaurant, one of my neighbors in like leaving, they're sitting at the bar, I'm leaving. And they just said to me, you know, Frank, we don't want to put our house on the market for various reasons. If you have somebody in this XYZ range, you know, let me know the next day. I showed it like three times and sold it like in two days because I, you know, it's my neighbor's house, I know the neighborhood and you know, so it's kind of a lot of, it's, it's being out there. Like you got to be seen, you got to be around people. I'm constantly eating dinner downtown. You know, my mom died from breast cancer, so I'm on the vice president of breast cancer Foundation. You meet a ton of the other. That's, that's another way, you know, you could donate time to a charity that you feel passionate about and meet a lot of really wealthy people. But you know, it also can't be fake. Like you can't be joining these organizations just to meet people because they'll see right through that. But if you have a passion, you know, autism, whatever it is, get involved in a charity and you'll be shocked how many connections you'll make. And then referrals, you know, refer people out to attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, sports attorneys. You know, there's so many different ways you can make engagement with people that will refer business back to you as long as they trust you. And you know, I think that's the key.

[Luke Acree]

That is a massive golden nugget I don't want people to miss is I have found that the people who get the most referrals are the ones who are referring the most. And it's API metric. I don't think we track most of the time in our business of going, how many people did I refer to somebody this year? Like if you looked at your business, you know, Stephen Acrey brothers and okay, how many did we send to the local attorney that we trust or to our, you know, home security company or whatever it is and not play like an affiliate's play, even though you could do that too. But more of just like, no, I'm just trying to give them business. And that will the, the rule of reciprocity, which we all understand will trigger in such a massive way more than anything else you can do.

[Stephen Acrey]

Yeah, go ahead, go ahead.

[Frank Isolde]

No, no, go ahead.

[Stephen Acrey]

I was just going to say how like often. So it's so interesting to see all of the avenues of like value proposition. It's hard to navigate how it's actually transacting, you know what I mean? So you look at like how many off the market deals are you doing and then how many times are you touching these people with those value propositions of giving out the referral to the accountant, the tax professional and so on and so forth. Because I mean, 30 deals is massive. Also, 1.5 million average is crazy.

[Frank Isolde]

Well, so that's also, you know, most of my touch points with these people aren't even talking about real estate or asking them if they're moving. It's more like, you know, get the local paper, you see that their kid is athlete of the week, just shoot them a quick text. Oh my God. You know, I can't believe, I can't believe Brandon is now a senior in high school. What a great accomplishment, you know, little things like that. This past weekend, every Saturday after Thanksgiving, we have a tree lighting. We have a huge tree in our backyard. We have it professionally lit. We had 300 and something people here, clients, friends, family. We hire a Santa Claus. We have a professional photographer. They have now their card pictures for their Christmas cards. That event is just growing and growing and growing. But I Was able. This is the other thing. It's not even just referring. It's connecting. So I invited specific people that I wanted to connect this party, you know, clients of mine that I know will refer other business to me. You know, you get them all together in a fun atmosphere like that. No real estate whatsoever. That's how I think. You just keep it going.

[Stephen Acrey]

And this is an event you put on or is this something just in your community?

[Frank Isolde]

Oh, no, this is our backyard. Okay.

[Stephen Acrey]

Wow.

[Frank Isolde]

It's crazy. It's getting out of control, but I mean, it's so much fun.

[Luke Acree]

Do you ever get any of your, like, title or lenders or anything like that to chip in? I know some people do that strategy. I don't know if you do it.

[Frank Isolde]

This really started out as a family thing. Like, this was for our family and friends. And then, you know, it just kept growing and growing. And, you know, we have to. We invite all the neighbors because there's literally hundreds of cars parked up and down these streets, which is another great touch point for the neighborhood. You know, if you're not the agent in your street or neighborhood that you got a problem. So, you know, I don't know, it's just taken over. But it has nothing to do with business. Yeah.

[Luke Acree]

To be honest with you, because it's so authentic. I mean, it's. It's literally a family event where you're treating your clients like family. It's kind of like you guys holiday party.

[Frank Isolde]

Steve Y.

[Luke Acree]

That you guys have done many years. I know this year you're renting out an ice skating rink and stuff like that, but it's. It's similar to that. I'm curious, diving in a little deeper on, like, the marketing side for luxury, because I've always wondered this myself. Do you find, like, you have to obsess more over quality and, like, design? Like, how do you think about brand representation? Are you even focused on that from what you're putting out there? How do you think about it from that?

[Frank Isolde]

Yeah. So we want to be really consistent, you know, with all of our advertising. So we have, you know, the Isolde collection, blue logo for general, black logo for global luxury. And then that kind of continues throughout anything we do. Caldwell Banker has this amazing program. So you're just listed, just sold. Cards are actually trifold, and they go in a silver envelope that's handwritten. That looks like it's handwritten. So it's not just a postcard. I get so much, so many calls on those cards, because they really are, bar none, you Know, I have never seen another company send anything out like it.

[Luke Acree]

Yeah. So you're saying it is a trifold mailer that is showcasing the. The listing you just sold or put on the market. And there's a handwritten piece, like a note that you put in there?

[Frank Isolde]

Oh, no, no, no, no. The envelope.

[Luke Acree]

Okay. So it's literally. Is it stamp too? Is it a stamp or.

[Frank Isolde]

Yes.

[Luke Acree]

Wow. Okay. Yeah. I wonder how they're pulling that off in mass. The stamp. I wonder if they have people, a little robot putting the stamps on or if they have people doing that. The reason why I'm curious is we've looked in like, we're very. In our product roadmap. We know we have to get to handwritten notes and in essence, that.

[Stephen Acrey]

Right.

[Luke Acree]

The handwritten envelopes and stuff like that, because it is so powerful. It's the one piece of mail you will always open is. Is a envelope with a stamp and, you know, handwritten address and stuff like that. So I love hearing that. So you're getting a ton of calls off of that mailer that's going off.

[Frank Isolde]

Yeah. So keep in mind those go to that same 2 to 300 group constantly. So every time I list or sell a house, they get one of those silver envelopes. It's become like a joke now. Some of them are like, up. We got another, you know, Frank sold another house because they see another silver envelope. Because it's an expensive program and. And not everybody will do it. But that comes back to, you gotta, you know, if you want to work in that level of the market, you got to spend money like, you got to spend money to make money. You know, I still do a ton of print ad. I obviously strongly believe in your product. And I think I told you last time how I pivoted with that product. I actually bring it to a very high end car wash and it sits there when the people check out and they grab it and it's been, it's. I mean, they go in like three days, they're gone. They keep calling me like, we need more, we need more, we need more. So it works incredible.

[Luke Acree]

Yeah, I love that. So I'm like, how much does that card envelope cost you to send out? Like, what's one. Is it like three bucks an envelope? Four bucks? And what is it that.

[Frank Isolde]

You know, this is gonna sound really embarrassing. My assistant handles all that. I have no idea. Couldn't even tell you. She has my credit card. She just takes care of it all.

[Stephen Acrey]

Okay.

[Luke Acree]

What. What's her name? We got to call her up next.

[Frank Isolde]

Yeah, have her. Have her on the show. She could probably give you a lot more info.

[Luke Acree]

But you're hitting to make sure I understand the strategy, because this is what I was talking, I think, to you about. And Cody, Stephen, the other day is going. A lot of people use their just listed, just solds to hit their database, like their core relationships, because it's a trust builder where a lot of times you think of just listed, just sold as hitting that neighborhood that's close, which you can do as well. But I'm hearing more and more people using it as a database touch just because it showcases your active, which builds credibility.

[Frank Isolde]

Well, people want to work with somebody that's successful. Right. So we have it broken down to two things. So, you know, if it's a $500,000 house, we'll just circle the neighborhood, you know, just because we want to get our name out. But anything, I'd say a million plus goes to the neighborhood. And then my list. Now most of them are in the neighborhood anyway, because our town's not that big. But we make sure that those two to 300 people are hearing from us hopefully every week, every other week at some point with some kind of touch.

[Luke Acree]

Yeah, I love that. What will your volume be in overall sales.

[Frank Isolde]

This year is probably going to be down a little bit. For me, my goal is always to be 100 plus. I don't think I'll hit that this year just because the level of volume was down. My. The good thing for me, my average sale price went up, so it's kind of going to offset it, but I don't think I'll hit my goal.

[Luke Acree]

So you're saying your goal is always 100 million in volume plus.

[Frank Isolde]

Yeah, yeah.

[Luke Acree]

Get out of here. That's unbelievable. And just I don't want people to miss. Listen to what he. He said. Rewind it. He's trying to be in front of his people, like every two weeks. Every week, every two weeks, he's trying to be in front of his people. So many people, I talk to people all the time, and they don't realize how often you've got to be in front of people. Like, you're going downtown to eat, to get out in front of them. You're shooting them a message by the local paper, seeing their kid was athlete of the week or whatever. You're sending this mailer out that's going and hitting all your database. You have our magazine going. It's like when you start adding this Christmas event you're doing and the invites you start adding up all these touches. You go, oh my gosh, you're in front of these people every week. It's a true relationship. And, and I think the big myth and I've been trying to scream this over the last two years to people. Maybe that's why it's not resonating. I'm screaming. I need to whisper. Yeah, I need a whisper.

[Frank Isolde]

There you go.

[Luke Acree]

The thing is, it's like you think of your closest relationships, your wife, your husband, your, your significant other, the people that are closest to you. How often are you in touch with them the most? And as you go down in touches with people, you go down and probably relationship. It's like your acquaintances get barely any interaction from you and that's why it's a weaker relationship. But yet we don't translate that to our marketing. We think about it more as just like a one blast a month thing. And that's why people don't realize their marketing is failing because they don't see it as this holistic, like how often can I be in front of these people? As many times as possible with value and then non real estate driven stuff.

[Frank Isolde]

I think the other thing to that point though also is they don't give it enough time. You know, they send out your magazine for a year and say, oh, I didn't get any listings from the magazine, I'm done. I'm not spending that kind of money. To your point, I don't. We've been together now for 19 years, you know, 18 years. It takes time for that stuff to build, you know, and if, you know, if you're not listing and selling 20, 30, 40 plus homes a year, you're not sending out as many just listed, just sold cards. You've got to figure out another way to touch these people. You know, I'm lucky because I constantly have listings selling and you know, coming on the market. So that's an easy touch point. I don't have to think about that. If you don't have that, then you come up with something else, you know, figure it out. But you can't, you know, say I'm going to throw 500 at a marketing, you know, idea and expect, you know, two listings and three sales from it, you know, year one, you know, you got to be in for the long haul.

[Luke Acree]

Yeah, you can. It's funny, it's. We, we say that to people all the time. But I don't know if it's a belief problem for agents like where the mental. Because all the top producers, it's like don't take my word for it. Listen to Frank, like this guy's top produce for 20 plus years. Listen to Steven, listen. Like these are top. They're telling you like if you don't use reminder media, that's fine, but whatever you choose to do, at least stick to it because the plan that works is the plan you work. And so few people, I mean the failure rate is still just as high, which is a travesty really in the industry. It's still just as high of people failing out of the industry because they, they don't apply these things of consistency. And you got to spend money to make money and you got to work the plan that you've planned. I'm curious if you put on your futuristic hat, like in looking at all the industry, I don't know if you saw the news. Compass just acquired App properties and Christie's International, I think it was. So there, you know, there's a lot of roll up happening in the industry or continuing to happening. And then you look at the marketing side, you have Zillow buying follow up boss and you have kvcore buying Boont. I mean you just have all this huge roll up happening, the commissions changing and buyer's consultation. Like does the future make you nervous of real estate? How are you viewing it? How do you keep your head on straight to just keep trucking through? What are you thinking about? The future?

[Frank Isolde]

Yeah, it's, it's twofold actually. Part of it is, you know, just keep doing what you're doing, right. You know, what works, works. And then you do have to pivot, you know, when, when market changes. You know, listen, I've been doing this for 30 something years now. You know, I've been through a lot of ups and downs. I went through 9, 11, where I didn't think anybody was going to want to live near New York City. We're, you know, we're commutable to New York and New York bounce back, you know, hotter than ever. So, you know, you got to ride the wave sometimes and sometimes it's a lean year and sometimes it's a boom year. But I think on the luxury side, you know, I will stand behind call banker's program all day long. I totally get the move for Compass buying. You know, taking Christie's, it's actually a very, in my opinion, a very smart move for them. We're in a little bit of a bubble because we have the lion's share of the market here. So, you know, Christie's is a Christie's encompass. Both Are non entities here. So very little impact to me. But yeah, I think it's going to think it's going to send some waves across the country. In market markets you can't ever be.

[Stephen Acrey]

Like I can't ever beat 200 people in the database that you've been working on for 20 years, right. Where you know every single one of them, you know their houses inside and out, where you can make a connection on an off the market deal. As I just look at that and I'm like, it's actually the thing is it's going to hurt the bottom 80%, it's going to help the top 20%. So we always folks were like, man, if you're just all you have to do is get to the top 20% because why you have the inventory, which means you have more touches to your database, which means you're the educational piece right towards them where you're the trusted advisor in the real estate industry and you just can't. I can't ever see AI technology beating that out.

[Frank Isolde]

Right.

[Stephen Acrey]

It's going to hurt the bottom 80%. Why? Because they don't have any inventory. Right. And so there's not a big enough value proposition but that the value proposition that you gave on just off the market deals and having 200 people, 300 people in your database where you know them is too good.

[Frank Isolde]

So, so I was actually at a conference and there was a great comment about AI and the woman said AI is never going to put the realtor out of business. The realtors that embrace AI are going to put the realtors that don't use AI out of business. And it's so true. Like you got to get on the wagon. I mean, you know, it's here but it's, it's not going to replace us, but it's going to be a tool for us that is going to make our lives so much easier and better in the long run. But and then getting back to that 2 to 300 database, you know, for our young agent or a new agent trying to break into a market, pick a number that you can afford, maybe it's 50, maybe you start at 50 and work your way up to 100, then 200. Because back to that point, if you can't touch them, I mean at least once a month more hopefully if you can't afford to send that mailing out, then you've wasted good money.

[Luke Acree]

Agree two little touch points is the death of agents is they spend their money on too many people, they go too wide and they don't realize this is a deep business, meaning you have to have relationships with people. But it's so hard to think that 100 people or 200 people can make you a living because you just get fear mentality that I'm not touching enough people. I got to go to the grocery store and scream at the anonymous public. And that's essentially what we do with Allegian is we spend all this money trying to scream at the anonymous public when it's like, no, no, no, no, no. It's about going deep with people. But that requires such discipline and confidence that I believe that these 200 people will know like and trust me. And they will know six degrees of separation that they will convince to know like and trust me. And if you do start doing that math, you have thousands of people you're actually in front of. Well, and, and the key word, I don't know what you guys feel about this. I look at the future and go, you know, technology will shift like it always does, but the thing that won't change is trust. That people want to go. Like, the biggest fear for me as a consumer when buying property is the same fear I have when buying a car or anything else is that I bought the wrong thing, that I got a lemon, that I made a mistake that I didn't realize, I didn't realize I should have checked the foundation or I didn't realize that the H vac system was going to cost me 15k, 20k. Like that is the. When you go to buy something, you're fearful that you bought the wrong thing, that there's something better out there and that comes down to trust. So how are you becoming the agent of trust? And most people don't realize that trust is not purely built from info. And so you can info people all day long, but tying it back, Frank, to the touch points that you're doing, they're not really that info based. Like you have that great global luxury report or whatever it is that you're doing from Coldwell Banker. But a lot of it is just relationship based that it's almost like you could frame it as value based. That Frank I trust because he has similar ethics, he has similar ways of thinking like, of like who he is as a person, how he treats people, how he treats me, how he follows up with me. That almost builds more trust for me than your knowledge on the market. Even though you need both.

[Frank Isolde]

100%.

[Stephen Acrey]

Yeah. The newer agent. It's funny, all the questions that I get when we're in like script practice and you Know we're doing our sales meeting is always, how do I get this person to move when they're telling me they don't want to move? That's basically what I hear is like, you know, it keeps coming up. And I'm like, you don't get people to move when their motivation is not to move. You need more people in your database. And so like as I look at Frank, I'm like, that's it. He's got 300 people in his database. He doesn't need to be commission breath. Therefore when he's not commission breath, he's actually providing value. When you provide the value, you get repeat and referral business. And then it compounds from there. We have a saying here. It's like, don't be year focused, be career focused. And that's exactly what Frank is doing. It's like you have to build up the database to where you can actually provide the value. Stop trying to get people to move when their motivation isn't there. Put them in your database for when you know the future. When they're ready to move, when their motivation is high, you can actually help them out.

[Frank Isolde]

That makes total sense, Frank.

[Luke Acree]

Okay, I gotta, I gotta ask you this question because I think we asked it last time and I want to see your answer. The knowing what you know now, 30 years in, what would you go back and tell Frank, the younger Frank, you know, advice or things that you would be aware of differently, what advice would you give them?

[Frank Isolde]

And I wish I remembered my answer, but I think that the two things that I would have, should have done earlier was hire an amazing assistant. I mean, I have Holly as my assistant. Without her I'd be nothing. And I've been so fortunate over the 30 years. I've had incredible assistants all along the road. And I know people are always afraid of the expenditure and like me, of giving giving away control a lot of the transaction. She does no negotiating or anything like that for me. But I trust her implicitly and you know, I adore her. And then the other thing is, I probably would have broken, tried to break into the upper end market sooner. You know, maybe that wouldn't have been as successful, I don't know because somebody told me when I first got in the business, it's just in back then prices were very different. But you know, it was just as easy to sell a million dollar house as it was a $300,000 thousand dollars house. So, you know, there's something true to that. If you, you know, if you hit these, these lulls in the market, if your average price is going up, at least you're consistent or maybe even making more money selling less houses. So I, I think that those are the two things, looking back that, you know, maybe would have made a difference. But the assistant thing, hands down, most important thing, I, I did and I should have done it sooner.

[Joshua Stike]

Awesome.

[Luke Acree]

So good, Frank.

[Joshua Stike]

Thank you so much for coming back on the podcast. Close out, let people know how they can get in touch with you.

[Frank Isolde]

Yeah, I mean, Instagram is probably the best. It's just my name, Frank, middle initial D I soldi. Yeah, I would love to connect with everybody. Awesome.

[Joshua Stike]

Appreciate it. Stephen. Thank you for joining us. How can people connect with you?

[Stephen Acrey]

Absolutely. Shoot me a call or a text. I'd love to jump on the phone with you. 434-216-5306.

[Frank Isolde]

Awesome.

[Joshua Stike]

Appreciate it guys and thank you all so much for listening. You can get the show notes for this episode over@staypaid podcast.com along with the video and how you can subscribe there. If you enjoyed this episode and want to show your support, share this episode with someone that you know. It's the best way to help this podcast grow. And if you want to get hold of me or Luke, you can email us@podcastrinder media.com and of course you can follow us on Instagram as well. We are at Stay Paid podcast for this episode of Stay Paid. I'm Josh with Stike.

[Luke Acree]

Guys, I'm Luke A. Frank. Thank you so much, man, for coming on. Really, really appreciate you. Appreciate you being a client and just the wealth of knowledge that you shared. My action item for everybody on this is do what Frank did. You got to build your database. Most of you, this is non judgmental, but it is judging you. You probably don't even have your database segmented and know who your core clients are. We're nearing the end of the year. This might come out, you know, at the beginning of the year, but we're nearing the end of the year here. What a perfect time here at the start of the year to make sure you know who your top 25, top 50 or top hundred are and actually develop a plan in 2025 to build relationships with them to s send them a call, send them a text message, send them a mailer, get in front of them. Because relationships are the name of the game. But you can't have relationships if you don't get in front of people and have conversations with them. Remember the difference between top producers and mediocre producers. And every business is top producers. Take action. Take action on that today. It.