The Millionaire Real Estate Agent Podcast

Episode 71: Command Your Market Through Seller Workshops & Build a Legacy With Sue Adler

Host: Jason Abrams
Guests: Sue Adler & Scott (Director of Operations/Business Partner)
Release Date: February 24, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features mega agent Sue Adler, who shares how she built a $350+ million annual business primarily through the innovative use of seller workshops. Sue outlines the systems, mindset, and practical steps behind her workshop-led lead generation strategy, and dives deeply into her "EDGE" approach to serving sellers. The conversation also profiles the unique partnership and succession journey with her Director of Operations, Scott—transitioning him from a high school intern to running one of the nation’s top teams. Practical strategy, leadership lessons, and candid personal insights highlight this conversation for real estate agents eager to level up.

Main Discussion Themes

1. Sue Adler’s Journey & Breaking Into a Competitive Market

• Background: Grew up in the business; worked in family’s real estate company (First Century 21 in Pennsylvania) wearing a gold jacket. Initially reluctant to commit to real estate, planned to “find her real job.”
• Key Lessons from Family: Mom taught work ethic; dad taught communication and presence. Learned sales and connecting with people from both.
• Starting Over: Moved to New Jersey (not knowing anyone) amid personal transition (divorce), entering a hyper-competitive market (Short Hills, Summit, top U.S. zip codes).
• Breakthrough Approach: Relied on marketing (community videos), direct outreach to relocation directors, and consistent branding.
• Results: In first year in New Jersey, sold $48M without knowing a soul—became #1 in MLS by wide margin by 2013.

Quote:
"Somebody said to me when I first got there, 'Oh, nobody sells more than 12 houses a year here.' And I said, 'Well, this is going to be easy.' So in my mind, I was like, 12 houses? I could do that in a month." — Sue Adler (05:59)

2. Seller Workshops as a Primary Listing Strategy

The "EDGE" Framework

• Empower via education/consultation
• Deliver on promises
• Give back to community and clients
• Earn confidence/trust—and referrals

Sue’s model ensures every business activity aligns with EDGE—no “shiny pennies” or distracting add-ons.

Anatomy of a Workshop

• Purpose: "Prep now, sell when you're ready"—catches both imminent sellers and those 18-24 months out.
• Format: 1.5 hours; interactive and local; run both in-person (libraries, community spaces) and virtually (via Zoom).
• Frequency: 5 per month (4 in-person, 1 Zoom); town-specific and general sessions.

Workshop Content Buckets

1. Decluttering Before You Sell
   • Practical tips; cost of waiting vs. getting it done now; stories from Sue’s own life
   • Overwhelm from clutter is the #1 reason sellers delay
2. Necessary Repairs
   • Transaction manager educates on pre-inspection; cost savings by handling repairs before buyers discover them
3. Staging
   • Use of before/after photos to demonstrate what today’s “HGTV” buyers expect
4. The Overall Sales Process & Market
   • Breakdown of selling steps, current market info, new real estate law changes, pricing strategy, and common pitfalls
5. Marketing the Home
   • Specific examples shown; differentiators for the Adler team

Driving Attendance

• Everything points to the workshops: Prominent on website, main topic of mailings, flyers at open houses, social media posts, email invitations
• Targeted Mailing: Recipients are homeowners in their homes 10+ years (mainly 20+)
• Size: Ranges from 3–50 people; average 10–20 per session

Quote:
"Everybody that attends one of Sue's seminars is literally a listing appointment...If I told you you were meeting with five sellers today, your head might explode all over the dashboard of your car." — Jason Abrams (14:47)

Registration & Data Collection

• Collected via Eventbrite: name, phone, email, address, number of beds/baths, source, how long in home
• Use this data to customize workshop tone/content and track warm leads

Follow-Up Process

• Immediate follow-up by workshop-leading agent; “NOW” business identified actively during and after session
• Long-term CRM-driven nurture (handled by ISAs—Inside Sales Agents)
• Attendees receive customized market reports and ongoing value communications

3. Team Building & Legacy: Mentoring and Empowering Talent

Sue’s Approach to Partnership

• Meeting Scott: Started as a client’s high school senior; found “MREA” book on his nightstand; impressed by his market acumen at 17
• Scott’s Trajectory: Began as unpaid intern, did ground-level tasks, constantly asked to take on more, innovated systems, and eventually came back with a proposal to be Director of Operations after college.
• Organic Growth: Earned trust by “taking, not waiting” for opportunities; learned every job on team (“You have to know what’s possible and not possible”—Scott)
• Transition to Leadership: Started making hiring decisions; culture shifted to accept him as company leader

Scott’s Advice for Team Leaders:

• Find “young, ambitious, hungry” talent—willing to do the low-level work and take things off your plate
• Give them real opportunity and let them “fail forward” safely
• Set up immovable leadership meetings to keep communication open

Quotes:

• “Talent just takes opportunities. They don’t ask for it, they don’t wait for it. They just take those opportunities.” — Sue Adler (21:19)
• “Time and opportunity are two key words for anybody looking to bring somebody in and get them to grow the business to the level that they want.” — Scott (29:03)
• “A star isn’t born overnight...I’ve learned, learned, and I’ve grown every single year because we spend time with bigger, smarter, better people.” — Scott (27:49)

Division of Duties

• Sue: Now focuses on training/listing agents, teaching workshops, and growth
• Scott: Runs operations, hiring, culture, and agent growth (esp. buyers side)—“find your yin and yang”

4. Leadership, Personal Growth & Advice

• Leadership Mindset: "No one succeeds or fails alone." Building real estate as a business, not just a sales gig, is key. Leadership is about empowering others and letting go (“let go of the wheel and hope the person you trained can keep the car on the road”).
• Embracing Change: Every loss (even losing a $100M producer) opens fresh opportunities and growth.
• Admin Staff Respect: No longer “leverage” but the backbone—see and reward their impact.

Quote:
"Your admin staff…they’re the backbone of your organization. They’re not leverage. The word leverage actually really bothers me now.” — Sue Adler (38:51)

• Personal Advice—Work/Life Balance & Relationships:
  • Find a partner who balances you; value chill and shared interests.
  • Community (at work and home) matters for happiness and breadth of experience.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Making Workshops the Business Centerpiece:
  “Everything that you do in your business needs to be…very purposeful. It all has to fall into EDGE.” — Sue Adler (07:31)

• Workshops as Repeatable, Scalable Success:
  “If you’re doing [workshops] on a regular basis…it’s a listing appointment in front of 10 groups, five groups, three, two…whoever shows up, that’s somebody who’s interested.” (18:40)

• Scott on Earning Respect as Leader:
  "When I started interviewing and hiring for the company, that's when I earned the respect and the title." — Scott (32:51)

• Leadership Development Advice:
  “Set up preset meetings that nobody cancels...we know we get busy, we cancel it, we move it, and then it’s a month and we still haven’t talked.” — Scott (34:32)

• On Letting Others Fail Forward:
  “You have to give them opportunity to fail…to a point where she could have kind of jumped in and taken over, but she let me see the outcome through for better or for worse.” — Scott (27:58)

Key Timestamps

• Guest introduction & Sue’s origin story: 00:05–06:41
• Breaking into NJ & becoming #1: 05:37–06:53
• EDGE framework & seminar philosophy: 07:31–09:36
• Workshop content breakdown: 09:41–11:50
• Workshop logistics (frequency, format): 12:11–14:30
• Driving attendance & workshop math: 13:07–16:05
• RSVP/intake process: 16:08–16:37
• Follow-up system (now & nurture leads): 16:56–18:27
• Team legacy: Finding & mentoring Scott: 19:35–23:15
• Scott’s journey & organic team ascent: 23:15–33:59
• Advice on leadership communication & partnership: 34:32–36:46
• Personal reflections & leadership lessons: 37:23–39:54
• Advice on work/life & relationships: 39:54–41:25

Practical Takeaways for Agents

• Build education-centric, interactive seller workshops based directly on listing presentation FAQs.
• Drive all marketing channels to promote the workshops—treat every workshop attendee as a high-value lead.
• Use attendee intake data to fine-tune follow-up and personalize value.
• Empower staff and emerging talent with real opportunity—“talent takes, not waits.”
• Systematize communication and recognize when the right people are ready to lead in their own right.
• Invest in your administrative and support staff as vital contributors, not just “leverage.”
• Growth, lasting success, and legacy depend on openness, adaptability, and a willingness to let others step up.

Final Host Reflection

"Leadership is teaching people how to think, so that they do the things they need to do when they need to do them, so that ultimately they get the things they want when they want to have them…These are the people that are having tremendously big lives, and the reason it's happening is because they're setting up the models and systems to do just that." — Jason Abrams (42:09)

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Summary prepared for real estate professionals ready to leverage seller workshops and build generational teams. For episode notes, tips, and strategies, subscribe to the MREA Podcast’s newsletter.