For this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Deniz Yusuf, an expert business development coach from Australia. Since transitioning from being a real estate agent himself, Deniz’s focus has been on training other property managers on the best practices for attracting and signing up new business.
In our conversation, Deniz covers a wide range of topics of interest to any property manager who wants to excel in the industry. We start off by briefly discussing his background, and he touches on how the customer service skills he learned by selling fruit and vegetables have remained valuable throughout his career.
We spend a fair amount of time talking about business development managers. Hiring a BDM can be a great way to prevent burnout (or reduce it, if you’ve already reached that stage). In addition to hiring the right person, you need to make sure you compensate him or her effectively, so we talk about compensation best practices and whether it’s a good idea to hire a realtor as a BDM.
Deniz also emphasizes the importance of implementing a CRM system early on. He explains why you need to know your closing ratio, which is a vital piece of information that far too few property managers track accurately. We also spend some time talking about a couple issues that may seem counterintuitive at first, including cases in which it can be a good idea to take on business in a below-average area, and why it’s a bad idea to list a property as “no pets allowed.”
You can find Deniz here:
Show Notes
[01:24] - Deniz’s background isn’t in real estate, but rather in selling fruit and vegetables. He walks us through how he got from that to his success in real estate.
[03:30] - Eventually, Denif burned out on what he was doing. He discusses this as well as his experiences with authorization forms.
[05:53] - Brad steps in to discuss the problems of trying to do everything yourself, and talks about his mistakes with his first hire.
[07:14] - A business shouldn’t be paying a business development management the same bonus for leads generated by the office as for those that the BDM personally sourced.
[07:51] - If Deniz could have given Brad advice at 100 homes, what would it be?
[08:42] - Deniz and Brad discuss the 20% of the company’s homes that were lost during 2016. Deniz then offers advice for compensating a BDM based on the homes they’ve brought in.
[10:29 - At Brad’s company, there are now two hires: one inside person and one outside person. He and Deniz discuss this in light of advice from Andrew Reece.
[12:32] - Deniz expands on the concept of a business health check that he had mentioned earlier.
[14:46] - The 10-10 rule is worth following when you’re in the field.
[16:18] - Getting your face out there has become more of an electronic thing these days.
[17:14] - What success stories have Deniz had with his business health check?
[19:49] - Deniz is partly looking at the implementation for a CRM during these health checks. He and Brad discuss the topic.
[20:19] - Knowing your closing ratio is very important, Deniz explains, yet many companies don’t know what theirs is.
[23:00] - What would Deniz do in terms of helping a new business development manager? Brad then discusses his initial training of his BDMs.
[26:04] - Do realtors make good BDMs?
[30:05] - Deniz talks about having properties in less-than-perfect areas with owners willing to put in the necessary work.
[31:18] - What are some of the key indicators at a listing appointment that you might be talking to a class-C landlord?
[32:59] - There have been a couple of occasions when Deniz has needed to turn around and walk away from a property.
[35:28] - Deniz talks about conversion rates again. His was 88%, and reached a high of 92% in one year. He then defines how he’s calculating these rates, and explains what an “opportunity” is in the sense he’s talking about.
[37:29] - Where can people reach Deniz?
[37:51] - Deniz talks us through the products he has for sale on his website.
Links and Resources: