Nathan Daniel (00:01):

All right, well welcome everybody today on our show, we have Benjamin Floyd from five to five Realty, right in here in my backyard, which is in, Oklahoma. So, and Ben you're in Edmond, right?

Nathan Daniel (00:58):

We are, we are right central Edmond, right in central Edmond.

Nathan Daniel (01:01):

Well, thank you for,ufirst and foremost for coming on the show. I'm excited to have you here today and talking about this topic of showing up and being there for your agents,ureally quick, tell, tell everybody who you are, how long have you been in real estate,uyour path to becoming a broker and then we'll get right into it.

Benjamin Floyd (01:18):

So we are, well, I've been I've been doing this about 20, almost 21 years now. We started with with a kind of large national chain company and 2015 we branched out and opened open five to five Realty group which kind of started just me and my business partner at the time. Um now we are about 30 or so strong you know, always trying to pull a little more of the market share than than we currently have no matter where we're at. So yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Nathan Daniel (02:02):

I remember y'all branching out and actually opening five to five and starting that journey and going through that, that process and everything. So one, congratulations for hopping out and doing that and really just starting your journey. So that's, that's the first step, isn't it.

Benjamin Floyd (02:15):

Always, always that first step if you don't take the first step to any journey you're not going anywhere. Right.

Nathan Daniel (02:23):

Sometimes it can be the hardest and once you get over it, it's, you know, it's continual steps from there, but typically I've seen the first step is always the hardest. So congrats on doing that and let's, let's get right into it. So you mentioned you've been in real estate for a while and specifically today, like one thing that as we were talking before showing up for your agents, like, y'all do that at a really high level. Can we start talking about that?

Benjamin Floyd (02:50):

Yeah. And so depending on how many we got, like at some point I'm going to probably have to get somebody that will help and the role that we're doing, but that's okay. Kind of the mindset that we took with this and what we've noticed from some of the other brokers that were out there, not to talk anything bad about them, because everybody's got their place. Everybody's got a reason that they do things the way they do them, that sort of thing. What we noticed is anytime that we really, really needed help, it was two, three days to get a call back or, or we were kind of put out the bottom burner or whatever the case was. So when we left, where we were at and, and open five to five, I wanted to be there as much as possible for any of my agents that needed help. Because no matter what's going on with them at that point, if I'm getting a call, even at 11 o'clock at night, it's the most important thing going on in their life right now, or they wouldn't be on the phone with me. You know what I mean? Like they're late or it's something that's important. Something that needs to be taken care of. Somebody needs to be calmed down. Somebody needs to be walked through something. So If we can be there for, for the year, Because in that capacity, we want to be there, but that even goes down to I'm part of now, I know not everybody's going to agree with this and, and to each maybe area their own to each region, their own everybody's got different laws and the way they handle things like repairs inspections and that sort of thing. But not too long ago about a week ago had at an agent who had accidentally double booked herself and called and needed help getting to one of her inspections. So between myself my son is also licensed and and we've got another licensee. That's part of my direct team. We shuffled around what we had going that day and were able to go be there for that, that inspection. Now I do require all my agents be there for every inspection every time, if not, have somebody there on their place. So again, that's going to differ per region per state, per area, but that's something that we make it a practice to have. And, and if my agents can't make it something that we will do had an agent, Oh, this has been about three weeks ago was his first new construction deal and not a very easy one. The, the agent on the other side was also the broker. So we'd had nowhere to go with with, with the kind of lack of communication that we had felt on that side that broker had been doing with with that builder for a very long time, they had a very good working relationship together, but anytime there was an issue and we had a question, it really ended up just send us a release and we'll sell it to somebody else. Well, that's not what we want to do. Right. We want to make everybody happy. We want to want to push forward, but we need answers on this stuff. And so, so I was stood by his side through from the inspection period on, through final walk through to make sure that everybody was happy with that. And we're able to move forward. Not that I'm the end all be all, but, but experience trumps, you know, somebody that just hasn't there and doesn't know what to do, and doesn't know what to say you know, classroom can't train real life experience.

Nathan Daniel (06:07):

So many times, I mean, our agents lean on their broker to be that experience right. To be that backing. Cause you know, when they, when they join us, they're also getting our experience as well. I always go back to those law firms and companies that are like, Oh yeah, like such and such with like 15 last names. And they're like, we have 300 years experience like really like you're all like 34. Like how, how does that work? You know, something like that, but they're leaning on the experience of the broker in our knowledge and the industry. So, right. So you're stepping up and actually helping in inserting yourself to make sure that one, your agent is successful in that transaction and they're learning along the way.

Benjamin Floyd (06:46):

Yeah, absolutely.

Nathan Daniel (06:48):

That's really cool. So as far as like this, this year, right, we're going into 2020, and this is the reason this whole podcast has been, been created is, is our industry is, is changing in some areas and it's not in others. Some places it's, it's doing really, really well in some places it's really, really not. So I just want to know, like, what do you find that 2020 is bringing for you in five to five Realty?

Benjamin Floyd (07:16):

You know, honestly, I try to look at everything with a, with a positive attitude, as much as possible. It's been a strange year. It's definitely been a strange year, but I think what it's realized to me so for instance, we, we try to teach class about every weekend, every Saturday, and now with the scope of thing it's been, it's been hit or miss, and it's been trying to get a hold of it, but the classes that we had that we'd have five or six agents show up to when we do them via electronically, we may not have quite the interaction. But we see more people log in and we may have 10 to 15 login versus five or six showing up. So, you know, things like that have been have been good. Virtual showings have kind of taken off it's been different and I don't know if it's a good, different with with closings and that sort of thing. We've seen more of those where the agent is required to stay outside. But we're also supposed to be there in the best interest and to protect our clients. And how can we do that from the car outside? We had a deal in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which is a, it's a college town here North of of where I'm at about 45 minutes. And we've got, I've got agents and, and Stillwater, Tulsa Shawnee and, and greater Oklahoma city area currently. So this is up about 45 minutes North of us. We weren't allowed in standard practice up there for them as a whole is not to do like mortgage inspection surveys, which is okay, I guess, as long as everybody knows, but we weren't told that that one wasn't being done, even though it was contractually supposed to be done. So it wasn't until I got all the paperwork back to the office and started going through everything that we realized was that, that hadn't been done, we call the the the title company and they say, you know, sorry, that's not something that we normally do. And we do it to keep our costs down a simple it's contractual. So it needs to be done. They went ahead and honored as if they had done one. So anything that pops up to be covered for them, but stuff like that, that I would've caught there at the table, wasn't able to catch until, you know, we were back at the office. So that's been a little difficult kind of trial and tribulation to to get over with that. But again, I, you know, overall, I think we're going to continue on through just like we've always done. I think the, the internet will prove to be the largest shopping area for real estate into the future. It already has been those of us that are in these smaller cities, if you will not the Chicago's new, York's where it takes you 45 minutes to an hour to get from house to house. Where, you know, we can go see 15 houses in a day just loading up in the car. Now we kind of, we want to preview all those to make sure we don't have any junk and, and that sort of thing upfront, they've been doing that for years in the larger cities. So that's been, I think, a good, a good point range for our environment in this area.

Nathan Daniel (10:37):

Yeah, absolutely. So going back to recap, when I, when I heard for me there one with your education that you were doing live you know, there's four or five, six, 10 people at one of those where all of a sudden you've gone virtual, and now you actually have more engagement. Maybe it's not back and forth as much interaction wise, but at least they're showing up on online to get educated and you're getting some FaceTime with them.

Benjamin Floyd (11:05):

Right. And I, that's a, I think a much better scenario than than not having there at all. You know, even if they've got the screen blacked out, you know, you hope that they're not just there to show that they've got their name up and they're actually listening to what's going on, but you know, at least there's a, there's some interaction on that side of it.

Nathan Daniel (11:26):

And they had to take the time, even if they did do that. And they're like, I'm doing chores around the house, you know, and as I walked by doing whatever, like I'll hear something they even had to take the time to actually log on. Right. And so they took it to like, okay, yeah, I'm checking into this class in some capacity. So that's cool. And then I heard also really, if I could phrase it up in one word being very adaptable today, like whether it's the Stillwater situation, whether it's showing up for an agent, whether it's technology and, and implementing that for your agents to be visible and continue your training that you're doing. I think adaptable is what I heard.

Benjamin Floyd (12:04):

That's the key to anything. Changes is tough. Growth hurts. Change is inevitable though. It's got to happen. Either we stay stagnant and we die or we continue to grow and move and figure out how to make the new environment work. Yeah.

Nathan Daniel (12:24):

Yeah. And I know we've talked about kind of the growth of your company and where, where you desire to go with that and everything. So what do you think the next step is for you as far as starting that process, whether it's having conversations with agents, is it up upping the training? Where do you feel like that is in today's world with agents where what's your plan there?

Benjamin Floyd (12:45):

Um you know, and that has changed pretty tremendously over the years especially within the last six, eight months. I, you know, we are still meeting people on a regular basis in office you know, come in, sit down maybe not quite handshake, but socially distant with the mask. You know, maybe, maybe not, unless somebody wants, like, if somebody says, Hey, will you please put a mask on? We will. I know you just told me and hopefully you're okay with me sharing this, but you just fought through COVID with the family. I'm one of those that shame on me, I guess, or whatever. But at some point I think everybody's going to end up getting this. It's just a matter of time and we're, you know, washing hands and that sort of thing. But but I'm not a hundred percent sure that, that the mask is going to stop me, not sick from not getting somebody else sick, you know, so if I get it, I will stay home. We did have a case of it in our office. And we quarantine the office for two weeks, you know, so I

Nathan Daniel (13:55):

The way I, the way I describe it to people with this, after talking to doctors and going through the whole thing, I, I describe it as your whole body's covered in pollen, right? Like, you know, we have bad allergies here and stuff in Oklahoma and it's seasonal, but like that pollen, when it brushes off, like it lands on everything, he gets just everything covered with pollen. Well, the difference is it's like when you brush off the pollen, it's, it's get fluffs off and it goes away. However, Cova, doesn't do that. Right. COVID is like, it sticks and continues to brush off anywhere you go. And so, yeah, I, I agree with you. I think there's going to be a a continued pattern of this over time. So, you know, it's just a matter of being safe and playing cautious, right.

Benjamin Floyd (14:39):

We're going to have to learn to live with this and keeping everybody indoors nonstop forever. Isn't realistic. It's not, and people are going to get tired of it. People are going to be out and about and do their thing. We went, we got back from Mexico about about two or three weeks ago. And the precautions that they're taking they're actually kinda laughable in a lot of ways, but more so than we're even taking here. So, you know, if somebody says, Hey, put a mask on, I'll put a mask on. It is what it is. I, you know, I prefer not to. So you know, in Oklahoma he gets yeah,

Nathan Daniel (15:25):

So as far as like your dedication to success, helping agents grow, being adaptable for them and continuing to help them and just really being a partner in their business as far as like the trends, are you seeing any trends right now that helping agents really stay in production or gear up any, anything like that?

Benjamin Floyd (15:48):

We haven't really changed a whole lot of what we do. As far as the old tried and true continue making phone calls, continue touching base use use FaceTime instead of your phone to have more of a face to face type conversation with people don't text you know, that sort of thing. Continued again, meeting trying to to mentor if you will actually speaking a mentor I'm going to turn around here real quick and introduce you to a, a young gentleman by the name of Roberto. Uh he just graduated from high school with us or from high school here in Oklahoma city. He has taken his classes for real estate and will be scheduled to take this test here shortly, but he's been shadowing me off and on for about a week or so. So I'm gonna turn it around and say hi to

Nathan Daniel (16:50):

Hey Roberto, how are you doing great. How are you doing? Hey, doing good. Well if you don't mind, I'm going to put you on the spot. Can I do that then? Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So you're just graduating high school and congrats on joining 525, by the way. So how do you feel about this? Like with everything that's going on, like where's your energy at, and what's your first step to, to take an action and in launching your business?

Roberto (17:16):

Well, I'm excited about joining a real estate and I just met shadowing Ben and as he has said not many real estate agents really give their all, like they take two days to call and I just want to do the opposite. I want to be there whenever the clients need me.

Nathan Daniel (17:37):

Awesome. Very cool. Well again, welcome, welcome to 525. Congratulations on, on getting started in passing your tests and everything. So go crush it. All right. Thank you.

Benjamin Floyd (17:47):

So I also just let you know a little bit more about him. He we're, we're having a conversation in the car the other day, and I said I said, so what are you doing in your spare time? Do you play video games? Do you watch TV? Typical things that an 18 year old is going to do. And he said, I try to just sit down and read an hour a day. And I said, okay. I said, I said, what do you read? And he said, stuff like grant Cardone or or Robert Kiyosaki. 18 years old, like mind blown. Right. So,uyou know, it's just super, super important to keep a good attitude, no matter what's going on.

Nathan Daniel (18:22):

That's cool. Okay. So here's what I'm gonna do, Ben. I'm actually gonna send them one of my books. All right. I'm going to send it to you. And if you'll,uif you'll make sure he gets it some books okay, sure will. So that's cool. Well, I'm excited. So,uand that's cool too, that you're taking them out and you're letting them shadow you and stuff. Cause I mean, there's, there's a lot of that that needs to happen today, you know, to,

Benjamin Floyd (18:42):

To make a better agent. We really do. And, and something that, that w I kinda, I go over a lot of in class and that sort of thing is, is as a whole I think our industry has become order takers versus salespeople. And nobody wants to be a pushy salesman. Nobody wants to, but you can be very successful and not the pushy salesman. But being the order taker keeps you in a place where you're not going to be successful wherever you're going to hit or miss on stuff that you could have gotten done and moved on to the next one on a regular basis. So it's a, that's kind of something that we, we teach on on a regular basis.

Nathan Daniel (19:26):

If you were going to give a piece of advice, right? Whether it's to a broker who's struggling right now you know, cause it's, it's about all of us learning together and helping each other grow as an industry, whether professionalism, whatever it is, like, what piece of advice, whether it's to a struggling broker or even a brand new broker just getting started, what piece of advice would you give to them?

Benjamin Floyd (19:51):

Pick up your phone, pick up your phone. Okay. I'm sure you've heard me say that before, but the, the number one complaint you can go on to lab coat agents any of your local real estate sites, so on and so forth, the number one complaint is I can't get a call back from a realtor.

Benjamin Floyd (20:11):

Well, how much veteran's and industry could we be and how much more would you get done if we just call people back in a timely fashion? If we picked up the phone, when they called it, look, I know you can't do it all the time, but I'd say 90, 99% of the time I'm calling you back within 10 minutes. Yeah. Continue to learn, continue to grow no matter where you're at push past, whatever's keeping you down. And I know that sounds super easy to say and super raw with not a lot of backing, but everybody's in a different spot. So if that means I need to recruit people and you know, all of our sales, all about the people that are here are doing really well really well. I need to recruit more people. So what does that mean? Do I need to get in front of more people?

Benjamin Floyd (20:55):

Do I need to set the times and the appointments to make that happen? Do I need to offer incentives to my, my associates to have them help recruit what needs to happen to make that happen? Is my building too small is my building too big, whatever that is moving the direction to, to make it happen. I mean, we're stepping out on a limb within the next hopefully within the next month we should break ground, but we're looking at building a 5,000 square foot complex to house realtors along with a training facility about a 1200 square foot training facility for realtors you know, so always be pushing and looking for that next break, that next whatever it is, if you've got, if you've got the direction, you've got the willingness and the wanting to go there, the best thing you can do is point yourself in that direction and start moving.

Benjamin Floyd (21:55):

Even if you don't quite hit it, you're going to be further towards your goal than you were last week.

Nathan Daniel (22:02):

That's great advice. I appreciate that, Ben. Well thank you so much for hopping on the show today. Is there anything else, is there anything, other pieces of advice, like last chance to say, you know, to an industry.

Benjamin Floyd (22:16):

Continue making yourself better? No matter what you're doing we're talking about books just a minute ago. Let me get this one out. So he's not my end all be all. There's a ton of guys out there. And honestly I think this guy is probably a little over the top, half the time, but I mean, that's what I've got in my briefcase right now. Right? So that's the one I'm on. We finished whatever it is. I've got a book that that I handle most of my realtors, especially if they're interested in doing any kind of international sales, how to deal with, with people from different different countries. There's a book out there for it. Pick it up, read it. If, if you're doing it to better yourself, it's just going to better. You where's another one.

Nathan Daniel (23:02):

And while he's grabbing the other one, if you're listening to the audio, he actually held up a Grant Cardone The Closer. So let's get stuff now, Carnegie, how to win friends and influence people. Yeah. That's a great as well.

Benjamin Floyd (23:16):

Just across the board, you know, no matter where you're at always try to better yourself, learn everything you can about doing it. I wouldn't got my, my license to do inspections just so I knew what the inspector was looking for on that side and I've kept it up, but I don't do inspections, just have it. So we know what's going on when we go out,

Nathan Daniel (23:35):

Educating yourself and then as an industry evolves. Awesome. Well, everybody will be in. Thank you so much for being on here. Again, we've been talking to Benjamin Floyd with 525 Realty in Edmond, Oklahoma. So again, thank you so much, Ben, for being on the show.

Speaker 2 (23:54):

Okay. Well, thanks for listening to the broker to broker real estate podcast, to check out past episodes, tools and resources, visit www.brokertobrokerpodcast.com and always remember Be You and Be Real.