I did everything the gurus trained me to do. I sent hundreds of letters to the executors ad probate attorneys alike. I even stalked executors at the decedent’s properties. All this would produce nothing. Actually it is what forced me to come up with my new plan…one that actually works.
Transcript Follows:
but we were discussing how I had come to
the conclusion that probate was
something I wanted to explore and some
of the challenges that I face let’s
continue so the big question is this how
our ordinary agents just like us
supposed to stand out in the overly
crowded real estate space while living a
great lifestyle without having to go
broke or radically change what we’re
already doing probate is the answer and
this series will show you how i’m
Anthony Nitz and welcome to the probate
agent I thought that I thought back as I
was coming up with different things and
I was brainstorming and whiteboarding
things out and stuff and I thought back
to when I was trying to get a job at a
video editing company and the reason I
was trying to get the job with the video
editing company because the long before
I was in the real estate space I you
know I was looking for a job looking for
something cool to do and different and
whatnot so I saw an ad in the newspaper
yes this was back when it was done in
newspapers and it said you know video
editor will train blah blah you know
here’s the here’s the salary send your
resume so I sent my resume and I mean
boom that day I was like on it I sent my
resume and and when I sent it I you know
waited a few days the stuff didn’t hear
anything oh sure they were gonna call me
gosh darn it
well I called and I called and I called
and I called and finally and I called
actually like I don’t know 5:45 or
something one day just out of the blue I
wonder if everybody’s still there and I
called somebody answered and it was that
happened to be the receptionist was
still there for some reason and I asked
her I thought you know hey look you know
I sent my resume in but I didn’t get a
response you know what happened you know
and she said Anthony
you know I appreciate it she said but
here’s the deal we ran that ad for one
day on a Sunday we received 1200 resumes
so we have so many resumes sitting here
we don’t even know where to start
and as I oh my gosh okay all right well
thanks for the info and what I did next
was I had to say I’d said it think about
it okay how do I get to the top of that
pile how do I get to the top oh I’m sure
they would put a pizza on the top of
that pile if they if they had one and so
what I did was on a Thursday I went over
and I found the local Pizza Hut Delivery
Service you know and I walked in and I
said look I need to have a this large
you know whatever everything pizza
delivered at 11:40 I think is when I was
having and delivered right before lunch
right and so I said okay I want to I
want this delivered over to here and but
I’m taping this on the top of the box
guess what was taped on the top it was
my resume in a big blue envelope and I
said well that you know they can’t turn
it down so they delivered it they came
back a little bit later and the the
driver the pizza a driver hands me a
business card he says here you go the
Pizza Hut I’m sorry the the card that he
handed me was for the like the CEO of
the company and on the back it said call
me Monday well Monday came I picked up
the phone and I go hi this is Anthony
yeah well just oh you’re the guy who
sent the pizza right I was like oh yeah
yeah that’s me oh hold on hold on you
know
okay I forget what her name was Karen or
something you know she’s waiting to talk
to you blah blah blah so I spoke to her
guys 1200 resumes did I get the job no I
didn’t get the job but the point is is I
did something that was different out of
the box to get on top of the list by
sending a simple Pizza nobody else sent
them a pizza now the reason I didn’t get
the job was because I never edited a
video in my life at that time not a
single one and so what they ended up
doing was they ended up hiring somebody
who did have consider little more
experience to me but what it did was it
put me in that second position I was in
number two out of 1200 and yes this all
relates to probate guys I’m telling you
this because you you got to understand
that some of the things I want to share
with you is gonna help you stand out and
be that different person okay so yeah I
got it I was number two out of 1200 with
no experience whatsoever I mean and they
were considering hiring me you know cuz
they could have hired me for a lot less
than they hired the other guy I’m sure
but in any case and every time that I
would talk to her I would run into her
or I’d talk to her or something for
whatever reason you know for a few years
and you know she would always bring up
the pizza and made it stand out so what
I did with these attorneys was I said
you know I gotta make a planet that
worked with the with the video company I
gotta do something like that but here’s
the problem there wasn’t just one
attorney a lot there’s a lot of
attorneys so what I did was I built a
list of every single attorney in the
area that had the words estate wills
trusts probate real estate some other
terms that I hadn’t think you know
determined might be a good match and I
came up with about a hundred of them a
hundred of them can’t send out a hundred
pizzas okay but what I did was I drew
them all out on the map I just took a
map and I just drew it all out his
before Google Maps guy
no huh and what I did was I made a
detailed route of all those offices so
that I could maximize my time and I
could go out in the field I know this is
a strange concept these days right but I
would go out in the field and I would
visit as many of those offices as I can
but because they were routed out I would
do a bunch of offices in a very short
amount of time a lot good news was that
a lot of these were in the same building
like they’d have the law building you
know an eighth of the people I was
visiting were in that law building you
know and so I started on my route I
would do about 25 to 35 a day yes I know
it’s actual work it would take me a few
hours I would do this three to four days
per week every single week every single
week three to four days per week and
don’t worry that’s not what I tell
people but it’s still a good idea it
would it definitely will get you a lot
more you know faster leverage then you
know some of the other techniques that
we use now but in doing what I did you
know three to four days per week every
single day why would I what else am i
doing during the day
nothing I’m sitting around waiting for
my listing appointments at night or for
buyer showings or things like that
go go out and talk to these attorneys is
what I told myself is and just get up
now I don’t need to sit around and
socialize with other real estate agents
let’s go you know so I did that and
there was something interesting that I
learned if you visit the office while
the attorney was in once you were
identified as a solicit tour you were
practically and violently escorted out
of the office get out get out don’t come
back I mean you know they are like
pretty brutal about it in some cases you
know so some they weren’t so bad but
so I was like okay whoa that’s
interesting but something else that I
figured out was that if I visited the
office when the attorney wasn’t there
for some reason there were less
aggressive in pushing me out the door
you know and and I think it was kind of
that gatekeeper mentality I’m I’m
protecting the the attorney that’s what
I but the attorneys not here okay well I
there’s nothing to lose if you if you
stand here in my lobby okay whatever
so I started so I kind of caught on to
that and I was like oh that’s very
interesting and what I found out was
that if they had cases going
they were usually in court mid morning
and sometimes early afternoon that’s
kind of mostly when they were in court
if they had the cases so I adjusted my
route so that I was only going to
Attorneys offices mid morning and early
afternoon and just went through when
their one the attorneys weren’t there
women but Anthony you’re trying to talk
to the attorneys why did you shift your
focus to the gatekeepers I’ll tell you
why because the receptionist or personal
assistant has a whole lot more influence
than you think so what I did was first
of all what I did go to these offices
and then I’m sorry this is it this is a
key part when I did go to the offices I
always showed up with a gift okay this
is this was a this was this was my form
of the pizza okay but again I’m not
dropping off a $15 pizza to everybody I
would show up with some sort of gift and
it would just be a little desk toy or
some little tchotchke I would find
somewhere where I can buy a whole bunch
of them for a dollar apiece or something
like that it almost didn’t matter it
didn’t matter what it was because
everybody likes a gift and I would give
it to the attorney you know
I would give one to the attorney and you
know and I would always the gatekeeper I
would give them a little something too
sometimes
and like I said it was not extravagant
was not extravagant at all you know like
at a Christmas ornament you know a
stress ball something like that but
here’s what the most important part was
it was always in an envelope or a box
and it was never ever flat never ever
flat why because when you send the
letters that’s a letter and a number 10
envelope
it’s pre-printed all that good stuff the
receptionist or assistant looks at that
immediately recognize that junk mail
throws in the trash however when you
have a box or you have a package that
has that’s lumpy the receptionist will
almost never open it almost never unless
that attorney tells them open everything
for me right no they will turn around
and they will put it on the attorneys
desk so that they have that in their
hand they get to open it they didn’t
have a choice but to open it right think
about yourself you get a package and or
even let’s let’s go back to the number
10 letters if there’s there’s these
companies that send out a they tape a
nickel in there and you get that
envelope and this you’d recognize right
away it’s some sort of junk mail but you
feel that then don’t there’s something
in there I need to know what that is
right so same thing same concept okay
and what I did this it always had 10
business cards it had a color flyer that
was about me sort of a resume you know
about me telling them about my
experience and how
you know great at probate and all the
stuff even though I had never done in
probate and it had the gift now one of
the things that I found out was most
valuable the most valuable gift that I
gave it wasn’t the ones to the attorneys
it was the ones that I gave to the
gatekeepers so when i walked in i would
usually you know i’d have the gift for
the attorney and for the gatekeeper i’d
usually have a little candy bar or some
snacks of some kind or give them one of
the little desk toys or you know
whatever you know was was trending at
the time if i could find something that
was reasonably priced right i heard it
over and over and over again gee no one
ever gives me a gift it’s always for the
attorney nobody ever gives me a gift and
oftentimes i’d get asked if i could
bring more of those whatever it was
right so like one time i brought a gift
in and they were these little uh
like nerf popper things you could like
shoot him at people across the room and
everything and they you know they called
me they said hey you know did
they’re you coming by this week cuz i
kinda yeah like i said it was a routine
every week i’m like yeah can you bring
some more of those everybody in the
office is having so much fun playing
with those you know we’d love to have
some more Shaffir who you bet i brought
a whole bunch over right and they’re
popping those things all over the office
every time i went in the office so it
was a lot of fun but again these people
that the receptionist’s the gatekeepers
the assistants you know they became the
enforcers because you know in the
beginning the only reason that i dropped
off or are i’m sorry in the beginning i
only intended to drop off the gifts to
attorneys because that’s who i was
trying to get to and I only started
giving little gifts to the receptionist
or assistants because I just didn’t want
to get tossed out of my here again that
was the only reason but like I said I
learned something very very quickly and
very valuable that my gifts to the
attorneys
or merely for name recognition only
that’s it that’s all it did because they
didn’t come out and meet me they would
even if I asked for him they wouldn’t
come out they were busy they’re always
busy right but the gift to the
gatekeepers on the other hand was a gift
to the real influencer how did I know
that how did I know ultimately that that
was the case I’m like and you know as
you’re listening to this are you sitting
there going well instinctually we know
this anyways we already know this you’re
not telling us anything really new but
my question back to you is well how have
you leverage that right well here’s how
I knew that the gatekeepers were the
real influencers because it was only
about three weeks only about three weeks
into my route campaign that I got calls
the first two calls from an attorney
okay two attorneys called me in week
three now I never spoke to them before
but both of them said exactly the same
thing my assistant said I should call
you those those are the exact words out
of both of their my assistant said I
should call you now what did that tell
me what did that tell me that the
assistant was sitting there and because
they had a good experience with me and
because I was consistent and you know
and I did these little favors for them
that when that attorney was sitting
there going oh well we got this probate
gosh we got to find an agent we need an
agent wonder if I should call old you
know Rick because you know he’s done him
for us for a while you know Oh with that
last time you know he wasn’t available
all this that whatever whatever the
reason is you know the topic came up and
the assistant said you know you should
really give this Anthony a guy
call you didn’t really give them a call
and that told me that they were the ones
who are the real influencers all right
so as a result you better believe that
the gifts got a little bit better
especially during the holidays
especially during the holidays I made
sure to take copious notes about every
single person every single one of those
gatekeepers and the attorneys is like
what they liked what they didn’t like
their mannerisms you know whenever they
spoke about family members or other
interests and things like that as a
matter of fact you know I mean I
remember around a couple couple
occasions you know and this again during
the holidays one of the receptionist’s
you know young lady was sitting there
and you know tickle-me-elmo was the big
thing at the time this office had oh
they had already given me you know I
think three or four transactions and so
you know she was saying about hey I
can’t afford it and they’re you know
they’re too expensive everybody’s
fighting for him and all this stuff
well I rounded up a Tickle Me Elmo the
next time I walked in there I handed her
that Tickle Me Elmo to give to her donor
and with tears in her eyes but you know
the mileage that I got from that was
immense immense you know they they gave
me business on going forever and the
attorney even told me he said you know
what what you did you know really really
made a difference for her
therefore if she’s happy we’re happy you
know one lady I just remember this one
lady was telling me about her mother her
mother and he actually has problems with
their feet and she needed you know arch
supports you know and I went out and I
found some size eight and a half ladies
you know arch support insoles the good
ones you know yeah I think that’s a time
they cost me 30 40 bucks for that and I
walked in and I said hey give these to
your mother
she was you know I mean her mouth was
hanging open nobody done that for her
again the mileage was very much worth it
so you know in a short amount of time
just by kind of following this process I
found myself on the speed dial for about
25 of those attorneys you know they put
me on their speed down I was the guy and
I can tell you they kept me busy here’s
a few key tips you want to keep in mind
if you start working directly where the
turn is is number one always make the
attorney look good at all cost no matter
what no matter what even if that means
you falling on your own sword you make
that attorney look good because you make
them look bad once and you’ll never do
business with them again okay and then
also here’s that here’s a little bit of
a challenging one sometimes never get
emotional amidst all the turmoil and the
drama that can be evolved in the probate
process don’t do it don’t get emotional
you have to remain solid as a rock and
why because when you get emotional it’s
enough for the family to be emotional
all right they just lost a loved one in
some cases a sudden not expected life
was going on it’s a happy day like every
other day things were good both
90-degree turn to the left you know that
they were not expecting or planning for
or whatever and so by you maintaining
your emotions number one you’re not
gonna make bad decisions because it’s
when you use emotions that’s when you
tend to make bad decisions number two
they can turn to you as the rock and
they respect the fact that you maintain
your position you know your logical
unemotional position right doesn’t mean
you can’t empathize with them or
sympathize or the it just means they you
know don’t let emotions guide you making
a decision when somebody’s crying
and screaming at you because of it’s not
fair and that’s net and you go okay
we’ll do this or that you know don’t do
it and then no matter what everyone just
thinks you’re out for the money right
because they’ve been put into a horrible
situation and now you’re this person who
shows up and I don’t care how nice of a
person you are everybody just thinks at
some point in time somebody is gonna
blame you if there’s more people
involved in the family somebody’s gonna
step in and they’re gonna throw that one
out there
you’re just out for the money okay let
it roll off your back you got to do that
just remember those keep those key tips
because if that comes across again to
the attorney then you know you won’t do
business with them again okay and so you
know I was also told on many occasions
by the attorneys and their staff that
you know they get agents in that’s not
by regularly and they see them once
maybe twice but never ever more than
that and this is these 500 people that
went to this seminar nigga you know what
yeah you’re right
probate is great and they see them once
and then they’ll go back again and
they’ll go gosh I didn’t get any
business I went out two whole times all
right for me to stop by three weeks or
more in a row without missing was
something special to them they recognize
it they’re like wow wait wait wait wait
we saw this guy three times what what’s
happening what is this wait this guy
must be the real real deal you know for
some of them it took five times for some
of them it took 50 times you know and
you never know they may have a solid
relationship with a real estate agent
but guess what that might change you
know that might change so
understand what I’m telling you about
this scenario and this still works to
this day I’ve got other techniques and
things that I use on a regular basis but
this process getting out there and
talking to these people on a regular
basis without wavering will get you
business okay you know so for me going
back to that seminar you know that just
confirmed my belief that confirmed my
belief that first day or that day when I
was at the at the seminar and you know
everybody everybody was bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed ready to go I knew that
most agents would not stick with it the
attorneys confirmed it their staff
confirmed it you know yeah we get
letters all the time for real estate
agents they just end up in the trash you
know yeah they come in once or twice we
don’t see them again they confirmed it
right and as agents we’re just like
everybody else especially in the
Internet age right we want instant
gratification for our efforts you know
but here’s the thing you got to remember
we are in fact in a high ticket
high referral risk low respect type of
business it’s just what it is okay let
me clarify a little bit high ticket
right we know we’re dealing with homes
hundreds of thousands of dollars
millions in some cases okay high
referral risk so even some of the
attorneys that would refer me that
preferred that I would work on their
transactions they still handed up two
additional cards they didn’t want the
liability that if I messed things up
that you know it would be their fault
so we are a high referral risk you know
it’s one thing to refer somebody to your
barber and the guy doesn’t do a good job
yeah they’re not gonna hold it you know
they’re not gonna hold it against you
your friends not gonna hold it against
you for referring to a barber but if
somebody refers you to a friend and you
mess up the the the sale and it’s a
horrible experience and they get less
money for their house than what they
should have gotten that friendship could
be irreparably damaged that friendship
could actually even be you know
financially challenged that friend could
turn around and Sue that other friend
set because you referred us to that
agent we lost $50,000 we won our $50,000
so we’re gonna sue you for giving us
that referral you know and so while we
love it and we ask our clients all the
time to give us a referral you know
think about it in the back of their head
they’re going yeah you know if they
don’t do a good job you know if you did
a good job for them they should refer
you to every day of the week but the
nature of our business and we’re in a
low low respect you know I mean there’s
things that people they know studies if
you’ll say well on a scale of you know
between doctors and used-car salesmen
word of real estate agents fit it’s
usually right above used car salesman
just is what it is guys because people
don’t understand the level of work the
type of commitment that we have to have
for those of us who are professional in
the business right and we also have a
low bar of entry I think you would have
to agree so it’s easy for people to get
in and therefore it’s easy for people to
you know mess things up
but I don’t care what industry and your
that that’s the case anywhere I’ve been
to plenty of really lousy doctors okay
and I’ve been plenty here or talked to
plenty of lousy attorneys as well who
have been to school for eight years just
because they have education doesn’t mean
they’re great okay anyway so the
attorneys and other people they started
referring to me as quote unquote the
probate agent you know the attorneys
would refer to their to their clients
hey you know you didn’t you need to talk
to the probate agent we’d be in court
okay who has the information on this oh
that’s the probate
you know the executor well you need to
talk to the probate agent it was this
kind of funny is this like a phrase that
they all kept using and one of them by
attorneys he said you know you should
put up a website there or something so I
did you know years ago it’s been up for
a long a long time depending on when you
look at it the probate agent calm it
might have been revised to you know for
you know the shift that we’re doing if
you’re looking at it at the time that
this podcast is uploaded you know you’re
gonna see exactly how I used it before
for you know creating and maintaining
that credibility as the probate agent
and but it’s it’s being transformed so
anyway yeah they started calling me the
probate agent so you know that’s what
that’s what it is
I started getting invited to brown-bag
lunches that’s those things that
attorneys do they’ll get together like
their specialty will get together you
know estate attorneys will get together
I get invited to parties by attorneys
and by other people I get invited as a
keynote speaker to different groups of
attorneys and investors right so this
was all going on this was all going on
in this process as a result of the work
that I was doing and I did
Jara I worked hard to maintain those
relationships
I worked hard you know you know got to
the point where you know I was I was
dropping off I was doing the occasional
pizza party for the office or I was
dropping off Donuts first thing in the
morning or or whatever and these are for
established relationships but you know
you can’t just go okay well I got I’m
getting deals from now and I never
talked to him you know no you have to
maintain the relationship and that is
part of the plan that you have to plan
out every single you know week or month
or a year for how you’re gonna keep
doing this and I ran with these people
for a solid five years solid five years
that this was going on I slowed down my
route because you know I did maintain
those key people on my list but I but I
wanted to add so I kept going on my
route but it wasn’t as frequent not as
many offices
I kind of I kind of yeah like one of the
target certain people on that list
instead of targeting everybody at that
point in time I think I narrowed it down
to probably 30 or 40 and so I’d still
hit him because like any business
there’s attrition right
you’ll lose a few attorneys from time to
time they move they die that is that
whatever we go out of business doesn’t
matter whatever you’re gonna lose some
so you got to keep adding to the list
right and that’s what I did you know
just because you get some relationships
you don’t just go huh cool I’m set so
you got to keep that as part of your
plan too
now things were great I even got to the
point where everywhere I went I was in
my very own limo yes I owned a limousine
had my name and my picture and
everything on the side I know I know it
was cheesy marketing but it was fun
and you know a lot of clients
appreciated it and that sort of thing
and then it happened then it happened
the big market crash in 2007 combined
with internet sales it changed the
landscape of how real estate would be
done going forward at least in our
modern times I mean it really did it
made a big difference in how our
business is done in fact I’m gonna tell
you something as a result of that shift
about 1/2 of the attorneys that we’re
sending me business on a regular basis
either ended up getting disbarred or in
some cases a couple of them ended up
facing jail time over the next couple of
years I’m gonna tell you more about that
in our next episode hey thanks for
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until next time let’s put the pro back
into probate
