This is the first issue of a newsletter I've put togethe to give back to real estate agents that are facing the same annual challenges. Here's to the Steady Climb!
Quick exercise. Grab last year's numbers — roughly is fine.
- How much did you gross last year?
- How many closings produced it?
- How many real conversations about real estate did it take to produce those closings? (Estimate honestly. Most agents land somewhere between 300 and 600.)
Now divide line 1 by line 3.
That's your price per conversation. For a lot of agents it lands somewhere between $150 and $400 — every conversation, including the ones that "went nowhere." The no's are part of the math. You can't get the yes's without them, which means the no's pay too.
This one number changes how the job feels. The call you're avoiding isn't an awkward chore — it's a bill someone owes you. Ten conversations this week isn't "staying busy," it's a four-figure deposit that clears in a couple of months (see last week's issue on the lag). And a day of admin that produced zero conversations, however productive it felt, earned exactly zero.
It also tells you what to fix. Your gross is just three numbers multiplied: conversations × conversion rate × average check. Most agents try to grow by chasing a bigger average check — the one input they control least. The input you control most, every single day, is the first one. And here's what's counterintuitive: the fastest way to improve your conversion rate is usually also more conversations, because volume is what makes you calm, and calm is what converts.
One thing to do this week: work out your price per conversation and write it on a sticky note where you prospect. Then start a tally — every real conversation, one mark. That tally is your leading indicator; closings are the lagging one. Watch the tally and the closings take care of themselves.
Hit reply with your number if you're willing to share it. No names needed — I want to publish the range in a future issue so everyone can see where they sit.
— Brian Mathieson, a team leader working the Houston market