129: 75 Hard for Agents: The Discipline Your Business Needs

Let’s talk about discipline! No, not the motivational poster kind, but the kind that actually moves the needle in your business.

In this episode, we’re breaking down what a 75 Hard-style challenge for real estate agents could look like when it’s focused on the things that actually create closings. No fluff. No busy work. Just the daily habits that compound into real momentum.

We walk through a framework that keeps agents focused on what matters most.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about showing up every day with intention and doing the things most agents talk about… but never actually commit to.

Because discipline compounds ...and 75 days of the right habits can change everything.

Like what you heard? Make sure to follow and review the podcast, and shoot us a message with your thoughts at 

contractsandchaos@gmail.com

@YourHomeGirl_CLT 

@Real.Life.Brenna

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Alright, by the time this posts, we are gonna be about headed into quarter two, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

It is like, and we're recording this February 3rd. Uh-huh. Which still feels crazy. Like January felt like a year but a week at the same time, if that makes sense. Um not ready for it to be February, but here we are. Um so this week, okay, so we're gonna talk about something that is not about motivation. It may seem like that, but this is actually about execution. And I think even when I hear this for a not real estate relationship, for like the original version of this, I think that's something people get confused. They're like, oh, this is gonna motivate me. And I'm like, uh-uh-uh-uh. No, motivation comes from within. This is a structure to execute things.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Yes, because we've talked about before the consistency wins over motivation every time those habits that you build will carry you through, hopefully, those days that you just you aren't motivated, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Right. Yep. So if you guys haven't heard, we are making a real estate version of 75 hard. So 75 hards by Andy Frisella. Um, and it's not a challenge. He says it's a mental toughness program. There's no compromises, there's no I'll do it tomorrow. So you either do it or you start over. So 75 days, if you mess up day four, you go back to day one, right? So it's the same thing. We're just gonna do a realtor version.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Yes, I think and I think that's cool too. And it this is a very um self-honesty program because how many people I remember I can't, it was a couple years ago now that I saw a friend on Facebook doing the 75 heart and she posted about it every day, right? This is I did it today, I did it today, and I remember she was on like day 39 or something insane, and she didn't do it. And so then she was like, All right, we're on day one, right? And still posted about it. And I was like, oh my, she was halfway to the 75 and she started over because she missed it. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

So well, and I think so. One of the negatives about like the diet and exercise version is I think people see it as a goal, and it they're like, okay, we're done. Where's the cookies? I don't want to see that happen with realtors. I hope that this will set you up for success and create those daily habits, that daily routine of okay, this is what like if you're someone who doesn't have a daily structure, I might be one of those people right now. Um, this I hope will give you, okay, I have to do this for 75 days. And then when you're done, it just comes naturally. Like this is this is how I do my job.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Yeah, because that's how that's how we close deals. That's how we win in this business, is because it does, it's very few times that you get lucky, right? That you just get that random referral and it all closes. The first show house you show is the one and it closes in 30 days, right? Like those don't happen. The the consistency that you put in is the consistency in your business that you get out. All of those gaps that you're seeing, like, I don't have any closings this month, I have nothing in the pipeline. It's from the gaps of not being consistent throughout the time. And you you could ask so many agents, and I actually saw Kara Farah um post about it the other day, that the agents that are winning right now, they're not adding more to their plate. Um, this time of year, we get a lot of, I mean, I know personally, I've been spam-called by God, everything.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Every, every lead company, every firm wants you to see.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

And it's not about doing more things or completely changing and doing new things. They're doing the right things for their business every day. And that could look different for everybody, but we are going to break it down into what we're going to be doing for our 75 hard.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

So right. So let's go over what this is and what this isn't. Okay. So it is a 75-day execution framework, it is built for those income-producing activities. Like Brenda said, Kara mentioned, these are the things that if you do them regularly, you don't need the shiny new object. You should be producing. And this is designed to eliminate distraction, inconsistency, and busy work. So this will help you eliminate, like I said, if you're someone who's like, I don't know how to structure my day, hopefully this will help, or it will at least give you a to-do list of I have to do this every day. Do you want to go over what this is not?

SPEAKER_00 5:07

It is not like a feel-good vision board, right? We're not just putting a list together and like this is it, like this is gonna be the thing. This is a this is a work-based challenge. Um, this is not a content only challenge. We're not talking about that you have to post on this certain graphic on Facebook every day for you know these 75 days. This is this is a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people might not see you actually do, right? So again, with that self-honesty thing. Um, and it's not a I'm gonna try my best situation. You either did or you didn't.

unknown 5:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

And that's so that's so harsh to say, but it's true. Um, I forget it is. I think uh oh, the girls with grit conference last year, um, John Cheplak said there it there's nothing complicated about your goals. You either did or you didn't, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:57

And I was like, oh, oh well that's how our coach Taylor kind of is. She's like, Did you do it? Oh, you didn't do it? Then why'd you expect this to happen? Correct. Yeah. Um and so, like you said, this is it's not a try your best. This is a you miss a day, you start over. You don't beat yourself up, you just come back to the beginning and start over.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

And your future self-in a regular Right, and your future self will thank you for it, right? Because if you miss on day 30 and you're like, oh, I missed, I'm doing I'm not doing it anymore. You're that's that's not the point, right? Missing is not it's not to say that you don't have a day that you miss, right? The point is that you keep going, right? And like you said earlier, the idea is that once we get to the end of the 75 days, we don't immediately fall back into never doing these things again, right? Right, that it just stays consistent.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

Yes, you can reward yourself with the peanut butter cup, but we're not gonna eat all the peanut butter cups every day. Like you don't want to slip backwards. So here's the rules. We've got six. You have to complete, yes, there's only six of them. You have to complete all six every day for 75 days. So if you need a planner or a tracker or a spreadsheet or whatever it is to help you track this to make sure you don't miss one, I highly suggest building that. Um, so the first one is daily prospecting. This is a non-negotiable, you're gonna do it for 60 minutes. Um, it's not admin admin work, it's not scrolling, it's not thinking about making content. Choose one like one pillar and stick to it. So is that reaching out to your database or your sphere? Is it open house follow-up? Is it following up with FISBOs and expireds? Um, could it be investor or agent referrals? Could it be, you know, contacting um past clients or like sending DMs on social media that have clear intent, not the hey girl, um it's the hey, I saw that you posted this, was wondering, you know, things like that. The rules for this one are conversations are better than scripts. Yep. So even if it's that's that DM that you send is hey, I saw your daughter selling Girl Scout cookies, where are they set up this weekend? To me, that's opening a conversation. Yes. Um, and it shows that you care about your community. Um, there's no batching days. So I they don't want you to make a ton of content in one day and schedule it. They so I think, and and I'm gonna throw in a nope, I'm not. I'm not. There's no batching days. We're sticking to the rules, guys. So you need to be making some type of content or some type of um prospecting every day. And maybe it switches each day, but you need to be doing it every day. And you're going to track contacts, not just attempts. You're going to track the people you actually spoke to. If you didn't talk to a human, it doesn't count.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

And by talk to a human, it's back and forth. Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Back and forth. It's it's conversational. They had to have responded. So that's rule number one: 60 minutes of daily prospecting.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Yep. And number two, um, we're going into content. One piece of content per day. We're not talking about something that's gonna go viral and get you three million views. We're talking about relevant content that speaks to your ideal client, right? This can be education about the process of buying or selling, common mistakes that you see, um, local authority um content such as upcoming neighborhoods or maybe a new business opened in your town, something along those lines, um, or proof, right? Social proof is something that a lot of us overlook. I know I do. I need to post more of my client reviews and things on social media because it's something that other people have said. So use those testimonials, use your closings that you're having, any behind-the-scenes footage that you take, that kind of thing, that can all be content. Um, and content can be whatever platform and whatever setup you prefer, whether that's reels, carousels, um, stories are great. Actually, we get you get a lot of interaction with stories too, which can help with your conversations. Um, if you're doing an email newsletter, that is content. Um there's a there's a lot of pieces of content that you could build. If you're doing postcard mailers, all of that counts as content. Um, every piece must tell the viewer what to do next, right? Give them something, a step, like to reach out to you for your guide, to scan the QR code, something for them to do with that information that you just gave them. If there's no call to action, there's no credit, right? Because we're not just throwing things out into the universe for them to not go anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Right, right. There has to be a point to it. There has to be an uh, like you said, a call to action to get that response. So number three, body and energy discipline. So we are gonna make you move. And I think I think this is truly important. I think a lot of us forget to do this. I'm one of them somedays. Um 30 minutes because exercise creates endorphins, endorphins create happy people, and happy people don't kill their husbands. So it could be walking, it could be strength training, it could be yoga, jump on your Peloton, anything intentional, any intentional movement. I don't care if it's Tai Chi in your living room with your whether your dog stares at you like you're crazy. But this is about that mental clarity. Um, I like to think I saw someone once when I was like figuring out the work from home balance, they said they set this up as like their daily commute. Even though they work from home, their daily commute, quote unquote commute, was to go for a 30-minute walk around the neighborhood because that's what they like it would have been a 30-minute drive to work, and that put them in that work mindset. So is it 30 minutes on the Peloton? Is it 30 minutes of yoga? It doesn't have to be the beginning of your day, but 30 minutes of intentional movement.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

And number four, we're talking about skill development. Um, and you have two options here, which I think, I mean, I love a little flexibility and a challenge, right? So we're talking 10 pages or 20 minutes. Um, these must directly improve your ability to have sales conversations, negotiating, marketing, mindset, all of these things. There's so many books that are great on these topics, like just for a few off the top of my head, like atomic habits is a great one to develop your skill. Um, exactly what to say is a great one to develop skills. Um, you could listen to a podcast. Hey, we count, you guys. We have like over a hundred episodes. You could just go back and binge over these 75 days. Um, you could work with a partner, find an accountability buddy, and do some role play. Um, those kinds of things. We're just trying to use the skills, build the skills, right? The more conversations, the more times you go through your buyer agency um presentation or your listing presentation, those kinds of things, and you familiarize yourself with what somebody might say or how you approach a certain part of the contract, the easier it's gonna flow when you're in person doing those things. So this is just something to help build on that. This says no half listening to podcasts while on 1.5 holding laundry, but listen to me. I listen to podcasts while I'm driving, and I love to listen to a podcast on 1.5, unless they're a fast talker and then 1.25 while I'm holding laundry.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Sharon's podcast is the only one that I'm like, oh no, we're back to normal. Sharon speaks so quickly already. I think driving's okay. I think it's more the we don't want you zoning out and paying attention to something else. Like obviously, I want you to pay attention while you're driving, but I don't want you to be trying to do another task at the same time. Does that make sense? Okay. Um, so number five, you're going to track the score. Um, I just lost my notes. Okay, come back. Okay, there we go. Um hold on. Sorry guys, my notes just everything just closed for a second. Number five, we're gonna track the score. So every night when you're done, or maybe do it like if you need to keep like hashes while you're doing it, or you have a tracker or something, um you need to log the contacts that you made, the appointments that you've set, the content that you posted, and the conversations that moved the needle. Um this is how I think you eliminate your emotional decision making and you run your business like a business. So if we if we owned a boutique, right, and this wasn't a relationship relationship business like ours, we would know, okay, we ordered Brendan and I were just talking about jeans before we started this. We ordered four pairs of wide legs, five four pairs of skinnies, and four pairs of bell bottoms. We sold out of the wide legs day one, the skinny jeans, all four pairs sitting on the rack, and we have three pairs of the bell bottoms left. So we would adjust our business to know, okay, we need to order more wide legs. These are what our clients want right now, or this is what's making us the money. This is why we're tracking. We want to know what's helping you. What what are you doing to help move that needle? What where is your business coming from? And what actions are you taking to find it? Plus, it keeps you honest. Are you actually making contacts or are you just hitting like on Facebook? Because that's not a contact.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

It is super easy to do that, but it is not, it does not count as a contact, right? Right. And this is how you build those relationships with people in your community too, right? These might not be people that are going to transact with you personally, but they're people whose aunt has to sell or whose mom and dad are moving across the country and those kinds of things. Like it's not just specifically, that's why we're telling you, you're not hunting these people, getting in the on their messages and being like, hi, I know we haven't talked in three years, but do you know anybody who's looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate, right? Like Alyssa said, We're talking about, hey, your daughter's selling Girl Scout cookies, where are they gonna be? Because I need what are the coconut ones? My husband loves the coconut ones. Samoas, yes, right? I need some Samoas. So where are they set up? Those conversations lead to like we're building relationships. That's how we've built our businesses, and that's, I mean, we're firm believers that it works pretty well. So the last, the last step here, number six, is no soft quitting. And I'm using air quotes. I it's you can't see me unless you're on YouTube or on the clips, but soft quitting. This is a sneaky one, right? No skipping on the follow-up because it's awkward and you don't feel like doing it. No avoiding hard conversations. No, I didn't make my hour of prospecting yesterday and I'm gonna make it up today. None of that, right? We're we're really trying to be honest with ourselves and say, Alyssa and I aren't gonna call and check up on you. You know what I mean? You need to be honest with yourself because your business will show how much work and how consistent you were throughout this process, right? Um, I was part of a challenge last gosh, June through September, I think it was, that it was like the grit iron challenge. And um, there were so many people that participated, but it was funny because they're like, we'll know who did the work, right? You'll know who did the work. There's people who say that they did, and there's people who will have done it. And it will be very clear in business for you guys what happens next, you know. So you don't have to be perfect to do this, but you do need to be honest with yourself for yourself because say nobody's checking up on you. But that's where that's where the winners are made, or when they're doing the work for themselves behind behind closed doors.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

So your weekly structure, your weekly non-negotiables are five to ten conversations, open conversations moved forward, two to three listing or buyer consults scheduled, one full database touch, and one local authority post that proves your expertise. So say you're going to get coffee at your favorite coffee shop, snap some footage, post it, and be like, hey, this is my favorite place to go on Saturday mornings. Or maybe you're headed to a farmer's market if you're not snowed in like we are. Oh, look, the farmer's market's open for the season. So glad to be here.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Um and what we mean by like open conversations move forward too, like go back through your Facebook messages, your emails. Like if you don't have a good follow-up system from somebody who said, Hey, like my cousin's selling, right? Or hey, I'm gonna be pre-approved next year. My lease is up in May, right? Those are open conversations that have already been started, right? That maybe you drop the ball. Let's be honest. Like, I know I've done it, that there's just been people that like suddenly come back out and they're like, hey, I think I'm ready. And I'm like, oh my God, I've literally only reached out to them once in the last year because I completely forgot about them. And that's hard. But you know what's harder when you see that they bought or sold a house with somebody else because you didn't close the loop, right? So go back through, have those conversations. Um, make sure that you're at least, even if they're not moving for a year, reach out, say hello, let them know you are still in their universe, right? That you're still thinking about them and removing those conversations and those deals, upcoming deals forward. Um, two to three listing or buyer consults scheduled. You crush it. Crush it, right? Sometimes that that'll be hard, right? It's hard. I know there's people that set more than that every week. There's weeks that I have last week I had five buyer consults, right? This week I only have one scheduled, right? So it is what it is, but just keep moving that forward. And then the database touch, that can be an email, that can be your your Facebook post, those kinds of things. Don't get so in the weeds as far as like, oh my God, a full database touch. I have 1,200 people in my database. I cannot call 1,200 people in a week. Girl, me either. I'm not calling 1,200 people this week. It's not happening, right? Absolutely do use your DTD too with this. Yeah. Too.

SPEAKER_02 20:42

Yeah, use your DTD to, like you said, an email or like a newsletter that counts. That can be a full database, maybe if you're not sending deal of the week emails, this is where you add that in. Um, and you could schedule those. Those don't have to be like something that you do every day or have to do that.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

This is not something that we're trying to get you like 20 minutes into this episode and be like, oh, I'm out, I'm out, right? And a lot of these things, like, these aren't things that we're adding in for you, right? Like these are all things that should be a part of your world every day, anyways. But for most of us, when we put the word like challenge in front of it, we're like, oh yeah, oh, I'm here for it, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:21

Because adds something to it.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Okay, let's talk about some of the most popular, or not popular, most common failure points that we expect or that we've dealt with personally. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Yeah, I think the I think the biggest one, and I think the one that I see happen all the time, is people trying to overbuild. They come out with new branding. This is the time you're ever seeing everyone, who's using what CRM? We want to change. Honey, it's not your CRM. It's your actions. If you're not using your CRM, it doesn't matter which one you switch to because it's not magically going to work for you. So you don't need new branding, you don't need a new CRM, you don't need a new bio. Maybe you need to refresh some of it. Maybe you need to update a few things.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

I was gonna say maybe if your bio says, like, listen, and I love Jesus too, but loves Jesus and pasta. That and has three dogs, like maybe we do need to update that bio, right?

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Right. Because it does says nothing about selling houses. Um, maybe we need to rephrase that to Jesus motivated realtor or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Oh, see, it's just and you didn't even pop that into Chat GPT. You didn't even pop that into Chat GPT to figure that out. So it's not that hard. But yes, sometimes you do need a little bio refresh because people need to know who you are when they go to your to your page, but that's a whole other topic for another for another day.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

But well, and that's it's one of the things you do need is cleaner messaging. People shouldn't like I hate, I hate, it's one of my biggest pet peeves with agents, is when someone ref like tags someone on social media, and so I go to their page because I'm like, yep, this is the person I want to have a conversation with, and I want to call them. If you are a realtor and your phone number is not on your Facebook page or your email or your website, some somewhere that will get me to a phone number to call you, then you need to fix your messaging. That's okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

And it it is so true though, you say that with messaging because, like you said, with branding and everything, people get so caught up in like what it looks like. But and we're gonna we're trying to get Taylor Hunt on this podcast. So if anybody, you know, has a good in with Taylor, but she will tell you like her first year in real estate, she didn't have any of that stuff. And I think it's a crutch for people to be like, oh, well, my branding's not on point, and oh, I don't have the right CRM, and oh, this, that, and the third. But it has nothing to do with that. If you have enough conversations and if you put out content that is helpful and relevant to the people that you want to work with, you will get clients. Whether your font is blue, whether your font matches, whether you have flowers or houses or birds or whatever it is on your branding, if your messaging is clean and clear, you will get people that reach out to you. Here's the next part while we're on the whole, you know, branding and stuff like that. Content is not prospecting. This is a hard pill for a lot of us to swallow, okay? Posting a piece of content is not the same thing as reaching out to people. It is not conversations. Now you can have conversations from things that you post for sure. It like sets you up for a warm conversation if somebody comments on your post or something like that. But you need to have both. You need to be posting and you need to be doing reach outs, not for not directly attached to that post. Does that make sense?

unknown 25:04

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Because I feel like there's so many agents, and I see it too, that'll post, you know, just sold or just listed or little blurbs here and there. But if they're not having behind the scene conversations with people and following up and doing the work along with the work, then that content can be, I don't want to say wasted, but it can be wasted at that point. You're putting so much time and effort into making that pretty piece of content, but it's not going anywhere because you're not having those conversations.

SPEAKER_02 25:39

Exactly. And that's why that content should have that call to action in it. Like that will help you bring that conversation. Um, you also don't need to wait for confidence. God, if I waited till I had confidence in this industry, I never would have had a listing. I actually just texted my first client the other day and I was like, Hey, can you believe it's been five years since we listed your house? And she was like, What? And I was like, Yeah. And I just I sent her a quick thank you. I actually sent her a gift in the mail that said, Thank you so much for trusting me. But your confidence is gonna come after your reps. So it's gonna come after you've had the conversation. So make the calls, even if you're nervous. Post imperfectly. It doesn't better done is better than not, you know? Done is better than perfect. Um, have that pricing conversation anyway. Like just if you do it, the more you do it, the better you will get. Wayne Gretzky wasn't the best hockey player when he first started, you know. Uh Tom Brady had to throw probably millions of passes before or hundreds of passes before he got good at it. It takes practice. So don't wait for that confidence. The confidence will come the more you do it. Yes, absolutely. So, Brent, Brenda, what happens after no, you're good. What happens after our 75 days?

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Well, ideally, here are here's what we want you to see after 75 days. We want to see that you're having cleaner, easier conversations with people, that this stuff is just coming naturally to you because you've put your reps in, right? That your pipeline is fuller because again, same thing. We're having those conversations, we're outputting the content into the world, the world seeing that we are a rock star real estate agent, and they want to work with us. Um, that your decision making is faster. Remember, we talked about the genes, right? So if somebody calls and says, Hey, I have this great new CRM for you, and you're like, hey, that's that's not good for me. That's not what aligns with my business in this moment, you're gonna be able to say no with far more confidence than being like, oh, well, if they say that so-and-so got 53 leads from this one ad, maybe it's worth it. And we're gonna sit, we'll be able to say no, right? Because we know it aligns with our business and what our people like. And right now it's straight leg jeans, okay? Um, and then hopefully, again, your pipeline is fuller, your income's gonna become more predictable or at least more consistent. And for us in real estate agent in in real estate world, I I think that a consistent, full pipeline with consistent, full bank accounts is is great.

SPEAKER_02 28:11

Yeah, I agree. I mean, everyone wants consistent income, right? Um, and it take it takes a while to get there, but this will help you. I don't want to say fast track it, but this will give you that consistency because consistent actions bring consistent income. So I I think that's everything. Um if you want to really hit a sales goal this year, not a cute one, not a hopeful one, but you actually have a number, I think this is a great roadmap to follow. I really do. Like this gives you a daily structure. Here's the things you have to do. I don't think you have to do them in any particular order each day. You can do them as they fit into your schedule. Um, but this will give you that clear-cut roadmap to reach that goal.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Um and we're not talking about eight hours of stuff in here, right? Like we're talking about two hours. Two or three hours of commitment from you as far as, and that's moving your body, that's skill development, that's content, that's prospecting, right? There is nothing in your business and your life that two hours of prospecting and business building can't change. It just has to be consistent. You can't put two hours in on Monday and then not again until next Tuesday. So that's the that's the biggest thing. But I hope that you guys really like this and are excited because we are about to start Q2, which traditionally in the real estate world is one of the busiest quarters, right? Because school's out or about to be out soon. So let's get those pipelines ready. Let's commit to 75 days. If you miss, it's fine. Keep going, right?

unknown 29:49

Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Well, you start over, but you don't quit.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

Yes, don't quit. Yes, don't quit.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

You're back to day one, but keep going. Which honestly is gonna make you more consistent. Because if you skip and you just say, Oh, that was day 45, I did it, and you move on to day 46. Well, no, you're not, you're you're missing the rep. You're never gonna be the Tom Brady because Tom Brady would have gone back and hit another rep. As much as I don't like that man, Tom Brady would have gone back and hit another rep. So you don't get your reps.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

Oh my god. Oh well. Well, we will see you guys next week. If you uh we're gonna put the the steps in the show notes for you. So if you need to screenshot it, go ahead and take a uh a screenshot of that. Share on Facebook, tag us, let us know how it's going, and if you love it, and we'll see you guys next week.