In this episode of The Book More Show, I speak with Gene Donohue about building sustainable real estate businesses through systematic approaches. Gene shares insights from his journey since 2011, explaining how treating real estate as a business rather than just a sales role has shaped his success and coaching methodology.
I learned about the 'big four' systems that Gene considers essential: lead generation, contract-to-close, client relationships, and post-closing follow-up. He explains how using the DISC assessment helps agents adapt these systems to their personal working styles and strengths, making them more effective and sustainable.
We conclude by examining the three stages of real estate business growth - cash building, impact building, and legacy building. Gene describes his transition from active real estate production to becoming a national director, offering perspective on how agents can plan their own career progression while maintaining energy and focus.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
I introduced Gene Donohue, a real estate coach who entered the industry in 2011 and overcame initial challenges through persistence and a strategic mindset.
Gene emphasized the importance of adopting a business mindset in real estate and leveraging tools like the DISC assessment to understand personal behaviors and motivators for effective strategy development.
We discussed the significance of implementing systems in real estate, focusing on the 'big four': lead generation, contract-to-close, client relationships, and post-closing follow-up.
Gene shared insights on the necessity of a proper cash flow system, using frameworks like Profit First, to manage financial stress and plan for the future effectively.
We explored the three stages of growth in a real estate business: cash building, impact building, and legacy building, with most agents remaining in the cash building stage.
The conversation highlighted the importance of strategic planning, focusing on prioritization and congruence between current efforts and future goals.
Gene discussed his transition from real estate production to a national director role, providing a unique perspective on strategic planning and energy management.
We examined the role of technology and soft skills in maintaining client relationships, likening it to account management in IT.
Gene stressed the value of teaching past clients how to refer, an often overlooked aspect of the post-closing system.
We concluded by reflecting on the importance of building meaningful connections and engaging in conversations that can make a significant impact in the real estate industry.
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TRANSCRIPT
(AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)
Stuart: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Bookmore Show. It's Stuart Bell here, and today joined by Gene. I nearly got that. I nearly spoonerized the name Gene Donohue, and he said Dean Ginnahook. I was just apologizing to Dean before Dean God doing it again. This is the problem where your business partner is called Dean.
Gene:And I'm Gene.
Stuart: Yeah, the tongue defaults to that. I was just saying to Gene before we started the computer was playing up a little bit and having to get things reset up. But it's a good opportunity to touch base a little bit because I've said on a few shows before, I've usually got a mix of people who I having to get things reset up. But it's a good opportunity to touch base a little bit because I've said on a few shows before, I've usually got a mix of people who I know quite well because we've had lots of conversations and people kind of meeting for the first time or haven't had that chance to catch up. So that's this case. So I'm looking forward to learning more about you and what you do as a real estate coach and consultant. We work with a few people in that space, so kind of entering it as a knowledgeable outsider but not a professional. So why don't we start by giving more of a background for everyone and let people know what it is that you do?
Gene:Yeah, sure, sure. So I came into the real estate world back in 2011. And I remember my friends telling me what are you crazy? Because the market wasn't very good here in the United States back then. What are you crazy? I was like you know something. If I can make it in this market, just think what I can do when I get into a good market. So, you know, I was fortunate enough that you know, I was successful in my first year, unlike you know, there was 87% of all brand new real estate agents are out of the industry within two years. Right, and I was one of those fortunate ones that you know put my nose to the grindstone and was able to eat.
Stuart: you know, make a living yeah, I think that benefit of joining when you did and knowing that it wasn't just money trees lying around, that you just went to pick the cash off, knowing that you're going into it as a business because it is one of those industries where I think the the low barrier to entry and the ease in which people can enter really make it seem like it's. People don't necessarily treat it as a profession in the same way.
Gene: Right Though 2011.
Stuart: now I was just thinking, oh, that's not so long ago. But then I did the math and it's kind of creeping up there a little bit. Yeah right, the market change over those periods. That's pretty dramatic, from entering after the financial crisis and coming in a very changing environment in the real estate world and that's gone through a period of growth and now we find ourselves back in another period of change.
Gene: So that experience over that period and the realtors that you work with, what's kind of the underlying personality type or characteristic that people have got, the ones who managed to stick it out? So the ones who've managed to stick it out, and back in 2011, there were at the time, less than a million members of NAR, national Association of Realtors. Now we got what? 2.4 million.
So you know, during those times and as I continue to, you know progress through leadership in real estate, those who actually treat their real estate business as a business, take it seriously and go out and do the things that are necessary to become successful, those are the ones who are still here and those are the ones who are going to continue to really explode their business. Because, when it comes down to you know, we're all small business owners and so it's important that we have the proper mindset to run our small business, because really, real estate is all about two things proper mindset and robust systems, and when you combine those two together, that can really accelerate growth. So those who take it seriously, professionally, those people will succeed. If you treat it as a hobby, the results you will get will be.
you know less than what you hope for than what you hope for it's such a great point, that idea that the two elements, because I think everyone comes in.
Stuart: Well, not everyone, but a lot of people come into the industry, knowing the local area, being kind of a gregarious character and having lots of personal connections, so the natural idea that, oh, hey, I know people and I'm good with people and I know the area and I know houses, so how hard can this be? But that, as a as a jumping off point, it's only really one leg of the stool, that mindset to work through the difficult periods and the systems to kind of professionalize it, the people who you work with. Just talking a second about what it is that you do. But the people who you work with, do you find that they self-select themselves as being interested in those two other areas, the other elements, or are they coming with a? Hey, I don't know what to do. I know I need to do something and you've got a plan, so tell me about it.
Gene: Yeah, it's mostly the latter, because most of the agents that I work with have been in the industry for a couple of years maybe. Every once in a while I get a brand new agent and that's fantastic because I can set that foundation for them. They're bad habits.
Yeah yeah, exactly, but most who I work with, they're coming to me with the oh my God, I don't know what to do. I don't want to be part of that 87%. So most of the work that I do with agents is really around tackling the root cause of agent failure and, whether they know it or not, they're beginning to feel that like, oh, I'm going to fail here, so what do I need to do? So that's really who my ideal client is that person. They've been in the industry for a while, they've had some success, but they don't know how to take their business to the next level.
Stuart: I think the systems element of that is such a strong component, because it really is. You get to the end of your own mental capacity based on the things that you've done in the past, and it's only by changing those things that you can move to the next level and systems.
I'm always conscious that my background is in project management years and years ago and marine telecommunications even further back than that, so that's a very systematic engineering type approach to things, slightly biased towards the systematization of things, but that also seems like it's the only way forward.
Um, just as we were waiting to get started, we were looking at the books on the shelf behind you there and the email right and that's the premise of that book as well the kind of idea of you can get yourself so far with what's in here, but as soon as you need to scale, yeah so those ideas new for people or do they? Sorry, it's not the ideas, but the concept. Is the concept new for people, this idea that systematizing is important, or do they have a familiarity of that and it's just they don't know which systems to put in place?
Gene: Yeah. So, yeah, they know that they need to have the systems, but they're not sure what systems need to be developed in what order. So I have what I call the big four systems and, first and foremost, you have to have a lead generation and lead follow-up system. If you don't have that, you don't have a business. So that's the first thing.
And I look at that a little bit differently as well, in that a lot of real estate agents, they'll pick a system because somebody else is having success with that lead generation system and they look at that person. They go, oh, wow, they're doing, oh, they're doing a fantastic job. But then they begin to bring that lead generation system into their business and it's not working for them. And it's not working for them. And it's not working for them because they haven't done the work up front to find out how they're wired, how they behave in different situations. So, going back to my early days, it was Gene, you have to call for sale by owners and expires, and I was like, okay, the best of all tasks, yeah right right, and you know I got a couple deals out of it.
But you know there were days where it's like I'd rather have somebody put a sharp stick in my eye than make these phone calls. I just wasn't wired for it. So one of the things I do with my clients is I take them through the disc assessment.
Stuart: Okay.
Gene: So they have a better understanding of who they are, how they behave, what their motivators are. And then we look at that and we look at, okay, what type of strategies to build your database, to build your business. It would work for you based on how you're wired, and that has a much better success rate in growing a lead generation system than just trying to save time, save money, than just trying to know save time saves money, than just trying to well what? Maybe I'll try this right.
Stuart: It's such a great point. Understanding the difference and what strategy is one thing and you can take a lot of strategies from other people, but the actual implementation, if it doesn't mirror with your personality type, it's just going to be a grind all the way through. If you actually manage to stick with it. Yes, I really like that approach of separating out those ideas and it's not a one-size-fits-all but there's definitely things that you can take from other people's ideas and the way that they're doing things but, just manipulate it or make it a better fit for the way that that you approach things?
right right you mentioned there were four. Yes, that was the first one. What's the?
Gene: first one, yeah. So the second one is the contract to close system. So that's really where real estate agents make their money and that starts. Okay, I'm writing the contract and I'm going to have to negotiate that contract and then, once the negotiation is done and we've agreed on everything, now we've got a period of time where time is of the essence, where there are certain things that have to be done in a certain order and a certain period of time, and in that period of time there is Always turbulence. 99% of the time you're going to get turbulence and a good contract to close system is going to reduce that turbulence. So the first thing is setting the proper expectations as well and letting them know that you know these are the things that could possibly happen, but if they happen, these are the things that we're going to do, and if you set that expectation up front, it makes it a lot smoother.
Stuart: Yeah.
Gene: So contract to close is a really important system to have.
Stuart: I think these days as well I mean with the recent changes in the industry, the fact that real agents are going to have to be more comfortable with negotiating and we're kind of moving away a little bit from the well, this is just the way it is. So, like it or lump it, it is a little bit more of a there's more of a relationship, and I want to kind of liken it to kind of like the account management role in IT, kind of like the account management role in in it. That person who's there to negotiate the challenges that come up through the, the duration of it, obviously from the real estate, is going to be doing it themselves. But I think over the next period of time that is going to shake out some people who are uncomfortable with that and the people who don't have those systems in the place. It's just going to make it even more challenging absolutely, absolutely.
Gene: Yeah, one of the best certifications that I got was becoming a certified negotiation expert. That was one of the best real estate certifications I ever got.
Stuart: I love that and it really truly helped me become a better agent right because of the idea that everyone looks to ai and technology is the solution to everything, and there's the concern of the zillification of things and the blockchain of contracting so that, oh why is this no longer just a one-click solution? But I know enough realtors and even we bought the house where we are now two years ago and worked with a friend Know this situation enough that the mechanical pieces of the process are pretty straightforward. But that's maybe the 20% of the overall relationship. The 80% is the soft skills of aligning expectations between you and the client, aligning expectations between the husband and the wife, aligning expectations between the buyer and the seller. I mean, it's the contract and the technical side of it is one element, but the counselor and therapist and taxi driver element of it is quite another. So I think that's a key difference and, with all of the difficulties and changes that come from industry as it involves, there's also opportunity thrown which I think is what you're tying into.
Gene: Yeah, that was that. Yeah, that was the second two system three, and this one is when I talk to agents who have been in the industry for a while and ask them what do you wish you would have put into place? What do you wish you would have done earlier? This is it, and it's a post-closing system.
Stuart: Right.
Gene: Staying in touch with your past clients and not only just staying in touch with them. Going back to I call it, the five-star review. When you start working with a client, you set that expectation to begin with that I am going to deliver a five-star review experience for you. And if I'm failing in that experience, I want you to call me out and let me know, Because I want to make sure I do the best job I possibly can. Because when we're finished, I want you to be 100% confident to say call Gene. And where this system sort of goes off the rails a little bit for agents is, yeah, they'll keep in touch with them, but then they don't teach their past clients how to refer them. So that's an important part of the post-closing system yeah, you want to stay in touch and how you're doing and things like that, but teaching them how to refer you. I don't know if you're familiar with BNI.
Stuart: Yeah.
Gene: So I spent the first couple of years in real estate in a BNI chapter, and that's what it was all about teaching you, the member, how to refer other members, and that's a big missing part in a post-closing system.
Stuart: I think so many people rely on the fact that and we could do a better job. I mean, we do some amount of this, but we could definitely do better. So many people rely on the fact that, hey, I did a great job. Why wouldn't people refer me? Even down to family members there's that expectation.
But you only need to look at your own experience to remember that. Yeah, I don't, I was talking to gene, but then two weeks ago I was talking to someone else and actually they would have been a perfect fit. I just forgot, I just never thought about it. It wasn't. There wasn't an excuse that was or reason to have that anchor top of mind. So I would absolutely love to refer gene. It would be the one thing I would absolutely be more than happy to do. But I forgot, I didn't recognize the opportunity right and I think people just don't think about orchestrating it in that way right right we had.
We've done a couple of books actually for people who were trying to fill that gap by using a book. So they'll have a book to the guide to living in Raleigh or the guide to living in Glenmore, where I am. So they'll use that, really not as a hey, I'm the best realtor, pick me because of X, y, z reasons, but really completely focused on here's the things about the area, here's the benefits and here's some local gems that you wouldn't know about. But then they can give that as a referral tool to people and people are much more likely to remember that there was this valuable resource.
And then it's associated with the realtor. So again, just to orchestrate in those referrals it's right, it's a step that few people do yeah, exactly when you introduce that idea to people again? Is it one of those things that people see as a common sense, thing that they just haven't thought about, or is it a revelation of? I've never even thought about doing this before?
Gene: Yeah, it's a common sense thing, but you know it's again not having someone to teach them how to do it. Common sense is uncommon top of it. Yeah, exactly, you know, you got Brian Buffini out there. Who's all about this.
Stuart: Right.
Gene: And you know I love the stuff that Buffini does Absolutely, and. But the missing piece is that, okay, you can refer someone to Buff feemy to teach them that, but what about?
Stuart: all the other stuff, yeah, yeah, it's almost that opportunity to think about your thinking, unless you're actually working with someone one-on-one. All these ideas and all of the all of the opportunities that are out there, it really is the case that it's the minority of it that is a magic trick or a spell or something that is completely different and completely new. The majority of it is implementing the stuff that we all know we should be doing, as long as we actually got around to it. And that's the real benefit of working with someone. It's that completion around the stuff that isn't. That is the 80. That's either common sense or not magic. But once those things are in place, it definitely then frees you up to kind of up level your thinking a little bit to. The foundations are in place, so you can kind of take that thinking to the next level and maybe you will stumble across a magic trick yeah without the foundations it's really a bit of a teetering tower of.
It might work, but it might all collapse to the ground right, right, exactly exactly okay, so we've run through three. What's the fourth?
Gene: so the fourth one is a cash flow system, and you know that is where I see a ton of opportunity for real estate agents. I'm in a lot of different real estate agent groups on Facebook and LinkedIn and one of the questions that I see coming up all the time is hey, I've got a $10,000 commission check coming. What should I do with it? Or I plan on spending $5,000 of my marketing. You know where should.
Stuart: I spend it.
Gene: And you know it's like okay, obviously there's no system in place, otherwise you wouldn't be asking these questions. So the cash flow system is extremely important and you know knowing what to do with your money when it comes in and how to use it effectively. To, first of all, the first thing you have to do is pay yourself. I've seen so many agents that have been like well, you know, I had to do this, I had to do this so, and they're living from one closing to the next and they're all freaked out because and now commission, breath is coming out and because they don't know where their money went. And at the end of the year the accountant said congratulations, you had a $30,000 profit. And the agent goes where's the?
Stuart: money and the agent goes where's the money?
Gene: Yeah, so I've developed a cash flow system and it's similar to what Mike Michalowicz developed in Profit First, although I have really modified it to the real estate agent. And actually even before Michalowicz and Profit First, dave Ramsey, which a lot of people are familiar with, is the envelope system. And even before Dave Ramsey, my great-grandmother used the envelope system during the war or whatever, when she was young. And you know they got money in and this is for groceries and this is for electricity. It's the same type of process. Again, it's nothing new, it's just let's put this process in place. So what that looks like I really simplify it depending upon your needs Looks like I really simplify it depending upon your needs.
And when I work with an agent, we also develop a personal budget because it's called income congruence. I want them to be able to their business to fund their lifestyle. So how much money do you need? And then we go through that process. But on a basic level, you're going to turn $10,000 in commission and first you have to. We'll just use 10,000. So after split, let's say you have $10,000, $5,000 is for you, that's your pay and that should be a consistent number. Then 15% you're putting into a separate account for the tax man. I don't know how many agents are on a tax plan with the IRS, a payment plan but there's a lot of them, and it's the most stressful time for many real estate agents during tax time yeah, because, again, if you don't plan for it, it surprises you and catches you out.
Stuart: And it's always the numbers are always on the worst end of the spectrum than than you think it's. It's uncommon that it happens to be on the better end of the spectrum. So, without planning for it, it's just. Again that time goes fast and the end of the year comes around quick, or from the referrals and the post-closing structure, that time will sneak up on you. Going into it, you think you've got all the time in the world, but all of a sudden everything's happening and then you're onto the next. So this idea of kind of just taking time to think about the structure of everything and putting things in place really makes a difference. One of the reasons I wanted to run through the four steps because knowing that you had a pretty robust program that you share with people.
Oftentimes people will come and say I know a book is a good idea. I don't exactly know what to write about it and my go-to always is talk about your strategy, your framework, the things that you talk about. You mentioned dave ramsay, but financial peace is the seven baby steps. It's the exact framework for his framework. So the book that you wrote, the more cash, more growth, more freedom. That's built around the things that you. It's very congruent with the things that you teach all the time. Was that the plan initially? Did you come to the project thinking that you were going to mirror very closely the way that you work, or did that develop in the process and you kind of refined it into that?
Gene: so the basics behind the book is how I developed my real estate business and, you know, and as my thinking grew because in 2019, um, I left production, so and I went and took a role as a one of the national companies I was a national director for new agent training. So as I went into that role, my thinking evolved, but the basis of it was always how you know, this is how I ran my business. This is how I ran my business. This is how I was successful. This is how I funded my lifestyle, and one of the things I wanted to make sure, as I thought through this is what worked for me may not work for you. So how do we put together this system to make sure that it is pliable enough to work for everyone?
Stuart: That's why I really like this idea of strategies versus tactics the idea that the strategy is we want to achieve this broad outcome, but the tactics that we use below it. And I think that's a differentiator in your approach, maybe, than some others, because I think a lot of other people are a little bit more prescriptive. Yes, and that's fine if you have a broad access to a market and you can sift and sort and self-select the people who who mirror what you want or the way that you want to work. They kind of they're in tune with it and they're on the same page. But that leaves out a whole section of the market. If, instead, you can look at strategies and then provide tactics that work for multiple personality types or the way that people work, it's added a lot more valuable, a lot more value into the industry, and I guess that in part comes from that training background you kind of weren't in a position to select who the people you worked with, they were presented to you as new agents.
So, you're able to take that framework and implement it in that way, that bridge between what is included in the book and the content, because we often talk about, or we always talk about conversation, starting books and this idea that it's the first step in a process. So your overall program, that the full framework, is obviously very broad and goes very deep in each of those areas. So the idea of what to include and and what is kind of then outside of the scope of the book, was there any tension in bringing those together? Or, again, based on the experience, was it very obvious that this was the starting point of the conversation and it was easy to know where the line was?
Gene: well, you know, one of the things that I've looked at in a business, in a real estate business, is that there's actually three stages of growth that a real estate agent business can go through, and the first stage is cash building. Second stage is impact building and then the third stage is legacy building. Now, going backwards, it's the 1% that reaches that legacy building.
Stuart: Yeah.
Gene: It's the 10%. The Pareto principle does not apply to real estate agents. Believe it or not, it's not 80-20, it's actually 90-10.
Stuart: Right.
Gene: And so that 90% of agents are in the cash building stage. So the focus of more cash, more growth, more freedom is on the cash building stage.
Stuart: Right.
Gene: So I purposely spend. Probably again, the prior principle probably applies here. 80% of the book is on the cash building stage what that does, though I mean it really does.
Stuart: The example of the book blueprint scorecard the first mindset in it is choosing that single target market because you're the exact.
I'll use this as an example in the future, but this is the exact epitome of that idea that all of us, as business owners, can do a pretty broad breadth of things within our niche.
But starting a conversation, you start a conversation with one person and although over time it's going to be multiple one persons, it's still one person that you're having that conversation with. So understanding that if you're talking to the legacy group of people, the cash building metaphors aren't going to mean anything because they're past that. And likewise, if you're trying to engage with the 90 in the cash building stage, talking about legacy is too early. So the fact that you kind of sat down and thought, okay, I do have programs that help all of these people, but for this particular funnel, for this particular campaign, the job of work of this book is talking to this single target market. And then, once you've selected that as the first stage, all the other things the title, the scope of the content, the constraints that you put around it all falls into place because you know who it is that you're talking to.
Gene: Exactly, exactly.
Stuart: That idea of tying it into that group. Sometimes people have a scarcity mindset of, well, no, I just want I can help everyone, and it's very difficult to get people to think about it in terms of one single target market at a time. Was that a challenge at all? Or have you? You've been around long enough to know that was the way to go? It was a little bit of a challenge at all. Or have you? You've been around long enough to know that was the way to go?
Gene: it was a little bit of a challenge at first, because I thought, you know, I want to expand because I've been working with new, newer agents for a long time. Right, and I wanted to expand my horizons.
But I just kept on coming back to these agents that are in that building stage and really that's where my heart is as well. So that's an important aspect of it. If I can make, you know, just a half a percentage change in the 87% that fail, that I've done my job, and you know. And also it's a way for me to give back to an industry that treated me very well. I had a lot of success, a lot of growth, and it's time to give back, you know, and towards the you know latter end. I mean I plan to live old, but you know. And towards the you know, latter end. I mean I plan to live old, but, you know, at the latter end of this particular piece of work not the last end of everything
Stuart: yeah, right approaching the next exciting opportunity exactly this one but I know what you mean in terms of the.
I was on a. I forget whether it. I recorded a podcast yesterday, but I was also on a couple of other calls, so I don't remember whether it was the podcast that I did. So I think probably last week's episode, as this goes out, was with Jason. We were talking about podcasts as an engagement tool and we were saying in that that if you've got a hundred units of energy to do something, it is a finite resource. It's not as if it's a. It's not that there isn't going to be another 100 units next week, but still this energy that we can put into something today is is finite because it's competing for the attention of other things that we might want to do so at least narrowing it down to making sure that all hundred units of energy make this particular activity as useful as possible, and then move on to the next one it's
I forget what the who came up with, the, the principle, but I saw like a project management type approach and it was saying that you could go abc, ab, abc, abc, across three months and try and get three projects done, but it's only the first. Completion is at the beginning of the third month, abc it's not until you get to that third day, whereas if you did AAA, bbb, ccc, it's still the same duration of time but you've got completed projects all the way through. So, assuming that must be the same with the people who you're working with, trying to get people to focus on completing the one thing before moving on to the next absolutely.
Gene: You know, I mentioned income congruence. That's got to be the first thing that we really focus in on is what is your lifestyle today? All right, so what? How much money do you need to make to continue that lifestyle today? What does your what is your vision see? Your lifestyle in a couple of years from now? All right, so now we know that we're here in A, this is where you want to be, this is the bridge, so you need X amount today. How much in commissions do you need to make to support today? And then, how do you need to grow your business to get to the other side of the bridge? You ask so many agents they're newer agents. Well, how much do you want to make in real estate? And 99% of the time, the answer is $100,000. Why, why?
is that important to you? Yeah, so that's the first thing we really start to focus in on, because then you have a plan on how to grow your business right, whereas if you start like, well, I want to do x amount, but what's the y behind it? What's the big y behind it as well?
Stuart: yeah, and if 100 000 requires 100 units worth of energy, but really you only want to put 20 units of energy into it, then at least acknowledging that incongruency and having it better, or realizing that 20 units worth of energy will give you everything that you want. So what's the what's the return on that additional?
time, it's not until you actually think about it. It's like you were saying before about the tactics and the strategies just trying to replicate what someone else is doing without thinking whether it's a good fit for you or whether it supports the rest of the business. It's that thinking about it. That makes a difference yeah um.
So I think from this call, that was the one thing that I really wanted to get across to people, not only to share your story, but also this idea that it's easy to get hung up on what, what the book could be or what can be included, but I think for the majority of business owners out there, if you've been doing something for more than a year, you've really got the beginnings of that conversation in your head already and it's easy to undervalue because you've got 20 years in the business and you forget what those beginning steps are or you can do a wide breadth of things, so it's difficult to narrow down to the conversation and how it provides value to that group of people.
But I think what you've done is really identified that group and delivered that value within the pages of the book, knowing that it's a conversation starter, and the next step is to go in a little bit more detail. Go in a little bit more detail.
Gene: Yeah, one of the benefits also to me as the, as the author, is it really helped me focus in my thinking as well, and through the process my thinking has evolved also into, you know, what we've come up with today the final version of the book. So, yes, it took me a little while to get through the process, but it was so worth it. And from this process we have the book, and from the book I have a brand new coaching program as well.
Stuart: Right, ah, fantastic, yeah. And again, it's one of those things where, unless you were forced to sit down and have to go through those steps, there was an external force making you kind of articulate things in a particular way and join them together in a particular way, because it's trying to fit in between a front and back cover. When else would you have sat down and done that exercise?
I mean, it's unlikely because of all of the other stuff that's going on day to day yeah, it's actually a little bit of a tangent, but for I mean probably for more than a year I've wanted to add in a community element to the night minute books program, to have a, because we've helped over a thousand people over the years. So to have a community where other people can like, share best practices or what they're doing. We can add additional stuff into the process because obviously there's some degree of constraint in just getting people through the the steps but, one of those elements is this idea of the version two.
so the difference between a traditional book and a conversation starting book, the fact that a 90 minute book is a fast project compared with a big six, nine months project which is more of a traditional approach.
The benefit of that is getting something out there and it's almost like a lean methodology. It's getting something out there, customer facing, so you can get that feedback and maybe pivot down the track rather than putting all of your eggs in one basket into a big project that maybe misses the mark. But this idea that you went through this version two of okay version one is my initial thinking. It gets it out there. If I choose to, I can put it out there and get actual feedback might I may see it and want to do the the next iteration myself, but the community side would help us, would give us a forum for helping people go through that version, to bringing together the thinking into something a little bit more structured than maybe they had when they came to it, where people come to it with a good idea and having some value to help, but being able to structure that. So I'm glad that we did this call because it's another reminder that I really need to get that community awesome.
Yeah, that would be a definitely a great value add to to the program, without a doubt yeah, and there's so many calls either podcasts like this that we do or the strategy calls I do with people and these conversations. I mean, I really enjoy talking to people about this opportunity to amplify a little bit further. So by the time this podcast goes live, I'll have sent an email out to all of the customers that we've worked with and the people we're currently working with floating that idea and getting a little bit of feedback.
But, yeah, thank you, it's, that's something that's useful come from it.
But I mean so we can wrap up now we're done.
But seriously, I think, as people are listening to this and obviously we email out to all of our list, which is a mix of plants that we've worked with and people who have expressed an interest, but there's a couple of shows that we've done now where people have said, from the project in fact, the show that's going we're recording this in early may the show that's going live this weekend is with donna and jeff and they both said the same they have created now a separate business which was talking about something that came from the book, was talking about we recorded a few weeks ago, so I might get the details wrong in the specifics, but it was, um, legacy planning type business, transition type world, and from the book which brought together some of their ideas.
Just as you were saying, they've got a whole separate business unit now which is dedicated to taking this element to the next step. So it's yeah, it's definitely something, I think, because it's a when we think about those 100 units of energy and the timing, it's a bringing together of the energy and the timing you have to go through this process because you want to make the process as good as possible and that element of thinking if it aligns with, maybe, a thought that was in your head already or it's kind of triggering or or sparking some external conversations that you're having, yeah, it's really a good opportunity.
Gene: Absolutely.
Stuart: Yeah, I seem to always wrap up. It's become a standing joke now that I wrap up by saying why the time went fast, but yeah, again that kind of 35, 40 minutes in.
We should do a follow-up down the track. So your particular book we're just in the final stages of wrapping up, so it's not out there in the world yet, but it would be great to loop back in six months or so and talk about how you're actually using it and that can be on the book type stage. And we were saying we should put a copy of the book up on the shelf over your shoulder there, just as a point for people.
when you're doing calls, I want to make sure that people have got access to you and the stuff that you do. So where's a good place for people to go to find out more about Gene's world?
Gene: Yeah, so it's gendonoghuecom Really simple. So it's jeandonoghuecom, really simple, fantastic, yeah, exactly.
Stuart: I'll put a link in the show notes and so just to make it, if people are listening on a podcast player or on the website, then they can just click straight through.
I think it would be interesting for people, whether or not they're obviously realtors is the target market. Yes, the strategies that you've got and the information you've got there we were talking about the idea of strategies versus tactics, and, although someone's talking about realtors in the world, you've also got some good information that is universally applicable across all business owners, so correct yeah, I think it's well worth checking out just to whether you're a realtor or not and obviously, if you, you've got some very dialed in programs to help those people specifically.
Thanks for your time. It's really loved the opportunity to get to know people a little bit more. I kind of, as we started off saying, I'm kind of in two camps. In calls like this they're either people who I know and have a connection with or people who I've seen kind of go through the process, but only at a distance. So it's really good to get some FaceTime and make more of a connection.
Gene: Yeah, yeah, this has been a great process the whole process and then coming here with you today, stuart, you do such a fantastic job of bringing information out from people as well, so I really do appreciate that.
Stuart: Well, thank you. I mean, just as you were saying, your passion is helping making that difference to the one percent of realistives are out there that you can make that difference too. It's the same for me. I kind of meet people day in, day out who've got all of the information that they need to really put something out there with value and start a conversation and make a meaningful difference, both to their customers and to their business. So so it's yeah, I appreciate it and like the opportunity.
Yeah fantastic, perfect, okay, thank you, everyone listening. As I said, I'll put links to Gene's stuff in the show notes, in the podcast player and on the website, so definitely click through and follow along. And then, gene, as I said, we'll circle back in a few months and then talk a little bit more about how it's used.