Interview with Nick Foltz – Team Leader

He runs a unique brand in the marketplace and believes in not just providing a service, but an experience.

Cincinnati, OH

Pivot Realty Group

Nick Foltz – Realtor, REDM | mrrockstarrealtor | NickFoltz.com

What inspired you to start in real estate and how did you motivate yourself to keep going?

Honestly? At the time that I got into real estate, it was the last thing on my radar. I always thought if I got into real estate I would be one of those old guys with a license that sells a few homes a year and that does a bunch of other stuff, but the universe had other plans.

I was a dealer in a casino and my broker had come in to play every once in a while. I had reached a point where what I thought I was going to do didn’t seem like it was a good move in my life, so, in conversations with him heard about a day in the life and what some of the agents were able to generate in their lives. From there, I bugged him to give me an opportunity which he did not immediately take me up on.

One day the stars aligned and here we are.

As far as motivating myself to keep going, I am the type to always challenge myself no matter what I’m doing. I always reflect and see how I can build upon what I’ve already done. Another part of staying motivated is not just chasing success, but using the fear of not being successful as a motivator. Does that make sense?

Comparing your business from back then to now, what has been the main thing that allowed you to expand your business?

I think compounding has helped me immensely. Taking something that has worked for me and compounding it year over year.

My previous background was fine dining, High limit in a casino, luxury hotels, a cruise line, & marketing. I’ve always dealt with multiple personality types & dealt with the public in many different & sometimes complex situations. I learned that every minute detail matters to create an experience very early on. I re-applied that as a combination when I got into real estate.

I really feel that the thing that has helped me expand my business & grow the team the most has been focusing on treating our clients like the VIPs that they are to me & the team – & then they tell as many people as they can to work with us, because they know we’ll take solid care them when they do. But in turn, I also like to treat my team members the same way, focus on them individually, & help accelerate their individual growth.

What’s the most profitable aspect of your business, why do you think this is and how can others apply this to what they are doing?

Well, if I told you that, it wouldn’t be a secret – would it?

I don’t know that I can really attribute one specific aspect of our operations to being the most profitable, I think providing a unique experience and really just having fun along the way helps. The less pressure you take out of the process, the less stuffy and overly professional you come across. People just like to work with people and people that understand them & their needs at that.

I think it doesn’t matter if you’re a cold caller, Digital marketer, Old-fashioned door-knocker – I think however you grow your business, you end up in front of someone all the same. It’s what you do from that moment that really makes or breaks your business and your referral base – & creates the magic to your business.

When did you realize you were successful/made it and how did you feel/celebrate?

It was really weird, my first year in, it took me five months to get my first closing. From there, the volume of listings sold, new buyers, and buyers under contract put me to #2 in my entire company. But, with all of that in mind, at the end of the year I made a little under $40,000.

I was so proud of that at the time.

For my 2nd year, I just wanted to make $70,000 & eventually have a six-figure career one day. But at the end of the year I made almost 3 times that amount & was awarded my company’s top-producing agent. I was starting to figure out which of my systems were most effective and where to focus my energy from there.

Looking back, what could you have done sooner to get to that point quicker?

There is a phrase my team will commonly hear me say. And that phrase is: “Fish in the net”

During that five month window prior to me having a closing, there was a lot that I feel like I could have done to accelerate my growth.

Not just that, but I have seen agents that have had a big closing or a couple of closings get really proud about that and they stop their momentum. They know that the money is coming in, so they lavish in today’s or yesterday’s victories. What they do is take what could have been a massive victory and turn it into something to try and survive off of.

So I will always say you might have caught a meal for today, but you need to make sure you have several more lined up for the future. Put as many fish in your net as you can and no matter what you’ve caught, Keep going.

What should other real estate entrepreneurs reading this be focusing on to expand their own business?

Yourself.

No seriously, focus on your blind spots and your weaknesses. Be extremely critical of your process – and even if it’s a great process, always look to see how you can do better, that’s where the growth is.

Sure, Windows 95 was a great operating system in its time – but if you don’t continually look to upgrade you’re doing yourself a massive disservice.

How has social media and online marketing affected your real estate business? How much more success have you had now after implementing social media and online marketing efforts?

Actually, that was my primary focus initially in starting my business. When people still did not have Facebook pages, I had one set up and optimized.

Tech and social is a language I was very fluent in pre-real estate. When starting out I wanted a way to compete with the bus bench advertising agents of yesteryears.

So I developed a really intensive plan to do so, which I refer to as OMNI.

How did you build your team?

My team was sort of built out of necessity. Business reached a point where I would wake up at 9:00 in the morning and pretty much work until 2:00 or 3:00 AM.

I knew that in order for me to accommodate the volume of people that were finding out about how I ran my business and treated people positively, that I needed to expand to make sure that I was providing a consistently high level of service.

I had allied with my partner in crime & VP of The Nick Foltz Group, Samara Carpenter. She was a lot of things that I wasn’t and in really great ways. She’s a lot more organized than I am, and one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet.

Once we started together, this allowed the NFG to be in two places at once, which was a huge bonus for our clients to have two people working for them and to able to show properties when needed.

This also allowed me to get back to focusing on the R&D that allowed us to be a unique beast in the marketplace and focus on innovative growth tactics which helped us in years to come.

These days, we are one of the top teams in the Greater Cincinnati Area & Northern Kentucky marketplace – selling around $30M per year, while currently expanding production.

As of this year, we just brought on our 4th member to the team. With our other Rockstar Realtors being Brian Zeschke & Heather Smith.

How did you become a good leader?

Man, that’s a loaded question.

I think one of the things that have helped our team grow is not just focusing on your overall process and clients, but focusing on your teammates. I always say that we are like a tight Spartan unit. We are always in battle together and in the trenches. Always dealing with complex situations. Celebrating victories together. Sharing each others’ lives. It’s a family.

It gets very personal & we’ve all gotten very close over the years.

I always try to focus on their well-being over mine. I try to absorb as much pain as possible so they don’t have to, so to speak.

I also focus on their individual growth, figure out what their strengths are and how they can play to them best. But also when they have victories we definitely celebrate them and I try to take them out to Epic dinners and do new things when we hit our goals.

Did You Experience Failures? If So, What Did You Learn From Them?

Oh yeah, who doesn’t? I think failures are where your deepest lessons are. Any failure I have endured is usually how I know exactly what NOT to do, upping my percentage of success. If you use failure properly, it can be one of the greatest feedback tools you can utilize in life or in business.

What do you consider the main differences between those people who have been successful in your industry and those who have failed?

Accountability.

I think some of it is also a mindset. But you have to hold yourself accountable every day & work unbelievably hard. You have to realize when you are doing something that sucks or is unimpressive. Don’t clutch to a bad idea, realize when it’s a bad idea and move on – always self-evaluate.

What’s Your Approach To Marketing?

Really depends on if you’re mean marketing ourselves, or marketing a property – two different approaches of course.

But here is one thing that I think people overthink a lot: They don’t tell their story.

This whole process is extremely personal for people. Your story is very unique to you, it is proprietary. It’s your intellectual property & one of the things that people for sure cannot rip off or replicate.

And you need to exploit that to your advantage, show people who you are as a person, and who people are dealing with. Connect with people and have fun, and the rest follows from there.