The Pipeline is a conversational podcast hosted by Carlos Concepción, Chief Sales Officer at www.tremgroup.com, a real estate business accelerator platform that combines the power of innovative technology, proven marketing strategies, and experts working alongside.
IDXBoost has scaled real estate professionals to 9 figures in yearly sales, by helping them boost their brands, dominate their local markets faster, and generate higher financial returns year over year.
The Pipeline’s goal is to share knowledge and provide awareness of how top real estate producers leverage the internet’s power to achieve their business goals nationwide.
In this episode, Carlos talks with Nick Grodzicki, the 27-year-old owner and founder of Grodzicki Group After 3 years of being a real estate agent, Nick shares his unique approach to sales and time management to achieve his results faster.
Watch the full video to find out how Nick sold 55 million dollars in 6 months in the ultra-luxury competitive market of Palm Beach, Florida.
Video Transcription
Carlos: I’m very excited about today’s episode. I have a very good friend and colleague of mine named Nick Grodzicki, owner and CEO director of the Grodzicki Group, a real estate business that has increased its sales and growth very largely in the last few years.
Nick: Thank you so much, Carlos, for having me. I’m excited to be here as well and appreciate you for having me on the call. As Carlos mentioned, I’ve been in the business now for 3 years. I started originally from Michigan and came down to Florida 3 years ago, on March 5th, 2019. And here we are, on the 22nd of March of 2022. So almost exactly 3 years ago, I moved here without connections, without family, without friends, and just had a real goal and dream in mind: the luxury real estate market reality. Since day one, I’ve been focused on the luxury market, but originally moved to the Miami area and joined the top producing teams to really get my feet wet, learn the business and get into that higher market.
After a year of being with a top team, ultimately with the vision to do the same thing, the only way I could get to his position was if I did what he did and created a team myself. Everything has been going very well and more than doubling every year.
Carlos: For the people that are listening to us, Nick is only 27 years old. Now, as a business owner, he also can tell us the challenges of growing a real estate business. So once you went on your own, how did you win out in such a competitive market and differentiate yourself from the competitors and other people in the market?
Nick: Going back to that first year before I went on my own, I had colleagues, friends, and family down here. So to generate business in the very first few months, I quickly realized that it was a listing business. I wanted to focus on getting listings and also, of course, working with buyers, but in the beginning, all I did was cold call 8 to 8 in the morning just to generate business, which ultimately led me to a sale that I closed for 2 million. And then they referred me to a few other people. The final referral that I received at this point was a $9 million deal that I closed from that original closing.
So going back to Carlos’ question, when I received the check from closing on a $9 million sale, I knew I couldn’t just receive the money and sit on it: I had to reinvest back in the business to even further grow the business quicker. I started really researching how I could reinvest this money. There are so many different ways as a new agent, it’s very confusing because everyone’s trying to create a real estate project for us agents and trying to get your money. Half of it doesn’t work or it’s just a waste of money. And so I’ve tried a lot of those things. I tried 4 different website companies for example, before eventually finding IDX Boost and Trem Group. All of them were like “We’re going to get more leads, we’re going to do this…”. None of them did anything.
So I finally partnered with IDX Boost and it’s been a tremendous experience! From a sales perspective, I definitely know how hard is “cold calling”, but I know that at some point it does provide some results when you’re starting a business.
Carlos: You rely a lot of your time on yourself. You put all of that into your business with the hope of getting that return, which of course you did because since I met you, I noticed that you were very motivated and dedicated to your business, and that’s something that we appreciate and elevate.
I understand the difference that the technology may have made, but for those agents that are out there and are just starting the business, what made the difference for you?
Nick: Well, I think the key, as I said in the beginning, is when I started off with cold calling, like any new agent, a lot of these programs cost money to make money. So the cheapest thing when starting off as a new agent is definitely a program to cold call. There were a lot of people coming and going on the team that I had originally, it was like a revolving door. They’d make no money, and it was a team from the million-dollar listing in Miami.
I think the biggest key thing that set me apart from some of those other new hires, in the beginning, was the consistent follow-up which landed them as a client closed on the deal and was able to move forward. I always focused on reinvesting the commission, knowing that it wasn’t just about that sale: it was about the future growth of my business.
I originally looked into other website providers knowing the digital age that we’re in today. It’s hard to see results and what’s working in the digital world because they say you get all these clicks and these paid for whatever, and then you really question: is it working? is it not?
Until you really start to see the results, it took me only 6 months with IDXBoost and I’ve closed a 15-and-a-half million dollar sale and another one for 4.1 million. As I mentioned, I had 4 other website providers and saw zero results there. I’ve found success with other marketing alternatives, but nowhere near the return on investment that I saw with IDXBoost and Trem Group.
Honestly, I was nervous at first because again, it takes money to make money. IDXBoost doesn’t even compare to the other ones.
Carlos: Well, we definitely have to say that we believe a lot in providing value in everything that we do. I believe that it’s a responsibility when something works, and it works well, to share that with people that may need it, because after all when we talked at that time, I was like “you need this for your business, it’s going to help your business grow!”.
I felt a responsibility to let you know as well that this was already happening, but ultimately it’s also on how to leverage the power of technology to connect people, which ultimately is what you’ve been able to achieve because you’ve been able to make that human connection, leveraging this power of the internet, attracting new business to you, and of course, connecting with them on that level. And of course closing them, which is ultimately your craft. We’re very happy that this has worked out for you.
What other advice do you have? What else would you tell an agent that is just starting, what are the best practices?
Nick: I’m a big believer. I read a lot every month. I’m always trying to follow, you know, the different entrepreneurs and reading their biographies and taking advice from them in a consistent way that I see through the books that I’ve read.
You know, find someone that already has success in the market and follow in their footsteps. Ultimately you’ll end up achieving what they’ve accomplished. So I would say honestly, for any new agent, listen to the call, find a top producing team for your first year, but don’t spend more than that because you’re going to be giving away a lot of money.
When you go off on your own, reinvest back in your business, and don’t just rely on past clients. Find agents that have tried the 101 options out there who know what works and who save you time and money. Focus on what works for those agents that are already seeing results.
I tried a lot, I’d say the biggest thing has been Trem and cold calling and I still do cold calling to this day. I think bringing in new business is extremely important. After having a call with Brian, before I referred him to a deal at the Tower in New York, I said: “Look, if I’m going to refer you to a 10 million deal, can I get 5 minutes of your time so you tell me what works?” and he said it’s all about managing your time, especially when you’re growing your business as a new agent because at first, you have nothing to do other than a cold call or respond to internet leads but then you don’t have enough time in a day to respond to everything.
The biggest thing he mentioned to me is to really focus on a structure of time-blocking using the mornings for new client-generating activities and the afternoon for follow-up with past clients. And I find that to be really helpful because in the morning you get to the office, you have 101 people calling you, and everyone wants something different, especially as you get busier, but if you really focus on being your own boss and say “hey, the mornings to generate new business, I’m going to cold call from these hours and follow up with digital leads from these hours”. In the afternoon I manage more of my current clients.
Listening to top agents saved me a lot of time. As I mentioned, 3 years ago was the start of my business. And the first 6 months I didn’t do a single sale. For the next 6 months, I did 8 million. So within that first year, I made 8 million in sales. And again, I started off right away, not focusing on the million because I think that’s another big mistake new agents make. They start with the $500,000 houses because they are new and then they work their way up. But what happens is you then become canned as the Toyota Camry car sales guy, as opposed to the Rolls Royce car sales guy. So if you’re going to get into the business, just start off in the luxury market. Even if it’s harder to get that first deal, once you start building a track record, that’s what you become known in the marketplace and you get to know their friends and their family, and that’s when the referrals begin.
Carlos: You said it amazingly, I definitely think that you provided a lot of value with those practices. Thank you so much Nick for your time! I really appreciate the time that you’ve given us and all of the advice that you provided. Just for you guys to know again.