The Massimo Show

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with top Producer Eric West.

Eric came to the real estate market in an interesting way. As a teen living outside of Washington DC in Bethesda Maryland Eric grew up with two entrepreneurial parents. His father owned his own law firm and hired Eric as a courier for his company to help him learn about the city and its demographics. But the grooming didn't stop there. He then worked with the real estate arm of his father's firm and learned about the closing process. To round out his education he spent a summer working for a construction company, which he admits was not his best skill.

Being an entrepreneur and finding a great niche in any market came naturally to Eric. In his junior year at Tulane, he and a classmate realized that one person's family-owned several restaurants and the other's leased restaurant equipment. From there they pooled their shared family history of restaurateurs and knowledge of how the leasing process worked to create a national database to compare lenders for leasing restaurant equipment. It was very successful, yet after about a year of traveling to support the company the tax codes changed and purchasing equipment became the norm. The two sold their database to a local lender and Eric moved on to join a local real estate company.

Although Eric felt he was destined to become a commercial broker and had studied several aspects of the job, it was at this first firm that Eric really learned the mechanics of doing business in a way no internship could have prepared him for.

When he moved back to the DC area Eric took his knowledge of the city, his talent for finding a niche market, and his keen eye for doing business and developed relationships and a strong reputation in the nonprofit side of real estate. He and his team continued to create a bespoke brokerage where relationships and reputations were key factors in the success of his firm.

Rod and Eric close out the show with Eric's 5 Key Factors to Success and you won't want to miss them!

On this episode of the Massimo Show, Rod sits down with former FBI negotiator and author of Just Listen – Dr. Mark Goulston. Dr. Mark Goulson hacks people. He is a confidante, advisor, and coach to founders, CEOs and high potential rising stars. He is also one of the world's foremost authorities on empathetic listening.

As a teenager living outside Boston, MA, Dr. Goulston was aware of anger and unhappiness in the world and began to wonder why it existed. He felt powerless against it and, as he would later learn, succumbed to it himself in the form of depression. Dr. Goulton will openly tell you that aside from a 40+ year marriage and raising children of his own his largest personal accomplishment was dropping out of medical school twice, and still finishing. The school referred him to the Dean of Students (who cared about students, mind you). He told Mark point blank "you didn't mess up, but you are messed up" and if he would be willing to get "un-messed up" the school would be happy to give him another chance. He went on to say that even if he didn't become a doctor he would still be glad to know him because he saw something of value in him. Something that was not based on what Mark could or had done but on who he was as a person.

It was this idea that people have intrinsic value just by being people that led Mark to become a suicide specialist and in 25 years on the floor not one of his patients took their own lives. A true testament to the fact that they felt seen and understood in a tremendous way. He credits letting go of his own agenda and allowing people to learn into you as a powerful listening tool. In his talk called "Want to be more impactful?" he discusses what people are listening to versus what people were listening for. This disruptive form of communication was a different way to get results from the people interact with causing them to feel felt and seen. This leads to the most powerful sales question you will ever come up with. Listen to find out!

At the end of the day your best sales the technique is to get your client to open up to you about the true problem or pain point they are experiencing and once they have done so let them trust you to solve it. Dr. Goulston discusses the importance of trust, confidence in you, and earning respect as well as what he calls "The 5 Reallys" to get to the bottom of your potential client's problem so that you alone have the insight to solve it for them.

Rod and Dr. Goulston end the show with the story, message, and power behind WMYST a national and international movement geared towards sparking joy and true human connection.

On this episode of the Masimo Group, we welcome Mathew Laborde of Elifin Realty. Mathew has demonstrated you don't need years of experience to leverage new approaches. You need to look at things differently, leverage new approaches and ultimately believe in yourself.

Mathew began his career in Commercial Real Estate at a large firm in Louisiana. He was young, hungry, and willing to sleep at the office to get things done. But change was happening in the industry. Even though a lot of brokerages were laying off staff and the advent of the internet was making going down to the clerk of courts for information a thing of the past Mathew had no intention of breaking away to start his own firm. That all changed when someone who knew took him to lunch one day and told him "God told me to take you to lunch and tell you to start your own company". Mathew admits to being a religious guy but even this amount of specificity took him by surprise. Low and behold a month later and after a few other nudges he was on his way to starting Elifin. Side note: the name is a combination of the words "Elite" and "Financial"!

On day one Mathew hired an office manager and has been growing his team ever since. He knew he wanted to be successful, but he was going about things without a lot of thought until he found The Massimo Group. Mathew stresses that all the content in the world wouldn't have helped if The Massimo Group coaching didn't keep him focused on implementation! After all, Knowing Isn't Doing.

Mathew hopes to continue to grow his company in a direct focused manner as he strives to be a leading figure in the world of Commercial Real Estate!

Rod finishes off the interview with a few lightning rounds of great questions about Mathew's personal life and his secrets to being successful. Don't miss the answer to questions about his favorite suit and tie and his tips about CRE in social media!

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Brand Factory Inc owner Doc Williams. Doc is a self-described content solution architect and, according to his family, a literal born salesman. Doc grew up in the suburbs outside of DC and by the age of 8 owned his own candy and trading card company complete with business cards. After selling a Pokémon card for $100 it was clear to Doc that he would make his way in the world by owning his own business. By the age of 12, he was diversifying his portfolio of offerings by being a DJ at weddings and getting his sisters to pay him $5 per Coca Cola that he would get them from the store down the street. Like most teens, Doc wasn't happy with his self-image but armed with a growth spurt and a bet from the boyfriend of one of his sisters he began working out and was published as a "before and after" picture in Muscle and Fitness Magazine. With sales experience and the desire to be his own boss, he decided to go to Community College to be a massage therapist at just 18 years old. But 2008 held different ideas for most of America's workforce and Doc was forced to transition to be a physical therapist assistant. He had developed a fondness for fitness, and he was bored at his job so at 23 Doc finally realized his dream of being a business owner and opened his own CrossFit gym. Soon thereafter Doc learned the first lesson in building a brand - niching down on your market. He built a parkour gym for a guy who was training to be an American Ninja Warrior and expanded his offerings as a trainer. As a small business owner, you are forced to do all of the things your company needs to grow including writing your own copy for websites and blogs. Doc realized he was a talented writer, especially for the content side of the fitness world. He soon found himself with a job writing for ESPN where he was meeting and interviewing athletes. Once he had access to these athletes, he could pitch him his idea to write content for them and their personal brands or products they wanted to sell. During all this, Doc found himself on the reality show America's Next Great Trainer with Arnold Schwarzenegger! Eventually, It became overwhelming to decipher which athletes or influencers we're really committed to their products or brands and who was in it for the long haul so in order to better serve his ideal client Doc built a course to teach people to write their own copy and Brand Factory Inc. was born! This site and its method include a unique series of systems and flowcharts to help clients create their own messaging and communicate with their ideal clients and achieve their marketing goals. At age 32 years old Doc Williams and his team are helping people communicate in truly authentic ways. If you're interested in learning more visit https://brandfactoryinc.com/ and learn how what to say to the people who want to hear from you. Bonus section: Doc and Rod brainstorm about The Massimo Group! Don't miss it!

On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with top Commercial Real Estate producer Anthony Provenzano to talk about his early life, his biggest wins, and his secret to success.

Anthony was an active, self-motivated kid with 2 black belts and a love for baseball when at just 14 he and his younger brother lost their father to an illness.

Orphaned and alone, Anthony Provenzano attending high school by day and finding odd jobs at night. He went from working construction to running his own screen-printing business to getting a degree in finance and real estate all on his own. And if that weren't enough of an accomplishment at age 21, he sold cars on the side to make enough money to get in front of a judge and request guardianship of his younger brother who was still in the foster care system.

Anthony interned with a CRE company right out of college and his favorite part was that he was always learning and that he got out what he put in. He continued to collect contacts and business cards from everyone he met and made an impressive database. But his big breakthrough came when he was taken under the wing of a real mentor.

After a number of years in the industry and with the help of his mentor, Anthony was ready to build his own team. Things were rocky, but soon he met someone from his alma mater who was passionate about CRE. He was so impressed by their drive he brought them aboard and he has been growing his team ever since.

Another big stride forward came when Anthony went from a boutique-style firm to a national one. Much like all the other opportunities in his life, he was determined to leverage this to his advantage and continue to build that database of connections. He planned one of his famous trips and met with each top producer along the west coast from Seattle to San Diego with the intention of making genuine connections and solidifying himself as the go-to agent in his market.

It's no surprise to anyone who has met Anthony and knows of his drive to succeed but after just one full year in his new brokerage, he hit number one in 2019. He feels more motivated today as he is responsible for team members, his wife, and his new child. He credits his motivation and success to rigorous goal-setting, his ability to truly value time, and his passion for teaching others.

On this episode of the Massimo Podcast: After a string of unfulfilling roles and one ridiculous boss, Mike McCormick of Insurance Soup was feeling the urge to be an entrepreneur! Today he's providing something much more than just insurance. Join Rod and Mike as they chat about filling the needs of his fellow insurance agents though resources and community as well as how you can leverage your captive audience through social media.

Episode Two: In part two of this episode, Mike and Rod drill deeper into how Mike is leveraging his 10% market share captive audience and social media to connect with his ideal agents. One of the unique aspects of Mike's social media is that he is 100% himself! He shares personal aspects of his life and while he knows this does contribute to his "Know, Like, Trust" factor his intent (and if you ask him, his only option) is to be authentic with his audience and himself. Transparency doesn't stop at social media for the owner of Insurance Soup. Mike explains a little about his core mastermind: The Career Agent Concept. This educational resource is full of over 100 hours of educational content including marketing materials for agents and referral partners alike. The goal of this course is to help agents build a business in the digital age on social media.

If you are an agent or know an agent who could benefit from Mike and his team's resources visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/insurancesoup/ or visit www.theinsurancesoup.com (don't forget the "The"!)

On this episode of the Massimo Podcast: After a string of unfulfilling roles and one ridiculous boss, Mike McCormick of Insurance Soup was feeling the urge to be an entrepreneur! Today he's providing something much more than just insurance. Join Rod and Mike as they chat about filling the needs of his fellow insurance agents though resources and community as well as how you can leverage your captive audience through social media.

Episode One: Mike joins Rod to talk about much more than the fact that both have strong ties to Stony Brook, NY! After being in a few jobs including mortgage and corporate banking Mike finally found his home in insurance. He quickly made a few great friends across the US and while they came from different companies and served different clients there was no denying that they were having similar issues with vendors, carriers, and marketing teams. This inspired Mike to break people out of their silos of company, location, or clientele and create the hive mind that is The Insurance Soup. Starting with just a few hundred agents Mike immediately began to serve his community of like-minded individuals with courses focused on what they were struggling with and brought forward solutions to their most common issues. With an emphasis on creative and quality content, Mike strives to be the "amazon of the insurance industry" as he creates a go-to resource for agents and companies looking to solve problems and serve their clients well. If you are an agent or know an agent who could benefit from Mike and his team's resources visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/insurancesoup/ or visit www.theinsurancesoup.com (don't forget the "The"!)

Part 1 of 2

Bob Burg, one of today's top influential leaders, shares how a subtle shift in focus is not only a more uplifting and fulfilling way of conducting business but also the most financially profitable way. Known for his book Endless Referrals, Bob explains the 5 principles in his business parable, The Go-Giver, on the show today.

Maxwell Finn, President and Founder of Unicorn Innovations and a friend of mine, hits on one of the most perplexing problems facing business owners today – Facebook! Max shares crucial insight on what to do, how to do it and when to spend money on Facebook ads. Max tells us why we shouldn't sweat their changing algorithms and what to do instead.

Be prepared to be completely entertained and mesmerized by the one and only Wes Schaeffer – The Sales Whisperer. He's a self-described "pigheaded entrepreneur" who rehabilitates salespeople and trains their managers. A highly-regarded speaker, marketing automation aficionado and author of "2.5 books," Wes has helped 5,400 of the world's top speakers, authors, coaches, and sales professionals achieve nearly miraculous growth and shares his wisdom with us today. This is Part 2 of 2.