THE STORY OF LEHR REAL ESTATE

THE STORY OF LEHR REAL ESTATE

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Creating a successful real estate business – with soul

How Business Mastery helped Alex and Denise Lehr grow their business 200%, triple their revenue sources, and transform their clients into raving fans – while still having time to take a vacation every month.

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Lehr Real Estate and the 2008 financial crisis

Alex Lehr is one of the most successful real estate brokers in the Bay Area, and has even won awards for the highest number of sales in his county over the years. Even through the 2008 financial crisis, he managed to keep his family real estate business afloat – in fact, it exploded from a numerical sense. “I went on the road and knocked on all the doors of the banks all around the country. I wound up getting their foreclosure business for the homes in the Bay Area. I went from selling 60 homes a year pre-market meltdown to selling 220 homes a year during the course of it,” he said.

The difference between achievement and fulfillment

From the outside looking in, it appeared as if Alex had everything at a time when most people were losing everything. But on the inside, Alex was facing his own challenges, and as the market started to gain momentum, he realized something very important was missing.“My business had no soul,” he said. “I hated it. There was no connection to clients, and any connection that I did have was coming from a place where I was having to meet them at their darkest moments.”

The moment Alex realized his business had no soul

Taking a hard look in the mirror

Alex was familiar with Tony’s content, and had even been to an Unleash the Power Within event. So when he had the opportunity to attend Business Mastery, he jumped on it – but not without trepidation. “The biggest fear was having to look in the mirror and be willing to find out where I was wrong. And then be willing to step up and make the changes necessary to create something that could both be profitable and fulfilling. I was afraid of looking back and feeling regret because I had wasted so much time,” he said.

Business Mastery brings

200% growth

Alex and his wife, Denise, went to Business Mastery with two goals. The first goal was to create a more fulfilling business – one that they would enjoy working in long-term. The second was to “retool” their skillsets in order to get into a higher market. And that’s exactly what they did. “What we learned at Business Mastery allowed us to take our business from having an average price point of under $1 million, to doubling our business solely based on price point without ever even increasing my numerical transaction count.”

STEP 1

IDENTIFY WHAT BUSINESS YOU’RE REALLY IN

How Alex and Denise realized their business’ true identity

We’re really in the customer service business

If you’re going to be effective in business, you must understand three things: What business you’re in, what business you’re really in, and what business you need to be in. “Tony asked us, ‘What do you do?’ I thought to myself, ‘That’s easy, I sell real estate.’ Then, he asked us, “But what is it that you REALLY do?’ And when I broke it down, I came away with, ‘We have a customer service business that happens to sell real estate.’” In other words, Alex and Denise discovered that the core benefit of their real estate business – what’s going to set them apart from the rest – has everything with providing unparalleled customer service, and not just selling real estate.

"What you want to become is a business owner. As a business operator, you're always stressed because you’re trying to do it all and you're worried it can’t be done."

— TONY ROBBINS

STEP 2

DISCOVER YOUR IDEAL CLIENT

GETTING AWAY FROM COMMODITIZATION

Another question that every business owner must ask themselves is not “Who is my client?” but rather, “Who is my ideal client?” As Tony says, your ideal client will buy the most from you, refer you the most business, and purchase from you – even in a down market.

 

One of the most profound breakthroughs Alex had was that he was selling to the wrong type of clientele. “Our ideal client shifted from someone that was looking for commoditization – meaning anybody that could do the job at the cheapest price – to a client that cared about the level of service, and not about the cost.”

Discover your ideal client at Business Mastery

“If you know who your ideal customer is, go after them, and meet their needs better than anybody else in the most innovative way.”

— TONY ROBBINS

STEP 3

TURN CUSTOMERS INTO RAVING FAN CLIENTS

Alex and Denise knew that they needed to put customer service at the forefront of the business, and also knew that in order to increase their average transaction price, they needed to target a customer that valued service more than anything else. The next thing they needed to figure out was how to turn those customers into raving fan clients. As Tony teaches, it’s not just about differentiating your business, it’s about providing so much value that your customers can’t help but tell others about it with genuine enthusiasm and excitement.
Alex and Denise’s clients on why they’re raving fans

Here’s how Alex and Denise took massive action to turn customers into “raving fan” clients

1

Hired a full time concierge >

“We brought in a full-time logistics manager that was able to serve as a concierge for our clients. Because if I was going to go into the customer service business, I needed to deliver. What is more exciting than going into the Ritz-Carlton and asking the concierge to get you blue slippers with polka dots on the soles, and they show up with them? We applied that mentality to our business. We can now, literally, have clients ask us for blue slippers with polka dots on the soles and answer, ‘What size do you want them in and where did you want them made?’”

2

Provided certainty in uncertain times >

While buying or selling a house can be exciting, it can also be a time of extreme uncertainty. “I make sure that I'm the calming force in every transaction, and address any uncertainty my clients have from the beginning,” said Alex. “Are they having financial uncertainty? Is it emotional – having to get rid of the kids' coloring books from second grade, or Mom's china because they never got rid of it after she passed? We help unwind the ball of yarn through years of emotional connection,” he said. “I aim to be a pillar – or something they can tie up to when the tides are changing so they don’t get swept away.”

3

Created curated experiences  >

As Tony teaches at Business Mastery, the only way to rise above the competition is to provide more value than anyone else in the marketplace. That meant that Alex needed to shift his “sterile, systematic” approach of selling into a customized experience for his clients. “We help them with everything under the sun. They can hand me the keys to the house and everything will be brought to their new home.”

STEP 4

KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

Business Mastery speaker Keith Cunningham taught Alex and Denise that in order to be true business owners, they needed to have a thorough understanding of their financials – so at any given time they know where the business stands, what’s wrong, and what to prioritize fixing. “We were dying by a thousand paper cuts and we didn't know it,” Alex said. Using the tools that Keith taught them, Alex and Denise identified several inefficiencies in the business – including a call center they utilized for lead generation. “It was a matter of looking at the numbers and seeing that business was shifting around us – and if we didn't shift, we’d be dinosaurs. We made some drastic changes, which led to dramatic increases in business and also our price point,” said Alex.

“The most precious resource we all have is time.”

— TONY ROBBINS

STEP 5

GET YOUR TIME BACK

Because Alex and Denise were able to increase their operating efficiency, price point, and therefore profit margin, they were able to get back one thing that cannot be replaced: their time. “Denise and I asked ourselves, ‘What are we really after long-term? What do we really enjoy? What do we want to continue to enjoy?’ The biggest thing we were after was time. We love the income. We love the lifestyle, but we wanted more time. I don't want to wake up being a ‘someday’ guy,” he said.

 

After implementing what he learned at Business Mastery, Alex and Denise have been able to take off one week per month to travel. In the past year alone, they’ve been to the British Virgin Islands, Whistler, BC, Australia, New York City, Hawaii, to their ranch, and to Romania, where Alex raced his motorcycles. He’s also been able to expand his real estate team to include his four children and son-inlaw, who work full time at the company and manage the business while Alex and Denise are away so they can truly disconnect.

How Alex and Denise got their time back

WHAT'S NEXT

Shift from operator to owner

While Alex and Denise have no plans of selling their real estate business – they enjoy it too much – they do plan to use his growing capital to start other businesses. “Business Mastery taught us how to be true entrepreneurs,” said Alex. They purchased a home-staging business, which not only brings in additional revenue, but provides their clients with a service that makes the selling process more streamlined. Alex and Denise are also in the process of opening storage business. “We're always looking at where we can fulfill a void for our clients, and then have that be a profit center,” Alex said.

Focus on what matters

As their businesses continue to grow, Alex and Denise plan to take off even more time. “We’re developing the systems and getting the staff in place so we can be gone two weeks a month,” he said. “Our kids are grown, and soon we’ll have grandkids. Maybe we want to pick them up and take off to a place they’ve never been, or spend more time at our ranch. Those are all options we want available. And because we have totally shifted our mindset – and the way we do business – I know that we will soon be able to experience what it really means to be free.”

How Alex and Denise will achieve their goal of taking two weeks off per month

WANT TO CREATE THIS TYPE OF SUCCESS IN YOUR BUSINESS?

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