November 11, 2023In this video, Nick McLean and Preston Guyton interview Brian Danney, a top real estate agent and coach. Brian shares insights into his mindset as a top producer, emphasizing consistency in daily activities like prospecting and role-playing. In July 2023, Brian achieved a remarkable $21 million in sales, providing valuable lessons for viewers to enhance their real estate success.
Video Contents:
00:00 – Introduction
01:43 – Brian’s Background
07:03 – The Early Team & the Culture
12:00 – The Top Producer Mindset and Best Practices
16:17 – Brian’s Recipe for Structuring His Time
32:30 – Open Houses & Door Knocking Strategy
43:17 – Brian’s Day-To-Day & More Mindset
Episode breakdown: how a top producer structures his day
Brian Danney is a top-producing agent and sales coach on a San Diego team that has grown from two people to about 84. In this episode, Nick McLean and Preston Guyton of Reside ask him how he closed $21 million in volume in July. Nick opens with Brian’s record of 174 units in the previous 24 months. Brian’s answer is less about volume goals and more about small daily habits he refuses to skip.
Break the annual goal into a daily number
Brian works from the business plan his team built when it adopted EOS, and he reviews his rocks each quarter. His advice to agents who don’t run EOS is the same. Take the big number from January, divide it by four, then work out what it means monthly, weekly and daily. Most agents stall because the full number overwhelms them.
He doesn’t track a sale per month. He tracks the activity that leads to one. If the math says 25 conversations a week, he obsesses over 25. His days are built from 20-minute blocks of prospecting, role play, video and follow-up. A sign on his wall asks one question: did he send his 15 videos today? He doesn’t leave the office until he has.
Send 15 videos a day to other agents
Those 15 videos go to other agents, not clients. Brian keeps a spreadsheet with three tabs: agents he has closed deals with, agents he has written offers against without closing, and agents he would like to work with. He leans hardest on the second group. Each video is a short check-in that mentions a past deal, shares what he has coming soon and asks what they have.
Over time, other agents come to him as the person who knows what’s coming up. That helps him find homes on and off the market, and in a competitive market it helps his offers. Listing agents see his name and expect an easy deal.
I always just want to contribute and I just lead with that with other agents.
Brian Danney
Stage the open house with neighbors and agents
Brian said a lot of his July success came from open houses, and he treats each one as a three-hour investment worth protecting. Two days before, he knocks on five doors to the left, five to the right and five in front, and invites the neighbors. He also sends videos to agents asking them to bring buyers. When a new visitor walks in and sees him greeting neighbors and agents by name, they see someone worth talking to.
He’s strict about contact information. A sign at the door says the sellers ask everyone to register, and he fills out the sign-in sheet himself while asking questions. Then he texts the visitor right away with details about the home. If their phone doesn’t light up, he politely asks for the number again.
Run a five-day follow-up blitz
Before he leaves the house, Brian records a short personal video for each visitor. The next day the follow-up gets heavier. He opens with one question: was that the right home for you? He skips the usual line about the seller wanting feedback, because the buyer doesn’t care about that.
On Monday he focuses on the roughly 20 people who gave him permission to follow up. He calls it a five-day blitz, with five touches a day until he hears back. He doesn’t hold another open house the next weekend. That week goes to preparing the next one by calling agents, door knocking and inviting buyers from his database.
Protect the morning and plan the night before
Brian is in the office around 6 or 6:30 for coaching, with a hard stop at 8. His calendar marks the next block as prospecting dial sessions, sacred, do not book. Then comes a short team huddle, role play, follow-up, videos and social content. At noon he moves to listing appointments, buyer consultations, inspections and his son’s hockey practice. He uses a Focus setting on his phone and computer to block email and social media while he works.
I just dominated my four hours. That’s also why I avoid burnout, because I just give myself this sacred time.
Brian Danney
Each evening he reviews what worked and maps out the next day’s conversations, so he knows who he’s calling before the morning starts. When a block slips, he allows it once.
Here’s my rule. If it happens twice, I’ve created a new bad habit.
Brian Danney
Go deep instead of chasing more leads
Brian uses short talk tracks instead of long memorized scripts, so he can listen. Most of a conversation should be spent learning who the person is and what their pain is. Then he brings value that fits it. He measures his capacity by depth, not a lead count. If he doesn’t know where a client’s kids go to school or when their next vacation is, he isn’t ready to take on another person. With hesitant clients he often draws the market cycle on a napkin. He has about 12 of these drawings.
Key takeaways for team leaders
- Turn your agents’ annual goals into a weekly conversation count they can track.
- Build daily activity in short, fixed blocks. Twenty focused minutes beats a vague afternoon.
- Treat other agents as a pipeline. A simple spreadsheet and daily videos can bring in inventory and smoother deals.
- Prepare open houses two days out, confirm every phone number at the door, and follow up hard the week after.
- Protect the morning prospecting block on the calendar and plan tomorrow’s calls tonight.
