February 12, 2024In this episode, co-founders Nick McLean and Suneet Agarwal interview Dustin Runyon, a successful Real Estate Team Owner and Developer. Dustin shares his journey of strategically growing a brokerage from $60 million to $600 million in sales, emphasizing the importance of energy, a performance-based culture, quality conversations, and accountability. He provides insights into team meetings, training schedules, and his 33/33/33 Rule for continuous personal and professional development. Dustin also imparts advice for aspiring team leaders, highlighting the motivation behind choices and the unwavering commitment required for success. The episode concludes with a focus on the diverse aspects of real estate, particularly in land development. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or an aspiring team leader, this episode offers valuable insights and advice to elevate your real estate game!
VIDEO CONTENTS:
Episode breakdown: how Dustin Runyon builds energy and standards into his team
Dustin Runyon is the team leader and owner of Apex, an eXp team in Lake Havasu that went from zero to over $150 million in sales. In this conversation with Nick McLean and Suneet Agarwal, he explains the environment, standards and meeting rhythm behind that growth, and how he handles agents who stop doing what they said they would do.
Design the environment before the strategy
Dustin started his career as a short sale negotiator, then became a technology director and finally team leader at a Keller Williams office. What fascinated him there was why grown adults who were handed training, leads and education still failed. His answer was that most of success comes down to psychology, and that the environment and the people around you shape behavior.
I believe the environment is kind of the invisible force that shapes human behavior.
Dustin Runyon
When he toured fast-growing companies, he saw the same traits again and again. They had good energy you could feel when you walked in. They ran on performance, and it was crystal clear what it took to perform. People talked about performance rather than their weekend, did what they said they would do, and were coachable. And they had fun, which Dustin defines as making things happen, not numbing out.
Hire for development and keep the standards short
Early on, Dustin hired people who wanted money but did not want to grow, and he tolerated it because he was afraid of losing them. Now the first value he screens for is a desire to develop personally. If an agent only cares about the money, he points them to another team.
He keeps only three standards. Show up to the 8:30 team meeting every morning. Don’t blame and complain. And make 20 connects a day if you have fewer than five pendings, or 10 if you have more than five, where a connect is a conversation with someone about real estate. In his office the talk is about connects and pendings, not closings, because pendings show what an agent committed to that week. Suneet explains why team culture comes down to what a leader tolerates, which is the line Dustin draws at blame and complaining.
Everyone on my team has equal opportunity. I do not treat everyone equal on my team.
Dustin Runyon
Keep daily meetings separate from training
The 8:30 meeting happens in person, in the office, and Dustin runs every one except Fridays. He has said the same things in it for years: the environmental model, the mindset model, the sales model and the team’s standards. Most of it is psychology. He decided that repeating one consistent message beats hunting for something new to say each week.
Training sits on top of that and is a different event. Monday at one is sales training, Tuesday at one is contract training, and Friday is a Zoom call on leadership and business. Nick pointed out that teams often confuse meetings and trainings, and that a growing team needs both because new agents arrive with very different levels of skill.
Answer excuses with questions of responsibility
Dustin handles missed commitments by asking playful, rhetorical questions rooted in responsibility. If an agent blames the kids, he points out that they had kids last week too and got it all done, then asks what decisions were different this week. If the agent says they are tired, he asks what time they went to bed. He also doesn’t set goals for his people. He reminds them of the goals they told him they wanted.
When the same miss keeps repeating, he names the pattern. He tells the agent it’s the third conversation they have had on the subject and asks if they agree. If nothing changes, he suggests they work on their happiness somewhere else, and says he hopes they succeed even if it’s not on his team. He tunes the delivery to the person, since some agents want it blunt and others need a softer question.
Lead yourself first
Dustin’s mindset model asks agents to focus on what they can control, on activity over results, on what they have rather than what they lack, and on right now. He applies the same discipline to himself with a 33/33/33 rule: a third of his time with people further along than him, a third with peers on the same journey, and a third bringing others up.
His advice to aspiring team leaders starts with motive. If the reason is easy money and you are not living a life of discipline and responsibility, he expects you to attract low-performing agents. He also expects the leader to work harder than anyone on the team.
You yourself have to be more committed to growing than anyone in your organization.
Dustin Runyon
Key takeaways for team leaders
- Build the environment first: energy, clear performance expectations, performance-focused conversation, accountability and coachability.
- Screen new hires for a real desire to develop, not only to earn.
- Keep standards few and measurable, such as a daily meeting, no blame or complaining, and a set number of connects tied to pendings.
- Run your daily meeting and your skills training as separate events.
- Meet excuses with questions about decisions, and hold agents to the goals they set for themselves.
- Ask yourself why you want to lead before you start a team, then out-work the people you lead.
