Speaker1: And welcome to Mike Ferry TV, we’ve had a wonderful series of great people we’ve been working with each week, and this week we have Ira Naiditch from the Great State of Iowa. So Ira, first of all, welcome and thanks for participating and sharing with us today.
Speaker2: Thank you, Mike. Glad to be here.
Speaker1: My pleasure 100 percent. When did we meet originally? I think you were in Pennsylvania when we first met or living in Pennsylvania. How long ago was that?
Speaker2: That was in 1997. So it’s been 24 years now.
Speaker1: So we both had more hair and darker hair. That’s exactly right. That’s fun. So, Ira, take a minute and express to the wonderful group of viewers your background prior to Real Estate, if you would, please.
Speaker2: So prior to Real Estate, I served in the U.S. Army for 20 years. Right out of college, I was in ROTC in college and then retired as a lieutenant colonel out of the Army out of the Pentagon.
Speaker1: Wow. 20 years in that profession, which is, of course, vitally important. All of us. Did your family have to move around the world or were you pretty stationary? Because usually that’s there’s a lot of movement involved.
Speaker2: Yeah, we moved 14 times in 20 years.
Speaker1: Wow. That’s worse than a high-ranking corporate job that moves people every 12-14 months.
Speaker2: That’s right.
Speaker1: What was the most interesting place that you lived in if you can identify that?
Speaker2: So, the most interesting for me was when I spent it was the shortest time, but three and a half months in Honduras. We were there to defend. We thought that the Nicaraguans were going to come across the border and we were there to defend. That was the most interesting because it’s what we’re trained to do. Yes. But the most fun was when I was the treasurer of the Military Academy at West Point.
Speaker1: Wow, how long were you in that position? Two years. I think if all of them hear the treasurer, that means you’re a little on the analytical side.
Speaker2: Just a little bit.
Speaker1: What did you get your degree out of college?
Speaker2: It was a marketing degree with a minor in finance, and then I got an MBA shortly afterwards.
Speaker1: In what and what did you get the MBA in?
Speaker2: Logistics Management.
Speaker1: Logistics management, which was, I think, a big part of your role while you’re in the U.S. Army, correct?
Speaker2: It was I was in logistics, supply, maintenance and transportation.
Speaker1: Good for you. That’s great. Well, first of all, we’re glad that you did it. We’re glad that you were in that position. We’re glad that you entered Real Estate. How long was your Real Estate career prior to becoming a full-time coach? I think you said you became a full time in 2007.
Speaker2: Two thousand seven and I was licensed in ’97. It was right when I got my license. My very first manager before I even had my license gave me this box of Mike Ferry tapes and says, Watch these. And 30 days later, I was at my first event. And ironically, I found out Sabrina was at the same event.
Speaker1: Is that right? And what was that? Washington, D.C., probably
Speaker2: Washington, D.C. It was the old business planning workshop.
Speaker1: Of course, that’s great. So, I would think that the logistics of what we teach and the logic behind what we teach must have hit right in with your type of thinking.
Speaker2: It made total sense and I joined coaching immediately.
Speaker1: Good for you. So, you were a productive agent for a long time. Ok. What levels of protection did you accomplish as an agent?
Speaker2: I was doing about one hundred and five deals a year when you asked me to become a coach.
Speaker1: Ok, so now you’ve been a coach for what, 15, 17 years, I guess? And how many clients do you coach for the company today?
Speaker2: I’m currently coaching 63.
Speaker1: Wow. So, you don’t have a lot of free moments during the course of the week?
Speaker2: No, I stay pretty focused. I start at six o’clock in the morning, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and most days end at 5:00 in the afternoon with appropriate breaks in between clients.
Speaker1: Good for you. That’s a long, strong day. And I know you have some great clients because we’ve always had a great relationship, you and I on a personal level, which we’ve enjoyed a lot. And then of course, on a business level in the clients, certainly those that are looking for the specifics of selling real estate have always done well under your tutelage. So what are two or three of the common things you’ve seen these top agents have in common what they call them characteristics or behavior patterns? What have you seen?
Speaker2: Well, thanks for asking that, Mike. Number one, they never miss a coaching call, and I know that sounds simple, but for some reason, those who are not doing as well seem to be too busy to make all of their calls, but the people that are doing the most business never miss a call.
Speaker1: Isn’t that interesting? You know, I’ve done a series of these interviews and that’s the first time that’s come up. But as soon as you said it, I thought of the three or four really great agents that I have the good fortune of coaching. They never miss a call. In fact, if I come on two minutes early, they’re already on the call waiting for it, which is, well, that’s interesting, so you can correlate the participation with the production? Without question.
Speaker2: Yeah, and that’s the other thing. The productive agents, they participate, they attend Mike Ferry events. They’re in Mastermind Groups. They’re doing their role plays. They have good affirmation and accountability partners with other great MFO agents. They participate at every level. And it all equates to the people that are that are doing well.
Speaker1: Well, it’s so interesting. And you and I have discussed this in the past that, you know, you become like the people you associate with. And you know, that being the case, the agents that are moving forward in their careers are participating with people that are moving forward in their careers, which is the name of the game. On a personal level, as an agent, I know that will come to the coaching side of the same question. I’ll ask twice as an agent what was the most difficult or most challenging part for you? Because that’s a lot of business you are doing for a long time. Those are big numbers. What was the biggest challenge?
Speaker2: The biggest challenge for me was probably trying to fit in, and this is going to sound crazy, but try to fit in personal time because when I got out of the army, I had a daughter just getting ready to start college and I was starting a whole new career. So I was working tireless hours, morning, noon and night. I didn’t go home until nine o’clock at night. My wife Sue, used to come to the office, bring me dinner so we could eat together in the lunchroom. And I did that Monday through Thursday because I tried to follow the Mike Ferry schedule. I didn’t work a lot of weekends.
Speaker1: Yes. How did you convert from that? Well, it’s almost an exaggerated participation to a more reasonable participation. How did you make that transition in terms of your time?
Speaker2: Yeah, I actually put the kids in my schedule. I coached my son’s baseball team. One of my first coaches was talking to my second coach and said, he said, I can’t get Ira to work this time of year. And she said, Well, that’s because it’s baseball season. And I actually had to put the kids into the schedule.
Speaker1: Joan Page, who you of course, met many times over the years and is still a wonderful agent in Salt Lake City, semi-retired, she used to give the kids the schedule for the week, and she would put their names on the schedule because she was doing a couple of hundred transactions a year. And you and I both know how not only is that rewarding and financially rewarding, but takes up a lot of your time. What’s the biggest challenge you face or challenges you face with the coaching clients that you work with?
Speaker2: Well, one and this is probably the main one is that some of them don’t treat their business like a real business, and some of that comes from them. But some of it comes from their friends and family not respecting the Real Estate business as a real job and expecting them. Well, why can’t you do this in the middle of the day? Take the car to the shop or, you know, if they work at Wal-Mart, that would never be allowed.
Speaker1: Isn’t that true? And of course, with your formal training in the army, you were scheduled, especially starting in basic training. I mean, every minute was scheduled.
Speaker2: Every minute and you couldn’t ask your spouse, is it OK if I go to this seminar? I mean, I don’t get it.
Speaker1: Yeah, yeah. With your background, I would think I was very lucky that in high school, I had a couple of coaches when I played sports that probably and I never knew were in the military because it was right down to the minute of practice. And I mean, it was, but that was a big advantage. Looking backwards, it wasn’t as much fun at the time. So I wrote down Treat it like a real business, OK, which you and I both know you don’t have to spend 14 hours a day doing it. If you just put in 80 percent of your workday doing something productive, you’re going to have a lot of success. Is there a second challenge that you see very common?
Speaker2: Yeah. I think another common challenge, especially for an agent that doesn’t have enough business to justify hiring a staff, is following their schedule so that they prioritize what they’re doing. Too many of them, when they do a deal or two deals or three deals, find it much more important to do the admin work than do the income producing work that keeps the pipeline full. And that’s a mistake they make, and it’s a challenge as a coach to keep them focused on the income producing activities.
Speaker1: As soon as you said that I thought of a fellow that I worked with one hundred years ago Real Estate very, very, very strong guy. He would do two deals and then he would work on them every day. And of course, in those days was all have a 60 90 day closing periods. One day I said to him, Ever notice that you only do two deals every 90 days because I can’t figure out why? I said, because you’re spending all your time babysitting the two deals, and then he orders that to us when I need them to close. I said, well, if you took more time doing deals, you wouldn’t need the ones to close.
Speaker2: Well, that’s because the other thing is that they don’t always have the belief system that they can actually do their job if they develop the belief system that the schedule will set them free, they’ll do more deals thought.
Speaker1: If the schedule is followed, it actually gives them freedom, which is important. So, you’ve done probably a hundred seminars representing the company to three four day events over the years, and you’ve had a lot of people raise their hands and ask questions and you’re a great speaker. You spoke at our virtual Superstar Retreat. You spoke at our Superstar Retreat. You’ve got 20 agents in front of you and you’ve got a couple of minutes and they say, Ira, what’s the most important one or two things I need to do to keep my career moving forward? What would you tell them?
Speaker2: Well, I’d say, first of all, especially this time of year coming into the fall, complete a 90-day business plan for October, November and December that focuses on what you want your 2022 goals to be, so that when 2022 hits you’ve already got the pending, you’ve hit the ground running. So certainly that would be one thing I would recommend. And the other one would be get to one of the upcoming two day events that you’re doing, Mike, regardless of what city they’re taking place and they don’t need to be in your hometown. Airplanes are working and you can travel to the events and get to one of those two-day events and make your reservations now for the Production Retreat in January, because that’s all part of participating. And if you delay making those reservations, then you’re going to come up with excuses why you can’t make it and you need to be there.
Speaker1: You know, it’s funny. You should say that long retired agent in San Diego, his first name was Kelvin, a wonderful guy, and Kelvin would in January set his schedule for Mike Ferry events for the year. He would buy the airplane tickets and pay for them. He would reserve in the hotel that we were doing, event and pay for the three nights in the hotel. So, he said, I don’t have any choice because they won’t give me my money back. So, you know, it was a great attitude and belief system to have. So I said to my doctor recently, Who’s my age, Ira. I said, what are you going to retire? And he smiled and said, when you do, I said, Well, I guess you better keep your degree up to date because we’re not going anywhere. You know, you’ve retired once from a great career in the service. What are your thoughts about winding this thing down? I know you’re at the point now where financially you and sue are smart and you’re well set and you’ve set up your life so you can travel and do some really fun things with your family, which is great. You take care of the grandchildren, which is vitally important. What’s the next four or five years like for Mr. Ira Naiditch?
Speaker2: Well, you know, Sue and I have actually talked about that. And as long as the Mike Ferry organization is here. I’m not going anywhere. I love what I’m doing, I love helping people grow their business. I love participating with MFO and at least for the next four to six years, you can count on me being here when I’m 72. I’m not sure I’m going as long as you are Mike. But I’m 66 now when I turn seventy-two. We might need to talk differently, but until then, as long as you’re there, I’m there.
Speaker1: So I had a person a couple of days ago, send me an email and then he asked me to call him, and he was in his mid-thirties, you know, which is always fun to talk to these people that are up and coming. And he said, what’s it like to be seventy six? I said, I don’t know. I’ve never been seventy-six before. My first time, you know? Well, thank you for that answer, because Sabrina and I have created a four-year plan from now until my turning 80 of what we want to do. And then we have to write a new plan at eighty until 90. And you saw that one of my idols, Tony Bennett at ninety-five, just finally retired. So we’re looking forward to a very powerful and fun extension of your career at age seventy two. So I’m going to start, I’m going to start selling that thought to you starting tomorrow, that’s for sure. Well, Ira, thanks for your time today. Tell Sue, of course. Hello from Sabrina and I, and we’ll look forward to seeing you very, very soon. One of the events in your participation is forever helpful to a lot of people, and we appreciate that a lot. Thank you.
Speaker2: Thank you, Mike.
