[MUSIC PLAYING]
[APPLAUSE]
RYAN SERHANT: Thanks.
PAUL DARRAH: You're welcome.
RYAN SERHANT: Hello.
How's work?
[LAUGHTER]
This is a cool place.
PAUL DARRAH: It's
not a bad spot.
We have our own real estate.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
You're the real estate guy.
PAUL DARRAH: I'm
the real estate guy.
It's exciting to interview
the other real estate guy.
RYAN SERHANT: I love doing
deals with Google people.
It's great.
You always know they can close.
You know?
[LAUGHTER]
PAUL DARRAH: That's right.
RYAN SERHANT: Which is
really important to me.
PAUL DARRAH: Well,
it's a big talent pool.
We have 10,000
Googlers in New York.
RYAN SERHANT: I know.
PAUL DARRAH: I don't think
you've sold to all of them yet.
RYAN SERHANT: No, not yet.
PAUL DARRAH: Not yet.
RYAN SERHANT: Not yet.
PAUL DARRAH: Not yet.
RYAN SERHANT: That is the goal.
PAUL DARRAH: So why don't
we start-- in the book,
you talked about your
childhood growing up,
opposite to the
guy you see on TV,
and I thought that would
be a great place to start.
RYAN SERHANT: [LAUGH] Great.
Yeah, a lot of people--
most people know me from
"Million Dollar Listing New
York," which started in 2012.
I was cast on it in 2010.
How I got cast on
that is totally--
it's like book number two.
But I think I was kind of
the opposite person when
I was a little kid.
Like, the anti-salesperson,
which was a big
push for me to write the book.
Like, I didn't necessarily
write it for great sales people
out there, who are crushing it
and at the top of their class.
Right?
I mean, I think those
people should also get it.
But I really wrote
it for the people
who were like me, who were
super shy, introverted.
I moved eight times
before I hit fourth grade.
I was really overweight.
I had really bad
self-confidence.
I just liked theater.
My parents made me play every
single sport known to man,
hoping I would get over it.
My whole family's in finance.
Everyone's very
business oriented,
and I just wanted to do
theater and come to New York
after college, which no
one approved of whatsoever.
And then I ran out
of money, right?
I mean, that's kind
of classic story.
I moved here in 2006.
I went to Hamilton College
in upstate New York.
I was a Theater major,
also English Lit
because my parents made me.
And I gave myself two
years on summer savings,
and it lasted me two years.
And I ran out of money and
didn't know what to do.
And it was either
go home to Colorado
and paint fence for
the rest of my life--
which was an actual summer job
I had, painting wood fence.
There's a lot of
it in Colorado--
or figure out something.
I had a friend of
mine who was like,
listen, don't be a waiter.
Don't be a bartender.
Get your real estate license.
The market's insane.
This was the summer of 2008.
PAUL DARRAH: Your
timing was impeccable.
[LAUGHTER]
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
Yeah, I could not
tell the future yet.
PAUL DARRAH: Yeah, yeah.
And as a real estate
guy for Lehman Brothers
when it went under, I know
what your first day of work
was like.
So you started the
day Lehman collapsed.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah,
September 15th.
PAUL DARRAH: Yeah.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah, 2008.
PAUL DARRAH: It was a big--
RYAN SERHANT: Which,
for a lot of people,
was a really awful day.
For me--
PAUL DARRAH: I was one of those.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
And it's tough.
I had a lot of friends
who worked at Lehman.
But for me, I had no money.
I was either, figure out
this real estate thing
or go home to Colorado.
And I had gotten my
real estate license.
It didn't really
all make sense to me
yet what was really
happening in the world.
Because if you're
living in New York
City trying to be
an actor, you're
not watching CNBC every day.
And you have no money.
So you don't watch the markets.
You don't really know.
And I just though real
estate was the hardest thing
in the history of the world.
I just figured that
everyone in New York City
lost their jobs all the time.
Those first two years, I mean,
every client I would get,
they would lose their
job in 2008 and 2009.
And they wouldn't be able
to afford apartments.
So in hindsight, it was
the absolute best time
for me to start, because
every broker was getting out
of the business,
because they all
called the end of the world.
And, for me, I was there to
kind of pick up the pieces
and just sort of figure
it out as I went.
PAUL DARRAH: So you talk about
improv as a training ground.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
PAUL DARRAH: So spend
a minute on that.
RYAN SERHANT: The most
important training
I ever did to be a real estate
agent was taking improv classes
in high school and college.
And I still make everyone
who works for me take improv.
Because the most
important thing you
can do as a salesperson is
learn how to listen and learn
how to act on your feet.
And those are two things that a
lot of people think they have,
but it's a real muscle.
To be able to think on your
feet and never use the word "no"
is a really kind of
hard thing to do.
Because most people will say,
"um," "like," "right," or
"let me think."
That's how we grow up.
But to be able to
say "yes, and,"
over and over and over to
whatever your client is saying,
it really, really helped me
a lot when I first started.
PAUL DARRAH: How many
people have taken improv
in the audience?
OK, so we have some work to do.
RYAN SERHANT: It's important,
especially because-- yeah,
exactly--
because it's really scary,
especially as you get older.
I was just fortunate that I
took it when I was younger
and then thought it was fun.
But once you get older,
you're more self-aware,
and you don't like to
embarrass yourself.
And so that's actually when
it's more fun, because it's just
ridiculous to watch people.
And you should just go
watch improv classes,
just because they're funny.
They have them everywhere.
And they're like $5 or $10.
And you just create situations.
And in sales, that's
what you're doing.
You're negotiating
people's emotions,
and there's no script for that.
You're figuring
it out as you go,
and that's what improv has
taught me and taught the team.
PAUL DARRAH: I think the other
big observation you have is
that in real estate
sales and TV,
the first impressions
are literally everything.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
And if you're not
careful, they're
also your last
impression, right?
PAUL DARRAH: So give an example
of where that moment occurred,
where you were at risk
of the last impression.
RYAN SERHANT:
Probably when I met
you and I didn't look up from
my phone, so I apologize.
I was just in the
middle of something.
PAUL DARRAH: Well, he was
eating Raisin Bran, as well.
RYAN SERHANT: Also that.
You guys have food
here, which is great.
I'm a real estate broker.
Every time I see food, I'm
like, ooh, I've got to survive.
You know, just take
it really simply.
I didn't write the book
for real estate agents.
I mean, my life is as
a real estate agent.
But I really wrote
it for anyone who
just wants to do
better and do more,
whether they're selling
digital advertising,
or they're selling
themselves to their boss
to get a bigger
promotion, or they're
trying to convince their
kids to go to bed on time,
or they're trying to
pay down student debt.
I wrote it for everybody.
But put yourself
in the shoes of,
you're walking into a store.
And someone comes up
to you and they say--
what do people typically say?
Like, "Hey, can I help
you with anything?"
And what do you say?
"No, thanks."
Right?
For the most part, you say,
"No, thanks," because you
don't really want
to be bothered,
and it's a salesperson,
and it's gross.
Like, no, no, it's fine.
I got it.
I'm looking at shoes over here.
Right?
And then they'll say, "Hey.
OK, let me know if
you need anything."
And then they walk away.
That is every salesperson
in every store
in the entire world.
So you have to remember that
every client interaction
you have is just like you
would be making a friend
or meeting a future
boyfriend or a girlfriend.
I mean, could you
imagine going into a bar,
and tapping on someone's
shoulder randomly and saying,
"Hey, let me know if
you need anything."
[LAUGHTER]
Like, how do you
think that would go?
You could get super
lucky and they could say,
"Actually, I do need something,"
and then that's a one-off deal.
But, for the most part,
everyone is going to say,
"You're with me?"
OK.
So, for the most part, people
are going to say, "No, no.
I'm OK," or, "That's
weird," right?
So that's a bad
first impression,
which is now the last
impression you're going
to have of that salesperson.
Right?
A different way is to
introduce yourself.
Introduce yourself and start
with something super simple
like a compliment, right?
Most people think about the
clothes they're putting on
or think about their
ridiculous mustache
that they grew out to
try to sell books or--
[LAUGHTER]
--mm-hmm, true story--
or something, right?
Or if they have a kid with
them, you compliment the kid.
Something small, just
to get them to smile
and to start a
positive interaction.
I swear to you, it
works every time.
I've gone into stores
to buy a pair of socks.
Someone has come up to
me, introduced themselves,
and complimented
me on something,
and I've left with,
like, a canoe.
[LAUGTER]
And maybe that's just
because I'm gullible,
but also it works, right?
You're building that trust
in that first impression,
and you have less than
20 seconds to do it.
Oftentimes, you have
less than 10 seconds.
Every relationship,
even with your best
friend or your partner, started
with a 10-second introduction.
And with the people you know
that you're friendly with,
it worked.
Other people, it didn't work.
So I talk a lot about
how to make it work more.
PAUL DARRAH: And then,
how about at the other end
of the spectrum, the
indecisive client.
Because we all have indecisive
bosses and associates,
how do you manage the
indecisive client?
RYAN SERHANT: Good question.
I broke down as
much as I could--
you know how there's
the six stages of grief
and then the types of tornadoes?
I always, when I got into
the business, really,
kind of thought of sales, like
the six stages of selling, what
emotional clients go through.
Because they go
through their grieving
period, their denial period,
their excited period.
And you have to walk them
through all those steps.
And the best
salespeople are the ones
who can anticipate
it, like an ER doctor.
They know when this
next emotional phase
is going to hit, so you can
prepare how your conversation
is going to lead
into that moment,
kind of like a
psychologist, right?
But people who
are indecisive are
people who are insecure
about the decision
that they're going
to make anyway.
At the end of the day, a
lot of indecisive people
we know, they end up
making a decision.
They're just really
self-conscious or insecure
about their intelligence
or something,
and you have to help
them get comfortable
and figure out how to get there.
And a lot of it is just
laying out options.
So kind of the way I just talked
to you about first impressions,
and it could have
been super boring
but I made it relative by
talking about dating in a bar.
And then people laugh
and they're like, oh,
that is kind of the same way.
Oh, interesting.
Same thing with people
who are indecisive.
It's figuring out a way to
make it relatable to them.
And if you have a client
or a boss, or somebody,
you figure out what they
like to do personally.
So you track them
on social media,
let's say, and you figure out
that they really like cats,
or they really like golf, or
they're really into the Jets.
I don't know,
something like that.
You try to--
without telling them
that you internet stalked
them, you figure out,
in your conversation
with them, how
to make whatever the
situation is you're
talking about relatable to
something they really like.
Like, I understand you
want to take your time,
but if Sam Darnold had taken
his time in his first game
out, he might not have
won that first game, huh?
And then that guy's going to be
like, dude, you're a Jets fan?
I mean, sure.
Yeah, now I am.
Oh, crazy!
Yeah, anyway the
real reason I don't
want to do this is
because of x, y, and z.
Because now it's on
a personal level,
now they're thinking
about something
they really like, plus
you made it relatable,
and it's just how you
present that information
versus that salesperson
who just says,
"Can I help you with anything?"
"No."
"OK, let me know if
you need anything."
"Great."
That's most people.
PAUL DARRAH: And so
you talk about the four
tenets of work, the four Ws.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
PAUL DARRAH: So it's the
Why, the Work, your Wall,
and the When.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
PAUL DARRAH: Spend a
little time on the wall.
RYAN SERHANT: So when I
first got into the business,
I had no boss.
I had no mentor.
I went to a brokerage
called Nest Seekers, which
is still there.
There's like 800
agents there now.
When I was there,
it was like 20--
above Burger Heaven
on 49th and Madison.
And didn't really have a mentor.
No one told me what to do.
All the direction
I was given was,
find apartments that are in
other cities that look cool.
Post them on Craigslist.
Use really good pricing.
Meet people at Starbucks.
Take them to other apartments.
That was the New York City
rental broker way of life
up until, like, 2009.
And so I didn't want to do that.
That seemed super weird to me.
And I wanted to figure out how
I was going to actually build
a sales business, and how I was
going to build a sales career
and not just be someone who
lived deal by deal by deal.
Or somebody who woke
up a year from now
and said, "Wow,
last year was great,
but it was also the
same exact kind of year
that I had the year
before and the year before
and the year before."
And I had looked at
all the top performers
in the business and all the top
companies, like all the Fortune
500 companies.
And they all had really,
really strong through lines
to how they figured out what
they were working against.
Like what's Google's
kind of through line?
Right?
They're trying to make the
internet a better place,
more searchable, all that stuff,
something like that, right?
You guys would know
better than me.
PAUL DARRAH: Anybody want
to cover the mission?
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah, I'm
sure it's out there.
And so, for me, I
wanted to figure out,
what's that thing that
I'm running against,
as much as possible.
And as an individual
salesperson,
it has to be something personal.
So for me, the wall is that
moment in the summer of 2008,
when my debit card was declined
at Food Emporium on 59th
Street, buying
tofu, of all things,
and I didn't know what to do.
And I really freaked out,
and I just took my card
and ran out, and
jumped on the subway,
and sat next to
some random person,
and just tried to
hold back tears.
Because that was the
moment I was like,
this New York thing sucks.
I hate it.
I don't like it.
I don't want to be here.
I just want to go home.
And then I decided to
get into real estate.
And that's the moment I
run from every single day.
And it sounds kind of
crazy, but everyone
needs to have that wall, right?
Maybe you work at Google, but
before this you did another job
that you really
didn't like, and you
don't want to go
back to that job
because this is
now super awesome.
You have free cereal.
That other job is your wall.
Or maybe you just
love New York so much
and you don't want to move home
to Colorado to paint fence,
or whatever your story is.
That, then, is your wall.
Or maybe you were bullied
in high school, like I was,
and you want to show those
people who the [POP] is boss.
That's your wall.
So for me, it was figuring out
that moment on that subway.
And I'll run as far
away from that moment,
for the rest of my
life, as possible.
And the others are
really just trying
to get clear with your goals.
Companies have goals.
Companies have
mission statements.
Why shouldn't individual
people have the same thing?
Why shouldn't
individual salespeople
have the same thing?
You should also have
what your win is.
That's kind of the
mission statement.
So, for me, my win
with doing "Sell It
Like Serhant" for Bravo
and then writing this book,
I think that I'll
always do real estate,
but I really have found
that my passion is helping
other people increase the
quality of their lives
through selling.
Because selling is
the greatest career
you could have, because no
one will ever take it away
from you, and you will
never be unemployed,
especially in a volatile work
market the way we have it now.
I, right now, am unemployed.
I don't get a W-2.
I get a 1099.
I eat what I kill
every single day.
I'm a very successful,
unemployed, employed person.
And that's the greatest thing,
because I get fired every week.
Clients fire me all the
time, just because that's
what happens in this business.
But it's OK, because
I have other clients,
and they make up for it.
I don't ever want to
put myself in a position
where everything in my life
could be held by one place.
And as a salesperson, you
have that amazing talent
to take that anywhere, whether
it's here or somewhere else.
PAUL DARRAH: So in the show, you
parlay your real estate sales
into supporting
and helping people
who are in different
stages of their life
and their state of kind of--
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
PAUL DARRAH: How do you
pick those candidates,
and what's been your
greatest success in terms
of individuals?
RYAN SERHANT: There was a
casting process that Bravo did.
They sent out casting
notices everywhere
and then just got lots of
submissions from people.
It was hard to cast.
Because the show
only made sense if I
was working with really bad
salespeople who were literally
about to lose their jobs.
And then the business had
to agree to go on camera.
Their families had to
agree to go on camera.
The bosses had to
agree to go on camera.
So there was a
whole process to it.
So it was hard to find people
that wanted to put themselves
out there like that.
But I think the most
successful person--
I don't know if you've
watched the show,
but there is kind of two.
There was one guy who sold wine.
His name was Tim, in Millbrook.
And he let me know that he was a
recovering addict, when I first
met him, which was really
tough, because he sold wine.
But that was all
he knew how to do.
He got addicted to heroin
outside Phoenix when
he was 13, meth when he was 14.
Tried to kill himself
when he was 15.
Cleaned himself up and
sent himself into the Army
when he, I guess, was 17.
Did two tours
through Afghanistan,
and then came back,
clean, ready to go.
Wouldn't go back
home to Phoenix,
because that's where all
of his triggers were.
Tried to get a job in New
York, couldn't get one.
Put himself through the New
York Culinary Institute,
but then couldn't
get a job as a chef.
And then a friend
said, "Listen, I've
got this winery in Millbrook.
Come work with me.
Sell wine."
Had no idea what selling
was, thought salespeople
were the worst people in
the world, legitimately.
And I helped him understand
that selling isn't taking.
Selling isn't being greedy.
Selling isn't, like, "Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Just do this.
Do this."
Selling is assuring.
It's not convincing.
Selling is walking
people through options
so that they pick the best
one for them, and an option
that they otherwise
would have picked anyway,
but they're just going to do it
with you and not do it online.
Or they're going to do
it with you now, and not
do it later, right?
And so that was a good one
for me, working with him.
We secretly flew his
parents in from Phoenix,
and he hadn't seen them since
he got back from Afghanistan.
The whole thing was crazy.
"Million Dollar Listing,"
very different show.
[LAUGHTER]
PAUL DARRAH: Yes, yes.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah, Yeah.
PAUL DARRAH: So in
a recent interview,
you said that one of
your core principles
is for sustaining key
relationships is actually
knowing how to give
before you take anything.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
PAUL DARRAH: And I
think you kind of
spoke to that a minute ago.
But if you-- not that we're
off camera, but if you were
speaking off camera versus
on camera, what would
you like people to
know about reality TV
that they may not know?
RYAN SERHANT: "Million Dollar
Listing" takes us nine months
to film an entire season, and
it airs really, really quickly.
So there's a lot of stuff behind
the scenes that you don't see,
just because it's boring
TV, unfortunately.
Like, I always want to show
the deal stuff, the closing
cost, the taxes, all
the crazy stuff that
really drives us crazy.
But it's hard TV to show.
And there's three
of us on the show.
It's an hour show, which
means there's 44 minutes.
There's 16 minutes
of commercials,
which means each
of us get, like,
11 to 12 minutes of airtime.
And it has to be cut down
into just those big moments.
Get listing.
Figure out how to sell it.
Don't sell it.
Maybe sell it.
Little personal item.
Done.
But there's so much more
that goes into it, right?
I start my day very,
very early, and I
try to start in the office
to prep for the day ahead.
And then I end incredibly late
to clean up the previous day
and then prep for my day ahead.
My day starts the night before.
And that was an important thing
that I figured out when I first
got into the business.
Otherwise, you wake up
and you're scattered.
And you look at your calendar,
and you're like, all right,
what do I have to do today?
But by then, your day
has already begun,
and it's like you're
late to the race.
But, yeah, reality TV is fun.
It's been good for me.
I mean, I got onto that show
by just, like, convincing them
I was the greatest
real estate broker
in the history of the world.
And I knew that
they were from LA
and they didn't know anything.
And they were
like, are you sure?
And I was like, yes, I am sure.
Like, really?
Because all these other brokers
that we're interviewing,
they don't know who you are.
And I'm like, really?
It's just because they're jelly.
Right?
And they slowly whittled it
down and whittled it down.
And I got to the point where
I was just getting friends
to help me with things and
trying to-- it was like,
call me 50 times a day.
Call me.
Call me.
Because I'm with the
cameras right now,
and they're still interviewing
like 15 other people.
And, they're like, what
am I calling you for?
So they call me.
And they're like, "Hey, Ryan.
You told me--" and I'd
be like, "Yeah, no.
Deal's closing.
I'll call you right back."
Boom.
And the producers
were like, this
is the greatest real estate
broker we've ever seen!
[LAUGHTER]
I've been doing it
now for eight years,
so I'm comfortable
putting that out there.
And then I got cast on it.
And then that was
like, oh, all right.
Now I got to figure this out.
My whole life has been just
saying yes to everything,
and then having to
just figure it out.
PAUL DARRAH: Which is
a great lead-in to,
you talk about when it's
time to let the deal go
and how to fail smarter.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
I mean, when I first
started as a salesperson,
I didn't let any deal go.
Right?
Because I didn't really
have a whole lot of choice.
And some of my first clients
were people I definitely
should have let go.
But it's a time benefit
analysis, right?
You're never going
to close somebody
who has a great personal
relationship with someone else
who does what you do.
As many apartments as
I would love to sell,
there are always
going to be sellers
who grew up with a real
estate broker today,
or who are married to
a real estate broker,
or who have some kind
of personal connection.
Those are people that I need
to really look at the time
that I would put into that
deal, and probably decide,
you know what?
I'm going to leave
them for other people.
It's OK, right?
I'll live.
I'll go find other people.
And then there are
people, too, who are just
completely irrational,
unreasonable,
and, those people,
you have to cut loose
when they don't really move up
that emotional ladder that I
talk about in the book.
Like, if they just stay on
hysteric, or overemotional,
or if they're mean.
There's a lot of
people in the world who
are really mean and are
belittling, especially
in my business.
I don't know how
it is for you guys.
But it is really easy to be mean
to a real estate agent, right?
And it's easy to take
out all your frustration
on them, which is fine,
and I'm totally OK with it.
And I get yelled at every day.
But if that's their
status quo, then those
are people that
I need to let go.
Just to say, the
negative energy,
it's going to affect me
and all of my other deals,
and I don't want to bring
that into the rest of my life.
PAUL DARRAH: So in
the book, you talk
about Client X,
which may not have
been your hardest deal you've
ever closed, but it might be.
So spend a minute on
that, because I think
it's such an amazing story.
RYAN SERHANT: Oh, man.
In the book, I have to call him
"Client X" for fear of my life.
And I say he's from Atlantis,
also for fear of my life.
So Client X was a guy
who cold emailed me
when I first got
into the business
and said he'd like to invest
money into the New York City
real estate market.
Would I be able to help him?
He would use real
cash dollars and would
need bank account help.
And I totally replied.
And I was like, absolutely.
I can help you with
bank account help.
And absolutely, we take
cash money dollars.
And how much are you
looking to spend?
And he was like, less
than $10 million.
And I was doing, like,
$2000 a month convertible,
three rentals in the West
Village to Jessica, Jessica,
and her friend,
Jessica, at the time--
[LAUGHTER]
--who were coming from Murray
Hill with their guarantor
father.
And so a guy who,
all of a sudden,
just told me $10 million
over the internet,
I was like, boom, jackpot!
This is New York
City real estate.
And I got super excited.
And then he wanted
to talk on the phone,
so he was like a
real person, sort of.
And I just sent him
a bunch of listings,
because I didn't know.
And he picked one at 45 West
67th Street, Apartment 15ABC.
I remember every address.
And he said, I
would like that one.
Make offer, $8 million.
And it was asking $8.5 million.
And I was just like,
holy mother of--
I just-- $8 million offer.
This is what it is.
This is-- I am now the
greatest real estate broker
in the history of the world.
I asked him to send me a proof
of funds, and he sent me a DHL.
Right, remember that?
He sent me a DHL the
next day with, like,
a photo of an
accountant with a letter
that legitimately said, "Mr.
X does not commit to things
that he does not commit to."
That was his proof of funds.
And I was totally OK with it.
I was like, this
looks good to me!
Cash money dollars
in New York City.
And we negotiated this deal over
the internet for $8.3 million,
and I was immediately
thinking about the commission
in my head, and thinking
about how long I
would be able to
stay in my apartment
with all that rent money and
everything and craziness.
And taxes didn't even come
into the conversation.
And then he disappeared
off the face of the Earth
for like a month.
And he had had a contract,
and I had introduced him
to an attorney, and he just
never replied ever again.
But I followed up,
like every day,
because this was
my one big fish.
No one else, in
their life, had ever
talked to me about spending
that much money on an apartment.
And then he eventually writes
back, like a month later,
and says, "Sorry.
I've been a little busy."
I'm like, OK, no problem.
And he actually
signs the contract.
And then he has
to send a deposit.
And then the
deposit never comes.
And now I got the
seller freaking out,
other brokers going crazy,
and, like, months go by.
So we have the signed contract,
and it doesn't mean anything.
And then the attorneys tell me
that what's basically happening
is that this person
takes a signed contract--
and this happens all the
time in New York City--
and they shop it
around the world.
And they say, "Listen,
this is this apartment.
It's probably worth $10 million.
I've got it for $8.3.
Give me $20,000.
Come in on it with me."
And they'll sell the
contract over and over
and over to
unsuspecting victims,
and they'll steal
people's money.
So it's a scam.
And so, then I was
like, you know what?
This business sucks!
I don't want to do this anymore.
I'm the best broker
ever, but now I'm
the worst one
because I'm involved
in some money laundering scam
between some crazy person
from Atlantis.
I can't believe I
responded to this guy.
And I think it was,
like, two months go by,
and then the attorney
calls me and says,
"You're not going
to believe this.
I just got an $830,000 deposit
from Bank of Atlantis."
And I almost had a heart attack.
I was like, "Are
we in contract?"
He's like, "Yeah,
you're in contract."
I was like, holy mother of God!
$8.3 million for an apartment.
I sold it over the internet!
And then there's this
thing in New York City
called a board package, right?
You have to do an application.
And then there's
this thing called
closing, which you have to do.
And he vanished off
the face of the Earth--
stopped responding to
everything for like six months.
So imagine signing a
contract for something
and then disappearing
for six months.
OK, so now you've got
different attorneys
looking to sue everybody.
But who do you go after, right?
Now it's just about
keeping that deposit
and holding the deposit back.
But I followed up.
It's my whole
life, is follow-up.
I wrote about it in the book.
There's a whole chapter.
It's really invigorating.
OK?
I will follow up with you
until the day that you die.
I followed up non-stop,
just checking in.
Just saying, "Hey.
I know you're probably getting
those documents together.
Still need to do
this application."
And then I had some genius idea
to-- because I had looked him
up initially, and
I'd seen that he
might be attached to this house
that looked expensive in Paris.
And so I sent him this
email that said, "Hey"--
in total desperation--
"I'll be in Paris tomorrow.
If you want to
meet in person, we
can go through the documents."
And he wrote back
in like one minute,
after six months of
nothing, and said, "Sure.
10:00 PM," and
gave me a location.
And now I'm like, well, shit.
The biggest deal
of my whole life,
that I still haven't
done, now I've
got to figure out
how to do this.
And so I used all the money
I had, and got an Aer Lingus
flight through Dublin.
And then I think I took Ryanair,
which was super fitting for me,
to Paris to try to find
this magical person.
All the while, I'm kind
of telling my parents what
I was up to, kind
of not, because it's
a little bit sketchy and
probably really dangerous.
And then 10:00 PM rolled by,
and the guy doesn't show up.
I'm crying in my baguette.
And I think it was like 1:00
AM, because I had nowhere to go,
and I didn't plan on
getting a hotel or anything.
I just thought
I'd, like, wing it,
and then just go right
back to the airport.
And then 1:00 AM, he shows up
with, like, a line of people.
So now I know he's real.
And all he really cared
about was getting me drunk.
And he just wanted
to watch me drink.
And I was the opposite of who
he was in every way, shape,
and form.
And I drank a significant
amount of tequila.
And he sort of looked at
the papers a little bit.
I got him to sign two
things, and I would just
fill out the rest.
So I took it as a win.
Went back to New
York City, very sick,
and then he had to come close.
And he disappeared off the
face of the Earth again.
But at least now I knew
that he was a real person.
And then to make a
long story short--
even though it's long--
he randomly, one day, again,
months later-- so this is,
like, a year-long process--
says, "I'm in New York City.
I'd like to close."
Like, are you crazy?
It's like 11:30 AM.
You can't just get a closing
together-- right-- oh,
but fine.
We'll figure it out.
Because everyone was-- they
were trying to sue for deposits.
It was crazy.
It was like, where are you?
Mandarin Oriental.
I went up there to wait for
him, doesn't come down on time.
Finally comes down,
with like 15 people.
And this fleet of
black Escalades
pulls up outside the Mandarin
Oriental, completely tinted out
and crazy.
The minute that happens, I
text my mom and I say goodbye.
This is, again, like, the
only deal that I've ever done
other than just rental
deals on Craigslist
with people that I'm
baiting and switching, OK?
The New York way.
So we get in the car.
He's got, like, an espresso
assistant, totally crazy.
And I'm like, "Listen,
Mandarin Oriental, 45 West 67th
Street, it's right there.
Do you want to go
do the walk-through?
I'm sure you're really
excited about this apartment."
He's like, "No, no, no.
We go to JFK."
So we went to JFK.
And we went to the back of JFK.
And we pulled up, and
there was this big 747,
and he got outside,
and he bought it.
And he got back in the car,
and now I'm totally confused.
Now I don't really
think I'm going to die.
Now I'm just really--
I don't know who this person is.
And then we go back into the
city, and he signs the papers,
and he closes.
And all he cares about is taking
a selfie with me for his BBM
profile, if you remember those.
And turns out that he prints
about a billion dollars
a month.
And he's, like,
wealthier than Gaddafi,
and just wasn't concerned
with this little apartment.
And the only reason
that he moved forward
was because he
thought it was super
amusing to watch me
consistently, persistently
follow up.
[LAUGHING]
And the fact that I actually
went to Paris-- and he knew it
was bullshit.
He knew that I wasn't
going to be in Paris--
is one of the reasons
he went through it.
And since then, we've
done, like, $300 million
together, just as a way to
diversify and move money
around.
Every deal has
been super painful.
And that's the power
of "Yes, and," right?
And it didn't take
money of mine.
Going to Paris costs money,
but, other than that,
follow-up, following
up with items of value,
staying on top of
him, everything.
Every deal is a deal.
You're just trying to
see which salesperson
is going to quit first, right?
Just like every race.
And I always equate
selling to a race.
You wake up every day.
That's why I say "ready,
set, go" all the time,
because my dad told me to say
it every day before I leave,
when I was in third grade.
Before I step out of the
house, before you cross over,
one foot-- "ready, set, go"--
because it sets your mindset up
for running a race.
You just have no idea what kind
of race you're going to run.
It's going to be
a marathon today.
It might be a sprint,
and then it's a marathon.
It might be hurdles, and
then it's, like, a 6k.
You don't know.
But as long as you're
prepared in that moment,
the moment you
leave your house--
I'm going to run a race today
and I'm going to [POP] win it
in some way, shape, or form--
it just sets your
mind to be ready to go
for anything, to say, "yes,
and" then figure it out.
PAUL DARRAH: So before I ask
the next question, if anyone
wants to line up to the mics.
And we'll open up for
questions in a minute.
But it's a great pivot
to the next question,
which is, explain
your Get FKD theory,
and why it's one of your
most valuable secrets.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
You're going through, like,
the whole book right now, huh?
PAUL DARRAH: Yes.
It was a great book, you guys.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
So FKD-- again, I was on
"As the World Turns" and got
killed off.
OK, that's where I
made the most money
before getting to real estate,
other than hand modeling.
I hand modeled.
I held cell phones for
AT&T. They were everywhere,
by the way.
If you Google my name and
hand modeling, it's awesome.
I held Nespresso
capsules like this.
I'd have to move the
metatarsal of my pinky.
I'd have to get hand
massages and everything.
So that's my background
into business.
So then when I got into
real estate, all I knew
was you post ads online.
You meet people.
You try to convince them
to sell, to buy, to rent.
And I wasn't rich, and I'm
not from New York City,
and I don't go to the synagogue.
So I am shit out of luck.
My nicest clothes were
cowboy boots and khaki pants.
And so when I made that
decision of, you know what?
I'm going to figure
this out, and I'm
to move against the grain
here in New York City,
and I'm going to be
the best broker ever--
I've got to figure out
how I'm going to do it.
I didn't know how
to structure my day.
And that was the one thing that
really would get me depressed,
and would really
kind of hurt me,
was, OK, I have one
appointment at 3:00 PM.
What do I do the
rest of the day?
What do I do at 9:00?
Do I cold call people?
Do I ask people for help?
Do I post ads?
How do I structure my day?
And I think people are
creatures of habit.
So I looked at big companies.
I said, OK, every
big company out there
that's super successful has
a CEO, a CFO, and a COO.
I have no idea what they do.
But for me, I think it's
important that, part of my day,
I have a CEO brain on.
So that, for me,
was my finder time.
Because I had looked
at CEOs and I said,
they find business for
the company to work on.
All right, that's what they do.
They prospect business for
the company to work on.
Yes, they deal with
problems and all that stuff.
But CEOs really-- they are
there to move the ship forward
and give the company a
lot of stuff to work on.
OK, so from 8:00 to
10:00 AM, every day,
I'm going to put "Finder."
And those are my hours
where, every day, now I'm
booked from 8:00 to 10:00 AM.
I'm not waking up with
nothing to do until 3:00 PM.
8:00 to 10:00, that's
my finder hour or two,
when I just focus on
RyanSerhantRealEstate.com,
my own, little
personal business,
and how I'm going to
sell more, grow more,
and brainstorm my career.
And it's amazing if you just
spend some time every day
and just think about
yourself that way,
and about your
business, and how you're
going to do better, you will
come up with ideas that you
never would have come up with,
just because your brain is
capable of things that
you just don't know.
Keeper was the CFO time.
So that was like 12:00 to 1:00.
And I would just think about
all the money I didn't have.
And if I had, like, $10 to
spend that day, I would budget.
Because I knew it was
important to invest back
in your business.
So I would say, OK, $10,
that gets me how many stamps?
And I would send out letters
to one building that day.
Or it's going to get
me an extra latte,
and I'm going to
go to Starbucks,
and I'm going to try
to find pregnant women
and sell them apartments
because they need more space.
All right, that's
my thing today.
True story.
Some of my first
clients were pregnant,
and they needed more space.
It's a real thing.
And then my COO time was
my doer time, so FKD.
That was the rest of my day.
That's when you put all
of that stuff into action.
So that's when I
was stamping things.
That's when I was
going to Starbucks.
That's when I was
doing the appointments.
And I still do that to this day.
Now the times are shifted.
Now I spend a lot more of my
time in that finder time period
than I do in the
keeper and doer.
But it's important to
think about yourself,
as an entrepreneur and as
an independent contractor
and as a salesperson,
as somebody
who runs a large company.
Whether it's true or
it's not, the only way
it will be true, eventually,
is if you think to make it so.
Yeah.
PAUL DARRAH: Great.
Go to the audience.
AUDIENCE: Oh, he was
here first, but--
PAUL DARRAH: All
right, let's do--
AUDIENCE: OK.
AUDIENCE: So in "Million
Dollar Listing,"
you have a lot of
one-on-one interactions.
Now, obviously, it's edited,
and perhaps that's not
how the rest of your day goes.
But now you have a team of
several hundred brokers.
How do you manage them?
Do you try and spend
one-on-one time each of them?
Do you have lieutenants
or other people?
How do you structure it?
RYAN SERHANT: The team
is 62, not yet at 100.
AUDIENCE: Oh, OK.
RYAN SERHANT: But
it's-- but thank you.
[LAUGHTER]
I try to spend as much time
with them as I possibly can.
They're all really busy,
and everyone's different.
I have let all of them know
that I'm there for them all day
long.
There are certain
people on my team
who need a meeting with
me every single week.
There are certain
people on my team
who need to talk
to me every day.
There's other people on my
team who do really well, who
I have to go after for updates.
And that's just sort
of the way they work,
and so I'm not a big fan of
creating rules and then making
team members stick by them.
I want people to be
able to move flexibly,
to be as successful as
they possibly can be.
And then they just have
to set those expectations
for themselves.
So at the end of the year,
I'll have a goal meeting.
And my goal meeting, I
don't create numbers.
I have them tell
me how much money
they want to make next year.
And they have to
make the number.
It's not me.
If they say, like, $5,
we have to move it up.
But they have to set
the number, and then we
back into that how much they
have to sell to get there.
That's now their base salary.
Everything else they
sell above that is bonus.
If they sell under
the number they just
said they want to sell, and
they don't come talk to me
by June or July, saying,
"Listen, the year is terrible.
New York City real estate market
has fallen through the floor,"
something like that, then
they can't be with me.
But I talk to my team more than
I talk to any other client.
And I really view teams
as, like, football teams.
I'm awful at every
sport known to man,
but I do know how
football teams work.
And it's important
that everyone can
be their own
individual rock star
and be successful and be
great at what they do.
But you're not all going
to win, unless you're
able to play well together
and work together and talk
to each other and figure it
out as obstacles come at you,
like the New York
Jets, you know?
I hope that answers
the question.
I don't know.
PAUL DARRAH: OK.
AUDIENCE: First, thank
you for being here.
RYAN SERHANT: Thanks.
AUDIENCE: I think the
"Yes, and figure it out"
mentality mindset very much
resonates with most of us
in this room,
because we invented
a category 20 years ago.
And I think, in some ways,
we're still doing that.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Personal story--
I met Fredrik--
RYAN SERHANT: Oh.
AUDIENCE: --in Starbucks,
like eight years ago--
RYAN SERHANT: I'm sorry.
AUDIENCE: --and I've
been here for a while.
Well, he was--
RYAN SERHANT: I'm just kidding.
AUDIENCE: He seemed to be a
very different person eight
years ago than he is
on the show today.
So I was kind of expecting him
to be a douche, and he wasn't.
He was very nice.
But I've been in
sales for 20 years,
and I recounted a story to him
that I had used a line that I
heard on the show on a client--
RYAN SERHANT: Oh, wow.
AUDIENCE: --and it worked.
And the line was--
I was working with a very big
telecommunications company,
and the line was, "If
you have $7 million,
you have $8 million."
RYAN SERHANT: Yes.
AUDIENCE: And I closed
an $8 million deal,
so I owe that to you guys.
So thank you.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: I have moved out
of sales after 40 years--
PAUL DARRAH: You're welcome.
AUDIENCE: --and I'm
now on a team that's
responsible for training
10,000 sellers at Google
on how to sell.
And we're at this
inflection point
between being a trusted
advisor and being
a competitive seller, because
it's a very fine balance.
What do you think are the
most important attributes
of a seller, as they balance
being a trusted advisor
and a competitive seller?
RYAN SERHANT: Endurance,
empathy, and enthusiasm.
AUDIENCE: Three Es.
I like that alliteration.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah,
it's in the book.
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: I'm buying it.
RYAN SERHANT: Like, you didn't
just tee me up for that,
but you did, sort of.
But it's what I look for in
every salesperson that I hire.
And I do that by--
they have to have
enthusiasm, right?
So I ask them to tell me
the story about the greatest
day in their life.
And if they tell
me, like, "Well,
Christmas when I
was 10 was great,"
they cannot work with me.
They have to have empathy.
So I ask them to tell me about
the worst day they've ever
had in their life.
And if they're
like, "My dog died,"
they cannot work with me.
Because the ability to be
enthusiastic with a client
and the ability to
empathize with a client,
that's the only way
you get sales done.
There will always be sales
that just come down to numbers.
Like, there will always
be those conversations.
And those are great.
That's your base salary.
Those are the
deals that are just
going to happen because
the numbers make
sense and the product's good.
Everything else is empathy,
enthusiasm, energy, education.
All words that
start with E. Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
PAUL DARRAH: Great.
Anybody else?
RYAN SERHANT: Oh, no.
He's going to the bathroom.
Oh, psyched.
Love you too.
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: Hi.
PAUL DARRAH: Ah, there we go.
AUDIENCE: Hello.
RYAN SERHANT: Hi.
AUDIENCE: So I'll
use this opportunity,
because I definitely
don't have the money
to ever work with you directly.
So if I was an investor, and
looking for an area in New York
where I'd likely see the
most upside in the next five
to 10 years, what would
you recommend I do?
RYAN SERHANT: Bushwick.
AUDIENCE: OK.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
Bushwick, Bed-Stuy.
I think that Bed-Stuy is already
kind of getting expensive,
and people are already
trying to go there.
I think that Bushwick--
anyone who buys
in Bushwick today
will do incredibly
well in five years.
And yeah, super simple.
AUDIENCE: Do you
have any listings?
RYAN SERHANT: Yes.
[LAUGHTER]
Listen--
AUDIENCE: You really do?
RYAN SERHANT: --I am here
to sell homes to all of you.
Let's not-- I don't
want to meet any--
I'm going to
remember all of you.
I don't want to meet
any of you on the street
or in Starbucks ever,
and you're like,
oh, I just bought a house.
But I didn't know if maybe
it was too small for you,
or I had this friend-- no.
I am here for a purpose, and
it's to sell all of you homes
or help you rent homes, OK?
Just, I want to make sure
that that's super clear.
PAUL DARRAH: So
on the left side,
we're going to
line up for people
that want to buy an apartment.
On the right side, we're
doing the book signing--
RYAN SERHANT: Yes.
PAUL DARRAH: --just so you know.
RYAN SERHANT: Yes, yes, yes.
AUDIENCE: Ryan, one
question-- given
the variety in your background,
how much in your career
has it been about what
you've wanted to do
versus who you want to be?
RYAN SERHANT: Whoa.
You Googlers.
I made a decision
when I was younger--
and I think this is
important, because I
talked to a lot of people
who have this problem.
They want to be a
really great X, right?
You want to grow up to be
like me, an actor, right.
Or you want to grow up
to be a successful banker
or a successful
engineer or something.
And then when that doesn't
happen, it's like a brick wall
to the face, and
life is over, right?
And then they go off
and do something else.
There's a lot of people who run
into those situations, where
their whole life they wanted
to do something because they
wanted to be that person.
But, for me, whether it sounds
crazy or not, I always just--
I wanted to be successful.
I wanted to squeeze as much out
of life as possible, because I
knew life was short
and I knew that I
didn't want to leave
potential on the floor.
I didn't want to
be in the cemetery
and be one of those
people who was like, well,
if he had only just
done x, y, and z,
we might know that he did that.
And so I chose success
first, career second.
And that's an important
thing to put out there,
because a lot of people think
it sounds weird and crazy
and that it doesn't make sense.
But if you choose career first--
I could've done
that with acting,
and I wouldn't be here today.
And I'd still live in my
300 square foot apartment
at 38 West 31st Street, sharing
a bathroom with 17 people.
Not that that's a bad thing.
It's an honorable thing, maybe.
But it wasn't what
I wanted for myself.
And I wanted to have a
better quality of life,
because, again,
life is super short.
So I chose success
first, career second.
And I think when
people do that, then
when things don't work out--
like when I was killed off on
"As the World Turns," right--
it wasn't this brick wall that
I was hitting, where my life was
over, and I had to move home.
It was, OK, so that
career didn't work out.
Let's see what else works.
And real estate sounds awful,
and real estate brokers
are the worst people
ever, but, you know what?
Maybe I'll try to change that
and figure it out and do it
in a different way.
And does that answer
your question?
AUDIENCE: Definitely.
Thanks.
RYAN SERHANT: OK.
Cut it.
PAUL DARRAH: All right.
RYAN SERHANT: Sometimes I just
start going off in my head.
AUDIENCE: Thanks so much
for being here-- big fan.
RYAN SERHANT: No problem.
AUDIENCE: I was wondering
if you could maybe
share about your
castmates on the show?
I know you've had some
friendships, not friendships.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Would you consider
them friends now, and maybe
something unexpected about
the other brokers who
appear on the show?
RYAN SERHANT: Listen,
I have been on the show
from the beginning with Fredrik.
And so we have a
love/hate relationship.
We're competitors.
We go after the same projects,
the same listings all the time.
And it took us a
while to figure out.
But I think, in the
last couple of years--
maybe it's just because
we're getting older--
we just realized that we're a
lot more alike than we thought.
I think I'm better, but we're
both equally competitive,
and we want to do as
best as we possibly can.
But we're also in this
crazy thing together.
That show, at least,
when it first came out,
it was watched by 25 million
people around the world.
And that's crazy to us.
You know, we get fan
mail from Korea and Iran.
How those people would ever know
that I'm a real estate broker
is beyond me.
And I would never
be able to afford
that type of advertising.
And so, listen, Fredrik
and I are friendly now,
but we're still
very competitive.
I haven't talked to
Michael Lorber in forever.
He was Season 1.
Luis, I talk to a lot more now
than I have in a long time.
And he's actually
back in the city.
And I haven't told anyone
yet, but I'll tell people
at 3:00 PM, on Instagram.
He's going to moderate
my book signing
at Barnes & Noble on
Thursday, and it's
going to be his first public
appearance in like two years.
And I've always
been close to Luis,
and he was at my
wedding and everything.
And then Steve--
Steve is new.
Steve is super pretty.
[LAUGHTER]
And so, yeah, but Steve's great.
Steve is a total sweetheart.
He's great at what he does.
He's a lot more sensitive
than people probably think.
Yeah.
I don't know if I have any--
AUDIENCE: Did you try and
get him to join your team?
RYAN SERHANT: I did.
We filmed.
They filmed a scene with
me, after "Town" crumbled,
of me trying to get
him to come to the team
and figure that out.
Because I thought it would work.
With Frederick,
it wouldn't work.
But with Steve, I
thought we could probably
do more together than separate.
And he thought about it.
And then Corcoran just made
him a really great offer,
and then they just
cut that whole scene.
AUDIENCE: Thanks.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah.
PAUL DARRAH: And
that's reality TV.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah, exactly.
Yes.
PAUL DARRAH: So on behalf of
the 10,000 potential sales
that are in this building--
RYAN SERHANT: Yes!
PAUL DARRAH: --and
the next building--
RYAN SERHANT: Let's do it.
PAUL DARRAH: --thank you.
RYAN SERHANT: Thank you.
PAUL DARRAH: This has
been great having you.
Definitely, we'll
have people lining up
to have you sign their book.
RYAN SERHANT: Yeah, I'd love to.
PAUL DARRAH: You
can clearly follow
Ryan on Instagram,
Facebook, Twitter,
and his YouTube channel,
which highlights
a day in the life of
Ryan, which is actually
interesting to watch, as well.
RYAN SERHANT: Oh, good.
Thank you.
PAUL DARRAH: Thank you.
Great having you.
[APPLAUSE]
