0078: The Secret to Consistently Growing your Company Year After Year with CEO John Wentworth III

Intro  [0:00]  

EA interviews Episode 78. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect interview. Have you ever wanted to grow a successful company? Of course you do. You probably already have a company but is it to the point where you want it to be? I encountered John last year and we had a great conversation. We’ve stayed in touch and I’m so excited to have him here to be sharing with you. He has not only the CEO of the John Wentworth company, but he has grown at substantially year after year in only six short years. Now, I’ve had friends that are real estate agents and they’re selling homes and I don’t know their exact numbers. But when I start hearing numbers like 200, 300, 400, 500 homes in a year, it piques my interest because I know that all successful business owners have their keys to success. And whether it’s real estate, whether it’s video production, whether it’s book publishing, whether it’s an auto body place, whatever your business is, there are some commonalities. And I’m excited to dig into that with John in just a second. But I also want to say, he’s the most humble and gracious down to Earth guy I’ve met in the last couple of years. So yes, he’s the CEO, but more importantly, he actually cares and he’s going to be sharing this information with you right after we thank our sponsor.

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John Wentworth III  [1:52]  

I’m doing great, Mario. Brother, man, thank you for having me on. Let’s rock.

Mario Fachini  [1:54]  

Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. JohnWentworth. John, how are you doing today? I am excited for you to share. It’s my pleasure. What inspired you to start your company? I know a little bit of your background, but why take all the risk? Why start everything? I mean, you didn’t need to. What inspired you to want to do so?

John Wentworth III  [2:15]  

Well, I mean, when I got into real estate, I have one primary need, that was to eat. Yeah. I had just left another industry where I was a training standard with resources. I love that, I was passionate about it, I did well in it, but I ended up living in Canada and I moved back home. And you know, I had no education, did not want to go work for just, you know, kind of the norm job, if you will. And so, we started flipping houses and then moved into real estate and from that moment forward, my job was to eat. I didn’t have any money, and I was 35 years old and trying to figure things out. You know what, I’m kind of goofy like I eat for days some time a day.

Mario Fachini  [2:54]

What’s your favorite thing to eat? What kind of food do you like?

John Wentworth III [2:55]

So in the morning, I literally eat four or five eggs every single morning in my life. “So how in the hell can you eat that?” And I said, “Well, I’m not eating it for taste. I’m just eating it for fuel. It’s just what I do.” But growing up, my dad raised me — you know, if we were having chicken for dinner, we had chicken for dinner. There were no sides. It was just a chicken and if you liked it, well then, you had chicken again the next day. Well, I mean, look, what is my favorite meal?

Mario Fachini  [3:24]

Any particular flavor? I mean, do you like to season it or just plain?

John Wentworhth III  [3:24]

I mean, I think I’m just glad to have dinner with my wife, either salmon or fillet and a good wine.

Mario Fachini  [3:36]  

I like that. I like that. So you got started because you wanted to eat. So tell me about the first couple of years. You obviously got past that. What was the first couple of years like when you were at that point, how did you get to the point where that wasn’t a concern so much anymore?

John Wentworth III  [3:49]  

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, when I got into real estate, the market had just hang. You know, as I mentioned, I went from horses to flipping houses. And then, the market went stagnant until we couldn’t sell the homes that we were trying to flip. And until then, I transitioned into wealth and also real estate. And I felt like, you know, as we were selling those homes, you know, I was seeing what people were doing, and that they had some success. And, you know, I felt like, kind of in everything that I’ve done, you know, if you’re passionate about something, you’re going to have some success in it. And so, I started working my tail off, you know, I started learning all that I could and just, you know, every single day going and grinding. But you know, at that time, also, I wasn’t where I needed to be personally. Right? And that’s kind of what we talked about earlier is, you know, personal development equals in growth — professional development. And at that time, I was kind of — I don’t want to say I was going through the motions, but you know, my first goal was to eat and, you know, put some money in my pocket and be able to pay the bills, you know. I was renting a $800 house and I had a roommate to pay half of it. I got it, I actually got it for a little more than half. But you know, just so it’s — look, it evolved, right? I never set out to have this amazing team of, you know, 30, 35 people. That was not the vision, you know, and still to this day, like what is next for us? You know, I just feel like I’m gonna let the Lord lead me in that and I’m gonna show up every day and do the best that I can do for everybody around me.

Mario Fachini  [5:18]  

Well, that’s what I find so great about you, because so many people, they’re — they only attach a dollar amount to it. And while I take my own clients through a profitability matrix and yes, you need revenue goals and profitability goals and all that, for sure, it’s not always just about that. I mean, what are you doing beyond that? So let’s dig deeper to what you’re saying about the personal development side of things because I’m sure you could rattle off, you know, here’s a strategy on how to grow from five, you know, zero agents to five or five  to 10. But what — but I know there’s an underlying current that most might not know about, what would you say is the most important aspect of what you’ve done over the last six years and go from where you were at to where you’re right now?

John Wentworth III  [5:56]  

It’s a great question. You know, I was asked this question in the past and I wasn’t sure, but it’s very clear now and it was adding people, you know, adding people with the intent of helping people, right? Not just hey, if we add more people, the company makes more money, because it’s really not the case, actually. You know, so really being intentful in, you know, bringing people aboard that I can positively and not just me, right? That the culture that we’ve created here can have a positive impact on somebody’s life. And you know, we see that, we see people join our team in one year, you know, you see personal growth that you feel like, wow, this person has gained 5, 10 years of knowledge because there’s so much collaborative knowledge inside of our floor that, you know, it really does help shape people and for me, I’m in constant — I’m no perfect person by any means. And I’m okay with that. Right? I think it’s important that people know who they are and I think it’s important that people know who they are. Because I think what I’m always in search of is being content and being fulfilled and, and you said it, I mean, money won’t bring you those things. And give you some great choices, right? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s something to strive for. My wife and I are going to Mastermind in Calgary tomorrow. And you know, because you know, we’ve had some success, we get to then go into Bamp and stay up in the castle in Bamp. But again, it didn’t start with that vision in mind.

Mario Fachini  [7:32]  

What’s one of the coolest transformations you’ve seen over the course of starting the company to now?

John Wentworth III  [7:38]  

In people or in the business? So in people, I think the coolest transformation, there is no single transformation. You know, we see people that inside of our accountability groups, inside of the structure, the support from each other, you know, people whether it’s — you know, we had a gentleman that was, you know, left college, waiting tables, you know, and this person’s going to make six figures as you’re selling real estate. So is it about the money? No, but that certainly affords him a different lifestyle than it did, you know, making 30 grand. But on the flip side of that is the maturity that I’ve seen in him in such a short amount of time. We have people on the team, we’ve got a girl right now inside of our accountability group, she’s down 40 pounds in six weeks, you know, so there’s so many different things that’s happening. And I think one of the things that we’ve all learned is that the whole is bigger than the part, right? Everybody inside of this, you know, this group is very supportive of each other and that’s a very different environment than what, you know, we — well, if you’re not in the real estate industry, you don’t know, but if you’re in the real estate industry, you know that very often it’s, hey, thanks for joining, you’ve got a heartbeat, there’s your office, best of luck. In here, it’s a lot of support, a lot of lifting people up, a lot of, you know, mentoring, and that goes a long way. And I think, you know, the coolest thing about the growth of our business — again, there’s a plethora of things, but if I had to narrow it down, it would be, you know, the impact that we’re having on our community. And it’s something that I never, I never thought of, right? Like again, I just said I was trying to eat and now, we’re able to impact the community and why, because the whole, the whole is so great and when you’ve got so many people, you know, moving in the same direction, you can really do powerful stuff. So now, we’re looking at — you know, our marketing used to be about our post on Facebook, send out postcards, do a newspaper ad, put up a billboard, like that used to be the marketing. Now, our marketing is like, okay, what can we do this year to impact our community? And so, just, you know, again, it evolves and it changes and one thing I think that just everybody, if they start making their day about how they can impact and help others instead of watching you get out of it, man, you know, things take care of themselves at that point.

Mario Fachini  [10:01]  

I would have to agree. So many people get stressed out over nothing and it’s like, you know, let go, let God and everything is going to work out, do what you can control. So to the point of, you know, focusing on other people and putting out the intention that you were talking about, share a little bit of what you do in the morning? Do you have a success routine that you found really helps out?

John Wentworth III  [10:22]  

Oh, God. Look, I love the question and I have people helping me out, right? I don’t — you know, for me, that — I’m trying not to swear, right? Because I just get warmed up. But to me, that’s just kind of hokey. And I know some people need it, right? So I don’t want to say hey, don’t do it, or it’s bad. For me — and I think this — you know, I said this earlier, you’ve got to know who you aren’t also and you got to be okay with that. You know, who I was involved, for example, in something called the 5 AM Club, and I would encourage people to check that out. I do need to get a drink of water here. But you know, I was fortunate because 5 AM, it was in California, so it was really 8am and it just wasn’t my thing, right? I’m jumping on every day and I just wasn’t jiving with it. And so, I checked out and I kind of felt bad for that. I still try, man, you know, I’ve been fortunate enough, the guy that runs that Srivan, Srimatha, he was a mentor of mine and a friend of mine. And I’ve been on the show maybe four times, it’s a five-minute thing in the morning. So would that be one of those things that, you know, someone might tune into to kind of get dialed in the morning, look, I wake up and I go. I wake up at 530. I’m at the gym at 545 because it’s like one mile from my house, which is great. And I just do the same thing over and over and over, you know, I don’t get too tied to what became of the day. I believe we make our day. I believe that — you know, talk about the weather. I don’t care if people talk about what somebody else was doing. I don’t care. I know what I need to do. And the best thing that I can do is just show up and you know, people talk about, who’s your greatest competition? Me, right? And I think that if people take that stance, more of, you know, it’s about what I’m going to do today instead of what everybody else was doing. Well, one, it’s going to propel you forward but two, it takes a lot weight off your shoulders. You know, you — I think people clutter their mind with so much stuff that is out of their control that you know, I mean, I think that takes away from their happiness.

Mario Fachini  [12:18]  

Well, from what I’m hearing, whether you want to call it a morning routine or not, it sounds like you wake up at the same time and working out as part of it. And you also just don’t let stuff clutter your mind like you just said. And I know so many people, they wake up, maybe not so much entrepreneurs, but people that aren’t, it’s like they wake up within 20 to 25 minutes of when they have to leave and it’s like from the second they wake up, they’re just on the go, on the go, then your traffic and you’re doing this and there’s no wonder they’re anxious by 6 PM when they’re done.

John Wentworth III  [12:50]  

Yeah, it becomes energy. You know what I mean, here’s how I set my day, right? I have a 8 and  a 9-year old and a 19-year old. My 19-year old doesn’t live at home anymore, but I set up my day based on what do I need to do for my children today and what do I need to do to support my wife today? And then, once I take care of those things, like for example, you know, I’m leaving town as I mentioned, my daughter’s in horse camp, she’s never gone before. I’m not loving the fact that I’m going to be gone Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and I’m going to miss her show on Friday. I’m okay with it. I’m not in love with it. So my commitment this week was, I’m packing an entire week in the two days, but one thing for sure is I’m gonna drop her off at horse camp in the morning, I’m going to pick her up in the afternoon, right? And so, as long as I meet those things, and I keep a smile on my wife’s face, then everything else is going to be okay. I’m not looking to change the world. I’m certainly not looking to change it today. I have an impact, but I don’t need to change it. 

Mario Fachini  [13:45]  

I love how humble you are about it. Because whether you realize it or not, you are changing the world. And I remember when we first got connected within a couple of days, I saw what you were doing and I was like just really impressed. I mean, I know it’s not about you, but the impact you are making, I’m seeing it. And it’s one of the reasons I invited you on the show because my whole goal is to elevate all the great and focus. There’s enough negative in the world and so, we need more positive.

John Wentworth III  [14:08]  

I appreciate that and I don’t know, and I think it’s something that’s odd about me is I don’t seek approval. I don’t look for a tap on the back. Now, don’t get me wrong. If somebody says, you know, I appreciate that, but I don’t I don’t tie myself to the fact that, you know, I think about how do we find contentment or how can I be fulfilled. And again, money won’t do it. You know, people that lead with Eagle, I don’t want to be around. And also, when we look at people that we’re going to bring on our team, we’re looking for people that don’t lead with Eagle that are humble, hungry and honest, and understand that we’re all going to make mistakes, fine. We’re human, okay? There’s nothing wrong with that. But you have to own it, right? And then, you have to do what you can to fix it. And the only way you can do that is to reflect on yourself. And look, I appreciate that. I really do because, you know, I got sometimes put myself on a billboard. I can’t stand that. And I’m probably the only person who’s on a billboard that doesn’t go drive and look at the darn thing. Now, it’s just part of our business. And at the same time, I want people to really know who I am as opposed to the perception that they see, you know, that I’ve gone through a lot of crazy shit that I could have a lot of excuses, right? And I don’t believe in excuses and I — and so, you know, I don’t know, I’m a weird word when it comes to some of that stuff. But it is what it is, and I’m okay with it.

Mario Fachini  [15:35]  

Well, I think you’ve done a good job marketing and branding not just your company, but yourself. And you’ve been using live streams to do a lot of that and I’ve caught some — a fair amount of them. How has live streaming helped your business?

John Wentworth III  [15:46]  

You know, again, I didn’t set out to say, wow, I’m going to go live. Now, we — I mean, I’ve been online for, honestly, like three years. And you know — and again, it wasn’t with the intent of — I just thought it was fun and I’m a very open book. I’m happy to share things with people, the good, the bad. ugly. And so, I just was going live because I felt that one of the things that I’m seeking is authenticity, you know, amongst myself, amongst my family, amongst the people in our environment because I think that the tough guy role, the tough guy act, I think that’s over. You know, there used to be that time that you had to put on that persona in our society and I feel like that’s fading a little bit, which is a good thing. So I’m looking for the people that are vulnerable, people that are — like I’m in touch with my feminine side, right? Whatever that means. I don’t know people say, oh, I like your pink. I’m surprised you were pink. I don’t think about this stuff. I don’t look in the mirror in the morning. I have three hairs. I throw some lotion on my face,  it goes in my hair as well, and I leave. You know, I like to wear nice clothes, but that’s part of my business. That’s part of my representation of professionalism for our clients. It’s not because I want people to say oh, wow, nice suit, right? I don’t know, I get running on this stuff, but you know, it’s just who I am, it’s all good. You know who’s my favorite? Mike Tyson. And people say, “Well, how the hell can you like Mike Tyson?” Because I understand what he lived through because I lived through, you know, a lot of similar things to that in my childhood. And so, you know, I just embrace who I am, I embrace the people in my life. I thank God every day, he delivered my wife — well, he didn’t deliver her to me until I was vulnerable, until I was ready and that was the change that I went through, you know, when I met Todd Crandall. So —

Mario Fachini  [17:31]  

Well, I appreciate you for sharing that and I can relate because I’ve always liked fashion, but I also like function. You know, just because it looks good doesn’t mean you should get it. I  personally think it has to have a point also, not just it’s pretty. 

John Wentworth III [17:46]

Right, exactly.

Mario Fachini  [17:47]

However, I can’t stand blank either and then, obviously, and wear a T or tie but I —

John Wentworth III  [17:51]  

But holding that in convenience and expression of, you know, it’s fun, like I wear shoes with a pair of tennis shoes, right? I mean, I wear this pair of shoes all the time. And in a way, I mean, not thinking about what people think. I don’t care, just I like it, it’s fun. And I’m on my feet all darn day, so it’s better to wear tennis shoes and some of the other alternatives.

Mario Fachini  [18:15]  

And that’s what I think a lot of people need to realize is the business is about you, and what works for you to create your zero to success, if you will, might not work for everyone else. But the reason it worked for you is because you tuned into yourself. And so many other people are just looking for a ABC cookie cutter system and even if it’s something that isn’t with their flow, they still try doing it and they’re actually going against them — they’re going against the grain, if you will. And it’s — would you agree that people need to do more in work instead of out work?

John Wentworth III  [18:50]  

Oh, 100%. You know how I know that for sure? Because I was there. I mean, everybody’s going through that phase, right? I mean, you know, I was insecure as a child. I was, you know, I — my mother passed when I was young. My dad raised me. I mean, I was in a single wide trailer, baby. I mean, and I’m okay with that. You know, my dad used to buy me — I mean, some of our viewers might remember, Sears had a clothing line and it had a dragon on it, right? Well, I went to Granville Highschool, man, all those people had polos. And so, I literally would begin to buy clothing while I would — I would take the clothing that my dad would buy and I would take polo emblems off of other things and put them on my clothes. I — you know, I would take, you know, a jacket, for example, my dad had this old hunting jacket, this is a great story, and I took a polo emblem off of something else and sewed it into this jacket. And I sold that sucker to a guy named Sharam Sbahani. Hi, Sharam. You know, I mean, so you know, maybe that’s where the clothing thing, you know, comes from. But yeah, you know, outward is so shallow, you know. And here’s the other thing. I mean, if you try to be everything to everyone, you end up being no one to anybody. And so, instead of looking at, you know — if you want to live like a rapper, my friend, Jon Cheplak, my mentor, always says it, if you want to live like a rapper, go for it, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to be fulfilled.

Mario Fachini  [20:22]  

I agree. I agree 100%. And I can relate to your story also. I never got — I’ve always liked fashion. And when I was doing modeling and photography, I was around it all the time. I’ve always thought about having my own clothing line, but I never did it in high school. I’ll tell you what I did do in high school. You want to talk about profitability, who — do you remember blockbuster? So I loved movies, hence video. And I always wanted to make movies. I love acting and all that stuff, but I would always — every Christmas, every birthday, everything, I’d get those blockbuster gift cards and the common sense side of me, the function would go, well, you can rent the movie for 350 or 450, whatever it was for 24 hours or if you will look over to the little bin when you walk in the store, they always had 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, $10 VHS. That might be dating me a little bit, but they had the movie. You could buy the movie and keep it. And I was like, who would rent it when you can, you know, like who would want to rent it when you can buy it? So not only did I use the gift money to get the cards to buy it, to keep it, and watch all those with my friends. Later on, when I transitioned to DVDs, I sold all those movies for more than I paid for them. So it was like zero on inventory, 100% profit and then —

John Wentworth III [21:51]

That’s entrepreneur, baby. I love it

Mario Fachini [21:52]

— they rolled that over into a PS2 and DVDs and you just need an idea. So for anyone listening and the — if your kids aren’t doing great in school because a lot of people have reached out to me recently going, my kids are doing this, that, I go, you might have someone that’s really smart. They’re just bored in school like I was and I could show great, great cards, postcards, postcards.

John Wentworth III [22:15]

Right, right. I never found one either  so —

Mario Fachini [22:15]

Gift card, whatever that thing is called, the report card, there we go, got one right. So would you say that academics — where do you think academics plays a role in entrepreneurial spirit, ability in companies?

John Wentworth  [22:34]  

So look, I — yeah, I mean, I don’t want to get into, you know, the whole ordeal of college is stupid and this is stupid, you know, because it draws attention. I do feel like, you know, too often — I mean, look, I was — I just — I love gym class. Other than that, I did not want any part of school. And so, you know, I barely graduated high school. It wasn’t whether I was smart or not, it’s just like you said, I was extremely bored with it, right? I’m high pace. I need to go, go, go. And so, school just — I mean, it was a lullaby. I mean, I couldn’t stand it. I had some amazing teachers, right? I made some great friends, but where does it fit into — excuse me, I need more water — into being an entrepreneur. I don’t know. You know what I mean, I think it’s different for everybody. I know another thing that I’ve learned, you know, in my businesses, I don’t need to have the answer for everything. I need to surround myself with other people that are smarter than me, right? You know, I think for me, understanding where am I good and where am I weak. And instead of trying to be better at where I’m weak, just focus on where I’m — what my strengths are, luckily enough for me, it’s people and it’s, you know — and that relates into selling. But when it comes to organization of paperwork. And so, that’s kind of how we built this business I think differently is that I did recognize the personality traits that is good in the field with people and selling is probably the same person that does not have good paperwork skills, it does not have a lot of the things that are clerical type things. And so, you know, all of our agents are free of having to do those tasks, we have the people in place to handle, you know, the ordering this and the title work and the pictures and that all of the things are in place to support that agent so that they can go out and serve more people. And that’s made a big difference. So where does it land? You know, I don’t think — the beautiful thing about this — in real estate is there’s zero stock answer for anything you can ask me because there’s so many different balls in the air. You know, what do you do if a new house appraises low? Well, I need to know what are the five other factors at hand, what were the cons, what — you know what I mean? There’s so many layers and that’s what personal growth do. I mean, there are a lot of layers and you got to be willing to dig deep.

Mario Fachini  [24:53]  

That is a great answer. And I don’t want stock answers, I want the real answer, I want that authenticity. So thank you for sharing that. One last question before we go to the Imperfect Action Round, how has speaking helped your business?

John Wentworth  [25:07]  

Again, I don’t know. I don’t know if you can quantify it. So you know, I’ve been up to — I was asked to speak at a conference in New Orleans by a friend of mine, Jason Will and his wife, Diana, and it was a real estate conference and I spoke up, you know, about real estate, you know, I shared a personal story of mine, you know, with my mom, you know, the things that I went through with my mother and really focused on, you know, how can people find — because look, you know, you need to sell homes if you’re in real estate, right? I mean, you do. I think that goes without saying. And we’re at this conference with many amazing speakers that are all going to speak about real estate and I just went the other way, you know. And I talked about life and I talked about, you know, trying to find contentment and understanding that you’re not going to find it necessarily in money. You know, like I said before, there’s never been enough money to keep a marriage together. So money isn’t you know — isn’t the thing that you should be seeking, you know, and just kind of really share it from my heart and that had an effect on those people. You know, I have people coming up to me afterwards crying that they had lived through abuse as well and bringing some of that — those layers forward. So how did that help my business? I don’t really know that it did or cared that it did. You know, I’m seeking how can I help other people. If I help other people, then you know, that largely going to, you know, be abundant in what we’re doing here in our business.

Mario Fachini  [26:37]  

It sounds like you were able to reach out to people and help them in a way you couldn’t do with a brochure or just a letter or something.

John Wentworth III  [26:44]  

Sure. Just talk about real estate. I mean, there’s 50 more people that are going to talk about real estate. So you know, I mean, it isn’t a big deal but like that wasn’t why I was there. I was there to deliver, you know, my — the things that I lived through, right? And then, share that, look, if I can do it, anyone can do it. And I think that’s really the message. You know, I mean, I lived through some crazy stuff as a child, you know, my mother committed suicide when I was five, and, you know, very abusive in any way you could think imaginable. And you know, my dad really struggled after her passing. You know, he lived with a lot of anger, you know, a lot of anger in his heart. And I was able to — I never had a relationship with the Lord. And when that occurred six years ago, that changed in my life, that was the piece where, okay, yeah, I’m doing good, I’m kicking butt, okay, cool. And then, I leave this men’s retreat that I go to, and I’m floored. I’m like, okay, everything has changed now. And you know, by the grace of God, I was able to leave my dad to him after he got off a ventilator, ventilator for two weeks, almost passed, and I was able to lead him to the Lord and he’s been sober now three years. And oh, yeah, it was over on Father’s Day. He was at my daughter’s dance recital doing things that he never did in the past. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, it’s a game changer, man.

Mario Fachini  [28:11]

I’m really happy to hear that. I’m really happy to hear that.

John Wentworth III  [28:10]  

You know, people try to find that in themselves and you know, I don’t stand up on a Bible and preach, I’m not a perfect Christian by any means, but I will tell you I’ve got a foundation with the Lord that has saved me.

Mario Fachini  [28:37]  

I’m glad you’re sharing that. Keep doing what you’re doing. You don’t need to be quoting scripture or anything to be making an impact. 

John Wentworth III  [28:36]

I can’t read, so I don’t know how to quote scripture.

Mario Fachini  [28:45]

All right. Well, we’re going to go to the Imperfect Action Round and we’re going to come back with the rapid fire 60-second questions.

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Mario Fachini  [29:06]

And we are back with the Imperfect Action Round. John, are you ready to take imperfect action?

John Wentworth III  [29:09]  

I do that every day, brother. So let’s go.

Mario Fachini  [29:13]  

This is my favorite part of the show because it’s for entrepreneurs and we do take imperfect action every day. So 60 seconds.

John Wentworth III  [29:23]  

And I think that — you know, people get too attached to perfection, man, just take action. 

Mario Fachini  [29:30]  

I love that. I agree. Imperfect action, Question 1, 60 seconds or less. What’s the fastest path to the cash?

John Wentworth III  [29:39]  

There isn’t one, brother. The lottery.

Mario Fachini  [29:45]  

You don’t think there’s any way other than the lottery in business?

John Wentworth III  [29:50]  

The fastest path to cash? 

Mario Fachini  [29:53]  

Yeah. If someone was starting out right now.

John Wentworth III  [29:57]  

Well, in our business in real estate or just in general?

Mario Fachini  [30:01]  

In business.

John Wentworth III  [30:04]  

I don’t know, start an app, build an app. I do have a great idea. I need somebody to reach out, an investor. I’ve got a great idea to save my life. Invent something.

Mario Fachini  [30:18]  

Okay. Inventing is a lot of fun. Inventing, a lot of fun. Innovating, love it. 

John Wentworth III [30:22]

For sure, for sure.

Mario Fachini [30:23]

Number 2, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and what’s the fastest way they can fix it?

John Wentworth III  [30:32]  

The biggest problem that I see my prospects, meaning the consumer?

Mario Fachini  [30:36]  

Yes, the people you’re serving?

John Wentworth III  [30:38]  

Well, yeah. So I think, boy, that’s a — much like there’s — we need 6000 seconds for that, only because they’re not educated enough. And I think the biggest thing I see right now in the marketplace is that because the market is strong, people feel like they could just put whatever price they want on something that’s going to sell. And so, we’re actually seeing a lot of home city, as great as it is. If it’s price is right and obviously, if it’s tied to a great marketing program, right? Like we have, then you’re selling for top dollar, you’re doing it in a timely manner. And then, as great as the market is, you could still overpriced. And so, I’m seeing overpricing right now. I mean, there’s 16 homes for sale right now in like Benton, there’s 15 on Lobdell and of those, say, 15/16, 10 plus have been in the market for over a hundred days.

Mario Fachini  [31:22]  

What — let me ask you this, I’m going to throw this in — how long should someone expect the home to be on the market? Because it sounds to me like 100 days is quite a long time.

John Wentworth III  [31:32]  

For sure. And it’s a great question. And again, like I said earlier, there’s no stock answer, because I think that would depend on, you know, what is the price point of that home and where is it located, right? I mean, if it’s $2 million in Genesee County, that’s going to take a little bit longer. If it’s $250,000, anywhere, better be sold in 15 days or you’re overpriced and or under marketed. You know, and I always say like in this market, anybody can sell a house that’s listed — that’s worth $200 and that’s listed for 199, but without a strategy, without marketing, that, I’m going to sell for 195 or 192 or the way we do it, it’s going to sell for 215. So there is a strategy to what we’re doing when we’re bringing homes to the market.

Mario Fachini  [32:13]  

That is very interesting.

John Wentworth III  [32:15]  

Being a flag, I would say.

Mario Fachini  [32:19]  

No, it’s honest to God to answer because I have friends that sold their house in 10 days and other ones that was six, eight months and it’s like, you know, what are you doing?

John Wentworth III  [32:29]  

Well, here’s the other thing. I just watched this, you know, if somebody underpriced a home, which we priced them aggressively sometimes, but we protect the seller in that, right? We have again this strategy which I won’t go into too much, but you know, if you’re pricing aggressively and you take the first offer that comes along, and high five your realtor, well, you’ve left money on the table. So we do have a strategy in place to make sure that that doesn’t happen, which I think it’s super, super, super important.

Mario Fachini  [32:53]  

I like that you said the one that anyone can sell a 200 grand home for 199 but you sell it for 215.

John Wentworth III  [33:00]  

Well, that’s the goal and we’re certainly going to try to do that. And that’s the reality. And look, there’s a lot of new real estate agents in the marketplace because it’s easy, right? And I was new once. So it’s nothing. I would support them in any way I could here. But I know that in the natural environment of real estate, so often people are brought in, they’ve got a heartbeat, they drive down the road and you see it in front of a real estate office now hiring agents, like, you know, I just — that’s — we don’t hire just on anybody, and we don’t hire just based on production, we hire based on people. 

Mario Fachini  [33:35]  

I like that. I like that a lot. So the third one is, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

John Wentworth III  [33:40]  

That’s a great question. And that’s a difficult question, especially in this industry. You know, in this industry, here are the things that are super difficult, all of them, right? Because there’s so many people involved. You’ve got the sell — the listing agent, you’ve got the seller, you’ve got the buy agent, you’ve got the buyer, you’ve got the inspector, you’ve got the appraisal, you’ve got the title work, you’ve got the — I mean, there’s so many layers here. And so, again, what we really focus on is understanding that you — in many times when we’re in a transaction with another agent, we’re going to do their job for them, right? I mean, it just is what it is. And we embrace it, because that’s how we’re going to get to the closing. So I forgot the question, I’m sorry.

Mario Fachini  [34:19]  

Best way to maximize customer lifetime value.

John Wentworth III  [34:23]  

Be authentic, baby. You know, you gotta love your people. You’ve got to — look, I’m human, right? I’m not perfect, okay? And to grow this business, I have to look at, you know, where are the pain points for the consumer, and how do we fix them before they happen? And when we miss them, how do we then get ahead of them and correct them so that they don’t happen again. So I think you’ve got to have a very good working relationship with them. And I see too often realtors trying to make their clients their buddies because they feel like that’s how they’re going to hold on to them. I’m very clear with my people. I’m here to do a job for you, right? I don’t need your friendship. If after the job is done that that occurs, and it does often, awesome, but until then, I’ve got a job to you because that way, I can remove emotion, right? And I can be very diligent in what I’m doing to service you, well, to the client. So I still don’t think I answered the question, though.

Mario Fachini  [35:16]  

It sounds like stay focused on the results you’re promising them and don’t turn it into a party till after the fact.

John Wentworth III  [35:23]  

Yeah, amen. You know, it’s not about you, it’s about them. And I think that’s the main thing, making it about them, and making sure that, you know, they’re communicated with super well, and I think that goes back to look, you know, in our team, you know, there’s a lot of support. So the customer is going to come in contact with more than just me because guess what, I can’t be everywhere all the time. So we have the support staff in place to handle the things that they need to handle, right? I don’t need to be the one that puts a sign in the yard. I don’t need to be the one that orders your title work or your photographs. You know, we have a professional come out, do the photos. So we have somebody in place to handle those so that I can be available when we’re, you know, marketing, when we’re negotiating a deal, when we’re getting past an inspection or dealing with an appraisal issue to get you to closing, so just be very intentful with your communication with your people, over communicate, over communicate, over communicate.

Mario Fachini  [36:12]  

Great answer. All right. What book has made the biggest impact in your life?

John Wentworth III  [36:20]  

You know, I’ve always said like — because I do these podcasts, right? Where I’m the host, if you will, and I’m like, I suck at this. I’ll just be better if somebody asked me the question. So that’s another great question. Here is the three books I read in my life. Okay? And these are the only books I’ve ever finished in my life. Old Yeller. Okay? I think I was in sixth grade, seventh grade, Care and Training of the Trotter and Pacer and that book was like this. 

Mario Fachini  [36:47]

Say that name again. 

John Wentworth III [26:48]

Care and Training of the Trotter and Pacer.

Mario Fachini  [36:54]

Cool.

John Wentworth III [36:55]

So when I was getting into racing horses, I had no background, I had never touched a horse. Within 10 years, I was one of the leading drivers and trainers in North America because I was so passionate about and I just — and I think that’s what people miss, man. If you’re passionate about something, you’ll do anything to get there, right? So I read this big ass, excuse me, I read this great big book. And I mean, it’s literally this big. So that was the second book that I’ve read in my life. The third book is — I don’t even know the name of it. Million Dollar Real Estate Agent or something along those lines. And this was now when I’m getting into real estate, right? And I had no mentorship and I certainly didn’t have any of the support or leads or anything like we offer here to our agents. So I read this book and I just took a ton of those tactics. You know, I’ve been really big always on — like when I got into training horses, I worked for four or five, six different people. I took all the good that they did, I applied it and then, went on my own and threw out all the bad. You know, same thing in real estate. You know, I looked at all of these things, applied common sense and you know, and just took action and I think that kind of goes back to what I said earlier, you got to take action, you got to be willing to fail because that’s when you find gold really. Where I failed is where I can improve the most.

Mario Fachini  [38:07]  

So Old Yeller is your final answer?

John Wentworth  [38:11]  

Old Yeller.

Mario Fachini  [38:12]  

I’m teasing a little bit. That you made some good thoughts, but there’s a fourth one you didn’t mention that you may have not read all of I,. I don’t know too many people who have read all of it, but —

John Wentworth III  [38:27]  

What is it? The Bible?

Mario Fachini  [38:29]  

Yeah, scripture.

John Wentworth III  [38:31]  

Yeah, I can’t, man. But when my dad — you know, after my dad got out of the hospital, he lived in our house, you know? And the lady said to me, “Well, we’re going to release your dad in a couple of days.” I said, “Okay, where’s he going?” They said, “We don’t know.” I thought they’re gonna put him — I mean, he was in the hospital. So he ends up living in our house. And I read proverbs to him every day. You know, 1, 2, 3, 4 or five all the way through and we start again. And you know, when I first started doing that, he was spiteful, he was mad, he was angry, he didn’t want to hear it. And that was powerful. So I had read the Proverbs. But when I tried — and I try so often and my friend Tony Tolan, who’s here earlier, you saw him — you know, Tony’s got a tremendous roots in his faith, his daddy was a preacher. And Tony said to me, you know, instead of — because you feel like you have to read a lot, right? He’s like, if you read three sentences, and that third sentence is impactful, then just sit on that, close it up and move on. Now, you know, as I said earlier, I’m no perfect Christian. I get it — man, I will get dialed in and I’ll be doing that and then, I’ll get pulled away from it. So — but I have not read the Bible. I would pretty much promise you that the Lord knows there’s no shot I’m ever going to read that entire book because the wording is really difficult for me.

Mario Fachini  [39:54]  

That’s okay because God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.

John Wentworth III  [40:00]  

Amen, amen. And he’s equipped me every day in my natural surroundings. And you know, it’s just, I can’t sell but — I can’t spell but I can sell.

Mario Fachini  [40:11]  

That’s awesome. 

John Wentworth III [40:12]

That would feel a lot better. 

Mario Fachini  [40:13]

That reminds me of one of my favorite authors, Robert Kiyosaki, and I’ll never forget, I was reading one of his books and he was talking about getting interviewed. And someone’s like, there’s all — I’ve always wanted to write a book, but there’s all these spelling mistakes and grammar and then, and then, he’s like, it says, best selling, not best written.

John Wentworth  [40:31]  

Amen. You know, and I do want to write a book someday, which is going to be interesting because I can’t — I don’t spell well and my attention span is not great. And I think, you know, I’ve started a ton of books. I mean, I’ve started a ton of books. But I get a couple chapters in and I just can’t read them. You know, Mike Tyson has a book out that, you know, he wrote a long time ago, obviously, and I got real deep into that. And I just kind of, you know, it just fell away. I started a ton of books whether you know, it’s self-help or it’s business related. And I get to two or three chapters in and I just, I don’t know, I just don’t — you know what and I’m okay with it. I don’t find fulfillment in that. I don’t — I know what I need to do every day and it doesn’t mean I can’t learn more, but in order to go to learn it, for me, it’s just not a book. Now, I need to interact —

Mario Fachini  [41:18]  

I failed English seven times. I assure you, you can write a book because you don’t need to write it. We could turn this into a book if we wanted to. If someone asked you questions, could you answer them?

John Wentworth III  [41:32]  

Yes. 

Mario Fachini  [41:35]

Done deal then. 

John Wentworth III [41:36]

There you go. And that’s what people said, you know, just do an audio style type book. But you know, look, my book is going to be — you know, and we’ve talked about this, when is that going to happen? Why are you waiting? You know, I just — I don’t — you know, maybe I’m a little afraid to be honest, right? Because it’s, you know, there’s a lot of depth to my story and it affects other people, not just me. And so, you know, my mentor Mr. Cheplak, as I mentioned earlier, I’m going to be seeing him in Calgary this week. But you know, I would say, Well, I’m worried about so and so in my life and you know, what are they going to think if I share this stuff and then, the next person, he said, “You know, you’re worried about three when you can change the lives of 300,000.” And as pretty as that sounds and as impactful as it was in the moment, I’m still scared.

Mario Fachini  [42:25]  

So what if you just — I agree 100%, but what if you just changed the names or didn’t use the real ones or made characters?

John Wentworth III  [42:35]  

Yeah, I mean, I hear you. It’s just not who I am, right? If I’m going to do something, I mean — and here’s the thing, and I think this is what’s helped our business, this is what helped me when I was impulsive, if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do this shit, right? I’m going to do it better than I can possibly, like, you know, as we’re getting ready, is that right? Well, it doesn’t have to be perfect yet. Right? Because you get one shot at stuff, you know, in our marketing, will ever going to put a half page or full page. I’m going to take the time to even do a page and we’re doing the whole darn thing, right? And so being very — 

Mario Fachini  [43:06]

Deliberate. 

John Wentworth III [43:07]

Yeah, you can’t half-ass stuff. I mean, you’ve got to be willing to go all in on something. And if you’re — especially if you want the results that you’re looking for, and our consumer, that’s the value prop, they deserve that. Now, I don’t love the word deserve, right? I don’t deserve anything. I want to earn everything that I get, but if I’m servicing somebody and they’re paying me to do that, then they do deserve that. They deserve everything that I can possibly do to bring the best result for them.

Mario Fachini  [43:34]  

See, that’s the mentality that more people have. I’m so glad you’re able to share it. Where can people find you to learn more?

John Wentworth III  [43:42]  

Well, I don’t know. I mean, I’m on Facebook all day every day, so that’d be a good place to start. You know, so John Wentworth on Facebook and our website is JohnWentworthGroup,com, but who cares about that? I mean, that’s real estate more related. You know, it’s there. Everybody knows. You know what, I’m here. If I can support anybody in their path or their career, then you know, that’s what I’m called to do.

Mario Fachini  [44:10]  

Well, John. It’s been an absolute pleasure. I’m glad we were able to do this. You absolutely nailed it.

John Wentworth III  [44:17]  

Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it. I appreciate you having me on. It’s been awesome, just kind of watching you grow this. And so, hey, I’m proud to be part of it.

Mario Fachini  [44:25]  

Well, thank you very much. Well, expert authority world, we got another great episode here. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Have a great day. God bless.

John Wentworth III  [44:34]  

God bless you guys.

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www.EAInterviews.com  [44:50] 

Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAInterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.