Speaker 1: 0:00

So if you're a jet broker and all you're doing is calling, hey, you want to sell your jet, hey, you want to sell your jet, hey, you want to sell your jet no one's going to listen to you. The how you know doesn't do anything, even though you've changed different hows, the what is all you're doing is asking them a question. That doesn't help. Hello, hello everybody and welcome. My name is Tom Lelio and on this channel we pull back the curtain on private aviation. Whether you're a buyer or a broker or an inspiring broker, we help you buy and sell private jets with no experience necessary. Today we're doing a reacts video with my buddy, alex B, over at the Aircraft Broker Academy Just dropped another amazing video why new aircraft brokers fail the top five mistakes and we're going to see. Over at the Aircraft Broker Academy Just dropped another amazing video why New Aircraft Brokers Fail the top five mistakes and we're going to see. We're going to see if he knows what he's talking about and if I agree with him or not. So let's check it out.

Speaker 2: 0:54

The number one most common mistake that new aircraft brokers make is having unrealistic expectations. Boom boom.

Speaker 1: 1:00

Number one, I'm with you, let's go.

Speaker 2: 1:07

I can't tell you how many times students have told me that they want to be like Steve Barzano and sell Gulfstream Globals or Falcon.

Speaker 1: 1:11

How come nobody's telling them that they want to be like Tom Lelio? I mean, I don't know. He's got to be talking to the wrong people. I guess they're watching the wrong YouTuber.

Speaker 2: 1:18

I'm not saying it's impossible, but many new aircraft brokers enter the industry believing that they will be able to close million-dollar deals quickly and make huge profits.

Speaker 1: 1:28

I'm going to push back just for a second here. When it comes to unrealistic expectations and I think you might get to it later for me it's not that people come in and think that they're just going to sell Gulfstreams, it's more they don't understand the amount of work that it's going to take to get to that level. But I think he might go into that later, we'll see. But let's just see what he's talking about with their unrealistic expectations.

Speaker 2: 1:50

However, the reality is that it takes time to build a network, establish trust with your clients and understand the complex process involved in buying or selling aircraft.

Speaker 1: 1:59

That's true. That's true. So selling and buying private jets is simple, but it's not easy and it's also complex. And what I mean by that is you find a jet, you list a jet, you sell a jet. It's that simple. But within that, there's a lot of different steps that go into. Well, what does that mean? To get a listing? How do I market a listing? How do I handle offers? How do I write up offers? How do I open up escrow? How do I navigate through the pre-buy? How do I help them take delivery? There's a lot of things that go into it. But yeah, if you don't have all that stuff, you shouldn't be calling yourself a broker.

Speaker 2: 2:37

For example, I started in the piston market selling Cessna 172s, navajos and Warriors. It might not be as glamorous as selling a G550, but you can still make a great commission. So to avoid this mistake, it's important for new aircraft brokers to have a clear understanding of the industry and set realistic goals for themselves. Building a successful career as an aircraft broker requires a lot of patience, hard work and perseverance. For example, back in 2018, when I started my brokerage, it took me a whole year to sell my first airplane, but I never gave up and eventually I started building momentum. Now this leads me to the next mistake.

Speaker 1: 3:14

So before we get into the next mistake, a couple of things With Alex. I'm 90% sure when he became a broker he wasn't doing that full time. I think he was also a pilot. So for him to take a year to sell a jet or to sell an aircraft, okay great, you had other things going on. So that's what happened, and I think it's to his point to have realistic goals. And so people will come and talk to me and say like, hey, tom, when can I get my first commission? And I'll usually tell them about six months, and that's a little bit of an overshoot, but I think it's probably going to be where it's at. And the reason I give that is because that's what happened to me.

Speaker 1: 3:49

I came into aviation with no background. I was a youth minister for 10 years and when I came into aviation I had no idea. I had no idea what to do. I had no idea how aviation works. I had no idea how complex the systems were. I had no idea, you know, building relationships over the phone Was this the first time I was doing it? So you know, I came into it, but my first year I did 20 deals and made six figures, and the reason I was able to do that was because I just put my head down. I did what my coaches and my managers told me. I paid for extra training. I dropped over $10,000 my first year once I got commission to get more training. So the money I made went right back into my training and I think that's part of the reasons why my income doubled the next year and tripled the following year.

Speaker 1: 4:35

So, yeah, I mean, I'm with you, alex, 100%. I think that's really important to get all those things and have the right expectations and set good goals and be and be. Just have a realistic expectations that you can get into this part-time, but it's going to take you longer. So if you want to make if I made six figures my first year full-time if somebody wants to go part-time, it might take you a full year to make 50K, something like that, and just don't be afraid to adjust your expectations. What I want to say is don't let your expectations hold you back from getting started as a broker. So if you need a six-figure income but you can't quit your job and go nine to five, what I would say is go part-time and just be okay with and satisfied by, 50k for the year. Don't wait till you have to quit your job. Just grind it out for a little bit and get the experience so that the following year you can really crush it.

Speaker 2: 5:36

Able to deal with rejection. I'm going to be completely honest with you. When I first started, I was frightened and I even felt embarrassed at times to tell people what I was doing, since I didn't have any experience selling airplanes.

Speaker 1: 5:47

Yes, I totally felt this way when I first started selling jets. I was embarrassed to tell people I sold jets because I had never sold a jet. And even when I started selling jets I felt weird because I was like I can't believe this is really happening. I sell jets and even now it's funny because sometimes you go into industry you know mixers and stuff and they're like, hey, what do you do? I'm like I sell jets and like, oh, cool, which ones? And I'm like, well, the old ones you know from the 1970s and 80s. I'm like, really, I can't believe anybody buys that anymore. It's like, well, thanks, they do, and I'm happy living my jet life to the fullest. Oh, but that's why one of the good things about working with Jet Life Aero is you can lean on the success of the company and you don't have to worry about your own personal success. It's one of the advantages of working with a brokerage instead of just trying to do it on your own.

Speaker 2: 6:36

I'm worried about what other people thought about me, since I also started other businesses that failed. The funny thing is that the people whose opinions I cared about are still stuck in the same place, so I can emphasize how important it is to get rid of these feelings.

Speaker 1: 6:52

Yes, it's really important that Alex points out that. The think about who you're listening to and if the people whose opinions that matter most to you are individuals that don't have the level of success, whatever that means spiritual, emotional, financial, business, If the people that you're listening to don't have that level of success that you're striving for, I think you should count their opinion a little bit less. Now, of course, spouses and family. You know they have a special place, but at the same time, if your family members in laws aren't in the same financial situation that you want to be, why are we listening to them for advice on how to get out of where your current situation is?

Speaker 2: 7:32

And unfortunately this is not something that I can teach. This is an internal battle that you must win on your own, so don't be afraid to put yourself out there and getting rejected by clients. It's important to remember that it is not a reflection of your skills or abilities. Sometimes the timing may not be right for the client. The key is not to take rejection personally and instead use it as motivation to improve and continue pursuing new opportunities.

Speaker 1: 7:58

Another mistake that this is really important Learning to deal with rejection. A couple of things. Number one you got to learn how to deal with your disappointments. I'm sorry, discipline your disappointments. It's important to learn how to discipline your disappointments. You're going to be disappointed, that's natural, it's okay. But what happens is over time. If you learn how to discipline them, you get disappointed for a shorter amount of time. So maybe the first I remember the first time I made a phone call. Uh, I was like hey, do you want to sell your jet? And they're like Nope, click. And like that was my very first phone call as a private jet broker and I was disappointed. And I mulled over that for about a half an hour and I was like what did I do wrong? Could I have done this better? Maybe I should have looked up something, and then I just got back on the phone.

Speaker 1: 8:49

You can discipline your disappointments two ways. One you can be in an environment where you have permission to fail. Which is a good thing about working with a brokerage is that you can be in an environment where you're expected to learn calls in one day. Maybe your next milestone is a hundred calls in a day and maybe then you start to shift things over to you know what, instead of just making 50 calls, I'm going to go for 50 no's. I'm going to need 50 people to tell me no or hang up on me or not, right now, before I get off the phones. And then you just kind of change your little mindsets and that's how you build momentum. And when you have that momentum it increases your confidence, so you're able to discipline your disappointments even better. So good stuff, alex. Let's see what else you got, buddy.

Speaker 2: 9:40

Workout brokers often make is not putting enough effort into generating leads or not even knowing what to start with a potential client.

Speaker 1: 9:47

Preach. Let me give you some advice.

Speaker 2: 9:49

First and foremost, you have to understand that this business is all about building relationships and it takes multiple touch points for someone to agree to work with you. Don't expect someone to sign an exclusive listing or acquisitions agreement with you on the first email or phone call. This is not going to happen.

Speaker 1: 10:06

Two things about this. Number one, think about what you're doing as a broker. You're hello, mr Smith, mr Ultra high net worth individual that can afford a $2 million jet. You've never met me and you don't even know what my face looks like or know anything about me, but I'm calling to ask you if I can list your $2 million jet and be responsible for selling it for you. And, by the way, will you pay me $100,000 to do that? No wonder you get a click all the time.

Speaker 1: 10:29

Right, what you're asking is hard, it takes time and and and it takes multiple touch points, like Alex is saying, and that's why you got to have a system in place, a process in place to to reach out and to be as effective as possible. Every time you reach out, to follow up on a consistent basis, to recognize that you're going to have to talk to that person or reach out to them at least 10, 12, 15, 20 times, and you're going to be okay with it. This is part of your job, this is about commission, this is about going out, hunting, eating what you kill. This is the life man, and the other thing I would say about it is having the systems and process is super important.

Speaker 2: 11:07

And then, as far as what did he say, he said something that it is important to also keep track of them in a CRM such as PipeDrive. Now there are two ways to generate leads that I want to cover in this video.

Speaker 1: 11:20

Okay, before I go into that, there was something he was talking about. They underestimate how difficult it is. Yeah, I mean, you're calling a random stranger interrupting their day and you have to build a relationship off that. That's really tough, I think. At the end of the day, what I want to say is that's why it's really helpful to work with a brokerage, that's why it's helpful to have a coach or a mentor or somebody alongside with you to do that.

Speaker 1: 11:44

So I mean, if you guys are looking to get into aviation, when you think about aviation for a second. It's such an untapped market. There's so much potential because it's been gated for so long. There's a lot of amazing brokers out there right now been in the industry for 10, 20, 30, 40 years. It's generational, and those are amazing brokers.

Speaker 1: 12:01

But guess what? They can't serve the entire population of people who want to be in aviation because more and more people are getting involved in private aviation. It's becoming more accessible as prices kind of change, kind of change and and and and. There's a new influx of, of ultra high net worth individuals, I mean the, the old ones, they, they, they, they pass on. And then there's new rich people and those new rich people are going to need people to help them and and maybe it's those, those brokers that have been in business for years.

Speaker 1: 12:29

But I think there's enough of a market share for new people, for individuals, maybe like yourself, that are looking for career change, looking for something exciting, or who want to be a part of aviation. But maybe you don't. You can't get a pilot's license, it's too expensive, or you can't get the medical, or maybe you used to be a pilot, now you want to try something different. I don't know. There's just so many opportunities and reasons why people want to get in aviation and I want to help them. That's why we created JetLife Arrow and that's why we have the program. Go to theultimatejetguycom and schedule a call with me so I can walk you through how you can get involved in aviation on the sales side and the acquisition side. Anyway, it's really cool. I'm really excited about it, but let's get back to Alex and let's see what else he wants to talk about how to get leads. This will be good.

Speaker 2: 13:09

Which are active and passive lead gen. Let's start with passive lead gen. The easiest way to get started is you know what?

Speaker 1: 13:16

If you want to see active and passive lead generation, I think you should go watch his video. I'm going to give that one to Alex, so let's see what else he's got to say about the mistakes that people make. So go check out the video if you want active, passive leads.

Speaker 2: 13:31

Next in the list is lack of follow-up. So, now that you have a list of potential clients you contacted or they have interacted with your content, many aircraft brokers make the mistake of not following up consistently with their leads and this is where they lose potential customers. A study by HubSpot states that 80% of closed deals require at least five follow-ups after the initial contact of closed deals require at least five follow-ups after the initial contact.

Speaker 2: 13:55

Therefore, it's essential to have a proper system in place for a consistent follow-up, whether it be through email campaigns or phone calls. I highly recommend using a CRM such as Pipedrive or Salesforce to manage and track your leads. It's also crucial to have a schedule and stick to it.

Speaker 1: 14:13

Yeah. So follow-up is great. It's a really important skill to have and it can just feel like so much when you're doing this on your own. You're just like, oh, I'm always following up, I don't know, there's so much stuff to do. I got to make new calls. I got to follow up. Listen, keep it simple. Pick a market, call that market, call them again. Keep calling them. Send them an email, send them a text message. Give them value. Send them a market report. Find a news article, email it to them, text it to them.

Speaker 1: 14:43

I think something that's really important that people don't differentiate between is when it comes to follow-up. There's how you follow up and what you follow up with. The how is pretty basic Call, text, email, direct mail, social media. That's the how. I think what's more important is the what. What is your follow-up? How can you provide value to people so that they want to talk to you?

Speaker 1: 15:00

If someone calls me, I get a cold call. Usually it's Medicaid or health insurance enrollment or sales training. Those are the main things I get cold calls on, and the most effective ones are the sales training ones, because they usually have something to offer me. Hey, we've got a new deal. Hey, we've got a new event coming up. Hey, we've got a new book, new product, new service, yada, yada, yada.

Speaker 1: 15:21

The Medicare and the health insurance people are the worst. They're like hey, we're calling about Medicare. Hey, we're calling about health insurance. No, hey, we're calling about health insurance. Take me off your list. Hey, we're calling about health insurance. I told you to take me off my list. Like they, just that's all they say. They literally call and they're like hey, I want to see if you're ready to sign up for health insurance.

Speaker 1: 15:39

So if you're a jet broker and all you're doing is calling hey, you want to sell your jet. Hey, you want to sell your jet. Hey, you want to sell your jet? Send a text message. Hey, you want to sell your jet? Send them on social media, dm. Hey, you want to sell your jet?

Speaker 1: 15:54

The how doesn't do anything, even though you've changed different hows. The what is all you're doing is asking them a question that doesn't help Provide value to them. Hey, listen, I'm sure you're probably not looking to sell your jet right now, but I have a market report on the CJ2s. Would you like me to send it to you so you can see what your jet is worth? Or, hey, for the next week, I'm providing free evaluations on VREF for owners that are thinking about selling. Or have you thought about selling your CJ2 and would you like a valuation, an appraisal on what your jet might be worth? Or hey, I've got a guy that's looking for a CJ2. I know you weren't looking to sell. Would you be open to possible off-market offers? Or hey, we just noticed that the sales price on the CJ2s are dropping. You're giving them news? Or hey, we just noticed that.

Speaker 1: 16:45

Hey, I found this funny video about why people hate commercial airlines. Check it out, get a laugh. The how is important, but I think the what you do as your follow-up is even more important. And again, that's why we have training with this and this is why we give details out for people who are aspiring jet brokers, because we do need to follow up multiple times, but we can't keep asking them hey, do you want to sell your jet? Hey, do you want to sell your jet? Hey, do you want to sell your jet?

Speaker 2: 17:07

It's not going to work that way, Whether it be when it comes to converting leads into customers. Last in the list is not setting goals for yourself. Without goals, it's challenging to measure success and identify areas for improvement. You should set both short-term and long-term goals, such as the number of leads you want to generate in a month or the revenue you aim to make in a year. These goals will drive your daily actions and keep you motivated to continually improve and grow your brokerage. It's also important to regularly track your progress towards these goals and make adjustments as needed to stay on track. By setting specific, measurable, realistic and timely goals, you will have the roadmap for success in the aircraft sales industry. So this is it for today.

Speaker 1: 17:51

I hope you enjoyed I'm going to push back on these goals.

Speaker 1: 17:54

Yeah, smart goals are important, but I think you need to break it down a little bit more. So, yeah, I want to make six figures. How am I going to do that? I'm going to sell 20 jets and make sure my commission is at least $5,000. Okay, I'm going to sell 20 jets means I got to sell almost two a month, okay, great. Well, how are you going to get to those sales? You need to know the numbers and so, if you work it backwards, it comes down to, I think, something along the line of like 10,000 phone calls If you make.

Speaker 1: 18:23

It's something along the lines of if you make for every sale, you would have had to have at least three under contract. If you would have had three under contract, that means you probably had at least five to 10 listings. Let's go with 10 listings In order to get 10 listings. So this is for one sale. In order to get those 10 listings and this is like having a listing at a given time In order to get those 10 listings, you probably had to do at least 30 pitches, that's, people that were qualified to talk to, and to get 30 pitches in front of them, you probably had to get to something along the lines of 300 people that you had to talk to and that's like, have the first conversation's, like have the first conversation, like are you open to selling, and they said yes Of the 300. To get to there, you probably had to make 3000 phone calls to, to, to, to get out that far, um to, to get to talk to people, and if you do that a couple of times I think we start at like 10 K. So so the challenge what we, what I tell people who come in to work with me is it's a race to 10,000 phone calls to get a deal. So if you need 10,000 phone calls and you divide that by 100 calls a day, that's 100 days. Now most people are not working seven days a week, so a hundred days. They're usually working 22, 22 days a month. So a hundred divided by 22 is four and a half, four and a half months. So you're about four and a half, six months to your first sale. 10,000 calls. I'm going to break your. So I'm taking what Alex is saying and I'm breaking it down even more granular to show you what it's going to take. So how fast can you get to 10,000 calls. That's a hundred calls a day in four and a half months, okay, will you find someone who's ready to sell along the line, Like before that? Yeah, sure, it's definitely possible. So, yeah, I think Alex is right, like we need to set goals, but also I'm going to get a little bit more granular with those goals. So listen, before we head out.

Speaker 1: 20:25

I want to share one more thing with you guys. I'm really excited about this. Like, if you're, if you're looking to be a jet broker too, there's two things you need to do. Number one you need to go to the ultimate jet guidecom, okay, and you need to schedule a call with me. Let's talk. I want to talk with you, I want to answer your questions. I want to, you know, share my experience with you. But, more importantly, like, answer the questions that you have, like Tom, how do I get started? Or like, how hard is it really, tom? Or you know, what is it? What does it cost?

Speaker 1: 20:53

So, step one go to the ultimatejetguycom, check out some videos. What does it take to be a jet broker? Um, amazing YouTuber, check out his channel. Uh, learn the story of Alex Strohmeyer, who made $18,000 in his first deal. Uh, I think that was in like four or five months from when he started with us. Um, learn about becoming an aircraft broker how you know things kind of work on jet life arrow and we've got other stuff on our YouTube channel, but go there and then, secondly, go to circlejetlifearrowcom and check out our circle community. Within the circle community, we have a free, free, free course. Learn what are the apps that we use as jet brokers.

Speaker 1: 21:33

How to get a job as a broker, choosing which jets you want to sell. What's the overview for aviation documents, how brokers get paid. How to get started with research. This is also if you can do on your own to become a broker and to act like a broker without paying anything, because there's no license or certification to be a jet broker. So you can get started today with with nothing. But if you're looking for a way to shrink time and get started today, work with me one-on-one and learn all the skills and get access to all the documents that we use at jet life arrow. Get access to ongoing training.

Speaker 1: 22:04

We've've got our JetLife Academy, broker Academy, and the 24 lessons take about a weekend or a week depending on how focused you want to be to get it done. We work on how aviation works, how to become a professional, what's the sales framework documents, overview everything you need to know. At the end of this program. It costs $2,500 right now. End of this program. It costs $2,500 right now, but at the end of this program you're also going to spend two days with me and at the end of those two days you're going to have three options. You can either one you can become a jet broker yourself. Number two I'll write you a letter of recommendation. Get your foot in the door with other brokerages throughout the country. Or, number three come work with JetLife Aero. We have a whole program and system in place for people just like you, with no aviation background, to get started in aviation, and I would love to share more with you about that. So if you want to learn more, go to TheUltimateJetGuycom. Don't forget to click the subscribe button.