Are you likeable? That’s not a trick question. Getting strangers to know, like and trust you enough to let you handle the largest transaction of their lives is the key to success in real estate. Get it right, and you can build a sustainable career. Get it wrong, and well, there’s always law school.
Tom Brennan is likeable — really likeable. He’s gracious and kind, quick-witted, and he has a wildly charming Irish brogue. But in his first year in real estate, Tom quickly discovered that being likeable wasn’t enough. Every experienced agent in his city was likeable — or at least they could fake it convincingly enough to get by.
To kickstart his career in his adopted hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, Tom created a simple, repeatable lead generation and conversion system to turn his likability into leads. To say it worked would be an understatement. Tom closed over $17 million in volume in his second year in real estate. To learn how, we sat down with him to learn the simple systems that helped him beat the odds as a new Realtor.
Tom Brennan: By the numbers
- Market: Charlotte, North Carolina
- Niche: Luxury homes
- Year one sales volume: $1.9 million, 5 sides
- Year two sales volume: $17 million, 18 sides
- Primary lead generation strategy: Open houses + networking
- Highest ROI software in 2024: iMessage (no kidding!)
Start where you are, but find your tribe
As a new agent, where you work is almost as important as how well you work. The learning curve is steep — “drinking from a firehose” as Tom described it — so joining a team that offers the right guidance, reputation and resources for where you are in your career is crucial. The key is to know when to leave for greener pastures. Tom did reasonably well on his first team, but his business only started to take off after he joined the Your Property People team at Compass.
His advice on switching teams was simple: Make a business decision, not a personal decision.
“My first team was great — great training, great people — but I made a conscious business decision to leave. I had to do what’s best for Tom Brennan and Tom Brennan’s family. So I joined the number one team in Charlotte (according to Real Trends Verified). Now I’m part of their success. If I wasn’t with them, you probably wouldn’t be interviewing me today.”
Not sure how to find a team that will help your business soar like Tom’s did? Check out Idaho Managing Broker and Vetted Contributor Shannon Sharpe’s deep dive into finding the right team here:
Don’t overthink lead generation – do one thing really well
While other new agents in his office tried generating leads with Facebook ads, complicated IDX website sales funnels or dancing on TikTok, Tom shrewdly stuck to the basics. He generated almost all of his leads using the strategy so many new agents turn their noses up at — open houses.
Wait, open houses? Really?!
Yes, really. Tom knew that building rapport and trust online as a brand-new agent was nearly impossible — a lesson some new agents never learn. The local competition in Charlotte was fierce, and with only a handful of closed deals, he knew he couldn’t compete with experienced agents. He didn’t want to throw good money after leads he would struggle to convert. But if he could just get into a room with them, he knew he could win them over. Open houses gave him that opportunity in spades. With the right strategy, they can do the same for you.
Tom’s strategy is below, but there are dozens of ways to build a solid foundation for your business from open houses. We compiled our favorites here:
Use Tom’s networking tips to build rapport & trust
Networking at your open house (or anywhere else) is about them, not you. Your role is not to sell, but to help. When you go into a store, do you want an aggressive, pushy salesperson following you around? Of course not. Open houses are no different.
Tom honed his networking skills over a multi-decade career in product and business development for multinational brands. Here is Tom’s simple five-step system for networking at open houses:
1. Dress for the occasion
Tom stressed that the first step to successful networking is dressing for the occasion. First impressions are critical for any relationship, but especially at an open house where people might be wary of pushy Realtors. Dressing well can vary widely by region and season, but dressing professionally, but not too formally, works anywhere. For Tom, that means a sports coat and slacks, but never a tie.
“Networking starts from the minute they walk in the door and look in your eyes, that’s the very first second of initial business.”
2. Never introduce yourself first
While many agents are taught to confidently stride over to a lead and introduce themselves with a (forced) mega-watt smile and a firm handshake, Tom counsels agents to do the opposite. Remember, this is about them, not you.
“When I greet people, I always ask their name before introducing myself. That immediately puts the customer first: Hi, and you are? After I learn their names, I ask questions and try to make everybody feel comfortable. How did you get here? Any traffic coming in? Do you know much about the neighborhoods?“
3. Gauge their interest by asking questions
It’s important to know who may be interested in buying or selling soon — and who won’t be. Tom tries to glean this information from his leads in the first few minutes of their conversation. Simple, direct questions work best.
“I’m listening for their answers, listening for change, and then I’m trying to gauge whether they’re genuinely interested. Hey, are you just casually looking?….Well, yeah, we’re not really in the market just yet. ….It’s okay, tell me a little bit more about that. So I constantly pull on a thread, or I say, Hey, I’m curious. Why did you say that? …or… Do you know about this?“
4. Hand them a (simple) flyer, then let them explore
Handing the lead a flyer is a simple and polite way to end the conversation and allow them to explore on their own. This frees you up to greet other guests and gives the lead an opportunity to do what they came for — to check out the home.
Tom stressed that flyers should be as simple as possible to avoid overwhelming the lead with details about the home. The odds of you closing them on the home you’re doing the open house for are slim, so Tom’s strategy is to steer the interaction back to how he can help them.
He uses a clever and disarming script to put them at ease and as always, put the focus on them, not him:
“I might say, Hey, listen, there’s nothing worse than trying to take in the home that you’re in, and I’m in your ear telling you about, oh, let’s see the garage, and it has a EV charger and has, like, this ________out the back.“
After this initial conversation, Tom gives his leads 10 to 15 minutes to explore the home before following up.
5. Confirm their contact information and prime for follow-up
After letting his leads explore, Tom follows up to confirm their contact information and prime them for follow-up. Even if you’re using a digital sign-in sheet, confirming contact information is critical. All of your rapport building will be wasted if you don’t have a way to contact them. Worse, some people purposefully leave phony numbers and emails before you’ve had a chance to speak with them and build rapport. Following up gives them a chance to come clean and give you their real information.
Once you know you have the right contact number, it’s time to prime them for a follow-up appointment. Tom’s script for this is just about perfect. He disarms them with candor and then allows them to pick the location of their follow up meeting.
I might say, “Hey, listen. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. Within 24 hours I’m just going to send you a thank-you email, just to thank you for coming, so you can expect that.“
If this spurs further conversation and the lead seems interested, Tom follows up by asking for the follow-up appointment directly:
“Here’s a little bit of a situation. This is kind of absurd, because you and I are complete strangers. I’m in a stranger’s house. I don’t even know who owns it. I know the address, I have the key, but I don’t know who owns it. So we’re all strangers in a stranger’s house. What I’m hearing is you are interested in knowing a little bit more. How about we take it offline? I want to give you four options. I want to offer you a coffee, a bourbon, a beer or a wine. Let’s take out our calendars. The location is all yours.”
Vetted pro tip: Stand out from the crowd with handwrytten cards
With soaring interest rates and stubbornly low inventory, standing out from the crowd is more important than ever in 2025. Smart agents are using handwritten cards to stand out and make personal connections with lukewarm leads. Handwrytten makes it easy. Their robotic technology uses real pens and ink to mimic handwriting on cards and delivers them to your list on autopilot. They’re perfect for making a lasting second impression after your open house.
Your turn
Know an agent who’s thriving despite the odds and has actionable insights to share? We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us here: [email protected].
