Summary

Most real estate advisors were taught the wrong job. The industry says we sell homes. That framing screwed me up for years, because the product is a home but the work is people. What we actually do is put buyers with sellers and sellers with buyers, and that only happens through relationships. Episode 333 continues our Pillar 3 journey on CRM and relationship management, and this week the focus is the best call you can get in this business, the one where your ideal client finds you first.

There is a term for this. Return on Network (RON). Just like a return on time or a return on investment, your network pays a dividend when you have put yourself in the right rooms and maintained the relationships you built there. For elite level producers, 85 to 90 percent of business comes from network. Once you do that math, the conclusion is not complicated. The area of your business that deserves the most intention is the one most advisors treat as an afterthought. This ties straight to the law of compensation from chapter five of The Go-Giver by Bob Berg. Your income equals the number of people you serve and the way in which you serve them. Notice what is not in that sentence. It says nothing about houses.

I walk through four situations from my own network to make it real. An advisor gets a call from a parent at her school who needs a private, confidential move, and she already has the buyer, so the seller shows the home to one person and everyone wins. An advisor fields a request from another broker, works his own database, and finds a client sitting on a property who names a move-me number. A couple relocating to Chicago in 2011 call me because a past client told them I was the only option, and I close a $1.6 million sale in thirty days when I need it most. An advisor drags himself across a restaurant to greet a past client, meets two more empty-nester couples at the table, and that one walk turns into $25 million in production. None of these are lucky. Every one of them traces back to a relationship that was built and then maintained.

Here is the hard part. This is not Instagrammable. It does not go viral. Nobody talks about it but it is the foundational principle of a successful brokerage business, and it is the only real equity you have. The industry keeps telling us to go find new people. In reality the new people are already connected to the clients in your top 100. The work is two to three hours a week, maintaining your network one brick at a time, and once you lay a brick in that foundation you never remove it. It does not matter whether your CRM is analog, a spreadsheet, or something sophisticated. What your top 100 cares about is that you are invested in them and that you are their person. Build the systems and the rhythms to hold those relationships, and the business gets easier, more predictable, and more enjoyable. That is the business we all want. This is your coaching session.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and overview of relationship management
00:30 The value of the network and return on relationships
01:28 The professional purpose: helping you win in real estate
02:10 What is a broker? Beyond selling homes, creating relationships
05:02 The true role of a real estate advisor: putting people together
07:10 The law of compensation and serving more people
08:19 Examples of relationship-driven transactions
16:23 Creating momentum through relationship systems
18:18 The importance of maintaining your network
20:40 Building a foundation brick by brick
22:37 The joy of your ideal client finding you
23:11 Closing remarks and next steps

Find me on Instagram at @askjimmiller and online at askjimmiller.com.

Summary

In 2013, I made a decision that on paper looked like career suicide. I moved into leadership at Jameson Sotheby's and agreed to wind down my personal real estate business. My strategy was to cut my Top 150 in half, push the bottom 50% down to fringe, and go all in on the 68 people who mattered most. I was concerned my production would suffer. The opposite happened. 2014, 2015, and 2016 were some of the best brokerage years I ever had. This episode is about why, and it is the real start of Pillar 3, CRM and Relationship Management.

The heart of this episode is the referral tree. Your platinum clients are the seed and the trunk. They introduce you to the person, who introduces you to the next person, who becomes three more branches. Picture ten or fifteen of those trees, nurtured over years, and you start to see why I still know I had exactly 68 clients. I know that number the way you know your own kids' birthdays, because I looked at it every single day. That daily attention is the entire reason my business doubled four times in five years. A CRM organizes the relationship. It does not make the call. You cannot automate thoughtfulness.

Listen for more details.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the importance of CRM and relationship management
01:00 The value of CRM in generating millions in revenue
01:59 Categories of clients: platinum, gold, silver, fringe
02:57 Jim's personal story and business growth through CRM
03:59 The law of compensation and serving more clients
04:56 Creating a top 100 client list for business success
05:59 The importance of staying top of mind with clients
06:58 The referral tree concept and its significance
08:06 The impact of relationship nurturing on business growth
09:04 Starting with platinum clients and personalized communication
10:03 Practical steps to build and maintain your CRM
11:14 The cost of neglecting CRM and relationship strategies
12:14 Creating momentum through consistent client engagement
12:54 Expanding your client base through relationship management
14:09 The importance of regular CRM audits and pruning
15:08 Jim's final advice and encouragement for listeners
16:11 Closing remarks and next steps for building your CRM

Resources

The Go-Giver by Bob Burg
Jim Miller - Instagram - @askjimmiller

Summary

June was a month of reflection on Take Flight, a mid-year audit of what the first two quarters delivered and where the cracks are hiding. Episode 331 closes that arc and turns toward the second half of the year. Jim opens on the farmer's logic that runs underneath everything he teaches. You plant in the spring and harvest in the fall, which means the work you do right now lands six to nine months out, not on next month's paycheck. Real estate is not a business of selling properties. It is a business of building relationships and compounding them over a long career.

Borrowing the structure of Brian Moran's The 12 Week Year, Jim frames this moment as Week 13, the point where you celebrate the wins, count the near misses as learning, and plan the quarter ahead. He is candid that Q3 is a trap. You are tired, the year has been long, and the pull to pump the brakes is real. His answer is not to grind harder. It is to be intentional and surgical, taking one project per week and knocking it out, whether that is a couple of hours, thirty minutes, or a single phone call you have been avoiding.

The quarter's teaching focus is Pillar 3 of Take Flight, CRM and Relationship Management. Jim makes the case that this is where all real success comes from. Your income is the number of people you serve times the level at which you serve them, and you cannot afford to lose people from your network because they are so hard to replace. 85%-90% of most advisors' business comes from their network, which is why offline marketing, reputation and relationships, outperforms any digital tactic over time. Across Q3 he will get detailed on building a Top 100, setting cadences for platinum, gold, silver, and fringe contacts, and retaining the network while expanding it.

Jim closes with the question he puts to every client. Are you interested in being great, or are you committed to it. He points listeners back to the June episodes, 327 through 330, and to episode 254, Think Like a Farmer, as the groundwork for the season ahead. The challenge is simple and singular. This week, name the projects that need to get done in Q3 and commit to running them one at a time. Do the heavy lifting now so your network is in real shape heading into Q4 and Q1.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Take Flight Weekly
02:54 Reflecting on Q1 and Q2 Results
05:48 Preparing for Q3: The Trap Quarter
09:06 The Importance of CRM and Relationship Management
11:49 Commitment to Success and Building Your Network


Ask Jim Miller - Email List - mailto:Jim@askjimmiller.com

Instagram: @askjimmiller

Summary

June is the month to stop and look. A six-month audit is the most valuable two hours an ELP can spend right now. Step out of the business, look at it from the outside, and answer three questions.

What does winning look like?
What plays work every time you run them?
What is broken that I can fix in Q3 and Q4?


This episode is the answer to the second question, the 7 plays I would run over and over to stabilize a business and most often add real production over the next twelve months. The weekly planning session. The next 10. 1=3.. The pipeline at 150% to 200% of goal. The post-closing process. The three rocks of marketing. And boundaries. Each one maps to a pillar of Take Flight, because this is not a list of tips. It is the framework boiled down in one podcast episode to what actually moves a business.

Different advisors sit in different places. The purpose is the same. Build the business so it fits into your life. Filter out the noise. What I give you in this episode are the signals. You just have to run the plays.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Purpose of the Audit
04:54 Seven Plays for Business Success
15:56 Conclusion and Call to Action

Resources

Jim Miller's Website - https://askjimmiller.com
Instagram - @askjimmiller

Summary

Jim Miller shares a strategic approach to business reflection and planning for Q3 and Q4, emphasizing the importance of defining what success looks like, focusing on basics, and addressing cracks in your business. This episode provides actionable questions and tips to optimize your business performance.

In the episode, Jim walks through why Q3 is the heavy lifting quarter and Q4 belongs to your people.

If you do one thing this week, book the meeting with yourself before July.

Listen to Episode 329 here.

Chapters

00:00 Reflecting on the First Half of the Year
02:46 Setting Goals for Q3 and Q4
06:10 Defining Success and Basics
09:01 Identifying Areas for Improvement
11:53 Utilizing Tools for Better Engagement

Summary

Jim shares a change he made a year ago that reframed his whole year. He moved his vision cycle off January first and onto July first. The reason started personal, tied to his daughters and a three-year path, but it exposed a better way to run a vision cycle for most real estate markets.

January is a no fly zone, with no momentum coming out of the holidays. Starting the cycle where the season actually turns puts the heavy lifting in Q3 and Q4, where it belongs, and turns June into a true review month.

Jim connects this to last week's message on the basics. The advisors truly winning know what works, build SOPs around it, and run it consistently. The ones without momentum chase everything except the network. A vision cycle is how the basics get rebuilt and reinforced, one quarter at a time.

This episode is the bridge from reflection into action. June to review, July to set the cycle, Q3 and Q4 to do the work that makes trapped become free.

Inside this episode:

1. Why it's hard to build real momentum in January, and what to use instead.

2. How to pick a vision cycle start date that fits your season.

3. Using June as the review month, the 13th week in 12 Week Year terms.

4. The quarterly rebuild rhythm. Tear apart, put back together, let it run.

5. How the basics and the network sit underneath the whole cycle.

This is your coaching session.

Chapters

00:00 Reflections on June and Personal Milestones
10:14 The Importance of Vision and Planning
20:13 Operational Excellence and Business Growth
24:01 Philosophical Insights and Future Directions

Resources

Find me on Instagram at @askjimmiller

12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran - https://www.amazon.com/12-Week-Year-Focus-Execution-Discipline/dp/1118509234

Traction by Gino Wickman - https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Entrepreneurial-Operating/dp/1936661837

EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) - https://www.eosworldwide.com/

Summary

Recorded early on the last Sunday of May after a month of travel, a wild Chicago market, and the kids finishing school, this is a reflection episode. Jim steps back and shares what the month and YTD validated. One phrase anchors the whole hour.

"Seven figure earners master the basics that six figure earners are too advanced to do."

Inside this episode:

1. Why the business exists to serve the network, and why 85%-90% of top-producer business comes from it.
2. The shift from “know you, like you, trust you” to being the one call your network makes.
3. Boundaries as decisions made before the question is ever asked.
4. What winning looks like, and how knowing it filters the noise.
5. The three phases every advisor moves through, producer, operator, and the business that fits into a life.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Reflections on May
06:31 The Importance of Mastering the Basics
16:12 Building Strong Networks for Success
24:51 Phases of Business Development and Operational Excellence

Resources

Find me on Instagram -@askjimmiller and at askjimmiller.com

Summary

Five tries. Five abandoned attempts. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. Episode 326 of Take Flight Weekly is built for the roughly 90% of real estate brokers, agents, and advisors who have tried to build a CRM and never gotten one off the ground.

The episode opens with a moment from earlier this month at a leadership event for top advisors. At the event, Jim got tapped on the shoulder by a advisor with the same question he hears from his clients constantly: I've tried five times, how do you do it? The answer is a full teaching session, and Jim names the real obstacle in the first few minutes. The CRM is just the technology. The mindset is what gets in the way. From there, he walks through a complete 13-week rebuild plan that runs on a simple spreadsheet, requires no perfect platform, and produces a clean Top 100 contact list by the end of September. The system is two names a day, ten names a week. No Saturday-afternoon import marathons. No more starting over.

Inside the episode, Jim breaks down the 15 columns every CRM spreadsheet needs, from contact rank through neighborhood or building, source of origination, last touch, next touch, and three customizable tag fields. He covers where to mine the names from, including MLS sold data, your phone, your email marketing list, school rosters, and vendor partners. He stays CRM-agnostic on the platform question, because the right tool is always the one you'll actually use. By the end, listeners have a system, a 13-week runway, and the one decision that determines whether any of it gets built.

This is Pillar 3 of the Take Flight coaching framework, CRM and Relationship Management, and Jim makes the case that this pillar sits at the foundation of every successful real estate business he has built or coached. The episode closes on the only question that matters for anyone who has been stuck: are you committed, or are you interested? The answer shows up in what you do this week, not what you say. This is a longer teaching episode worth bookmarking and re-listening. There will be no Episode 327 over Memorial Day weekend; the next episode drops May 31, 2026.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to CRM Challenges
02:54 The Importance of Mindset in CRM Implementation
06:00 Starting Your CRM: The Spreadsheet Approach
09:07 Building Your Contact List: Key Columns to Include
11:57 Organizing Your Contacts: Strategies for Success
14:53 Commitment to CRM: The Path Forward

Resources

Jim Miller on Instagram - @askjimmiller
Email Jim Miller - mailto:jim@askjimmiller.com