In last week’s BAM interview, Byron Lazine had one of the most entertaining conversations to date with two special guests: Jared James and Grayson James.
Jared James is an industry leading speaker, coach and entrepreneur. Jared’s son Grayson is 17 years old and has been working as an intern for Byron’s real estate team over the summer.
He even inspired one of Byron’s 5AM Calls (July 3, 2024)—as well as this interview!
I think we can all learn from a 17-year-old. I did a 5AM Call…where I encouraged others to go out and get an intern. I said ‘Here’s something that having an intern in your space does for you… When you have an intern over the summer, it’s not about ‘What am I going to get out of that intern?’ What is everybody else going to get? What are they going to gain by sharpening the pencil and making sure they’re sharp for the intern?
As you’ll learn from this interview, having an intern like Grayson around can be a wake-up call for any agent who struggles to articulate what they do every day.
One of our favorite takeaways is what agents can learn from a 17-year-old intern, especially one as curious and as hungry for success as Grayson James.
Read on for our top five. Then make some time to enjoy the full conversation.
#1: Get on the phone early and often.
This is how Grayson set an appointment on his first day of work as a BAM intern. He started on phones a few hours after starting, shortly after learning and practicing some scripts.
And he kept at it, making one phone call after another, until he set his first appointment.
That alone is something many of today’s real estate agents are unwilling to do. So, why did Grayson refuse to give up until he’d made that first appointment?
Part of his persistence has to do with his innate curiosity and determination, both of which he shares with his father. That same father, in a conversation with Grayson, encouraged him to build his own legacy rather than simply aspire to join his father’s business as an adult.
You need to go build a background so powerful that nobody can ignore it. And then, when you come in, you are the 17-year-old that was setting appointments, and you were the number one salesperson who was number one in this…You need to make that your legacy right now. And then, mine will enhance. But if you don’t do that, mine will make yours smaller.
Insights like these from the conversations Jared has had with his son are one of the major meaningful advantages behind Grayson’s drive to excel. Another is the group of people he gets to hang out with, including tech CEOs who’ve sold their companies for hundreds of millions of dollars. And Grayson approaches them with the same curiosity he shows with leads.
#2: Lead with curiosity—and enthusiasm.
Early in the interview, Byron asked Grayson why he always led with curiosity when he was on the phone with leads. Was it something he learned from his dad? Was it a natural curiosity that propelled him to ask questions and learn everything he could about each lead?
Curiosity is something Byron has taken pains to instill in the agents on his team. And he’s witnessed how Grayson’s curiosity and enthusiasm on the phone have helped him set appointments.
Here’s how Grayson responded:
I feel like I do that with most conversations that I have with adults…I always lead with curiosity because it makes people feel heard, like you care. So, I feel like I do that over the phone. I’ve learned that from my dad, too, making people feel like you care, which I obviously do care…I’m curious about their situation, what’s going on.
And that’s paid off in more than one way. One benefit, as Grayson put it, is “it makes you more likable.” Grayson has cultivated a habit of engaging people with genuine curiosity and enthusiasm. And that kind of energy is magnetic—and memorable.
As Jared later pointed out,
[Grayson] understands that, no matter what industry in, it’s people… We get into all these scripts and dialogues, which are obviously important, but sometimes, with all the new apps and everything else, we lose sight of the fact that it’s just likability and enthusiasm. When you say, ‘Oh, he’s jumping in, he’s learning scripts, and he’s setting appointments his first day,’ I promise you it wasn’t because he was great at the scripts. Because he was scared to death. But he’s enthusiastic—because, for him, every call is an opportunity for him to build his future…Enthusiasm is just contagious!
#3: Older leads vs fresh ones
At one point in the interview, Byron asked Grayson how many appointments he’d set that day. When Grayson answered, “four,” he then asked whether those were brand new leads or “old, dead, beat-up leads?”
Yeah, I’m fishing out of the pond all day. Some of these have been there for like six or seven months.
Those leads, given the right approach, were more inclined to say yes to an appointment. They’d had some time to weigh their options and consider the trade-offs of moving sooner rather than later.
When Grayson called, leading with curiosity and enthusiasm, they were ready to learn more.
#4: Don’t take rejections personally.
Another thing that sets Grayson apart is he doesn’t worry about rejection.
What was so cool about him when he first started—he was so excited…and he loved it—and I just kept saying, ‘What about the rejection?’ It was almost like I was introducing it to him. He didn’t care. He’s just like, ‘Rejection? I don’t even know these people.’
As Byron added, “He’s not taking it personally.” Grayson, at 17, has learned what many agents out there two, three, or four times his age, have yet to learn: rejection is part of the process. It’s not something to fear. It doesn’t mean you’re bad at your job (though some rejections could highlight gaps in understanding or areas to improve). And it’s not personal.
In Grayson’s case, rejections didn’t slow him down. If anything, he turned them into fuel.
We’re having this conversation, and I started running down with him the numbers. He’s booked four appointments today. The last one was for a $1.5 million property… So, we’re on the dock, and we’re talking…And I broke it down for him. ‘Bud, I need you to understand something. If you were working for yourself right now…If you did that three days a week…but were doing it for yourself, and you only closed half of them…you’ll be an 18-year-old kid that does GCI over a million…because you divorced yourself from the idea of getting rejected…
It’s a habit every agent can and must cultivate to succeed as a sales professional. Whether someone rejects you is not something you can control. But you can control what you tell yourself about it and what you do when it happens.
#5: Focus on the number of calls you make—not your results
The previous example is why it’s critical for you, as an agent, to set goals based on actions you can control—not on the results you want.
The result is not what matters. You need to marry yourself to the process, the process, the process… The result is gonna come. How many calls did you make? You can control that. You can’t control how many are converting, but…keep calling. End of the day, he’s like, ‘I just booked three more!
Byron asked Jared why Grayson is so willing to handle objections, push forward, and commit to his practice goals. Because plenty of agents out there, once they run into objections, are too quick to say, “This isn’t working. From now, I’m going to just do X, Y, and Z and let business come to me.”
One of the reasons Grayson is doing so well, as Jared explained, is that he’s learned to set goals based on what he can control—like the number of calls he makes—instead of on results.
We’re not saying “Don’t think about results.” Use the results you want as the why behind the action-based goals you set for yourself. Your long-term goals can be tied to results. But in your day-to-day work, keep your eyes on the tasks in your calendar.
When your goal is the number of calls, you can’t lose. Because you can control that. So, that’s been beat into his head over and over and over again. And at the end of the day, here’s what it comes down to… I love what you sent me after Day 1, you were like, ‘This kid’s a dog!’ So, we’re on vacation last week, and he’s asking me all about my net worth… He’s trying to figure out how he does more. And he’s like, ‘That’s really great. So, I need to do this then…’
Grayson’s hunger for success drives him to make one phone call after another, reach out to people, lead with curiosity, and not take it personally when a lead shuts him down or hangs up.
He listens to his trainers, learns the process and the scripts, and then gets to work.
And he’s getting results every single day—by focusing on what he can control and by approaching every lead with tireless curiosity and enthusiasm.
It doesn’t hurt, either, that he inherited his dad’s competitive streak.
Here’s a freaking 17-year-old who sounds like a kid…and he’s booking appointments every single day, using a CRM… Here’s a 17-year-old kid who’s never looked at this in his life, has never seen an organized system like this in his life, and looks at it and ‘Yeah, makes sense. Got it.’
By now, we’re pretty sure Grayson is doing plenty to sharpen the people around him, just as they’re helping him to build a strong foundation for his own real estate business.
So, if you’re not approaching the telephone the way this 17-year-old intern is—or even if you are—block out some time to enjoy the full interview.
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