Real estate is an inherently human-forward business. The value of personal connections and community will never go away. But the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) gives REALTORS® tools to grow their business and save time in some areas so they can invest in others. 

Sean Provencher, a REALTOR®, founder of Endgame Coaching, and supporter of incorporating AI into everyday business, joins this episode of the REAL TIME podcast to share his experience on how AI has helped his business thrive, strategies he uses, and how REALTORS® can embrace this emerging technology in a responsible way. 

Transcript

Sean Provencher: Okay, so if there's two things you take away from this conversation today, the first one is you should give it a try, and the second one is, don't trust what it gives you back until you double check.

Shaun Majumder: Dude, you don't talk to first dates like this, do you? Is this how you engage–

Sean: Hey, everybody. I am so excited about today's conversation because today we're talking about something that is everywhere right now. It's all around us. It blows through us. It is, of course, the force from Star– No? That's not what we're talking about? Oh, AI. Yes, AI. Sorry. AI, guys.

Today we are going to talk about the incredibly dynamic world of AI and understanding the tools that are coming on the market so fast. It's almost dizzying how fast these new tools are being made available to REALTORS®. We're going to un-dizzify today. That's what we're going to do. That's the correct term, I looked it up on ChatGPT, un-dizzify the whole experience when it comes to AI.

Today we're talking to Sean Provencher. He is a veteran REALTOR®, and he's the founder of Endgame Coaching, but he has been using AI on his day-to-day real estate business, and he's found a really good niche. He's self-described as not an expert in AI, but he's somebody who's he's been using it so much. He brings a lot of great knowledge, a lot of great tips to help you, the REALTOR®, understand these tools and how best to use them.

Shaun: I'm just jamming out. It seems like I'm listening to music on my headphones, but really I'm not. I'm actually getting ready to have a chat with Sean.

Sean: That's your pregame?

Shaun: This is my pregame. What is your pregame music? Do you have pregame music? What have you been listening to?

Sean: No, I don't. Honestly, usually I just chill out. My experience has been, I do best if I don't think at all right before stuff. If I had an exam to take, I'd study like crazy the day before. I might flip through my notes two hours in advance, but then after that, I'm just-

Shaun: Absorb.

Sean: Yes, just chill. Be like, "No, I got this." I found that if I try to cram right before something, it doesn't help.

Shaun: That is actually a great method, I think, for all things. As an actor, I have to memorize scripts. You stress so much about getting the lines right or getting whatever it is you're going to do right that it takes you out of being able just to be present and listen and be in the moment. I agree. This was not pregame music. I have no pregame music. If it was, it would be Enya and I would allow the soft soothing tones of Enya to wash over me to get me into my fire breathing into my belly to get us relaxed, because that's a human thing.

Sean, we're not here to talk about human things today, are we? We're here to talk about something so amazing and everybody needs to know about this technology that's happening that I don't think anybody's heard of yet. You and I are going to be the first people, I think, on planet Earth to talk about something called AI. Why don't you tell everybody who's watching and listening what this acronym-- Is that right? Is it acronym? No.

Sean: Yes, I'd say so.

Shaun: What those thingies are? What those two letters together, A.I., stand for? Because nobody's heard of it yet.

Sean: Today, Sean, we're going to talk about artificial intelligence.

Shaun: First, I've heard of it. It's amazing.

Sean: It's a brand new thing. This is a brand new thing. I think it might end up being a big deal.

Shaun: I think it's not.

Sean: Possible.

Shaun: I think it's passed. I don't think it's going to do much. I think it's a hot trend and it'll be gone in a week or two.

Sean: Go back to normal, folks. Nothing to see here.

Shaun: Back to normal. No, of course, AI, and we're talking real estate and we're talking AI, bringing those two together, like peanut butter and chocolate. You have a really good idea about AI.

Now, I don't think you claim to be an expert. However, you are very, very, very much involved. Why don't you tell us a little bit about, for example, how you got started with Endgame Coaching and how that's now evolved to where it is today?

Sean: I'll give you my quick rundown. Despite this youthful look, I've actually been in real estate close to two decades now, right around 17 years, something like that. I ran a big team in Toronto. I've traded consistently through this whole time. I moved to Victoria a few years ago, and when I moved out here, as opposed to jumping straight back into the saddle in a new location, I actually spent a few years doing coaching. It's something that I've done on and off throughout my career, just helping real estate agents try to figure out how to either get started or move from-- you're in momentum, now you want to start figuring out how to hire an assistant, build a team, that kind of stuff. I love helping people. In coaching, you get to have a longer life cycle with every client. You really get to see things grow and develop. I love doing it.

Shaun: Would agents say, "Hey, look, I'm just starting out, I need to know best practices? You and I are going to do one on one for a while? How would that happen? Would you just then work with them individually for a long time, or does it expand into their team? How would that coaching work?

Sean: Great question. Usually with new agents in coaching, I would do them in groups. They all need the same thing. We'd help them get a business plan set up. Honestly, a lot of the time, Sean, it's like, "Hey, what do I say? I'm going to see someone, they're talking about listing their house. I have no clue. What's the arc of a meeting going to look like? What are the things I need to cover? How do I price it?" I did that mostly in group stuff.

Then my favorite is helping people who are $300,000, $400,000, $500,000, $600,000 in commissions. They're doing really well, and they're overworked, and they're burning out, and they don't have any experience with, team building and leadership, and I'll help them write a business plan to step back from some of their responsibilities, bring in other people and help those people find opportunity, and they all grow together. That was my coaching business.

Shaun: Awesome. That was Endgame. Are you still doing that as an individual?

Sean: Less now. No, I've started trading again, I found that I got a little zoomed out. Now I'm trading in Victoria, BC, it's beautiful out here. Then, naturally, when I started trading, again, I started receiving all these agent-to-agent referrals, because, I've showed you how to do the business. I'm out here and helping people. If you have someone in need, you can trust that I do a good job.

I received a lot of agent-to-agent referrals, piqued my interest. I started focusing on agent-to-agent referrals. That's actually growing into this new project of mine called Boomerang Realty Network. Really neat. We've got a vetted group of agents across Canada, we're about to start growing into the United States. The whole idea is one agent, any move everywhere. No matter where someone is, no matter where they're going, we've got someone that's vetted, tried and trusted that you can be put in touch with.

For us, it solves two problems. I can send people anywhere, and trust that they're going to be in good hands. Every time I add another 10 people to the list, I have another 10 referral partners that I'm that to them. It's growing that pillar in my business as well. It's been really fun.

Shaun: Boomerang sounds like an amazing network. Can anybody just join? Is there a website I can go if I'm an agent and be like, "I'm joining Boomerang," pay a fee, boom, I'm in?

Sean: We're really picky, because the whole idea is that I don't want to bring people in who aren't going to do an outstanding job. We vet people. It's a yes and no. If someone wants to join, I'd love to talk to them. We do have a bit of a process that we go through, we have certain expectations, and we need someone to have at least a certain amount of momentum in the business and a certain amount of experience in the business, because we accept rock stars only.

Shaun: I love it. Oh, that's so good. What I'm hearing so far in our conversation, there's a whole lot of focus on human interaction like the importance when you started talking about, coaching, "What are you going to say? What are you literally going to say when you meet another person face to face?" The networking, how that is all human to human, referrals. Tell me more about the importance, by the way, of networking, on that level when it comes to real estate.

Sean: There's a bunch of reasons that I think REALTORS® naturally g