The Knowledge Project PodcastHow To Sell Like a $1 Billion Broker - Ryan Serhant
The Knowledge Project Podcast
Mindset and follow-up 0:00
Money comes from getting up each day and doing the work. He says the art of selling is not pushing something on people. It is putting yourself out there, staying comfortable with embarrassment, and following up long after most people stop. One client took five years of follow-up before he bought a $16 million place, then a $73 million one.
Building the role 2:00
He talks about leaving rentals for sales only and about refusing to stay in the comfort of what pays the bills. When Bravo came looking for agents for Million-Dollar Listing, he decided to act like the version of himself he wanted to become. He borrowed a Range Rover, scheduled shoots at 5:00 a.m., brought in a friend as a fake client, and even walked off in the middle of a showing so the crew would see him as busy and hard to pin down. That gamble helped him get on the show.
Acting, improv, and time 10:00
He says theater helped him because it made it easier to be someone else, memorize information, and speak in full sentences. He still pushes agents toward improv because people today are less afraid of failure than of embarrassment, and that fear holds them back. He also uses a system of 1,000 minutes a day. He treats time like money, divides the day into find business, keep business, and do business, and keeps meetings short so he can get far more done.
Value Time 14:30
He says the shift was not about doing more. It was about valuing his time more and treating other people’s time the same way. Meetings became shorter when he made the purpose clear, kept useful small talk, and cut the waste. In a rough 2018 New York market, that discipline helped his team sell more than the next highest team by about $350 million.
Sell The Person 16:31
He says the best sale is no sale. You start by finding something in common, giving a real compliment, and asking questions that cannot be answered with a simple no. The goal is to let the other person talk, build trust fast, and talk about everything except the sale until you set clear next steps. He also says you sell the dream first and the bed second.
Ego and deals 31:31
Large sales run on overcommunication and restraint. He says agent, buyer, and seller egos can all be huge in deals worth $20 million to $100 million, and that ego kills more deals, careers, and relationships than anything else. His rule is to respect people, praise them often, and play for the other side to win so the deal moves forward.
Bottom and recovery 33:01
He describes the lowest point as the summer of 2008, when his dream of acting in New York had slipped away and his debit card was declined at a grocery store on 59th Street. After calling his mother, he called a friend in real estate, got told to get a license, and the next step was simple: keep going. He made rent on September 1st, then the market collapsed two weeks later, which left very little competition and pushed him to work fast and keep hustling.
Attention into business 39:01
When Million Dollar Listing aired, he saw that the phone did not ring just because people saw him on TV. That pushed him to see content as a path to commerce. Early Twitter, Facebook, and then Instagram gave him a way to show expensive homes in a visual medium, and later YouTube let him move faster than reality TV. He says the real asset is distribution, because even the best product fails if nobody knows it.
Hook then ask 43:01
If he had to build a personal brand in a new city, he would interview local small business owners, make the content on his phone, and build a simple website around the town with reviews, search terms, and clear calls to action. He would use that to become known in the community and then turn it into a real estate business. He also explains his sales framework: hook people by finding common ground, help them with something unrelated to your ask, and only then ask for what you want.
Growth and close relationships 46:30
He says people live in their phones and that makes real connection harder. Growth is still necessary, but it can strain the people closest to you. He points to his wife asking whether he used to be happy, and he treats that as the cost of always reaching for the next challenge.
Building under pressure 47:31
He says a business has to grow unless it is meant only as a family lifestyle business. He describes leaving a top real estate career after a billion-dollar year, then starting a company in 2020 during COVID when others were pulling back. The panic of that moment pushed him forward, and the shutdown gave him a rare chance to build fast.
The chip and the work 51:31
He traces his drive to being picked last, being chubby, and feeling out of place as a child. He says the past explains you but does not excuse bad behavior. Success, to him, means happy legacy, family, and helping others at work. He sees his ambition as responsibility, because many other people win when he wins, and he does not want to waste that.
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