How Dave Fanale Built 40 Years of Business Through Relationships

Host 00:00

It's not psychological and it's not manipulative. It's just being a good person. I say you have amazing relationships with people. So what I say to people is I want you to be you. Developing trust in a relationship is really doing what you say you're gonna do and maybe doing a little bit more.

Host1 00:17

Because I was just this young guy in real estate trying to build something, and you were like, Well, listen here, son, I've been in the business a long time.

Host 00:23

If you were to write down all those answers to all those questions, you would find out that the ones you want to be with and hang with are like you.

Host1 00:31

What's up, everybody? Grant Wise here. Welcome back to the Partner Profit Podcast, the show where we teach you how to turn your relationships into revenue. Today I'm excited I get to connect with a dear old friend, Mr. Dave Finale. We've uh worked together for many, many, many years. He's done a lot of amazing things, and I'm excited to have an awesome conversation today. Dave, man, thanks for for joining me.

Host 00:53

Hi, thanks, man. It's an opportunity. Thank you for this opportunity. I appreciate you, man. Thank you.

Host1 00:57

Of course, of course. So for the people that are listening to this and maybe don't know much about you, just give us a bit of the backstory. How do you get to where you are today?

Host 01:03

Well, I've been in real estate for over 40 years, and I started uh uh by having a disagreement really with my father about dentistry or real estate, but actually he wanted me to be a dentist. I didn't want to be a dentist, and uh I took the second way out, which was real estate. You know what? Got out of school. I worked on a property he was building, a uh uh an apartment building he was building, and he was oh, he was into real estate. It was his hobby. And by the time all was said and done, and over 25 years of working for him, we had built many, many properties, many buildings, many houses together. Uh, and then I did it on my own. Uh I had my own brokerage uh for 21 years, where I learned the hard way that real estate agents are a little bit different, different cloth of most. And today what I do is I work with uh one of the um most successful uh real estate teams in the United States, known as Align. And I'm their growth manager, but I also do an awful lot of different things. I also work on my own as an investor, fix and flipper, all those kinds of things, work some wholesale stuff, and help a lot of agents grow their business through planning and prep, as well as what to say and how to say it.

Host1 02:10

I love it, I love it. So when I say, Dave, teach me how to turn my relationships into revenue, what do you got for me?

Host 02:18

So, one of the things that I always did in my brokerage, and I still do to this day, is I believe that as a as a as a real estate agent, as a real estate broker, as a real estate manager or team leader, whatever it is, and I live this in the team today as well, is what can I do for you today? How can I help you? And if that's your main attitude, everything else falls into place. So, you know, for me, you have to understand that if I can do something for someone, I'm going to do it, and I will always ask. I'm gonna be I'll be completely transparent with everybody is that nine times out of ten, what are most people gonna say when you say, What can I do to help you? They're gonna say, Oh no, I'm good. Okay? You have to remember, well, when you ask, you have to mean it, right? And people can tell, right? Also, people have to understand that the invite is just as important, if not more important, than the party. So let me give you an example. So I always I I talk to agents, and you can do this with your sphere of influence to build your business, is have an event, have a private event. So, this is one of things that I I suggest to a lot of real estate agents is look, you've got a sphere of influence. Have an event every week. What do you mean have an event every week? How can I do that? It's really simple. You invite five people, right? You invite five people. It's just a simple thing. Maybe it's coffee, maybe it's a cocktail. Whatever it is, you invite five people. And I'm going to tell you that most of the time, maybe one or two will show up. But when you do this, the invite that you invited them and included them, they're going to remember the invite more than they would even if they showed up. So, you know, being a good person and inviting people, being inclusive in the people will always help you build those relationships where people will want to do for you. It's not psychological and it's not manipulative. It's just being a good person. You know, it it's I I look at that every day. Even now, I I get told that I I spend too much time giving my time away. And I think I've done that my entire career. And I tell people, I say, I want to get paid for what I do, and then I'll just go do something else. Like I just started, you know, it's like I cut out a lot of the things I do. And this week I started, okay, we're gonna do uh well every Wednesday, we're gonna do 8 to 9 a.m. role play and objection handling. I nobody asked me to do that on this team. No one asked me, I'm not getting paid for it, but I know that there's a need for it. And for me it's fun, and I get to learn more.

Host1 04:56

How does somebody go about identifying the types of people that they want to be in relationship with from a business standpoint, you think?

Host 05:05

I think it all comes down to, you know, we've talked about this, you and I, over the years, your perfect client avatar, you know, who's your perfect client? I think basically when you look at it, and and this is the way I've looked at it too, is I would tell tell everybody, look, you need to know who you want to work with. You know, where do they live? Where do they shop? You know, um, what kind of car do they drive? What kind of food do they eat? Do they like restaurants? Do they go out? Do they drink? Do they like coffee? What do they like? You know, what kind of clothes do they wear? How do they cut how do they show up? Right? And when we all all is said and done, if you were to write down all those answers to all those questions, you would find out that the ones you want to be with and hang with are like you, right? They're gonna be what you like, what you like to do like. You and I have a debate about food. We debate about pizza, we debate about steak, right?

Host1 05:55

Because I know it's better and you don't, but yes, go on.

Host 05:58

Well, you know what? There's such a thing as experience. Um, and I think I've experienced a little bit more food than you have.

Host1 06:04

But that's besides maybe your experiences have been bad and mine have been good.

Host 06:10

I'm just well, if it would go up, it would be, you know, anyway. But here so here's the thing, right? So um I've now I lost my train of thought. Um, the important part of what I'm saying is look, we want to hang with the people that that want to do what we do. And and you know what? Notice there's one thing I did not say, right? There's two things I did not say. And and and and I I, as you know, I do a broadcast every week, and there's two things I tell people before the broadcast that I will not talk about. I will not talk politics and I will not talk money. Money by meaning how much money do you make. I don't care if you make three cents or three million, right? I don't care if you're Republican, Democrat, independent, or whatever. I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. I am not a right, a left, whatever. I have my own beliefs, believe me, I do. But to me, if you're if you're the a good person, that's all that matters to me, right? I mean, there are people that I completely disagree with how they how they feel and how they are, but I don't care. I come from the days where everyone had a right to be, have their own opinions, and I didn't hold it against them. I mean, that's a problem. I mean, we can go on with that subject for a long time. Not about the right, left, middle, whatever it is, but why people are that way, why why people are, they don't want to be friends with people that are of a have a different view than they do. I don't care about that. What I care about is can we hang out? Can we have some fun? And can I help you grow your business? A, or B, can I help you get into the right house for you? Can I be really honest with you? See, I said one of the things I do I do, I just started this role-play objection handling thing. And it's not what you say, it's how you say it. I am uh when I talk about that, I will tell you that I am never satisfied with a script. And what does my script look like? I've got them right here from what I was doing today, right? I'm calling all different kinds of people, and I will take what I've got, I will put it in the chat GPT, and I say, this is what I want it to sound like. When it comes out, I am never reading the script. I will read it over five, six, seven times, and then I'm gonna talk like me, but I followed the script, right? So what I say to people is I want you to be you. If you can sit there and read that script and it sounds nothing like the script is written, then you're being yourself. See, when I talk about helping people and being with people and trying to make build relationships with people that you want to hang out with, it has a lot to do with, you know, if it's business, you have to talk the way you talk because people will see how you are. Okay, so as you know, Grant, and a lot of people that know me is I tend to curse a lot. Okay. And that's me, right? I will rarely, I mean, I will test it in a when I'm talking to somebody on a phone, let's just use an example as a for sale by owner or an agent. Most agents that that know me know I I know which way to go with them. Or uh what I mean by is that is how to talk. And if you're yourself, people either gonna like you or they're not gonna like you. I ran into someone today I hadn't seen in probably 10 years, and we were sitting right next to each other at this event we went to. You know, I mean, it was it was nice to see this person. She knows me, she knows who I am, and it was, you know, it was like you know, rekindling an old friendship. But really, that's it. I mean, you you want to be yourself. That's probably the most important thing. And if you're likable, if you're an extrovertible relationship person, and what I mean by that is you can be an introvert, but if you can have a conversation with people the way you want to talk, the way you want to be, that's how you do it.

Host1 09:58

Yeah, I love it, man. I think you just answered most of the questions I was gonna ask you, but that's sorry. That's all right. Speaking of food, have you come across any good steak spots? Because I think it was like years ago you told me you thought you had the no the one, but I haven't heard any news.

Host 10:16

Okay, so there are two, but only one's consistent, and um it is near me. It is near me, it's it's in Edgewater, New Jersey.

Host1 10:26

It can't be better than LA's in Denver.

Host 10:28

It is.

Host1 10:29

Um it is, it is I've had that twice, and it has just blown anything I've ever put in my mouth away.

Host 10:36

Well, you see, here's the difference, man. It's the type of steak you're eating. You're eating filet mignon, which is really not the best cut out there.

Host1 10:45

What's the best cut out there? What are you talking about?

Host 10:48

Well, the most flavorful is a ribeye.

Host1 10:51

The most flavorful absolutely is a ribeye, but a filet is just like a premium cut of meat. One would think.

Host 11:01

So if you look at if you look at studies, right, uh over the years and you look at- Are we talking about relationships or stake? We're talking about both. Okay. So there's a relationship with nature that that that only people that are that live in nature can have. So we go back to current times and years ago, the Eskimos, right? And Eskimo tribes that still live in nature without, you know, all the trimmings of of a of a of a of a house. When they have an animal, they they don't waste a piece. And all the meat, the the the the fur, the the skins, everything they keep and they use. But the one piece of meat that they give to the dogs is the filet. You can test me, you can check this out, it is a hundred percent true. But anyway.

Host1 11:55

The only problem with your theory is my brother was with me when we went to Elways both times, and he had a ribeye both times, and he's still to this day. We've been to a hundred steakhouses across the US over the years, over the last decade. He's still he and I both still say Elways is the best.

Host 12:14

You've never been to the river palm in Edgewater, New Jersey.

Host1 12:17

Hey, listen, bro. We gave you your shot. We came to your place, and you said, Oh, I'm taking you to the best spot, and you took us, and we're like, So that is that is that is probably gonna be a consistent number two. I think so.

Host 12:30

Yeah, and this is the same thing.

Host1 12:31

I think it's definitely always number three is out in Long Island. Gonna be a consistent number two to Elways. Still not had anything better. It's it's Elways, Ruse Chris, here where I live, it's been fantastic stakes, really good stakes. And then uh the meat market in Miami, down at South Beach, the South Beach, I can't remember what they call it, it's like the South Beach boardwalk or something like that.

Host 12:51

I know exactly which one you're talking to. I've been there. Phenomenal.

Host1 12:58

Overrated. Maybe. I guess I would also have to say the A5 Wagyu in Vegas is prime. Like it's it's very good.

Host 13:08

Okay, very, very good.

Host1 13:09

That's hard to compete with that.

Host 13:11

Obviously, the people can hear that we have a relationship with food that is second to none. And and uh, you know, but there's a lot of other things.

Host1 13:19

Just don't get him started talking about pizza, ladies and gentlemen. So, anyways, we go back we go back to uh we go back to relationships, building relationships. Really what we just did, like that's how you have that's how you have amazing relationships with people. And when you, you know, I talk about strategically partnering with the right people. I remember how we met. You know, I had a product that you purchased, and we got on the phone and we had a very colorful conversation the first time, and then we've become great friends since. But it's just years of working together, eating together, going to events together, hiking together, working out, you know, and I'm saying, and you get into a relationship with the right people, and amazing stuff blossoms from it. We were just talking before this conversation even got started about potential partnerships that could be really big for both of us. And I think you know, we we kind of just gave everybody an inside look at having a relationship that ultimately can translate to business. I was on a podcast just before this, both of them today. And that I think the general consensus is that money is really a byproduct of the amazing relationships that you can develop. And I don't know if you would agree with that or not.

Host 14:27

Yeah. Yes. I've been very, very fortunate to have mentioned, quickly mentioned a broadcast I do every Friday. And I've been very, very fortunate to have some really great people on. And and and honestly, what I try to do with this broadcast is I try to get the answers that I need. Yeah, I'm very selfish when it comes to that, but I know that the answers that I need and I the questions from the questions I ask and the conversations I have, it's all about how I can take what I get and use it with the people that I work with. And that's where this came from. This is a conversation that I have weekly. It's not really an interview. I mean, this this is what a relationship is all about, what you and I have been doing for the past 15, 20 minutes, whatever it is, because this is this is a relationship that you and I had that people have just had the opportunity to experience. And we developed that through probably our very first conversation, which was fun, we both will admit.

Host1 15:21

That was fun because I was just this young guy in real estate trying to build something, and you were like, Well, listen here, son, I've been in the business a long time. And at the end of the conversation, I held my ground, obviously, and you're like, Okay, you you know what you're talking about. This is good, I like this, and so that's that is funny. I do really love that sometimes.

Host 15:40

It's you know that I built that's that same start of a relationship with another guy that you and I both know. His name's John Cheplak, and and my first conversation, my first conversation with him, he does not remember, I guarantee it, but one day I will remind him of it because it means if when I remind him of it, I owe him money. One day, one day one day, one day, one day, one day, but anyway.

Host1 16:03

How do you think that you develop and maintain trust in a relationship? I've made a point to ask everybody this question because we're in a post-AI society, you know. Most Bridget, my wife will often send, you know, reels and stuff like that to me. She's like, oh, check this out. I'm like, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real. And people are are kind of losing that ability to decipher what's real and what's not. And I think that as a result of that, we are going to become a much less than we already are trusting society, especially for stuff that we see on the internet. How do you just human to human develop and maintain trust in a relationship so that that thing just keeps growing?

Host 16:37

Developing trust in a relationship is really doing what you say you're going to do and maybe doing a little bit more. The team I work with now, uh, the difference between this team and any other team or brokerage I've ever been involved with is that it's it's business. People talk about, you know, when you go to when you have a brokerage, you go to an office. I don't care what it is. It could be, I was a Century 21 broker, this could be KW, this could COW Bank, or it could be Remax, but you go to the office and and it's the same, it's the same thing. I mean, people, you know, they're not there, they're there, they show up, they got something to do, or maybe they don't, and they're gonna have coffee and they're gonna bullshit, right? However, with the team and the people that I get to work with every day, I mean, it's very little of that in all of work, and knowing where you want to show up and keeping those relationships going. And sometimes it's hard to crack the shell in some of the people that are just coming in to work. It's just a matter of what we're able to do and how the shell is cracked, is because we believe completely, and I know you've heard this expression before, but we believe in total collaboration. So we we all work off of a system called Slack. Somebody needs something, the answer's there within minutes if somebody needs something. And we're uh, you know, we're not we're not a small, small group of people, you know, we're over 200 people, most of us in New Jersey, but it's a matter of being able to help that person when they need it. And sometimes you get it, you get when you ask a question, you get you when you least expect it from someone comes in and says, Oh, I can help you with that. And that's how relationships are built in business, and then it's outside because we have such a great uh human being as a leader, he'd rather give an agent more and take less if it makes them good better people or better agents or whatever it is. And that's how we all are. It's probably the greatest situation I've ever been in because I can't, I have nothing, I have no one to complain about. There's no one, I mean, yeah, there's attitudes and there's personalities, but as far as giving and and helping everybody, that's what it's all about. Being able to crack into that relationship, how can I help you today?

Host1 18:54

Yeah, that's a great mindset. Man, I appreciate you so much being on today. I've had a really fun conversation. If somebody was listening to this and they wanted to get to get connected, they wanted to partner with you, what would be the number one way for them to do that?

Host 19:06

Well, you know what? The broadcast I do every Friday is called Real Estate Talk TGIF. It's on my personal Facebook page every Friday at 11 o'clock Eastern Time. Or if they wanted to work together with me and partner with me, they could uh reach out to me at uh really simple. Just go with my easy address, dfinale at gmail.com and just, you know, uh reach out. We'd be glad to have a conversation with anybody and see how I can help you.

Host1 19:31

Love it, man. We'll make sure that we link up that in the comments section, in the show notes rather. And uh appreciate you again. This has been fun.

Host 19:37

Thanks, man. Appreciate you. This has been a lot of fun.

Host1 19:40

Yeah, yeah. All right, and thank you all for continuing to listen to the Partner Profit Podcast. I'll see you on the next one. Peace.