We discuss today with Glenn Bill. Glenn is a serial entrepreneur and ravenous learner of attitude and self-improvement. He began his career as a REALTOR® and assistant high school football coach. He was aligned with extraordinary people who helped raise him to high levels of success in both arenas, and he is extremely thankful and humbled by their impact on his life, studies, and attitude. Shortly after the start of his sales career, he purchased a franchise business and, together with two partners, grew it into one of the largest franchises in the world. He continued to coach during this expansion as well as sell to his large network. Glenn’s attitude and passion carried him through these busy years, juggling three careers at once.
After seventeen years as a broker/owner, Glenn sold his real estate business and began to educate, train, and inspire others using the techniques, insights and effort he learned from his mentors. Glenn’s latest endeavor is the University of Attitude. His goal: to change the world one attitude at a time. He speaks nationally to audiences that thirst for increased production, profitability, and morale for their team or company.
Glenn, your website highlights your achievements as one of America’s top 1% of real estate agents. Can you share some strategies contributing to your success in the real estate industry?
I’ve been in real estate for 35 years, which certainly helps. I’ve always built my business on referrals, which is a bit old-fashioned, but I believe you have to give before you get. You have to add value first and then ask for the business. I wouldn’t call it a strategy — it’s just how I live my life. It’s community involvement. I’ve always been very involved in the community, which puts me in the public eye and gives me access to many eyeballs looking at me, doing what I can to improve my community. Most people know me before they do business with me. So that’s the main reason why I sell so much real estate. I try to give value first, and it’s usually reciprocated.
Speaking of community involvement, are you involved in any exciting projects you’d like to tell us about?
My company, The University of Attitude (www.universityofattitude.com), created the Attitude Movement. On April 20, 2024, Global Attitude Awareness Day, we re-launched Attitude Fest, a festival in Indianapolis celebrating our community. We invited 20 nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations to showcase their work at our festival. I rented out an entire park, and the public came. There, they could interact with and learn about these 20 charitable organizations, and the proceeds from this event went to all 20 charities. There was live music, food, drinks, activities for kids, and a big mural called The Attitude Mural, where everyone painted positive images.
We’re starting our Attitude Ambassadors Program, where I select one person from each state to be our Attitude Ambassador. Next year, we plan to host 50 Attitude Fests, one in each state, to celebrate and change the world one attitude at a time. Our next goal will be to get 50 countries involved.
This movement is based on three actions that we hope everybody will do. First, we want them to move because movement creates a better attitude. It’s as simple as walking a mile. We encourage everyone to get out there and just walk a mile a day. The second thing is to contact someone in person or by phone who has positively impacted your attitude and thank them for it. The third element is volunteering or donating to one of the charities. We know it would be pretty cool if everyone took these three actions on Global Attitude Awareness Day, and even better if they made it a daily habit.
As the author of the number one bestselling book, Source of Sales, can you provide insights into the core principles you discuss in the book and how they apply to the real estate profession?
Source of Sales is divided into five main components. The first component is Personal Mastery. Our Source of Sales live events teach participants that you can’t master anyone until you master yourself. We emphasize teaching personal development and ensuring you’re at your best when you hit the marketplace. You’re unlikely to be selected if you don’t put your best foot forward. America has two million real estate agents, so you must ensure you’re on top of your inner game first. Personal mastery is the foundation of success.
The second component is Prospecting Mastery. You must understand why you need to prospect and why you should love prospecting. It also helps to understand why people don’t prospect and are reluctant. We believe in scripts and dialog in prospecting, but prospecting is largely about the mental state you bring to the table. If you’re a real estate agent looking for buyers and sellers, you need to figure out how to become attractive to buyers and sellers. You must understand that prospecting starts before you even pick up the phone or knock on a door — it happens in your mind first. We help people understand the importance of prospecting, the art of prospecting, and the absolute necessity of prospecting.
The third point is Buyer Mastery, which goes without saying. We work with buyers daily, and selling homes to buyers is a big part of what people do to make a living in real estate. We go over how to set the table with buyers. We give you 50 questions to ask buyers to better understand and serve them. We help you save time with buyers by selling them in ten viewings or less. We also talk about the secret to market dominance, which is the time that elapses between the first meeting and the completion of a sale. People are running out of time, and they’re looking for agents who know how to help them save time, give them good advice, and give them good value as buyers. We believe that with all these ingredients, you can be a winning buyer’s agent.
Number four is Seller Mastery. Some sellers need to move, and the process is almost identical to our buyer process. We give you about 50 questions to ask to turn the seller’s expectations into reality. Sellers don’t want to be stuck in the market. That’s why we talk to them about how they can sell their home in 30 days or less. We give you an idea of how to provide value to buyers and sellers. We talk about creating loyalty between buyers, sellers, and us, and how to present the listings and buyers. Listing and representing sellers is probably the most important task in the real estate business. Our goal with Source of Sales is to help real estate agents list a property at the right price and fee, sell it, close it, and then have that seller recommend you to others forever.
Our final mastery is Value Mastery, which we define as what you do for the customer on their behalf before you even ask them for business. So when we talked about my strategy and building value, I talked about things like: What do you do for buyers? For sellers? More importantly, what are you doing for the industry? Perhaps more importantly, what are you doing for the community that gives you value first?
Your online program for training future realtors of America is a notable endeavor. What motivated you to create this program? What essential skills and knowledge are crucial for aspiring real estate professionals?
I got into this business 35 years ago. I was 19 and dead broke. Throughout this business, I learned how to sell real estate from some great masters. The Source of Sales online training course covers the concepts in the book, except I do it on video. The online course gives a different feel because I am doing scripts and dialog that you can listen to, so you can hear my pace, tempo, and delivery. The real estate market is changing, but the fundamentals never change. So, I help you become a master of real estate sales through these five fundamentals. We go through each of these fundamentals online. There are 68 lessons, all of which take about 10 minutes each. You can watch any of the five fundamentals. If you have a listing presentation, you can jump right in, go into the Listing Mastery, and find out how I set the table. Do a 10-minute shot of Glenn Bill before you list the property, and you’re good. The same is true for a buyer. It’s an effective and repeatable way to learn how to do this business, and my system has been used by 1000s of people all over America.
Can you explain the “the Glenn Bill way” concept and its approach?
The Glenn Bill way is about constant and never-ending improvement. It’s about getting 1% better every day than the day before. The only person you’re competing with is yourself. Everything works out if you just exceed your performance from the day before. So that’s what I’d say: Focus on yourself and don’t worry about your competition.
As someone deeply involved in real estate education, how do you see the real estate industry evolving in the coming years? What advice do you have for professionals looking to stay ahead of the curve?
The bottom line is that distraction is the biggest problem for real estate agents today. Today, there are more coaches than ever, and they have never sold anything and know nothing about the fundamentals. To them, it’s all about lead generation. More spin-off businesses are being made to help real estate agents generate more leads. This can be very distracting and take the focus away from the fundamentals.
What I would say to new Realtors entering the business who are overwhelmed by so many people telling them, “Take my leads, just write me a check,” is that they can do business on their own for free. Source of Sales teaches you how to cultivate and generate a referral business where you never have to pay for leads. Instead, it shows how to build a community of people who love and refer you, who will support and pay you for the rest of their lives. You need to master the fundamentals. But first, you need to master yourself.
Your website emphasizes the importance of mindset in achieving success. How do you approach mindset training in the context of real estate? What impact does it have on the performance of real estate professionals?
Whether you’re in real estate, selling windows or roofing, or owning a business, having the right mindset is universal. You need to gain clarity by starting with the end in mind. Understand where you want to be at the end of the year or the decade. When we talk about mindset during the Clarity Summit at the University of Attitude, I take top salespeople, CEOs, and presidents of companies and put them in a room for a day and a half to create that clarity. We get the mindset of clarity going because clarity is power. Ultimately, if you’re unclear, you have no power and can’t move your business forward.
Can you share a success story or a particularly impactful coaching experience that stands out in your career?
I had an agent who came to me two years ago. He worked for a competing company for a year and sold one house. I could see the guy had talent, but his company had too much training, making everyone feel good except the sales guy. So this guy approached me, and I said, “Listen, you need to take the Source of Sales course and read the book. You need to fill out my workbook. I have given you the plan. Just follow what’s in the book and the course, and you’ll sell homes in no time.”
I aim to hand a book, an online course, and a workbook to a student or a real estate agent and watch their success. Over the next 12 months, he sold over 30 homes after joining me and taking Source of Sales. He was a young father who was not doing well financially. Watching him do exactly what I said in SOS, help his family, and put money in the bank account was pretty awesome. That happens all the time with my course.
Given your real estate experience, what are the most significant challenges and opportunities facing real estate agents today? How can they navigate these effectively?
Real estate is like most businesses. Commission suppression is a major challenge, and real estate agents’ profit margins are eroding. To command a fee acceptable to you, you had better have the fundamentals down and not get distracted.
The overemphasis placed on lead generation and artificial intelligence is causing agents to focus entirely on artificial intelligence but forget about selling homes. Agents used to focus on building their websites and making personal videos, and now they’re trying to figure out AI—what will come next? The biggest threat is not keeping your eye on the ball. I have a formula I use: AI (Artificial Intelligence) – PC (Personal Contact) = AR (Artificial Relationships).
When it’s all said and done, we’re listing and selling homes and should give value to our community. We shouldn’t be doing anything other than looking for buyers and sellers. The method of attracting buyers and sellers has become cluttered and very technical. But if you go that route in real estate, you’re just dealing with an internet lead. You’re not dealing with Mrs. Smith. So you go out, spend $10,000 on generating leads, the lead comes in, Mrs. Smith calls you, and you think, “Oh no, I gotta hurry up and sell this gal a house because I’ve got to pay the lead company next month.” It becomes about churning and burning.
The real money and the goodness of what we do is when you sit down with Mrs. Smith and have a cup of coffee. You get to know her grandparents, her parents, where she came from, and what is important in her life. You get to know her as a person. Take those 45 minutes to build the loyalty and trust needed for a successful real estate transaction.
Often, people who get into what I call lead machines feel somewhat abused; they feel like numbers. I know everyone wants to save time, and I understand that. Many people do a great job of converting leads, but I think there’s a lack of compassion and personal touch in the real estate industry because everyone is so busy churning and burning.
Ask a real estate agent to name all the clients he has sold houses to in the last year. You’d be shocked to know how many can only name about 10 or 15. They don’t know the others. Interestingly, most people who bought and sold houses five years ago don’t even remember their agent’s name.
Well, that’s not the kind of business I do. I build lifelong relationships, selling to grandma, grandpa, dad, mom, son, daughter, cousins, uncles… I’m a family realtor. I don’t just sell one home for Mrs. Smith. I sell houses to Mrs. Smith’s whole family because we have a relationship with each other, which leads to a client’s lifetime value. What is the actual lifetime value of a customer, and how can this experience be enhanced?
Your book and program cover a range of topics. Can you highlight a few key takeaways that are particularly important for individuals looking to thrive in the competitive real estate market?
First, you gotta get the ink. A successful day in real estate is when someone signs something for you. Many people have a day in real estate without anyone signing anything. They run ads, post on Facebook, and take social media courses, but no one signs anything because they’re too busy. So, if you want to know if you’re doing a good job in real estate, you need a signature daily. If you don’t get ink, you stink.
The ultimate validation is to have someone sign something, whether it’s a purchase agreement, a listing agreement, a price reduction, a listing extension, a mutual release and inspection response, or a closing statement. You won’t make any money in this business if you’re not there when people sign something. I’m a real pragmatist when it comes to real estate. We also talk to people about contacting 13.5 people for 100 days out of the year focused on prospecting, where we show them how they can make $250,000 a year. We break down the CACC formula: Contacts, Appointments, Contracts, and Closings. We know that if you talk to 1350 people about real estate, you’ll close 52 deals a year and make $250,000, even if you suck and don’t know what to say. You’ll know what to say if you read my book or take the course. Sales is a contact sport. You need to get ink daily and have a
contact goal of 13.5 people daily for 100 days in the year. That’s the magic formula for real estate. Your website mentions the impact of your coaching on sales professionals, not just in real estate but across various industries.
How do you tailor your coaching approach to address the unique challenges and opportunities in different sectors?
Sales, as I said before, is a contact sport. This is true whether you’re in real estate or selling cars, boats, or chairs. It’s about your ability to attract the customer. It’s about your ability to lead the customer. It’s about your ability to future cast, helping that customer live in the future with your products while you’re right here. It’s about listening and understanding what the customer wants. Some customers want to save time, some want to save money, and some want reassurance that the salesperson will deliver. We must find the customer in general sales, as in real estate. Secondly, we need to understand and research the customer. We must understand that people love to buy and don’t want to be sold. This research helps them understand why they want to buy, what they want, and why they want to buy from you.
From training at other sales companies, I have found that salespeople have the same problems no matter what they sell. Sales fundamentals do not change. The fundamentals of building relationships, earning trust, and creating loyalty do not change. We have to turn the dial a little to talk to them about their product.
Most people buy their salesperson. They don’t necessarily buy the product. You can have the best product in the world, but if you suck and are rude, you probably won’t close the sale. You can have an inferior product, but the customer loves you so much because you understand them and show your passion that they say, “I love this guy!” People want to buy from their friends and do business with their friends.
How is a day in your life, Glenn?
There are no typical days. I’ve intentionally created my life that way. Every day, I wake up, and the only consistent thing I do is attend church. I’m a good Catholic boy. This morning, I went to communion. I usually start on my knees and ask God to help me spread His word and ask to be a blessing to everyone I meet.
But there has never been a typical day. You can only imagine: I build houses, I develop real estate, I sell homes, I own the University of Attitude, I’m developing Attitude Fest, and I do ten other things. I could be preparing keynote speeches. I could be preparing for a real estate deal. Some days, I work on my speaking business; others, I work on real estate. I’m a very busy person, very ambitious, and I have a high tolerance for uncertainty.
It’s about how many people I can see in a day. How many people can I positively influence? How can I help them with whatever they’re doing? Everything will be fine if I help people out there and add value to their lives. So, I try not to get too strategic.
Bob Proctor was one of my mentors, and he taught me about multiple income streams. The bottom line is that I have multiple sources of income. As I go through my day, my conversations usually benefit me financially. But I don’t think about it. That’s not why I do it. But the services I provide, the talents I bring, and the value I bring to the people across from me usually improve their lives, and they pay me for it.
If you could change one thing in the world, Glenn, what would it be?
Well, it would simply be the attitude of the globe, which is what we’re trying to do. I’d love to help people overcome doubt, self-loathing, and comparison. If I could change one thing in the world, it would be to help everyone realize that they have something within them, that they truly have greatness within them, that they’re a gift to the world and they shouldn’t forget it. Because too many people forget that and lose their way. People don’t understand how wonderful they are. I love people, and I love meeting new people. That’s what we’re trying to do; we’re trying to change the world one attitude at a time. That’s our slogan at the University of Attitude. Our passion is empowering individuals to grow themselves and change the world.
To learn more about Glenn Bill and the University of Attitude, please visit https://glennbill.com