Want to break into luxury real estate like Ryan Serhant? These are his 3 secrets for success

But with an abundance of workers, what sets a good agent apart from a great agent? According to Ryan Serhant, luxury real estate mogul and Bravo television star, it is the agents who constantly seek education and to make themselves better–and those that don’t quit when it gets tough.

“A big mistake most salespeople make is they think it’s easy,” he says.

Fortune recently sat down with Serhant to ask about some of the best practices and tips are for those wanting to become a successful real estate agent, and like him, dive into the luxury real estate space. These are the 3 broad areas he emphasized:

• Be a finder, keeper, and doer
• Have energy, enthusiasm, and empathy 
• Bet on yourself and have relentless work ethic

Be a finder, keeper, and doer

Instead of mindlessly going from task to task, Serhant says agents need to follow three simple steps to get ahead: be finder, keeper, doer.

“Most real estate agents and most salespeople run around with their heads cut off like chickens, and they chase busy work,” Serhant tells Fortune. “You put out fires all day.”

Agents have to treat their job as a salesperson seriously, he says. Serhant embodies this mantra everyday in his work, starting his day at 4am with a workout—then straight to business.

“My first thing I focus on is finding business. It’s all about your pipeline,” Serhant tells Fortune. “You’re doing the work today from the work you put in yesterday, and you’re always thinking about future you.” 

After working on finding business for a few hours, it is important to work on keeping the business you already have like working with new clients, sourcing off-marketing transitions, he says. Then, it’s time to do the business you planned earlier in the day such as getting listing photos and putting homes on the market. 

“You’re in showings all day long–your hand-to-hand combat,” Serhant says. “You’re going and doing marketing. As part of your finding business time in the morning, you decided that you were going to do a direct mail campaign or you wanted to do social ads or you wanted to go build your personal brand.”

Serhant learned all of this the hard way. Just a few years ago, he was broke, living in New York during the 2008 financial crisis with just an English literature and theater degree to his name.

He took the advice of his friend and turned to the world of real estate—and the rest is history…sort of. 

During his first three years in the real estate space, he never took a day off—not birthdays, not holidays, not sick days. He simply couldn’t. But his hard work paid off. Today, Serhant employs 600 people, is a successful author and CEO, and is producing a new show for Netflix.

“You eat what you kill as a salesperson,” he says.

Have energy, enthusiasm, and empathy 

When hiring agents for his firm, Serhant says he looks for the three Es: energy, enthusiasm, and empathy. Agents have to be willing to play the long game—when it may entail long nights and working days they rather be doing anything else. 

He importantly denoted the difference between being passionate, because for example he admits he’s not passionate about casement windows and crown moldings, but you have to have enthusiasm for the work.

“I love the puzzle of putting clients together and getting deals done. I love that freedom to work however I want to work. So you have to have that enthusiasm; you also have to be enthusiastic when clients are enthusiastic when they’re smiling, you have to match them,” Serhant.

That empathy, of matching a client’s energy can go a long way in connecting with clients on a human level and help you build a long-lasting relationship.

Bet on yourself and have relentless work ethic

Real estate is tough—and it’s certainly not for everyone, even in a good housing market. But with record high interest rates, it’s not an easy time for the field. Between January and April 2023, alone more than 60,000 agents quit the industry. 

Because so many people are getting out, Serhant says it can be a great opportunity for those who are true risk-takers and are willing to bet on themselves.

“No one’s going to make you feel better when you have a bad week or you lose a deal or don’t get paid for six months in a row, and no one’s going to rub your back and congratulate you when you have a great weekend or a great year,” Serhant explains. “You are your own enterprise.”

At the same time, he says in real estate you get out of it what you put in. If you have relentless work ethic and a drive to be successful you will.

“That’s kind of the benefit to this industry. You can be as successful or as not successful as you want. No one’s ever going to fire you,” Serhant notes.

Real estate brokers and sales agents earn median annual salaries of about $56,620, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Depending on how hard you work, you certainly can make more money. But Serhant, who certainly earns millions each year, encourages people to prioritize happiness—and the money will come later. 

“Don’t focus on the money, don’t focus on the income,” Serhant says. “If you take care of the work, the work will take care of you, and understand the structure and the habits that you’re going to create—both the micro habits and the macro habits—to be happy.”