After a long career in sales, Mark Henderson, along with his wife decided to change paths and enter the real estate industry. The Michigan-based agent is having tremendous success with his Authorify membership saying, “The book has definitely gotten me up to the million-dollar mark, as far as selling homes.” Mark recently shared his success story and how he is using his personally-branded book. Watch the full interview in the video above or check out the transcript below.

Michael Walter:

If you could just tell me a little bit about yourself, how long you've been in real estate and where you are in the country?

Mark Henderson:

Well, a few years ago, my wife and I decided to get into real estate. We actually started on a part-time basis. She's got seven years in, I've got six years in. I had been in sales my entire life. She came from a couple of law firms. So, I actually had her jump in both feet first, before I jumped in to make sure that she was okay with how everything was going. Once she got going and then finally I got my license, then we created the Henderson Realty Team. We're based out of Michigan. Used to live south of Detroit, now I'm in Byron Township, Michigan, which is actually Northwest of Detroit, probably about an hour and a half.

Michael Walter:

Tell me, how did you find out about Authorify? How did you become one of our members?

Mark Henderson:

Doing some obvious things for prospecting and stuff, the algorithms from Facebook started popping up and Authorify came up and said, "Hmm, interesting." I thought I'd take a look at it. I watched a couple of the videos before making the decision of actually jumping in with both feet. Once I finally got the books and then got the electronic version out, I started passing that out to a couple of clients. Then we got our first book, Selling Secrets You Can't Afford To Miss, got that one out and all of a sudden I started getting a couple phone calls here and there. So, I picked up a couple of listings. One week I actually picked up two because of the book.

Michael Walter:

That's great. How long have you been a member with us again?

Mark Henderson:

I've been a member for about a year, year and a half right now. We just actually went through and got one after the second book, The Best Options In A Divorce and got, just got this last week so I haven't even had a chance to even get that out yet. But the Selling Secrets has been my mainstay as far as passing that out and I actually have it on my email. So, it goes out on an email, they click on it, but that's been the one that I've been hanging my hat on.

Michael Walter:

So other than the email signature, how are you getting these books out to clients?

Mark Henderson:

I've actually had a couple of people call us, you know looking to, you know, "We're interviewing because we either want to buy or sell." So, it gets things set up. Before I even get out to meet them, I actually send them the electronic version, which they have been picking up on. And I say, "When I come and see you I'll actually hand you one, you know, at least it gives you an idea of what we're going to be talking about." And two weeks ago, I actually picked up a listing that finally put me over the million-dollar mark.

Michael Walter:

That's awesome! I know it's sometimes it's hard to gauge with different marketing materials and things like that, but if you could put a number on the amount of listings that you've gotten as a result of your book, do you have that?

Mark Henderson:

The book has definitely gotten me up to the million-dollar mark, as far as selling homes. This last one was $300,000, but average is right around $100,000 to $150,000 for the homes that we've been listing. Basically, people have read the books and say, "Yeah, I've read the book, I've interviewed other agents. The book is impressive and you seem to know what you're talking about." And, you know, I know what's in that book, so I know what page, what, where to go and how to recite it when I need to.

Michael Walter:

I think that's really important, you know, to actually read the book that you're handing out. You definitely want to know the inside so that you can have those really good conversations and direct people to specific chapters or pages that are applicable to them.

Mark Henderson:

Yeah.I actually have one client that we're on his second house now. He bought his first one, which was an investment and now he's buying his. But basically he keeps coming back saying, "That was one of my favorite books that I read is the book that you gave me." And we've talked about it a few times. He goes, "You keep telling me about this." Or "You told me about this and it's in the book and I couldn't believe it. I mean, you know what you're talking about." It's humbling

Michael Walter:

Yeah, absolutely. So, with your background in sales, what was it that drew you to this style of marketing?

Mark Henderson:

With where I've come from, knowing your product, knowing what you're selling, knowing what you're dealing with, it's important to be able to get in front of those types of people. Then, when you can actually sit there and back yourself up, saying, "I've got a book that I can actually give you." That's impressive to a lot of people that, you know, I am an authority on what I'm doing and they know where I'm coming from and I have something to back myself up.

Michael Walter:

One of the notes that I got was that you got to a lead or a listing from your landing page as well?

Mark Henderson:

I did. Somebody was reaching out to me, I got an email and I handed them the electronic version. They weren't even in the state, they were out of state. So they read it and they said, "Yeah, I have a property here in Michigan that I want to sell. I read your book and I want you to take care of it for me." And basically it was just somebody that was interviewing agents and because of that, it gave me the opportunity to move forward with them.

Michael Walter:

I really like how you're sending out the digital link right away to get that into people's hands so they can start kind of previewing it a little bit and then handing them the hard copy right when you get there. Because that digital link helps warm them up, but then once you have made that sale and that transaction has gone through, now they have that book to pass off to somebody else if they want to. You've kept that whole train rolling with that one book.

Mark Henderson:

Oh, I have, I've been trying to keep that going and make sure that they at least get the electronic book. And then once I finally get in front of them, I hand them a book. Then we started going through the whole process. So basically, I'm not saying anything regarding the book. I just hand it to them and then we just keep talking about what's going on. What do they want to do? You know, everything about their home that they want to sell.

Michael Walter:

Now that you've gotten the divorce listings books, what's your plan of action with those?

Mark Henderson:

I want to start working towards a divorce lawyers, maybe counselors, if I can find who they are in the area. Again, I just moved here so everything's brand new to me too as far as the area. I'm learning the area, learning who to talk to, getting into some networking groups and stuff like that to find out okay. I'm looking for divorce lawyers, I'm looking for divorce counselors and stuff like that to see if I can get in front of those people and say, "Hey, I have five books. Would you be able to pass these out if you have any clients that are in need of possibly selling the property?"

Michael Walter:

With your wife's background also, I'd imagine that having an understanding a little bit about that world is helpful.

Mark Henderson:

It does, it does and it keeps me out of trouble too.

Michael Walter:

Absolutely. It's always good to have somebody to keep you in check.

Michael Walter:

One of the things that we always talk about with our members is, you know, how there is no such thing as a cold call anymore. There's not that having to sell yourself on the fact that you are an expert anymore because you're giving them the proof right there with the book.

Mark Henderson:

Yeah.It's nice because I still do a couple of those cold calls, but once I get them on the phone I pass off the link and then when we meet again it's a lot easier to deal with. A lot of the questions are being answered by the book and it's more comfortable with not only the client, for us, and moving forward with that deal. It's nice to show them that, we are an authority, we're here to walk you through it and make it as easy as possible.

Michael Walter:

Going back to the listings that you have gotten from your book, can you share a specific story of the whole process?

Mark Henderson:

So the one, she was an old high school friend of ours and she knew I was in real estate. So basically I started promoting the book through Facebook, Instagram and stuff, and she actually went and got the book even before she called me. So, she actually read up on it and everything else. She followed it to a T, getting her house ready to go. Then she finally called up, saying, "I'm ready to sell." We came out and she basically showed me that she had the electronic book. I turned around and handed her a brand new one. She goes, "Well, I followed this chapter and this, this, and this did this." So basically, the house was completely staged to a point where when I walked in she was ready to go and all I had to do was put a sign out in front of the house. But she followed a lot of the stuff that was written and took care of, touched up everything. It was very, very easy to get the contract.

Michael Walter:

That's incredible. I haven't actually talked to anybody yet that said that somebody "read my book before ever reaching out to me and did everything I said." That's a new one that I haven't heard yet.

Mark Henderson:

It was surprising. She had to get out of the house, she left somebody basically and she was in a position where she couldn't afford to keep the house anymore. So, she wanted it to be presentable and not only did we get it ready to go that quickly, which was phenomenal, she ended up getting over the asking price for that house. So, she ended up making more than what we originally listed it for. She probably made about $12,000 more because of the book.

Michael Walter:

That's excellent. For you, she's able to say, "Hey, I followed his book. I followed everything he had to say, and it works so well for me." That's a great referral for you that she's going to be a great person to keep filling your pipeline with people that she knows.

Mark Henderson:

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.