Congrats. You opened a client. You landed a listing. Good for you. Don’t you dare celebrate yet – I don’t see a commission check.

You’ve just started out, and you’ve got no reason (and not enough clientele) to be exclusive with this property. You’ve yet to generate the buzz. So you create some. You host an open house.

Contrary to the belief that to kill it in real estate you have to master the proverbial real estate bible, to be a solid agent you have to become an expert on people – reading moods, body language, hesitations, and silences. So sharpen your powers of observation at these events, and learn from the experience. Let’s start with your basic client.

Don’t Tour, Sell

You’ve seen the clients leaning forward as they tour the house, nodding as they go. They smile and focus. They ask questions. They ponder, express interest, and sometimes straight up pretend to know what they’re looking at when they haven’t the slightest clue.

Some are authentic in this, some just want so badly to be pros, others not to look stupid. You can see it on their faces. One way or another they see themselves living there, happy. It doesn’t matter what they’re really thinking. What does matter is that they are there, ready to be worked, and it’s your job to work ’em. These people are your target market. They’re your bulls-eye. Open ’em, work ’em, and close ’em.

Every open house has curious seekers, or Sunday drivers who spot the sign and stop in. I’ve met more than one person who was like Jason Segal from the 2009 movie I Love You, Man, driving the hills in UGGs, looking for open house signs because their subtext says “free food here.” A dude like that can generate buzz, and so can the neighbors. Fools or not, talk to them with the same enthusiasm you’d pitch a buyer or the press. Treat everyone with respect. Do the job. Sell the house as if you would love to live there.

As for the serious buyers, I’ve worked a lot of open houses where a random meeting turned into a close. It happens. Be ready. Be prepared. Opening to close is the goal. Touchdown. Done. Go have a drink. Then, do it again.

Your job there is to make an impression. Sell the home. Capture names. Close the deal. Make money! The term “open house” has the word “open” in it for a reason; use the opportunity. Sell. Open. Work. Close.

Your job is NOT to be that annoying cliché of an agent who sits in the kitchen, disengaged, and plays on the phone. Be that person and someone like me will take your client. You’ll lose the sale. You’ll lose money. Someone like me will make that money.

I worked with a young agent once and asked him to show me his listing. The kid takes me on a lame-ass museum tour, pointing and saying, “Here’s the kitchen. Upstairs are three bedrooms.” I had to stop him. It was making me sick. “This is your pitch? This is you selling the house?” He went quiet.

“Sell the house!” I barked. I almost felt bad, but it for his own good. “Do it again.” He started up, providing a little more detail in a flat voice. “No. Do it again! Get excited! Sell! Tell me what’s so great about this house!” He didn’t know what to do. The poor guy was turning red.

The point is, anyone can lead a house tour. You need to sell the house and sell it like you live there and love it. It’s your dream home. It’s the best place you’ve ever seen. Find the unique points. Get excited. Read the client. Play up what they like, what they want, what they can’t live without – this awesome house.

Last but not least, and by now I shouldn’t even have to say this. Get contact info. Make sure to give and get cards. Have a sign-in sheet. Whatever. Exchange information, cell phone numbers, email addresses, compliments if you have to, but build your database. Then follow-up. Open. Work. Close. Stay in touch for future business with everyone. Everyone!

Broker’s Opens

Open houses for the trade – otherwise known as broker’s opens or broker’s caravans – are the best way to get other agents into your listings, checking out those properties for their buyers. You want to sell them. You want them to see the vision you have. You want them to be as excited about making money on these listings as you are: through the roof, passionate. Ready to close. This house won’t be here tomorrow.

You want those magic words right from their mouth: “I have a client in mind.” Damn right they do. They want to get paid.

At this point you gently squeeze them for all the information, all the leverage you can get on them and their clients. You’re already sizing them up for negotiation. You have been, since advertising the open house, before they even walked in, but we’ll get to more on that later.

Tell them about your other listings. They want you to. They need you to. Partner up. Create working alliances. Create buzz. Create as much potential new business as possible. Don’t waste a moment.

Matt and I kill it with other agents. We already have a good cop/bad cop thing going on between us – me the aggressor, Matt holding the client’s hand on the emotional rollercoaster of real estate. Adding another agent to the mix only amps that up. Working with sellers and buyers, depending on the temperament of the client, we need reinforcements. We bring in a new agent to back up our opinions on pricing, timing, and strategy.

With the above in mind, all agents should make it their business to visit open houses, especially broker’s opens, regularly. Yours. Theirs. Whatever. You both have the same interest in mind. If not, then their client should be your client. Besides, how else are you going to learn what’s out there?

And you need great houses to show. Even the duds can fill the gaps while you rush to find the golden properties. You need options to offer. You need other agents to get excited about you walking into the room. You need contacts, clients, and closes. If a committed buyer shows up, you’re ready. You’re prepared. Open to close.

If you, the listing agent, set up an open house, pay for marketing, and advertise and produce the event, then you’ll want a return on investment (ROI). There are many ways you can make this more profitable for yourself than for other agents, but this should be one of the easier parts of the job. You both want to make money, contacts, and future business.

Sell the house at every opportunity. Interact with all other agents. Interact with all potential clients. You may open a potential sale on a completely different listing. Get feedback on the price. Listen to comments about the property’s strengths and weaknesses.

Always keep learning. If you assign the task to another agent, drop by. A real-deal, successful real estate CEO may drop in on up to 15 open houses a day. Nothing replaces that. On the days I’m not working one, I try to see at least 5 if not 15 more. If you’re too much of a big shot, you’re in the wrong line of work. I’ll take your client. I’ll take your money. I’ll make deals with everyone else. Where the hell were you? Expand your reach.

Insider Opens and Strategic Alliances

Insider opens make me money. I love them, plain and simple. These events are targeted to those members of the real estate industry who could become players on your Dream Team. At the very least, these are industry professionals to network.

You’ll bring them business. They’ll bring you business. Giving to get. I’m talking developers, builders, and architects. I’m talking flippers, interior designers, and stagers. You want them to know you and you want to know them. You want them referring you to clients as well as asking you to represent their new constructions, renovations, and flips.

I already introduced you informally to the Josh Altman Dream Team of Closers and I refer business to them all the time just as they bring it to me. That’s strategic alliance. Are you catching on yet? Insider opens make money.

Many times in this game a strategic alliance dictates my moves. I need to hook up a developer and build my reputation with them to get ongoing business. I’ll take an overpriced listing with my eye on the long game, trying to land an ongoing business relationship. One of my favorite developers is a balls-to-the-wall, over-the-top, risk-loving old rocker. Another is a sophisticated European money guy who has a commercial real estate portfolio that includes buildings all over the world. Their work styles are wildly different but I’m cool with both of them, and they love real estate as much as me.

A guy I know does a $500 million a year in sales and $200 million of it is with the same developer. That’s what ongoing relationships can do for your business. If you can’t find any developers at the insider’s open, then find construction sites where you’re selling. Pull over the car and go walk the site. Ask who the developer is and where they are located. I talk to whomever I can find. I try to get something started. I make money.

It’s the same with real estate investors. Didn’t find any at the insider’s open? Go where the money is and hang out with mortgage brokers. Since I was once one of those, I know lots of them, and we do a lot of recommending back and forth. Whatever market you sell, it’s your job to meet mortgage brokers and they need to meet you. Offer advice. Ask for theirs. Trade secrets. Collaborate. Reach out. Meet them for coffee. Matt and I have done more than 1,000 deals in Los Angeles. About half of them were with developers and investors.

Whether it’s broker’s open or and insider’s open, you are meant to be a networking hub for all your professional contacts. Know this. Breathe this. Give and receive. You’re a middleman. You bring people together to make money. An insider’s open can rocket that. You are LAX. You are Heathrow. You direct work to others and ask them to direct it to you. Throw wide.

And one more time: Give anyone and everyone your business cards and ask them to spread them to the usual suspects, and the unexpected ones, too. Get the contact info. Follow-up. This will lead to opens. Opens lead to close. You make money. Enough said.