New Agent Mistakes, Lead Management & Long-Term Success | The DASHcast Podcast with Derrick Taylor ft. Mark Goodall

Episode originally aired: July 07, 2026

In this episode of the DASHcast Podcast, the DASH Carolina team dives into What separates successful real estate agents from those who burn out?In this episode of the DASHcast Podcast, Derrick sits down with DASH agent Mark to discuss the lessons he's learned during his …

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Episode Overview

What separates successful real estate agents from those who burn out?In this episode of the DASHcast Podcast, Derrick sits down with DASH agent Mark to discuss the lessons he's learned during his first three years in real estate. Mark shares why so many new agents struggle with lead management, how he learned to build a healthier pipeline, the importance of staying focused on your own growth, and why support and culture matter when choosing a brokerage.Whether you're a new agent, considering a career in real estate, or looking to improve your business, this episode offers practical advice you can apply immediately.Subscribe for more conversations with top agents, industry professionals, and real-world insights from the DASH Carolina team.

Full Episode Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript of this DASHcast episode. Some portions may be condensed for readability.

If you like your standards high and your growth even faster, pull up a chair because this is dash. My name is Derek Taylor, your host for this session of the dashcast podcast. With us, we have Mark, who. Who is one of our agents at DASH Carolina. Mark, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself? Thanks, Derek. My name is Mark. I’m just going into my third year with dash, first brokerage right out of real

estate school. Didn’t have any previous experience, but I moved around a lot growing up and felt like I found a home at DASH and been here ever since and loved it. Great. What made you choose dash? I think I was talking about this earlier. It was like a different feeling when I first walked into the office. You know, like every other firm and you hear this all the time. People are always interviewing a bunch of different

firms and trying to get a feel for what’s best for them. And every other firm was always sitting me down and telling me about what they could offer me. You know, like, hey, we’re gonna make you this much money and you’re gonna sell this many houses, and you’re gonna do all this social media marketing and stuff. And when I walked into dash, it was. It was reversed. Like, I remember Garzi looked me in the eye. He’s

like, why are you here? He was like, what do you want to accomplish in real estate in your first year? And that was a totally different feeling. And I remember Matty and Jason, like, they wouldn’t get away from that question. Right. I had to answer that, like, why are you here? You know, and it was like, I remember walking away feeling uncomfortable, but in a good way. I was like, man, this firm is different. They’re approaching

things differently. We didn’t even talk about training. We didn’t talk about leads. We didn’t talk about how much money I’m going to make. It was simply about, why are you here? What’s your purpose in doing real estate, and what do you want to accomplish? Because they wanted you to understand that. Yeah, absolutely. And so from there, it was like, wow, this is probably the place to be. You know, I’m glad I. Glad I trusted my instincts

there. Great. So with you on the. The period of your growth, being a new agent, what would you say is one of the biggest mistakes that new agents make? I think taking too many leads or maybe not taking enough leads. I know maybe. I think I maybe speak for both of us. And certainly when we were starting out, we took too many leads. Right. And I think you see people Come in with enthusiasm and excitement to

get hit the ground running, which is fantastic. Right. You have to have that enthusiasm to be successful. Right. But you have to be careful about burning yourself out. Right. And there’s a lot of no’s that you get in this job. Right. And so I see people coming in, taking a ton of leads and getting discouraged pretty quickly. Right. Because you can take a bunch of leads and not, not do anything with it. Right, right. I think

you have to learn how to manage your pipeline first. How to be successful in getting in front of leads and turn them into clients. Right. And being a rock star there first before you can scale it out. Right. And so that like, that for me is like the thing I’ve seen time and time again. And then looking back, me personally, that was. Those are the mistakes that I made those first couple months as well. So it’s

very easy to do, but something that’s very, very important. Right. You mentioned your pipeline. What makes for a good pipeline? How do you, how do you make that pipeline work for you? How do you succeed from, from a pipeline being the way that it should be? Yeah, yeah. I think for me, the two biggest changes that I made to my pipeline, because I think a healthy pipeline can be different for any agent. Right. Depending on your

goals and depending on how you work and this and that. For me, I am like a minimalist. Right. I like things to be clear and concise and as minimalist and small as possible. And so again, when I started out, I had a gajillion leads in the pipeline. Right. How do you manage that? All over different stages. And every day I was getting these to do’s for people I didn’t even know. And it was like, okay, then

you’re getting angry at the to do. Yeah, exactly. You like resenting following up with people. And then so I started to make rules for myself. Right. I can only have a certain number of people in certain stages before cutting my leads off. Smart. I don’t move people into, I guess, dash. We have different stages. Right. A nurture stage is someone that’s maybe on more of a long term plan. Right. I don’t have someone in nurture unless

I know specifically why they’re there. Right. What their timeline is. And more importantly, they know who I am. Right. Because the amount of times that you would maybe try a lead for a few, few months or whatever, a few weeks, immediately move them to nurture, you’re going to become forgotten in their, in their mind very quickly. So for me it was like, I don’t have nurtures unless I know exactly who this nurture is. If I don’t,

that’s okay. Right. They need to stay top of funnel for me. Spoke with lead, met with lead, whatever that is. Or they need to be moved on. Right. And that’s not being disrespectful, that’s just for me. I got so tired of having 250 nurturers. Right. And not knowing who half these people were. Yeah. So you spoke about funnel, you spoke about top of funnel, middle of funnel, end of funnel. Get the hell out of my funnel.

When is the time to take somebody out of the funnel? Yeah. Again, I, I have just, I created rules for that for me. So if I get in front of them, right. And if I don’t get in front of them again after a year, it’s time to move on. Okay. It’s kind of like purging your closet. Exactly. And I have a, like a one year timeline on the calendar. If I had a decent first appointment, or

maybe it was a virtual appointment. We get a lot of those. Right. If I don’t get back in front of them after a year, it’s time to move on. If I don’t get in front of them, it’s six months. Right. So you’re staying in, spoke with lead or attempted, you know, attempt to contact, whatever, for six months until I can either get a response or then it’s time to move on. And for me, like, then I

know it’s, I’ve done everything I possibly can to, to work that lead. Right. And do my best. And if I’m not feeling it one day, it’s no, it’s, this is about the long, the long shot. Right. And like, I feel like it is difficult to do that. Right. To continually follow up with people with no responses and feel like you’re just putting things down into the ether. But the amount of times, and I’m sure you’ve had

this too, where you have a lead, maybe you haven’t heard from them for four or five months. You felt like you had a grid first appointment and all of a sudden, boom, they pop out of the blue. Right. Out of the blue. Out of the blue. Right. And it’s like, wow, if I had given up on that lead, I bet 80% of agents probably would be giving up on this lead. Yeah. And then you don’t end

up, you know, helping them buy a house. So do you find that it is helpful for you to hold on to a lead and nurture them based on the, the amount of money they’re going to spend on a house, do you base it on that or do you base it on the time that the lead has come in and how long you’ve had it in the funnel? Yeah. Like, what is the criteria for you really following

up and following up and following up on someone? Is it a feeling that you get from that person? Like, what is it? What can new agents look for? For to know, like, how long should I keep this in my nurture? Yeah, yeah, Again, again, for me, every agent’s different. Right. But to answer your first question about, like, price points, it’s never been something that I’ve got picky with. Never been something I’ve discriminated. Right. I feel like

grateful enough to be at a company that provides leads for us. Right. For free. Right, right. And so to diminish a lead based on price point, probably not. Not the right reason to do that. Right. I’m so glad that you said that, because that lead, that’s $100,000, could easily turn into a half a million dollars in seven, eight months. Oh, literally. Right. I literally had that two, three weeks ago. Right. Like a $70,000 land lead. Get

in front of them, have some fun, go see some lots. Didn’t hear from him for a couple days and that’s okay. And reached out to me on Sunday and we went and saw half a million dollar house. Right, Right. He’s not gonna buy it. Right. But it’s, it’s, it was fun. It’s the process. Right, Exactly. And so you never, you never discriminate a lead based on the price point. Perfect. But as far as gut feeling goes,

again, like, you can sometimes tell. Right. Like if something’s not going right. But that’s my job. Right. For those six months that I’m working elite, if I haven’t gotten in front of them yet, to figure out as much as I possibly can. Right. Doing as much research on them and following up different kinds of ways and just trying to get, get, get a feel for them and don’t be afraid to kind of put yourself out of

your comfort zone. Right. Calling people is not something that’s fun. Right. Cold calling people is not something that’s fun. But doing that at different times a day, trying to get a hold of someone, it’s. It’s part of the job. Yeah, it is, absolutely. Yeah. Is there anything that you would do now that you’ve been in this for three years that you might have done when you first started, Started differently. Yeah. Yeah. What’s that? The Biggest thing

was like pipeline management, like that is probably the one thing that I, it kind of clicked for me last year, right. In talking with Rita. Right. And we all know and love Rita and helping me manage my pipeline. I talked about that in the beginning. Right? Right. I took too many leads and I didn’t know how to handle it all. And so if I could go back right. To when I first started, I would slow down

a little bit. Right. Focus on, okay, you’ve just taken 20 leads this month. Right. Do you even know who these people are? Right. Did you get in front of anybody? Right. Right. And if you did, like, how did you do during the appointment? Were you good or were you like a shell of yourself? Right. 99 times out of 100, I was a shell of myself during my first appointments. Right. And so no wonder I wasn’t getting

second dates because my first time client meetings were bad. Right. I didn’t have enough confidence and competence to be successful. So like, if I could go back, I would slow it down, focus on the process of getting in front of people and doing a better job with those first dates. Okay. And then, you know, let, let, let whatever happens kind of happen from there. So what point did it kick in for you that this is my

career, this is what I’m doing, I’m not going to go get a part time job. When did it become real? I don’t know. Honestly, like it’s. That’s a great question. I don’t. There have been times where I’ve, I’ve thought about getting a part time job or quitting. You know, like I can remember it was probably my second summer having a sit down with a couple people from DASH that I trust and like a lot and had

gone like 2, 3 months without selling a house. And you really start to question yourself. You know, I think I gave myself till the end of that year. Right. Like, let’s, let’s just see what we can do. Right. Give it your all and let’s see what we can do. And I’ve always found that you’re never as far away from success in this job as you think you are. Right. Like, it can change very quickly in a

heart, in a heartbeat. Right. And so I’ve learned that over time. So there have definitely been times where I’ve thought about going a different direction. But you also can’t beat that feeling of when you do have a great first time client, meaning or you do get a buyer under contract. Right. And you have a good closing experience. Like you can’t Beat that feeling. Right. And so for me, it’s kind of just, for lack of a better

term, it’s kind of become like a drug. Like, it’s something that I always strive towards because I know how good that feeling is. There’s not. There’s nothing better than knowing that somebody’s getting what they want, and they’ve worked hard to get to that point to get it. Yeah. And you are part of it. Yeah, absolutely. Like, it’s a very satisfying feeling, you know? And, like, I try to go back to, like, why I got into real

estate in the first place. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my career. Right. I was in between jobs. I was chopping and changing all the time. Didn’t have any family that is experienced in real estate, but I knew that I wanted to be out on my feet. Right. I wanted to be driving around doing things. Right. And I wanted to help people. Right, Right. And real estate, I think, encompasses both of those

things. Right. Especially on the buyer side, you’re out on your feet all the time, but you. You’re helping people. Right? Right. And so if you. If you remind yourself of that purpose, it’s pretty easy to. To keep going. So. So, Mark, agents who are in their first or second year. Yeah. What is it that you think they are missing as opposed to someone like you who’s been in it going on three, four years? Yeah. I think,

like we said not too long ago. Right. Knowing that the good times are pretty soon around the corner. Right. It’s very easy to get discouraged sometimes. It’s also very easy to start comparing yourself to others. And, like, one of the things I love about Dash, Right. Is that we’re always about supporting other people and other agents that are doing great. I love that. At the same time, when you’re new and you don’t have the pipeline that

some other people do, you don’t have the experience that other people do. Contracts can come a lot. Come a lot harder to get. Right. And so stop comparing yourself to other people. Right. Again, something that I’ve learned a lot. Stay in your own lane. Stay in your own little bubble. Very difficult to do, though. Extremely difficult to do. Right. Because it is so competitive, and you want to do well and you want to be acknowledged and

you want to make money. Right. Doing this job. But everyone’s on a different playing field. Right. And so people that are new to the business, it’s very easy to get down on yourself by doing that. So definitely something that I would. I would encourage for newer Agents, what do you think that new agents expect too soon? I mean, there’s several things that you go into this and you’re like, you. You watch hgtv. That’s the only thing

we can compare it to. What do you think that they’re looking for that doesn’t happen until later on in their career? Yeah, I think everything, right. Like, everything that this job can offer, this career, I suppose, can offer you in the long run. Right. Referrals and big paydays and, you know, fancy signs and all that good stuff. Like, I think it’s very easy to get sold that. Right. And again, I. Not knocking any other firms, but

from my own experience interviewing other firms, you get sold something. Right. And I see it time and time again with newer agents coming in, they get sold this vision of who you’re going to be right off the bat, and you’re going to do this many units in your first year, and we’re going to do all this for you and you’re going to make so much money. And I think people can get caught up in that, you

know, and the reality, it’s not. It’s not as easy as that. For some people it is, right? For some people that have a big sphere of influence or maybe have a real estate background, sure. I think that’s. It’s very feasible to have a fantastic first couple of years. But for someone maybe like myself, who came in with no real estate experience, no sphere of influence whatsoever, yeah, it’s going to. It’s going to take some. Can take

some time. It’s interesting that they try and sell you this at other firms of what you can expect and what you can do, but then they don’t give you the support to back it up. Yeah, yeah. That’s the sad state of affairs. Yeah, it is. You know, and again, like, every firm is different. Right. And there’s a lot of successful agents that other firms. But I know that at dash, like, for a newer agent, the support

is, like, unparalleled. And I’ve seen that and heard that from other agents, like, over the course of time. I’ve experienced it myself. Right. And I know you, you have, too. Yeah, that’s definitely something that I don’t take for granted, so. Right. That’s great. That’s great. So as far as new agents are concerned who are just getting out of, let’s say, taking their test and finding a firm to connect with, what are some of the things that

you think that they should definitely be asking those firms that they’re trying to, to vet with. I think, honestly, I would flip it on its head and I go back to like what I learned when I first came to dash. Right. Everyone was trying to be. Everyone trying to sell me what they could provide me. Rather than like looking at yourself first. Okay, I just got my license. Right. Like, what do I actually want to do?

Is this going to be a part time thing or am I looking to kick some butt? Very important. And be a full time agent? Right. How much money am I trying to make? How many units do I want to sell? How many leads am I planning? Like all of those things. Right. What kind of real estate agent do I want to be? I start with those. Ask yourself those questions and then. And then chop around from

there, you know. And then of course, like the basic questions, of course you want to know about support, you want to know about leads. The biggest thing, again, I’ve. I’ve heard this from other people coming through, is that it’s. It’s a very lonely game, real estate, honestly, maybe you feel that way, but I don’t think, like real estate is lonely because I can always pick up the phone and call anyone on the team, you know, at

dash and get support. There’s always things going on in Slack all the time was always things. So I never feel like I’m by myself. Right. You know, I think they might be looking at the aspect of the driving all day or. Yeah. The showing of home. That’s the lonely part of it. Yeah. You’re basically living out of your car for the day. Yeah. Which is not a big deal. But you know, it happens. Yeah. And it’s

also very lonely. Like you said, when you go a month or two without writing an offer and it’s like, am I, Is it, Is it. Am I the only one? You know, you get. Exactly. Am I the only one? Right. Like, you become forgotten. Yeah. Very quickly. Right. But like I said, the, the good stuff’s never too far around the corner and all of a sudden you’re taking off, you’re taking off and everyone’s talking about you

and you’re getting a lot of support. So that’s great. Yeah, that’s definitely, it’s definitely worth noting. So. Well, Mark, I want to thank you for dropping by and this has been the Dash cast podcast. I’m Derek Taylor and please, like, favorite us, send us your questions, drop by and let us know what you want to hear on some of the next cast coming up. Take care.