Augie Schmidt

#CRE Tech Founder | Industrial Broker | Husband of 1 & Father of 4 | Jesus Follower

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

@TechWith_Nova OpenClaw

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

@jordan_ross_8F Marketing

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

@dan__rosenthal Notion

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

The Prospecting Play That Landed Me $18M in Deals & $640k in Commission...

Most brokers overcomplicate prospecting. They chase randomly, they beg, they hope.

Here’s one strategy that turned one cold call into three closed deals, $18M in volume, and $640K in commission within 18 months.

Step 1: Spot the Opportunity
I called a "For Lease by Owner" sign on a small 4,000 sq. ft. industrial space. Turns out, the owner controlled the entire 132,000 sq. ft. park. Asking good questions on my calls with them is what gave me the opportunity to do an analysis. A few months later, they wanted to sell after realizing what their property was actually worth.

Step 2: Turn One Deal into More
After closing the sale, I repurposed the property brochure into a "Just Sold/Comp Insight" marketing piece with key deal insights:
-Price per square foot
-Cap rate
-Disposition strategy

Step 3: Amplify & Scale
I sent this to 100 similar property owners, and then followed up very intentionally with emails, and the phone calls.

The Results?
2 more Deals for $11M in combined Sales Volume in 12 months.

Many brokers are leaving Oranges laying all around them full of juice.

Squeeeeeze that thing!!

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

How to Send Direct Mail that Actually Converts...

Step 1: Stop Sending Boring Mail.
You know the kind I’m talking about—generic postcards, templated letters, the same old “Call me if you’re thinking of selling” line.

If your marketing looks like everyone else’s, it gets ignored like everyone else’s.

Step 2: Set the Hook by Providing Value & Generating Curiosity.

Create messaging that is hyper-relevant to the Owner, and lead them to Data or Insights that affect the value of their Property. This will entice them to scan, call, email to get ahold of you for more info.

Step 3: Track your Metrics

With our platform, we track QR code scans without Lead Forms. We've found this is the best way to know who's scanning our materials, and not overstepping my asking the prospect for sensitive information.

Once your tracking, you can learn what converts and what doesn't.

Make it better next time, and keep taking shots!

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

@Alexandr0u @GulfstreamPark ATTA BOY!!!

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

What is the fastest, and most certain way to become a Top Producer in CRE?
($1M+ GCI)

The truth is, there's many things you must do.

But if you don't do this first, then you could be setting yourself up for failure.

This is something me and a good friend have jammed on throughout the years, which we believe is a massive determining factor in a Brokers success.

Step 1: Download the last 3-4 years of Sale Data from the Property Appraiser in the market you serve. If you live in a Non-Disclosure state, find a way.

Step 2: Sort the Data by Land Use Code, and then group them in different Property Types (Retail, Office, Multi-Family, Industrial, etc)

Step 3: See how many transactions are occurring every year within the given Property Type.

Step 4: Estimate the number of specialized Brokers that are in your market and competition in each space.

Step 5: Take the number of transactions in a given year, and divide that by the number of Brokers.

This will give you the "Opportunity Score" - The higher the score, the greater the opportunity.

My rules:
<5 = Stay Away
5-10 = You can compete, just be with a good firm with good recognition
10-15 = This is the most likely place you'll fall if you're in an active market. This is good.
15+ = Gold rush

Share this post or tag a colleague in the comments that should hear this!

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

How Do You Stop Chasing Leads in CRE & Start Making Them Come to You?

Two Words: Become Undeniable.

Top Producers don’t just hunt for leads—they attract them.

Here’s how:

Build Authority – Share insights on LinkedIn, email your database, direct mail prospects with value, use case studies, and ideally - dominate your market with signage.

Give Value First – Offer high-value, free resources that position you as the go-to expert. When prospects need help or just want to pick someone's brain, you’re the first call.

Repetition - Becoming Undeniable takes time. You usually have to do these things^ for 2-3 years at minimum until your phone starts to ring consistently.

The best time to start becoming undeniable was 2-3 years ago, the next best time is now!

LFG

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

What's the Difference between Average CRE Brokers, and Top Producers? Here's what I've learned after 10 years in the business...

Provide More Value – The broker who delivers the most value to the market wins. Top Producers "Level Up" on this knowledge continuously and provide greater insight to their clients that drives results.

Leverage Multiple Channels of Outbound – If you’re only cold calling, you’re competing with 14 billion calls a day. A diversified approach is must. Top Producers take the "Valuable Insights" they have, and relay them to the market through Market Reports, Mass Emails, Hosting Conferences, Client Events, etc.

Stay Consistent – Anybody can be a Prospecting Powerhouse for a couple months. Top Producers do this for years on end, and they get better (increase connection rates & meetings) as they move forward.

The results that an Average Broker will get from 100 Outbound Attempts vs. 100 Outbound Attempts from a Top Producer is NOT the same.

The brokers who deliver the most value, with the most consistency, across multiple channels—win.

If you want to see how our Lead Generation System creates Top Producing CRE Brokers, check out the the website in my bio.

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

Cold Calling Isn’t Dead - You’re Just Doing It Wrong...

With 14 billion calls made daily & 5 trillion per year - How are you standing out?

Here’s how Top Producers make cold calls actually work:

Get Better Data – Don't use the same 2 or 3 Data Providers that every CRE Broker is using... we all know who they are. Use tools like Lusha on LinkedIn, Credit Bureau's or hired skip tracers to find direct cell numbers of decision-makers.

Warm Up the Call – Send a quick text first. Even if they don’t answer, they’ll know who called.

Hook Them Early – Your opener should establish credibility & make it clear why they should listen.

Create Curiosity – Give them a reason to take the meeting. Then close for it.

Cold calling still works—if you do it right. Tag a colleague who needs to see this! 👇

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

CRE Brokers - Try this Sequence to 20x your Connection Rates with Prospects...

1) Send Direct Mail – Handwritten or printed, but make it valuable.
2) Text Them – Let them know you'll be calling soon.
3) Call – Now it's a warm call, not a cold one.

This simple sequence will skyrocket your connection rates. Try it & let me know how it works!

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

Yesterday, I sat in a Board Meeting where the combined Net Worth was over $1 Billion. 3 Hours Later I was on a call with an inmate facing 35 to Life...

This "inmate" was one of my childhood best friends.

He's a Veteran that served our Country, but lost his way with Mental Health and made some mistakes.

You can be worth a Billion, or sharing a Bunk and facing Life.

Showing up for people is important, regardless of their circumstance.

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

One thing I think is absolutely crazy I think people should learn from in CRE is...

Between 2018-2022, the world was at maximum capacity for young & cool "Multi-Family Syndicators with $50M / $100M / $500M of "Assets Under Management" in their Social Media bio.

... and it honestly seems like they all fell off the face of the earth.

Lessons Learned (hopefully)

1) Experience Matters

2) Trying to make yourself seem richer than you are is a losing game. You can fool the people below you, but the people above you can see right through it.

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

Not sure how your Office looks in the Holiday Season, but if it's feeling extra empty these days...

Just know that you're in the right place by showing up.

It's Seperation Season ~

Let's get it!

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

In CRE Brokerage, I was 28 years old & making double what a Neurosurgeon makes, and I didn't have to...

Go to Med School

Cut people open everyday

Punch the clock

Request "vacation time"

Or have a manager that was directing my life...

All I had to do was pickup the phone, build relationships, and tour properties.

This business is more rewarding than you can ever imagine, especially when you put things in perspective with other industries.

But you can only achieve this if you:

1) Put in the boring work

2) Don't quit

So keep going - I'm cheering you on!

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

The number 1 trait I see in CRE Brokers that surpass $250k in Gross Commissions is:

The will to win

You don’t have to be with a top notch firm.

You don’t need to have family in the business.

You don’t have to go to a big university

You don’t even have to have a mentor (even though it helps!)

But you do need to have the will to win.

When you the deal blows up

When you have 0 success on the phone for weeks straight

When the savings is running low and you’re holding your breath until due diligence passes.

Above all hard & soft skills….

If you have a strong will to win - you will succeed - it’s only a matter of time.

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

If I were to start over my career in CRE Brokerage, here's 3 things I'd do differently to get to $250k in GCI faster...

1) I would figure out the Opportunity Score for the Property Type I was interested in. I "wasted" the first 18 months of my career in Property Types I never had a chance to be successful in the first place due to the Sales Velocity of that Property Type.

2) I'd be more routined about building relationships with Buyers & actively sending them deals. I figured this out later in my career, and did roughly $700k in GCI with 2 different buyers across 5 deals in a 18 month span.

3) I would trust the process more. I had a lot of stress & anxiety from uncertainty to get to $250k. This did push me to work incredibly hard (which is a great bi-product), but I didn't realize that once I hit $250k, it would only take me roughly 2.5 more years to hit $1M.

Momentum is an incredible thing. When you don't have it, you have to scratch/claw/fight to get it. When you do have it, you have to approach it with the same tenacity, but deals come together much easier.

Trust the process & keep putting in the reps.

Your time is coming - but only if you keep going.

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

In the last 2 months since launching REHQ, here’s everything we’ve done wrong…

1) We have been telling people about the features of the software, when no one really cares.

Lesson learned: People don’t care as much about the feature itself, just what the feature will do for them.

2) We’re on the journey of Product Market Fit and haven’t yet found it.

Lesson learned: Keep pushing - this comes with time. We’re getting great feedback from users, so we just need to trust it, have our Dev team code their asses off and keep rollin’

3) We haven’t given enough guidance on how to use the software.

Lesson learned: We thought we had a pretty solid onboarding onto the platform. However, our onboarding is only 3-4 steps and takes less than 60 minutes (normally). Our users need more guidance than this (solution attached below)

4) I haven’t used my CRE experience as much as I should have helping our users.

Lesson learned: I’m going to pour more of my knowledge into guiding our users. With millions in commissions & almost a decade of experience… I’m going to be more intentional about creating materials for our users to skyrocket their business.

^Our answer to Numbers 3 & 4 on this, we will be releasing 12/5 - Stay tuned.

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

@Alexandr0u Let's freaking goooo my guy!!

[Augie Schmidt @augie_schmidt]

@bethanyjbabcock I went from $36k on food stamps with 2 kids in Year 2 of brokerage, to $610k in Year.

Indeed it’s been a wild ride