Latest / Charleston's Leading Producers / Ep. #25 | Courtney Davis

Transcript

Ep. #25 | Courtney Davis · Charleston's Leading Producers

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: There was just a moment when we were just me and Matt were sitting there at the island at like 10 o'clock at night, and I was just wrapping up the day.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I really enjoy this a lot.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: This is something that I want to do in my career.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm gonna jump in and we're just gonna kind of figure it out as we go.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so we did.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Hey leaders, I'm Jake, a loan officer obsessed with business growth and finding out what's actually working in our market.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: If that sounds useful, hit follow.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this week's leader.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Courtney, thanks for coming on and recording with me.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thanks for having me, Jake.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, Courtney, you're an agent with Carolina One.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: You've built a specialty around the market that we actually live in together in Summer's Corner.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we can get into like the bad reputation that Summer's Corner, you know, might have with some agents a little bit later, but hopefully it people go easy on that, not judge us too much.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you also work with some relocating clients, and we're actually connected through our church in that community, Seacoast Summer's Corner.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: But you're originally from Michigan, right?
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: I'm originally from Michigan, yeah.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: What part?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: So south of Ann Arbor, uh, small town.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um grew up in a very tight-knit community.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and uh my dad was originally stationed here in the Navy in the 90s, the old Navy base.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's how I was introduced to Charleston after he was out.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: They decided to move back to Michigan um while I was younger.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: And then my grandmother stayed here, so I would come and visit her all the time in the summers and just stayed in the um old village part of Mount Pleasant.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure it looked very different back then than it than it does now, but we can get into that later.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're helping a relocating client get their entire life settled into our our backyard, because you do do a lot of your work in Summer's Corner, right where we live.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what's something that you understand about that move um and how does that impact the way you work with those reload clients?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I am a mom of two, and to think about it in a client's shoes with family moving here.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: They have so many questions about the area.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: And as you know, we are limited to some things.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_03: So as a mom and a person that's like very active in the community, I kind of help direct them into some areas, some real resources that um the community has really created, connect them with other neighbors just so they could get a feel of the area and um just really start to make it into little bits of the process.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not something that is a huge mountain for them.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: They can just start to take little steps.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: And then as they take those steps, we take a moment to celebrate and it enjoy that process rather than let's shuffle and bustle to get to you here.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: I want to make sure that they actually enjoy moving because moving's not fun, it's not great when you have your kids, family, everything.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: So trying to make it a little less stress-free and fun in the mix of it is something that I really try to help with them.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: I I love that you leaned into that right away, that understanding of even if you're just moving right down the street, it's insanely stressful.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, it's not something anybody wants to do.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And we talk about this uh on the mortgage side.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: I have this conversation sometimes of we're we're kind of selling something that nobody wants.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants a mortgage.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: They want the house, right?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: But nobody wants a mortgage.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds like you have a really good understanding.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and to keep that in the front of your brain of all of the stresses that go into this process and then the emotions that that that brings out in people sometimes, and sometimes the um, you know, the way they react to some of those emotions.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's really cool that you have an understanding of that and you keep that right in front.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: And what I usually do um as a process goes on is I ask my clients what I could do for them that week, whether it's looking at um, you know, the kids if they were into sports, if they were looking at daycares around the area, just sending them a list of resources to help them kind of ground their feet a lot better than just, you know, leaning on a Facebook post and there's everybody's feelings in that, like just really trying to help them through that process and be there for them.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have a system for that?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: So like on week one, I'm asking this question, and week two, I'm asking this question, or does it happen more organically?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: It happens more organically as we go.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_03: So if it's a quick close or a longer close, it's that's really the dependent on the timeline.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_03: But throughout the process, getting like closer, you know, if it's closer to school year, I know that a mom is gonna be asking about school immediately.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: How are we gonna get our child registered for school?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I know that's gonna be at mom's top of the, you know, their mind.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: So it really depends on each client before.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I sit down and do a like what I do is like a questionnaire with my clients, like a buyer interview.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: So kind of like how they're at in this process, where they at when they're moving, is mom needing to transfer her job and or dad, or you know, it's a lot of moving parts.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: So I kind of gather it's about an hour and a half long of just diving deep into their whole life and seeing how I can help them really thin it out a little bit so that way when we start to have those conversations and stuff, it's that organic flow of okay, I know that this week this is gonna be starting to be something that's gonna be on the high list of it.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: That interview that's really cool.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Is that something that you do in person or is that virtual?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: How do you do that with clients?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I do it like this.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I meet them online.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: It could be early 6 a.m.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_03: and it could be late nine to 10, depending on time zones with military families, you know, dad or mom with work and stuff, bedtimes, as we know, is just crazy.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: So I try to meet my clients where they are, you know, sometimes it's very late, sometimes it's very early.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: And or on the weekends where we just kind of carve out that time and just really focus in on how I can really help them through it.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I want to stay on this because I find this really interesting.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: How are you scheduling it then?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Is it through Calendly?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Are you just like shooting a text?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: What does that look like?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I have um a link to my website that people will just start to like log into.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: So it links to my calendar.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: They can see my times and how I'm available.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: So my my work calendar is very like structured in that sense, and I only allow it on certain times.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: If it's like times that are later, I let them know like, hey, this day and next availability on that day.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so that way they can kind of schedule it with me.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, I just use the calendar and then I just send a reminder so it sends reminders automatically for me to yeah, I so I do the same thing.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I do a you know virtual loan consultation with all of my clients, and I've gone back and forth so many times on should I should I have hours that are you know available on Saturday morning because I'm like you know, I need to do it.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's when the client's available.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then somebody books it at 9 a.m.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: on Saturday, and I just get this why did I, why did I do this?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so I don't know.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: I find that really interesting that um, you know, we we have these options and then it's like, when am I gonna be available?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Have you gone through that?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um not really personally, because of our schedule has been so hectic um with our youngest at a different school and a different schedule.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_03: It kind of just flows with our kind of chaotic life.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um and it it's nice to like if I can just do it super early in the day.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: So then that way I have the rest of the day I can do showings or listening appointments or you know, those kinds of things.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: Cause I do a lot of um like appointments with my sellers too throughout the week.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so you know, I I tried the you know, structural time of like only Mondays, this is what you're gonna do, and only Tuesdays.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: And it just for me personally, it just never works out that way.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: I can't, I I like my schedule to be a little chaotic, which is kind of not normal with people, but I like to like it's not the same every day.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's working very well for you.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we were actually, I'll tell this story.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've told you this before.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was driving home with my wife Brit.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out, Britt, and um she she made it was a comment along the lines of does Corney do like every listing in Summer's Corner?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like she recognized how much you're you're you're working just in our little space, and it was a huge compliment to you.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I appreciate that, Britt.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: I do outside of Summer's Corner too, but a lot of the business is in Summer's Corner for sure.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's the only place we see because that's where we live.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, so yeah, it is it is a huge compliment to you.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: But what I'm hearing is that you relate so well to the people in our community.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: You're talking about your hectic life, you know, and you're very open to we can all relate to, you know, trying to figure out bath time at 7 p.m.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: and juggling all of the demands of real estate and all of these things.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're open about those things with clients, it just makes it so much easier for them to relate to you.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds like you've nailed that.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'll tell people, you know, hey, between five and seven, I'll respond as quick as I can.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: But that's bedtime, that's dinner time, that's that's everything, homework, whatever we need to do, get ready for the next day.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: It may be a hot second before I can respond to you, but I will respond to you by end of day.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_03: But just know it's kind of chaotic there, you know, or sometimes you gotta go hide in the bathroom and answer that phone call and and act like nothing's breaking in the background, but you know.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: But a mom hears that and she goes, Yeah, that's who I want to work with.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's my people, you know.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's a big thing that I think a lot of people could probably relate with me, right?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: Is I'm working, I'm a mom.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: My husband has a chaotic schedule too.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: So when we both can link up, I get it with families.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like if mom and dad are, you know, on opposite schedules.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_03: I I have a system where we are in a group community like chat.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: So any of my sellers or buyers are always in the chat.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: If one person calls me, I circle back up in the chat with that conversation so that way nobody's left out and you know, everybody's still involved, and it takes that release off the relationship, too, because moving is a huge stressor on a relationship as well.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I try to help alleviate as much as I can.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's back up just a little bit.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: What what year did you get licensed?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure I actually know this.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I got licensed in 21.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: 21.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Take me back to that first year.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Did you find a lot of success right away, or was it more of a slow build for you?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_03: So in the first six months, it was like the end of the summer, fall, and um that was when interest rates were starting to spike up a lot.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I decided to try to do it part-time.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: The girls were not in daycare, they were not in school.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: I was still a stay-at-home mom, and my husband was working a lot, Matt, you know, was working out of town a lot, so I would be home alone with the kids Monday through Friday.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: So I wasn't sure if jumping into it would be, you know, the best decision for a family at first.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_03: And so I started to get into it and it kind of just took off.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: And there was just a moment when we were just me and Matt were sitting there at the island at like 10 o'clock at night, and I was just wrapping up the day.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I really enjoy this a lot.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_03: This is something that I want to do in my career, and I'm gonna jump in and we're just gonna kind of figure it out as we go.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_03: And so we did, we figured it out as we went.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we figured out daycare, like part-time daycare, then we got full-time Bella into school to um, she got into Sand Hill, um, the pre-K program.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_03: And so it was just all the things were starting to fall into place, and then it just kind of really took off really after that.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think like the first six months, like it was it was a it was crazy how much it took off.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, was there a turning point in what you think you do differently as compared to some agents who may state stuck in that like five to ten transactions per year place?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Is there something you feel like you've leaned into that's really accelerated your business?
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: The biggest thing I would say is I would I do not only like we get weekly checks with my clients, I kind of do a weekly check with myself and a monthly like recap.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: And then I'll do quarterly assessments, like where I'm like, okay, like where is my business like where is that kind of growing?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, what is really working, what is not, because we're always trying new things that are to help our business or not to, you know, or it might work for somebody else and it might not work for somebody else.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: So I try to stay in my business and kind of, you know, just really look at things that are really working.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: And then if I want to try something, I'll try it and give myself like a deadline.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_03: And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so that's what I've just been really doing.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: Now, is it perfect?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely not.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe some weeks I'm I forget I did it and do it, you know.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I do try to like hone in on at least 30 minutes a week of like what is going on and where are my clients coming from?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: Are they coming from, you know, personal sphere, referrals?
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: Have I like reached out to those referrals?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there's a huge group of folks that are just my little, I call my little referral buddies.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like they always are constantly there, it's cheering me on.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, I want to make sure that I celebrate that because that's a huge, huge thing.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_03: I don't um I don't pay for leads, I don't pay for, you know, all of those things.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's just word of mouth.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: So that's like so important to make sure that those clients feel truly celebrated.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'll write them letters, I'll do little pop buys.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'll try to make sure that I make specific time for those clients, especially.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is really powerful.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I want to dig into this a little bit more.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is something that I haven't heard a lot of agents say that they do.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's something that I I've tried to put into my business as an LO as well.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: So 30 minutes, you're sitting down trying every week.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Is this something you're doing alone, or do you have somebody giving you kind of guidance on what you should be doing, what you should be trying, what you should stop doing in your business?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: What does that look like?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: So I originally picked it up when I went to the ninja um with Carolina One.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: We did like a ninja, was it uh ninja Yeah, I know you guys are big on that book, Ninja Selling.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Ninja Selling, like the basics.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so like what I'll do, and I started to realize that a rhythm of mine is every Monday, like checking in with every client I'm working with, um, looking at who I spoke to over the week in the weekend.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'll do hand letters every day.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I try to just sprinkle a little bit of good throughout the week.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_03: So if I see somebody online, or I I guess really it just comes down to who I am.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: If if I know somebody had like a bad day or a birthday, I'm reaching out to them or writing the notes or just a text of encouragement throughout the week, I really try to hone in on.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's kind of what I got from the ninja course is just trying to be a better human to other people.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_03: There's, you know, a lot of people are facing a lot of things.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing that we just try to be a good person and how much it just comes back to you from doing that.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's and it's easy to get caught up and I want to drive business, I want to drive business, and that's the way my brain is wired, you know.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're just like, yeah, just be a good person, um, how how much of an impact you know that can have on, and it just brings so much more enjoyment to what we do too.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Makes it so much more fun.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so along that line too, so you're doing a monthly check-in as well.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Is that different from the weekly check-in?
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Is that like a deeper dive?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, a monthly is I'm looking at the my business for the next three months.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I'm trying to stay ahead of the next three months because of the quarters and and stuff.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: So I'll sit down and I'll say, okay, like what is going on in my next three months?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: Kind of like trying to look at even my schedule too.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like, we've got summer break, we've got you know, uh school breaks, all the breaks in the world they have in school.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I try to figure out where I will be needed more at home to kind of push more of things I need to do before.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: And then I try to look at, okay, in the next 90 days, what would my business look like?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_03: If I could stopped right now, what would my business look like?
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's kind of where I try to like hone in a little bit more because it's a consistent cycle of business, right?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_03: Like we just need to consistently look.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: It will, if you stop working, the the work will stop.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_03: So I try to hone in on okay, what's my next three months looking like?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's easy to see now why you're having or why why you're having some of the success that you're having because you're so intentional about your business.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't heard that level of intentionality with a lot of the people that I've talked to.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's really cool and that's really inspiring.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: One of the questions that I do have, you've had some partners that you've worked with over the past few years and maybe some um support staffers and things like that.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are you working completely on your own now?
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I've been um completely on my own.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I did have like a team where we last year kind of helped through the process.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't my jam because of the way that I like to work.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_03: I have a system, like I said, I have those check-ins.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_03: I like to be very intentional with my clients.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um so right now it's just me um doing everything.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: I have a transaction coordinator, of course.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but that's that's just who is really in my sphere of things right now.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: What's the toughest part of working on your own like that as compared to having being a part of team of a team?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so there's different ways to be on a team.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: The previous team I was on, we helped elite like work together on each transaction.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_03: This current team I'm on with um Jeremy, we kind of like lean on each other.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_03: So if I'm busy, kids sick, and I need help with something and he's available, he'll help out, and then vice versa, um, on those kinds of things.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_03: If we need help or if we're on vacation, we get a sign call.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_03: I always get sign calls when I'm gone on vacation.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: And so he'll help when he can in that sense.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I don't know.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of clients that I talk to, even when I'm gearing up to go on vacation and stuff, are people who are in the sphere where I'm like, okay, they're gonna get ready to, you know, move.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_03: I kind of let people know ahead of time about a month out where I might be not available.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: There's been a couple clients who have scheduled their times to come down after I come back to to home to help them.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I kind of just have that that um relationship with my clients that if they want to spend time with me, so it's it's more so it's intentional.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: Does that does that make sense?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: So if yeah, if I'm not here like the I'm not gonna be here for fourth of July, and a couple people were like, Well, we're thinking about coming down, and I said, Well, definitely come down, I might not be.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Here or I'm not gonna be here till this date.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: And they let me know a couple weeks, a couple days later, hey, we're just gonna come when you come back to town.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: So my business really, there's that kind of how can I explain that?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, my clients respect the time that I'm not in like the state, but I can still be here virtually too.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and it just relates back to what you talked about earlier with the kids and all that.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: You just have a realness with your clients and you have an authenticity that sounds like works really well for you, but then people respect that too.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it's actually uh it this is very timely for me.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm on vacation right now.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: And when when I left, I didn't tell anybody, I didn't tell anybody that you know typically refers me, my referral partners, my clients, you know.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: But then I get in a situation where I'm out to dinner and my phone rings, and I'm like, well, of course it did.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't tell anybody, idiot.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what you know, so I don't know.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you if you could give a piece of advice to an agent who's battling this right now, is like, yeah, I need to go on vacation with my family, and we're recording it at the end of June.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's vacation season.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, what would you tell that agent?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Is it okay to tell your clients?
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: And you mentioned that referral community that you have that you're going on vacation.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: What does that look like for you?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, I take it like I'm out like showing homes or I'm busy with an appointment.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_03: So I'll tell anybody that I'm working with in the moment, like I'll go through my sphere, I'll start to remind them because it will fall out of their head, you know, their everything's going on, right?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_03: So, hey, just a reminder, I'm gonna be out this week next week, or hey, just letting you know, and just starting to like you know, fall into they it's not a surprise.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, there's always gonna be things that come up on a vacation.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: It always does.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, the c I just asked my clients to just text me, let me know that I need to call them, or you know, if we need to schedule a time in the day to call and get on the phone or a Zoom or whatever we need to do, I can do just send me a text real quick, just a heads up, unless you want to hear the kids, you know, fighting in the background about something crazy.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I try to tell my clients just text me.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's kind of like when it's busy season and in showings and appointments, like, hey, I can't talk right now, let me call you in 10 or something like that.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I think just having that um real honest conversation, they know that we're human, we know.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so if you just have that open conversation, like the um like last week was the um time when it wasn't scheduled, um, my mom passed away.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: And um, I still had to deal with writing an offer and showing issues, but you know, the communication I think of just a text of hey, let me get back to you really quick, or hey, I'm not gonna be available for the next hour, just having those conversations with your clients and even agents too, because agents don't know what you are going through.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: We I don't know on the other side what that agent's going through.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_03: They could probably be dealing with the same thing.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Kids are home, it's summer break, it's they're fighting about something probably silly, like somebody got the blue popsicle and somebody wanted the green popsicle.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, it's just like just having a little bit more what's the right word, compassion to everybody right now, and a little bit of grace in this time.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody's dealing with a lot.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you mentioned your mom passing away, and uh I'm so sorry to hear that, and then having to write offers while that's going on.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm trying to just wrap my head around all of that.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: I can't even put myself in those shoes.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I was just thinking while you were talking through that, you know, the client I I've been thinking a lot lately about the the client that I want to work with.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if I were to tell somebody, hey, I'm on vacation, like I I'll give I'll get back to you today, like this afternoon.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if they were gonna push back on that, that's somebody I don't want to work with anyway.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like that's gonna be a miserable experience for for everybody involved anyway, and that's okay.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it sounds like you've been really intentional about what you communicate with people and how you communicate that, and that's really respectable.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you've gone through some of the seasons where you know you're refining this.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it you know, it is a process, but it sounds like you've gone through that process and and have designed these things intentionally and what works for you.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Am I hearing that correctly?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, there was a time where I would just drop everything, right?
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't want to miss the call, I didn't want to miss lose that opportunity with a client.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but over the years, I've just kind of have that client that I want to work for.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: I I I am a mom.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_03: I have two really young kids, and so uh and I have a husband who has a very demanding job.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_03: So sometimes he's not in the house, and it's just made all day.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_03: And so I need I need that client to understand and and respect that time.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: And there have been plenty of times, even still to even this year, I've told clients that we are just not a good fit um before we even started, even before we signed paperwork, because not only are they interviewing me, I'm interviewing them to see if this is going to be a good fit because it's a tough market.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of new construction competition, especially in Summer's Corner.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_03: And if if those clients aren't ready to have those hard talk conversations, then we might not be at the spot that we need to be together in, right?
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, there's been plenty of times where I've told clients that, you know, hey, we're we're probably not a good fit, but you should definitely reach out to, you know, try to reach out to somebody else, like uh try to refer other agents to them that might be a good fit for them.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's so respectable.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and my next question here kind of fits right along with this.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: I've never done this before, but I actually want to get into a couple of the reviews that clients left you online.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I found it really interesting.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: One review mentioned that exactly what you've described already, you sent pictures every week to a family who was building um while they were in another state.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought that system was so cool.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then in one review, the word, and actually in a few reviews, the word fought came up multiple times in a good way.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: Courtney fought for me, Courtney fought for me.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: And what I'm curious about is what does fighting for a client actually look like?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think a lot of people will throw that word around, and if they're meeting with a client, they would say, I'll fight for you, I'll fight for you.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: But to actually have a client say it is a totally different thing.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought that was really cool.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm curious from your perspective, what does it actually look like to fight for a client?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's such a good question.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um I would have to say I really intentionally, when we are on market for a listing side of it, I really try to collaborate with the agents.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_03: And before I do, I reach out to my clients, like maybe it might be something like the carpets need to be like, you know, refreshed or something like that.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_03: And that was the feedback.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I let this, you know, clients know, like, hey, this is what uh agent, you know, left.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_03: Would you be okay if I would go back and be like, hey, could we put this in an offer?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_03: Could we negotiate this in and get something on paper and then negotiate it that way and kind of collaborate together?
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_03: I've done a lot of that lately, especially with just new construction and competition.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like, there's always one thing that a whole resale can't compare to new construction, it's brand new.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: So if we can kind of try to get in the same line with LNR, that's what I really try to really focus on.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_03: And then with you know, repairs, having a good contractor or just somebody who, like an HVAC tech who might just write a simple letter to the buyers, like, this isn't really something that we need to focus in on.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's nothing that would be serious, right?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_03: Or if it was something very serious, like somebody had a question about the trusses.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: So we had them meet with Lenar and you know, really sit down and educate them.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_03: So not just saying, thanks for the feedback, let me know if your client's interested.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_03: I really try to dive deeper into like what exactly is holding them back.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_03: And then as a buyer side of it, it's more so of like we've got builders.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_03: Some builders, construction builders are great, and some are, you know, a little different from different areas of the country that get moved here too.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I really try to sit there and, you know, talk to the inspector if we have a third-party inspector, or really just start to ask questions about it.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_03: I remember one time there was um, there was a patch.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_03: It was drywall that was, you know, drying, but there was some water marks in a, you know, the what's it called?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_03: The screening.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_03: And so I asked the builder, like, hey, could you like maybe talk take a look and make sure it's not the pipe or something?
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_03: And me and the client and the their son was standing right there the whole time.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, the builder was getting more upset about it and annoyed.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I just simply said, Look, I understand it could just be the drywall tape, it could be wet, but there's a pipe there.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_03: I would really greatly appreciate if you just got something or if we can get our um inspector back out there to double check that there's no leak on that second floor, because that's gonna be a lot of damage, right?
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_03: After you close.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_03: So it's gonna be a mess.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_03: So I would just really appreciate if you could just do this.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so just having a respectful conversation and like a realistic conversation, like, hey, if this is you, you would really want this, you know, to be looked at, or hey, if this was somebody that you truly loved, you would want your mom or your sister or your brother or whoever your family is to not be treated that way.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: And so just trying to bring it back to being a decent, you know, just a human.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like, let's put the person back in the transaction.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: It's not about the transaction.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly listening to that, where I would go, yeah, I want Courtney representing me, you know, and that's how you've built such a great reputation in our community.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, whether it's I'm gonna switch gears a little bit, whether it's right in Somerville or in our surrounding space of Charleston in our area, what's the one biggest mistake you see agents making in our market today?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of noise online, and I think a lot of agents look at other agents.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it is a very, very hard market.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_03: We have a ton of agents, we have a ton of great agents, and I think agents get so focused on what this agent might be doing versus what they could bring to the table.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_03: So they get lost in in the mess and the noise of everything instead of just focusing on them.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_03: I do it sometimes where I get down in the dumps, I'm like, man, I'm not a great agent.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know, sometimes, you know, I'll get in my head, but I I think agents really chart start to focus in on that noise, and then they kind of lose, they lose who they are, right?
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: They lose um how they can represent that client because not every client is right for the right agent.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_03: There's so many people um that have different personalities.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_03: So, and there's plenty of business, plenty of business in Charleston.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: So well said.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, and I think that's where people do lose that authenticity because you connected it between, you know, try it.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: Feels like if I'm too real to myself, people are gonna go to other agents, you know.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing on the loan side.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if I don't stay true to myself, there's there's so many other LOs out there.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, real estators are gonna refer somebody else, clients are gonna go to a different LO.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Was there like a turning point where you kind of went, you know what?
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm just gonna be true to myself.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: Was there like a specific moment where you kind of went, forget all this other stuff?
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna worry about me and the clients that I want to focus on.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was probably year two in my business where it was really busy.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then it kind of slowed down.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: And that's just the way real estate is highs and lows, started to slow down, and I started to get lost in the aspect of it.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_03: And so I just kind of took a step back, and that's when I started to say, okay, that's when I started to get in those weekly check-ins and those monthly check-ins of myself of like where am I and giving myself a hard stop.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_03: So if something's not working, I'm going to give it to this deadline, and then we're done, and then I'll move to something else.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_03: So then it's not all the things at once, too.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_03: So I might try like a one thing at one specific time, and then the next quarter I might do something a little different.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I really try to not really lose myself for weeks on it.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: I start I really try to focus in quickly because once you start to lose that focus, you'll lose it completely quickly.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: I want to wrap us up on this.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: You you mentioned a specific moment where you were sitting at your kitchen table at 10 o'clock at night and you went, I'm going all in on this.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: You had a little bit of success, but it was, you know, this moment where you said to you, your husband, Matt, shout out Matt.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: He's the man, love Matt, where you went, I'm going all in.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: What is the one thing you would tell that version of Courtney who didn't really know that all of this success was coming?
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but being where you are now, what would you tell that Courtney in that specific moment?
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_03: I would say lock in, like focus, put your goals in there and have faith and just lock in, just keep your head down and focus and keep praying because some days are extra prayers and some days are you know, just focus and and it will it will grow.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_03: It really does.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: Courtney, you've got incredible advice.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: If anybody who has been listening wants to reach out just to ask follow-up questions um about something that you mentioned today, connect further, anything like that, how can they reach out and get in touch with you?
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they can find me on obviously social media, but um I'm an open book.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, there's a ton in the business.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: They can reach out, ask anything.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_03: If I've tried a certain program or, you know, stuff like that.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm more than open to having conversations, like meetup with coffee.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's totally cool.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, they can reach me on social media, they can call me, um, they can text.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_03: Text is probably better than call.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_03: I am a little old school.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_03: I like to talk on the phone sometimes, but they can text me and we can meet up.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'll link everything uh in the description here.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate your time coming on and sharing these insights.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thanks for having me and have a good vacation.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right, thanks for listening to Charleston's Leading Producers Podcast.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: Could you take a moment to hit subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening on?
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: That allows this show to grow and bring you more of the top-of-the-line producers and business leaders.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if you think these stories will help someone you know, please share this with them.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: New episodes every Wednesday.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Jake Cummings.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: See you next week.