Latest / Charleston's Leading Producers / Ep. #26 | Kim Boerman

Transcript

Ep. #26 | Kim Boerman · Charleston's Leading Producers

0:00
SPEAKER_01: I have not spoken to this person in 21 years.
0:02
SPEAKER_01: But he put his compli right now.
0:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm facilitating the sale of his house.
0:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm having all the carpet stripped out.
0:07
SPEAKER_01: Like it needs a lot of work.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: I saw him in the hospital and he's like, How's your dog?
0:12
SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean, he remembered everything about our time together.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: And so those mail outs have kept me on the forefront of his.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Hey leaders, I'm Jake, a loan officer obsessed with business growth and finding out what's actually working in our market.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: If that sounds useful, hit follow.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: Now, this week's leader.
0:44
SPEAKER_02: You're welcome.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having me.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: So you are one of the top 20 realtors out of 8,000 in our area.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure if you even knew that, but you work with agent-owned and you specialize in building high-performing teams as well.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: So my first question is just when I say top 20 realtor in our area, how does that resonate with you?
1:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of just curious if that clicks with you, you know, that you are operating on such a high level in a competitive market.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, well, it I'm happy to hear that.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's amazing.
1:23
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know it was 20, top 20.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, I just feel super fortunate, you know, and I'm just very thankful that that is the case.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: That's a great answer.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I want to get into the team stuff right away.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: You mentioned um earlier in your career, we were talking earlier, and that you followed some other teams' playbooks early on.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: And eventually you said that those methods weren't for you.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: So, what made you break away um from that and kind of start just relying on your own instincts and relying on the lessons that you've learned?
2:04
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: So when I first uh I developed a team first in 2012.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: So I was probably, you know, 15 or so years into my career.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: And my broker was always saying to me, you know, you have all of this business coming in.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: It's like you have all these donuts and you don't want to give them away, but you can't eat them, you know.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: So I decided to um start the beginning of a team.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: And so I uh connected with some big teams in town, and they're always so gracious in sharing their ways.
2:45
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, you find that successful people, if you ever need help, you can ask them because they are more than willing to share their tips and tricks and things like that.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: Not that being a team leader is a trick, but you know what I mean.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: Tricks of the trade.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: And so um, they provided me kind of with their agency um formats and contracts and things like that for when they bring agents on.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: And their model was you, as the team leader, take the listings and you have your buyer's agents, and they only handle the buyer's leads.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: So when I first started, I brought on one person and really coached and and uh helped mold them.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: They had only done a few transactions in their career, and they just did beautifully.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: She did a beautiful job.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: She's a rock star agent now, and um, she was just like knocking it out of the park.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: And she came to me and she said, Hey, I want to take listings too.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: But and by this time I had brought on other agents and we were just rinse and repeating, and you know, they were also doing well and increasing their income and things like that.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: And I said, No, I'm not doing it because that's not I take the listings, you take the buyers, this is just the way it is.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: I float the costs for everything.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: But um, I wasn't giving her ownership, and I realized after she left that that was a big mistake of mine because um because what happens is is that you have team members and they start becoming very high producers and they decide they want to leave.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: So I actually broke with the team model several ways.
4:29
SPEAKER_01: I allow the agents to have their own listings and have their buyers and have ownership and all of that.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: And I also switched my splits.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: So traditionally, and we'll just be very clear here because if it's people who are thinking about having a team or whatever, you know, it's a 50-50 split, right?
4:49
SPEAKER_01: Well, at least that's what these other teams were doing.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: So I did that 50-50 split.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: And then there was another team that's very uh, they're almost like a company now, you know, they are rock star agents and they do a beautiful job.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: But they um I did, I think, and I got it from them, is on the third deal of the month, you would get a 60-40 split.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: So you would take 60 and I would get 40.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: But remember, I'm still paying for everything of theirs.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm paying for marketing, I'm paying for their, they don't have any splits with the company.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: It's I'm paying for all of that with the brokerage.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: And the other teams don't do that.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: So then I was having, so my first agent left, so then I incorporated that, you know, um the letting them have their own listings and and buyers.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Then uh when I was having another seeing a lot of growth from these agents, I thought, well, they are just gonna leave every single time, right?
5:51
SPEAKER_01: They're just gonna go once they build their business up.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: So how do I make it profitable for them to stay?
5:56
SPEAKER_01: So what I did was I switched it to a um, for some people, a 25-75 split.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: So once the once they made$100,000, then they started taking 75% of the profit.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: And I also implemented that if you brought people on, you would get a portion if you helped coach them of their what they made.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of some residual income, you know, that doesn't take a lot of work.
6:23
SPEAKER_01: So they could make up to like$12,000 a year.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: So that's how I switched it.
6:28
SPEAKER_01: Is it the most profitable as far as from a standpoint of if you're running big teams?
6:34
SPEAKER_01: Maybe not, but I felt like it was a way to create high-income earners and um have them be on the team, you know.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: Things are changing again because there's been some changes in the online lead world.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: So I'm in the process of um really thinking about how I want to structure the type of team I have now.
7:01
SPEAKER_01: So it's changing.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm back down to a small, I only have one team member at this moment in time.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: You know, you lose team members for several things.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: One had some health issues, one had, she just said, I just don't want to work this hard, you know, or this much.
7:17
SPEAKER_01: I'd rather just work my sphere.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: She's my age.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm 58, I'll be 59 next month.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: And she's like, I just don't want to like be on the phones and working so much.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: And then the other one just felt like when she made 250 grand last year, but she felt like it was time for her to go on her own.
7:38
SPEAKER_01: So then you have to regroup, you know, and that's where I am right now.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: And like I had spoken with you earlier, some of the online platforms have changed significantly.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: Zillow primarily, um, where they are releasing most agents and only keeping a top number of agents, and they are gonna change their payment structure.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: So I'll have to pivot, which is fine.
8:03
SPEAKER_01: Things change.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm not freaking out.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: It just is the way it is, you know.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: It is an interesting change with the Zillow thing that's happening right now, and we see it from our end.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: I was actually just talking yesterday to another, you know, loan officer that's on the newer side in my company.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: He's a super hard worker, doing a great job.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: And people are calling him up and asking him for lead splits.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we're going like, we've never even worked together before.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: You don't even know if you like me.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: And the person that was asking him is part of a larger team that is already doing their own lead splits.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Right.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Or their the online lead payment generation, you know.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: They already have a preferred lender.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: So it's this super interesting dynamic that you know, these realtors who are younger in their career trying to grow their business, that I think they feel, and loan officers too, they feel this pressure to pay for online leads.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, and it's just, I don't know.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: There was just something that we were both like, this just doesn't feel right.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: This person that we've never worked with, we're gonna enter into this business arrangement with where we're giving them money.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: We don't really even know where the money's going, how it's being spent.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: Right, or what their production is going to be.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: And it's come almost like when I do like uh we were talking, I do a lot of charity work.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: And if we're doing a um, like a what's the word I'm looking for?
9:28
SPEAKER_01: Where you do a silent auction, I don't go to businesses I don't know and ask them for things, right?
9:33
SPEAKER_01: I go to people I know that I support their business, and then I ask, I don't expect someone that I've never even worked with to give me something.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: Like, where'd you come from?
9:43
SPEAKER_01: You know?
9:44
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: It's been very interesting doing this podcast too.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, everybody that I've had on um has had a lot of success in our business.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: But some of the conversations that I've had, even a little bit like, you know, off-camera kind of a thing, is you can't always trust these high production numbers because some people have so much that they're paying out of pocket for these leads and marketing and you know, all these different things that the bottom line number does not always reflect, you know, what's being brought in from the top line.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: It's just it's very interesting to me.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's a lot of money to be spent on marketing for real estate or any business, you know.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, you might bring in a lot of money on commissions, but there's a lot of money going out to run a business, you know.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: Like people are kind of floored when they hear, if I'm having a conversation with someone I know and trust, how much money is being spent.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: Not for me, because my that's the thing, is all of my business comes from past client referrals, family and friends.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: And so, and and all the business for my agents comes from online leads.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: But that money is being spent.
11:04
SPEAKER_01: Of course, I'd benefit financially, but it's also to help those people have nice incomes and to provide the lenders with more business and the attorneys worth more business and the insurance people, uh, you know, so but it's a lot of money.
11:18
SPEAKER_01: You have to spend money to make money.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, I don't care what anybody says.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: Also true.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: And the other place that money just seems to be pouring into is social media and the online marketing people.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, sometimes I'll I'll get like, yeah, should I reach out to a social media person and I'll get their quotes and I'm like, okay, never mind.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's so much.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Um one of the things that I love that you mentioned is the idea that a lot of people who have had success, and I found this too on the realtor side and the loan side, a lot of the successful people are super open and very willing to share, you know, their experiences in our industry.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: And there's always going to be some people who are standoffish and you can't get a hold of, and like that's fine too.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: You know, not everybody has to help.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, but as you're talking to somebody who is maybe newer in the business, what are you telling them to do right now to get to that like top 200, top 100 uh producing realtor in our market?
12:24
SPEAKER_01: Well, so what I tell them is if they're new, they should get on a team, possibly.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: You know, it depends.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: We were talking about social media, right?
12:36
SPEAKER_01: There are some people that just kill it with social media, they're super hip, super cool.
12:42
SPEAKER_01: Somehow they learn how to draw people in.
12:45
SPEAKER_01: I I'm not of that age where this is a passion of mine.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: It's more of like a thorn in my side, you know.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: Um I there are young people that are like, hey, I'm gonna go that route.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: And I can't really speak to them of that because I don't know.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm not profession, I'm not an expert in that area.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: I only know that I do, like personally, I started out when we when I first started real estate, I didn't hardly know anybody here.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: There weren't these big CRMs, but I subscribed to like a Carlton Sheets um like on the television marketing program, and they sent it to me and I printed it at my office, and there was an apartment complex, which is now the Concord uh condominiums, but they were apartments, and it was like week one.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: Here's the flyer.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: So I did the flyer, and I'm gonna come back to how this equates to today's world.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: Wait, I have to interrupt Carlton Sheets, yeah.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: Carlton Sheets, like marketing.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
13:49
SPEAKER_01: He was on the television, he's like, Do you want to sell real estate?
13:51
SPEAKER_01: Blah blah blah blah blah.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: You know, and I'm like, I want to sell real estate.
13:55
SPEAKER_01: And so I would print it, and it was like week ones.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: This was for a rental campaign.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: So I'd send week one and I delivered it to all.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: I mailed it.
14:05
SPEAKER_01: I did mail outs, right?
14:06
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they were like 10 weeks, and I got my first like four buyers from those mail outs.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and they're still clients of mine today.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: One of them, she is um she she's uh she owns a thriving business because I do commercial also downtown.
14:26
SPEAKER_01: She is a dressmaker, she owns Forget Me Not, and um, it's a wedding, wedding, bridal gown place.
14:34
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I mean, and and I have several of those people.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: There were four that came just from that apartment complex.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: So it started with that.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: Then I became a HUD representative, 1-800 HUD.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: You know, somebody called me on the phone and said, Would you like to sign up?
14:50
SPEAKER_01: You can get HUD leads.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: So every I would print them because I had no contact management program, and I would sit at my desk from five to seven every night and go through the stack of papers.
15:02
SPEAKER_01: Left voicemail, I'd write it and I'd call.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: And I started getting clients that way.
15:07
SPEAKER_01: Then things like Zerpal came along, Tiger Leads, Commissions, Inc., Boom Town, all of those like real estate uh contact management programs where they have this beautiful database where everything is in there, and then you know, it you you prospect from there.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: But what I've told the agents, so then I have these online leads pouring in, right?
15:32
SPEAKER_01: I have my existing business, and then the agents get their leads.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: What I would tell a new person is is consistency matters.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: Whether you're gonna do social media, I guess that's how you would apply it to social media, social media, or whether you're gonna do, you know, calling, call, call, call.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: I know it sounds like, oh my gosh, I had a young woman come to be on the team or interview about it, and I said, I want you to like see what we do during the day.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: And I put her, I let her listen to me on the phones.
16:05
SPEAKER_01: I don't prospect, but I did that day so she could see.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: And then I said, now your turn.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: She was so scared to get on the phone, and um, she did a beautiful job, but I could tell right then it was not for her.
16:18
SPEAKER_01: Like she was like, I cannot do this.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: But you are, I'm sorry, real estate is hard work.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: Like you are gonna have to develop your sphere of influence, market to those people, be there for them, and put yourself out there consistently.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: It's so interesting that you mentioned the mailers.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Because you still do that, right?
16:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and a different regard though.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: So now I have, you know, my past client base, which there's pro there's, I think there's 492 or 500 of clients that are still existing, right?
16:56
SPEAKER_01: They're still in their homes.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: You know, I've had a lot of people buy and sell and move and all that.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: But every single, and that's what I do with my team members.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: What we do is um my clients get a newsletter every single month, and it has like a calendar events, a market update, what kind of nonprofit we're featuring, just like fun information that goes out, you know, um, that goes out probably eight times.
17:25
SPEAKER_01: So there's they get a piece of mail from me every single month or from the team members, and it has their pictures on it, you know.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: So I'm letting them brand with their face, but our group name.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then we do client events.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: So I do the River Dogs game in April or May, where I rent an entire section and give a gift card for like food and a drink, and then I do a huge client event at Freehouse Brewery every year for the holidays with it's food and drink, cookie decorating, face painting, DJ, pictures, s'moors station, hot chocolate station, and I give away$3,000 in gift cards.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: And so and it is a beautiful, fun, awesome event that we have hundreds of people come to.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: And so they get an invitation to those, a mail-out invitation for, you know, let's say in April and in November.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: And then if I'm doing like um a nonprofit thing, I might send a postcard that says like, like in July, not next week, actually, I'm doing a um for the Charleston Animal Society, I'm sponsoring$2,600 in animal adoption fees.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: So for the community, and you know, just to give back.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: So they get those in the mail from me.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: And um, one thing I just want to say about how important that is.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: I have a client who I sold a house to 21 years ago, and he we have not spoken.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: Now he gets all of my stuff, and um, and I don't hear from my people all the time, but all of a sudden, out of the blue, I'll hear from them.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: But they see my face every day.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, not every day, but you know, on every week, every month.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: And so I get a call from some random person, and he's like, Hi, I just wanted to tell you so-and-so is in the hospital.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: He's in very poor health.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: He um he has to go into a nursing facility.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: And um, he told me that I needed to call you.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: I have not spoken to this person in 21 years, but he put his complete right now.
19:31
SPEAKER_01: I'm facilitating the sale of his house.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: I'm having all the carpets ripped out, like it needs a lot of work.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: I saw him in the hospital and he's like, How's your dog?
19:39
SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean, he remembered everything about our time together.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: And so those mail outs have kept me on the forefront of his mind, I have to believe, because, you know, he's seeing my face once a month and my phone number and everything.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that I I I'm feeling a little bit of a type of way right now because um, you know, I'm only a couple years into this business.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I know when I go like two or three months and I've reached out, you know, either to a past client or a referral partner or somebody, and I don't hear back, I'm like, well, I guess, you know, they're ignoring 21-year follow-up.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: We're not ignoring you.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: People get really busy with their lives.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
20:23
SPEAKER_01: And and think about how busy life is.
20:26
SPEAKER_01: They're not like, I should probably just call him and say hi.
20:29
SPEAKER_01: I mean, rarely does that happen.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: I might get a text after we close a deal like three months later, like, we miss you, because you know, you're so connected during that process.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: But um, I do get tons of referrals from my past clients, but they don't forget you, they're just busy, you know.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: And if you stay in front of them, they will they will reach out.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: That is so inspiring, you know, to hit the 20.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be my goal now.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: 20 21-year follow-up.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: So um, I do want to dig in a little bit more to the community work because you've raised, from what I could find, over six figures for leukemia and lymphoma society, pet adoptions that you mentioned, other projects.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: And I'm curious as to the connection with how you run your business because I know you're very systems-oriented, and just running all of those things has to be, you know, you have to have a system for that too, I'm sure, because there's a lot of organization, even to like throw a River Dogs client appreciation event.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot that goes into that.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of work.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: So I'm curious as to the connection between running these, you know, charity events and charity organizations that you're involved with and the actual systems of your business.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: So um, I'm super goal oriented and I like to break things down into little pieces.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: So um with it all uh One of the big, the big push towards fundraising, like the big push came when I was nominated for Woman of the Year for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society over like 12 years ago.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: I've always had a passion for nonprofits and things like that.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: But the big Mac Daddy turn came when I was nominated.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, well, I need a team, right?
22:19
SPEAKER_01: Because that's the thing is that teams, when you have more people, it's just easier.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I got together a team and we met every single Monday of the team of this beautiful, wonderful women from all walks of world, and their husbands helped in different areas.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: And we met every Monday and we set our goals, and we actually did it like in baby little chunks, right?
22:46
SPEAKER_01: And um, we did like bingo parties, dunk a deputy.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we did every small little way that you could imagine.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: And we raised, I think,$106,000 in 10 weeks.
23:00
SPEAKER_01: And so now that campaign has like high, high power people that they pull from construction.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they have big, massive donors, right?
23:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I did that, and I do that with my business and with my agents as well.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: We have a 12-week work program that we do, or 12 12-week year that we do, and we chunk the year down into 12 weeks.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: And what is our goal for that 12 weeks, right?
23:31
SPEAKER_01: Like if you want to make 10 sell 10 million, then you have to set sell 10 2.5 million the first quarter.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: And so that system is in place um for for my for my business versus for the nonprofits, but also um I just I just have a passion for raising money.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: Like I love doing it.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: I think it's important to give back.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: Like, I think that that's why we're put on this earth to make a difference in people's lives, you know.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: So that's where that component comes.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: We have raised significant dollars for LLS after that 100 mark.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we did student of the year, and it's a requirement on my team that you do you give$100 from each sale to go towards um, you know, a nonprofit.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: But also we enact our community, our our um past clients know that we're doing this, right?
24:35
SPEAKER_01: And so they will say to me at the um holiday event, like, hey, I hear you're doing backpacks for you know, foster children.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to be a part of that.
24:44
SPEAKER_01: And we invite them, like, hey, if you want to do that, you can do that.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that answered your systems question because a spreadsheet freak, you know.
24:55
SPEAKER_01: I love it, I love a good spreadsheet.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: Speaking to my heart.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: I I love hearing that, and that's so inspiring.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: I love the the just, you know, even if it was$20 or something, like just starting something from every closing to something of your choosing.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if that's the one thing people take away from this, that alone I think is so powerful.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, so how how many years have you been licensed?
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Can I ask?
25:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think about 30.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: There, about 30 years.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: And I think so, 28 years, I guess.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: 20 coming up on 30.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, what's one belief you had earlier in your career that you feel like you've changed your mind on?
25:40
SPEAKER_00: And that could be something from the recent market or going all the way back to the very beginning.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: But what's something that you felt like you held on to is true that you ended up changing your mind?
25:54
SPEAKER_02: That's a hard one.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: Well, I changed my mind about the team, you know, the way that I do the team, and it's about to change again.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know what that will look like.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: Um You know, I've just learned a lot, and I'm not as freaked out as I was when I first started selling real estate.
26:11
SPEAKER_01: Real estate is a lot of people say, Oh, I want to get into real estate because I love what looking at houses, and it's like one-tenth of what you do, and you just problem solve.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: And um, I don't hold on to the sale probably like I did when I first started, because you know, you need that paycheck.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying I don't need a paycheck, but I'm not married to the sale.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm married to, you know, they say don't marry the rate, marry the house.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: I'm not marrying the sale and marrying my clients, you know.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm I am just very concerned about what is best for them.
26:46
SPEAKER_01: And it's not that I wasn't before, but I'm just more mellow now than I was when I first started because there's a lot to learn, you know, when you're selling real estate.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: So do you think that's a result of, I mean, you mentioned, you know, the paycheck.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that being able to, I don't know, would you say like emotionally detach from some of these hard situations?
27:10
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that's a result of, you know, just being further in your career and having more income?
27:16
SPEAKER_00: Or is it just an experience thing where you you you know you have to go through the to like taking those hard punches to be able to just emotionally handle it?
27:28
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: I'm curious as to your perspective on that.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: I think it's both.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, if you have a strong income coming in, then it's easier to emotionally detach, right?
27:42
SPEAKER_01: Because you're like, okay, well, this one's not happening, but these five are, you know.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, but also I I do have a very strong faith, and even if things were the market were turning down, I believe that everything happens the way it's supposed to be.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: Everyone's gonna be okay.
28:01
SPEAKER_01: It's not the end of the world, even if the income changes significantly, then you're just gonna have to pivot.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: But I also think it just comes also from experience because I know how to calm my clients down when they're freaking out and being very irrational because it's a very emotional process sometimes.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: And so I think that my ability to just listen to them and just be calm, you know, and and I think that comes from experience.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: I think that and from knowledge, from knowing different ways to solve problems, you know.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: So I would say for a new person, it's really good to have a mentor because a lot of problems can be fixed and you just aren't aware of the way that they can be fixed, you know.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's easy to get those blinders on when things are going bad and all you see is bad, you know.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, yeah, I've been fortunate to have some some great mentors in my career.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, and sometimes just even having a teammate, you know, I it I don't even think it always has to be the most experienced person, but when you get those blinders on and you can only see what's right in front of you, and somebody else can go, oh no, just just look at it this way.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: Like it's not a huge deal.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't know, just being surrounded by really quality people as well as quality professionals.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: I I've seen that as being super important.
29:31
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, for sure.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: Everybody needs a support system, you know.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: That's most certain.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: You mentioned your your faith.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: And I want to lean into this a little bit.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, I know the first thing that I do when I get up in the morning, I try to get up, pray, get my day started, um, and get centered.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm curious as to your morning routine because we were chatting a little bit about this before.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that I found as a through line for a lot of successful people in our industry is they take time for themselves in the morning.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm curious as to what that looks like for you and how you feel like that impacts your day.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: Right.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: So um I usually get up anywhere between four and five in the morning.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: It just depends.
30:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't set an alarm.
30:20
SPEAKER_01: It's just, you know.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I get up at three and I'm like, Kim, go back to bed.
30:24
SPEAKER_01: I turn the coffee on and I'm just like, okay, now it'll be ready when I get up, you know.
30:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, I love having my morning coffee without talking to anybody.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to talk to anybody.
30:35
SPEAKER_01: And then I need to have a little bit of coffee just to wake up.
30:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, I do uh it's very important for me to do some sort of like um Bible reading, or like right now I'm doing a year in the Bible.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm looking because it's this it's sitting right here.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: I like that it's close by.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: And um and then journaling.
31:01
SPEAKER_01: Journaling is super important to me.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, I was telling you, I just feel like when I um sometimes I read a lot, and then sometimes I'll just read just like three sentences, and I'm like, oh, I just got something from that, you know?
31:16
SPEAKER_01: And um, and it helps guide me because like I was telling you that I was reading, you know, um, I was reading and doing my little Bible study, and then I was praying to God, like, God, you know, I just really don't want to do social media, like it's so hard for me.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, what do I need to do to have a social media presence?
31:39
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm just not like that hip, you know.
31:41
SPEAKER_01: Cause I mean, these young people are super hip, you know, they are pretty cool.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: And so, um, and I felt like he said to me, you don't need a presence on social media, you need a presence in your clients' lives.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: And so I was like, oh, that is so good, you know.
32:01
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, God.
32:03
SPEAKER_01: And so it's very important for me to take time in the morning to just journal because I just like need to check myself.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I need to check, like, are you being kind?
32:12
SPEAKER_01: Are you being loving?
32:14
SPEAKER_01: Are you putting your needs first?
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Are you putting someone else's needs first?
32:18
SPEAKER_01: So I feel like that needs to happen in the morning, whether, you know, you just do some reading or some meditating or whatever your jam is, you know.
32:27
SPEAKER_01: But to me, it's just having a little bit of time with the Lord in the morning is super important.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like when I get away from that, I start not having as much order in my life.
32:37
SPEAKER_01: Like I have to have that order first.
32:39
SPEAKER_01: And then I get to, after that's done, answer emails and do some work without any interruption.
32:47
SPEAKER_01: You know, you can get a lot done in a couple of hours if nobody's calling or texting or anything like that, you know.
32:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I try to exercise right now.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: I I used to go to the gym religiously.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: Right now I'm just like walking and things like that.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: I do want to incorporate a gym into my life.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: But um, my parents recently moved here.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: My dad was very ill, and we moved them here and he passed away.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: And now my mom is still here.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: So we're just navigating life, right?
33:17
SPEAKER_01: Like life is very busy, and so um the gym, I haven't quite figured out where to put that in, but I am walking three miles, and that's a really great time I get to spend with my husband, and then my day starts, right?
33:31
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah, I can relate to the um where where do we squeeze this gym in too?
33:38
SPEAKER_00: So I'm a little different phase.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: I've got a seven and a three-year-old.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: And the only time that I can work out is is 5 a.m.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: So I'm up super early too, you know, and I try to squeeze that workout in at 5 a.m.
33:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then get them up and get them out the door, um, you know, and try to do all of that before like 6 30.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: It's tough.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, that's hard, right?
34:00
SPEAKER_01: Because I used to go to the gym.
34:02
SPEAKER_01: I used to go to like Orange Theory at five in the morning, but then it's almost like, okay, but if I go to the gym and then come home, I find that I don't start like praying and reading any of the word or anything that spiritually fades me.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: And then it it's like because I'm I'm all uh you know, I'm ready to like shower and now I'm ready to go.
34:26
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm like, wait, what's more important?
34:28
SPEAKER_00: So right now I feel like it's more important, you know, to breathe and you're getting out of that rhythm, yeah, getting out of that rhythm can happen so fast.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: So we did Beach Week last week.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so you know, I wasn't getting up and you know, doing the praying and working out, you know, and I could tell I just felt so just out of rhythm by the end of the week.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: I felt so detached, I felt like I wasn't running my business, and I was pretty much doing a lot of the same things, but just that morning routine was different and it just threw everything out of whack, you know.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: So this week's been like, all right, just get refocused, get reset, you know.
35:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you you do need to take some time like for yourself to just get your head right in the morning, right?
35:14
SPEAKER_01: Because you're juggling all of these balls and you have to keep them all up in the air.
35:19
SPEAKER_01: And if you haven't taken some time for yourself to really just center and be where you need to be, then you're not gonna be the best you can for everyone else.
35:28
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, yeah.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: All right, I want to wrap us up on one question.
35:33
SPEAKER_00: This is good, the this, like we're 35 minutes in and it's flown by.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: There's been so much really good stuff in here.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate you doing this, Kim, but I want you to think back to the version of Kim that you mentioned 28 years in the business.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: So you're like maybe a year, two, maybe even like three, five years in.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think back to that version of Kim, and you're just getting started.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: You don't know that you're gonna be this top 20 realtor in our area and give back to so many people and do all these charitable things and run these teams and teach other people how to do this business.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: What is one thing that you would tell that version of Kim?
36:16
SPEAKER_02: A lot.
36:17
SPEAKER_02: I don't know that I can say it online.
36:22
SPEAKER_02: Uh, what would I tell myself?
36:26
SPEAKER_02: I would tell, you know what?
36:29
SPEAKER_01: I would have told myself back then, because I wasn't spiritually connected back then, I would have told myself to go find God.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: Perfect answer.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna wrap on that.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Uh Kim, you've got incredible advice.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: If anybody who's listening wants to reach out, just ask follow-up questions, ask you about your about your team, about something you mentioned today, or just connect further, how can they get in touch with you?
36:57
SPEAKER_01: Well, you could call me at 843-452-0688.
37:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, my website is the Borman Group.com.
37:07
SPEAKER_01: That's B-O-E-R-M-A-N Group.com.
37:11
SPEAKER_01: Or you can email me at Kim at experience hyphen charleston.com.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Love it.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate your time today.
37:20
SPEAKER_02: I really appreciate your time.
37:21
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to Charleston's Leading Producers Podcast.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: Could you take a moment to hit subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening on?
37:35
SPEAKER_00: That allows this show to grow and bring you more of the top of the line producers and business leaders.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: And if you think these stories will help someone you know, please share this with them.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: New episodes every Wednesday.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm Jake Cummings, and see you next week.