← Estate of Mind — The Art of Selling Luxury Real Estate
Estate of Mind — The Art of Selling Luxury Real Estate
Elevating the Client Experience in a Competitive Market
00:41:08
In this episode we dive into the essential strategies for real estate agents looking to elevate their client experience, particularly in the luxury market. We explore the importance of personalized service, strategic networking, and niche marketing to attract the right buyers and create lasting client relationships. We break down the strategies top agents use to build deep client relationships, tap into exclusive networks, and market like a pro. If you’re not personalizing your approach, leveraging niche connections, or elevating your client experience, you’re leaving serious money on the table.
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- [00:00]
Tammy Sims
Foreign welcome to A State of Mind, a podcast series all about motivating, inspiring and educating you in the art of selling luxury real estate. The podcast is brought to you by the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. I'm Tammy Sims, lead trainer for the Institute and a full time real estate professional in St. Petersburg, Florida for more than two decades. Now in this episode we're going to explore elevating the client experience in a competitive market. But first, today's podcast is brought to you in part by Real Marketing, the only marketing firm recommended exclusively by the Institute. Real marketing utilizes over 30 years of expertise and their products are built and customized for you. To dominate any neighborhood anywhere. Go to Real Marketing 4U. That's Real Real Marketing, the number four you.com also look for past A State of Mind episodes with CEO David Collins as our guest. Now I'm here today with my co host Jack Miller, a 25 plus year veteran luxury agent with Onward Real Estate in the greater Nashville, Tennessee market. Jack, it's great to see you as always.
- [01:20]
Jack Miller
Hi Tammy, good to see you too.
- [01:23]
Tammy Sims
So we want to talk about exceptional service. And when you and I talked about this topic in preparation, you brought up two points right away, boutique experience and responsiveness, in particular to client inquiries or leads, if you will, in general real estate speak. And so I want to ask you about those two concepts and give you an opportunity to elaborate a little bit.
- [01:51]
Jack Miller
Tammy, let me start first, if I may, with talking about responsiveness and I'm going to start with an example. We've talked in the past about, you know, financially vetting buyers when we're working with sellers in the luxury home market. And it's interesting to me when I'll ask a buyer broker for proof of funds, for example, and we get an answer that sounds like this, their banker is out of town and they can't reach anybody this week and hopefully we'll get a response by next week. But I'd like to go ahead and see the property. We know right away something is amiss. And the same I think is true in our field, our part of the field as well. When a luxury client reaches out to us, we are always available to make contact quickly. And so when someone reaches out to me, even if I'm with, in a meeting or tied up in some other obligation, my first priority is to let them know that, hi, I'm here, good to hear from you, I'll reach back out to you tomorrow or excuse me, reach out back to you later, later today at 4:00 and that they hear from me at 4:00 today. They know we're busy, but they need to hear from us right away that we've gotten their message and we're on top of it.
- [02:59]
Tammy Sims
And you've said too, that when you're in those instances that you'll tell whoever you're with, excuse me, I just need to respond to this and then I'll give you back my, my full attention. And that goes to the point that even while those kinds of clientele expect immediate response, they have a respect for we who have a respect for other people's time and in particular family time. And so you've shared with me that even if you're at a family thing, that you will let them know that's what you're doing.
- [03:35]
Jack Miller
Absolutely. Yeah. There's never a time when I'm sitting with my family at dinner that I'm going to jump up and leave dinner and jump on a 30 or 45 minute phone call. And my clients don't expect that either. But what they do know, my family does know. Occasionally I get a text message typically and someone just wants to know if I'm available to meet at a certain time. I'll text them back real quickly and say, hey, I'm having a family dinner, I'll reach back out to, to you in an hour or something of that nature. And that way it tells them they're important to me. I've set the expectation I'll be back in touch quickly, but I'm not disrupting family time to do that. And I think our clients, they, they certainly respect that because we certainly want to honor their family time and not intrude on them. And that's one of the nice things about the luxury market, is that we're dealing with people who are typically, they're the boss and so, you know, they can make time when they want to, but they also respect that we need to have time with their families and also with other clients.
- [04:34]
Tammy Sims
And another thing that you shared with me is in that response you've actually got a personalized graphic, an image that goes with that text message that adds to the idea that it is a personalized response. It is not a robot responding to their lead.
- [04:53]
Jack Miller
Yes, exactly. So now if one of our clients reached out to us who's a long term client or in the middle of the transaction, I don't do what I'm about to describe, but let's say for example, that Tammy, you refer one of your clients who's moving to the Nashville area and I get a text message, perhaps, or maybe a voicemail. And someone says that Tammy Sim suggests I give you a call. We're considering a move to the Nashville area. If I'm tied up with something at that moment, the very first thing I do is I send a text message back to that individual. A personalized couple of sentences, and it's all my contact information is in that text. And there's a photographic image that shows me in the Nashville skyline with my name and contact information over that image. That lets them know, again, this is not AI, this is not a bot. This is Jack saying, hey, this is me. Here's my contact information. I'll be back to you an hour, or whatever the time frame is. And they know it's sincere. And the most important thing about that is not only that we're quick to respond, but that we follow up on the timeframe that we suggest.
- [05:55]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, that's the key. If you say, I'll be back to you in an hour, you really have to do it. But it's really setting clear expectations, which is also a hallmark of working with individuals who are often successful business people. Right. You set clear expectations and you're also establishing the idea that you are not a Pop Tart. Right. And there, there are plenty in our industry who, who do behave like Pop Tarts. And I feel as though, you know, you and I have talked about this. I feel as though then you're, you're always running around with your, with your, like a chicken with your head cut off and, and you have a difficult time managing anything really well.
- [06:38]
Jack Miller
I had an agent tell me recently, she said, well, I work for my clients 24 7. I'm always available. If I get a call at 10 o'clock at night, I, I answer that call. If I get, you know, whatever I'm doing, I jump up and I answer the call and I talk to my clients right away. And that might sound admirable on the surface, but the reality is that that particular agent doesn't have, doesn't really have a control of their life. They're running and jumping at all times. And the other thing I've noticed, and there's a lot of agents who do this, the other thing I've noticed about agents who, who work this way is that when they're constantly running and jumping, every time they get a phone call, a text message, an email, that they're doing that also on their other clients time. There's no way you can truly do that. But you're not in some way intruding on some other client's time. So your family and your, and your family, of course. And I think that, I think our clients expect us, they were real people. And we've used the word authentic, I think in almost every podcast we've done is true. Once again, you know, we're, we're authentic people in dealing with our clients. They know we have families, we have family time, and they know that we have other clients too. And so, for example, if I'm out showing property, I know I'm going to be tied up for the next three hours showing, showing an estate home, that it's a lengthy time period and I'm expecting an important call I might share with those clients. By the way, I'm expecting a call I may have to pop out just for a moment to return a text message. I'll be right back. So I set the expectation once again, but my focus is on that appointment. I'm not going to disrupt someone else's appointment to go out and have a 30 minute conversation, you know, so if you're that pop tart broker or a realtor, as you described earlier, you can't really have the focus that our clients deserve and expect at this level.
- [08:31]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, and that'll, that'll drive you to drink more wine than usual and, and, and lead to an ulcer. So. But it also really kind of revolves us back to the first of the points that I brought up at the top of the episode, and that is about the boutique experience. Quite honestly, what you just described about setting an expectation with a client that you'll have to take a call, but you'll be right back with them, that is part of offering boutique service as well. Again with the authentic word. But further than that, you and I talked about how important it is to demonstrate your knowledge of the things that are important to your high end clients. And so, yes, responsiveness is one, but there's all sorts of things that we need to be knowledgeable about. So let's talk about some of those things, Jack, that you brought up, that come up in your purview.
- [09:35]
Jack Miller
Well, there's, there's a long laundry list of items you could go through. But right off the top of my head, you know, the clients that we're typically dealing with, this is probably true of most of our colleagues across the country. A lot of them are golfers, A lot of them are world travelers. A lot of them are in, are yacht, they have yachts. They're into water sports and boating, and they're into a lot of things that are typically time Consuming, and they're expensive, and they're things that, you know, the ordinary guy on the street may not have the time or the finances to do or do frequently. And our clients do. And so, for example, I'm not a golfer, okay? So I don't pretend to be a golfer. I know where the premier golf courses are located. That's important. I know who the golf pros are and how to get a. How to get in contact with them. So when I have a client that, you know, we talk to that know golf is important, you know, what's important to me is that I'm able to connect my client with somebody who can educate them about the course that they're interested in or the country club that they're interested in. I don't have to be a member of that country club to be a great resource for my clients, and I don't have to own a yacht to be a great resource to my clients. I love boating, but there's a lot of clients, I'm a lot of agents I know who are afraid of the water. They don't go out in the water, but they can still be wonderful resources for their clients who love boating or have yachts or want to have a yacht or whatever. And so I think that it's important for us. And that's what, again, what the expectation is. Most luxury brokers have been doing this for quite a while. You know, you don't typically enter the field of real estate and jump right into luxury and become a luxury expert. And so what comes with that is we build a resource of people that we can partner with and introduce our clients to. And that's the type of. That's the type of experience or boutique experience that they're looking for, that personal introduction that they're talking to the right person who can help answer their questions when they're new to the area.
- [11:36]
Tammy Sims
And you phrase that nicely when we were talking. A working knowledge of all things luxury. Right. And that gets developed over time. But in the training, we emphasize the fact that you don't have to live the same lifestyle as your wealthy clients in order to be successful. And so how can realtors learn all of those things and build the kind of relationships that we're talking about? I mean, I think about the idea that someone who is a golf pro or membership rep at an exclusive club or a yacht broker, they would benefit in having a relationship with us because we're. We're introducing them to potential new club members or clients. And so how do you. How do you Build those relationships. I think about this from the point of view of our listeners who aren't necessarily as experienced and who want to build those. Those relationships.
- [12:34]
Jack Miller
There's a lot of ways to do it. I know I had a client a few months ago who the proximity to gym or workout facility, very specific, you know, know, training opportunities, was a critical piece to them. And so they said, hey, the neighborhood that we're interested in, what are the closest gyms where, you know, what's a membership like? And can I go out and try that gym out while I'm here? Well, as it turns out, the particular gym they wanted to be a part of didn't allow guests to come out, come into that gym unless they were accompanied by an existing member. But I was a member of a different gym, and they wanted to go to this one. So I made a point to reach out to the general manager, and I told them who I was and the clientele we typically work with. And we worked out a. We worked out an arrangement. Anytime we have clients who want to come to their location, they would wave those. You know, wave those rules entirely and say, yeah, we'll be glad to do a meet and greet. Just bring them to the gym, do the introduction, they'll give them the tour and take it from there. And I think that's really what, again, what our clients are looking for. They. They're new to the area. They want us to be the gateway to all things, the experiential, to experience this new community, this new area, Whether they've already made the commitment to come here, or whether they're just simply exploring the Nashville area or wherever our colleagues across the country are, they want. You know, we have buyers who are exploring the area who want to get to know all things about the area for somebody who runs in that circle.
- [13:59]
Tammy Sims
Absolutely.
- [14:00]
Jack Miller
To your point. Yeah, to your point. You know, when you have buyers coming to St. Pete, there's more than one country club in St. Pete, and you probably don't have memberships at all the country clubs. I'm sure you don't, but that's not what they're looking for. They just want to know that you can say, hi, I've got a client who's a member of this country, of this particular country club, and you make the introduction, take it from there. So I think that's what we bring to the table.
- [14:22]
Tammy Sims
Absolutely. And the example that you've given about the gym, this is. This is kind of a concrete. Someone expressed to you straight up that that was important to them, and I want to dig a little bit deeper when I deliver programs that are about concierge service. I talk a lot about the importance of listening for cues about what's important to them, sometimes picking up on things that they aren't necessarily saying out loud. And, you know, there's lots of ways to learn more about the people that you're interacting with, which I think everyone should. Right. Google them. Institute members, of course, have the tools through wealth engine that really go deep into lifestyle and particularly philanthropic leanings, and that gives the opportunity, opportunity for things like introductions into the art community. Right. Non profits that may align with, with what's important to them, the symphony. And, and so I'm, I'm curious about what kinds of questions you ask or, or what you pay attention to. How, how do you go a little deeper to learn about what's important to them?
- [15:31]
Jack Miller
It's interesting, Tammy. I think this is probably one of the biggest defining differences between the average Realtor on the street and those who are truly luxury agents. Luxury realtors across the country, I think, and let me just try to draw the contrast, I think the typical Realtor focuses on product. And so when they meet with a potential client or, or they're meeting with their client, they're asking all the questions about what that buyer. And we've been talking about buyers a lot today, but they're what that buyer is looking for in a home. So they're talking about square footage and bedrooms and bathrooms and things of that nature, things that all of us need to do, obviously. But that's pretty much their focus. When you're a luxury broker, it's not just about the product, it's not just about the house, it's not just about the neighborhood. It's, again, it's about the lifestyle. And so when we're having conversations with new clients, again, we try to keep this. This is not a checklist. We keep it as conversational as possible. But I'm taking a lot of notes, and when I'm meeting with somebody face to face, I'll ask for permission even as we're talking. I'll say, do you mind if I open my iPad and take notes while we're speaking? And I think that's a terrific cue, by the way, because it lets them know that you're paying attention and you're really, you know, acknowledging who they are, making sure that you're, you know, zooming in on what they're looking for, the whole picture. And so the questions, the line of questioning and the conversation that we have, although it would include things about size of homes and styles of architecture, things of that nature. The bigger picture is talking about things, where they live now, what their life is like. And so we'll ask questions about, you know, so you have kids. How old are your kids? Oh, that's wonderful. What types of activities are your kids involved, involved in? What kinds of activities is your whole family involved in together? And sports and as you mentioned before, philanthropy and arts and sports, all these sorts of things. And what happens is in the course of this really nice conversation, because it ends up me asking a few questions and them talking a lot. And you mentioned the listening piece. So most of this conversation is less about me talking or you talking and a lot about listening. So as they're talking, I'm taking notes and, and, and then when we get done, I make. I basically go back and highlight all the key phrases and key terms. So it helps me get a big picture of who our clients are and what they're looking for. And I think that's really important. And the reverse of that is true when we're talking to sellers, because once again, it's about listening and also talking to them about what their experiences are in the home and what it was like to perhaps raise children in the home. They've got kids, or what it was like living here with their spouse or partner. We're listening to what that was like because listening to our prospective clients talk about their experiences helps us format a better game plan for the experience ahead. And that's really what it's about. Mapping out that boutique experience.
- [18:40]
Tammy Sims
Yeah, yeah. It's about curating a. A boutique or concierge experience. And it's so funny because when you. When you translate it back to, you know, the ordinary, ordinary realtor earlier on in a career bread and butter price point, the number one question is what's the maximum commute to work that you're willing to do?
- [19:05]
Jack Miller
Right.
- [19:05]
Tammy Sims
And not about the, the. What activities do you want to be near? To me asking those questions up front, when I am showing properties that do meet the brick and mortar, I'm able to speak every bit as much about the amenities that are nearby, the proximity to parks, water, boating, golfing, as you say, dog parks. That's huge in our area. And so it really is. Is interesting in that respect to get to know them a little more. And a few minutes ago, I mentioned Googling them, doing research so that you can learn a little bit more about them. I had an experience once. I worked with a buyer who was coming in from the Opposite side of the country. And he was young. In fact, he was a $4 million buyer, first time home buyer, cash. And he, he worked in an industry where he was able to successfully bury any and all traces of himself on Google. Right. Which was interesting and telling in and of itself, except that I found a scanned PDF of a newsletter from. For a private aviation club that had welcomed him as a new member. And so I just tucked that little nugget in the back and as we were touring neighborhoods and looking at different areas, I made reference to the fact that we have a very efficient municipal services airport right in the core of downtown. And he looked at me, he stopped what he, what he was saying, he looked at me kind of funny and he didn't make any reference to it. But ultimately I knew once he, once he closed that he actually brought his plane there to that hangar and that was instrumental in his decision to choose St. Petersburg versus anywhere else. So little clues about that. Let's talk just a couple of minutes. Talking about the buying experience. Right? Right. Which often feeds a future pipeline. Pipeline if, if we create those clients for life. I know you and I have both talked about touring neighborhoods versus not necessarily just going from house to house. Talk about that as a concept in your market area.
- [21:41]
Jack Miller
Yeah, for sure. And oftentimes, depending on the time allotted, how much time my clients have to devote to this, will schedule community tours before we even start talking about looking at specific homes. Because again, you know, for your market and mine and pretty much anybody who's listening today, you know, for our wealth clients, there's lots of places they can live and you can't cover in a day. And so we'll spend time focusing on micro markets within the greater national market that offer, you know, some of the luxury communities. And we'll just drive through the neighborhoods and, and you know, for example, some neighborhoods are gated communities and all gate experiences are not the same.
- [22:26]
Tammy Sims
That's right.
- [22:27]
Jack Miller
I'm sure you've experienced that as well. Some neighborhoods you drive into in a gated community, it's a warm welcome, it's a happy experience, it feels very comfortable. And other communities feel like you're driving into Fort Knox. So. And the thing is, some of our clients prefer one versus the other. You know, some are about ultra security and some are about making their guests feel welcome so they get to experience what that's like. If it's a gated community, they get to experience what it's like as you drive through. And they see me wave to neighbors. Which communities have people seem to really be anxious to wave back and which ones seem to look right through. You live in an area that's got a lot of friendly neighbors, so that's always a nice experience. But at the same time. And I also encourage them to do the same. Unless it's a gated community, I'll encourage them. Here's some neighborhoods you may want to drive through on your own while you're here, and. And they can see where. Kind of where it feels comfortable. But the idea is helping them figure out where it feels like home, because it doesn't really matter whether you're. You're purchasing a $5 million home, a $500,000 home, and that's what we all have in common as agents, I think. And is that really, at the end of the day, we're helping our clients find the best fit. And when we're talking about luxury clients, it's about best fit and really helping them get tuned in to the community and where they can have their needs met on all fronts, not just the house and not just the neighborhood, but the whole lifestyle.
- [23:57]
Tammy Sims
That's right. That's right. Now, I'm going to take us completely off track because you mentioned gated communities. Right. And so I also deal with gated communities. I know exactly what you're talking about. I've got a lot of luxury condos that I work in that have. That have security and concierges. And every bit as important as building the relationships with the golf pros and the art community and all of that is getting to know and building relationships with those gate guards and the building concierges. And so send them pizza every once in a while. We bake homemade cookies on Valentine's Day and hand deliver them to all the building concierges. They remember this. Just the other day, I had one of the valet staff at a building that I was there for business, and he said, it's getting close to cookie time, isn't it?
- [24:54]
Jack Miller
Right. Right.
- [24:55]
Tammy Sims
And if you. If you've done a broker's event or something like that, and you've got some extra treats. Right. And share them with the gate guards, because even if they are the ones that are like Fort Knox, every bit of. Of rapport that you can build with those gatekeepers also comes off when you are bringing clients and they're familiar with you and they're. They're going to give you maybe a little. A little special treatment versus the Absolutely not. You're not coming in here.
- [25:25]
Jack Miller
No, absolutely. I'll tell you something else along those lines. Tammy, for our listeners who are perhaps new to the luxury market in their respective markets or aspiring to work in the luxury space, one tip I would give those listeners is this. If you're showing properties for the first time in a condo, in a gated community or anywhere where there's a quote, gatekeeper, you don't want to walk up to the concierge or enter the gates with your clients and have the person who's been there for the last seven or eight years look at you and say, who are you and who are you with? What did you want to do today? You know, who are you here to see? What you'd rather have your clients see is you walk up to the concierge and they go, hi, good to see you again.
- [26:15]
Tammy Sims
That's right.
- [26:15]
Jack Miller
So I would encourage, if you're new to the wealth market is, and you know, you've got clients who want to see a particular condo and you've not been to that condo before, or perhaps you haven't shown it recently, is make a trip before you do your showings. Meet the concierge staff, make sure they know who you are, give them your card, let them know to expect when you plan to be back and who you're bringing. And so that when you come back, it's a warm welcome. And so I think some concierge and some gate, some gate attendants, they do this naturally, but a lot of them don't. They're really focused on security, much more so than the greeting. And you want to feel like a warm welcome with whoever you're bringing through. And at a minimum, you want to be presented as though this is something you do every day.
- [26:58]
Tammy Sims
Right.
- [26:59]
Jack Miller
For those of us who've been in the business a long time, it is. But if you're new to that space, this is how you can help create that experience, even though it's a new experience for you.
- [27:08]
Tammy Sims
Right. And Jack, that, that makes me think of, okay, old school. Those, those listeners in the industry who've been around a long time will remember the fact that when we were going to go out with a client the day before, two days before, we would go preview every single house that we were going to show so that we were familiar with it and educated. Right. And I don't think that happens very much anymore. And that, that goes right into, right into what you're talking about of familiarizing yourself, build a relationship or rapport with the gatekeeper in those comments.
- [27:44]
Jack Miller
I want to take a step further, too. Tam, if I may again direct you to the same group within our listeners. If you're new to this. To this space, if you're new to working the luxury market, here's a typical scenario, and we're talking about creating that boutique experience. So your client expresses an interest in who some of the best interior designers are. Perhaps you haven't had that experience and don't know that many interior designers. So naturally, you reach out to some of your colleagues, have been in the business longer, perhaps are already working the luxury market, and you say, hey, I need the names of some of the best interior designers. And they give you. Typically, they would send over, here's some names and phone numbers or websites or here's a portfolio or whatever. What you don't want to do is simply give this information a text and just send it to your client here. Call these people.
- [28:30]
Tammy Sims
Yeah.
- [28:31]
Jack Miller
What you do want to do is you call these people first and you introduce yourself and say, hi, I'm Jack Miller with Onward Real Estate. We haven't met before, but I've got a client who's visiting from Sarasota and they're considering a move to Nashville, and I've been given your name. Want to talk with you for a few minutes, introduce myself to you. And their names are such and such. Because that way, when your client calls that interior designer, they say, oh, yeah, I spoke to Jack a couple days ago. And so it's a very familiar greeting as opposed to your client reaching out to an interior designer who's never heard of you. And they said, who referred you? What company are they with?
- [29:05]
Tammy Sims
Or better yet, you know, we've got a realtor that we work with. We'd be glad to connect you with them.
- [29:10]
Jack Miller
Yeah, right. Exactly. Exactly. So it's, again, it takes extra legwork on the front end of this business. If you're new to the industry, new to the luxury space, it takes more homework, but it pays off for years because once you've made that introduction of yourself, now you've created that relationship. And that's what you do with. Going back to the beginning of the podcast, today's podcast. You're doing that with golf pros, interior designers, yacht clubs, whatever this, you know, golf pros, whoever it is, you're creating those relationships, whether you have them for yourself in your own need or not. You've created them for your clients and your future clients.
- [29:50]
Tammy Sims
That's right. That's right. And you. You directed some of that specifically to. To. To newer real estate professionals. And I'm hoping that. That it'll also resonate with some of our listeners. Who are more seasoned and who maybe have gotten out of the habit of doing that. Right. You might have a little reminder to go do that. So let's switch a little bit and spin it to talking about providing exceptional service to our seller clients. And that often comes out in niche marketing opportunities. Right. So not just how many places can I market your property with, with, with marketing that is, that is as broad as possible, but really focusing on the things, the lifestyle items that, that, that are going to draw the right buyer. And I know I told you about a listing that I'm in the process of taking that it's actually, it's a million dollar fixer upper right. It's a, it's a lovely little old lady's house and it's going to be a great opportunity for someone because it's on a canal. It front 90ft of waterfront on the widest and deepest canal in the, in the neighborhood. Right. And so I was telling you I'm going to go after yacht brokers and people, people who have clientele with yachts. Well, I did an early preview showing today, right. And the buyer flew in from out of town and he was looking at that specifically because he has a 52 foot sea ray and he can turn it around in that basin. And so I just had to, I had to smile because that's exactly what we're going to be talking about today. And so what kind of, what kind of niche marketing comes to your mind when you're, when you're really looking to, to go above and beyond to, to find the right buyer for a property that you've listed?
- [31:50]
Jack Miller
I think, you know, for us, and this is probably true, Tammy, for you guys, I think for any of us, if the best marketing that we do is to our colleagues in our particular market who've been in the market for a long time selling luxury homes. I think our sellers, when they're hiring us, that's what they're looking. They may not know it's what they're looking for, but it's the point we need to push on the most is that our circle of friends, our circle of influence with the other brokers, you know, I can reach out and try to reach buyers throughout our local area and across the country through social media and through websites and there's all these wonderful tools and technologies we have, but there's no better reach we have than the close at home reach to the local broker network that we have, not just within our own firm, but all the other firms too. Because I had a listing appointment yesterday. And that's one thing the seller was asking me about, about the relationship we have with other brokers. I said, the reality is, in our market, you know, we have, I think we have about 17,000 agents in the greater Nashville area. And he said, how many of those agents are in the luxury space? And I said, I think from my personal experience, there's about 150 who do the majority of sales, over 2 million in our market and over each year, I can look back and see this. It's the same agents over and over that we're dealing with, and we all know each other really well. That's not to say the newer agent can't enter the marketplace. Of course they can, and they can be very successful. But by and large, most of the luxury properties are sold by a very small group compared to how many licensees there are in the marketplace. And we all know each other really well. So that's what we bring to the table for our sellers, is years worth of relationships with other luxury brokers, that competing firms, and having a good friendly relationship. And that's why it's equally important, as you talked about earlier about, you know, creating those relationships with concierge and with the attendance at the gate, but also with our fellow brokers, we want to have a good experience. And every time we have one of those, you know, transactions that has potential to go sour, it's equally important not to make it just a good experience for our clients, but for the other broker as well that we're working with, because we're going to cross that bridge again, guaranteed.
- [34:10]
Tammy Sims
Absolutely.
- [34:11]
Jack Miller
And those brokers, you know, we're selling our listing, those brokers are going to be very instrumental in our success and our clients reaching their goals. So that's a big part of it, I think.
- [34:22]
Tammy Sims
Yep, absolutely. And whether it's buyers or sellers, I think it goes back to the part of the topic that was publicized of being in a competitive market. Right. And I think that providing exceptional service and having all of those relationships within our industry and the others that we've talked about goes a long way beyond the transaction into creating raving fans.
- [34:48]
Jack Miller
Yeah.
- [34:49]
Tammy Sims
Referrals and repeat business, particularly if you show that you care what they care about. Right. And so I am dying for you to share with our audience about the filet o fish.
- [35:04]
Jack Miller
I have. It still cracks me up now thinking about it, one of my best wealth clients, and I say best because not only has he and his wife purchased some of the top properties and been involved some of the top transactions that we've done over the last few years. But he has also been our number one resource for personal referrals of other luxury clients from across the country. Just, just in the last six months alone we've done three or four transactions between four and eight million dollars that he referred to us. So a terrific client and past client. But whenever he and I are out looking at properties or doing anything business related, one of his, one of his comfort foods is a McDonald's filet of fish. And every time we go out he'll say hey, do you mind driving to the McDonald's drive thru and getting a filet of fish. So it's funny now. It's become a running joke through the years. I want, I want to make sure that when we go out I plan to be near McDonald's drive thru to get him a flay of fish somewhere in that process or if something comes up as a, if there's a McDonald's commercial or anything related to play fish, I'll shoot him a text with a screenshot or something because that's a very personal thing that about Adam that he knows. I know and it goes well beyond anything real estate related. But it, but it, it's a, one of those personal ties and I want Tam, I want to share you another. Share another story with you. I've got a client, a past client who's a, a country music entertainer here in Nashville, very high profile and I was. Had their home listed this past year and one day I was showing the home and they've got remote blinds very high where you can only reach them through using a remote. And the housekeepers had moved the remote and I couldn't find it. And so in a panic, right before showing I called my client and said hey, I can't find the remote for the blinds. And he said which ones? I said the ones by the deer mount, the ones that very high. This isn't it.
- [37:06]
Tammy Sims
And for, for our listeners who aren't familiar, this is in a trophy room. So this is a, you know a, an animal head mounted on the wall, right?
- [37:14]
Jack Miller
Okay, that's exactly right where this is actually in the guest cabin. It's a log cabin on this large estate property that's a guest house and it's really the boys hangout. That's the way they use it because he's a. Also a songwriter and that's why they have songwriter, their songwriter meetings. But anyway, I've referenced the deer mount to show him which window I need the remote for. And he quickly responded, jack, that's not a deer, that's an elk. And of course I know the difference, but I was in a panic. I said, that's, this is not the point. I need to know where the remote is. I'm just trying to show that's the one. But anyway, it's become a running joke. So every time or oftentimes I guess he sees something about elks. I get these random text messages in the middle of the night because he saw a story about elks and he'll send it to me. And the last message I got was over the holidays and he said, Jack, you're, you're an incredible real estate broker, but you're not much in terms of a biologist, you know, and so that's been a back and forth joke. And so, you know, so connecting with our clients, it can be connected on any level. But, but, and again, these are very wealthy, high net worth individuals, so I treat them like family. And it keeps you connected in a way in front of mind for years to come.
- [38:25]
Tammy Sims
And I think if we come full circle on this topic, we are talking about service and relationships, that it's not systematic. Right. It's not lead response tools, it's not AI it is customized, thoughtful. And again, back to that authentic word. Right?
- [38:47]
Jack Miller
Yeah, we, you and I talked about that. We've talked about this a bunch, obviously, and any of our listeners who listen routinely know this. But as I've pointed out to you before, I don't sit down, say, okay, today I'm gonna, I'm gonna have four hours of having text conversations with my best clients. That never happens. But what does happen on a daily basis, I'll see something that reminds me of one of my clients. And in that, in that moment, I'll call them, shoot them a text and have that authentic moment that lets them know I was thinking of them and it becomes very real. And, and I don't care how important you are in terms in your company and your organization as an entertainer or sports athlete, whatever, at the end of the day, everybody likes to be thought of in a personal way. That's right. Somebody's thinking of them. And so that type of connection I think really builds that long term relationship with our clients. And we do it because we want to and do it because it's fun, but it also helps our business a lot.
- [39:50]
Tammy Sims
That's right. And quite honestly, elevating the client experience is about elevating our own experiences and our own satisfaction of working in this arena. And so, Jack, you and I can always go on and on about topics, but we have reached the end of our time together for today, and so I want to thank all of you so much for joining us and listening to this episode of A State of Mind, the Art of Selling Luxury Real Estate. If you're interested in learning more about the Institute, you can find more@luxuryhome marketing.com and if you like what you just heard, please share it with a friend. And don't forget to subscribe, rate and review this podcast. And if you've got a hot topic that you'd like us to discuss at a future podcast, feel free to let us know. Send an email to infoxuryhome marketing.com thanks for listening.