May 5, 2025 • 33 mins
Laura Greer chats about her fascinating career shift from shoe and apparel sales to becoming a successful real estate property Realtor. Laura shares her journey of discovering a love for helping people, her transition into network marketing with Shaklee, and finally how she found her true calling in real estate. With insights on customer relationship building, personal growth, and life lessons learned along the way, Laura's story confirms the importance of identifying what you love, realizing your potential, and the fulfillment of making impactful career changes.
▬▬▬▬▬ Resources ▬▬▬▬▬
- Laura Greer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-greer-32440a7/
- @Properties: https://www.atproperties.com/chicagoland
- Chernin’s Shoes: https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/07/15/chernins-to-close-remaining-stores/
- Shaklee: https://us.shaklee.com/en_US/insideouthealth/storefront
- The Real Estate Institute: https://www.instituteonline.com/
- Realtor Code of Ethics: https://www.nar.realtor/about-nar/governing-documents/the-code-of-ethics
- MLS: https://www.mls.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cacklemedia/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cacklemedia
- X: https://x.com/CackleMediaLLC
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CackleMedia
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cacklemedia/
- Support the pod when signing up for Descript / SquadCast: https://get.descript.com/transferableskill
▬▬▬▬▬ Timestamps ▬▬▬▬▬
00:00 Introduction to Transferable Skills
00:22 Laura Greer's Early Career in Shoe Sales
09:26 Transition to Apparel Sales
10:39 Becoming a Mom and Shifting Careers
14:09 Discovering Real Estate
16:14 Starting a Career in Real Estate
21:33 Building Relationships and Success in Real Estate
32:02 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Transferable skills skills, skills, skills from cackle
media. This is transferable skills.
I'm Noah, Michigan. Today's guest is Laura Greer who
shares her skills journey from shoe and apparel sales into
property realtor. I hope you enjoy Laura Greer.
Thank you for being here on the show.
It's. Great to be here.
(00:20):
Thanks for the invite. When I was growing up and going
to school, going to college, a lot of my friends had direction
where they wanted to be, what they wanted to do when they grew
up. And I never had that.
So I got a degree and I didn't ever use my degree.
I grew up in Saint Louis. I went back to Saint Louis for a
(00:41):
year and all my friends were in Chicago.
So I moved to Chicago and everybody said, what are you
going to do? And I'm like, I don't know.
I'm going to get a job. There was this fabulous shoe
store about 7-8 blocks from my house and I went in and I'm
like, I love shoes, I love people, Let's go.
So that was really my first job out of college and it was sales,
(01:03):
straight sales, 100% Commission,and I rocked it.
I loved it. It was not only an education in
shoes, it was an education in people, in cultures.
And my goal at that point when Igot into the shoe monger
business was this is really cool, but really maybe I'd like
(01:24):
to move up into the corporate area, become a buyer.
And what I found out was that I didn't want to do that in that
company. But what happened in that job is
that I made private clients would come back to the shoe
store. It was called Chernan's Shoes.
And many people who live in Chicago know of Chernan's.
(01:47):
It was the last self standing store that Chernan's built and
it was near Halsted and diversity in the Lakeview
community. And if you walked into a
Chernan's, you were going there to buy.
Usually it wasn't a browsing situation.
They had a parking lot and you went there to buy.
And so I created relationships with my clients.
(02:08):
I love people. I love to learn about new
people. And so when someone would walk
in and I sold women's and children's shoes as we do in
sales, you size up the person. What are they wearing?
What are their shoes look like? For a woman, what type of purse
is she carrying? Whether she's in ripped jeans or
not, if she's wearing Cole Hans,if she's got a fancy purse, she
has money or she spends money onthese types of things.
(02:31):
And I was good at assessing my customer, talking with them and
creating relationships. So people would come back to the
store and they would ask for me.And I actually had a record.
I once sold 14 pairs of shoes toone person at one time.
Holy cow, was it 14 of the no? It was all different kinds and
(02:51):
that's that's that was my first job.
I haven't heard the name churning shoes in so many years.
I would never be able to pull that out of the depths of my
brain archive. But when you said that, boy, a
wave of memory washed over me. I remember going there.
The way you describe your role, knowing your clients, them
coming back to you specifically because you know them and you
(03:13):
have a relationship is literallymy recollection as a child going
there because we would drive that far.
There are plenty of shoe stores and options that were probably
closer, but we went there because of that customer
service. They knew us, we knew them.
It was familiar. It was certainly not a
conveniently located store for us where we lived, but it had
that reputation. It was about client services.
(03:35):
It was about understanding theirneeds and their style, maybe
even budget, and that was the place to go.
That's so cool that you. Were thank you.
You said something very interesting just now.
You said it was all about the relationship and the client
need. And that is the key to what in
my jobs, all the jobs and now inthe career that I had,
(03:56):
everything is about clients, their needs, meeting their needs
and being the best. So it started off with selling
shoes, not just so you know, my grandmother sold shoes, my
father sold shoes. I happen to love shoes.
I always, as a kid, there was a shoe store where I grew up in
Saint Louis and there was a gentleman there and he was my
(04:16):
shoe guy and he would call me when shoes came in that he knew
I would like. And when you like nice things or
you happen to like shoes, it it just was a theme.
But what I didn't realize until later in life is that I love to
help people. So whether it's helping you find
a pair of shoes, helping you find the right clothes, which
(04:38):
I'll tell you about, helping youfind the right vitamin, or
helping you with your health, ornow helping you find the right
home or sell your home. And I didn't realize it until
this moment. That's been the theme of my life
is how can I help other people, make them feel seen and heard
and do a service for them and get paid?
That's awesome. Yeah.
Oh, and getting paid is a key component of 1's job.
(05:02):
Helping people is a great through line, a wonderful theme
that probably came naturally to you.
Shoes was in your blood. It was like you were born to do
this. It was your heritage and family
legacy. I like that you fulfilled that
though. As you describe your role
selling shoes, you talked about understanding the clients,
sizing them up in a way where you could get a persona, a
(05:24):
profile. Was that instinct or were you
taught how to sell? I think it's always been
instinct. I don't.
I'm a very social person. I love meeting new people.
And even though I would say as ayoung kid, I don't think I had a
lot of confidence, I was confident in that setting.
(05:45):
I wasn't afraid. They did train us very well.
They really gave us a whole education on shoes and how they
were made and how to fit someoneproperly.
I'm not sure that's done anymorewhen you get a shoe sales
position. But also my managers liked me
and they helped to give me confidence.
But as far as just approaching human beings, that is something
(06:09):
that I was born with, and I havea lot of empathy for other
people. I actually would like to tell
you one beautiful story that I've never forgotten.
This was a life lesson. A family walked in who didn't
speak a lot of English, and there was a young person with
them, and she was clearly I'll. Turned out she had leukemia and
it was winter and she was very swollen and she needed a pair of
(06:32):
boots. And I brought out probably every
boot we had in her size. And the only ones that she could
get her foot into were these really expensive boots that they
could not afford. And at the time I didn't have a
lot of money. I probably would have just
bought the shoes for them. And so I begged my manager to
give them this big discount and he couldn't.
(06:54):
He wasn't able to do that. And I, they couldn't buy the
shoes and I literally went in the back and cried because I
couldn't help these people. And I thought to myself, this
isn't just about selling shoes, this is about helping people.
And it was a real experience that has stayed with me forever.
And I think I've always, you canlook at it.
(07:16):
Oh yeah, you sell clothes or youcan or shoes or you can look at
it as well. You're helping someone to clothe
themselves and maybe not piece of clothing or those shoes makes
give someone confident. And it's I look at the glass
always as half full. And it's easy to think, oh, you
just do this or you just do that.
But then if you think, how is myjob or my career helping other
(07:40):
people to be their best at what they do, It's a beautiful
feeling and it was sad that day and I've thought about it a lot.
Yeah. What could you have possibly
done? You couldn't have given a
discount unless you were given the permission to do so.
But maybe later on in your life there were areas where you could
(08:01):
be more autonomous and independently make those
decisions that help other people.
I've actually done that in my career now where I'm
representing the buyer and something happens in the course
of the sale and the seller refuses to pay for it and the
buyer can't or doesn't want to pay for it.
And there have been times that Italked with the listing agent
(08:23):
and we as agents say, you know what, this is $1000 or this is
$500. Let's you and I split it.
We'll take it off of our Commission so that we can get
this deal done. And I've done that.
And that feels really good because it's not about just the
Commission. It's about helping others to
reach their goals. So you're right.
I never once thought about that until you said that.
(08:44):
I took my experience from the past and now I'm able to
actually do something about it to help someone so.
Yeah, the frustrations of our past probably influence us more
than the successes that we don'tremember.
And those frustrations I think that we wish could have been
different are the things that guide us towards making.
A difference. Even your description about I'm
(09:07):
not just selling clothes, I'm not just selling shoes, it's
what kind of influence or impactis this going to have on the
individual who's buying them, giving them the confidence,
giving them the opportunity? It's all about caring about
other people. We're only put on this earth for
so much time. So what are we doing here and
what is our role? What is our job?
And so from selling shoes, I actually got my next job through
(09:31):
one of my personal clients. She worked at the apparel center
and I ended up there for a few years.
It was the same kind of thing. It was clothing, it was selling
clothing to stores, and it was all about their needs once
again. And I was good at it and I liked
it. There were definitely new skills
(09:53):
I picked up because I didn't know that when you sell sweaters
you get one small, 2 mediums andone large.
Like things are packaged. But all of the core skills, the
people skills, relationships, cultivating the relationships,
knowing what to anticipate, all of that was transferring skills.
And then it was just learning about a new industry.
(10:13):
So I learned all about that industry and it was interesting.
It wasn't as gratifying in many ways is selling shoes because I
was salaried and I made a lot more money selling shoes that I
did in the apparel center because I was working for
someone else and I'm very independent person.
Either I was going to become a Rep of my own line or I was
(10:35):
going to move on. So then I ended up in a
different industry and then I had three kids and I quit to
take care of my kids. That's about when I met you.
You didn't quit, you shifted. You shifted the your job
description I. Became a mom.
Yeah, you were your own boss at that point, but unfortunately
(10:55):
the customers were a lot more difficult to satisfy.
I have 3 little boys and it keptme on my toes like 24/7 and I
didn't go back to work until many years later outside of the
home because working in the homeis 10 times harder.
Raising children is very hard. It's a 24 hour job.
(11:17):
That's the that's just where it begins.
And then there's so much more. Understanding the various needs
of independent children at various ages can be very
challenging in its own right. 100% After I had children, I
ended up divorced and a few years later I was lucky enough
to meet a wonderful person who I'm still married to and he has
(11:40):
three children and he had custody of his children.
So with my three children and his three children, we got
married. We moved in and one day a friend
of mine called and said, hey, I'm selling these vitamins and
skin care and I really want you to come to this meeting.
And I thought, I'm not interested in that.
She's please come. And she was a good friend.
So I went. So I listened to her spiel and I
(12:01):
thought, OK, that's very compelling.
But yeah, I don't have any extramoney and I got out of there as
fast as I can. And I've always been interested
in being healthy. I was having an issue with a lot
of cleaning products in my home just giving me headaches.
And one of the things she sold were green cleaning products.
So I tried a few products, but the truth is I tried them
(12:21):
because there was a 100% money back guarantee no matter what.
And I thought, OK, I'll be a really good friend.
I'll buy a few of these productsand then they won't work and
I'll get my money back. And the opposite happened.
I bought some of these products.They were amazing.
I lost a little weight, which I wanted to do and I could clean
my house and I didn't get a headache.
And she said to me, you could sell this stuff and you can make
a little money. And I thought, Oh my gosh, I
(12:43):
could totally do that. And I could do it on the side
because I could do it when I would what?
And so I took the plunge and I signed up to become an
independent Shaklee distributor.And it's a network marketing
company can. You help describe.
So network marketing company is where you sell products.
You're an independent distributor, so you're working
on a 10, 99. There's no salary and anyone who
(13:04):
you teach and train to be on your team to also sell those
products. They're on your team and then
you begin to make a small incomefrom whatever they sell as well.
I love the products. It was so easy for me to sell
these products. The key to making significant
income in network marketing companies to have your own team
and that's something I never wanted.
(13:25):
I just wanted to be my own boss,do my own thing and I can spread
myself very far and wide. As we say, like in a network
marketing, you can have customers or you can go deep and
have a large organization. I just was never interested in
having a large organization. So to this day I have a great
residual income from this business.
But as my kids were getting older, I had a little bit of
(13:50):
money coming in from this. It was actually more than a
little bit. It was a great amount of money
for the time I was putting in, and it still is.
But when my youngest child was 16, I thought, OK, what do I
want to do? I want something else.
I love this company, but this isn't what I want to do.
And I kept talking to myself in my car.
(14:11):
I would drive around, say, Laura, what do you want to do if
you didn't need the money, whichwe did, If you didn't need
money, what would you do? And I for months I kept
thinking, what is the right thing for me?
There has to be something. And one day I turned my head and
I saw a for sale sign, and I thought, Oh my God, I could do
(14:34):
that. I had odd jobs when I was in
high school, and one of the jobsI had was answering phones at a
Coldwell Banker when I was 17 or18.
And I loved it. I loved the buzz.
I became friends with one of theRealtors.
And all of a sudden I was like, Oh my gosh, yes, I could do this
now. And that's when the whole major
(14:57):
pivot began, when I had that revelation.
Looking back at that time spent in your car where you're asking
yourself, what do I want to do, What do I want to be when I grow
up? And I think the important
message is if money doesn't matter, because it does matter
and it is important. We have bills to pay and there's
(15:18):
a responsibility that we have atthe very least to ourselves, if
not certainly to our family and our children and making sure
that we are providing food and shelter and clothing.
But the question of if money doesn't matter is an important
one because it helps you identify what gets me excited,
what makes me happy and fulfilled.
And if you can find those answers, those jobs that fit
(15:40):
that description, maybe you can tease out from there more
realistic things that actually do pay.
Driving by for sale, sign on a home and saying I can do that.
You knew that because you had some of that experience already
and on the foundation of your one of your core values and
principles of helping others. I think that's probably a
(16:02):
perfect balance, a symbiotic relationship between.
What can I do professionally andwill it help?
You're right. Was there a sense of
apprehension or an uncertainty about how to get into this?
So yeah, when I was strictly selling Shaklee, I would go to
network events in the community.I belong to the Chamber of
(16:23):
Commerce and I would say two, 2-3 years before this revelation
occurred, I was at a holiday party and I met a woman who was
a realtor and we became fast friends.
We started having lunch together, having coffee.
I would hear about her business,she would hear about my
(16:44):
business, and we started an accountability partnership.
So every Tuesday we would talk about our weeks in the past,
what our goals were for the coming week.
I went to this meeting. It was just me and her, and I
said her name is Christine, and I said Christine.
I had this epiphany. I was thinking maybe I should
become a realtor. And first of all, I'm 5 feet
(17:07):
tall. Christine is 6 feet tall, and
she literally leapt up, like outof her chair, nearly hitting the
ceiling. She's oh, hey, gosh, that is the
greatest idea. And at the time, she was working
for app properties. Just.
I would introduce you to my manager and we could do some
things together. And Oh my gosh, this will be so
much fun. She made me feel so good about
(17:29):
the fact that this was such a great idea.
She was screaming. And I thought, OK, like maybe
this really is something. And she would be perfect for
this. And she went on and on.
So that was the first thing. I never even said anything to my
husband. She was your cheerleader.
Yeah, complete cheerleader. So then I went home and I said
to my husband, I'm thinking about this, he's a great idea,
so go do it. He was so supportive.
(17:53):
At some point I went upstairs tothe computer.
I went online to the real estateschool she recommended, and it
was on a it was a Thursday. They had a fast track class.
It was beginning that Monday like 3 days later and it I think
it was $750 and for us at that time I was thinking can I do
(18:18):
that? Like it's $750.
And I remember I came halfway down the stairs, my husband was
downstairs and I said, well, there is actually a fast track
class that starts on Monday. He goes, well, go do it.
And I said $750 and he's go upstairs and sign up now.
And I was like, but he doesn't know but do this.
(18:38):
I'm like that's three weeks and it's every day.
And I don't know, like it could be a lot of studying.
He goes, OK, go do it. There was no, no question in his
mind and I said I might not be able to cook dinner or do the
laundry and he's go do it was like, OK.
I had no idea what I was gettingmyself into, honestly.
(19:00):
You also didn't have any obstacles.
He helped remove some of those obstacles for you.
The barriers, all the things in your head that might be sincere
considerations of who's going tomake dinner, who's going to
drive, carpool, or do these other things, those are real
considerations, but they can also lend themselves to be
excuses to keep you from accomplishing your goals.
And I was afraid at that moment.I was afraid because I was never
(19:22):
the greatest student. I always swore I would never go
back to school. And I was scared like, can I do
this? What if I fail?
And I've always had that little you're good enough, you're going
to fail, you can't do this. And thanks to my amazing
husband, Joe, he was like, no, you got this.
So I went upstairs. I remember like hovering my
(19:44):
finger over that button. And then I was just, I just
closed my eyes and I clicked. And right after I paid, I
actually got a phone call from someone at the real estate
institute. And he said, hi, I see that you
just signed up. I want you to know that there's
a there's a book you need to pick up and you can download the
first class. But the way it works is you have
(20:06):
to read all the material before you go to the class.
I thought, OK, fine. The book was literally this
thick. Yeah.
How was that weekend for you I. Freaked, I really freaked out.
And my husband was like, you, you can do this.
So I ended up going back, going driving to the real estate
institute and picking up the book.
And I, I nearly cried out of fear.
(20:29):
And I remember being very scaredwhen I told my kids they were
all just you. You're awesome.
You're going to be the best realtor in the whole world,
which was really nice. And once I got that book, I said
to my husband, I'm going to haveto be in the library.
So it was three weeks of non-stop studying, but I
(20:51):
thought, I am going to do this. I don't care what it takes.
So from start to finish, I became a realtor in six weeks.
I had a job. Oh, it's.
Crazy. That's awesome.
It's very daunting, stressful for many students at any age to
have to study for and. Prepare.
I was in my 40s and it was very stressful.
(21:11):
I will tell you. The interesting thing is like
most of what I learned in real estate class, it didn't prepare
me to be a realtor. When I was hired at properties,
they had an RE 101 class and that's what prepared me for
really being a realtor. What's step one?
What's step 2:00? What if you have a client?
What do you do with them? How do you search online?
How do you write a contract? What do you look for?
(21:33):
And the truth is, I think we allknow in life as we get older,
there's nothing you can learn ina book that is better than life
experience. And so I think you, when
becoming a realtor or doing anything else in this world,
quite frankly, you need a mentor.
Sometimes you don't. I guess it depends if you're
hired by a company and they're giving you training, etcetera,
(21:55):
etcetera. But I've been very blessed.
I've had a few mentors and my managing broker who is just
phenomenal said to me, you are my best and easiest hire ever
because when you came here, you already knew how to run your own
business. So when I became a Shaklee
distributor, my business leader,Jennifer taught us how to run
(22:19):
our businesses. And all of those skills that I
learned in my becoming a networkmarketing professional, I
transferred immediately into being a realtor.
Nobody needed to tell me, oh, you needed to keep track of your
clients. You need to make sure to keep in
touch with them. You need to take people to
coffee. You need to ask people how their
(22:39):
families are. First of all, that to me, that's
just human being one O 1. So it's if you love people and
you're curious about others and you really are truly interested
in people's lives, you develop relationships.
And when you're in sales, peoplewant to buy a product or use
someone who they know and trust.So I had already built my
(23:02):
relationships. So when I announced to all of my
clients and all of my friends that I was becoming a realtor, I
immediately had clients because they knew that if they had
called me about what vitamins they needed or what green
cleaners were best for them, andI gave my all to them in that
industry, why would I not then help them find the right house
(23:25):
or give my all and help them selling their house?
I think this is a brilliant podcast because what we don't
realize as we're in our 20s and sometimes even in our 30s is we
have skills that are lifelong skills that we've developed
throughout the course of our life.
And we are constantly transferring our skills from one
(23:47):
thing to the next. And if you're not like
something's wrong, you know something's wrong.
We are all so diverse and we have different strengths and
weaknesses. And when we take our strengths
and we are able to develop them in a way and then transfer them
into making a living, it doesn'tfeel like work.
(24:10):
So I'm very grateful to my business leader and Shaklee.
I'm still very dear friends withher.
I've had a couple of couple people who helped me along the
way. But yeah, I just feel grateful.
And it's it's not an easy business.
Real estate is not easy. I'm constantly challenged.
I'm constantly learning, honing my skills, my people skills,
(24:32):
taking deep breaths and trying to be calm.
But all of the skills that I learned in relationship
building, I've transferred to real estate.
It's love and relationships first, real estate 2nd, and
that's what the original owners of that properties have always
taught us, which is why our logois love, because it's love
(24:54):
first. That's awesome.
I love that technical question. I often hear the term real
estate agent and then I hear real estate broker.
What's the difference? In order to become a Realtor,
you have to be a part of an organization, whether it's we
live in Chicago, so whether it'sthe Chicago Association of
(25:15):
Realtors or it's the North ShoreBarrington Association of
Realtors, you have to belong to an organization.
And at the beginning you have totake some of their classes.
And Realtors are bound by ethics, morals, things like
that. There is a whole code of ethics.
You can be fined, you can be taken to Realtor court, and
(25:37):
Realtor is a trademark need. You can't just throw it around
and it is capitalized. And if you don't belong to one
of those organizations, then you're not a realtor, you're an
agent. So I think that's an interesting
distinction. It's a professional organization
and you're bound by ethics. So if I'm a realtor and I'm part
of an association, a larger organization, a group of
(26:00):
community, what kind of advantages does that provide?
While you have access to the Multiple Listing Service online,
which is where we find things, if you're going to work for App
Properties or Coal Banker or Century 21, you need to be a
part of a realtor organization. They get fantastic classes which
I should take more advantage of in my free time.
(26:22):
Think back to when you know those classes were $750 and you
weren't sure about that. These are free.
Take advantage of them now. One thing I've really learned
throughout my jobs versus my career, whatever, there are
differences here, but I do believe now I have a career.
In the past, I had different jobs that prepared me for this
(26:45):
career that I've chosen. And one thing that I think is
true across the board is when people trust you, they will
listen to you. Everyone wants to know what's
good for themselves. So when I yeah, I post online.
I don't love social media, but Ido it because it's just
(27:07):
something you do to get your name out.
And I think what I've realized is it's not about hosting.
Oh, hey, I'm selling this house.Or look at the schoolhouse.
I saw it today. It's more, How can I be of help
to you? Do you need a handyman?
Do you need a painter? Did you realize that property
taxes are due tomorrow? Hey, have you ever thought about
(27:28):
getting involved in your Chamberof Commerce and maybe changing
the rules and regulations of acts in your community?
And it's not about being there, getting online for your face and
your exposure only, which is important because you want to
stay top of mind, but it's what am I giving to the community.
So I will regularly post tips ontaking care of your home or if
(27:53):
you need a loan, consider getting a home equity line of
credit instead of XY and Z loan.And I have people from the
community reach out to me. Hey, I really need a great
plumber and I'll give them my plumber's name or I'll recommend
to people. When you give easily to others
and you're not expecting in return, I think that's when you
get the return. I've had people refer me who
(28:14):
didn't use me, who said I wish Ihad used you.
But I'm going to give you this referral because I think it
would be a great fit. So if we if everyone in the
world that's a nice dream, wouldfocus on how we can give to
other people, that's really whenwe get back.
Beautifully said. My dad, who's almost 90, was
(28:34):
still working every day in sales.
Every client had an index card, and it was their name, their
address and all the notes I kepton that claim.
I handwrote all of those things and I had months of the year and
then days of the month and I would put that person once I
spoke to them, then I would put it three months behind and then
(28:56):
every day I would look at who I was calling that day.
And a manual CRM that's. Exactly what it is that's so
funny. That's what everybody use.
That's what my dad still uses that system.
If listen if it works for him. Yeah, he's not going to switch
to an ACRM. Nor does he probably need.
To nor does he need to. Tell me about your process in
(29:18):
technology operations. How you your?
Workflow, Whether I get a new buyer or a new seller, if
someone calls me, I have a checklist of everything that I
do with each new listing, each new buyer, and the first thing
that I do is schedule a call. The second thing I do is put
their information into my CRM. App Properties has a phenomenal
(29:39):
interface for us. So other than marketing and
listing information and digital listing presentation or digital
buyer presentation, which I can create my own, they also have a
phenomenal CRM that I use every day and all my clients are in
there. So I'll, I have a checklist and
I will print out because I am a very visual person and I also
(30:00):
like to fold a piece of paper inmy hand for every one of my
clients. I have my checklist, whether
you're a buyer or you're a seller, and there are a lot of
steps in when you're buying a home or when you're selling a
home. So whether it's setting up the
offer, setting up the inspection, the negotiations
that I have, everything on a checklist.
(30:21):
Even if it's something that I amnot necessarily going to be
involved in, like when the attorneys get involved, I still
have that on the checklist. And it helps me in my mind to
stay focused on all this different steps it takes to get
from the original accepted contract to the closing.
And it's not a straight line, ever.
(30:42):
No, I have a checklist that's identical to how you describe
yours for this show, even thoughI'm primarily the only person
responsible for every step of this podcast.
I want to first of all, make sure that I'm consistent, that
my workflow is consistent, but also that I am optimizing my
workflow. And the only way to optimize
this to analyze what you're doing and to analyze this to
write down and to understand each step.
(31:03):
I do have that for my clients. It doesn't have all the minutia
that they don't have to worry about, but but it's incredibly
helpful to them. Before I actually give them
that, I have a discussion with them.
I'm going to tell you all about the process and then I'm going
to give you a document that shows you all that.
And when we go under contract, Ihave a whole timeline that I
(31:25):
mark up for them and I send it to them.
So they have all of that. But it's important to understand
before you're under contract, how does this work?
What am I going to expect? So that is really key so that
everyone I work with isn't in the dark.
They know what is coming next. I've learned that along the way
because in the beginning I didn't even know what the next
(31:47):
step was. So I try and preempt to all of
that fear and stress in my clients and explain to him this
is what's going to happen first,second, third, 4th, 5th,
etcetera. So that is part of my process.
I also go into my CRM every day.I gives me a list of who I'm
supposed to be reaching out to. I love what I do and I hope that
(32:07):
other people who are watching this can think about what do
they love and transfer whatever it is they're doing now into
something that they truly love. Great message to end with.
Thank you Laura. This has been a great
conversation. I love learning more about a
subject that we all have some superficial or pedestrian level
(32:28):
knowledge about, but really lacka tremendous amount of insight
about the details of what goes on in the background.
It's great to hear how you got into it as an important message
to take away. Also, was that discovery for
yourself? It's asking what do I want to
do, regardless of how viable it is.
Reasonable. Forget about money.
Does that matter right now? Or can I think about that and
(32:50):
discover my joy and opportunity without imposing all of the
other restrictions or necessary details about what a job
actually is? It's important to find out what
you love, what you believe you'dbe good at, and then just go do
it. That was awesome.
My pleasure, Thank you so much for having me.
I wish you all the best and everything that you do.
(33:12):
I want to thank Laura for being today's guest and to you, our
listeners, for joining us on this episode of Transferable
Skills. Remember, the skills you've
gained can take you anywhere. Until next time, keep exploring
those transferable skills.
Transferable skills skills, skills, skills from cackle
media. This is transferable skills.
I'm Noah, Michigan. Today's guest is Laura Greer who
shares her skills journey from shoe and apparel sales into
property realtor. I hope you enjoy Laura Greer.
Thank you for being here on the show.
It's. Great to be here.
(00:20):
Thanks for the invite. When I was growing up and going
to school, going to college, a lot of my friends had direction
where they wanted to be, what they wanted to do when they grew
up. And I never had that.
So I got a degree and I didn't ever use my degree.
I grew up in Saint Louis. I went back to Saint Louis for a
(00:41):
year and all my friends were in Chicago.
So I moved to Chicago and everybody said, what are you
going to do? And I'm like, I don't know.
I'm going to get a job. There was this fabulous shoe
store about 7-8 blocks from my house and I went in and I'm
like, I love shoes, I love people, Let's go.
So that was really my first job out of college and it was sales,
(01:03):
straight sales, 100% Commission,and I rocked it.
I loved it. It was not only an education in
shoes, it was an education in people, in cultures.
And my goal at that point when Igot into the shoe monger
business was this is really cool, but really maybe I'd like
(01:24):
to move up into the corporate area, become a buyer.
And what I found out was that I didn't want to do that in that
company. But what happened in that job is
that I made private clients would come back to the shoe
store. It was called Chernan's Shoes.
And many people who live in Chicago know of Chernan's.
(01:47):
It was the last self standing store that Chernan's built and
it was near Halsted and diversity in the Lakeview
community. And if you walked into a
Chernan's, you were going there to buy.
Usually it wasn't a browsing situation.
They had a parking lot and you went there to buy.
And so I created relationships with my clients.
(02:08):
I love people. I love to learn about new
people. And so when someone would walk
in and I sold women's and children's shoes as we do in
sales, you size up the person. What are they wearing?
What are their shoes look like? For a woman, what type of purse
is she carrying? Whether she's in ripped jeans or
not, if she's wearing Cole Hans,if she's got a fancy purse, she
has money or she spends money onthese types of things.
(02:31):
And I was good at assessing my customer, talking with them and
creating relationships. So people would come back to the
store and they would ask for me.And I actually had a record.
I once sold 14 pairs of shoes toone person at one time.
Holy cow, was it 14 of the no? It was all different kinds and
(02:51):
that's that's that was my first job.
I haven't heard the name churning shoes in so many years.
I would never be able to pull that out of the depths of my
brain archive. But when you said that, boy, a
wave of memory washed over me. I remember going there.
The way you describe your role, knowing your clients, them
coming back to you specifically because you know them and you
(03:13):
have a relationship is literallymy recollection as a child going
there because we would drive that far.
There are plenty of shoe stores and options that were probably
closer, but we went there because of that customer
service. They knew us, we knew them.
It was familiar. It was certainly not a
conveniently located store for us where we lived, but it had
that reputation. It was about client services.
(03:35):
It was about understanding theirneeds and their style, maybe
even budget, and that was the place to go.
That's so cool that you. Were thank you.
You said something very interesting just now.
You said it was all about the relationship and the client
need. And that is the key to what in
my jobs, all the jobs and now inthe career that I had,
(03:56):
everything is about clients, their needs, meeting their needs
and being the best. So it started off with selling
shoes, not just so you know, my grandmother sold shoes, my
father sold shoes. I happen to love shoes.
I always, as a kid, there was a shoe store where I grew up in
Saint Louis and there was a gentleman there and he was my
(04:16):
shoe guy and he would call me when shoes came in that he knew
I would like. And when you like nice things or
you happen to like shoes, it it just was a theme.
But what I didn't realize until later in life is that I love to
help people. So whether it's helping you find
a pair of shoes, helping you find the right clothes, which
(04:38):
I'll tell you about, helping youfind the right vitamin, or
helping you with your health, ornow helping you find the right
home or sell your home. And I didn't realize it until
this moment. That's been the theme of my life
is how can I help other people, make them feel seen and heard
and do a service for them and get paid?
That's awesome. Yeah.
Oh, and getting paid is a key component of 1's job.
(05:02):
Helping people is a great through line, a wonderful theme
that probably came naturally to you.
Shoes was in your blood. It was like you were born to do
this. It was your heritage and family
legacy. I like that you fulfilled that
though. As you describe your role
selling shoes, you talked about understanding the clients,
sizing them up in a way where you could get a persona, a
(05:24):
profile. Was that instinct or were you
taught how to sell? I think it's always been
instinct. I don't.
I'm a very social person. I love meeting new people.
And even though I would say as ayoung kid, I don't think I had a
lot of confidence, I was confident in that setting.
(05:45):
I wasn't afraid. They did train us very well.
They really gave us a whole education on shoes and how they
were made and how to fit someoneproperly.
I'm not sure that's done anymorewhen you get a shoe sales
position. But also my managers liked me
and they helped to give me confidence.
But as far as just approaching human beings, that is something
(06:09):
that I was born with, and I havea lot of empathy for other
people. I actually would like to tell
you one beautiful story that I've never forgotten.
This was a life lesson. A family walked in who didn't
speak a lot of English, and there was a young person with
them, and she was clearly I'll. Turned out she had leukemia and
it was winter and she was very swollen and she needed a pair of
(06:32):
boots. And I brought out probably every
boot we had in her size. And the only ones that she could
get her foot into were these really expensive boots that they
could not afford. And at the time I didn't have a
lot of money. I probably would have just
bought the shoes for them. And so I begged my manager to
give them this big discount and he couldn't.
(06:54):
He wasn't able to do that. And I, they couldn't buy the
shoes and I literally went in the back and cried because I
couldn't help these people. And I thought to myself, this
isn't just about selling shoes, this is about helping people.
And it was a real experience that has stayed with me forever.
And I think I've always, you canlook at it.
(07:16):
Oh yeah, you sell clothes or youcan or shoes or you can look at
it as well. You're helping someone to clothe
themselves and maybe not piece of clothing or those shoes makes
give someone confident. And it's I look at the glass
always as half full. And it's easy to think, oh, you
just do this or you just do that.
But then if you think, how is myjob or my career helping other
(07:40):
people to be their best at what they do, It's a beautiful
feeling and it was sad that day and I've thought about it a lot.
Yeah. What could you have possibly
done? You couldn't have given a
discount unless you were given the permission to do so.
But maybe later on in your life there were areas where you could
(08:01):
be more autonomous and independently make those
decisions that help other people.
I've actually done that in my career now where I'm
representing the buyer and something happens in the course
of the sale and the seller refuses to pay for it and the
buyer can't or doesn't want to pay for it.
And there have been times that Italked with the listing agent
(08:23):
and we as agents say, you know what, this is $1000 or this is
$500. Let's you and I split it.
We'll take it off of our Commission so that we can get
this deal done. And I've done that.
And that feels really good because it's not about just the
Commission. It's about helping others to
reach their goals. So you're right.
I never once thought about that until you said that.
(08:44):
I took my experience from the past and now I'm able to
actually do something about it to help someone so.
Yeah, the frustrations of our past probably influence us more
than the successes that we don'tremember.
And those frustrations I think that we wish could have been
different are the things that guide us towards making.
A difference. Even your description about I'm
(09:07):
not just selling clothes, I'm not just selling shoes, it's
what kind of influence or impactis this going to have on the
individual who's buying them, giving them the confidence,
giving them the opportunity? It's all about caring about
other people. We're only put on this earth for
so much time. So what are we doing here and
what is our role? What is our job?
And so from selling shoes, I actually got my next job through
(09:31):
one of my personal clients. She worked at the apparel center
and I ended up there for a few years.
It was the same kind of thing. It was clothing, it was selling
clothing to stores, and it was all about their needs once
again. And I was good at it and I liked
it. There were definitely new skills
(09:53):
I picked up because I didn't know that when you sell sweaters
you get one small, 2 mediums andone large.
Like things are packaged. But all of the core skills, the
people skills, relationships, cultivating the relationships,
knowing what to anticipate, all of that was transferring skills.
And then it was just learning about a new industry.
(10:13):
So I learned all about that industry and it was interesting.
It wasn't as gratifying in many ways is selling shoes because I
was salaried and I made a lot more money selling shoes that I
did in the apparel center because I was working for
someone else and I'm very independent person.
Either I was going to become a Rep of my own line or I was
(10:35):
going to move on. So then I ended up in a
different industry and then I had three kids and I quit to
take care of my kids. That's about when I met you.
You didn't quit, you shifted. You shifted the your job
description I. Became a mom.
Yeah, you were your own boss at that point, but unfortunately
(10:55):
the customers were a lot more difficult to satisfy.
I have 3 little boys and it keptme on my toes like 24/7 and I
didn't go back to work until many years later outside of the
home because working in the homeis 10 times harder.
Raising children is very hard. It's a 24 hour job.
(11:17):
That's the that's just where it begins.
And then there's so much more. Understanding the various needs
of independent children at various ages can be very
challenging in its own right. 100% After I had children, I
ended up divorced and a few years later I was lucky enough
to meet a wonderful person who I'm still married to and he has
(11:40):
three children and he had custody of his children.
So with my three children and his three children, we got
married. We moved in and one day a friend
of mine called and said, hey, I'm selling these vitamins and
skin care and I really want you to come to this meeting.
And I thought, I'm not interested in that.
She's please come. And she was a good friend.
So I went. So I listened to her spiel and I
(12:01):
thought, OK, that's very compelling.
But yeah, I don't have any extramoney and I got out of there as
fast as I can. And I've always been interested
in being healthy. I was having an issue with a lot
of cleaning products in my home just giving me headaches.
And one of the things she sold were green cleaning products.
So I tried a few products, but the truth is I tried them
(12:21):
because there was a 100% money back guarantee no matter what.
And I thought, OK, I'll be a really good friend.
I'll buy a few of these productsand then they won't work and
I'll get my money back. And the opposite happened.
I bought some of these products.They were amazing.
I lost a little weight, which I wanted to do and I could clean
my house and I didn't get a headache.
And she said to me, you could sell this stuff and you can make
a little money. And I thought, Oh my gosh, I
(12:43):
could totally do that. And I could do it on the side
because I could do it when I would what?
And so I took the plunge and I signed up to become an
independent Shaklee distributor.And it's a network marketing
company can. You help describe.
So network marketing company is where you sell products.
You're an independent distributor, so you're working
on a 10, 99. There's no salary and anyone who
(13:04):
you teach and train to be on your team to also sell those
products. They're on your team and then
you begin to make a small incomefrom whatever they sell as well.
I love the products. It was so easy for me to sell
these products. The key to making significant
income in network marketing companies to have your own team
and that's something I never wanted.
(13:25):
I just wanted to be my own boss,do my own thing and I can spread
myself very far and wide. As we say, like in a network
marketing, you can have customers or you can go deep and
have a large organization. I just was never interested in
having a large organization. So to this day I have a great
residual income from this business.
But as my kids were getting older, I had a little bit of
(13:50):
money coming in from this. It was actually more than a
little bit. It was a great amount of money
for the time I was putting in, and it still is.
But when my youngest child was 16, I thought, OK, what do I
want to do? I want something else.
I love this company, but this isn't what I want to do.
And I kept talking to myself in my car.
(14:11):
I would drive around, say, Laura, what do you want to do if
you didn't need the money, whichwe did, If you didn't need
money, what would you do? And I for months I kept
thinking, what is the right thing for me?
There has to be something. And one day I turned my head and
I saw a for sale sign, and I thought, Oh my God, I could do
(14:34):
that. I had odd jobs when I was in
high school, and one of the jobsI had was answering phones at a
Coldwell Banker when I was 17 or18.
And I loved it. I loved the buzz.
I became friends with one of theRealtors.
And all of a sudden I was like, Oh my gosh, yes, I could do this
now. And that's when the whole major
(14:57):
pivot began, when I had that revelation.
Looking back at that time spent in your car where you're asking
yourself, what do I want to do, What do I want to be when I grow
up? And I think the important
message is if money doesn't matter, because it does matter
and it is important. We have bills to pay and there's
(15:18):
a responsibility that we have atthe very least to ourselves, if
not certainly to our family and our children and making sure
that we are providing food and shelter and clothing.
But the question of if money doesn't matter is an important
one because it helps you identify what gets me excited,
what makes me happy and fulfilled.
And if you can find those answers, those jobs that fit
(15:40):
that description, maybe you can tease out from there more
realistic things that actually do pay.
Driving by for sale, sign on a home and saying I can do that.
You knew that because you had some of that experience already
and on the foundation of your one of your core values and
principles of helping others. I think that's probably a
(16:02):
perfect balance, a symbiotic relationship between.
What can I do professionally andwill it help?
You're right. Was there a sense of
apprehension or an uncertainty about how to get into this?
So yeah, when I was strictly selling Shaklee, I would go to
network events in the community.I belong to the Chamber of
(16:23):
Commerce and I would say two, 2-3 years before this revelation
occurred, I was at a holiday party and I met a woman who was
a realtor and we became fast friends.
We started having lunch together, having coffee.
I would hear about her business,she would hear about my
(16:44):
business, and we started an accountability partnership.
So every Tuesday we would talk about our weeks in the past,
what our goals were for the coming week.
I went to this meeting. It was just me and her, and I
said her name is Christine, and I said Christine.
I had this epiphany. I was thinking maybe I should
become a realtor. And first of all, I'm 5 feet
(17:07):
tall. Christine is 6 feet tall, and
she literally leapt up, like outof her chair, nearly hitting the
ceiling. She's oh, hey, gosh, that is the
greatest idea. And at the time, she was working
for app properties. Just.
I would introduce you to my manager and we could do some
things together. And Oh my gosh, this will be so
much fun. She made me feel so good about
(17:29):
the fact that this was such a great idea.
She was screaming. And I thought, OK, like maybe
this really is something. And she would be perfect for
this. And she went on and on.
So that was the first thing. I never even said anything to my
husband. She was your cheerleader.
Yeah, complete cheerleader. So then I went home and I said
to my husband, I'm thinking about this, he's a great idea,
so go do it. He was so supportive.
(17:53):
At some point I went upstairs tothe computer.
I went online to the real estateschool she recommended, and it
was on a it was a Thursday. They had a fast track class.
It was beginning that Monday like 3 days later and it I think
it was $750 and for us at that time I was thinking can I do
(18:18):
that? Like it's $750.
And I remember I came halfway down the stairs, my husband was
downstairs and I said, well, there is actually a fast track
class that starts on Monday. He goes, well, go do it.
And I said $750 and he's go upstairs and sign up now.
And I was like, but he doesn't know but do this.
(18:38):
I'm like that's three weeks and it's every day.
And I don't know, like it could be a lot of studying.
He goes, OK, go do it. There was no, no question in his
mind and I said I might not be able to cook dinner or do the
laundry and he's go do it was like, OK.
I had no idea what I was gettingmyself into, honestly.
(19:00):
You also didn't have any obstacles.
He helped remove some of those obstacles for you.
The barriers, all the things in your head that might be sincere
considerations of who's going tomake dinner, who's going to
drive, carpool, or do these other things, those are real
considerations, but they can also lend themselves to be
excuses to keep you from accomplishing your goals.
And I was afraid at that moment.I was afraid because I was never
(19:22):
the greatest student. I always swore I would never go
back to school. And I was scared like, can I do
this? What if I fail?
And I've always had that little you're good enough, you're going
to fail, you can't do this. And thanks to my amazing
husband, Joe, he was like, no, you got this.
So I went upstairs. I remember like hovering my
(19:44):
finger over that button. And then I was just, I just
closed my eyes and I clicked. And right after I paid, I
actually got a phone call from someone at the real estate
institute. And he said, hi, I see that you
just signed up. I want you to know that there's
a there's a book you need to pick up and you can download the
first class. But the way it works is you have
(20:06):
to read all the material before you go to the class.
I thought, OK, fine. The book was literally this
thick. Yeah.
How was that weekend for you I. Freaked, I really freaked out.
And my husband was like, you, you can do this.
So I ended up going back, going driving to the real estate
institute and picking up the book.
And I, I nearly cried out of fear.
(20:29):
And I remember being very scaredwhen I told my kids they were
all just you. You're awesome.
You're going to be the best realtor in the whole world,
which was really nice. And once I got that book, I said
to my husband, I'm going to haveto be in the library.
So it was three weeks of non-stop studying, but I
(20:51):
thought, I am going to do this. I don't care what it takes.
So from start to finish, I became a realtor in six weeks.
I had a job. Oh, it's.
Crazy. That's awesome.
It's very daunting, stressful for many students at any age to
have to study for and. Prepare.
I was in my 40s and it was very stressful.
(21:11):
I will tell you. The interesting thing is like
most of what I learned in real estate class, it didn't prepare
me to be a realtor. When I was hired at properties,
they had an RE 101 class and that's what prepared me for
really being a realtor. What's step one?
What's step 2:00? What if you have a client?
What do you do with them? How do you search online?
How do you write a contract? What do you look for?
(21:33):
And the truth is, I think we allknow in life as we get older,
there's nothing you can learn ina book that is better than life
experience. And so I think you, when
becoming a realtor or doing anything else in this world,
quite frankly, you need a mentor.
Sometimes you don't. I guess it depends if you're
hired by a company and they're giving you training, etcetera,
(21:55):
etcetera. But I've been very blessed.
I've had a few mentors and my managing broker who is just
phenomenal said to me, you are my best and easiest hire ever
because when you came here, you already knew how to run your own
business. So when I became a Shaklee
distributor, my business leader,Jennifer taught us how to run
(22:19):
our businesses. And all of those skills that I
learned in my becoming a networkmarketing professional, I
transferred immediately into being a realtor.
Nobody needed to tell me, oh, you needed to keep track of your
clients. You need to make sure to keep in
touch with them. You need to take people to
coffee. You need to ask people how their
(22:39):
families are. First of all, that to me, that's
just human being one O 1. So it's if you love people and
you're curious about others and you really are truly interested
in people's lives, you develop relationships.
And when you're in sales, peoplewant to buy a product or use
someone who they know and trust.So I had already built my
(23:02):
relationships. So when I announced to all of my
clients and all of my friends that I was becoming a realtor, I
immediately had clients because they knew that if they had
called me about what vitamins they needed or what green
cleaners were best for them, andI gave my all to them in that
industry, why would I not then help them find the right house
(23:25):
or give my all and help them selling their house?
I think this is a brilliant podcast because what we don't
realize as we're in our 20s and sometimes even in our 30s is we
have skills that are lifelong skills that we've developed
throughout the course of our life.
And we are constantly transferring our skills from one
(23:47):
thing to the next. And if you're not like
something's wrong, you know something's wrong.
We are all so diverse and we have different strengths and
weaknesses. And when we take our strengths
and we are able to develop them in a way and then transfer them
into making a living, it doesn'tfeel like work.
(24:10):
So I'm very grateful to my business leader and Shaklee.
I'm still very dear friends withher.
I've had a couple of couple people who helped me along the
way. But yeah, I just feel grateful.
And it's it's not an easy business.
Real estate is not easy. I'm constantly challenged.
I'm constantly learning, honing my skills, my people skills,
(24:32):
taking deep breaths and trying to be calm.
But all of the skills that I learned in relationship
building, I've transferred to real estate.
It's love and relationships first, real estate 2nd, and
that's what the original owners of that properties have always
taught us, which is why our logois love, because it's love
(24:54):
first. That's awesome.
I love that technical question. I often hear the term real
estate agent and then I hear real estate broker.
What's the difference? In order to become a Realtor,
you have to be a part of an organization, whether it's we
live in Chicago, so whether it'sthe Chicago Association of
(25:15):
Realtors or it's the North ShoreBarrington Association of
Realtors, you have to belong to an organization.
And at the beginning you have totake some of their classes.
And Realtors are bound by ethics, morals, things like
that. There is a whole code of ethics.
You can be fined, you can be taken to Realtor court, and
(25:37):
Realtor is a trademark need. You can't just throw it around
and it is capitalized. And if you don't belong to one
of those organizations, then you're not a realtor, you're an
agent. So I think that's an interesting
distinction. It's a professional organization
and you're bound by ethics. So if I'm a realtor and I'm part
of an association, a larger organization, a group of
(26:00):
community, what kind of advantages does that provide?
While you have access to the Multiple Listing Service online,
which is where we find things, if you're going to work for App
Properties or Coal Banker or Century 21, you need to be a
part of a realtor organization. They get fantastic classes which
I should take more advantage of in my free time.
(26:22):
Think back to when you know those classes were $750 and you
weren't sure about that. These are free.
Take advantage of them now. One thing I've really learned
throughout my jobs versus my career, whatever, there are
differences here, but I do believe now I have a career.
In the past, I had different jobs that prepared me for this
(26:45):
career that I've chosen. And one thing that I think is
true across the board is when people trust you, they will
listen to you. Everyone wants to know what's
good for themselves. So when I yeah, I post online.
I don't love social media, but Ido it because it's just
(27:07):
something you do to get your name out.
And I think what I've realized is it's not about hosting.
Oh, hey, I'm selling this house.Or look at the schoolhouse.
I saw it today. It's more, How can I be of help
to you? Do you need a handyman?
Do you need a painter? Did you realize that property
taxes are due tomorrow? Hey, have you ever thought about
(27:28):
getting involved in your Chamberof Commerce and maybe changing
the rules and regulations of acts in your community?
And it's not about being there, getting online for your face and
your exposure only, which is important because you want to
stay top of mind, but it's what am I giving to the community.
So I will regularly post tips ontaking care of your home or if
(27:53):
you need a loan, consider getting a home equity line of
credit instead of XY and Z loan.And I have people from the
community reach out to me. Hey, I really need a great
plumber and I'll give them my plumber's name or I'll recommend
to people. When you give easily to others
and you're not expecting in return, I think that's when you
get the return. I've had people refer me who
(28:14):
didn't use me, who said I wish Ihad used you.
But I'm going to give you this referral because I think it
would be a great fit. So if we if everyone in the
world that's a nice dream, wouldfocus on how we can give to
other people, that's really whenwe get back.
Beautifully said. My dad, who's almost 90, was
(28:34):
still working every day in sales.
Every client had an index card, and it was their name, their
address and all the notes I kepton that claim.
I handwrote all of those things and I had months of the year and
then days of the month and I would put that person once I
spoke to them, then I would put it three months behind and then
(28:56):
every day I would look at who I was calling that day.
And a manual CRM that's. Exactly what it is that's so
funny. That's what everybody use.
That's what my dad still uses that system.
If listen if it works for him. Yeah, he's not going to switch
to an ACRM. Nor does he probably need.
To nor does he need to. Tell me about your process in
(29:18):
technology operations. How you your?
Workflow, Whether I get a new buyer or a new seller, if
someone calls me, I have a checklist of everything that I
do with each new listing, each new buyer, and the first thing
that I do is schedule a call. The second thing I do is put
their information into my CRM. App Properties has a phenomenal
(29:39):
interface for us. So other than marketing and
listing information and digital listing presentation or digital
buyer presentation, which I can create my own, they also have a
phenomenal CRM that I use every day and all my clients are in
there. So I'll, I have a checklist and
I will print out because I am a very visual person and I also
(30:00):
like to fold a piece of paper inmy hand for every one of my
clients. I have my checklist, whether
you're a buyer or you're a seller, and there are a lot of
steps in when you're buying a home or when you're selling a
home. So whether it's setting up the
offer, setting up the inspection, the negotiations
that I have, everything on a checklist.
(30:21):
Even if it's something that I amnot necessarily going to be
involved in, like when the attorneys get involved, I still
have that on the checklist. And it helps me in my mind to
stay focused on all this different steps it takes to get
from the original accepted contract to the closing.
And it's not a straight line, ever.
(30:42):
No, I have a checklist that's identical to how you describe
yours for this show, even thoughI'm primarily the only person
responsible for every step of this podcast.
I want to first of all, make sure that I'm consistent, that
my workflow is consistent, but also that I am optimizing my
workflow. And the only way to optimize
this to analyze what you're doing and to analyze this to
write down and to understand each step.
(31:03):
I do have that for my clients. It doesn't have all the minutia
that they don't have to worry about, but but it's incredibly
helpful to them. Before I actually give them
that, I have a discussion with them.
I'm going to tell you all about the process and then I'm going
to give you a document that shows you all that.
And when we go under contract, Ihave a whole timeline that I
(31:25):
mark up for them and I send it to them.
So they have all of that. But it's important to understand
before you're under contract, how does this work?
What am I going to expect? So that is really key so that
everyone I work with isn't in the dark.
They know what is coming next. I've learned that along the way
because in the beginning I didn't even know what the next
(31:47):
step was. So I try and preempt to all of
that fear and stress in my clients and explain to him this
is what's going to happen first,second, third, 4th, 5th,
etcetera. So that is part of my process.
I also go into my CRM every day.I gives me a list of who I'm
supposed to be reaching out to. I love what I do and I hope that
(32:07):
other people who are watching this can think about what do
they love and transfer whatever it is they're doing now into
something that they truly love. Great message to end with.
Thank you Laura. This has been a great
conversation. I love learning more about a
subject that we all have some superficial or pedestrian level
(32:28):
knowledge about, but really lacka tremendous amount of insight
about the details of what goes on in the background.
It's great to hear how you got into it as an important message
to take away. Also, was that discovery for
yourself? It's asking what do I want to
do, regardless of how viable it is.
Reasonable. Forget about money.
Does that matter right now? Or can I think about that and
(32:50):
discover my joy and opportunity without imposing all of the
other restrictions or necessary details about what a job
actually is? It's important to find out what
you love, what you believe you'dbe good at, and then just go do
it. That was awesome.
My pleasure, Thank you so much for having me.
I wish you all the best and everything that you do.
(33:12):
I want to thank Laura for being today's guest and to you, our
listeners, for joining us on this episode of Transferable
Skills. Remember, the skills you've
gained can take you anywhere. Until next time, keep exploring
those transferable skills.
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