MICHIGAN 4-5-21

MICHIGAN EDITION

BE THEIR REALTOR® FOR LIFE:

How to Build a Relationship with Your Clients that Will Last a Lifetime

FEATURED AGENTS

EVERY PLAYER IS VALUABLE:

HOW TO BOOST YOUR TEAM’S MORALE

CONNECT BEYOND REAL ESTATE

to Attract Future Clients

LESLEY HODGE JODI NOBLE JANET ROMANOWSKI COVER STORY

BRANDON MULRENIN

MICHIGAN EDITION

JANET ROMA 7

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LES

Lesle the l real e throu provi JODI BRANDONBRANDON MULRENIN NOBLE JODI NOBLE JANET ROMANOWSKI LESLEY HODGE hones MULRENIN not af order get t every transaction. With her ca CONTENTS Real Estate – Real Simple,” s transaction as seamless and s For Janet Romanowski, real estate combines w ® 4) BE THEIR REALTOR FOR LIFE: 18) EVERY PLAYER2016 IS VALUABLE: Lesley joined RE/MAX of people with her for business. re HOW TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP her loveHOW TO BOOST YOUR TEAM’S shetalent now specializes in reside career in advertising and marketing, m foreclosures, and new constru WITH YOUR CLIENTS THAT WILL After aMORALE Janet was ready for a new path. “I was in the to LAST A LIFETIME 22) CONNECT BEYOND REAL ESTATE office quite a bit and wasLesley’s havingattentiveness children, soto clie pl TO ATTRACT FUTURE CLIENTS earned her many repeat and ref 13) 5 SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES after researching my different options, I decided m out the years.

Approaching ev REAL ESTATE AGENTS MUST AVOID 26) 5 THINGS YOU CANas DO TO to pursue a career in real estate, it allowed me he understanding that it is likely ACHIEVE YOUR BIGGEST GOALS the ability to juggle schedules while still hav- in clients will make in their lifeti ing a professional career,”toshe says.them She with began provide all thepen working with broker Jonensure Jackson, their future success. “ and soaked up as much information clients who like to work with as she could. Almost twenty treat years them like they are my fam Phone 310-734-1440 | Fax 310-734-1440 honest opinion if they want it later, Janet has made great strides, mag@topagentmagazine.com | www.topagentmagazine.com what they need and figure with the majority of hertobusiness No portion of this issue may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior consent of the publisher. Top Agent for.

And I oftry to educate them Magazine is published by Feature Publications GA, Inc.consisting Although precautions taken to ensure the accuracy published ofarerepeat clients and tools resources so that materials, Top Agent Magazine cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by its and authors. referrals. Serving the greater Grand To subscribe or change address, send inquiry to mag@topagentmagazine.com. make the right decision for th Published in the U.S.

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Rapids area, she guides her buyers and sellers throughout the Her transpassion for seeing client action, ensuring no questions areAgent or helping clients sell their ho Top Magazine chapter in their life, is the dri left unanswered.

mailto:mag@topagentmagazine.com http://www.topagentmagazine.com

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Be Their REALTOR for Life: ®

How to Build a Relationship with Your Clients That Will Last a Lifetime In the world of real estate, an agent’s relationship with their clients can make or break their career. This industry revolves around working well with people, and being able to develop a strong relationship with your clients is the foundation that you business is based upon.

Just like with a house, if that foundation is weak, the rest of the structure is also going to be unsteady and fragile. The mark of a good REALTOR® is their ability to build up a good referral network and following of loyal clients. This isn’t something that just happens by accident. Building healthy, strong relationships with your clients takes work and knowing how to gain another person’s trust, respect, and friendship. Here are some ways to make sure you are building the right kind of relationship with your clients.

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1. Use Your Friendliness and Optimism to Win Them Over: No one wants a pushy, overly confident salesperson for a REALTOR®. Clients are much more inclined to put their trust in the hands of someone who is friendly when it comes to one of the biggest financial transactions of their lives. A pleasant, outgoing disposition will win you more clients as well as friends. You want to establish rapport in the first few minutes of first meeting prospective clients. Rather than starting with business right off the bat, begin your meeting with some small talk such as similar interests, hobbies, and family life. This will immediately help to put your clients at ease, and show that you are not simply trying to “sell” them something.

People also respond well to optimism. During what can be a very stressful time, clients need someone to help them stay positive when a situation looks difficult and challenging. Optimism also tends to radiate charisma, and people want to be around and do business with charismatic people. You want to learn how to understand, motivate, and inspire people.

2. Be an Inquisitive Learner and an Empathetic Listener:

out any potential concerns they might have.

After you’ve gained as much information as possible, you can then gauge their interest in your possible solutions by asking “what if” questions. Being inquisitive also demonstrates to your clients that you are genuinely interested and invested in their situation.

On the other side of this coin is knowing how to listen empathetically. Empathy involves actually putting yourself or your mind in their shoes so you can genuinely understand their concerns, needs, and opinions. That understanding and empathy is then reflected in your conversation with that client. Your clients want to know that you care about their situation, and that they’re not just another sale for you to make. People are much more willing to put their trust in you when they can sense that you are actually making an effort to feel what they feel in order to understand their situation.

Showing your interest through questions, and then thoughtfully listening goes a long way towards gaining trust. Showing empathy and acknowledging the feelings and emotions involved in your clients situation helps build a relationship founded on genuine care and trust.

3. Watch for Nonverbal Clues:

Don’t be afraid to show your curiosity and ask your clients a lot of questions. Some of these questions may even be difficult and uncomfortable. You want to discover and learn as much as you can about your client. Don’t make the mistake of jumping straight into the role of the know-it-all. Every different client has unique needs, so you want to learn as much as you can about their specific situation before trying to propose a solution. You want to uncover their primary motive for buying or selling, and flush

Most communication happens nonverbally, so knowing how to interpret your client’s body language can be incredibly helpful. Here are a few things to pay special attention to: Eye contact: Be careful with the level of eye contact you use with clients when first meeting.

Too much and too little eye contact can send the wrong impression. You want to try and maintain eye contact around 70 percent of the time. That is the amount that most people are comfortable with. Pay attention to your client’s level of eye

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contact to determine how comfortable they are.

When someone avoids eye contact that could mean they are not engaged in the conversation.

A good way to quickly build a feeling of rapport when first meeting clients is to make eye contact when you first meet them and then start nodding yes to what they’re saying. If the client reciprocates the eye contact and nodding, you’ve established a connection.

4. Prove your honesty and credibility:

Choose the right handshake for each client: One handshake does not fit all people, and that first handshake can be crucial to making a good first impression. The way to do a good handshake for each client is to try and mirror the other person’s handshake in strength, keep your shoulders aligned as you are preferably standing when you shake hands. While you shake your client’s hand make sure you make eye contact and give them a sincere smile.

Showing a little weakness can actually be to your advantage in this situation, and will actually make others more inclined view you as honest. You don’t want to come across as too good to be true. When revealing this weakness, however, the key to coming out on top is turning what sounds like a weakness into a strength. For example, your service may be more expensive, but that’s because you offer more personalized and extra services than your competitors.

Honesty and integrity are the two traits that 98 percent of buyers and sellers report are qualities they consider “very important”. The thing is you can say you have these traits all you want on your website, bio, etc., but trust has to be earned, and the only way to do this is to prove your credibility.

Here are a few tips for how to sound more credible:

When you talk to your clients avoid using filler words such as “um” and “uh”, which can decrease your credibility. You also want to watch the tone of your voice. People tend to translate a deeper tone as sounding more credible.

You want to develop a relationship to last a lifetime when interacting with your clients. There are many things you can do to accomplish this, and using these tips can take you from getting just a few referrals and repeat customers to gaining a loyal client following. Taking the little extra time to make sure you are projecting the right attitude and making sure that you are doing things to gain your client’s trust can make a world of difference for your business.

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BRANDON MULRENIN Top Agent Magazine

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BRANDON MULRENIN

Brandon Mulrenin started working as a Mortgage Loan Officer in 2005 when he met his wife, who was working in the same industry. Together they started investing in real estate in 2007, and during the recession of 2008, Brandon decided to move into real estate to diversify 8

his and his wife’s assets. Fast forward a little more than a decade, and Brandon has a team of 200 agents and one of the fastest-growing Real Estate Brokerages in Michigan, Brookstone Realtors.

Brandon has garnered such immense success by focusing on providing the Top Agent Magazine

Brandon has a team of 200 agents and one of the fastest-growing Real Estate Brokerages in Michigan, Brookstone Realtors. best quality of service to his clients, and passing this philosophy down to other agents in his field.

By encouraging the members of his team to let go of the attitude of a salesperson and embrace the role of a servant, Brandon has Top Agent Magazine

made a huge impact on the fabric of real estate service in Michigan. “My passion is pouring back into the real estate community and helping other agents succeed,” Brandon says. As a Realtor® who used to sell 100 homes a year, he has a wealth of experience to draw upon when teaching 9

the agents on his team, and his business philosophy has proven to be incredibly successful for his brokerage.

When Brandon interacts with his clients, his top priority is to find out how to meet their needs, rather than pushing them to act a certain way or make a specific decision. He calls this “reverse selling,” positing that high pressure selling doesn’t work, and that a service-first mentality is the foundation of success in the current real estate market. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. First and foremost,

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I really go out of my way to ensure the people I work with know how much I care. My job is to serve them at the highest level, and to communicate that so we can establish mutual respect,” Brandon says.

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This contribution-first mindset has proven to be a huge boon for Brandon and his team.

When marketing their listings, Brandon’s team uses professional photography and videography as well as walkthrough videos and 3D Matterport presentations to really bring out the full potential of the home. They also organize grand opening events and tailored internet marketing campaigns to generate interest and drive competition for potential buyers.

Brandon’s team collectively closed 1200 transactions in 2020 for a total volume of $326 million. They

“I really go out of my way to ensure the people I work with know how much I care. My job is to serve them at the highest level, and to communicate that so we can establish mutual respect.”

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get the majority of their business through repeat clients and referrals, due to the consistency with which they offer excellent service to their customers.

When he isn’t working, Brandon loves to spend time with his family watching movies and football. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and his company

charity, Brookstone Cares, provides a Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas gifts for a family in need every year. Brandon hopes to turn his company into one of the largest 100% commission Real Estate Brokerage Firms in the world, and continue his success in bringing the best quality real estate service to his clients that Michigan has to offer!

For more information about Brandon Mulrenin, call (248) 890-5504, email support@reverseselling.com, or visit his website at reverseselling.com or his team’s website at brookstonerealtors.com 12

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SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES

Real Estate Agents Must Avoid There is perhaps no greater marketing tool for agents these days than having a large presence on social media, but there is more to social media marketing than just opening an account and gaining followers. A lot of agents forget the social part of social media. It’s all about engagement, but it needs to be the right kind of engagement. This can often be the first impression potential clients or industry peers have of you, so make it count. There is no second chance to make a first impression, and that is especially true for real estate agents. Here’s just a few things you want to avoid.

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1 Using it to Vent

Social Media is a great place to complain and commiserate about things, but save that for your personal page. A real estate transaction is already a stressful ordeal, the last thing anyone wants is someone who seems like they’ll bring a negative energy to the process. Even worse?

Bad mouthing other Realtors® or listings. You’re selling yourself and your skills, so don’t sell anything that shows you in a bad light. Much like marketing a property, everything you put out should be professional and inviting.

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Lack of Consistent Branding

Yes, social media is about social engagement, but it’s also about creating brand recognition. While you don’t want it to be purely promotional, you are running a business, so create a consistent branding across all social media platforms. If you can afford a professional graphic designer to help you out with this, that’s great. But at the very least, have the same profile pic, cover image and highly visible contact information, across the board. And don’t forget to share links to your other accounts, some people prefer different social media applications.

3Not Posting Enough

It’s good to create a schedule of how many times you’ll be posting per day and to pick times when you might have the most engagement.

Don’t over do it, but three posts a day at the right time, tends to be a good goal. There are numerous tools on Facebook, for example, that

can let you see when interactions are the highest.

Stick to your schedule and adjust accordingly.

It’s also important to not just post your listings.

Be a resource for people who follow your page.

Post community events, or other informative articles that are relevant to home ownership.

Be a page they want to follow even when they aren’t buying or selling a property. They’ll remember you when the time comes.

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Not interacting With Your Followers

It’s called social media for a reason. The more you engage with your followers, the more they see you as a real person, and not just a marketing tool. Not only do you get to know your past clients and potential clients, on Facebook, engagement actually will make your posts seen by more people. So it’s a win/win.

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Not Sharing or Linking to Others

It might not seem like a good idea to not promote the blogs, pages or listings of other people, but it’s not only an excellent way to build goodwill, it will also increase your own presence when they reciprocate. So make a point to share posts and links for local businesses and even the blogs of your peers, if it’s a post that offers valuable insight into an expertise you don’t have. That will encourage them to share your posts and even your listings, which will increase your potential buyer pool. This is another incentive to create your own blog. Unique informative content is always of value, and more likely to be shared than promotional links.

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JODI NOBLE Top Agent Magazine

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JODI NOBLE

With a caring nature, a love for working with people, and a deep curiosity for learning, Jodi Noble has found a career in real estate to be a perfect fit for her. Having been in the business for close to 20 years now, she uses her knowledge and experience to seamlessly guide clients throughout the transaction process and ensure success even in the most complex deals.

skills make her an excellent advocate for her clients. Her interpersonal skills and willingness to always answer the phone ensure that clients never have to wait with any pressing questions.

“It sounds pretty simple, but just answering your phone can set you apart from other agents. Even if I’m in a meeting, I let my clients know that I’ll get back to them as soon as it’s over. Proper

A lifelong resident of Southwest Michigan, Jodi is an agent with Jaqua Realtors and serves clients in and around the Kalamazoo area. Her willingness to always go above and beyond to help her clients has earned her a great deal of repeat and referral business. “I think one aspect that my clients truly appreciate about working with me is that I don’t think my job ends once the sale closes. I want to always be there for them and help them acclimate to the area,” she says.

Jodi’s personable nature and fierce negotiation 16

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communication goes a long way.” Jodi also believes that a big part of her success in the real estate industry is the fact that she is a people person. “I genuinely like meeting new people as a REALTOR®, and I enjoy the relationships we develop.

That’s actually how I met my husband!”

In order to guarantee that her sellers get top dollar for their property, Jodi takes great care in how she markets her listings.

Every house comes with a walk-through video as well as an online digital booklet that potential buyers can flip through. She also spends time working on her social media presence and marketing through the various online platforms.

Outside of work, Jodi is on the board of two committees, one of which is focused on community relations. “We do a day for Veterans and a walk for the homeless.”

She is also a part of the Portage Garden Club, which helps maintain community gardens, as well as a South Bend Hoosier Art Patron. As an avid animal lover, she is a founding member and on the board of directors with the Michiana Australian Shepherd Association.

In the future Jodi plans to continue working tirelessly on behalf of her clients in order to make their real estate dreams come true. And when it comes to advice for agents who are starting out, she believes it’s crucial to know that the industry is ever-changing and evolving. “Remember that you’re working with all generations of people. You have to stay current and not be afraid to try new things.”

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To learn more about Jodi Noble, please call (269) 377–8508, email jnoble@jaquarealtors.com or visit jaquarealtors.com/agents/32442-jodi-noble

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Every Player is Valuable: How to Boost Your Team’s Morale In the fast-paced world of real estate, it can be easy to overlook the contributions of those lower-level employees who are instrumental in our success, yet are overlooked when it comes to recognizing the important roles they play in keeping our business operating smoothly.

Even a task that seems simple, such as answering phones, can be overwhelming at 18

times. Letting these employees know that they are appreciated is something that often goes overlooked at busier companies, and can often result in impaired morale overall, as employee dissatisfaction tends to be contagious.

Here are some things that you can do to increase morale and productivity in your workplace: Top Agent Magazine

While it’s important to point out when an employee is doing something wrong, it is equally – if not more – important to acknowledge when that employee is doing something right.

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While it’s important to point out when an employee is doing something wrong, and sometimes to reprimand, it is equally – if not more – important to acknowledge when that employee is doing something right. Even a simple compliment can go a long, long way towards building that employee’s morale, and therefore their willingness to go the extra mile for your team.

An example: “Sally, I just heard you on the phone with that client. You sounded very professional and I really appreciate your representing our business that way.”

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Determine what all of your employee’s goals are, and what their expectations for growth might be. There may be lower level employees who are perfectly content doing what they’re doing, and who have absolutely no expectations for growth in your business. Others, however, may have an interest in moving up the ladder. Make it your business to determine this early on, and try to take a personal interest in your employee’s growth with your company. Knowing there is room to grow is an important factor in employee satisfaction, and knowing who wants to grow and who

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doesn’t is something you should be aware of. Groom from within, and your employees will be grateful and work harder.

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If your workplace is highly stratified, with multiple levels of employees (agents, senior agents, loan processers, assistants, etc.,) make an effort to ensure that everyone feels valued as part of the team regardless of what they earn. Various team building exercises that encourage trust and a sense of familiarity can go a long way towards fostering an environment that is less unnecessarily competitive and more productive and cooperative. A quick web search for “Trust Building Exercises” will help you locate many good ways to achieve a newfound level of camaraderie amongst your team. Many of them are quite a bit of fun, too.

Hopefully these tips will assist you in creating a better-functioning, higher-achieving team of motivated, caring employees.

Remember, a chain is only as strong as the weakest link, so be sure to keep everyone feeling appreciated, supported and valued, and your company will only benefit.

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JANET ROMANOWSKI

For Janet Romanowski, real estate combines her love of people with her talent for business.

After a career in advertising and marketing, Janet was ready for a new path. “I was in the office quite a bit and was having children, so after researching my different options, I decided to pursue a career in real estate, as it allowed me the ability to juggle schedules while still having a professional career,” she says. She began working with broker Jon Jackson, and soaked up as much information as she could. Almost twenty years later, Janet has made great strides, with the majority of her business consisting of repeat clients and referrals. Serving the greater Grand Rapids area, she guides her buyers and sellers throughout the transaction, ensuring no questions are left unanswered.

whole process as enjoyable as it can be. Currently, with our market, that includes coaching my buyers and letting them know it’s going to be tough with most listings having multiple offers.” Janet gives them the confidence to move forward and to know what to expect. For her sellers, she utilizes her exceptional marketing skills to get the listing in front of as many people as possible. By offering professional

“I really care about my clients and want them to be happy,” she explains. “So I try hard to make the 20

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photography and videos for each property, as well as drone footage for houses that would benefit from it, she ensures her sellers will receive the best and highest offers possible. No matter who she’s helping, Janet constantly communicates with her clients, keeping them updated on everything that’s happening.

Afterwards, buyers and sellers leave glowing reviews about their time together. One recently said, “Can I give her 100 stars?

That’s what she deserves. I was so lucky to have Janet as our agent. I do not know anyone in the area and we lucked out getting her on our side. She goes above and beyond for her clients. She knows everything about Grand Rapids and gives you details on history. She was so on top of it and always available. She has a really fun personality and works very hard for her clients. I honestly can’t say enough good things about her!”

When Janet isn’t working, she’s giving back to the community through charities and causes. “I’ve helped out with God’s Kitchen, and I’m involved with a knitting group that donates hats, mittens and other handmade items to the homeless.” During any free time, she loves going on vacation, working out, or hanging out with friends and family.

In the coming years, Janet hopes to continue growing her business and helping as many people as she can. For her, it’s all about the smiles she brings to clients’ faces. “I absolutely love seeing them happy and assisting them in finding or selling a home. It’s so fun and rewarding to be a part of such a big chapter in their lives.”

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For more information about Janet Romanowski, please call 616-318-0065 or email janet@romanhousekey.com Copyright Top Agent Magazine 21

CONNECT BEYOND

REAL ESTATE

to Attract Future Clients What kind of content are you sharing on your blog, website, and social media? Does most of it have something to do with buying or selling a home? While sharing the latest market information or tips on how to qualify for a mortgage, or when someone should buy or sell is important and demonstrates your value as a REALTOR®, it shouldn’t be the only subject you cover. If you only focus on real estate, you’ll be missing the chance to connect with future clients that might not be ready to move just yet. By sharing a lot 22

of industry-heavy content, you are only going to appeal to those who are currently in the market rather than a broad base of potential clients.

To pull in those other future clients you want to provide fresh, interesting content that will appeal to those possible future clients that aren’t quite ready to move yet. However, you also want to still tie this content back into your business goals.

So, how do you share content that will speak to a wider audience, but also still be relevant to your business?

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Talk About Your Philanthropic Activities

The philanthropic work you do to support your community says a great deal about who you are as a person. Many people will be attracted to working with you because of the charitable works you are involved with. While you may be hesitant to share these efforts because you feel it may come across as bragging, you also need to remember that sharing information about the charitable organizations you support will actually help those organizations. Many of them have small marketing budgets, so any free exposure you can give them helps to promote their cause.

In fact, they want and need you to promote them.

And you can promote them without coming across as a braggart. Focus your content entirely on the organization. Talk about why you support them, how they help the community, and how others can also get involved. This turns what could have been bragging into something that benefits everyone. n

Your Local Community

We humans are connected to each other through our community – our local sports teams, parks, churches, schools, and much more. What better way is there to connect with people in your community than to talk about your community? Demonstrate that you are an expert on your community, and bring that community to your followers. Share information about a local event; perhaps even share the actual event through live-stream video. Interview city officials to get the low-down on the latest development project. Share information with your followers about things they didn’t know about their community. Consult with local historians or the historical society to share interesting information about your community that your followers will want to read. You could even turn it into a series of podcasts or videos. n

Use Your Creativity to Connect

Find creative ways to engage your followers on the topic of real estate. Try engaging your followers in an interactive project such as posting photos of interesting front doors. Doors are the entry point into our homes as well as our private lives. The way we adorn our front door can give someone a sense of our style and personality. Ask followers to submit photos and choose one to post each Friday. Make sure to watermark each photo with your logo at the bottom and include an inspirational quote that ties back to the importance of home. You could also ask your followers to provide a little story or caption to go along with the photo that tells something about them and their home. These kinds of projects are interesting and unique, and clearly connect back to your business. n

Share Your Hobbies

Are you an adrenalin junkie who has bungee jumped from some of the tallest bridges in the world? Are you a foodie that grows your own organic vegetables and fruit? Do you have a Top Agent Magazine

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secret passion for photography? Everyone has hobbies that they enjoy outside of work. When you look past the surface people become quite interesting. People also happen to find interesting people interesting, and tend to remember people based on their distinctive traits. We humans love discovering a person’s behind the scenes story, the mind behind the face. While you don’t want to talk too much about yourself, sharing pieces of your personal life and things that interest you can be a great way to connect with followers. By sharing interesting facts about your life, you will find that many followers will feel a strong, personal connection to you based on your hobbies and personal interests. n

Divulge Interesting Experiences

This is somewhat similar to the idea of sharing your hobbies. Sharing some of your more interesting personal experiences such as a fateful conversation with a stranger or an exciting adventure you had while in another country can be a great way to connect with followers as long as it also relates to some kind of life or business lesson. Talk about experiences you’ve had with clients or purchasing your own home. Experiences that relate to your business are great ways to connect with future clients in a manner that goes beyond the world of business. n

What and Who Inspires You

No matter what you’ve chosen to spend your life doing, you didn’t get there alone. You may have had a mentor that made a special impact on your life or someone already in the business that you looked up to and who perhaps inspired you to get into real estate. You may have found inspiration through a love of architecture or design. People want to know why others do the things they do. Sharing who or what influences you in your personal and business life is a great way to connect with followers. Recognizing that you didn’t get to where you are now by yourself shows humility, and talking about those people that had an influence on you shows others that you stay connected to the world and people around you.

Connecting with potential clients is something that is essential to any REALTOR’S® business. If you’re doing the work to create interesting blog posts and make those connections, you want to make sure that you’re sharing the right kind of content to draw in those future clients. It takes a lot more than simply providing the latest market news. To get the most out of what you share, you need to provide a wide array of interesting content 24

that will draw in a broad range of followers.

Providing the right kind of content can make all the difference when it comes to connecting with future clients and building the right kind of relationship with them right from the start. Connecting through your website or social media and sharing more than just real estate advice will help you build confidence and trust with future clients before you even meet them.

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LESLEY HODGE Lesley Hodge has dedicated the last 17 years to serving real estate buyers and sellers throughout Michigan. Always providing her clients with honesty, she is an agent who is not afraid to speak the truth in order to ensure that her clients get the ideal outcome with every transaction. With her catchphrase being “I make Real Estate – Real Simple,” she strives to make every transaction as seamless and stress-free as possible. In 2016 Lesley joined RE/MAX Dream Properties, where she now specializes in residential, multi family, bank foreclosures, and new construction real estate.

Lesley’s attentiveness to clients and their needs has earned her many repeat and referral customers throughout the years. Approaching every transaction with the understanding that it is likely the largest purchase her clients will make in their lifetimes, she takes great care to provide them with all the necessary information to ensure their future success. “I have a great sphere of clients who like to work with me primarily because I treat them like they are my family. I will give them my honest opinion if they want it. I take the time to listen to what they need and figure out what they’re looking for. And I try to educate them and give them the right tools and resources so that they are empowered to make the right decision for their family,” she says.

Her passion for seeing clients get their dream home, or helping clients sell their house and move to another chapter in their life, is the driving factor behind all of Lesley’s hard work. “I love matching people up with the right home. One of the most enjoyable moments in this line of work is when we finally walk into the right house after we’ve already looked at numerous other options. When we go through the front door and they know right away that it’s their dream home. I always tell clients to wait for that special feeling. When you can see your life unfolding in that family room, or your Top Agent Magazine

kids playing in the backyard, that’s when you know.”

In order to keep in touch with clients and make them feel special Lesley and the Group she is in, The Woelkers Group, host various fun seasonal events and drops off small packages and housewarming gifts. When she’s not busy working or checking in on her clients, Lesley loves kayaking with her younger son in the warm weather and traveling with her husband. Together they like to visit their oldest son, who is in the Navy.

As her business continues to grow Lesley is focused on sustaining the same level of high-quality customer service that her clients are accustomed to getting from her.

“As my client base continues to expand, I want to make sure that I remain just as responsive and available to my clients as I’ve always been. My goal is to keep giving exceptional customer service and growing my business by fostering long-term relationships with my clients.”

To learn more about Lesley Hodge, please call (734) 674-4828, email lesley@woelkersgroup.com, or visit lesleysells.com 25

5 Things You Can Do To Achieve Your Biggest Goals If there’s one thing successful people can agree on, it’s that setting goals has been key to their success. Whether you’re creating a five year plan or just settling on what you want to achieve by the end of the day, setting goals gives you the focus and direction you need to complete even the biggest tasks.

But there is a method to setting them. It’s a process that takes careful thought and con26

sideration up front, which is then combined with the hard work necessary to implement your plan. Luckily there are proven methods to goal setting that you can start using immediately.

1. MAKE YOUR GOALS SPECIFIC

Yes, it’s fun to think in grand terms of where you want to end up in life and in your career, but it’s better to have a specific

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Your plan of action should include daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. goal like “Increase my sales by 25%”, than “Get rich.” When a goal is clear and specific, it allows you to figure out the exact steps you need to take to accomplish it. The more general it is, the more paralyzed you might be when it comes to figuring out what to do since, the choices may be overwhelming.

2. MAKE IT ATTAINABLE

Making attainable goals might seem boring, I mean afterall, you want to dream big! But you don’t want to suffer through the disappointment of not reaching your goal, something that may not even be possible at this stage in your life to begin with. One solution to that is creating goal levels. You can have the dream goal, but underneath that you have the realistic goals that are setting up a foundation for achieving the big one.

Things that are attainable still take work and effort to achieve. Those small victories will keep you motivated and encouraged to go for the bigger dreams. And don’t forget, those little goals may have been things you wouldn’t have gotten done if you didn’t set out to achieve them, so be proud!

3. PUT A PLAN OF ACTION IN WRITING

Your plan of action should include daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. There is something about seeing things in writing and crossing them off the list that is oddly satisfying.The daily goals are especially Top Agent Magazine

important in regards to building up those good habits. The first few weeks of your plan of action are critical when it comes to your long term success. Reaching a goal is something you are doing every day, all throughout the day, in numerous ways.

Achieving goals is all about creating good new habits.

4. MAKE IT MEASURABLE

This is key, since you definitely want to reward yourself for a job well done, and having a goal that is measurable in some way is a sure way to know. Maybe it’s to increase your lead generation or to cut expenses, whatever the case, have a measurable test you need to meet, as well as a time frame. Then calculate what you have to do to reach that goal. Not only should your goal be specific, but the plan and the measure of success should also be set in stone.

5. ADJUST AS YOU GO

You can have all the best laid plans, and you still might quickly realize that what you thought would help you reach your goal, might not be cutting it. Commitment to reaching your goals is good, but commitment to a plan you know isn’t going to work is not only a waste of time, but will be a devastating blow to your motivation.

Sticking to a plan everyday means adjusting it accordingly.

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