In this episode, Tiffany Curry joins Jimmy Burgess to talk about the power of networking and confidence in real estate.
Getting to know Tiffany Curry
- Tiffany Curry is a broker/owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Houston, Texas. Their company started two months before the pandemic.
- She was supposed to be a lawyer but she ended up in the real estate business when one of her classmates shared with her that she’s getting her real estate license. Tiffany wanted to try it too. It didn’t take much time for her to get her own real estate license as well.
- For the first six months after getting her license, Tiffany made about $4,000-$5,000. It wasn’t that big but it was enough to cement her decision of wanting to be in the industry instead of going to law school.
- She ended up finding an organization in Houston called YPN or the Young Professionals Network.
Improving her real estate game
- She leveraged social media to find new clients. Her three social media channels are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. LinkedIn is where she handles her online business and Facebook is where she is more sociable and where she’s able to share some personal things.
- She used social media to show that she’s unique from the other 25,000 realtors that were active in Houston three years ago.
- She posted on her social media channels and added value to people. She wasn’t only posting listings, she was posting other things that could be beneficial to others. Her aim was to become a resource person, the go-to real estate agent.
- The biggest upside to that was how she attracted realtors from across the country and how they were able to refer her to people coming to Houston. That referral is how Tiffany was able to build her business and maintained it through the recession.
Thinking outside the box
- It’s important for agents to look for opportunities in other places and to try to think outside the box.
- Agents need to create their own networks because a network is a powerful thing.
- Tiffany’s drive enabled her to become the first broker formed by the Rethink Council.
- Your professional website is your online representation. It’s about the image, the bio, what you write about yourself, and more. It shouldn’t be all about you, though, but about the services you can offer to the people.
- Tiffany believes that there is a time and a season for everything.
- She didn’t shift into being a broker when people were telling her to. She made the shift when her mind was ready to make the move.
- There were many things that she couldn’t do as an agent and she knew that. When she saw an opportunity with Berkshire Hathaway, it enabled her to move her priorities and realize her visions and goals.
A brand-new business in the middle of the pandemic
- The company opened two months before the pandemic and when the impact of COVID19 really hit the industry, Tiffany was more confused than scared.
- The good thing is that they are in the perfect location, and the office was small and affordable.
- Her mantra was simple: “You need to know how to sell what you have even when you don’t have what you need.”
- Coupled with her negotiating skills as an agent, her faith and confidence allowed the company to grow amidst the pandemic. Her agents made big jumps in terms of numbers over the year before in their previous companies.
- It’s important to have a positive mindset because you can’t help people become great when they don’t have the mindset to be great.
- At the moment, Tiffany helps agents develop the confidence to work with people of a different price point. Using the same training she had when she went into a luxury brokerage, she teaches other agents how to properly show luxury homes. She trains them how to do it for every single home until they get better at it.
Play to your strengths
- Use social media and take full advantage of it.
- Pick up the phone and have real conversations with people. Don’t call them to ask about real estate. Call them to ask them how they’re doing. Call them and start adding value. Become their resource person.
- Use social media and web presence to launch your niche – choose to play with your strength.
- Do community events if you can. Bring your events to neighborhoods and try to build a network in a more relaxed environment.
“The Power of Networking and Confidence in Real Estate” episode resources
- Connect with Tiffany Curry on LinkedIn. You can also visit her personal website here.
- Connect with Jimmy Burgess on LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as his YouTube channel.
- If you like what you heard today, we’d love it if you’d share a rating or review, and then subscribe to the podcast and tell others about it as well. You can find The Real Estate Sales Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher, as well as at our website, The Real Estate Sales Podcast.