Joy Williams: Staying Top of Mind For Success

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Tracy Hayes: [00:00:00] Hey, welcome back to the real estate excellence podcast today. I have another successful agent here in Northeast Florida with a diverse background in real estate. She initially worked the back office for bookkeeping for a real estate investment firm as a contract. Bookkeeper is where she here. She was given the opportunity to gain the insight in real estate investing and wealth building.

Tracy Hayes: She has a company that buys distressed homes and renovates them for resale. Let's welcome. Buy or sell with joy of the keller williams atlantic partners joy williams to the show. 

Joy Williams: Hi. It's great to be here 

Tracy Hayes: Thank you. I appreciate you coming down ~uh ~and Learn a little bit about what joy's doing and I think it's really important.

Tracy Hayes: I've had a couple agents on ~uh ~recently to ~um ~Dig into your diversity of what you're doing because I think you ~uh, ~just reading your ~uh, ~linkedin, you know We didn't you know besides a little chat here before the show ~Um, ~I was like wow, here's an agent She kind of came in, came in the back door doing the bookkeeping and then seeing what was going on.

Tracy Hayes: And then, you know, ~uh, ~you, I guess you and your husband got [00:01:00] into, you know, flipping some properties and what has that done to expand your,~ um, uh, ~knowledge and your,~ uh,~ you know, I think,~ uh,~ experience that you can share with investors and so forth. Cause I have, over the years, almost 19 years in this business.

Tracy Hayes: I mean, many times are agents like, Oh, I got someone that wants to buy an investment property. What do I do? You know what I'm saying? And I think it's so important that agents,~ um,~ you know, diversify some look to buy some investment properties for themselves and start expanding their horizons. 

Joy Williams: Yeah, for sure.

Joy Williams: ~So, um, ~I got into this business because my husband,~ uh,~ was working for investors. as the contractor doing the work for the homes. Then,~ um,~ at the same time I was doing bookkeeping, mobile bookkeeping for lots of real estate investors. The writing was on the wall that the recession was coming. I could see that houses were slowing.

Joy Williams: He wanted to continue to work in vacant homes instead of doing his contracting work in occupied homes. So we decided we would,~ um,~ crowdsource and see how we could find funds for ourselves to flip houses. We're able to [00:02:00] find one investor that we still use to this day,~ uh,~ and to buy and sell houses with.

Joy Williams: So we started with that. I didn't have my license when we first got started, but as a bookkeeper, I could see the numbers going out and,~ um,~ we were doing the, the FISBO essentially flat fee listing and, but I'm managing the whole transaction myself. So once that came down, I'm like, I need to get my license so that I can save the money, have more control over the transaction.

Joy Williams: Then now I have my license. I'm sitting sidelines at soccer games and basketball games with my kids and all these other parents are telling me, Oh this, I'm buying a house and this is what my situation looks like. And I'm like, that's not what the contract says. You don't have to be bullied into certain things either.

Joy Williams: And your agent sounds like. They don't know what they're doing. So then I realized, you know, I have value too, and my value is not just in our investment properties. I can assist others in buying and selling homes. So that's when I went from part time selling houses to full throttle where I am today.

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Tracy Hayes: Oh, thank you very much. ~Uh, ~there,~ uh,~ and I appreciate you coming on today. Yeah. ~Um, ~for there. Excited to be here. ~So, uh, ~thank you Remy Graphics.~ Um, ~I'd like to kick off the show with,~ um,~ where are you from? 

Joy Williams: I am from the panhandle of Florida. So I was born and raised in a tiny town outside of Pensacola called Gulf Breeze.

Joy Williams: And,~ um,~ then I met my husband in 1999 and moved over to 

Tracy Hayes: Jacksonville. Now, did I see [00:04:00] Montana university on there? Something like that. So again, where did that, my first thought was. All right. I met my husband and I'm thinking, okay, he's in the air force. They sent him out to Montana for the air force base out there or something.

Tracy Hayes: But my 

Joy Williams: parents separated when I was in high school and my mom wanted a change of life. So she accepted a job at Montana state university and I graduated high school there. So when you graduate high school and whatever state, that's where you get in state tuition. So my mom decided to come back to Jack.

Joy Williams: Well, we were in the panhandle, went to Montana. Then she came to Jacksonville to settle. So I. Stayed went to school for two years there when I came home on Christmas break My sister was dating my husband's brother and they introduced us Okay, and then that next summer when I came home we got engaged and that's how I landed here But I did spend two years in the accounting program at Montana State University Loved Montana.

Joy Williams: It is like a soul healing place for me. 

Tracy Hayes: It is It was so interesting the United States could being as large as it is, you know [00:05:00] Um, whether you, you're down here in Jacksonville or you're in Seattle, or in this case, Montana,~ uh,~ and everywhere in between the, the different,~ uh,~ cultural things, but there's a different way of life.

Joy Williams: Oh, very different way of life. Especially, I mean, that was 98 to 2000,~ so, uh, ~it was slower there than it was way before. You know, all the Yellowstone TV shows that have amplified it right and glorified its presence. ~Um, ~it was very untouched at that time. ~So, uh. ~It's still beautiful. It's still very untouched, but,~ um,~ even in the late 90s, very different.

Tracy Hayes: I find it,~ uh,~ interesting. I was, I was, it's been a couple years since I was, I was, I don't know if I was still, Watching something on YouTube, whatever, but this real estate agent's video came up ~Uh, ~it had this video had gone viral ~Uh, ~I think I think I was listening. I don't know what I was listening to podcasts and he was on the podcast That's what it was and he had created this youtube video.

Tracy Hayes: He's montana agent at the, you know, and I think there's still going on is there's a lot of Californians who are wanting to move to Montana and they're like, Oh, yeah, we want to move up there. We want to [00:06:00] have acreage and we want to, you know, we want to live out away from the city. That's not that kind of thing.

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~and it's obviously there's no L. A. S. In Montana. And so I guess he showed this property He drove him out in the middle and goes, okay, you realize you have no self service here. ~Um, ~you know, ~uh, ~you need to buy something with a plow because,~ uh,~ you're so far away from town and you're so far away from the main road.

Tracy Hayes: You're going to need to plow yourself out in the winter time. ~Uh, ~and I was, so he decided on the way back to town, he just stopped on the side of the road. And he shows this video just set up the phone on the I guess on the hood of the car or something And he did this video talking about what's it like to move to Montana and you can see the mountain way You know the road goes and then it's kind of just fate and it's a big mountain in the background and all this stuff He's talking about bears He's talking all these things with the how so many people don't realize that when they come from the city Montana is out there

Joy Williams: Montana prepared me for,~ um,~ traffic in Jacksonville, actually, because,~ um,~ in the panhandle of Florida, [00:07:00] every Highway 98 just runs east and west. ~So, uh, ~one way in, one way out. Pretty simple to get everywhere you needed to go. We probably budgeted 15 minutes to get everywhere. When you live in Montana, you budget 45 minutes to get anywhere, especially,~ um,~ my girlfriend's parents house that was outside of town where they did have a bridge and horses and stuff.

Joy Williams: If it was winter. Could take you an hour to get in town right but now, you know here in jacksonville 35 45 minutes from anywhere Exactly and a good podcast. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~I noticed ~uh, ~you were an education major though Accounting, okay. I misread that right there. So what was initially your You know your career idea.

Tracy Hayes: What I mean, you obviously got into bookkeeping Was that something you just naturally came to you or your parents did or how did you fall into that? When I was in 

Joy Williams: high school,~ um,~ I didn't want to be in the band anymore. So my mom said I had to join a club. So I joined future business leaders of America, FBLA.

Joy Williams: I did that all through high school. And then [00:08:00] when I did it in high school in Montana, it was BPA. So very similar organizations, but I loved it. I love competing, doing my Excel spreadsheet competitions. We did interview application competitions. So I always knew business was in my background. ~Um, ~the accounting.

Joy Williams: emphasis at Montana State was just they had a great accounting program. And so it's like, well, if they have that and that's where I'm going, let's go with this. But I've always known business is where I thrive. 

Tracy Hayes: How,~ um,~ You know, having that background and obviously, you know, your, some of your career jobs, we just, we mentioned earlier, you were doing the bookkeeping for some of these investment,~ uh,~ real estate investment firms, but having that mindset, having that, you know, P and L 

Speaker 3: type 

Tracy Hayes: of Italian and taking it into your real estate.

Tracy Hayes: And I imagine your husband's business of, you know, doing the renovation and construction work. 

Joy Williams: Yeah, for sure. So that background really helps. solidify a lot of things I think it's what helps me thrive on all levels [00:09:00] with the accounting because I do see P& L's and balance sheets in my head I completely understand how they fall out and where they fall out and I can see how new agent struggle because they don't realize we're all 1099 employees and that it's so important that we, you know, money in and money out and where our investments go and that type of stuff.

Joy Williams: So it's incredibly helpful for me to be successful as an agent, but it's even more helpful for my customers because I can, then advise them appropriately, especially if they're investing in properties themselves. 

Tracy Hayes: Right. ~Uh, ~because that's, that's a thing now. ~Uh, ~well, I mean, it's always been lending has bounced it back and forth, but whether you're buying it in your LLC, not and structuring those things, I imagine it's given you the ability to talk about this.

Joy Williams: Yeah, for sure. And I, it gives,~ um,~ when we do home inspections, I, I see houses different ways than agents. I immediately Look at it more as an investor than I do as someone who's just trying to sell a home. My customers [00:10:00] will get tickled because I'll say, you can't buy this house unless they're willing to recite it.

Joy Williams: I mean, and I try not to make those decisions for them. I just said that, you know, as if I authoritatively tell my customers not to buy properties, but I don't always. I'm just their guiding post. But for the most part, my point is that,~ um,~ I have a good sense of whether the house needs a lot of work, and whether you have the money to be able to do those things or not, because we've had good conversations about that.

Joy Williams: So it's really helpful for us to know, like, ~um, ~If you don't have a lot of money, maybe you don't invest in a house that has a well and a septic tank. 

Speaker 4: Right. 

Joy Williams: If you're not a good saver. So all of those things are really helpful,~ um,~ that I learned from the investment side of stuff. Because we took on projects with wells and septic tanks, and they've been fantastic.

Joy Williams: very expensive projects. ~Um, ~and maybe something that we weren't expecting in our investment property. So then it does help me get in front of a customer who might be,~ um,~ first time homebuyer, not large savings. Yeah, this is a great house, but it doesn't have a [00:11:00] newer septic tank system. Do you realize in the future you might have to invest, you know, all the funds to update that.

Joy Williams: So those are things that have really helped me as an investor be able to help buyers know, like costs that could be coming in the future. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~the lot of talk on the, from the lending side on renovation loans, renovation loans. But from what I'm hearing from you guys as real estate agents is the, the customers out there today,~ uh,~ really want turnkey.

Tracy Hayes: So that puts, you know, you and your, your husband kind of in the middle of like, well, great. Cause we like to flip homes, but obviously getting in that home. Correctly is important because you're not in it for charity. You gotta make some money on the 

Joy Williams: equity spread must exist 

Tracy Hayes: But you're you guys your ability I imagine you've done enough and or you bring your husband on and some stuff that's more Serious when you're out showing a client some of these homes that and maybe were built 20 years ago They're in great neighborhoods, but no one ever updated it.

Tracy Hayes: It's just still got you know Still got the [00:12:00] same decor from when they you know, the original Builder stuff from 20 years ago. ~Um, ~do you find sometimes you have to Bite your tongue a little bit because you could start almost going. Yeah, I would renovate this I would do this and it start all of a sudden the numbers start going up and then the people like oh, this is too much 

Joy Williams: Yes, so i'm a talker by nature.

Joy Williams: I love to talk. I love to be the one in charge of the conversation ~Um, ~but real estate has taught me not to talk and it's really taught me that being an active listener is more important to the sale than it is for my opinion. And I've learned,~ um,~ the hard way that putting my opinion out there can be a deal killer and it can be a reason somebody doesn't want a house.

Joy Williams: ~So, um, ~I try to just sit back and only offer my opinion when asked. especially because I may not like chariot cabinets, but that doesn't mean that my buyer or, you know what, that they, they might be coming 

Tracy Hayes: from Montana and they might love that. 

Joy Williams: Exactly. It might be there. Look, you know, who knows? I mean, not everybody loves the new look of the white cabinets with [00:13:00] the granite countertops, right?

Joy Williams: It's different for everyone for sure. So yeah, I try to,~ um,~ focus on the four points. If the house at it meets all four points for a four point inspection and we can get good insurability on the property and get good comparables, it's a great house for you. 

Tracy Hayes: Now,~ um,~ I'm kind of jumping ahead into my normal routine, but I think we're, cause we're on something.

Tracy Hayes: I think it's important for the listeners,~ um, uh, ~Going into these on a listing appointment,~ um,~ when you've got one of these homes that, that needs some work, how do you, how do you, how do you approach that versus that buyer? The buyer is a little different, like I said, you don't know what they're going to like, but obviously you want to present the home.

Tracy Hayes: what you know is seems to be the you know the The thing now, right? The white countertops is, is that feasible when you go in and start having chats with some of your listing appointments? ~Um, ~you know, how, how do you, how do you structure that? And then if you could lead into,~ um,~ from an, a lending side, because obviously that existing home versus new [00:14:00] construction right now, 

Speaker 3: ~um, ~

Tracy Hayes: because you have a knowledge in your head of what that room could look like, or that kitchen could look like, or whatever, to really make it, Because I think the existing homes are built better.

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~you're getting more dollars, more square feet per dollar on the existing homes. And, you know, there's something different about being in an established neighborhood that has trees and that sort of thing. So how do you, when you go into that listing, get that, get that home soon, make sure it's going to get the proper dollar.

Tracy Hayes: How do you,~ um,~ break it down for that homeowner or kind of give us a conversation, maybe one you've had recently with somebody where you said, Hey, you know, we need to do some tweaks here. 

Joy Williams: Yeah. So for sure. I had a,~ um,~ a listing a year ago and,~ um,~ Hermitage Road in Fort Caroline area and it had original kitchen original bathrooms, but 

Tracy Hayes: those homes were built probably in the 70s 

Joy Williams: Yep, early 70s.

Joy Williams: It did have aluminum wiring It had in ground pool. That was green But it also had beautiful Laminate floors throughout the kitchen, even though it [00:15:00] was original was painted and looked in great shape So the house was very livable except for the kitchen such as the pool and those types of things.

Joy Williams: Create renderings of what the kitchen would look like if it was renovated what the bathrooms would look like if they were renovated We printed them out put them on poster boards put them in each one of those rooms So people could look forward to what that house could look like in the event. They chose the renovation Then we did offer the financing for it if they chose to do renovation financing I managed the expectation with the seller By just, you know, saying your house, the houses that are selling on the marsh front in this area, getting that 

Tracy Hayes: top dollar, they're 

Joy Williams: getting that top dollar are this, the houses that are in your shape,~ um,~ that are not on the marsh front are this.

Joy Williams: ~Um, ~and so looking between those two, we should get a range of this number. And we, we sure did. We got it right on. I mean, then the appraisal did require that the [00:16:00] pool, you know, be blue. Okay. And that we had to satisfy some stuff. And with those things, because my sellers did not want to come out of pocket.

Joy Williams: With the money up front I worked with contractors who would accept money on the day of closing So my pool guy got paid the day of closing the deck guy that needed work done the electrician Everybody got paid from the closing funds, right? So we were able to mitigate the entire circumstance by managing expectations by telling hey seller You're not going to get top of the neighborhood But this is how I'm going to creatively market your home to be sure that we can sell the home for you and get the most equity for the neighborhood.

Joy Williams: And then since you don't have or want to spend the money up front, these are the other ways I can manage those expectations and have those people paid at closing. 

Tracy Hayes: You tipped on something I think is very important, something I've, I've been bringing up regularly on the show. The importance,~ uh,~ if you want to be a top producing,~ uh,~ Influential real estate agent to have those people on your Rolodex, which obviously it sounds like, you know, you know, people say well Her husband's a [00:17:00] contractor.

Tracy Hayes: So she you know, well It doesn't mean You have to have a husband that has to be a contractor. And 

Joy Williams: disclaimer, my husband does no work for any of the houses. And the truth is because he runs his own business, right? He's doing his investment side. So he is not,~ um,~ doing the work for me, for my customers. So yes, my Rolodex of people,~ um,~ actually overheard him telling someone the other day, I don't have someone for that.

Joy Williams: Joy will though. And at this point in time, she knows more people than I do because she's working more regularly with them. Contractors and he has different situations. Yeah. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: I mean, I mean how important I mean if I don't know how often he did Keller Whims or if you do some training they bring you in to talk to some of the new agents But if they if they invited you down the knee far and said hey, we're having this new agent seminar We're bringing in top agents and or experienced agents like yourself and coming in and talking to them how important it You know right off the bat to maybe get with another agent like yourself now, not all agents like to share their Because they [00:18:00] 

Joy Williams: should they should not be in competition with each other.

Joy Williams: We should all be in cooperation with one another 

Tracy Hayes: right but To get with other agents that you know Like yourself give you a call sit down have coffee with you and trade some of these things Hey, I got this pool guy and the fact that the pool guy was willing to wait You Two or three weeks, whatever, before he got paid.

Tracy Hayes: I mean, that's a home run there. 

Joy Williams: Yeah. And my, honestly, I will be happy to share my vendors information because when my vendors do well, then I'm doing well. So I want, 

Tracy Hayes: just remind him that referral came from you. 

Joy Williams: Right. Everybody joy. Let you know, because then at the end of the day, like, ~um, ~We were, when I moved, when I moved my license over to Keller and I was being introduced to the Keller Williams brand, the big thing was I needed to brand myself as a local expert.

Joy Williams: How do I set myself apart from the competition by being the local expert? ~So, um, ~And part of being the local expert is having a Rolodex of people so that when my customers know like I need a [00:19:00] roofer They don't even go to google. They just go to google joy joy. Who's my roofer? Did I who who's the flooring person that I use and that's important?

Joy Williams: I want them to know that i'm a tool that they can always have ~um, ~and the same for the agents because I really just believe everybody should do well. I do believe we should all be in cooperation to be successful. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, I mean, I think there's Florida contractors have a Stereotype or whatever whatever you want to call it.

Tracy Hayes: But I mean a lot of these guys don't show up. 

Speaker 4: Yeah And 

Tracy Hayes: that's true to become that resource which I think You know with the whole ~um ~nar settlement and things like that. I think agents need to You can agree or disagree with me. I think agents need to spend more time being that Concierge that Community influencer that go to person because you are working with these guys Okay, I if John says he's gonna be there at 8 o'clock on Monday morning.

Tracy Hayes: He's gonna be there, you know Because a lot of contractors. Yeah, they [00:20:00] don't show up or they double book themselves because I'm for whatever reason You know, they're they're tight on money. They're they're they're They start a project and jump to another project and juggle both projects and, you know, that kind of stuff going on,~ um,~ you know, to have that,~ uh,~ resource like yourself to refer somebody that's actually going to show up.

Joy Williams: Yeah. And then I like to get the feedback from my customers,~ um,~ How did it work? Which is that's another way to touch my customers without them realizing it, right? So you asked me for a vendor information Put a reminder in my calendar three weeks later to follow up to see how that worked out 

Speaker 4: Yeah, 

Joy Williams: it's beneficial because it allows me to touch the customer to to stay in communication But then it also allows me to know if that vendor is still doing good because sometimes they're not doing good anymore And they might need to fall off my list 

Tracy Hayes: 100% 100 percent.

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~there's no doubt they could show up three times do a home run job. And then the fourth time Yeah, they'd either did somebody quit that was on their crew life happens. Yeah,~ um,~ that's everything. ~Um, Uh, ~you kind of answered actually probably half the questions already I have a [00:21:00] lot more. ~Um ~We even talked about what triggered you to got your residential license.

Tracy Hayes: I had that in there ~Um ~when you first got in the retail~ Um, ~you already had a background working knowledge of what was going on. You had your own transactions that you guys had done some flips, but let's talk about that first year. You know, the first day you walked in,~ um, uh, ~to the initial brokerage you went to,~ um,~ were you kind of like, okay, what do I do next?

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~tell us, kind of walk us through. Cause I, thinking of the, as we talk pre show, the listeners, we might have a new agent on here and they just walked into a brokerage and they're like, yeah, you got your license. Okay. Yeah. You can sit over there and flip open your laptop and no one's there to to take over.

Tracy Hayes: Now you're with Keller Williams now that specializes. You went to them after having experience, which is another topic to talk about. But a lot of new agents go to Keller Williams because they do have that structured environment, whether you're going to a team or they got tons of people training in your sales centers and so forth, constantly going on all the time.

Tracy Hayes: But for you, you [00:22:00] know, what was those, you know, first, what got you kicked off in the retail? So 

Joy Williams: retail was slow for joy. So my very first year, I think outside of our flips, I sold one transaction. ~Um, ~and then I think in year two, I sold like six and it escalated very slowly for me. I'd very much built my business on the side of my bookkeeping business for a long time.

Joy Williams: I didn't know my value. I didn't have,~ um,~ my broker at the time. Is an amazing person. He is an amazing person, but he's focused on building his property management company as he should be. That's his bread and butter. And that's what,~ um,~ takes care of his family. ~Uh, ~the investment in my business was there as far as like.

Joy Williams: You got this girl, but there wasn't a whole lot of training and such So I built it very slowly because I didn't know what to do I just happened to do a good job of treading water for a long time. And the 

Tracy Hayes: excuse was well I'm doing my bookkeeping business, right? 

Joy Williams: Right. Yeah So [00:23:00] you 

Tracy Hayes: had that other income coming in like and then I can imagine as a brokerage like well She's she's just kind of doing this part time.

Tracy Hayes: She's got a bookkeeping business. She's doing a few deals. Everything's good 

Joy Williams: And I didn't take myself serious. I didn't come in. I see other agents come into Keller and they're selling more than me in their first year. And I'm like, dad gum, what would it have been like if I had done that for myself? ~Um, ~in the beginning, what would that have looked like?

Joy Williams: But my children were very little at that time to Tracy, they're 17 and 21 now. And I have the independence to just go and leave and go to showings and stuff. I didn't have that in those first few years. I didn't want that. Either. I wanted to be present for my kids. I didn't want to have to be like, sorry, I'm going to miss a game so I can do this showing real quick last minute.

Joy Williams: Cause I know this is the house and they're going to buy it. So I started out really, really slow that worked for me,~ um,~ at the time, but then the need, the desire to want, cause to just know that there's more out there and that I should be pushing for myself came and that's why I transitioned [00:24:00] to was cause I felt like, ~um, ~There was so much more to learn, and I had not, I had barely, barely bitten into the apple.

Tracy Hayes: ~So, ~a question, a topic, anyone's listening to the show, and if I did not bring this up on one episode, point it out, that initial choice of brokerage, what was, what led you to that brokerage at that time? 

Joy Williams: I interviewed with several different brokerages at the time because it was going to be a strategic change for me.

Joy Williams: I do not change. I'm loyal. So like I most likely will never leave Keller because I took so much time and research and investment and where I wanted to go and how I wanted to grow. And,~ um,~ that the Atlantic partners really is a very good structure for me. They've been very,~ uh,~ beneficial and. Reminding us that they have a buffet of items that we can eat from right like it But how we choose to consume the knowledge is on our own and how we choose to build our business is on our own And so I liked the [00:25:00] idea that I could take one thing and then grow but that I didn't have to be all in and I didn't ~Um, ~my team leader at the time was pete.

Joy Williams: Cheryl. I felt like He was gonna hold me accountable, but he wasn't gonna, you know, be like a dojo on me. Cause I can't, I can't take that kind of pressure. I pressure myself enough. And so Pete was like the perfect balance for me to,~ uh,~ to tell me you have value and you're gonna do amazing at this. Just like actually believe in yourself.

Joy Williams: And so that's, that's really where,~ um,~ What I was looking for was somebody to believe in me and to believe in my growth of self And so that's where I settled with Keller Williams and then all the rest just kind of came with it I didn't start drinking the Kool Aid Probably until two years in until I could actually see and look at the past 24 months and how my life had grown,~ um,~ spiritually, how my life had grown with my business and with my family and how that had been supported through the structure that Kether Williams offers.

Joy Williams: There's 

Tracy Hayes: no doubt they're doing something [00:26:00] well over there because of the, you know, there's a lot of top agents,~ uh,~ like yourself and how you went from ~Uh, ~your initial brokerage. There's people who have been doing well with other brokerages. I mean really well and moved over You moved over and got better, right?

Tracy Hayes: If i'm 

Joy Williams: doing 

Tracy Hayes: this correctly 

Joy Williams: almost tripled my business. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah ~Uh, ~so they're doing something well over there to maintain which I think is the biggest challenge for brokers is ~Uh, ~retention. How do you continue to add value to the agents? Because when you stop adding value, then that's when they start looking.

Joy Williams: Well, and the value has to be there because at the end of the day, we cap, right? ~So. ~I'm only worth a number to my broker. I mean, my broker is an amazing person. I know he is invested in all of us individually. I do believe that Steve Tufts invests in each of us individually. However,~ um,~ we are just, everybody only cashes the same amount of money coming in.

Joy Williams: So how does he keep us there? How does he retain us? There is through leadership and our leadership really,~ um,~ they teach us to pour [00:27:00] into our customers. That's how I built my business. ~Um, ~through their guidance was pouring into my customers. So they in turn take that on in themselves and they pour into us as agents.

Joy Williams: So very often,~ um,~ you know, when my son graduated high school,~ uh,~ they send graduation cards. They support my family in the same way that I support my customers families. And so that feels good. It feels genuine 

Tracy Hayes: knowing what you know. Now,~ um,~ you know, you, you started off the one brokerage, You know, ~uh, ~whether you know, like I said, he was focused on something else, but if you're a new agent coming in You were survivor you could but you had but you had some real estate background to live someone coming in Cold from corporate America,~ uh,~ or, you know, we, we talked about the late Sarah Rocco and there's been others that have been on the show.

Tracy Hayes: You know, Sarah was a single mom and,~ uh,~ you know, all of a sudden her husband wants to get divorced and now, you know, she's got to go find something to do,~ um,~ to earn a living and, you know, the rest is history there. ~So, uh, ~but people that are in that situation, people that are thinking [00:28:00] about getting into real estate, what, knowing what you know now about the brokerages and seeing a couple of different brokers and how, you know, obviously you went on there for a couple of minutes bragging about, you know, Atlantic partner set up, how important is it?

Tracy Hayes: And what should these new agents be doing prior to making their choice of where they go? They need a business plan. 

Joy Williams: I mean, if I was a brand new agent and I was interviewing with brokerages, I would ask them, how are you going to help me create design and execute a business plan? Because without that, you're really just.

Joy Williams: chasing transactions and unlocking doors because if you're not building your business, then you might be out of business. The next time you close a house, you might close a house and then you're out of business because you weren't actually running a business. So I think that that's the most important thing for a new agent.

Joy Williams: And then to ask themselves, where am I going to find my customers and see if that brokerage is going to help support you. My brokerage never acted like they were going to give me referrals. [00:29:00] They never promised me something,~ um,~ and underdelivered, but what they did tell me is that they can show me how to find my own leads, my own customer leads.

Joy Williams: And ~so, um, ~I think that that's important for any new agent is what's your business plan. And then where are your customers going to come from? 

Tracy Hayes: I'm going to break. We're going to get degraded two questions for me. Tell me in your 24 business plan, You break it down some of the simple things that you that you put in there that you know You're doing on a daily basis.

Tracy Hayes: I mentioned, you know, you you've got something you've got a schedule like in a lot of places You know brokers they say would from 9 to 11 in the morning or whatever. They're gonna you're they're totally prospecting. You're just calling whatever. They got a number every day that they're going to do. What are a couple of things that you've got in your business plan that you have regimented that you are required to do, whether on a daily or weekly basis?

Joy Williams: ~So, um, ~I require [00:30:00] myself to comment on Facebook posts, especially with people that,~ um,~ I haven't had. that are in my spear and I know that are going to be shopping soon. And I can get an idea of that based on conversations that our friends have told us so on and so forth. So I like to be active in people's Facebook Conversations that they've started at least three to five times in the morning So that's the first thing I do after I get ready 

Tracy Hayes: then just to touch on such a legit comments Not just you're not just liking you're actually saying oh, that's great Sally You know, can't wait to see you getting here.

Tracy Hayes: You want to actually write a sentence 

Joy Williams: right because Facebook it's all algorithmic So it's all intentional. So because Facebook, you know Obviously now you can click on to make a comment and it will say congratulations and give you emojis and if you want you can put that on there, but you're not going to push up to the top comments when they if they have 100 comments on there, right?

Joy Williams: Your little congratulations is going to get lost. It's so important that all of your comments on Facebook be more than five words. If you can make [00:31:00] it more than five words, that's what they really want. Instagram 

Tracy Hayes: is the same way. Yeah, it's all 

Joy Williams: meta. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So you want to always do more words with your comments and then you want them to be intentional.

Joy Williams: So remember their children's names. So it's not just happy birthday, happy birthday, Ben. I hope it's a great 17th year for you and you know, it pushes up in that algorithm and then it also helps that Customer who's also your friend because mind you for the most part my all my customers are my sphere of influence I've met them through friends or through people at church or ~um ~other friendly Relationships and then I built their relationship into a friendship also.

Joy Williams: So while it's intentional, it's also heartfelt It really is coming from a good place but I do know that it needs to be more than just a congratulations or a You know I'm super excited. You're 

Tracy Hayes: leveraging,~ uh,~ in this case, Facebook to stay top of mind. Yes. And you know, ~uh, ~the great comment,~ um,~ I had,~ uh,~ Carl,~ uh,~ was on the show.

Tracy Hayes: He [00:32:00] said,~ uh,~ social, social media is designed to be social and that's what they're looking for. You're making these regular comments. There was somebody did a ~uh, ~little reel on Instagram. So what should you be doing, you know, on Instagram in 2024 and, and You know, yeah, you should post X amount a week. You should,~ um,~ but the biggest thing was comments on.

Tracy Hayes: Others people's posts. Yeah. Was the number? Was that? Well, I would say I don't think I want to say the number was like 20 a day or something that so they felt you should should do that. But it's putting you in it's it's not something that's going to happen right away. But I think These people these agents who are getting business or even business people who are getting business from social media They're setting that in their their business by that They're gonna take 30 minutes in the morning or whatever it is and go down and make these comments and then it starts to build 

Joy Williams: Yeah, so I follow a specific I probably should have told you that when we, I led into it.

Joy Williams: So I do follow a specific plan, the DTD two, which is do the database [00:33:00] twice, but I do it really more than twice the two at the end. So each week is labeled,~ um,~ it starts off a and w is week one. And then during that week we do, I do different touches. So sometimes it might just be Facebook. If it's a and w for that week, it might, it might be a Facebook messages or I send them a private text message.

Joy Williams: just a regular email. So every, like when that week comes up, I have a whole,~ uh,~ Excel spreadsheet that tells me what I should be doing for that last names,~ uh,~ that week. So I get, I just wake up, open the laptop and like, Oh, it's a and W week. So I need to send everybody at the last name, a and W texts this week, but it might be B and E also that gets instant messages, right?

Joy Williams: So I'm supposed to be. about 100 people a week, whether it's emails, messages, or Facebook comments. 

Tracy Hayes: 100 people a week is roughly the goal. That's the goal. That's the goal. [00:34:00] Yeah, 

Joy Williams: but like life gets in the way, too 

Tracy Hayes: No, that's it's interesting that that I've never had anyone And not saying that you're the only one that possibly doing with it.

Tracy Hayes: What do you want to like I said, I Asked that question about the business plan because you brought it up To commit yourself to do it. Yeah, even in because as much as we're running around chasing the new flashy You Thing is agents and loan officers can with all the stuff that's thrown at us all the time Oh, this will make it easier.

Tracy Hayes: This will make it easier ~Uh ~social media is a long term play 

Speaker 4: Yeah 

Tracy Hayes: But the goal is to stay top of mind and you never really know if that customer came from social media Unless they point blank saw you, you know, I didn't know who you were Your social media thing came up. I've seen it a couple of times.

Tracy Hayes: You look like a cool person and now I'm ready to buy or sell a home. I'm going to call you. I mean that it doesn't happen a lot. It's because you're getting most of your clients from your sphere. They already know you, but you're reminding them I'm here. [00:35:00] I'm here. I'm here. I'm your real estate agent. I'm here.

Tracy Hayes: Even though you probably never even mentioned real estate, but they know every time they see your name. They know what you do. 

Joy Williams: Yeah. Absolutely. And before COVID, I used to host Bunko at my house every month, so I'd have anywhere from 12 to 20 women rolling dice for about three hours and we'd all laugh and have a great time.

Joy Williams: But I'm telling you what, you switch tables at Bunko and we'd switch tables and I'd get in front of somebody that I hadn't had a conversation with and everyone, it The first thing they ask me is how is real estate? Because I, I work hard to stay top of mind. I, my social media is intentional five days a week.

Joy Williams: We have Monday market updates,~ um,~ Tuesdays tips, Fridays are feature Friday. That's helps me be a local expert by always highlighting somewhere,~ um,~ local in town on Fridays. ~So, um, ~the social media. Does not get me leads I know a lot of people say I get a lot of leads from social media my social media does not bring me leads What it does is it supports my business and it shows my spirit of influence and everybody joy is actively [00:36:00] working in real estate We all know ten realtors Right.

Joy Williams: Right. Everybody does. But my goal is if you know, 10 realtors, then you think about who's the one that's working the most, who's the one that's active in real estate and is going to know her stuff. Oh, joy, because she's on social media five days a week. And not only is she on social media five days a week.

Joy Williams: She messages me and she asks me how i'm doing 

Speaker 4: You 

Joy Williams: know, she takes that time to make me feel like a person not a number not a reason that she ~uh ~needs to earn money 

Tracy Hayes: Right, right. Well, like I said, it really You know,~ um,~ I think a lot of corporate america is missing this right now. Oh, 

Speaker 3: yeah 

Tracy Hayes: ~um, ~you know some have gotten it some some don't and I can you know, Talk to the well, I won't mention names ~Um, ~but Because you're actively there.

Tracy Hayes: That person who maybe you sold the home for six months ago, but you're because you're actively in front of them all the time when someone says something to them about buying or selling homes. So now it looks like it came from there, [00:37:00] but it was really your social media that kept top of mind that gave that person the reminder to refer you.

Tracy Hayes: And then they go, well, where'd you get the business? Well, Sally referred me, but Sally referred you because you stayed top of mind with Sally through social media. 

Joy Williams: Sure. A hundred percent. It happened recently. ~Uh, uh, ~Husband, wife that I, I'm good. I know her through,~ uh,~ the church school group and he recommended me to another person in his office and the gentleman was like, you know, he says you're the best in the business, but I also looked you up on my own and I saw all your five star reviews on Google and I saw,~ um,~ your work on Instagram and things like that.

Joy Williams: So I know that you're an active working agent. You're 

Tracy Hayes: running a business, you're running a business. ~Um,~

Tracy Hayes: I wrote, what did I write down here? I'm sorry, I drew just like one word. That's going to remind me, right? No, that's good. I think we actually covered, but, but the, the customers, because we, I wanted to dig in the business plan, but it led into,~ um,~ you know, really what I, I, I think, When I hear somebody, Josh Rogers said it really well when he was on and when someone says, Oh, my social media is not getting me any business.

Tracy Hayes: I said, well, then stop doing [00:38:00] social media and see where your business goes. 

Joy Williams: But I mean, yeah, if you feel like it's not doing it, if I felt like it was not beneficial, I would not be doing it. 

Tracy Hayes: But 

Joy Williams: I do find it to be very beneficial. ~Um, ~in a lot of ways. Okay, so the feature Fridays, for instance, those help keep my algorithm really good on Instagram.

Joy Williams: Most of my reels that take off are Local hot spots. What do 

Tracy Hayes: you do for them? 

Joy Williams: So on fridays on future fridays, I do on every friday I feature a local place. So like this last week we just featured the donut. ~Um ~Is it the donut shop off of in arlington? I think that's the name of it I feel silly for not remembering off the top of my head.

Joy Williams: ~Uh, ~you're creating a 

Tracy Hayes: sweet treat in jack's beach Oh, yeah, so that one's 

Joy Williams: pinned because that one is that's got a lot of views So that's cookies and cream out at Jack's Beach. So yeah 

Tracy Hayes: Arlington 

Joy Williams: yeah, so every Friday we I post about a local area and those get the most views those get the most reshares They're the ones that get the [00:39:00] most active comments A lot of people are like, oh my favorite donut place in all of town and things like that and You So those help support all the other stuff.

Joy Williams: So social media is, it's, it's a pillar in my business, but it, it does not,~ uh,~ Have a return. Like I get a customer there and now I have a commission. They're 

Tracy Hayes: clicking on a website and we're clicking on a link or called an 800 number design off that ad. You have direct measurement, but you don't with the social, but you're, yeah, the, the doing the small business is brilliant.

Tracy Hayes: Obviously that's something, you know, all the, the big people say, you know, something agents should be doing. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~because when you,~ uh,~ go on there and post that you're,~ uh,~ you know, collaborating. 

Joy Williams: With with that business with that 

Tracy Hayes: business. So now you enter The all those people who like that business, you know, maybe whether they know the owners or not, but maybe they frequent that place ~Um, ~you know and they see that they have an active Social media page, you're now going and collaborating with them.

Tracy Hayes: And so now you start entering the [00:40:00] cir, the circle of that business who have a lot of people that you may have never met before. 

Joy Williams: And that's why that Cookies and Cream one does so well is because they collaborated with us. They were. active in that marketing and that they allowed us to tag them. Well, we tag all of them, but sometimes you can be a collaborator in a video.

Joy Williams: So we sent it to them and said, will you collaborate with us? They agreed. So then they're sharing it on their networks. I'm sharing it on my network. So we almost double our visibility. 

Tracy Hayes: How much time do you spend for something like that? 

Joy Williams: So I have a wonderful marketing coordinator. So I started when I started,~ uh,~ my social media calendar I did all the work and then I hired it out.

Joy Williams: ~Um, ~and it's ~uh, ~A recent graduate from fsu in marketing. She creates all of my ~uh, ~Is this someone not involved 

Tracy Hayes: with Atlantic Partners or someone who's in the Atlantic Partner family? 

Joy Williams: She's not a realtor. She's actually my son's girl,~ uh,~ fiance now. They just got engaged. I forget to refer to her that way.

Joy Williams: But,~ um,~ and before her it was a, a [00:41:00] preschool teacher that I could tell. The first person I approached to do the work, I could see from social media that she was doing all this great Canva work for her students in her preschool four class. So I called her and said, Hey, would you be interested in coming over and like this, me showing you what my social media looks like and replicating it.

Joy Williams: And so then she and I like learned our relationship together on how those designs should look and not look. Then when Caroline, my son's girlfriend. Got into her senior year at FSU. She needed an internship, so I let the other girl go and let Caroline step into her place. And so for the last year and a half, Caroline's been doing all of my marketing and she does an amazing job.

Joy Williams: I pay her hourly,~ um,~ and,~ uh,~ We consult together. But did 

Tracy Hayes: she create the little video there that I was just watching? Yep. She went, so she walked in the coffee shop and she did that? She, 

Joy Williams: so she goes into the coffee shop and does that. Yep. Okay. And takes those videos and then I reimburse for any of the food that she buys while she's there and then she's paid for all her time.

Joy Williams: Even when she, [00:42:00] when she's at the restaurant or the park or wherever. Right. And then, ~uh. ~Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: yeah, no, that's brilliant because you're not even, you know, taking it to another level would be actually like putting yourself on the screen with maybe the owner or someone there and I just don't have the time for that.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, I have 

Joy Williams: all great intentions for that to put myself in front of the camera more and I would love to. It's just,~ um,~ it's hard to be camera forward facing and be customer forward facing and my priority is my customer and I want to be as forward facing with my customers as possible. ~So. ~That means that some areas are going to hurt.

Tracy Hayes: So you reached a level where obviously, you know, time you, you hit, I call it hitting a lid. It's John Maxwell's thing. You hit a lid and your, your production. And yeah, because you, you do have, you have your long term marketing campaigns, you know, you, you, you know, obviously we talked about social media, which, you know, that's an active and, you know, staying top of mind, you [00:43:00] might get a call, About 10 minutes later.

Tracy Hayes: It might be weeks later But hopefully somebody that you were regularly touching on social media sends you somebody that's looking to buy or sell So at some point you reached that lid When did you realize that that now it's time I need to kind of spill over some of these other tasks like the marketing ~Uh ~stuff, ~uh ~to other 

Joy Williams: people I would say 2022 Is when I realized oh my gosh, how how I cannot be all of these same people I can't be a transaction coordinator and a realtor and a social media marketer and a mom and a wife And all of that so then ~um, ~I had moved off the social media marketing at that point in time So then I farmed off my newsletters.

Joy Williams: I do my Newsletters that go by snail mail also do quarterly happy mail to my customers to,~ um,~ the magnet that we discussed before the podcast is what, what is considered happy mail. ~Um, ~so I have a young lady that does all of that work for me too. So I started just [00:44:00] realizing I want to be my brand. I want to be forward facing.

Joy Williams: So instead of hiring realtors to unlock doors for me and hiring realtors to do the realtor job, I will just hire. Other people so most all of my marketing is run on its own machine The girls and I consult on everything that happens. I have all final decision making But that is like a well oiled machine train that I don't even think about until their email comes in front of me and says What do you think?

Joy Williams: So all of my marketing is is it's,~ uh,~ streamlined, it's processed and it's perfect for now. I'll tweak it again at the end of the year. Like I do every year when we have new business plans. ~Um, ~and so then I have a transaction coordinators. I have Samantha Cox and her team with my ops suite. I had kind of fumbled through transaction coordinators until her.

Joy Williams: And then with her, she's 

Tracy Hayes: with. She's a pay for play,~ um,~ She's a pay 

Joy Williams: for play transaction coordinator. What's 

Tracy Hayes: the name of that company? 

Joy Williams: It's called MyOpsSuite. 

Tracy Hayes: [00:45:00] MyOpsSuite. 

Joy Williams: S U I T E. Yes. And that's Samantha Cox. She used to run the Rocco team,~ uh,~ for a while. And then she also worked,~ um,~ directly with,~ uh,~ Margaret Cheryl and her team.

Joy Williams: And then recently created my op suite on her own. So she, it's her as well as three other transaction coordinators, and she just does a phenomenal job. She helps me get my listings. ~Um, ~and then she does manages my entire transaction. ~So, uh, ~this weekend I got two houses under contract and then two years ago I would have sat down in front of the computer and been a keyboard warrior and been, congratulations, you're under contract.

Joy Williams: What's next? And all of the things for both of those contracts. Now I simply upload all the documents that are necessary to Samantha's system and then. Today I know that when I leave here and check my email page, my assigned transaction coordinator will have sent both contracts, all the information they need.

Joy Williams: They've gone to all the right people. So adding that pillar to my business was huge too. I don't let go very well, but [00:46:00] Sam and her business is, is very good. I have very good confidence. They've 

Tracy Hayes: had a tracker. What would you say to an agent says, Oh, you know, I've talked to other, you know, that are at this, this pillar.

Tracy Hayes: Point I've talked to other people they their transaction coordinator screwed up and you know did this and that and you know Because I think a lot of people have the control. 

Speaker 4: Yeah 

Tracy Hayes: Thing and then the you know, the other thing you mentioned all you know These these little emails going out saying congratulations as you're at this step or whatever I want to do that because it's coming from me and I want to just like you're saying top of mind social media Are you saying you know staying top of mind?

Tracy Hayes: During the transaction. Sure. Yeah. 

Joy Williams: And I, I,~ um,~ managing expectations is my favorite thing to do. So I do manage expectations with my customers. Hey, yes, it's me. I'm forward facing the whole time. But once we go under contract, I have my girls that help me with paperwork so that I can continue to be forward facing for you and all my other customers.

Joy Williams: Page will be the one that's in contact with you. But always [00:47:00] communicate with me. ~Um, ~also the other thing that they do is they create a group text message, so it's always me, Paige, and my customers. And so when there's communication happening, Paige is not communicating with my customers without my knowledge at any point in time.

Tracy Hayes: Would you Because that, you know, again, that question I just asked you is a question I've asked several people because I'll tell you about that conversation after the show, but,~ um,~ that I'm having with someone,~ um,~ the communication is, is a big part of the, Likeability of that transaction coordinator or is that transaction coordinator doing what I'm doing?

Tracy Hayes: Cause if you're not communicating with them of how you want, how do you, is there a certain time of day you like to get those text messages? ~Uh, ~cause I, you know, I've talked to other agents and Carrie Carpenter, I think it was one, I think if I recall, she likes hers, like, you know, first thing in the morning she's gets in, she likes.

Tracy Hayes: You know books written in their text messages I don't know if I could handle that part But is it do you like them during a certain part of your day that you're that that communication went out you're seeing it? [00:48:00] You know, and you want that to go out a certain part of the day or that doesn't really matter because it goes back to circle back as communication In setting expectations with the transaction coordinator.

Tracy Hayes: Hey, this is what I want. Then the transaction coordinator can succeed 

Speaker 4: Right, 

Tracy Hayes: ~um, ~or you know, hopefully be on a path to succeed in your eyes because other people may actually like that person Because for whatever the default but you might be more stringent like hey, I want that by 9 o'clock in the morning I want to see that so that okay We'll let the transaction coordinator know that you want that text message going out at 9 a.

Tracy Hayes: m. And you know that will please you 

Joy Williams: Yeah, right. So I think that I'm okay with communication coming. I like it prompt communication. So I don't want you to wait to hold to tell me anything. So if it's something I need to know, email me now. Right now, text me immediately. You 

Tracy Hayes: may or may not deal with it right then there, but I, 

Joy Williams: I may or not, but I like to be able to crisis manage on my own

Joy Williams: So I'll decide if it's a crisis, if I'm gonna deal with it later, or if I'm gonna deal with it right now. ~Uh, ~and with that. So I'd like to [00:49:00] just bring it to me when it needs to come to me. Mm-Hmm. , I don't need it first thing in the morning, but the transaction coordinator, when I input. into their system, the very bottom, it asked me, is there anything that I need to know about this customer?

Joy Williams: And I'll write a narrative, right? So if it's a sweet gentleman in his seventies, he doesn't like texting, he doesn't like emails, he just wants you to call him. I tell him that, you know, if, if, and he recently just went through a life, life change, his wife passed, please be sensitive to, you know, that topic and things like that.

Joy Williams: So I try to let my transaction coordinator know as much about the customer as I know. Those notes are in my command too, in my back office, so they can see all of that information about that customer too. But I just want,~ um,~ Them to be on the same page so they know where we are with it. But I'm driving the boat.

Joy Williams: I want my customers talking to me as much as possible. If they're reaching out to the transaction coordinator, I do like the transaction coordinator to call me and tell me. Hey, I just talked to them about fill in the blank [00:50:00] Even if they just talked to him if the wall should be orange. I don't care I just want to know you're talking and that these people had a concern whether it's valid or not So the next time I because they assume 

Tracy Hayes: you're sitting side by side in an office together.

Joy Williams: They assume yes, that's yes So that's it. But no,~ um,~ they were my ~uh, ~my op suite was my third transaction coordinator group that I went with And it took me a long time to take a deep breath and say, I'm comfortable with them. But with my husband's diagnosis in January. I knew I had hit my lid and I knew now I have to be super confident with my pillars to support my business.

Joy Williams: How can I be forward facing, deal with cancer and you know, and my business and all of those things at the same time. And that's when I really knew like my marketing has to be a smooth running machine. My transaction coordinators have to be a smooth running machine so that I can continue to produce the way I produce while supporting my husband.

Tracy Hayes: I think,~ um,~ I, it's seen in the loan world,~ uh,~ [00:51:00] loan officers want to coddle their loans. I mean, you cannot be, like you said, the forward facing, you have to be doing the money making activities. ~Uh, ~you obviously understand the more,~ um,~ FaceTime, the more, and it's really, you may have been doing just as much FaceTime, literally FaceTime, but it's how you feel when you're And once you're able to deliver during that face time that these other people taking care of these these other Standard procedures sure in a real estate transaction that you know, that's being done that you're not going you're looking at your watch going Oh, I got to get home.

Tracy Hayes: I got to get that done. I got to type that up and send that email And then I got a you know, go to a kid's ballgame or whatever and then you're no longer forward facing You may physically be there in front of their face, but you're not forward facing, 

Joy Williams: right? Absolutely. And I, that, that affordability of like leaving and knowing all I have to do is like upload a [00:52:00] contract.

Joy Williams: It's amazing to me because it is, it allows me to not be weary mentally because of, 

Tracy Hayes: so you like filling out the contract yourself? 

Joy Williams: Yes. I do all the contract drafting. I do all the negotiations myself. I even negotiate all the repairs. If you're a buyer,~ um,~ because you're not 

Tracy Hayes: handing it off to them until and obviously because they're paid by play So you're not handing it off to them until you have a signed contract 

Joy Williams: not until I have a signed contract Yeah, and then essentially They are more than this.

Joy Williams: So I hate So to cumulatively put it this way, but I really just want them to be paper pushers Just push my papers. Just help me get my transact help me get my disbursement authorization that in and of itself sometimes makes you You Want to go insane 

Speaker 4: So I'm 

Joy Williams: grateful that I don't have to hound my business department of when are you gonna get me the papers so that I can?

Joy Williams: Get my check because the title company likes to get it with an appropriate time as they should But we have our systems and procedures in order to receive that disbursement authorization and that can be an arduous [00:53:00] process So it's just one more mental thing that I don't have to think about because I know that the girls will do it and to Handle 

Tracy Hayes: that for me.

Tracy Hayes: You cannot reach The levels of the number of transactions that we were talking about, you know, pre show that you're doing or in have any vision of growing,~ uh,~ again, talking an agent by themselves, cannot sit there and do 30 transactions a year. ~Um, ~it was, I think Carrie Carpenter was on, she said one time last year, she literally had done.

Tracy Hayes: You've got to have other people to rely on and you're never going to, you're never going to be able to get there unless you start delegating some of these,~ um,~ we call them paper, but they're actually important paper pushers because these things have deadlines and so forth. And that, you knowing those deadlines and you having to do it puts you staying up late at night, you know, you're You're stressed out, but you want to go to your kid's ball game, but you can't focus on what's going on because you're going, I got to get home and get that, get that done before I go to bed tonight, you know, type of thing.

Joy Williams: Yeah. And, and my, my, my dedicated transaction coordinator [00:54:00] is page at my ops suite. Everybody gets one that they're assigned to, but I enjoy,~ um,~ that she reminds me because I'll forget sometimes, right? Like I could be in the middle of a transaction showing houses and my gosh, it is the 10th day and an RRA does need to go out today.

Joy Williams: What are we going to do about that? And it's three o'clock and I'm standing in a house showing it two years ago. I would have probably gotten in the car and wanted to cry of thinking about all the things that had to get done. And now it's, it's just like, Dear Paige, where are we with that? And she, she most likely will say, check your email.

Joy Williams: I've already been in communication. And so that, yes, the, When you get to a certain point you have to delegate you have to let go No, you won't grow. You'll probably start retracting 

Tracy Hayes: actually 

Joy Williams: most likely. Yeah, because you can't be everything to everybody We'd like to be right, but we can't but we can look like we're everything to everybody if we strategically place the appropriate people To support us and that has really been ~um, ~[00:55:00] 2024 Was having the right partners because I don't think I ~um ~I think I hired out a friendship before 

Tracy Hayes: It's not always, sometimes that works.

Tracy Hayes: You learn. But, you know. And it's 

Joy Williams: not that anybody ever let me down. I've never been let down. Right. But it's just sometimes, you know, ~um, ~with experience comes, Comes knowledge and samantha has a ton of experience by running the rocko group And ~um, ~so that gave me a lot of confidence to know I would be okay.

Joy Williams: I think 

Tracy Hayes: you mentioned something really well there ~Um, ~you know some of these people who are stressed about oh, I don't want to give something up I can't do it, but I know how to grow They appease themselves by oftentimes Making that first hire Not the experienced person, not because they called out to you and said, who are you using?

Tracy Hayes: That's been successful. What are you? Well, you know, you've gone through three and you're the third one. Now you see, everything seems great and you're good with it. They don't make those phone calls. 

Speaker 4: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: they're stressing and then they go and hide they go and they find a girlfriend that says has [00:56:00] they have some ~um ~side time And you're like, oh go go do this Well now you just deflated why you didn't even give it up because you thought it was so valuable You could not give up doing that.

Tracy Hayes: But now you just gave it to someone who has no experience no track record Maybe they do it. Well, maybe they don't but the actually the point I want to make is~ um ~You need to pick up the phone. 

Speaker 4: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: ~uh, ~you know, it's one of the things that the podcast,~ um,~ I I'd like to say is a tangible benefit is you're hearing all these other agents and what they're doing and their mindset and ideology on how they're handling this that if This is a challenge.

Tracy Hayes: Pick up the phone and call one of the guests that have been on the show and ask them. Everyone that I've had on at all is welcome for anyone to call them, you know, send them a text message, whatever it is and say, you know, who are you using? Why is it you like them? You know, this is what I'm looking for.

Tracy Hayes: You think they would, you know, whatever the question is, but to reach out to these people because there's no need to recreate the wheel. 

Joy Williams: No, I'm not at all the wheel rolls just fine We don't need to make it [00:57:00] square So just ask people what they're doing and I truly believe we sell five counties like we're unique in that as realtors Because I mean if you think about the landmass that we cover ~Um, ~territory wise, somebody in New York would not even go down to Green Cove the way we head to Green Cove or up to Nassau County or wherever, right?

Joy Williams: So we're unique in that aspect. And because of that, not one agent, not one team, I love Christina Welch. I love her team. But even though they're the biggest, they still can't sell every front door. And all of, all five counties, right? None of us can. So with that in mind, we have to have a spirit of cooperation.

Joy Williams: ~Um, ~and, and be on a co mission, right? Together to earn our commission. Because if we're competitive in nature, and we're supposed to be getting to the same,~ uh,~ end of the race at the same time with the same goal in mind, but we're competing, we're not going to get anywhere. Right. So I really do. ~Um, ~I appreciate that others have poured into Christina Welch has poured into me so much at [00:58:00] Atlantic partners, share a cabinet that she's an amazing woman who has taught me so much about,~ um,~ changing my words and how to maybe be a little bit more delicate with the way I say things or,~ um,~ being more of an active listener.

Joy Williams: So 

Tracy Hayes: you mean, you tell it like it is. 

Joy Williams: I do try not, I try to be as polite as possible. I'm one, I'm the fourth of five kids. So filter, I had to learn filters. They don't come naturally to me, but all of that to say that people poured into me, I will always pour into others because we grow when others grow.

Tracy Hayes: Well, in reality is,~ um,~ the reputation of, of sometimes one agent can spoil Barrel, right? Sure. You know, type of thing. And that gives us a great segue. You know, you're going into the north, north settlement, whatever is going on there. People are stressing out. Obviously, some agents have probably rolled out already.

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~you know, type of thing. Call 

Joy Williams: me. I'll take your referrals. 

Tracy Hayes: Exactly. So what is your [00:59:00] mindset on it? If you, it's, you know, one of these,~ uh,~ new agents or, you know, just an agent,~ uh,~ you know, in the office and just runs into you in the hallway and say, Hey, what are you doing? What, you know, ~uh, ~help them get their arms around it.

Tracy Hayes: How do you, how, how are you,~ um,~ taking this on,~ uh,~ as far as, you know, what tweaks have you done in your business here? ~Um, ~yeah. because of this proposed settlement. 

Joy Williams: So very minor, pretty much business as usual for me. So in Joy's world,~ uh,~ it changed from offering 1 to 0. I wasn't doing that anyway. So that opportunity, that's pretty, I did buyer broker agreements before.

Joy Williams: Anyway. Now my buyer broker agreements will be the actual, you know, Florida form buyer broker agreements instead of the standard one that Atlantic partners had issued us to use. I always had those conversations with my customers up front. The NARA lawsuit baffles me completely. I do not know how anybody is allowed to say we agree to do something we've never agreed to do before.

Joy Williams: I feel [01:00:00] like this lawsuit is,~ um,~ A scam in so 100 percent and it just fails our VA buyer at the end of the day There's no consumer protection with this NAR lawsuit. They demand that it is protecting the consumer. That's not true You're taking away exposure of what my commissions are So now you continue to hide and hide with this lawsuit instead of expose expose expose and we need exposure To me, this lawsuit,~ um,~ I will continue to run my business the way that I did.

Joy Williams: I'll continue to be transparent. Everybody will know how I was paid. They already knew how I was paid. If we're in a situation to where, you know, there's all these semantics about the buyer broker agreements and can we make them,~ uh,~ you know, subservient to a listing agreement. What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Joy Williams: Because if the listing agreement was signed first, before my buyer broker agreement was signed first, it's me. Who decides what my commission is then, right? This is a, this is a big,~ uh,~ when you really actually look at the semantics of this and you [01:01:00] look at the business of what they are deciding for us, they are regulating us in a way that you should not be regulating 1099 employees.

Joy Williams: So I'm, it's all just baffling, but for me it's business as usual because I'm transparent. You're going to know how I got paid when I got paid.~ Um, ~it's never not been that way. 

Speaker 4: Right? 

Joy Williams: So essentially at the end of the day, that's where it is. I just hope that we actually get prevailing minds to understand how to actually protect the consumer because the consumer's not being protected.

Joy Williams: No. 

Tracy Hayes: The least it's the protections are coming down. 

Joy Williams: Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, Tracy, why don't we ever tell this is the thing that kills me. The title company, at least here in Florida, I can't speak for anywhere else, says, dear Joy, what is your commission? Oh, it's 2. 5 percent. You're just going to take my word.

Joy Williams: The title companies and attorneys don't ever ask for the listing agreement. Why do we not turn the listing agreement over when we turn over the contract? Why doesn't the buyer initial the listing agreement and have a spot on [01:02:00] there where they too can see what was agreed to in writing? It's a contract.

Joy Williams: How is it not part of the other contracts? Right. ~So, ~it's a contract. If we were to actually protect our consumer, we would give up listing agreements. We would show them those things. There would be more,~ um,~ transparency. Instead, this lawsuit just provides less and less transparency to the consumer. 

Tracy Hayes: You and I are on the same page.

Tracy Hayes: I think the DOJ's got their hands in the whole thing. There's some big corporate 

Joy Williams: conglomerate behind this. Somebody's winning that's not me. And or the consumer and it doesn't make sense 

Tracy Hayes: I think I have a you know, I have no factual data, but I really think the the the this administration this doj ~Um, ~they want to make you all w2 employees.

Tracy Hayes: Sure And,~ um,~ not have without, it's like the going back years ago, we're going to be buying and selling real estate online. We're not going to need real estate agents. Well, that all sounds great. If you're selling this one condo unit, when all the units are the [01:03:00] same, but you got to realize you're across the country with different state laws.

Tracy Hayes: You're not going to change those every state set, want their own laws. You've got every property's different. Everything's got a different title on it. You know, ~uh, ~you know, How it was handed, there's nothing that a computer can do to,~ uh,~ within an efficient period of time. And then obviously when you have humans with human emotions involved, you, you can't just turn this over to a computer.

Tracy Hayes: It just, it just cannot be done. It's a tactile job. Even with a, you know. Yeah. 

Joy Williams: Yeah. I mean like you have to smell a house. You can't smell a house through a computer. Yeah, there's a lot to it Yeah, but no, I agree with you And 

Tracy Hayes: I someone's that made a statement today and I go with it and i've made it I think I put it on linkedin The buyers have always been paying The buyer's agent just isn't paying it in the price.

Tracy Hayes: And I've said this on the last show, I'm going to continue saying it. If you were unrepresented, the first thing you would say, well, you don't have to pay my buyer's agent. So discount the price. 3%. 

Joy Williams: A hundred percent. Yeah. And I tell people that [01:04:00] all the time. If, if there's a for sale by owner in your neighborhood, that.

Joy Williams: That for sale banner should be reflected three percent less than what the rest of the neighborhood is because that price is built into it Yeah, just like when you buy a car off a lot. The commission is built in to pay the car salesman Every it's it's there across the board in all industries. It's just ~um ~

Speaker 4: Yeah, 

Joy Williams: it doesn't again.

Joy Williams: It goes back to I don't know how many times on the state test. I had to answer and the the word problems, you know, like it gives you this elaborate scenario and the final answer is I there is no set standard commission commissions are negotiable. You answer that question methodically five to seven times on 100 question test or whatever the numbers are.

Joy Williams: And then now we're setting a lawsuit that says we're not going to do that. You've tested me on But That's where we are. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. No, no, I agree.~ Uh, ~I didn't,~ um,~ use a scam. I call it a money grab, but same difference. . Yes, 

Speaker 4: exactly. Yes, a hundred percent. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~new agents [01:05:00] coming in today, what, what should they be doing?

Joy Williams: They, the new agents that are coming in today have to start acting like they've been doing this. So I would say focus on the social media, right? So stories on your maybe not on your wall every day But on your Facebook stories show houses that you have been showing maybe take pictures of the classes that you're actively sitting in It's important to create a top of mind for yourself.

Joy Williams: So what's your plan to show everybody? Hey, look now I'm a realtor and keep me top of mind and because you're you're new And you probably don't have by active buyers or active sellers. I would say that it's, you know, posting about the classes, posting about the houses you're showing on behalf of other agents that may have hired you to unlock a door for them.

Joy Williams: ~Um, ~also,~ uh,~ gosh, I just, Oh, open houses. Hello. Open houses. We have a, an epidemic. I know that's a medical word, but we do. And like [01:06:00] lots of new agents are coming into the office and we will offer, I mean, some of us can't hold three open houses on a Saturday, right? So we need a new hungry, you young agent to come in and be willing to hold an open house for us.

Joy Williams: And,~ um,~ Many times they're not volunteering and then they say at the Tuesday meeting, I need customers. Well, where were you Saturday when I needed somebody to do an open house? Because your customers are at open house. Open houses are long term gains, but they're so worth it because that garden will pop all at once.

Joy Williams: You may meet five people at an open house in 2024, nurture them. And then in 2027, you just sold five houses. From nurtures from two three years ago. So I open houses are key 

Tracy Hayes: and You know, a lot of agents have reached a level. They've they've they have the listings they have, you know, the the circle of influence They are doing well.

Tracy Hayes: They're going out and enjoying their fruits of their labor and spending saturday with people with their kids. I would note that, but the type of thing,~ uh,~ you've got to be, that's, that should almost be, it's [01:07:00] shocking. Actually. ~Um, ~you say something so obvious, 

Speaker 3: but a lot of 

Tracy Hayes: things we talked about are, are kind of obvious, but they're, they're just, they're not doing it.

Tracy Hayes: And when you're a human nature, but you know, ~uh, ~you come a real estate agent and you should be committed to the K I'm going to be working every weekend because I'm going to find an open house or multiple open houses. 

Joy Williams: Yeah. I would say,~ um,~ So the successful teams, Rocco team and,~ um,~ Welch team, their,~ uh,~ their agents are required to hold certain open houses and they will approach outside of their team if they don't have enough listings.

Joy Williams: I've been approached by the Rocco team to hold open houses at my listings and it's beneficial. They get a lot from it. I get a lot from it. My sellers are happy that we're getting traffic. And then they, as buyers agents are getting traffic. They're book stacked, learning, meeting new people and getting an opportunity.

Joy Williams: You never know, you never know what 

Tracy Hayes: rock is going to be unturned when they come in that door. Yeah, most likely 

Joy Williams: they're not going to actually buy the house. The open house house that's like what one percent And somebody walks into a house and buys a house from an open house So you have to understand it.

Joy Williams: ~Um, ~keller williams has [01:08:00] these things called playbooks. They're amazing and they're for everything So in fact, I messaged. ~Um, ~i'm doing an open house this saturday in bannon lakes from 10 to 12 House has been on the market a little while. I don't know why it's being stale So I decided to bring in an ice cream truck.

Joy Williams: So we're gonna do an ice cream. I saw that 

Tracy Hayes: june 1st I said I think that's on your ~um, ~Yeah, 

Joy Williams: and ~um, ~and then I pay for fate for meta to promote that so that it helps and then I target the audience of that neighborhood for people to come brilliant. Yeah. And then I also share it with my seller. So my shell seller shares it in their community band and lakes page too.

Joy Williams: So all the neighborhood knows that it's going on now as well. And then I'll do flyers on Thursday. How much 

Tracy Hayes: did you spend for Facebook to promote that? I think 

Joy Williams: 80 and it tells me that it will expose it to 40, 000 people. 

Tracy Hayes: 40, well, obviously a lot more than that neighborhood, 

Joy Williams: right? And that's just what it says it exposes to.

Joy Williams: We'll see what actually the numbers fall out to, but that was 80 for that. Two 50 to hire the ice cream truck. And once,~ um,~ enough ice creams been eight to 250. [01:09:00] Everybody will have to pay for theirs after that, if we get to that number. But the goal is, is just to get. into the open house for me. ~Um, ~I know that that most likely won't sell that house, but it will give enough exposure that the sellers feel good.

Joy Williams: Like I've, that I've been working very hard for them and we'll continue to. But in the interim I take that Keller Williams playbook that I asked Caleb for today. And,~ um,~ Really follow the process that's in there because it's like specifically talks about like putting a QR code up on a sign so you can capture leads that way.

Joy Williams: What documents you need to have on the table because essentially you're hosting a buyer's Open house, right? So now you're selling yourself as an agent like look at my pretty backdrop of a house But look on the table here. Here's all the resources I have available for you as buyers And here's how i'm going to help you as a buyer's agent So I want to bring you in the house But then I want to sell myself to you Once you get in the door and you do that by following the playbook that gives you all the guidance [01:10:00] To have the resources available for your customers Or or upcoming customers, I 

Tracy Hayes: think a lot of people under I don't know, estimate, undersell, whatever the word might be.

Tracy Hayes: Value maybe? Undervalue. You're spending 330, 80 for the ad, 250 for that ice cream truck. You and I know that a lot of people who move to a certain community, our planned communities, especially in St. Johns County, Yes. are being referred by their friends or family who 

Speaker 4: already live 

Tracy Hayes: there. Mm hmm. Secondly, By providing the ice cream You are having all these people come around and they're going so the mindset is hey, I brought my kid over and they got an ice cream she's Spending her money.

Tracy Hayes: She's spending her commissions to get this ice cream truck here. 

Joy Williams: Mm hmm. 

Tracy Hayes: I want her to do that for me 

Joy Williams: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: yeah 

Joy Williams: My hope is is that every [01:11:00] customer feels like I worked my hardest for them. And if they feel like I didn't, I would love to have a very beneficial conversation with them because I want to learn how to grow.

Joy Williams: I, Constructive criticism is okay for me, but I've, we've had, I've had those conversations with customers and when they come, that's okay. It's a growing experience. It's very rare that it happens, but I always want my customers to feel like I've worked really hard for them and 330 as an investment to make it look like I'm working very hard for them.

Joy Williams: Yeah. It's wonderful. Plus it builds my books. Yeah, it's it's like it's beneficial in so many so many ways 

Tracy Hayes: two things Well one particular thing here You're self employed. I think a lot of people go in with the employee mentality That they're getting they're getting you know, if they're getting two and a half percent on this.

Tracy Hayes: Okay. Well, that's two and a half percent That's mine No that you know, 

Joy Williams: maybe one you have to 

Tracy Hayes: have some cost of doing business You can either give it to the irs or you can you know reflect it back to your customer Which [01:12:00] hopefully there's a trade off here that you're yeah, your customer keeps you on because houses are sitting longer, right?

Tracy Hayes: Yes, you hopefully are other people going man when I list my house I'm going to use joy because wow, she got an ice cream truck out front. That's going, that's a, that's a, that's out there. Right. ~Um, ~she's, she's spending her own money in investment to move this house, which is what you're supposed to be doing.

Tracy Hayes: And I think, you know, to circle back to what we were talking about, the NARA lawsuit, I don't think enough agents are, you know, there's agents going around taking pictures with their cell phones because either they're afraid to ask the customer to pay for a professional photographer or Putting it out of their own commissions to pay for the professional photography, which is a whole nother thing when it comes to your reputation 

Speaker 4: Right, 

Tracy Hayes: you know, 

Speaker 4: yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: if you don't have professional photos, someone's gonna man Some people pick up on that stuff, you know that these weren't done professionally.

Tracy Hayes: I don't want them to do that I want professional photos, so I'm not gonna hire that agent. I'm gonna hire the agent does professional photos 

Joy Williams: So part of my listing [01:13:00] agreement is To show my value, right? ~Um, ~and showing my value is that I hire professional photographers to list your property because in order to help you get the most equity, I, you know, I could do the whole spiel for you, but,~ um,~ in order for you to get the most equity out of your property and in order for me to do the best by you, I have to hire a professional photographer because like we talked about stay in my lane.

Joy Williams: ~Um, ~and ~so, ~I'm a sort of creative person, but I'm not as creative as my videographer and photographer is, and I don't excel in that area. Also, there's large money investments that need to go into those cameras and things like that, which should probably be a separate business than being a realtor, if you actually think about it from an IRS perspective.

Joy Williams: So stay in my lane. I'm being a realtor. I'm going to sell a house. I'm not going to have a photography business and a videography business and all of those things. But in my listing agreement, It is shown this is what my value is and if you'd like a reduced commission We can talk about reduced marketing.

Joy Williams: Yeah, right exactly [01:14:00] And then reimbursement is in part of that listing agreement and i'm up up front. I Do want 1, 500 in the event that you cancel this listing agreement because I'm putting my money out in good faith saying I Will work my hardest to sell your house for you But in the event that you don't feel that that's beneficial didn't pay me back, 

Tracy Hayes: right?

Tracy Hayes: Well, I think You're afraid to ask to,~ uh,~ I think, like I said, they got that employee mentality that that's their commission and, oh, well, the, the company needs to pay for that. Well, there is no company. 

Joy Williams: Keller 

Tracy Hayes: Williams ain't gonna pay for your professional photos. 

Joy Williams: No, we, I pay Keller. I pay him. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Yeah. ~Um, ~but you're, you're right.

Tracy Hayes: I mean, I had,~ uh,~ DJ with,~ uh,~ iSight,~ um, uh, ~media, right? Is that, where's your card right there? iSight,~ uh,~ Yeah, eyesight. Eyesight imaging. I want to say eyesight imaging on. And, yeah, the amount of hours she was telling me. They can go out and shoot photos for an hour. The amount of hours she spends post.

Joy Williams: Behind the computer. Behind 

Tracy Hayes: the computer making that all look [01:15:00] great. I mean, yeah, it doesn't equate. 

Joy Williams: It doesn't at all. No, not to win time is money. Yeah. Right, and because we're on a realtor show, obviously I'm going to make more money on commission than I am if I'm going to photograph houses. That's your 

Tracy Hayes: expertise, right?

Tracy Hayes: Your expertise is that forward facing, 

Joy Williams: right? So I'm going to work harder at that and allow my photographers and videographers to do what they're good at. Same with,~ um,~ With my ops suite, going back to the transaction coordinating,~ uh,~ Samantha is a licensed agent, so she does help with listings. So as soon as I get a listing agreement signed, I upload that into her system, give her all the details.

Joy Williams: She organizes the photographer, the time she puts the listing in, she connects it with showing time. All of that stuff goes down for me as well. ~So, ~

Tracy Hayes: all right, that's Now you, I don't, cause this is a big one for agents, like not wanting to pass it. They think they've got to make all that, that, those connections.

Tracy Hayes: Has it, has it taken away from your business because you allowed [01:16:00] someone else to arrange the Inspector the photographs. 

Joy Williams: No, I mean because I still show up. I still show up on the photographers there I still show up when the inspection is there the girls have access to my full calendar So they just see where my time slots are in and put me there and then I show up when I'm supposed to be there No, it's been the best Best part of my business this year.

Joy Williams: I love it I love being able to and 

Tracy Hayes: because they're reporting back to you. I imagine a few hours later. Okay, we Inspections gonna be here, you know 

Joy Williams: Yeah, yeah all of it. No it it honestly That is the reason that I can sit in front of you today with the amount of volume that I've done this year, with the amount of times we've sat in medical,~ uh,~ doctors offices and hospitals and procedures and everything.

Joy Williams: Samantha and her team at my op suite is why I am thriving. 

Tracy Hayes: That's, that's a great endorsement. Maybe I should, should I have Samantha on the show? 

Joy Williams: I 

Tracy Hayes: occasionally like to have a supporting business. I [01:17:00] think that's a 

Joy Williams: great idea. Yes. Cause she, she offers so much and it's because she was an agent. So she sees the multifaceted support that's needed, but she likes the systems and processing.

Joy Williams: Not, she's not the forward facing like I am. ~Um, ~so she thrives and she's built a thriving business because of it. ~So, ~I mean that she, I don't believe she'd been open a year and now she has three transaction coordinators underneath her. Mm-Hmm. . So she's built an amazing business from the ground up. 

Tracy Hayes: Right.

Tracy Hayes: All. And then we're gonna, we're gonna reach out. Samantha Cox, right? 

Joy Williams: Yeah. I'll give you her number. I have it when we're done, when we, yeah. Stop filming. 

Tracy Hayes: Give that to, we'll have her on, because I think it's ~so, ~the growth of any agent. ~Um, ~is the team you gotta let go that's behind them. You've, you've gotta let go and let some people that, that they really are, they really actually, if you, you do your due diligence, find out someone who's got a track record, they've been doing a good job, instead of just hiring somebody that, that you saw an ad on Facebook or something, right?

Tracy Hayes: Which we've all done. Yes, we've all, [01:18:00] we've all done that. ~Um, ~but if you're really, I gotta control it. There are people that are better than you and just think about. You know, spending more time doing what you really like to do, 

Speaker 4: right? 

Tracy Hayes: And if transactions is actually really what you like to do, you met me.

Tracy Hayes: You need to do what Samantha did. 

Speaker 4: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: exactly. ~Uh, ~but I mean, if you like to, cause I think you're, you're right. The top agents are forward facing. They're out doing their showings. They're spending the quality time with their people and that's where they're building the relationship because. ~Um, ~I think the other thing we didn't really mention you when you say forward facing, you're creating a relationship with that person.

Tracy Hayes: And if you're in and out cause you're running, cause you have to go back and order this or you have to go back cause you have another transaction going on and you're running around,~ um,~ and not really spending that quality forward facing time with them, you are losing the marketing dollars that that person is going to be hopefully over their lifespan that might refer you three or four people over the next handful of years.

Joy Williams: A hundred percent. Yes. I,~ um,~ intentional [01:19:00] with putting my phone and do not disturb mode when I'm showing houses and not answering messages or calling people unless it's about that house. Like I'm, I'm reaching out to that agent because that buyer has said, can you get a question answered? Fill in the blank.

Joy Williams: But yes, Not being distracted in front of your customers is huge because it shows them that you value their time. And then they, and too, I get a lot of respect back, right? So when I'm valuing their time during the showings and they're getting my, devoted attention nine times out of ten. Once we're under contract, they will say, Hey, I know you might be with somebody right now and I don't want to bother you.

Joy Williams: ~Um, ~you've given us the time and attention. I don't want to take up too much of your time right now. So it's very interesting how, when I. Because I'm not saying to them I value your time. So I'm not on my phone. I value your time So I'm not distracted they 

Tracy Hayes: notice it but in today's world people start to notice stuff.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah 

Joy Williams: So then when they say that to me like hey, I want to take up [01:20:00] too much of your time I can see that it's a beneficial relationship and that we've established those boundaries 

Tracy Hayes: of 

Joy Williams: whose time is valuable 

Tracy Hayes: 100 percent Anything you like that? 

Joy Williams: No, this has been great. It's been fun. Yeah. This was really good.

Joy Williams: I appreciate it. 

Tracy Hayes: We jam packed. We could talk for hours for sure. ~Um, ~I appreciate you coming on. 

Joy Williams: Yeah. Thank you, Tracy. Thank you. Have a great day.