We were lucky to catch up with Tiffany Bean recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tiffany, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s go back in time to when you were an intern or apprentice – what’s an interesting story you can share from that stage of your career?
I can’t stress enough how important I feel it is to work as an intern or apprentice for another realtor or ideally a team of realtors before going out on your own. Real estate is a strange business as every transaction is unique since you are dealing with so many people. The training you will get on how to handle some very difficult situations is invaluable and can save you down the road when it’s now your neck trying to solve the problem. I was so lucky to work on a huge team for 5 years before I started my own team. I’d recommend at least 2. The most difficult transactions for me have been when the other agent is new and thinks we need to fight over every single detail. With experience you will learn better ways to handle these situations that are stressful for all involved.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I fell into Real Estate! We moved here from Oregon where I designed clothes and owned boutiques. It was too hard to travel back and forth with small children and I didn’t want to start over in the Houston fashion scene. So, my realtor (now business partner!) had mentioned I’d be great on their team; I called and landed a position on one of Houston’s top teams at the time. I was trained by so many amazing agents and learned so much about how to manage systems to build a great business. I stayed for 5 years and then realized that I was never going to be able to give the type of service to my clients that I wanted to and meet the quota they wanted me to. So, now I do about 40-50 transactions a year which is still a ton compared to the typical agent, but it’s a much more manageable amount for me. I’m able to hold my clients hand all the way through the process and give the type of service I believe everyone should have. I love working with buyers! It’s so fun to see how excited they get when they find the home of their dreams and help make that happen! My favorite stories are ones where I helped deals happen and families get homes where they absolutely would not have otherwise, or taken a home that was on the market for a year and then got it sold in a month! I believe in thinking outside the box to make it happen and never giving up and love helping my clients achieve their goals!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I try to be fair and level headed with other agents. I can always tell a new agent when they are hot-headed from the start! While Houston is large and there are around 50,000 agents; the number that consistently do business is much smaller and you WILL do business with the same agents over and over. As we are working for our clients, we can often get them more by cooperating with the other agent. This has been instrumental for me in multiple offer situations. My clients offer gets picked so often because the other agent knows me or my lender and helps their clients understand we will be great to work with: fair and honest.
I care for my clients the way I would want to be helped if I were buying or selling a house. I try to share all the information I can with them. I end the day thinking I talked too much every day! But I think it’s worth it to help my clients really know what is going on. I’ve been told buying and selling a house are both in the top 5 most stressful situations that people can go through, and recently having moved, I completely agree! I try to help ease the stress of my clients throughout this process by constantly keeping them informed on what is happening and having them know that whatever comes up I will work to find a solution. This has given me a good reputation with clients who then refer me to other clients. The absolute best feeling ever is when a client then tells me they want me to help their mom! That feels like the ultimate in trust to me and I take it very seriously!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Be the best agent for your client! Be their advocate, their counselor, the person who guides them through every single aspect. I wholeheartedly believe in karma and my teammates believe that is why I have the business I have. I treat every single client with the utmost care and respect and do whatever I can to help make their goal happen be it buying, selling, or renting. This has led me to have a huge growth in business consistently. I also think that I get to know my clients when I work with them and keep in touch with them and this builds lifelong friendships that definitely leads to referrals. I also try to share relevant information with my clients after their transaction to keep them updated on the market and they appreciate this. It keeps me top of mind for when someone is looking for a realtor!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://whiteoakhou.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texastifbean
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tiffany.robertson.bean/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-bean-compass/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiiG0aNs-rdayc6gHdulWFw
Image Credits
Ashylnn Turner
Laura Sans