We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Candice Schott a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Candice, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a client that you appreciate them?
Building long lasting relationships is the foundation of our business. This industry can be transactional and we didn’t relate to that part of the business so it was our goal to ensure any client we worked with knew how important they were to us and that we wanted to build a relationship with them, not just buy or sell a house. Getting to know our clients, their families and what is important to them is crucial to not only being able to provide exceptional services to them but also allows us to connect on a deeper level & establish trust with each other. Our business love language is gifting, we love doing thoughtful things for our clients. Whether it’s a bottle of wine on their birthday every year, cookies on valentines’ day, holiday gifts or even something special to celebrate milestone moments in their lives, we believe they should be celebrated not only for buying or selling a home with us, but also for other special days and moments throughout their lives. Once we have bought or sold with them, we know them, we know what they love and we want to make sure they know we listened, we paid attention, and that we are grateful for them. So why not show the love with acts of kindness throughout the years. Our clients are the lifeline to our business and we believe we should show them gratitude throughout the years VS just when they bought or sold a house with us.
Candice, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
When you call Candice to speak about buying or selling a home, you’ll not only get a lot of knowledge but soon you’ll also be sharing your vacation plans, great restaurants and your pets, in addition to the strategies she’ll employ to help you reach your real estate goals. It’s not for lack of focus, in fact, it’s just the opposite.
Through Candice’s almost 20-year career as part of a top performing real estate team, she understands making the largest financial decision of your life involves all of you and not just the part that is buying or selling a home. “When you’re buying or selling a home, you’re building something that is part of who you are,” Candice says. “It’s such an honour, as a Realtor, to be invited along for that journey. When I work with you buying or selling a home, it’s my responsibility to understand as much as I can to help you end the purchase or sale totally satisfied. The only way to do that is to be authentic with each other.”
Candice cut her teeth in sales and project management for IBM before turning her focus to real estate. At IBM she was tasked with negotiating the sale of enterprise systems with corporate giants — some of the toughest customers around. It was there where she developed resiliency in negotiation and a high aptitude for building rapport and relationships, which are two skills clients say are a rare combination in real estate professionals.
When Candice isn’t conducting market research, completing home inspections or closing a real estate agreement, you can find her in the kitchen. Cooking for her husband and two step- daughters is her true joy. Her love of time with the family extends into playing all sorts of card and board games. Still, when it comes to winning the game of real estate, Candice has everything she needs to come out on top.
“I can hardly wait to work together,” she says. “We’re going to answer all your questions, help you find the right home or get the terms you want for your sale and you’ll come out of it totally satisfied and maybe with a great recipe for anything Italian!
Her husband, Jason, joined Candice 12 years ago and formed their team, Schott & Co. together. It is born out of a pursuit of excellence that has defined his career. As a new father, Jason was employed at Genworth Financial where his clients – Canadian banks – could not accept anything less than his very best. Leading them in seminars on topics such as how to spot mortgage fraud, Jason needed to be on top of the newest thinking, strategies and market research to deliver the best information to the banks. It was at the beckoning of his now wife and partner-in-business to take this same gusto and help people who are buying or selling a home.
Do you have a friend who dedicates themselves to a project with their whole self? If you do, you know Jason Schott. With a decade’s worth of real estate experience under his belt, Jason has earned a reputation for “all-in” commitment to helping people with the purchase or sale of a home. Jason brings patience, humor and a sense of comfort to his clients making this process for them easy & seamless. Once you’ve had a conversation with Jason he’ll not only leave you in stitches you’ll likely end up on the pickleball court with him too!
Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses.
I’ve been in the business for over 18 years. I worked on my license when I was still working full time at IBM. My experience and training in my previous career was incredible but I was missing something, I had always wanted to be an entrepeneur which is why I decided to get into Real Estate. When I finally got my license, I joined a brokerage and was basically told “Good luck”. There was no formal training, it was basically a sink or swin type of scenario. I honestly had no idea where to start so I went to the most successful person in the brokerage and asked him to be my mentor. To my surprise, he said yes! I spent as much time as I could soaking in all of the knowledge he had to give. It helped, however I was still on my own to make this new career work. And, in this career, when you are on your own you wear every hat – you are sales, marketing, HR, admin, training and even sometimes a therapist for those around you. It’s alot – back then the “training” you received, if any, was not how to be a business owner, it was basically how to do paperwork. I spent the first 3 years floundering, learning as I go and crossing my fingers that after I did one sale I’d hopefully get another. That’s why I decided to change brokerages, one that really focused on training their agents. I emmersed myself in all the training I could possibly take and surrounded myself with a group of incredibly successful woman who I could learn from and that I found inspiring. That changed everything. Within 2 years I was wining awards, training other agents and part of the top agents in the brokerage. I was then approached by one of the top teams in the brokerage with an opportunity of a lifetime. This team wanted to retire and were looking for someone to take over their business – a business they had been running for 25 years successfully. There were a few agents they had considered for buying their business and I was incredibly fortunate to be the one they allowed to take over their business. Part of buying their business was to spend a year with them, learning how they ran their team and connecting with all of their clients so that at the end of the year it was an easy transition for them to retire. During that year I learned what it meant to be a business owner in Real estate. I learned that we own a Real Estate business and our products are houses. I had spent the first 5 years of my career being a sales person, now I was learning to be a business owner which was the whole reason I got into Real Estate in the first place, This team truly changed my life and changed my business. That year I spent learning with them, how they ran their business and treated their clients changed the entire trajectory of my business, my whole life. I have always been so grateful for them and how they changed my life.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
We are fortunate to have incredibly loyal clients – clients who work with us repeatedly and also refer their friends and family. Building relationships with our clients is at the forefront of our core values. We believe that connections and relationships are built through trust, getting to know people and being authentic. We believe in celebrating our clients loyalty during special times or moments in their lives – whether it’s their birthday, thanksgiving, the holiday season, having a baby or showing our love on Valentine’s day – we make sure we show our gratitude to our clients with little touches throughout the year. We want our clients to know, we miss them and think of them. They are important to us!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.schottandcompany.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/schotthomes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schotthomes
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candice-schott-128a027/
- Youtube: @schottrealestateteam
Image Credits
Credits – Photographer Austin – North Story