We were lucky to catch up with Keith Leveson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Keith thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

I began working as an American Sign Language interpreter in 2000. I fell in love with the Deaf community and the beauty of ASL this led me to becoming a nationally certified interpreter. After working as an interpreter for almost 20 years, being an expert in communication I decided to provide my services as a broker associate in real estate. I had heard the biggest complaint about realtors is their lack of communication, so I wanted to bring to the industry my expertise. I didn’t plan on assisting Deaf individuals with their home buying dreams but to my surprise not only were hearing customers experiencing the frustration with lack of communication but so were Deaf customers.

Keith, 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?

Having a history of working with under privileged communities I wanted to bring the heart and cultural appreciation that I had developed to the real estate industry in general. For most people buying a home is the ultimate achievement of their American dream, it is also the biggest investment that most people will make in their lives. I choose to work with MVP Realty because I felt they shared the same vision of real estate that I do. Often, we are asked by MVP Realty ‘are you really the best realtor for your customer?’ This is a question that gave and still gives me lots of food for thought. While I try to bring a higher level of understanding and appreciation to the industry, I also realized that wasn’t enough. In order to answer the question honestly ‘am I really the best realtor for my customers?’ I had to educate myself and continue educating myself beyond the basics of real estate. This was part of the reason I worked on achieving my goal of becoming a broker associate.

I also realized educating myself wasn’t enough since I am the team lead for My Great Orlando with MVP Realty, I needed to educate my team as well. I implemented a somewhat non-traditional method for educating my team members. For new team members I do a 90-day training, where new team members work with me directly for 90-days. We do sales training weekly as well as contract training monthly. The biggest difference in our training is we pull on the strengths of all our team members. The way we do this is by having our team members teach a course in an area they specialize in once a month. This is done on a rotation basis and every team member is expected to teach at least 1 training.

Providing this level of service to our team members has had a great impact on our customers. Now all our customers are receiving the same level of service and as with everything we do we are providing, real estate services with a heart!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Education, education, education is the name of the game. Education doesn’t always mean taking a class, so much can be learned from reading, listening to podcasts, mentorship and networking. One of my favorite books was written by Phil Jones entitled “Exactly what to say”. This book was a game changer for me, especially since I never considered myself a salesperson. Out of nervousness I also found that I had trouble really listening to my customers, I found information written by William Ury very helpful in regard to helping me listen to myself and others. Most of all I owe much of my success to Tom Ferry coaching but even more specifically my coach Dave Werfel has had the biggest impact on my business. His level headedness and insight has always been invaluable, I wouldn’t be where I am today without his kindness, support and the once in a while needed kick in the butt.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I don’t want to share my secret for building my reputation. Fine! with enough pressure I will share my secret. I hope no one reads this. My secret is this… I try to be kind. I never put a paycheck before a person. Many times, I receive calls from other realtors or customers working with other realtors that are struggling in the current market. Instead of ignoring them because I know it isn’t going to mean a commission for me, I take time, a lot of time to offer them suggestions and guidance. More than once have I been thanked by competing realtors or customers that are working with another realtor for my help. Doing this has led to many referrals, and as we all know brand and referrals are the gold of our industry. So, I don’t just claim to handle real estate with a heart… I prove it.

Contact Info:

• Website: mygreatorlando.com
• Instagram: @mygreatorlando
• Facebook: My Great Orlando
• Linkedin: Keith Leveson
• Youtube: My Great Orlando
• Yelp: Keith Leveson
• Other: mvprealty.com

Image Credits
Capture The Focus – Calvin Cruz