We were lucky to catch up with Misty Maki recently and have shared our conversation below.
Misty , 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 customer that you appreciate them?
As the owner of a real estate company, showing appreciation to our clients is crucial in maintaining positive relationships and encouraging repeat business. It is always the personalized gifts that have meant the most to us. We do not want someone to take a look at the gift and toss it in the trash. Therefore, we have a detailed yearly plan to show our clients how much we appreciate them:
Purchase closing/ Keyday: We meet the client at the home with a new doormat and plant. Everyone needs a new doormat for a new home. Plus, each time they pass the threshold they think of us.
Listing Under Contract Day: We send moving boxes and tape + a box of cookies delivered to their door. This is a big day to celebrate. All of the Sellers hard work is about to payoff.
Moving Day: 2 Pizzas and Soda are delivered to the home. No one likes to have to figure out what they are going to eat when they are moving.
Birthday gifts: We send a personalized video to their Facebook or IG DM’s. Everyone can post on your personal page or send a general card but it is different having a video pop up in your inbox.
Holiday gifts: We personally deliver thick, luxury wrapping paper to our clients from the last two years. A December Holiday card is sent out at the end of November to all of our past and current clients. A small box of chocolates are also mailed around Valentines to our clients from the past two years.
Anniversary gifts: We celebrate the 1st anniversary of our clients’ home purchase by sending them a congratulatory gift of a personalized photo of their home. Usually a watercolor painting from a local artist. We also send a current market analysis. Everyone like to know where there home/investment is doing in the current market.
Referral rewards: We offer referral rewards to clients who refer their friends and family to our company. This is a gift card to a local restaurant or we take them out to dinner personally.
Client appreciation events: We host 2 appreciation events throughout the year. In the Spring, we host a minor league baseball game with the Salt Lake Bee’s Baseball . In the Fall, we host at Thanksgiving Point for rides, attractions and a corn maze. This gives our clients the opportunity to socialize with our team while enjoying good food and drinks.
Handwritten notes and phone calls: We send handwritten notes to our clients throughout the year, thanking them for their business and checking in on how they’re doing.
Overall, this yearly plan shows our clients that we value them and appreciate their business. By going the extra mile to show our clients how much we care, we hope to encourage repeat business and referrals.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
When I entered the real estate profession in 2005, I found my passion; serving people to the utmost of my abilities. That is why we started Maki Real Estate, a one of a kind brokerage committed to using real estate as a vehicle to create positive social change.
We want to inspire the dream of a better life through home ownership. Owning a home creates stability in communities, and relationships. We want that feeling of safety and stability to flow over into everything we do. Our slogan is “Home isn’t just an address. It is an energy, connected to everything.”
There is a belief in society that a Realtor is good for showing homes, putting a sign in the yard and marketing a house on the MLS. We pride our selves in being different. We strive to provide our clients with accurate insight, professionalism, and expertise to help them make quality decisions. We are not just pigeons taking one form of communication to the other side. We are here for education, negotiations and communication.
We take the necessary time and effort to exceed expectations in all those areas. We send weekly emails with the rundown of what happened the following week and what to expect the next week. We send out weekly texts and videos updating you on what the real estate market is doing in the current week. We never want you to feel like you were alone in the process of moving from one chapter of life to the next.
You aren’t just a number to us; you are important and we care about helping you meet your needs.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
A few years ago we started a team of realtors and we wanted them to have a great foundation so that they could be productive. It took us over a year to realize that we may be giving too much and maybe even more than what they wanted. Team meeting three times a week, a lot of paid programs and apps that were not being utilized. We had to take a step back in order to take action and make changes to improve the performance of the team. With help from some mentors and our business coach we were able to identify some of the issues that we needed to correct in order to pivot:
1. Communication: There were some communication issues on my part. I had certain standards that I never vocalized or made clear. Once I had identified the issue, it was important to set clear expectations for the team moving forward.
We set one specific day for a weekly team meeting. We celebrated and provided additional training or resources on these calls. We reminded them of the resources they already had in order to succeed. We removed the apps and programs that were not being utilized. We set office hours.
2. Evaluate individual team members: Certain team members were still not performing after providing support, boundaries and resources. We had to evaluate individual team members and look at their past performance. We had to assess whether they were a good fit for the team moving forward. We then had to have honest conversations with them about their performance and the expectations moving forward. We provided feedback and support, but we had to be clear about the consequences if their performance did not improve. That was they need to find another brokerage.
It has been a difficult process, but it’s important that we take the actions needed to improve performance and ensure the success of the team.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I had been in the industry for over 3 years. I had built a successful business by focusing on building relationships with my clients and providing exceptional service.
However, the economy took an unexpected turn when the Great Recession hit. . As a result, we had to take a step back and look at our finances, the place we called home and the way we went about prospecting.
During this time, our business suffered, and we had to sell our home. We moved to our family property 30 miles up a canyon and lived off grid for 4 years. The internet was slow and depression was a real thing. It was hard to get out of bed some days. Despite the setbacks and long commutes, we remained resilient and determined to rebuild our business.
We began by reaching out to asset management companies, REO banks, and our clients who now needed to short sale their houses. We also started to attend networking events and reach out to potential clients to build new relationships.
Our hard work paid off, and slowly but surely, we began to rebuild our business. We focused on providing exceptional service and going above and beyond for our clients, which helped us to build a strong reputation in the industry.
Over time, we moved off of the mountain and back into the city, and our business began to thrive once again. Despite the setbacks we had faced, we had shown incredible resilience and determination, and had proven that even in the face of adversity, success was still possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.makirealestate.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misty_maki/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/misty.maki.9/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/misty-maki-realtor/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3jY5yr9ZyAmUp74-y0_Nhw
Image Credits
Becca Hoffman – bh brand co