We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Monica Betancourt, a top-selling luxury Miami realtor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Monica below.

Monica, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Yes!! I didn’t use to take them as regularly as I do now. Unfortunately, it took going through a very difficult time in my personal life to learn the critical lesson that “there is no tomorrow.” I always thought there was just too much work to take a vacation, that I might lose important business or clients if I took a few days — forget a week or two — to get away. Even just taking a breather (e.g. spending an afternoon with family, even on a weekend!!) without so much as leaving town seemed like “wasted time” and I didn’t do it much. Without realizing it, I had become a workaholic in a distinctly-not-good, counter-productive way. I was burned out, spent next to no time with my family, and was not at all enjoying the life I worked so hard to build for us.

Now I have a much healthier work-life balance. I take those Sunday afternoons with family and friends, the occasional weekend road trip down to the Florida Keys, I visit my kids who live in other cities, and take at least one yearly full-blown vacation. Just now we’re preparing to leave on a family adventure to Turkey! What an exotic, exciting, enriching experience awaits us that once upon a recent time I would never have considered for a moment!

Life is short and full of wonders. What’s the point if you don’t experience any of it??

Monica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

At the widely networked and deeply experienced Monica Betancourt Group, we master the real estate intricacies of a beach town that boomed into a global capital while retaining its provincial, tropical spirit.

Comprised of Miami natives and long-time multi-national residents, our team is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. More notably, we’re also “fluent” in the Magic City’s numerous cultures and neighborhoods.
MBG serves clients across Southeast Florida, with a focus on Coral Gables, Pinecrest, Coconut Grove, South Miami, Palmetto Bay, Miami Beach, Downtown/Brickell, and Miami Lakes.

The team works together seamlessly for our clients, with personalized, boutique-style service. Hire one MBG Miami Realtor, and you get a team that supports and augments your agent’s work with our collective effort and expertise.

You also benefit from the national and international networking power of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty, the sales leader across South Florida and a partner in one of the world’s most powerful real estate companies.

Most of the Group has personally experienced the process of emigrating to the United States, or returning after living abroad. We understand the complexities of relocating an entire life, both domestically and internationally. We specialize in guiding clients through the multi-layered relocation process.

Additionally, working at the convenience of clients in time zones around the world has been key to an impressive record of smooth transnational closings – an indispensable provision in a city where over $10 billion in annual real estate sales comes from international buyers.

Above all, integrity and a diligent work ethic define The Monica Betancourt Group. This has resulted in a multitude of repeat and referred Buyers and Sellers – our team’s most prized accolades.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

It’s been a wonderful bonus of my work that I have become good friends with many clients, and have established a long-term friendly acquaintance with most of the rest. Even when you enjoy their company, keeping in touch with a large number of people takes effort and commitment, but it is not hard in today’s world. Phone calls, texts, emails, liking and commenting on their social feeds, sharing personal and professional discoveries I know they would like, using my calendar to remember birthdays and other special events, getting together for lunch, and bringing them my own business to whatever is their occupation plus referring others to them – these are all easy, on-going ways to keep in touch.

Fostering loyalty goes hand-in-hand with this line of communication. By showing people that you think of them long after your transaction is concluded, that you care about them on a personal level, by sending business their way, by getting together just to say “hi,” by checking in on them “just because,” you make a personal connection and foster a friendship or warm acquaintance that resonates on an emotional level that has staying power. Working with someone you know and trust, or referring someone to that person, is much more appealing than doing either with a stranger or someone who only cares about what they can get from you. I know I don’t want to work with people like that. Who would, really?

Any advice for managing a team?

Treating every member of your team with dignity and respect, helping the people on your team become the best they can be, sharing your wisdom and experience to help them skip over some of the learning curve you struggled through – these are fundamental to building and maintaining a confident, happy, loyal, and productive team.

It’s vital to spend time each week together as a team – and one-on-one — to go over every person’s accomplishments and obstacles. The engagement helps to create and nurture a robust team spirit and provides an opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences — good and otherwise – and help each other work through problems.

Be generous with your knowledge. And never spare praise. Give credit cheerfully where it’s due. Encouragement where it’s needed. And celebrate every success of any size. Maintain a positive energy, and good things will flow from it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.monicabetancourt.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mbgmiami/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MBGMiami/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicasbetancourt/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/monicabetancourtgroup
• Other:  MBG Virtual Tours