Crown Realty Annual Awards Luncheon 2019 - My Speech

2018 was our 45^th year in business and also the year we said goodbye to my grandma who helped start Crown Realty with my Dad. She greatly influenced who we are today, and I wanted to spend a little time this morning sharing with you some things I learned from my Grandma, Naomi Hosack.

We have adopted a new slogan around here and it’s “where agents are family and clients are royalty.” We truly believe it and try our best to practice it around here, and I think my Grandma started that trend of treating each and every agent like family.  I used to love visiting her at the Olathe office when I was younger and I saw how she interacted with everyone.  She knew everyone’s name and what was going on with them.  As we grow larger and larger, I realize that gets harder and harder to do, but I’m thankful that with our smaller office sizes every broker and secretary knows their team so well! 

 

Another thing I learned from my grandma is the importance of celebrating.  She celebrated every victory, every closing, every listing won, every referral, everything.  And as Nick’s and my grandma, she celebrated everything with us too – basketball games, losing a tooth, getting a good grade, whatever it was – she was there to party with us.  Celebrating victories is what we’ll be doing here today too.  2018 was an exceptional year, as you heard from Dad.  

The other part of our motto is “where clients are royalty” – because we are family, we believe we truly can treat clients with the absolute best customer service.  We try to filter all of our decisions through that lens.  

Every website and tool that we provide to our agent family is to help us best serve our buyer and seller clients.   And because of our in-house training and high staff-to-agent ratio, each agent is able to be the very best they can be with the support of their broker, their education, and their secretaries.  We believe that when our agents have help setting signs, inputting listings, marketing, contract support, and more, that frees you up to treat your clients like royalty.

I recently read a book by Danny Meyer titled “Setting the Table.”  Danny Meyer started off with one restaurant in New York City at the age of 27.  He now owns a restaurant empire with hundreds of successful restaurants.  One, Shake Shack, is here in Kansas City, on the Plaza.  In his book, Danny writes that 75% of restaurants fail, and interestingly enough the stats for real estate agents are similar, 80% of real estate agents quit in their first 2 years.  Fortunately, Crown Realty agents, much like Danny Meyer’s restaurants do much better.  I went back and looked at our new agent rosters over the last few years, and over 50% of our newer agents are consistently closing over $1 million a year and only 15% have let their licenses expire. 

So what’s Danny’s secret ingredient?  I think it’s the same as ours.  He calls it “enlightened hospitality” and it’s all about how you make the customer feel.  Many restaurants have similar menus, appearances, and ingredients.  Every agent has the MLS, a lockbox, and a license.  But Danny Meyer’s argues that in this day and age, it is how you deliver your service that counts the most.  He writes, “In the end, what’s most meaningful is creating positive, uplifting outcomes for human experiences and human relationships. Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard."

Let me read that last line again, “Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel.  It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.”  My Grandma made everyone around her feel like family.  It is my hope that we continue that legacy with each other.  And that every single client of all of ours feels like royalty when they are working with a Crown agent.

Crown Family, THANK YOU for all you do to serve with all your hearts and represent our family well!

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Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is full of stories and gems of insight for anyone in business or leadership no matter what field!

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Book Review: "Only Love Today"

 

Only Love Today: Reminders to Breathe More, Stress Less, and Choose Love by Rachel Macy Stafford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Empowering and Beautiful

This truly is one of the most life-giving books I have ever read. This inspires me to be a better mom, wife, friend, worker, and person. I highly recommend this one!!!

"Pause in the busyness of your day—even a moment or two will do. For that moment, pay attention. Notice. Listen. Stop. Breathe. There’s a good chance you’ll catch a moment when all is right in your perfectly imperfect, gloriously messy, happily chaotic little world. Peace, love, freedom, and joy, right there at your fingertips. The most meaningful life experiences don’t happen in the “when”; they happen in the “now.” It is the sacred pauses within everyday life that heal our frenzied souls. Let us pause and live today." 

"Now, more than ever, we must catch glimpses of that which can lift us up.        

Now, more than ever, we must search for these barely noticeable glimmers of light that have the power to carry us. 

Now, more than ever, we must not let cynicism, negativity, or the busyness of life allow us to lose sight of the good."

"Today I will turn my attention away from the negativity filling my senses and my News Feed. I will turn to the people I love and notice that there is still so much goodness to be grasped and celebrated. Goodness comes down the stairs with crazy morning hair. It has a milk mustache and stinky feet. It puts gasoline in my car and kisses me good night. It bags my groceries with a smile. It teaches my children. It hugs me with shaky, wrinkled hands. The ability to detect goodness where others see nothing good is more than a day changer; it’s a life changer. Today I will notice the good in the world and in my world."

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