“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”  

Winston Churchill

We are sneaking in this blog post just in time for June to end. What a month it’s been and we couldn’t have done it without all of our clients. Which really leads us to why we do this in the first place. 

Definition of relationship-noun-the way in which two or more concepts, objects or people are connected, or the state of being connected.

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”   Winston Churchill

I never really knew anything about Winston Churchill until I watched The Crown on Netflix (yes, I just admitted that I get my history from Netflix). I had always heard of him but not really about him. Not that I care one way or the other about royalty..etc… but it does fascinate me. What I did recognize and understand is the relationship between the Queen and Winston Churchill. She sought his advice many times and many more people trusted him. Their relationship was built on trust and honesty. They were friends and, in some ways, business partners.

In our 10 years in this business, Carol Ann and I have learned many many things…One of the most important lessons is the trust we had to have in each other…we were already acquaintances through church but never had a business relationship until we started this business.  We opened this business and learned as we worked together. We learned patience, kindness, friendship, arguments, misunderstandings, disagreements, and back to patience, kindness and friendship. We trust and continue to trust our relationship. We are more like sisters than friends…anybody that is around us any length of time can see us cracking up and then needing to walk to our own corners for a bit to not get in a wrestling match!! 🙂 

We have tried and continue to try to build friendships and relationships with all of our clients. Once you, the client, reach out to us for our assistance…we are beginning that relationship building.  We know that, in most cases, we aren’t just selling a property of brick and mortar. We are possibly selling your first home you purchased, the first place your husband carried you across the threshold, the first home for your children… we realize there are so many memories to cherish. We love to hear the stories and understand that, for many, selling their home is a delicate decision. Over the course of the staging process, we are making many suggestions and giving advice on how to disconnect from this home to make it feel like another family’s home. We know that this isn’t the same as selling pretty much any other item you own. Getting to know the client and their needs is our number one priority, and then preparing their house for marketing and the sale is next.

Overall, we have learned many valuable lessons and made many friends, but there have been  times where we have failed as well. We keep learning and trying to be humble and show grace when sometimes we just want to walk away. Life lessons!

We know that building a relationship is critical in business… we love people…most of the time 🙂 … we hope in the end, people remember that even if we mess up that our ultimate goal is to not just be the best in this business, but that we did it in a way that made them feel better and that we met them as clients and left them as friends!!