How to Build Trust With High-Net-Worth Clients in Any Industry with Nora Lynch Smith

Working with high-level clients isn’t about looking expensive.

It’s about being trustworthy when the stakes are high.

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Nora Lynch Smith, and if you’ve ever said (or secretly thought), “I want better clients… I just don’t know how to get into that room,” this conversation is for you.

Because Nora pulls back the curtain on what actually matters when you’re serving high-net-worth clients, the stuff most people don’t realize until they learn it the hard way.

Not the flashy branding.

Not the luxury buzzwords.

The tiny details. The unspoken expectations. The moments where one wrong move makes someone quietly decide they’ll never hire you again.

And we even get into a simple question she asks that completely changes the way clients experience you… and it’s so obvious you’ll wonder why more people don’t do it.

Here’s a taste of what you’ll learn in this episode:

• You’ll learn why high-level clients aren’t “hard”… but they are different.
• You’ll learn what they notice that most professionals miss.
• You’ll hear how Nora handles privacy, presentation, and communication so there are zero surprises.
• You’ll learn the real truth about “breaking into luxury” (and why some people chase it for the wrong reasons).
• And you’ll learn the mindset shift that helps you stop feeling intimidated and start showing up like you belong.

This one isn’t just for real estate.

If you’re in any service-based business, sales role, or leadership position where trust is currency, you’re going to recognize yourself in this conversation.

Hit play if you want to level up the kind of clients you attract, and the kind of professional you become in the process.

Because the difference is rarely talent.

It’s how you show up when nobody’s giving you a second chance.

How to connect with Nora:

Nora Lynch Smith, GRI, CRS, C2EX, ABR, CBR, SRS, RSPS, RENE, SRES, C-RETS, PSA, CRB
REALTOR®, Broker Associate
Gibson Sotheby's International Realty
 508-245-2626
NoraLynchSmithRealtor.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Working with high-level clients is not about flash. It's not about using the right buzzwords. It's really about trust, discretion, possibly privacy, and how to show up when the expectations are high. So today's conversation, that's what we're going to talk about, what it takes to work with high net worth clients and how to build that trust with them so that they'll hire you for whatever industry you're in. So my guest today, her name is Nora Lynch Smith, and she is a realtor broker extraordinaire. She first began her career in real estate working in the banking industry. And she worked on the investor with investors and learning all about transactional financing. But she realized, I don't know how quick, but she realized that wasn't really where her heart was. Her heart was in residential real estate. So she moved over to the residential side. And it didn't take her long before she acquired landmark residential incorporated. It's a real estate firm that was known for properties that had architectural interesting features. They had acreage, and they were also known for their extreme high touch value and their black tie services. I love that. The black white glove. Well, there you go. The white glove, the white glove treatment. There you go. The white glove treatment. So, or black tie, because you know you're in a black tie or going to a fancy event. So she's served on many boards as president, as chairwoman, all these wonderful things that she served on. And I'm sure that served her very well because her clientele are the high-end clients. So we're going to dive right in, but first I want to say, welcome, Nora. I'm so glad you're here. Zelda, I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me here. So I'm excited about talking about high net worth clients because I'm sure there's a few nuances. I've worked with a few that are a little bit different. So when you work with the high-end net worth client, what's the biggest misconception that people have with serving them?

SPEAKER_00 2:12

I have to tell you, they're people too.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Yes, they put their pants on like we do.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

I tend to treat all my clients, I mean, the same, honestly. So they're people too. They still want the same communication. I think you have to kind of what communication they want to have. Is it just texting? Is it email only? I had one person say, do whatever you want to do, just call me when you get an offer. They didn't care about feedback. They didn't care, you know, so you just have to, but I would say that's true for any client, really, is listen to what their needs are and you know, follow the communication pattern that they'd like to follow. That would be one, that would be the main thing. And recognizing that there's some things that, you know, they might want more in terms of what are you going to do for a broker open house, right? Because it just depends. You know, we don't, we're not going to talk about commissions or anything, but you know, it really depends on what you set up ahead of time as far as marketing. You know, there I tend to really be picky on my photography. So I spend a lot of money shooting. Like right day today is a sunny, bright day. So that's great. So check. I don't like to shoot in on overcast days. So really make sure we have the photography that how they want to have the house presented. But that's really the case in pretty much all my listings.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Do they want to approve the prick the photos before you list it?

SPEAKER_00 3:35

They definitely want to approve the photos. I tend to one time I sent the whole photo shoot to them. And it was a photographer that just took a whole like went above and beyond, just taking a lot of different photos. And I didn't call them out really, as I probably, you know, and so they started freaking out about, oh my gosh, that pillow isn't the right way. You know, I have to do the pillow chop. Yeah. And you know, and so that was interesting. And we, you know, worked with that. I just sent them too many pictures in a way. I should have just really called them out to the top, you know, 42 photos and then taken it from there. I tend to have, you know, our MLS only allows 42 photos, but then we have a website that could have a lot more photos. But I always make sure, and that would be true of all clients, that they have, you know, permission on what's getting shown. For example, I don't really like ever showing closets, things like that. So that's about that's the answer to that question.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Okay. Okay. That makes sense too, because I remember having a client once and she had taken a lot of pictures with a photographer herself. Wasn't listed, but she had her photographer come in there and take pictures. And she's a branding person, so she knows about pictures and all that. Then I brought my photographer in and she wanted to use hers. I was fine with that. But I honestly could not tell the difference between the two. They were both very good, but she insisted that hers were better. So I'm like, fine, it's your house, so we'll use your pictures.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Here's something about photography, though. It's that sometimes you really have to be careful too. And the homeowner will tell you this if there's artwork and they don't want that artwork, they want to blur it out. So that's something to think about too. They didn't want some of the artwork to you know have it be out in public, what they had. So that's something that you know we spoke about too. And you know, also fixtures, things like that. Listen, let's get it all out there. Exactly, you know, this crystal chandelier, for example. Are you going to take that just so so that there are no uh you know miscommunication along the way? I want to surprise it. That was a lighting fixture that was attached, you know, things like that. So anything that I really go through meticulously with them on those things. So we're not surprised. And we make sure that the buyer isn't surprised either. You know, that we will, it sounds like a big exclusion list, but we want to make sure these special hooks that they got at an antique store, those are going to be taken with them. So we just want to make sure, you know, overcommunicate, I would say, but there's no such thing as overcommunicating, in my opinion, things like that.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Let's go back for just a second, Nora. A lot of agents, I'll hear them say, I want to sell luxury. I want to be in the luxury market. And I guess that's because I'm thinking this is because you're thinking that's a higher commission, that's a higher dollar value and all that. But you don't just open your doors and get into luxury. So, how would you recommend someone who's not necessarily just starting out in real estate, but wanting to get into the luxury market?

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Okay, so luxury depends on where you are, what what your market is, right? So you'd say like the top, I don't know, 10% of your market. So some luxury might be in some parts of the country, a million dollars or more. Other luxury is maybe three million or more. So it really depends on that. But to get into it, I'd say there's a cautionary tale there because you can say I want to sell two, I want to be selling two million dollar houses. But sometimes that takes, depending on again, the price range and what the market and the demographics are, that could take longer. It's not like they're, you know, it's a top so many percentage of the income earners that can afford 2 million or 3 million or 4 million, right? So sometimes that takes longer to do. So I used to say, I mean, give me, you know, five, $500,000 homes sometimes. I could be easier than uh, you know, $200.5 million home. Yeah. Sometimes that's, you know, for lack of a better word, I don't want to say easier, but that's gonna happen generally, could be, you know, more quickly. Because sometimes you can have a listing for six months, you do all these things. If there's not a market, or if the you know, there's not a market for that house. I mean, yes, price is everything, you know, there's location, there's price, you know. So, but sometimes it's really hard to at that end to figure out what exactly is the price gonna be. And I think I agree with that.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

It's hard to figure, I don't deal with the five million dollar homes. It's like, and I don't want them. No, and it is those are there are people that that's their niche, and that's great, but you don't just jump into it. And I think maybe realtors don't understand when you're trying to get into it. If you're getting that type of listening, it's like what you said a minute ago. You're putting some money into it. It's not just your standard, you know, let's take some steel pictures and a drone shot. There's some major expenses involved with that.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Oh, yeah. And they expect that. I I've have had photo books. I loved it, it was so much easier way back when Apple had their nice books that they would do, these nice hardcover books. But now you have Shutterfly or you know, different companies like that that do beautiful hardcover books. So I've done that as sometimes as a pre-marketing. So you have this beautiful book that the seller can take with them. And sometimes they even have it made for the buyer that comes in, you know, for like another gift to some degree. So I think that those are some of the things that I do. So I know I'm going a little off tangent, but to tell somebody, you know, again, my market is not, I don't do five million, but around here in my area, it's you know, two to three million would be, you know, considered luxury. And that's where my marketplace is in Metro West, just west of Boston.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

So what do you think the this high net worth client really cares about most that people might overlook?

SPEAKER_00 9:34

They really care about how their house is presented. And we do have, I've in my area, it's always for the I don't want to say always, but most of the showings are accompanied showings. And they want me to show it, not anybody on my team or somebody, you know, somebody else, or I mean, it's not on lockbox.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

I think that's pretty common.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

So in this type of when you're in that level, they want you. They hired you. SL people all the time. It doesn't really matter what company your license is under because they're not hiring that company, they're hiring you. Exactly. I totally get it.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

And I think that's a challenge too. I mean, I I feel sometimes like I am I'm the daughter of a doctor, right? So he uh I think of sometimes I'm like an OBG, an OB doctor, right? They want you to be the one delivering the baby. But the thing is, I think it's actually what we do is a little bit harder because for the most part, you're on a team of doctors and it's okay, you go to the hospital, you're gonna be taken care of. You don't really care for the most part.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

At that moment, you don't care.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Right, exactly. But you know, it's really difficult just to think, all right, I'm gonna go away for the weekend, plan something with my family, and then you have a showing request that yeah, that you really need to do. So how you how do you manage that? You really so it's balancing that family and commitment and also your you know professional commitment with this client that's you know truly paying you a lot of money to be there and to you know represent their home and their fiduciary.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

That that's absolutely do you think that in your experience, do you think they care a lot about the well, first of all, discretion? Oh, yes. How speed and how about that relationship? Do you already have that relationship established and it's a pretty good relationship? I mean, how much does the relationship part of it play into this?

SPEAKER_00 11:34

I think it let's see, the relationship is extremely important and that includes personalities. So sometimes you have I'm selling a house right now, I've known them for 15 years, I help them buy that house as their relocation agent. And so I've always stayed in touch with them. And it's a very professional, but it's also more relaxed. They trust me, I trust them, they make the house very readily available to show, and you know, they're taking the feedback very well, and we'll just figure out the next steps. You know, we had a lot just recently around here, not to date it, but we had a ton of snow that's sticking around. If I'd known three weeks ago that we're gonna have all this record snowfall and it's sticking, and that the Patriots were gonna finally be going back to the Super Bowl post-top Brady, I would have probably waited three weeks to list the house, even though supply is really low. So anyway, but it's a good thing. There's no, for lack of a better word, like blame game going on. You know, you just really want to be communicating and make sure everybody's happy and we're going along. We've also taken some listings off the market back in November to give it a break and you know, putting them back on in the next couple of weeks.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

When you take them off, how long is it off the market before you put them back on?

SPEAKER_00 12:58

So it's really interesting. There's a couple of nuances not to go down the MLS rabbit hole, but if you withdraw it, that means that the contract is still in place. So, or you could cancel the listing and then have what's called a non-MLS listing. So that's all legit. Our MLS is not owned by the realtor organization. So there's a little bit more flexibility there, I think. But it's 60 days. The long the answer is 60 days. So whether you withdraw it and then wait 60 days and then cancel, put it back on, or it expires, it it won't count the days on market if it's 60 days.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

And but if it's less than 60, it's gonna go back and revert to the old number. And to the days on market. Yeah, 60 days, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

And I think, you know, it's more it's interesting too because you have every quarter, which is you know, that three month, it is you really have a new cycle of buyers. You still have some of the old buyers, but it's interesting to see the new cycle of agents coming in with their buyers. So sometimes it does make a difference pulling a house off and putting it back on the market.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Do you, Nor, do you have the issue that a lower priced house would have, which is well, let's price it at this and test the market?

SPEAKER_00 14:13

I do have that. I do see that. And the way I feel about that, I'm actually okay, it's their money, it's their strategy. I am not, I think it's really risky to underprice a house. It's one thing if it's a condo or you know, a house that's in a very similar neighborhood, say, you know, a subdivision or something that you can say, all right, we'll price it just a couple points below what's you know, market value. Or a cookie cutter house, maybe. Cookie cutter, perfect, perfect example. Yeah. Around, I mean, uh it's it's a little bit, uh, it's definitely different if you have a town of you know, two-acre lots, three-acre lots, and some have, you know, cleared land, some have a lot of, you know, woods that you'd have to clear, some have a pool, some have a barn. You know, so that is it's a little harder to price things uh in some areas of the country, and particularly in my even micro area, just west of Boston. So I get a little nervous underpricing. So I even tell people, listen, if you want to plan on, you know, having your house go in a day or a weekend and underprice it, I'm not your person for that because I just feel like it's risky to it because you can't really go back up. I've done it before where we've gone back up. Unless you were a few years ago when the market was nuts. Right. Or we had something that a couple of years ago, that was the one of the few times we had multiple offers and then we adjusted it, put it back on the market and put it on higher because that was part of the story. You know, we had multiple offers for over. So when unfortunately that fell apart after 30 days, you know, being off market because they couldn't come together with the terms on closed state and rent backs and everything. We did put it on for hire because we said, listen, we had higher offers at that price.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

The market was telling you.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

So we and so we put it on, and it was part of the story. Every house has a story, so it's getting that story down.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

So can you share a story of what was maybe a difficult client? We're not naming names.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

No, no names, no nothing. I mean, here's the thing.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

And what made it difficult?

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Well, here's the thing. I really have changed my outlook in the last 20 something years of doing this. Like 25 plus, I'm gonna leave it at that. Go no higher. Is I have to accept 100% responsibility for as we were talking about communication, right? So if there was something that was off, I probably should have said, listen, I don't think this is working. This I understand how you can feel about this. Let's agree to, you know, just part ways instead of trying to try and make them happy. You know, so I have I think that at the end of the day, people have to take responsibility. Okay, what how to learn from your mistakes or what's going wrong, how can we improve it or not? So I don't really say I have difficult clients. I think they can be demanding, and I actually don't blame them. I look at myself and realize, okay, I'm probably a demanding person too, in some degree. But I think it's how it's communicated. Sometimes that texting thing can be really difficult. You know, I tend to like to pick up the phone and talk because, you know, even giving feedback, or you know, they didn't like this or that, people can probably take it the wrong way or take it too personally. So I really do like to, you know, it's all it's all of that communication too. So sometimes I have to say, I know you like to text, but this let's pick up the phone and talk about the feedback, for example.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

And I think it's important for people to know, and again, it doesn't matter what industry you're in, if there's not that connection there, let them go. The money is not worth it if you're in it for the money. You shouldn't be. And it's not going to serve the client well, it's not gonna serve you well. They'll remember you when you referred them maybe to someone else. I've turned clients away and I've had them that have hired me and it just wasn't a good fit. And I let them know this is why this is not a good fit. Let's cut ties. It worked out better for everyone. And they're probably thinking the same thing too.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Right, right. So I I I hate to say, you know, difficult clients, but I, you know, I understand why they're being difficult. You have to kind of look in, all right. Maybe, you know, I remember something with like lights, and one light didn't get turned on. It was, and he it was very this is years ago. So and it was just nor you didn't turn that light back on or off or whatever. It was just, oh my gosh, you know, it's just one lamp.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

They will let you know. They will let you know, and that's okay. That it's their house, like you said. And they're paying you a lot of money to to it's I've adopted that saying, let them, okay. It's their house, let them. Let's them. You have to let them. It's like I've adopted that into all phases of my personal and professional life. It's like I told you earlier, change my life. It's like, okay, can't worry about it. Thank you, Mel Robinson. Thank you, Mel Robins. We appreciate you because you changed our lives, at least mine for sure. It's like I let my kids say and do what they want now and keep my mouth shut. I'm not going down that rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

And as an I can say, and I don't think she might, I really don't publicize it that much, but since you brought it up, I did list Mel's house in a very sick couple of years ago before she moved and she was in my town. So that's there you go.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

She's on my bucket list. I told you she's on my bucket list. I want her on this podcast one day before I get too gray. They're coming in fast and furious. Oh, yeah. So we talked about communication, and that's interesting to know that you know it's like we all communicate in the same way. It's like, let us know whether whatever industry you're in, ask your client how do they prefer to communicate? Text, email, phone, what have you. Just I once had a client whose sister said, Oh, my brother is he's just too busy. Don't call him. You call me first. And after a while, he was like, Why don't you just call me? I'm like, because I was listening to your sister. Talk directly to your customer and ask them what they want. They'll tell you. They will tell you. So that we've talked about the communication. Can you share an example of how someone's one of the high-level net worth people, how their priorities might have surprised you in your earlier days?

SPEAKER_00 20:45

I was pretty intimidated years ago by you know that higher end uh piece. Yeah, people or just the thought of going there? The thought of going there and being, oh, am I, you know, good enough. I mean, again, 25 years in the business, five, this is you know, a long time ago. But I think that I realized, you know, it it really isn't much different, like I mentioned earlier, than the, you know, I don't want to say the lower end, but not the high end. Under one million. Yeah, or yeah. I mean, it all just changed so much over the last 20 years. The price points is crazy. But I realized, you know, there that's it, you know what was a crystallizing thing too? Is wow, they for cash, it was cash buyers. So, you know, it was that thing, and I actually had I remember one of my clients was saying, How can somebody how can I compete with like how who has cash? You know, I mean, like I have to sell my house to buy this. Who doesn't? And it was funny. I understood where they were coming from, but then I'll never forget this is years ago talking to my manager and my mentor. She said, Well, Nora, people do have cash and they don't necessarily So you have to sell a house, you know, that whole trickle down effect, domino effect, right? They don't so people can there are people that can afford to do it. So it was, you know, once you get past that piece of it, like, oh yeah, people can just write a checkout for that. So that was, does that sound weird? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

I just no, my son, I remember his first house that he sold was $1.2 million. And the guy paid cash. And he goes, What did you do that you can write you can pay cash for that? And it was like he was in real estate. No man was in real estate. But it's like I drive down these very I live in an area called Ponta Vidra. It's a very nice area. It's right like a couple of in there, the Pontavidra Inn. Yes. So that I don't live at the Ponta Vidra Inn, but I live in Ponta Vidra. And I drive up and down those the ocean streets or the river streets, and I look at these homes and I go, oh, what in the world do these people do to earn this kind of money? And it's like, and you're right, and they pay cash for these homes. But it's again, I think it really has to be what you said before is you have to build your confidence that they're just people like you and me that they really are, they're no different. They want to know that they can trust you, that you're gonna be discreet. You don't name names unless they give you permission or it's okay. You know who you can and can't, you know. So you have to, and that's because you've built a relationship with the person and you know them well enough to know what you can and can't say.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

The other thing going back to communication, I uh a person who I have attended some of his seminars through Residential Real Estate Council is Jack Cotton. And he wrote a book about luxury, selling luxury homes. And one thing that he pointed out in his book, I'll never forget it, is he would say to clients, show me how you would like to show your home. So why don't you well, I thought that was brilliant, right? I love that. So why don't we go around the house? This is you know, at the even at a listing presentation. So, how would you like me to show your home? So why don't you take me around and show it to me? So rather than me commenting, all right, that should be replaced or that, or let's walk around. Tell me what you love.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

Yeah. I love them to tell me the story about it and why you know about their home. And I want them to be a little emotional about it because I want to know to tell that story so that the next person will feel that emotion. Exactly. If you tell their story, that's so good.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

It's truly about the relationship and knowing the other thing, at least around where I am, we have a lot of trail systems that hook up to the properties of butt. And if I want to walk around the perimeter, and then also if they're hooking up right direct access to a trail, I want to make sure I walk that trail. Because you can say, Oh, there's a trail that it leads into. But unless you actually walk that trail, you say, Oh my gosh, there's like a brook that you walk over a bridge, and there's a horse trail, and you know, you've I really make a point to walk that trail and know exactly how to cut so that what I'm showing someone, because that's kind of that that extra value that you're not, you know, you're not paying the taxes on that two acres, but I mean you are paying the taxes on the two acres, but then that whole value of the land that you're that is right next to it that you're not paying the taxes on, of course. You know, so it's I definitely like to walk the whole property. You know what you said.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Selling that square inch, go walk it. So do you purchase attaches too? How do you feel about real estate? And do you have a coach? Do you do coaching or do you go to a coach?

SPEAKER_00 25:36

I have many coaches. I've done, I'm looking at all my programs right over there. I mean, I've done actually a lot of the programs that Mel Robins had a lot of programs that she has done and is still doing today, different things she opens to the public. I've had Jack Canfield, his coaching program, and I have a great mentor, Patty Aubrey, through that. And I'm looking at like Katie Lance, she's great with social media in the real estate space. So different aspects of that. So there's, you know, one-on-one coaching. I've had that with uh Jarek Robbins and also, you know, group coaching and self-motivated coaching. Like I do have to say, I've signed up for programs. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do that YouTube program and all that. And then I have to sign up.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

There's just like almost not enough time on the day or to make more time. Yes, and there's always a new one out there. It's like, so I love how you diversify it. It's not real estate coaching per se, it's all types of kind of coaching. So, and that's important because it doesn't really matter what industry you're in. I think coaching is important. There was a time when the very beginning I was like, what do I need coaching for? But now it's like I wouldn't do it without it.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Oh, yeah. No, I think a lot of it. I had Tim and Julie Harris for coaching and I did coaching with them. But I think it's nice. I remember being at a Tony Robbins course, because I went, I did a lot with my husband years ago with that program. And he said, Really, this is great, you can come back. But he opened his world up to other coaches. Like, go and explore other aspects because that's what he's doing, you know.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

So I really enjoy you take a little from everybody. You learn a little of this, you take those little golden nuggets, and once in a while you get a boulder. That's the real aha moments, aren't they? So you develop these relationships with the people, they stay in your radar, so you're we're not dropping them, we're building those relationships. Do you do client events and things like that for your clients or no?

SPEAKER_00 27:37

I have been so okay. I feel like I'm making a confession. It's funny. I have not done specifically client events. I would like to. I actually have now an office, a cute antique building that I bought that's in the you know, business area of my town. It's in downtown. I would love to do that. I've had different, it's, you know, I've opened kind of like a gallery gift shop, is kind of an ancillary part of my business there, but I've not had big events. I would like to start doing that. It's just, again, the bandwidth, right? To have that. Although I have been working now, especially being at Sotheby's, they have great digital products. And I have been doing also more of the magazines. So I've not had I've not had client events per se, but I will get people together. Sometimes, like if somebody moves into town and I know that neighborhood and some people that would love to meet the neighbors, I'll have, you know, maybe six, seven people over for a brunch or something like that. So that's not what it's going that way.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

Do you how do you feel about client gifts? Closing gifts and things like that.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

I love them. So I think I mentioned earlier about having a book that a really nice book on the property, especially for my sellers that might be pertinent. You know, and then I for sell buyers, I you know, never want to interfere with the buyer in terms of, you know, with another agent, but I will leave, you know, like a nice little Sherborne candle or something like that that I have from my gift store. And also for the buyer's agent, too. So I'll have something for the agent who's selling the house and the buyer so that you know they both get something. Sometimes I'll leave that.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

So besides the book, what other kinds of gifts would you give your sellers? I think the most outrageous one you've ever done.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

I don't I mean, the most outrageous one I would have to say was a really nice was a really nice leather-bound, super high-end album. Super high-end. It was pretty expensive. But it the fo it was just a showcase home. And so I've that's really what I've spent money on, or a nice big basket, piece of beautiful artwork that I have. So that's I'm trying to think of something really outrageous. I'm not really that outrageous a person. So I you tell what have you done?

SPEAKER_01 30:05

Well, I like to give them experiences. Oh. So my son got me that. He's our broker, and he got me into giving people experiences. So I do that type of a thing. It's like oh, that's a great idea. You know, I rent the pontoon boat for them and their family to go on the boat, and I bring in the captain to go. I don't go with them, and the captain goes and takes them around and they play on the boat all day. Oh, that's fantastic. That's a great idea. So I do you know, giving them an experience that they're going to remember. So it's not about you know, in the beginning, you give them all wine when you first start out. It's like, oh, I don't even drink, I wouldn't want that wine bottle. Right. Once it's gone, you know. But they're gonna remember that boat ride.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Right. Well, that's the other thing. I just thought of this with the painting. Sometimes I've done paintings of their houses, not me doing them, but right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Yes, my son did that.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

Beautiful artist like sketches paintings, so not your typical that you put in, but just some it was almost like a miniature, but it just fit those houses in particular, antiques. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Those are see, and those are the things that I think resonate with people because I always look for things that they're not gonna toss or eat. It's like, you know, that's not good. So, well, this is just about the it is the is there an advice that you could give someone who wants to elevate the caliber of their clients to work with, and they're they don't have the confidence, but they really want to make that move into that. Is it joining the country club? Is it what exactly is it that you would give them one piece of advice if they want to go in that direction?

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Well, I'm gonna have to do a couple pieces of advice that just popped you. Good. Go. I think honestly, I think stress for success. I really do think that you need to, you know, keep it elevated, right? I think the other thing is approach people that are mentors, find, you know, a broker that you can shadow that you want to help, or say, can I do an open house with you? Maybe help facilitate. So it's kind of going back to the old fashioned. If you're doing an open house, or can I help you? I'd reach out to the brokers that are doing it and see how you could help them and what you can learn from them.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Good advice.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

So find a mentor in the business. I mean, I'm mentored all over the place, but for getting access and learning about the business and feeling more confident, that's I would start with people in your office and your manager.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

There you go. So I thank you, Nora, so much. If someone wants to, I've got two questions. One is how can they reach you if somebody wants to reach you?

SPEAKER_00 32:39

Nora Lynchsmith Realtor.com or Nora Lynchsmith.com. They're both there. And I am very easily found on the internet. I am under Nora Lynch or Nora Lynch Smith from TikTok to Facebook to LinkedIn, all that. You can find me. Okay, so I have three questions.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

Do you do a lot of the TikToking and all the social media? Do you do a lot of that?

SPEAKER_00 33:02

I do. I am getting my groove back on with that. I still try, I don't want to be just real estate because that can get boring, right? I mean, I've watched some of these things on TikTok. I'm like, oh, you know, another realtor. What are they saying? You know, but I love the fact of being positive, success principles that I'm just it's changed my life with Canfield success principles. So I, you know, am doing them. I got one of those drones to follow me around. So just the other day I posted getting firewood before that big huge snowstorm, and it was kind of a fun little thing to do. I got into TikTok during 2020 when my I'm like, what is all this? My daughter was here in high school. And like, what are you doing? A TikTok recipe. I have all these books. What's a TikTok recipe? So anyway, that was that's been really fun because I think that people all tend to be more authentic generally on TikTok. Oh, yeah, they'll post anything. Yeah, so it's just you know, I like to still have like P's and Q's and all that, but I think that yeah, that's what I've been doing. So I do post, I'm trying to get into more, you know, every day, but I want it to be quality.

SPEAKER_01 34:14

Yep. I totally understand.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

So I have a final question. It's my signature question that everybody gets asked, and that question is has an opportunity presented itself to you because of a connection that you had that you can share the story with us?

SPEAKER_00 34:30

So I thought about that, and I think opportunities are presented to us every day, and it's on us to act on them. So I mean, uh if I didn't realize, oh, who's you know, getting my designations like when I ended up at the point 10 plus year 10 years ago or so having the opportunity to acquire landmark and then merge in with Southern Beast through you know different turns and twists and all that? But if I didn't say, oh, who's like for example, Lee Brown in meeting you? Yeah. And if I didn't say, all right, I'm gonna actually go to one of her courses about being a speaker, you know, trainer. It's acting on that relationship, acting on that, and leaving yourself a little vulnerable to do that.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

Does that make sense? Absolutely. That's how I met Lee. I joined, I took her one-on-one coaching. There you go. It's like and that was a couple of years ago. And then it was like, wait a minute, I need to have her on this. And then I followed her forever, and then I called her to do some coaching with her, and you know, the rest is history. And she mentioned you because I wanted to talk about luxury homes. And she said, I've got somebody for you.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Okay. Yes, well, see, and if we didn't take that opportunity, or you people think, oh, that's just too far removed. Even Katie Lance for social media and real estate social media, if I didn't say, Oh, I'm gonna actually invest in going to her first mastermind, and then I've learned so much through those connections around the country. And again, with Lee. So it's been, you know, I never would have done RPAC. And like again, I don't want to go down rabbit holes, you're trying to wrap this up, but I never would have then gotten involved with my association and all that the last several years. So definitely take advantage of those opportunities that are here every single day of our lives, every moment.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

If one door closes, another one's gonna open, or as I said in my first book, then go through the window. Exactly. The door shuts, go through the window. Well, that is our show for today. And I want to thank you for joining us on Success New Connections. And for those of you who are listening, I hope that you will hit that follow button wherever it is, or the subscribe button so that you can hear future episodes because we release a new one every single Tuesday. And remember, success does not happen in isolation. It happens really because of the connections you have. We all know that connections really are today's currency. Connections are your power move, at least they are right now. And I'm Zelda Greenberg, your host of this podcast. But in addition to the podcast, as you probably have all picked up by now, I am a realtor right here in Florida, and I help people navigate some of life's biggest transactions with confidence and with clarity. So until next week, I will see you at Success Through Connections next Tuesday. Thanks, Nora. Thank you.