What’s the recipe for closing over 100 homes a year as a real estate team AND having a massive impact on the industry?
Boise’s Top Agent shares her secrets about serving other agents through her massive involvement and service at national, local and brokerage level civic service.
Podcast Audio Timestamps:
4:35- the paradigm shift that Michelle encourages you to have
8:07- Some of the best referrals you can receive come from other business owners as is taught in the Upstream Model book
10:51- The added benefit to your business of meeting with other business owners
14:18- The value of being around people who serve
18:09- Why getting involved puts you in contact with the movers and shakers (if you want something done, give it to busy people)
19:48- What Michelle does to continue to Think Bigger and expand her possibilities.
If you’re moving to Boise, need a good Realtor referral in Boise, or are looking for career opportunities in Boise, you can contact Michelle at: michelle@benkinneyteam.com
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Justin Stoddart
So the big question is this: How do we those of us in the real estate industry, with crazy amounts of ambition, how do we Think Bigger than the building of our own empires? How do we simultaneously see success and significance, income and impact? My name is Justin Stoddart. And this is the Think Bigger Real Estate Show.
Justin Stoddart
Welcome back to the Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I’m your host, Justin Stoddart, bringing you today a new paradigm, a way of growing your business by focusing on serving your competition. What?!
Justin Stoddart
Yes, other real estate agents. We’re going to learn all about that today from someone who has built an empire really, by committing herself to serving the industry that we all benefit from. Her name is Michelle Bailey, before I fully introduce her, let me remind you of this, that inside of the Think Bigger Real Estate Group on Facebook is where we go deeper, we introduce the actual the guests of the show, and we give you the ability to actually come converse about these topics. You’re not just listening, you get engaged in the conversation, which allows the learning to go deeper. So if you’re not yet a member there inside of the Think Bigger Real Estate Group on Facebook, go do that now.
Justin Stoddart
Back to today’s guest, Michelle Bailey, such a pleasure to be with you coming to us from Boise, Idaho.
Michelle Bailey
Yes, thank you so much, Justin, I’m glad to be here.
Justin Stoddart
So your team does a phenomenal, a phenomenal amount of business. And it’s interesting, as I look through your bio, obviously, we got introduced because we kind of share or shared, I should say, my former assistant who I absolutely adore, moved to Boise, I was heartbroken about it. But I was so excited when she got a chance to work for your team. I was like, Oh, this is gonna be fantastic for for her sad for me. But it’s fun to see her with such an amazing producer over there continuing to learn and grow. So thank you for taking great care of one of my very dear friends.
Michelle Bailey
We love her here.
Justin Stoddart
Yeah, it’s pretty hard not to love her. So, again, one of the things that I want to point out here is that oftentimes real estate agents overlook the fact of what their involvement in the political side of real estate, the civic service side of real estate. Again, for those that aren’t familiar with you, in fact, probably very few understand that you’ve served on and you’re looking at your bio, you were have been a part of seven, like different committee positions within the national real estate, you know, circles. Within the state of Idaho, you’ve served on three, on the local level, you’ve served on a level and then within your brokerage, you’ve served on another five, like from the outset, it would look as if like, how do you ever sell any real estate, this person must not sell any real estate. And then you look at the production and the team that you’ve built? And it’s like, wait a minute, wait a minute, folks, there might be a connection here. There might be some correlation between her commitment to serving her industry and the amount of production that she does. Michelle, talk to us a little bit about kind of what led you to kind of this strategy and for you, it’s it’s more than that. It’s a passion, right?
Michelle Bailey
Yeah, it absolutely is a passion of mine. I’ve been serving since quite honestly, high school. And even when I worked in law enforcement, I served on as Secretary of the Police Officers Association. And so when I got into real estate, it just, it was natural for me to start getting involved in the association that works to our benefit. And so I did start getting involved in Boise regional realtors, I served as president in 2020, I am moving into the state level, and I serve at the national level as well. I’m part of their Leadership Committee, I’ve served on committees there. I’m heavily involved in our Pac, which is the realtor political action committee. And really, what that does is it allows me to be a voice of change within our association, you can have opinions about whether it’s great, or it sucks. At the end of the day, it’s the organization of individuals that are competitors and their collaborators. And when we collaborate in a positive way, for the benefit of our customers and our clients, then it’s a win win overall, people know with my, with my reputation in our industry, I’m truly authentic, I’m gonna say it how it is, I’m a no BS kind of person. And when we have a good transaction together, then it helps. It helps other business come back and that serves my clients and my agents.
Justin Stoddart
It’s a really interesting perspective because again, I think when you come into the industry, and you see all these other Realtors, and I was like, boy, the competition is growing. But there’s more agents now than ever before. There’s more agents in the US than there are listings, right all these are concerning statistics, when you look at kind of the equilibrium and the the overall kind of strength of the industry of strength of the profession. And what I see you doing is rather than taking Have an adversarial approach to avoid the competition, right? It’s like, No, these are my friends. These are my collaborators. These are my partners in this industry, and we collectively are going to make it better, which is a really brilliant insight. And obviously has has done good for the industry, I’m sure. And and, and obviously, it’s contributed to your business as well.
Michelle Bailey
Absolutely. I mean, of course, the tangible part is the referral business that you get from that right from all over the country. I mean, I absolutely when people think about Idaho, I don’t care where it is, I don’t care if I service it or not. If they think Idaho, I want them to think of Michelle Bailey, because if I can’t help them, I will find someone that can help them. And I have people within our brokerage within other brokerages in our area within the state that reach out and say, Hey, who do you know, in, I don’t know New York or Florida or Texas, and I’m happy to connect them with people that I have established relationships with. And that really, is the true power of the work that we do behind the scenes. That’s just like the benefit the plus beyond being able to make a change in our industry and trying to move things forward.
Justin Stoddart
Well, there’s been no shortage of people moving to Idaho, I know, seems like about half of Oregon is on their way. It was even joked that our governor here was the Idaho R Realtor of the year because I’m not going there…. But it at least created a pretty funny meme. But I think I’ll just let everybody know that actually, you were the realtor of the Year award. Like legitimately, they’re kind of quiet, though, you know, the memes, but you know, but I do think that there’s, it’s an interesting regardless of, of whether your state is importing a bunch of people or even exporting some people, the fact that how you’ve positioned your, you know, your value proposition, right, it’s like, it’s so often I see this with with agents is the or the, you know, that they talk about, or the way that they position themselves is very much in a silo, and very limited to I can help you buy, sell or invest in real estate. Now I get the concept of being super focused on what you do. But when you when you can start to add to your value proposition of, Hey, who do you need to know, because I’m connected, both in real estate and outside of real estate, and both in Idaho and outside of Idaho, both in the, you know, political scene and the, you know, private sector scene, right? All of these things. Now, all of a sudden, people look at you totally differently. I would imagine your clients probably look at you differently than the way they look at the typical realtor.
Michelle Bailey
Yeah, I think there with that comes definitely some I can’t think of the word but some credibility, right, some street cred, so to speak. And when I’m able to sit down with a client, or sit down with one of our agents, or just someone I’m even meeting with, and talk about the things that the association is doing, not only to fight for their ability to work, by the way, but also to protect private property rights to protect and fight for the small business owner, that affects all of us in some degree. And there we are fighting every day for that it makes a difference.
Justin Stoddart
Yeah, boy, that’s really cool to hear you say that. Because you’re right, it’s no longer I mean, just so you know, my kind of passion around this topic of benefiting other businesses, my book, the Upstream Model, there, it’s kind of over my shoulder, really come up with this concept of like, some of the best business that you can get is from other professionals, people who already have a deep relationship with their clients. And by you adding value to that business owners business, specifically, even around real estate and or even outside of that, what ends up happening is that you have their attention, and their loyalty because you help them and their business and their client experience. And in turn, you’re the obviously the first person they think of, and those referrals that come are so much different than an online lead, there’s so much different than oftentimes even then a lead from your from your sphere, because it’s coming from someone who has deep professional trust with their clients already. So I love the fact that you said that I think for anybody that’s been a student of the Upstream Model has worked to apply that what Michelle is is saying here is that don’t be so myopic, right to where you’re looking at. How can I help? If someone’s not interested in buying or selling real estate, then I don’t have time for them. Really, what you’re saying is, how can I serve them? How can I bring them value? Is that true? Is that am I kind of stating that correctly?
Michelle Bailey
Yeah, you’re you’re spot on with your description of that. And it’s not just the transaction, right? It is about helping them now. And sometimes it doesn’t mean they’re buying or selling. Sometimes they just need someone to sit down with them and learn how do I create a budget so that I don’t lose my house? Right? I mean, it’s all those little things that you’re kind of making deposits out in the world not to make deposits, but that’s what you’re doing. And I believe that it comes full circle and will serve you in the long run.
Justin Stoddart
I know you’re a part of a brokerage and a team like a platform Place, right that gives an immense amount of training. Right and not all agents are privy to the amount of training that you get, but I think every agent out there tends to discount how much they know about marketing, how much they know about sales, how much they know about, you know that, you know, even the things that you described a budgeting, and you know, these other things. And when you can take the things that you know, and go sit down with a business owner, and say, here’s some things that I’m learning in my, you know, that I’ve learned and implemented into my business, for the value that you can be giving to other people by simply being a teacher, whether it be one on one, or whether even being in a, in a social media type environment, when you start to give business value tend to attract business people, and then they can sure be your ambassadors, right, they can really be pillars to your business, of helping just to help you create a brand and reputation as well as like you’re saying of actually, you know, referring business and kind of being an integral part of your overall team? Absolutely.
Michelle Bailey
And it’s, it’s both ways, right? I mean, if I’m sitting down having a conversation with someone, it’s asking questions to know what works for them. And that allows me to help them but it also I get to learn from what works for them. And it’s really awesome when you hear from other industries that maybe we get in our silo of real estate. And so we don’t always think about it, but learning what works in other industries will absolutely help us in real estate. Yeah,
Justin Stoddart
Boy, that’s, that’s brilliant. You know, when you think of your value proposition, oftentimes, again, talking about maybe the common realtor, right is that like, I know how to help people by selling invest in real estate. And if you don’t want to talk about that, I got to move on. Whereas what you’re saying is, what can I learn from these other industries? Not just even what can I share? But what can I learn so that when I do sit down, even if it’s in a listing appointment, or meeting with another agent, or even, you know, all of a sudden, your background and your experience is so much broader than the typical agent, right? You just have so much more to offer, because you’ve taken the time to invest in people and invest in yourself. I love that you do that. Michelle, and it makes sense. I mean, that’s your philosophy, right? Is that you just live this way of? How can I serve? How can I How can I learn from other people? How can I get from other people? And that’s really, would you say, Would you agree that that’s maybe kind of been a secret to you finding your passion in real estate? sound that approach? Yeah,
Michelle Bailey
I mean, I think it definitely has always been about serving. And I mean, really, honestly, in the beginning, it wasn’t so much like, let me find a way to serve others. I mean, I was a single parent. And I had two young boys, and moved to an area that I knew almost no one. And so I went into real estate, which is 100% Commission, which, like, you really think about it, that’s dumb, right? But it turned out to be really rewarding. And I got to design a schedule that worked for my family, and make the money that I want to make. And with that came the service and the giving part, and really getting to kind of marry what works for my family and my passion, which is serving others. And I get to do that. Wow.
Justin Stoddart
Yeah, boy, what a beautiful thing. You know, and the business case behind this, you kind of mentioned it right? When you’re, or at least kind of alluded to, and I’ve heard other agents say this as well is that when you’re in a competitive competitive offer situation, and we are right, and the other agent knows you, and maybe knows even what you’ve contributed to an industry, and there’s some sort of relationship or at least recognition of who you are, that changes that dynamic, right? All of a sudden, your offers looked at differently than just an agent who they don’t know, right? That they don’t know how, like how viable that offers. And then you even kind of take it to another level of the value, you know, that you offer to your clients, right? And then also say, obviously, you’ve you’ve built a team, you haven’t done this much production all by yourself, the fact that I would imagine that you’ve attracted the talent that you have, because you’ve been willing to go out and serve without any any form of, of expectation of what would come in return. But people learn who you are, they see how you’re a giving person, how you’re you’re strong and supportive of the industry that we all love. And because of that, right because of of you putting yourself out there to serve selflessly. Now, all of a sudden, people are attracted to want to work with you right and be a part of what you’re building.
Michelle Bailey
Yeah, I think I mean, really, that’s the model. I mean, I joined Ben Kenny, who you know, of five years ago, we just had our five year anniversary. So I’ve been with him for a while. And it was an alignment that works because he is he has a servant heart, right. He gives back not just in education, as you mentioned earlier, but he gives back in his community he gives back of his time, and he wants us all to be better. And so I think when you partner that, that philosophy, so to speak of What place does what Ben does, and now what the leaders within place and then our agents are out there doing it. Talk about being able to make this huge impact on our industry. With our clients and and the other agents, I mean, it’s, it is powerful and it’s exciting. Yeah.
Justin Stoddart
So what advice would you have for people, Michelle, who maybe have gotten to a point in their business 2021 one’s been a pretty good year for most agents, right? established agents who’ve really have been in the industry kind of long enough to create a, you know, sphere and, and some models of generating leads and business that’s working for them. And it’s like, you know, what, I’ve never really considered reinvesting that time back into civic service. I was thought I’d reinvested kind of back into my family and my own lifestyle. What would you like? What advice would you have for them? I would imagine at some point, you were like that of like, should I spend it with my boys? Or should I? Should I go join another committee? Like, how did you come to that conclusion? And, and and what advice would you have for those that are contemplating that?
Michelle Bailey
Well, I’ll say this is something that I struggle with, because I want to be involved in everything. By the way, yeah, I am a little bit Actually, I had to have a conversation with a coach about what my filter is for saying, No, because I do have that passion. So I would say my advice, and I am swallowing my own advice, when I say that, is to have that filter of what am I willing to do? What am I What is my limit, and if it’s time, if you can give time right now based on where you’re at with your business, and your focus, and you get involved in something that you have a passion for, then that’s awesome. If you are a producer of any sorts, and you don’t have time, or maybe that’s not your focus, then you can get involved financially with our pack. So I don’t think that’s a solicitation, right? And that’s a borderline thing, right? There you go. Okay. There are, there are things you can do, whether it’s with time or with money, and you have to decide what’s important to you. And if it’s getting involved in the committee’s is like, I’d rather shoot myself, then don’t, then don’t do it. Give some money to help. And you know, let those that have a passion for it do that work.
Justin Stoddart
I love that right? A couple a couple of ways that really can work for for people. And obviously we’ve we’ve helped to make a business case for this today, as to how the investment of your time has obviously come back in all kinds of different ways, right in growing you and growing your brand and growing your reputation, and growing your passion and growing your team and your production. All of that hopefully, people were able to start to make the connection of you know, in fact, it’s interesting here in the Portland market, you know, where I’m based out of one of the highest producers in our region, probably number two, number three production of all the other agents has a bio very similar to yours. And so so you’re not the only one who has uncovered the fact that like, hey, this, this makes this industry really exciting for me when I can live this way and marry the two. And the business case is pretty strong too. Because everybody knows who who you are. Right, everybody? Because you’re just out there and you’re giving selflessly again. It’s great stuff. That’s so fun to
Michelle Bailey
On that point, Justin. I mean, I think you kind of mentioned this before we hopped on the live part, but how you were surprised at the amount of business that some of the leaders are actually doing right. And I think people in general have this old school idea that if you are giving of your time, if you’re involved in the association, whether it be your local state or the National Association, then you’re an old fuddy duddy that doesn’t do any business and therefore you don’t know what’s happening. And I think if you actually look at the leaders that are out there doing business or they are doing business, matter of fact, the NAR incoming president does a huge amount of business in Utah, the Idaho actually Idaho, just Tracy Casper just won the election for incoming, I can’t remember years any in two years, she’ll be in our president. She runs a huge business here in southeast Idaho. She’s a good friend. So the agents that are out there serving are actually big producers as well
Justin Stoddart
yeah. I think for anybody who again, had that myth, right, you just kind of pointed to of like, Oh, that’s what people do when they don’t actually produce right when they’re kind of like at the edge of, of their career. And or they’re kind of hiding from actually doing business? No, it’s not the case. Like these are the movers and shakers. You know what they say if you want something done, give it to a busy person. Because people like you are leaders, you make stuff happen, both in the lives of your clients, as well as in this industry. And obviously we all benefit from your, your leadership. So thank you for that. Absolutely.
Justin Stoddart
Let’s let’s move Michelle to the the signature question of the show. This show is all about growth. It’s about thinking bigger so that you can become more so you can serve greater What does Michelle Bailey do to continue to be a big thinker to can you continue to expand your possibilities? What is what what is personal growth look like for you?
Michelle Bailey
It’s a great question. Well, for one, I joined Place. Right, I joined I partnered with Ben. And I don’t know of a bigger thinker than Ben Kinney and Chris Suarez who created Place and with that I’m surrounded by so many leaders in this organization that question, question how I think that pushed me that I, it’s often scary to be quite honest. Right? If you’re not afraid, then you probably should be afraid that you’re not afraid because that you’re probably not growing. And so I think it’s who you surround yourself with, which I’m sure your listeners have heard that a lot on this podcast. In addition to that, it’s I listen to multiple podcasts every single week, whether it be real estate related investing, mental health, or just physical health and overall, I’m constantly listening to podcasts reading, masterminding with agents all around the country, I’m masterminding with agents all around the country every single day, to the point that sometimes it’s mind blowing. So growth is it’s just it’s not optional in our world. Yeah,
Michelle Bailey
Yeah, I love how you’ve pointed out some of the big thinkers from the both of us have learned from both both Chris and Ben, I’ve learned a ton from fun to hear you mentioned their names, of course, they’re very integrated into your business, right, very much a part of your business. And that’s, that’s, that’s pretty cool to say. And I love that I think oftentimes, I’ve heard this over and over again, that people that really grow themselves are people that exchange entertainment for education, right? There’s, there’s a time for entertainment absolutely is, but I see a pattern in your life, that even your business is set up to be growing, right, going out and putting yourself out there and serving other people is, is is a part of what you’re saying. And then also this concept of, of always filling your mind with podcasts, right? Whether they be real estate specific or not. I love that love that. It’s a great lesson for all of us to really go in and audit. What are our inputs? So we just listen to like the the news cycle all the time, are we really focused on things that we can control ways that we can really influence our circumstances and, you know, bless the lives of other people. So good stuff.
Justin Stoddart
I think that that’s good. I one thing that I wanted to mention on that it’s not all growth minded, right? We, I mean, for example, there’s a trip I want to go on, I want to go visit in the Ozarks. And I made a goal, I could do it, I can go fine, and just not worry about my goals at all. Instead, I made a goal, I have to hire five agents by the time I go visit him, or I don’t go on my trip. So that’s going to force me and push me out of my comfort zone to do the things I need to do because I want to go on that trip. Right? Putting the carrots in front of you
Justin Stoddart
Boy, the integrity of of you to be able to say I don’t get to until I do this. Most people don’t have the self discipline to do that. It’s like y’all get to it. And I’ll get to it. But what you’re saying is like, No, no, I’ll get to it. But only after I accomplish this. And you can imagine the growth that people would have if they if they put those kind of carrots out there. Yeah. Is there anything else that you’d want to share? Michelle with the big bigger audience, it would be helpful for us to know about about you or your story or kind of your rise to creating such a great business and such a great impact upon the industry.
Michelle Bailey
I mean, I too participated in a book. Shockingly, I don’t have an in front of me. It’s called Resilient Women in Real Estate and it was the honor to be one of the short stories in the book. And it really just talks about how I came up in California and growing up in Richmond from nothing and my law enforcement career and then partnering with Ben and growing that real estate career, and the things that I have learned along the way to help others and really about mindset. So if you I mean, it’s I think it’s $1 on Kindle. So if you want like a good feel good kind of book, there’s eight stories in there. So I would suggest checking that out. Even more than that. And aside from everything else, I’m a real estate coach with forward coaching and I mentioned that because it’s again, something that’s pushing me out of my comfort zone helping me to be a better realtor, a better leader, to the people that I serve. And I think when when you start doing all these things, you have to get crystal clear on your priorities and your focus in order to accomplish everything and still have some resemblance of life and I will Love to connect with anyone about any of those struggles that we’re having. And if I can help in any way, again, obviously that’s my passion.
Justin Stoddart
I love that Michelle and I’ll also put this plug in again, number one, go get the book, Resilient Women in Real Estate, it sounds like a fabulous read. I also want to say if anybody is moving to the Boise area, right, there’s a lot of people moving there right now, if you’re in real estate, or if you’re not in real estate, if you’re looking for a great, you know, agent, team to take care of, you know, or you might just be even looking for a career, Michelle has a track record and a system behind her to help people create great careers in a short period of time. So she’d be a great person to contact what’s the best way for people to find you, Michelle?
Michelle Bailey
Well, you could find me on Facebook. It’s Michelle Vines Bailey on Facebook, Instagram, I’m not as great at it: @MichellesellsIDhomes. Or you can email me Michelle@BenKinneyteam.com.
Justin Stoddart
But very good. Again, Michelle@BenKinneyteam.com is a great way to contact her if you again are looking to connect with somebody in the Boise area that can help you whether it be transitioning into there and or looking for a career she is somebody she’s a leaders leader, somebody who selflessly gives herself and as a result has created great income and impact for herself as well as for many other people. So Michelle is such a pleasure to have you here on Think Bigger Real Estate Show you really personify who we want to highlight the people that that aren’t just doing it for themselves or doing it for everybody. And that’s that’s, you know what like to say thinking bigger than real estate. So thank you for that. Appreciate you.
Justin Stoddart
Thank you. fortunate to have you as a as a as now a friend, and grateful for the opportunity to kind of showcase you to the world. So again, thank you for that. And for everybody listening here today. My final request are these three simple words. You know what they are? Go think bigger. Thank you so much, Michelle, for helping us do that today.
Michelle Bailey
I want to thank you for tuning in to this episode of The think bigger real estate show. If you found value here, I asked three things. Number one, give us a review. Number two, go to Facebook and in groups search, think bigger real estate and apply to join. Here you will find a community of big thinking professionals that will help you grow your income, your independence and your impact. And my third request is go think bigger