within the community. Just like me, you may not have any experience selling homes, and you may not have an extensive client base—but don’t let this discourage you. In this chapter, I’ll share what experience has taught me about long-term success in this business.
Why Motherhood Was Good for Business
Once my first child, Nicole, was born, I quit my job to be a full-time mother. Afterwards, when my sons Howard and Michael were born, life became even busier. Our children were the Number-1 priority for my husband and me. Saeed was building the business, which allowed me to commit all of my time to being with our children. Between swimming, dancing, soccer, school plays, orchestra, and gymnastics, all three kids were active all day. This meant that I was in charge of coordinating their schedules, arranging for transportation, and attending school functions.
When my children were older, Saeed encouraged me to begin a career in real estate. Once I plunged into the profession, I asked myself questions like, “Who will make up my contact list?” and “Who would be interested in buying a home from me?”
At first, those around me had their doubts about whether I would succeed as a real estate broker. They thought that I was entering this profession on a whim, where my commitment would be no greater than had I decided to take up knitting or salsa dancing. After all, almost everyone around me knew me as Myra Nourmand: mother, wife, and social butterfly. Adding real estate broker to the list was new.
I had my own misgivings as well. But I didn’t allow the uncertainty to stop me. I was determined to build my business and accomplish my goals, which reflects the optimistic outlook that I’ve always had.
My lifelong philosophy is that people always get their share of good or bad luck: Misfortune strikes even the luckiest, and the silver lining surrounds even the darkest cloud. When you can turn a tough situation into something positive, you know that you’ll adapt to life’s experiences with confidence.
Suddenly, the contact list that I thought was non-existent became full of possibilities. I realized that I had strong connections to parents within my community. With other moms and dads, we had spent years attending practices and rehearsals, shared parenthood stories, and watched competitions and performances. Through our time together, we had grown to trust and count on each other and ask one another for help when urgent matters arose. I began contacting these friends. Thus, my client list started with individuals whom I knew long before I decided to become a broker.
Everyone Wants Something for Nothing
Beverly Hills has the reputation of being home to the world’s rich and famous. In fact, it could be the most high-profile place to live in the world. So what do you think my colleagues said when I told them that I planned to build my business by giving away chocolate purchased from a school fundraiser?
What I heard was, “Are you sure about this?” And their expressions told me, “What are you thinking?” But despite the skeptics, I went ahead and bought cases of candy at my son’s school. My closets swelled with boxes and boxes of chocolates. In fact, I made my son the top-producing candy seller at his school. The plan was a success. In order to explain why, let me take you from Beverly Hills back to my roots in Buffalo, New York.
In high school, I took a job selling makeup at a fancy department store. Working there, with clientele who had lots of money and spent it on expensive products, made me realize that the high end of the market was where I could excel.
I stood behind the glass counter and advised older women on how to look younger and more beautiful. Working there, I learned that people believe what they want to. If they think that opening up an expensive bottle of skin cream will make them look younger, they’ll make the purchase.
The customers who frequented my makeup counter were inspired by my youthful skin, which convinced them that the cheap products sold at the drug store were useless. What they didn’t realize was that my skin looked youthful because it was—I was only 16 after all—and that I was using the inexpensive products sold in the local drug store.
Next, I worked as a telemarketer. I was responsible for arranging appointments with prospective customers and the sales staff, who were selling fire alarms. The tricky part was that I was never allowed to mention fire alarms in my telephone pitch. Instead, I called individuals at home and asked, “Ma’am would you be interested in learning more about fire safety?”
In order to bring in customers, I offered incentives. For example, if I was calling during the Thanksgiving Holiday, I offered a free turkey. Or if it was Christmas, I offered a free pie cutter.
I learned that people were motivated to act when offered something free, even if it was just a pie cutter. Later, to my surprise, my manager told me that I was one of the few telemarketers who consistently filled up the schedules of all the salesmen.
While in college in Buffalo, I saw an ad on campus that read, “College Students: Earn $500 a week from selling lifetime waterless cookware.” That was a lot of money, and the ad piqued my interest.
Once hired, I attended bridal fairs, set up booths at shopping malls, and met brides-to-be in their homes. At the time, I was also engaged to marry Saeed. Therefore, my customers and I had something in common. The job taught me that if I surrounded myself with people with similar experiences, I was able to relate to them better, understand their needs, and earn their trust.
The job reminded me of watching my father work. Successfully selling sewing machines allowed him to earn enough money to buy a furniture store. He intentionally bought a business in a Polish neighborhood so that he could relate to his customers’ culture and language. Through him, I realized that the key to successful sales was to find my niche.
When I spoke with brides-to-be, I told them that in addition to the cookware, they could pick their own flatware, stemware, and china, and that by the time they were married, they would have a complete set. Within a short period of time, I was selling five sets of cookware per week.
My supervisor was astonished. This was another case of “what you don’t know might help you.” Because no one had told me differently, I assumed that after every night of work, I was supposed to have sold a set of cookware. That’s why I didn’t consider it an option to finish the day without a sale. To my amusement, he shared that I was selling more cookware in a week than most of his sales staff did in a month, which made me their top salesperson.
Once I embarked on a real estate career in Beverly Hills, I took these valuable lessons with me. As I mentioned previously, many thought it was a silly idea to buy school fundraiser chocolate and give it away as gifts. This was Beverly Hills, not Buffalo, after all. Who in 90210 would want something so trivial?
It turned out to be a great way to meet people. A phone call starting with, “Hello Julie, I just bought some chocolate to raise money for Michael’s school. Can I bring you a gift?” opened many doors for me. I would arrive at Julie’s home, and we would catch up with family news. This provided an ideal way to introduce my new career endeavor.
My school fundraising days are now over, but the philosophy hasn’t changed: Giving to others is one of the easiest ways to create opportunity. I can’t emphasize enough how important this will be to your career.
Real Estate Tips Your Mom Would Be Proud Of
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