Meet Sean Carpenter
Sean Carpenter is Undisruptable
“The main thing we can control is our attitude andour reaction to the things that happen to us. There’s just so much I think that’s beyond our reach whether it’s politics, whether it’s global economics, whether it’s health. We just have to show up every day and ask ourselves, is this going to be a good day?”
Sean Carpenter is known throughout the industry as the relationship expert. He never forgets to reach out for a birthday, a special occasion or for no reason at all. If you’re in Sean’s sphere of influence, he will connect often and regularly. He’s mastered the system of staying in flow and has the self-discipline to follow through on his intention. He makes his people feel special and seen in the process.
“Maya Angelou says, I’ve learned what people said. People forgot what you said. People forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. I look for opportunities to find people, spotlight them, make them feel good. I say being blog worthy, being worth writing a blog about. Being Facebook worthy, Instagram worthy, Yelp worthy. If we start looking for people in our communities that are blog worthy or Yelp worthy or Instagram worthy, then we start doing that level of service ourselves. That’s what I look for to go above and beyond to be memorable.”
Sean knows that his reputation is his greatest business asset which is why he makes it a priority. He’s very clear about how he spends his time and focuses effort on activities that will develop and create more meaningful connections. If you’re committed to systemizing your relationships to drive business, be sure to check out his blog or perhaps book him for your next speaking event. This is what makes him undisruptable.
Read more from our conversation here:
Sean: Hi, I’m Sean Carpenter from Columbus, Ohio. I have a company called Sean Speaks and I’m a realtor with Coldwell Banker King Thompson.
Molly: Perfect. What does the word undisruptable mean for you?
Sean: Undisruptable. It’s the ocean. It’s cruise control on a road trip. It’s being the first group out on a Saturday morning on the golf course. Undisruptable means that you are in a zone, whether it’s at work or listening to music or doing something creative. That’s what undisruptable means to me.
Molly: That’s awesome. Tell me some of the things that you are doing in your business to
counteract the noise that is coming in, all the disruptions, the business changes,
commissions, i-buying all of that.
Sean: I think … I’ve learned in the 22 years I’ve been in the business that there’s only two
things an agent does with his or her day. They either do business development activities
or they do business support activities. Everything an agent does, you can put into one of
those two categories, business development or business support. Most agents spend
most of their time doing business support. It’s important to get the deals from the
contracts to the closing table, but the reason why I think most agents do business
support activities, instead of business development, is because there’s no rejection
involved in business support.
Every single day I’m acting like a farmer walking out into his field. I got to put seeds in the ground. I got to do something business development-wise so that I can get some business to support. Because I’ve learned that agents who spend all their time doing business support and not business development, soon have no business to support. If I can just stay active doing what I do at best, build relationships, solve problems and have fun. If every single day I can focus on those three things, the disruptions and the noise and the static will zoom in on the right channel I need to focus on.
Molly: Perfect. Is there a story you have to share or a moment of the going above and beyond, the thing that you do for your clients that you just wish you could tell people?
Sean: I love to share this story. I was going to speak in Charlottesville, Virginia, and as my
plane was landing, I realized that Virginia was playing Louisville that night in basketball.
I’m a huge college sports fan. It was number two Virginia versus number four Louisville. I remember I texted my host and said, “Is there any chance I can get tickets for the game
tonight,” thinking there’s no way I’ll get tickets. Long story short, she said, “You can use my tickets. I can’t go. My kids have piano lessons. If you don’t mind sitting with my husband, they’re yours.” I’m like, “I’ll sit on your husband’s lap to go to this game. This is awesome.” Virginia wins in overtime. Before I went back to the hotel, I wanted to walk through the grounds of the University of Virginia. I walked through the campus and went to my fraternity house there and met some brothers and asked them, “Where’s the one place in Charlottesville that I got to go to to have a beer and a burger, that I can say I’ve been in Charlottesville?” All the undergrads said, you’ve got to go to the Virginian. We call it the Virg, but you’ve got to go there. I walked across campus, I found the Virg and Molly, I went in and I had a burger and a few beers and watched the late game on ESPN on the TV. My servers that night was two girls named Erin and Hannah, two coeds about the same age as my daughter. It was just one of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve had in a long time in a town by myself. I was the oldest person in the bar with all these college students and when it came time to pay my bill, I left a big tip for the two girls. And as they walked past I said, “I’m not sure which one he was my server. So I left a big tip for you. Is there anything I can do for you before I head back to my hotel?”
And they said, well, Mr. Carpenter, have you ever heard of Yelp? I said, yeah, I’ve heard
of Yelp. We don’t use it much where I live, but I’ve heard of it. They said, well, when you
go back to your hotel tonight, if you could leave us a Yelp review and mention us by
name. I’m Erin and this is Hannah. We get a free meal. Now, I remember as a college kid,
how much a free meal meant to me. I looked at those girls and I said, not only will I
write you a Yelp review, I will write you the best Yelp review you’ve ever had. I’m going
to do it right now while I’m feeling good about it. I said, open up another tab, bring me
another beer. I sat and typed out an eight paragraph Yelp review about this place, that
the rivulets of ice dripping down the pint glass, the crunchiness of the lettuce, the
juiciness of the burger. And before I hit send, I called the girls over because I wanted to
make sure it was okay to them.
I slid the phone across the booth to them and made them read my review to make sure
it was okay. As they were reading together, scrolling down my phone, both of them had
a tear in their eye. I looked at them and said, “Oh my gosh, did I write something bad?”
They both looked up at me and Erin said, “This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for
us.” Because I wrote them a Yelp review so they could get a free meal as a college
student? I just think if more people did that little extra thing to make other people feel
good.
Maya Angelou says, I’ve learned what people said. People forgot what you said. People
forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. I look for
opportunities to find people, spotlight them, make them feel good. I say being blog
worthy, being worth writing a blog about. Being Facebook worthy, Instagram worthy,
Yelp worthy. If we start looking for people in our communities that are blog worthy or
Yelp worthy or Instagram worthy, then we start doing that level of service ourselves.
That’s what I look for to go above and beyond to be memorable.
Molly: Perfect. Along the same lines, can you just tell the story about how you don’t ever forget a birthday. That you send notes. Just talk a little bit about that for me.
Sean: Yeah. It’s just something that’s part of my build relationships, solve problems philosophy is that if I can remember people’s names and their kids’ names and their spouses names and their pets names and where they went to college, I have more reasons to talk to them that aren’t real estate related. I think one of the problems we have in our businesses always think we have to be talking about real estate. I think it’s totally opposite. I just need you to think about real estate when you think about me, you think about real estate. I make it a point to remember people’s birthdays. I don’t remember their birthdays, my phone does, my contact manager does, my calendar does. But the fact is that I go out and actually reach out to them on their birthdays, I think that makes a big difference. If you think about it, most people on your birthday, most of your friends even on Facebook, don’t do anything. Some send you a message on Facebook, but about 10% of your friends send you a message. I try and stand out and it’s that one special day we all have, we all look forward to. We all remember the memories and so if I can be that person who reaches out to people on birthdays and ask them about kids’ events and pets names and things like that, it’s just something I think it’s become one of my signature things that I try and do.
Molly: How’s the importance of your reputation? What’s the importance of your reputation?
Sean: Reputation is huge. I did a presentation to a local high school and I talked about why reputation is so important. I really broke down the 10 letters of reputation. R’s
relationships. E is enthusiasm. P is preparation. U is under promise and over deliver. I
kept thinking about these things and in these messages I wanted people to hear and
when I told it, the first T is trust. A is attitude. Choosing your attitude. The second T is
Try your best. I am inquiring about something. The best salespeople are the best question askers. O is over promise … No, outside your comfort zone. Sorry, let me say that again. O is outside your comfort zone. That’s where the magic happens when you get outside of your comfort zone. N is nice people win. If you put those 10 letters together and think about all those things as part of your reputation, you’re going to have a great one.
Molly: Perfect. You’re sitting at a table with people who are all worried about all the stuff that’s happening in the industry. What do you tell them?
Sean: First of all, you can only control what you can control. That’s probably rule number one is only focus on things you can control. The main thing we can control is our attitude and our reaction to the things that happen to us. There’s just so much I think that’s beyond our reach whether it’s politics, whether it’s global economics, whether it’s health. We just have to show up every day and literally, I challenge people, ask yourself this question when you wake up each day. Is today going to be a great day or a great day? If the answer is not a great day, then hit the snooze button and give yourself nine more
minutes to think about it again and then ask yourself again, is today going to be a great
day or a great day? Because when you can choose your attitude, I think that’s the best
way to worry about getting rid of all the noise.
Molly: Any parting words of wisdom that you want to share about being undisruptable?
Sean:I just go back to what I think everything’s about. Build relationships, solve problems, and have fun. If you do those three things, whether you’re focused on contracts or closings or pulling deals together, if you do those three things every single day, everything else will take care of itself.
About RateMyAgent
RateMyAgent is an Australia-based review platform now expanding rapidly in the United States. In Australia, RateMyAgent is used by agents who sell 80% of property across Australia and get reviews for 1 in 3 homes sold nationally. RateMyAgent launched in the United States in 2018 and has partnerships with MLS’s from Florida to California, including CRMLS, the countries largest MLS. They are the first review platform to be included and endorsed by the National Association of Realtors® 2019 NAR’s REACH Accelerator Program. RateMyAgent is listed on the Australian stock exchange. More information about RateMyAgent can be found at www.ratemyagent.com
