Tiffany McQuaid, president of McQuaid and Company Real Estate Services in Naples, Florida, and Jeannette Spinelli, CEO and founder of Spinelli Residential Group Keller Williams in Austin, Texas, have both built successful luxury real estate businesses from the ground up.
McQuaid broke into the luxury market by tapping into her background in marketing and expertise as an event planner. She studied the market in her area and saw that no one was hosting events, so she started to do it, and she made sure to roll out the same red carpet with her company logo at every one.
“The best thing you can do in a luxury space is create and promote authenticity,” she said. “Don’t try to be like everyone else in your luxury market space.”
Spinelli, for her part, started with consumer research, studying the demographic she wanted to serve and educating herself on tax laws and finances. Having worked as an agent at the lower end of the market, she understood that part of serving high-net-worth clients would require her to act more as a consultant. “I wanted to earn a seat at the table next to their financial planner, their accountant, their estate attorney,” Spinelli said.
Both agree that the level of service required by luxury clients needs to be above and beyond. “The ideas are the same,” notes Spinelli, “but they’re just cranked up.” So, for example, instead of bringing a bottle of wine to celebrate a sale with a client, she’ll plan an entire party, with wine, food and entertainment.
For more insight on how they grew their luxury businesses, and the one piece of advice they have for those wanting to break into the market, watch the full conversation on Inman Select.
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