I Had a Very Interesting Experience Yesterday. I was sitting in Borders in Colleyville, Texas. I was blogging my little heart out... answering some comments made to a few of my posts... and workig on three new blog posts I hope to submit sometime this week.
I had "set up shop" at one of the tables over near the side entrance... the doors are under the Borders sign at the right... in the picture below. I had been there for about forty-five minutes, and had just come back from the counter after ordering a second cup of "Seattle's Best Coffee," and sat back down at my table... when a woman approached me.
She walked up to the table, and asked if I would answer a few questions for her. She asked me if I was a Realtor, which I confirmed. She said "I thought so. I saw the computer, noticed the Mapsco book, and the file folders next to your laptop."
Of course, I invited her to sit down. I gave her a copy of the Homes and Land magazine I have a two-page ad in, and asked her what kind of coffee she preferred. Being the kind soul that I am, I scurried back over to the coffee bar, and brought her back a nice cup of Seattle's Best.
It turns out she is going to be relocating to the Fort Worth area from Oklahoma City early in 2008. She had driven down to Fort Worth to visit some friends, and had stopped at Borders to pick up a Fort Worth magazine. And... while she was browsing... she noticed me at my computer.
She asked me about some of the schools in the area. She said she was concerned for her twin twelve year old daughters moving during the school year. I immediately reached for some files I had in my laptop case, and gave her a copy of my blog post entitled "Moving During The School Year... Why It's a Good Thing."
She was very surprised when I handed her the article. Actually, I was surprised, too. I didn't think I had a copy of it with me... but there it was... right inside my briefcase.
We chatted for quite a while. We exchanged information... including our email addresses and phone numbers. She will be coming back down to Fort Worth in early January... and asked me if I had time to "show her around." So... we set aside a time on the first Friday in January.
Am I thrilled ? You Bet ! I met a new friend... and a new client. She didn't have a Realtor when she walked in to Borders... but she was so excited that she had one... when she left !
_________________________________________________________________________________________
You could meet Karen Anne at Borders or Starbucks, but you could also visit her website at www.NewHomeHuntersOfTarrantCounty.com . Karen Anne can be reached at (817) 929-3400. Her email is KarenAnneStone@gmail.com .
Karen, Excellent! What serendipity! You wrote the blog on the topic that most concerned her, and you had it with you....Way to Go Karen!
Ginger
Way cool.
I probably wouldn't have even been able to pull out a business card.
Food for thought....
I have never done this, just threatened.
I've always thought it would be bright to go to a Starbucks or whatever in one of the bookstores or grocery stores at the same time everyday and set up shop for an hour at one of the tables. Business cards,newsletters, laptop, the works.
I'll be I would be amazed at the amount of business it would bring.
Billycherry
Karen: Its one thing to have a potential client bump into you at the right moment but to also be as prepared as you were shows that you know your stuff. Thats a great lesson for me.
Karen,
That's an excellent story about being in the right place at the right time. Congratulations and I hope it pans out for you in the new year!
Karen Anne...Wonderful! Isn't it great when things like that happen out of the blue. You just never know what good things are in store for us.
Keep on drinking that great coffee. I'm taking your word for it. I don't drink that coffee or any other coffee. I'm going to start hanging out in ice cream parlors. Know any with Wi-Fi?
Kathleen
Hi Kathleen: Yes... you just never know. But... I am so glad I had my stuff with me... so I was prepared. It even looked like I actually knew what I was doing. Let me think about finding an ice cream parlor for you. One bad thing. You can sit and sip coffee for quite a while. If you try and sit with your ice cream hoping to bump into a client... the ice cream will melt ! Oh well... no system is perfect.
I just thought of a possibility. Do you have any Cheesecake Factory restaurants near you ? I bet they have ice cream. In fact, I am sure of it. Wow... New York Cheesecake with cherries, and a side dish of vanilla ice cream. That's not going to help the diet one bit. Thanks for commenting... take care...