Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Baroulette.
Hi Christopher, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started in Real Estate back in November 2016. Over my professional adult career, I had held many different positions in sales. My favorites were the ones where I had an opportunity to work one on one directly with someone. In 2016, I was looking for a next-level position that would be something I could build for my family and myself. My wife had been putting the idea of Real Estate in my head. I thought maybe working towards a pharmaceutical sales career would be good but I had no idea how to even enter the industry. After being in this industry for the past five years, I don’t know what I was thinking. I discovered something that was not only fitting to my skillset and expertise over the years, I truly loved to do the work.
So it started in 2016 with taking the required 60 hr course by the state. I attended Climers and they have everything set up perfectly to get you going. My thoughts were that I’d take the class and then take my time with getting to the next steps. Within the first week, I had my fingerprints, met potential brokers, and had most of what I needed to submit to the state for my license. I don’t know if I overtly decided but since things were moving along, I just kept going. After the two weeks in class and passing the class test I registered for the state-administered licensing test for the earliest available. I am thankful for all I was given at Climers and attribute it to me passing the first time taking it. I started with my first broker within a couple of weeks and began learning.
Education is very important to me and learning one of my strengths. I was a sponge and began trying all the different activities done by agents in the business. The business did come, but like at the beginning of all things, I was still finding my way. After some time, I thought I might get more from a smaller environment. In a smaller pond, I might get more attention. I did find that in a different broker. It also helped being closer to home and where I can spend more time in the office. Being in my second going on the third year, I felt it was important I learn the next level of the business that was going to help me sustain a long-term career. I learned a lot in this new broker, developed my brand, defined my industry niche, set yearly education goals and I enjoyed working directly with a coach that could help me to talk over and develop my business as I go. I recently made one more switch to my current broker Preferred Real Estate Brokers. I have some great talent surrounding me and they have begun to teach me how to do the business my way. My next education goal is a broker’s license while I continue to serve my clients who trust me to the best of my ability.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not smooth. In the beginning, it can be nuts. The sky truly is the limit on possibilities for and ways to find success in this business. That can also become a crisis of choice which can lead to analysis paralysis. You don’t know what you need, you don’t know what works for you. You have to just try and you have to lose money doing it. It is wild because there will be plenty around that can say, “Come work with me, I have the answers” or “Buy my product, it is the answer”, when you yourself don’t even know if those answers will be the right answers for you. I think this is why we see high numbers of people failing in the first few years of the business.
I spent a long career being the salesperson and frontline for someone else. They handled the inner workings of the business, spent the marketing money, and provided the inventory for people to choose. It is a different thing to do all of it for yourself. My biggest challenges lie here as they were not the skills I obtained throughout my earlier career. I am understanding they are some of the most important. What good is my industry expertise, exceptional customer service, and care after the sale if I have no clients? I am currently working on keeping up my exposure, prospecting, servicing clients, and providing information that is helpful to others.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in new construction and relocation clients. Currently, I am working to provide information to those that are looking to enter our community. I visit various new construction opportunities to do full video profiles on model homes. I share some of the lifestyles of central Florida as I explore it with my family. I am looking to add in more with a great bar and restaurant opportunities. I share tips and information on the market to keep folks up to date with what’s important to them when it comes to buying or selling their home. I can’t say I am really known for anything just yet. I developed the Baroulette Collection in 2018. I would say this is where I focused myself on some tenets that would help me provide every client with a specific standard of care. This is where I look to set myself apart.
It is important to have the expertise and provide that to the client, however it is important to spend more time listening and digging deep to the client’s motives. Feedback is essential to help find the right home faster. Knowing your seller’s true motives and goals allows you to align with the best and, through your expertise, get them accomplished as fast as possible. I truly do get my sense of success and accomplishment from the completion and satisfaction of the client. I am most proud of my various accomplishments throughout my time in the business. I’ve kept to my education goals every year and earned some significant certifications. Last year, even through the beginning of the pandemic, was my best year yet. Over $4million in sales with 14 transactions completed felt like a real accomplishment from how things started. I have the confidence of experience now behind my passion and desire to be the best Realtor I can be. Ask about me next year and it will be the best broker associate I can be.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I think the biggest lesson learned for many was adaptability. Having been taught most of the old-school ways to reach people that involved a lot of face-to-face, I was caught a bit off guard. However, I hunkered down and focused on clients and my education. I started to look at new, non-traditional ways to reach people. It opened my eyes to different platforms on social media and developing content that could be consumed at someone’s leisure. It helped me develop a leg of my foundation, if you will. I always enjoyed the part of the business that involved me sharing my knowledge and expertise with others. This time gave me the opportunity to lean into that and learn how I could do more.
Contact Info:
- Email: chrisb4realty@gmail.com
- Website: www.jointhecollection.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theBarouletteCollection/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theBarouletteCollection
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ajwACvBD4ecwo1B6WoYRw
