Learning to Say ‘Yes’
As he works to grow his two-year-old brokerage, Casey Sutherland, 29, is test-driving a new persona. Where he used to see roadblocks, Sutherland now sees opportunity. Whether it’s a request to rent out and manage investment properties or a plea from a homeowner who needs to sell in less than two weeks, he now has a standard reply: “Yes, of course!” “When we sell clients’ homes, we become their concierge and help with staging, renovations, designing, landscaping, marketing, moral support, and here’s a new one: picking up dog poo.” While his niche isn’t cleaning up after dogs before an open house, it is in finding ways to service all his clients’ needs. By saying yes to what he calls “plausible requests,” Casey says he has acquired a more positive outlook on life and business. Of course, commission checks help, too. The house with the dog poo? It sold for $1.3 million.