ADVANCED ACCESS Completes Tradeshow Schedule At This Year’s Triple Play ‘2006

The ADVANCED ACCESS Outside Sales Team completed the 2006 portion of the Convention & Tradeshow season by participating at this year’s Triple Play 2006 Convention & Trade Show, which was held at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, December 5^th – 8^th, earlier this month!  The event is held annually and sponsored by the State REALTOR^® Associations of New York State, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.  The event represents over 151,237 real estate professionals from those three states, and allows for both educational and informative programs to be held over a three-day period.

Approximately 500 exhibitors participated in the 2006 event, and early figures indicated that between 7,500 and 8,000 attendees pre-registered for the event, with a reported attendance of approximately 12,000 participants.  Figures were higher than a year earlier in 2005, when a reported 11,000 attendees participated in the annual event.

ADVANCED ACCESS currently holds Affinity Marketing Agreements and offers substantial membership discounts with both New York State and Pennsylvania, and hopes to finalize one with New Jersey in 2007!

Featured Client of the Month – Pat Haddad

HISTORY & HER START IN THE INDUSTRY

Pat Haddad, (www.pathaddad.com; www.carmelhomes4sale.com) was born in Columbus, Ohio, and was pretty much raised in the “Buckeye State.”  She moved to the neighboring state of Indiana, where she has remained a resident for the last twenty-years.  Pat attended The Ohio State University for three years, and soon afterward graduated from Capital University majoring in early child development/child psychology.  For the next year she continued her education in a 1-year internship with no pay, and completed studies earning her certification as a Montessori instructor. 

She is the middle of three children, having an older and younger brother.  Neither of her parents graduated from high school, but her father did work for over 35-years on the railroad.  Pat recalled, “…my parents were good, honest, and hard-working, and made sure that they did everything within their power to provide the opportunities to their children that they never quite were able to achieve.”

After getting married, Pat worked and went to school full-time, and was able to distinguish herself by making the Dean’s List, as well as raising two children.  Her marriage ended and later on she re-married her current husband, William, and moved to Indiana.  Together, Pat and William “blended” eight children from two different families, which included one son that she had with William.  They settled in the community of Noblesville, Indiana, and the children’s ages ranged from baby Max to the oldest of 16-years.

The family opened a new restaurant after the birth of their first child, and soon the business was doing very well.  It was a small successful business, and also at her husband’s encouraging, she decided to earn her real estate license in 1993.  “It was at this time that one of my children became ill, and with all my parental responsibilities and duties, I decided at the time that I had made a mistake getting into real estate, and that quite simply real estate was not for me.”

Moving forward to the year 2000, Pat and her family still owned and operated two restaurants, as well as a few additional franchises.  The dining industry in the region had started to drastically change for the worse – smaller family-owned restaurants and eateries being overtaken by larger, corporate entities.  Seeing the inevitable, Pat decided to re-enter the real estate industry, and studied to re-take her real estate exam.  She recalled, “…this is really relevant to my experience with ADVANCED ACCESS and how I eventually became a client of theirs.  When I first got into the business the second time around, I was named one of the top Rookies of the Year.  I worked very, very hard in the industry, and during my first full-year back completed 12-transactions, held 34 open houses, and completing all my hard work sold a little more than one-and-a-half million dollars.  I earned about $22,000 before expenses, and for the most part, I was very pleased with my return to the industry,” she recalled.

Pat continued, “…but I felt I could do much better, and so for me, it became a real commitment to find out what I needed to do to improve my real estate perspective.  I remember that I decided that I was willing to do whatever it took to work even harder, and it was that year, that I purchased my first Website.  I always knew that ultimately, my business was going to evolve from the Internet and of course, my Internet presence.  I purchased my first Website from the husband of a friend, who’s husband did this as a hobby, and or course, it brought me no business whatsoever, not one single, solid lead!”

“…It was at about this time that I went to a real estate seminar about Website design and hosting, and was able to hear a presentation about ADVANCED ACCESS.  The basic message was that if you don’t have a Website you need to get one immediately, and also that ADVANCED ACCESS was a good company that had an excellent track record of customer service!  About 300 people attended the session, and only about five of us actually approached ADVANCED ACCESS to sign-up for a Website!  My peers all thought I was crazy, because I already had a site, and asked why would anyone want two different Websites?”

According to Haddad, the real work had begun!  “…I spent the next year working on my ADVANCED ACCESS Website, and I did everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, they told me to do!  My husband used to kid me about not wanting to leave the computer, not showing any homes or conducting any open-houses, and jokingly, not even taking a break long enough to shower!  But all the work paid off!  The next year I did $1.5 million in sales, but amazingly, the following year recorded $8-million in total sales, and had a hugely successful year.  Of course, I had been in the business for about three-years, and some of my referrals were starting to bring me some additional clients, but it was beyond a doubt, my ADVANCED ACCESS Website that was helping me along to develop a stronger and more effective Internet presence!”

Pat recalled, “…my real estate business grew an additional 30% the fourth year, and has averaged the same ever since.  I have been recognized as the fifth-best agent in the entire state of Indiana for RE/MAX, and my former RE/MAX office was one of the largest in the entire country.  More recently, I have moved to a new company (Keller-Williams_®) and I am just thrilled to start a new chapter in my real estate career, and the nice thing about it, is that with just a few changes, my ADVANCED ACCESS Website was immediately working for my new company!”

 I now have two licensed assistants, two of my children who are in college help me with adding additional copy and text to my Website, and after the current holidays I plan to add two more employees to my office!  ADVANCED ACCESS has literally changed my life!”

HER IMPRESSION AND REFLECTIONS ON THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY

“Obviously, the Internet is controlling so much of our everyday life and many of the industries that we rely on for a normal lifestyle.  I remember that two-years ago, a colleague told me that e-mail was just a fad.  Old and tired thinking like that from agents who are not willing to evolve with technology, are already having a rough time competing.  The younger agents who are taking over get it, and are prepared to service their clients in a number of different ways,” stated Haddad.  She continued, “…they see that over 77% of all new buyers start their home search on the Internet, and don’t really continue to advertise in the standard print medians as before.  I tell my clients that I can get them results, but you have to remember that many of my clients don’t even have computers.  They are not interested in many of the new-age ways to list and show their homes – only that they get the results and satisfaction that an agent like me can ultimately provide to them.  I tell my clients that I can get the results they want, and they trust me to take complete control of the real estate process.

Pat finishes, “…They don’t work with real estate companies…they work with agents!”

HER OFFICE’S MARKET – The Greater Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville, Geist & Zionsville, Indiana, and Surrounding Ten Counties

Pat and her Haddad Group Team – Keller Williams_® Realty representing Central Indiana which includes the communities of Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville, Geist & Zionsville, Indiana, and Surrounding Ten Counties

PAT HADDAD TELLS WHY ADVANCED ACCESS?

Pat states, “…ADVANCED ACCESS has proven themselves, and I believe in the old saying that the proof is in the pudding.  I get results, and ADVANCED ACCESS encourages current clients to refer them to other REALTORS^®.  I have always been very reluctant to do that with other products, but for this particular area and company, I feel very comfortable doing so!  ADVANCED ACCESS has proven themselves time and time again.  I see other REALTORS^® across the country and what they are doing to nurture their business.  Many of them are frustrated, because they put time and money into something or a product that is simply not working out the way they want.  With ADVANCED ACCESS, it just happens, and that is what makes me faithful to the company, their management team, and of course, their wonderful customer support staff.  The young man who works on my site on the Website Search Engine Optimization team is like my son, and I often call him my “guardian angel.” 

NEW PROJECT FOR THE FUTURE

“…I have researched the entire area of blogging, and in a way I blame ADVANCED ACCESS for not having the time to implement it.  Because of the success of my Website, I simply don’t have the time to do anything new – but that is a good thing.  The new staff that I will be adding early this new year will allow me to definitely delegate and move onto some of these new areas that I can pursue to promote my business in the community and even more on the Internet.  I am also looking to add some more traditional things that agents have historically done in the past, more contact with all my past clients, even more follow-up with those satisfied home sellers and buyers that I have had the honor of serving, and asking them for even more referrals, “Pat added.

THE FINAL WORD

Pat concluded her comments about ADVANCED ACCESS by stating, “…my Website has brought me not only success within the business community, but I am also well-known by all the REALTORS^® here in the city.  People I meet, people I’ve never met, but they already know who I am and what I do.  That brings a degree of success, which makes it much easier to do the kind of business that I do.  And it also earns me respect from my peers within the real estate industry.  With ADVANCED ACCESS, I feel I got in on the ground floor, and they always take care of me and are there for me when I need them the most.  For that, I will always be grateful!”

Featured Employee of the Month - Chris Eddings

Chris Eddings is a rising star at Advanced Access.  Recently promoted to the Event Coordinator Assistant Manager position, he is an integral part of our organization.  Chris joined ADVANCED ACCESS as a member of our Outside Sales support team assisting our sales team with their marketing and events.

Chris was born and raised in Modesto, California.  He calls it a "boring city" but loves the fact that George Lucas was born there and filmed "American Graffiti" in his hometown.  He grew up with his 2 sisters; Nikki, and Steph.  After graduation from Johansen High School (where he was a tennis star), he went on to get his AA from Modesto Junior College, then transferred to UCLA in 2003 and got his BA in English in 2005.

While attending UCLA, Chris worked for “The UCLA Fund;” a call center where he contacted alumni and encouraged donations for various University departments, scholarships, and projects.  Although he was one of the top earning callers he wanted a change of scenery outside of a call center and came to work for us here at ADVANCED ACCESS.  Chris says he enjoys the fast-paced environment of his job and the variety of projects that come his way keep things new and interesting.

In his spare time, Chris spends time with his long-time girlfriend, Heather, who is finishing her last year of dental hygiene school.  He is a car enthusiast and has owned seven cars already at his young age.  Corvettes are his passion, and one day he hopes to own a 1969 Corvette Stingray.