This is the story of how a 30 minute introductory meeting at a coffee shop turned into a four hour brainstorming session, that eventually turned into a shared vision of “Doing Real Estate Better!”. Neither person knew this moment would become the catalyst that would transform an already successful Travelers Rest based Real Estate business into Ladston Premier Properties!
Here’s to new beginnings and the many ways they form in both our personal and our professional lives.
The story continues as two established local business professionals who realized that their specific in-the-now skill sets and their mutual big picture for-the-future ideals could merge seamlessly into a business that serves the entire Upstate of South Carolina and, eventually, beyond. It’s also the story of how Carolina Moon transitioned into Ladston Premier Properties.
“We’re just better together than we are apart,” Kevin Jones shares. His business partner Mandy Chapman-Crain, is nodding her head in agreement. “Yes – and the real winners in that partnership are our customers, clients and agents,” she says.
We joke about conducting this entire interview in assumed accents but land on just being our actual selves through and through. (Although, it’s worth asking Mandy about her best Southern voice. She may or may not even have a name for the character. But you didn’t hear that from me!)
At that lengthy coffee meeting both Mandy and Kevin realized that their strengths in business dovetailed perfectly and that their goals for providing a different way to manage real estate were a mutual dream. More than that, they realized that both of their thoughts about how to create that different model were similar and that working together would help them both reach that goal more quickly and efficiently.
And now we can all be introduced to Ladston Properties – this is its birth story.
“We have spent many months, nearly a year, creating systems and checking systems and forming the structure to begin this,” Kevin shares. A large part of creating that win for their customers and clients, is through the conduit of the agents Ladston Properties attracts. Both Mandy and Kevin discuss how creating simple, seamless solutions empower their agents to work less hours and enjoy more quality personal time, all while making a higher net income. It is evident that their combined goals have enabled Ladston Premier Properties to elevate the company’s brand without sacrificing their personal values of more family time, better working environment, and clearer streamlined systems and processes to better serve their agents.
“While Mandy has been collecting these ideas and writing them down in a notebook – pages and pages filled,” Kevin says with admiration for Mandy’s well thought out plans and visions. “She has been honing these processes for the entire length of her 20 year real estate career.”
“Kevin’s real estate path was different than mine,” Mandy adds. “He began selling real estate 35 years ago during his senior year in college for a national real estate company in Charleston, SC. It was evident early on that Kevin loved new construction and began focusing his sights in that aspect of real estate.”
“I love the smell of sawdust and fresh turned dirt!” Kevin chuckles. This love has allowed Jones to go from on-site sales, to serving in executive leadership roles in the national homebuilding industry, to leading the Cliffs Communities to its most successful real estate launch in history, brokering and managing over $500M in real estate sales across the Carolinas.
“We’ve taken those countless pages and have automated them digitally. And now our agents have access to all of them, along with over 14,000 branded marketing templates to better serve their clients and customers,” Kevin explains. Not only does their website contain this wealth of information, Ladston Premier Properties provides each agent with their own individual business MLS website, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, and digital back office solutions that manage each transaction from contract to closing from the convenience of their phone.
Did I mention their custom, digital business cards? These “Ladston Digital Solutions” allow the individual agent a user-friendly web-based digital platform that makes the connection for their agents and clients to experience greater transparency and better communication … all while doing some of the heavy lifting for them.
Mandy works not only as a leader and franchise owner in Ladston Premier Properties, but also still as their Broker in Charge. She still loves the game, you can tell. “It would be hard for me to ever really leave this field,” she shares. “It’s what got me to the dance – and these people are what got me here. Staying in the industry keeps me relevant as a Broker in Charge. I’m not a competing broker. I’m not generating leads,” she says. Instead, Mandy assigns all company leads to her agents. “I love helping our agents!” says the former elementary school teacher. “I do want to stay in the marketplace enough that I can relate and not forget how it feels to stay on the front lines.”
Ladston Premier Properties is growing fast! While Mandy is leading the charge at the front office located on 101 Center Street in TR, Kevin is leading the team in providing their agents with all the tools that the “big companies” have, while preparing for larger growth across the state and beyond.
Their name – Ladston Premier Properties – is a combined effort with some personal meaning for both Kevin and Mandy. “It is our responsibility to create a magnet that is large enough to pull people together for the good of a common goal,” Kevin continues, “while never forgetting to keep our eyes focused on true north. We empower our team to challenge the status quo, and work smarter.” Kevin says. “For centuries the mineral found in lodestone was used in compasses to point to magnetic north. We seek true north.” And that steady structure and security is what Ladston Premier Properties provides each of their clients, customers, agents, and partners.
In the conversation we have together, Kevin and Mandy banter back and forth, joyful to share their ideas and eager to let the other person shine while they speak. Kevin often has the big BIG picture in mind. “It’s hard to stay inside a box for me,” he grins. Mandy is agreeing but Kevin quickly adds, “What Mandy reminds me is that these big ideas happen one agent at a time and that’s the truth. It’s a discipline to do that.”
Ladston Premier Properties works throughout both the Carolinas, but is laser focused on the Upstate SC market. When the timing is right, Kevin and Mandy are confident they’ll have a significant impact on the real estate market in both states.
“Ladston Premier Properties offers a place where their agents have all the tools the big boys and girls have. They have streamlined their processes. They’re not answering the same question page after page on different forms, and everything can be done digitally – from contract to signature and more,” Mandy offers. “That’s what agents deserve.”
“Agents deserve transparency and no confusion regarding how they are paid.” Mandy and Kevin talk about the confusion many organizations create in their commission processes. “Our agents deserve to know where their money is going,” Mandy continues. “We provide them with the support they need to succeed. Everyone deserves an environment where they are heard and valued and they have the opportunity to thrive.”
It’s a tangible enthusiasm at the table.
“The goal is simple,” Mandy adds. “We want our agents to value their family before they value their job. So, we have created a series of ‘Ladston Digital Solutions’ to allow our team the ability to make the same money – or more – and still have the most important time with their family. When we do that, well then – we sleep pretty well at night.“
I think what I liked best was the cheerleader mentality I was hearing. For the agents they have already partnered with. For the agents they will partner with in the future. For the mortgage companies they are working with. For the clients they have and will have. And – most beautifully, for one another as co-workers and teammates. Because from that sort of camaraderie and encouragement, truly good things will blossom.
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Story by Lacey Eibert Keigley
