Smarter Strategic Savvy Women
It is not often you meet a person and you realise within a few minutes, that this person is It is not often you meet a person and you realise within a few minutes, that this person is smart, knows who they are, is a woman on a mission and is fun to be around.
Regina Mangan, the guest on this podcast, runs Liberty Blue Estate Agency business based in Waterford Ireland.? We met in April when we were both asked to judge the Excellence in Online Business and Digital Marketing Award by Deirdre O'Flynn Development Officer of Wexford Chamber of Commerce. We just clicked.
Your Values Are Your North Star
Regina has developed her business acumen over the years through ups and downs and credits her success to resilience and to motoring through the tough times. Her north star is her values. She tells me that her team spent a long time thinking about what their mission would be and they came up with a message that is everywhere in the office and on everything. It is on the walls, in their literature and in their conversations. Simply to do the right thing.
"It is the backbone of our businesses, our values, that we always do the right thing. Now the right thing isn't always the most commercial thing to do. We take pride in what we do. So it's a very clear compass for how we do business....to bring happiness to our customers our staff and our community".
Resilience
I ask Regina in the podcast what the secret to her success is. Is it her sheer determination or willingness to change continuously? She tells me probably it is the fact that she is very resilient. Also she adds, "I probably describe myself looking back on my younger self and say I'm brave. I really didn't mind or don't mind being different and standing out." Brave and fearless is her marketing strategy.
I think blending in is boring.
"That's always been my mindset around marketing. You know, I remember entering for an awards one time for Liberty Blue when we first set up. I said to the marketing company, 'have you submitted a hard copy of the marketing material that's been designed? No, because they did not ask for it.' I said 'Fantastic no one else can think about think of it. So we're going to hand deliver it to the judges headquarters.' It's just that little bit extra, right. I think it's so important."
Marginal Incremental Innovation Works
Regina is a great believer in innovation but not necessarily always the big things.? "It's all about marginal gain improvements." That and rooting out wasteful practices in business. Some of the new practices she has brought in are online bidding for farmers who may want to bid online and not in a room with others. Using QR codes on signage is another. She also uses additional Irish Language on signage too which she says people appreciate.
Letting People Off The Bus
When Regina first used this phrase I wasn't quite sure what she meant but it is a terrific philosophy and one that you need to be brave and confident to implement. She tells me in the podcast, that she believes that "Our energy is everything. I know this because in the past, I have been subservient to clients that have been outrageous in their behavior. For me, my biggest lesson in life is that life is not a dress rehearsal, we have one shot at it.
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Our mantra is were not for everyone and there is great peace in that.
If you are dealing with anybody who is toxic or aggressive in their behaviour, you just need to get rid of them, whoever they are and that includes clients. So we just don't have clients like that anymore. It's funny when you have really good clients, it's like the law of attraction, you get more good clients and you know what good looks like. Like Maria said to me, this lady was on the phone there the other day looking for a valuation. She behaved quite aggressively on the phone when she asked her a couple of questions. I said to Maria they are her issues, they're not yours, what's wrong? And she said, 'Well, she mentioned your name'. And I said, that doesn't mean anything. It's very simple. Our mantra is were not for everyone and there is great peace in that."
Sustainability
Her office has now gone mostly paperles. They learned a lot during covid and now do so much more remotely.
"Our carbon footprint is probably the thing that we're most conscious of. So when we're carbon conscious, you're gaining so many benefits from that. More zoom meetings, more working hybrid from home, thinking do I need to travel all the way into Waterford for an hour each way, can I work from home? Yes, I can. Can we do the meeting on Zoom? Can we make sure we do all the viewings back to back, so we're not going in three and four times."
They do virtual inspections once a year too. "We have an app and we walk through the tenant online and we check everything and we get photos."
Her Pearls of Wisdom are terrific and worth a listen too.
Check out the podcast here