Chris Austin has built a successful real estate team and is consistently recognized as a top REALTOR® in the Kansas and Missouri markets. His wife, Heather, is a key part of that success, serving as the firm’s director of operations.
But for Chris, success isn’t measured by what’s on his balance sheet. It’s measured by what he’s been able to provide for his family and the generations that follow.
Music to Real Estate
Growing up, Chris saw his mom, a single parent, “work like crazy,” so her son would have the chance to go to college. Her strong work ethic, along with his own desire to be a great father someday, helped shape the direction of his life.
After college, he first aspired to have a career in music. He toured full time with a band for about two years, achieving some success. But he soon realized in order to be a present for his growing family, he needed to reconsider the lifestyle of a touring musician.
He decided to get his real estate license thinking he could sell homes to supplement his income.
It was not an easy transition, he admitted.
“The hardest part about my early years in real estate was I just had no idea where my business was going to come from,” he recalled. “I thought that you get your license and people call you like any job.”
The traditional methods of lead-generation, including cold calls and door knocking, forced another reckoning, he said.
“So it turns out I’m extremely relational. And it took maybe three rejections when I was cold calling and all that before I was in the corner crying,” he wryly noted. “It’s like ‘Everybody hates me.’”
The Next Step: Buffini Coaching
Fortunately, his next move was to sign with a real estate team where he was introduced to Buffini coaching. There he saw that his ability to build relationships could become a systematic way to build a real estate business.
The results were dramatic. He went from four transactions over two years to 30 homes in his first year using the system. More importantly, he realized he could build a successful real estate career by tapping into his natural strengths and assets.
“The thing that clicked for me about the Buffini methods was that it was a systematic way of nurturing relationships,” he said. “I was already good at having relationships. I was already good at deepening relationships. I came out of the church world and so I could build relationships quickly. But the Buffini system taught me how to how to nurture those relationships to create a business.”
Chris eventually decided it made sense to start his own team. Having Heather join to focus on the administrative side was significant, he said.
“My wife joining allowed me to have somebody focusing on all the systems and processes, detail-oriented stuff. That allowed me to do the thing that I was best at, which was build more relationships,” he explained. “And so that first year with that team that we had developed, we actually doubled our units and our volume just because I was able to be in two places at once building those relationships. Our business skyrocketed at that point.”
Switching to Leadership Coaching
Chris felt he had received a strong background in how to create a work-by-referral business using the Buffini systems, but wanted to take his business to the next level. So once he started his own team, he signed up for One2One Coaching and then ultimately, Leadership Coaching.
“The difference of One2One coaching and Leadership Coaching for us really comes down to the ability to better coach our team to better lead our team,” he said. “With Leadership, we not only get that same stuff, but our team also gets to experience this coaching as well. It’s a huge value add.”
Access to other leaders
For Chris, the Buffini community is one of the major benefits of being in coaching, particularly at the Leadership level. Those relationships give him a place to learn from people who are dealing with many of the same challenges and opportunities.
“I love the Buffini community. One of the best perks of being in coaching, especially Leadership Coaching, has been access to these great leaders, these great team leaders and REALTORS that have built these amazing businesses all over the US.”
Chris’ Good Life
For Chris, The Good Life has evolved beyond simply building a successful real estate business. It means having the freedom to spend time with his wife and family while building something that can continue to create an impact beyond his own involvement.
“My kids will never know the same life that I knew growing up. They’re going to have options for the rest of their lives. Their kids are going to have options for the rest of their lives, all because of the system that we’ve been able to build that they could step into if they wanted to,” Chris said. “Plus, where I think we’ve been able to teach them the legacy of hard work, systematic hard work and what that looks like.
“We are just so thankful for the systems and processes that we’ve learned through the Buffini, learning how to not only deepen the relationships that we have, but in the way where it has allowed us to live this big life and literally change our ‘family tree’. It means the world to us.”
