Doesn't Top All-Around Sales Associate (TAASA) have a nice ring to it? Janice Miller, GRI, CRS, knows how it feels. She was just awarded TAASA at the 1998 ERA® International Business Conference held last week in Las Vegas.

How does it feel? "I'm on top of the world. It is such a high. It is the best I can be in this organization," said Miller, hours after receiving the award for the second consecutive year.

The TAASA award is the highest honor that ERA Franchise Systems, Inc. can bestow upon a sales associate. Miller swept eight categories of production and other objective criteria for the award, including listing units closed, listing sales dollar volume, total units closed, total sales dollar volume, selling units closed, selling sales dollar volume, home warranty production, and customer satisfaction. Although she did not achieve the top volume sold, her overall scores served to put her squarely in first place as the greatest overall producer.

Miller has been a featured speaker at ERA National Conventions for the last five years, as well as the National Association of Realtors Conference in 1995. She has been recognized as an ERA International Ambassador for both Thailand and France. She was also ERA's World Wide Sales Associate in 1996, and has been a top 10 producer out of more than 24,000 associates since 1992. When other agents ask how she did it, she has some advice to give. "New agents need to shadow a top-notch agent, and give their time free of charge. They will learn. That is the only way to learn this business."

An associate with ERA First Advantage Realty, Inc., Miller overcame some odds. She doesn't have some advantages many top-producing agents take for granted, such as big-city prices, celebrity clientele, exclusive communities to farm, or a relocation boom. But she does take full advantage of everything Newburgh, Ind. (near Evansville), has to offer in the way of building and maintaining business. "We are the typical Midwest. We don't have highs and lows, but we do have some great things happening. There is the riverboat, and Toyota is building a plant, There is AK steel. The area is pretty transient with about 30,000 in the county, mostly relocating families. Anyone moving out of Evansville will come to Newburgh," she explains.

With a relatively small number of families to farm, Miller commands the lion's share of the business. A 14-year real estate veteran, she is the number-one agent in her MLS area. "I give good service -- more than other people," she says. "It's the little things that make the difference. Recently, we had a family moving in. The wife was having a baby, and the husband was out of town. She didn't know anyone, so we were the ones who took her home from the hospital. Customer service can mean everything. I sign children up on all the ball teams. I take food to families on their moving day. If they are on vacation, we'll check their vacant houses and water the plants and feed the animals. The more you can do for them, the more it comes around."

Who's "we"? Miller maintains a small team comprised of a buyer's assistant, a closing coordinator, and a go-fer. Someone is always available to run errands, put up signs, take pictures, check houses, and attend to the thousands of other details it takes to produce a $27 million year. Miller's husband, Marc, pitches in, too. He is the broker/owner of ERA First Advantage Realty. But that's a story in itself. "Three years ago, our broker passed away, and we didn't know what to do," Miller says. "A large independent broker wanted to take us over, but I didn't want to leave ERA, so I bought the franchise. Sixteen agents came with me, and I hired a manager, a bookkeeper, and a coordinator in short order. In two years, we had 50 agents. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the support that I got from ERA. They knew my real estate business was on the line. ERA stepped up to the plate, and I incorporated in three days, came up with a company name, bought a franchise, and did it quickly. This year, we have done over $91 million in sales. One day I said, 'I can't be a sales associate and run the company too,' so my wonderful husband quit his job, and now he runs it."

But the mother of three doesn't just spend her time on business. She is also active in the community hospital and the economic development board of her city. "The most difficult part is balancing my life," she says. "I became a Realtor out of necessity, but the hours are grueling. My children are grown now. I feel guilty about them, but don't we all when we work? They say to me that they became better people for it. They have been all over the world. They learned to do laundry, learned to cook, and they don't feel they suffered. It doesn't get better than that." Free time is spent aboard her Kentucky Lake houseboat, where she jet skis with her family.

Miller is also seeing a change in how business is being done. Although only approximately 10 percent of her business is currently done via the Internet, she knows that will change as an increasing number of consumers search the 'Net for homes. Miller points out, "Those AK steel guys are all computer-literate. They get on the Internet and call me with listings they have found, and they want me to e-mail them more information. It has really sharpened my skills. Once, everyone wanted to get their hands on the MLS book, but today, they are getting better information than MLS ever thought about. We were the first in the area to go online. As soon as I go into the office, I check my e-mail. I really think the consumer is where MLS is going, but we are still three to five years away." Does that worry her? "When consumers can get everything they want online, we have to be careful. No one can feed their dog and cat by computer. You just have to provide more service. Then you'll always be needed."

Words to live by.

Published: March 17, 1998

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.