The Hands-Down, Undisputed, Heavy-Weight Champion of Testimonials

By Gregg Cohen, CEO

            So, every once in a while something happens in our business that just makes me sit back and smile.  For example, the first time we bought and sold an investment property, there was a smile on my face for days that you couldn’t wipe off because my business partners and I finally did it when the rest of the world told us it wasn’t possible.  Then, as we won the award for #3 Fastest Growing Company in 2011, our entire team was all smiles for a while as we were able to celebrate our success as a team.              Just this past week, we had another moment just like that when two of our newest clients, Bea & Bill Harris, sent an email to our team after their visit to the office on Nov 12.  It was instantly dubbed as the best testimonial we’ve ever received.  So I wanted to share it with you, word-for-word, with no edits.

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From: Bea Harris

Hi Everybody, (Please be sure this gets to EVERYBODY in the company).    

When I first heard of JWB at the Equity Trust Seminar in New Orleans I had absolutely no interest in buying any kind of rental properties. I listened to your presentation that Saturday morning because you afforded me a place to sit down and enjoy my coffee and muffin. I hate standing and trying to balance everything. Later that day I talked to somebody in a red shirt and let him know that I had absolutely no interest in buying any kind of rental properties. However, I took his literature because he was such a nice young man. I moved from session to session and booth to booth not knowing exactly what I wanted, but definitely knowing I had absolutely no interest in buying any kind of rental properties. Do you see a pattern here?

Then I came home and started sorting through all the literature I brought with me. And, of course, I read the info on JWB. And I started to get the idea that it might be a good company to fund deals through. I don’t know who called who first, but one day I was talking to one person and the next day, somebody else. And what I found was that everyone seemed very nice and accessible. Not pushy. Not condescending. Just nice and informative. And I got more and more comfortable. And I found that if someone said they would call me at 6:00 or 8:30, they didn’t mean 6:05 or 8:35. The call would come at the exact time it should have even when I wasn’t there to accept the call. Hhhhmmm. I liked this company. I liked the little things I’d forgotten to expect from companies, like dignity and respect for my time. And I found it very easy to explain to Bill that I thought we should fund a deal and get involved with a company that operated this way.

And after we did, I was talking to Adam one day when he said that was how his Mother started and that now she was buying houses for cash flow. And I said I didn’t understand that because my thinking was that we would make more money funding deals. But Adam explained more to me and the numbers started to make more sense to me. And the next thing I knew, I was explaining to Bill why I thought we

should buy some investment property from JWB. And once I told you that we would like to purchase property, you offered us a chance to come down and get to know you! I can’t say I saw that coming!

That’s when the first female voice came on line. Lauren took no time at all to compile lists of places where we might like to stay, what we might like to do, flight times, car rental info, directions. Everything I do to plan a trip was completely taken care of. How much easier could this trip be? We packed our bags and made sure to pack cold weather inside our suitcases as our token gift to you Southerners and headed to the sunny beach. And everything was “travel agent” perfect. We truly appreciated all your input and all JWB’s cash output to make this trip so enjoyable.

And all these things lead up to why we decided to purchase three properties from you. The new properties are finished very nice. The older properties are rehabbed to a wonderful standard. They appear to be what is needed in those areas of town. But I don’t think that’s what the impetus to buy springs from. It springs from all the little things that you did to get us to that place in our mind. The extra attention you paid to our background, our comfort, our questions. The time you spent with us when you didn’t push. You just let it all develop at our pace which made us feel comfortable with our decision. Thank you all for your direction and support.

A little story about how I was with our children as they were growing up. And since you’re all about our children’s age, it even seems more apropos. We had three babies within 32 months so I was crazy busy and probably just plain crazy most of the time. And it seemed that no matter what they would ask, my first answer was always NO. Can I get out of bed? No. Can I stay up late? No. Can I play outside in the middle of the street and hit my sister over the head with a???? No. No. No!!! And one day our son said to me — Mom. Before you say No, would you please take the time to listen to the WHOLE question. And it made me understand way back then that I always start my thought process with No. That’s the way I was with them and that’s the way I was with JWB.  Do you see how that pattern got started long before I met you? But do you see how when you ask the right questions and tell me the WHOLE story, I can change my mind. I’m glad I listened to your whole story and I’m glad I changed my mind.

Looking forward to a very positive relationship.

Bill and Bea Harris

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As soon as I read this email, the first thing I did was forward it to my mom and say this:

“Mom…this is why we started this company”

Thank you so much to Bea & Bill Harris for taking the extra time to write down these thoughts.  I can’t tell you the positive effect it has had on our team!

Our Wall of Testimonials is Filling Up Fast!

Gregg Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer of JWB Real Estate Capital. JWB serves clients in 10 countries and 32 states who have invested in over 700 investment properties since 2006. In 2012, JWB was recognized as the #12 Fastest Growing Real Estate Company in the US by Inc. Magazine. To learn more about our team and our investments, please call (904) 677-6777.