KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Building a Referral Pipeline with Early Connections and Client Relationships

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

Summary:Geri-Ann Trent shares her unique strategy for building a powerful referral-based business by connecting with young families and first-time homebuyers. She emphasizes the importance of providing value early, even before clients are ready to buy or sell, and using social media to maintain top-of-mind awareness. This episode provides actionable advice for real estate agents looking to create long-term relationships and a consistent pipeline of future business through genuine connection and thoughtful follow-up.

You're listening to Expansion, the podcast for EXP agents. Expand your skill. Expand your value. Here's your host, Glenn Sanford. Hey, everyone, Glenn Sanford here, founder of EXP Realty, and this is the expansion podcast where we talk about personal professional development here at EXP Realty, talking with top agents, icon agents, about what it was that they did and what they are doing to continue. to knock it out of the park in their business wherever they're at. So today I'm really excited to

talk to Jerry Allen Trent and you're a agent and I think a two-time icon with EXP out of Tennessee. Welcome. That's correct. Thank you for having me. Awesome. So, so Jerry Ann, so maybe you can share just a little bit about your background, how you got into real estate, and maybe even how you ended up joining EXP. I'll be happy to. I've shared previously, I come from a strong lineage of blue-collar workers. And when I graduated from high school,

I got married immediately. I had my first child at 20 and was a stay-at-home mom for many years. I was also a foster parent to many teenage girls and stayed very active in our church and in the community. And life events that was out of our control with my husband's health led me back into the workforce.

And I found myself in a medical support position making minimal wages. And due to just having lack of formal education. And my resume was just not very impressive. Although I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do with that season of life and I don't regret it, it just did not prepare me to be an income produced. serve for our family because I had fell on my husband's shoulders. So I entered the workforce and worked in the, as I said, medical support for about 10 years. And about five years into that, I began to realize and look around and think, you know, these people are making four and five

time my wages. And there's no opportunity for advancement for myself. So I went back to school. I got my degree. I was the first person in my family to have a formal education. and still yet, I still became the market, the employment market kind of rejected me. And I think there was a lot of reasons for that. The number one thing is that I was supposed to be a realtor. So after about five years, I completed that education and I went back to my workplace and I simply said, I'm done and I jumped into real estate feet first. At that point in my life, I have both of my children to where they could.

could support themselves and had their own opportunities to provide their insurance and things like that. So I was only taking a risk for myself and my husband at that point. But the very first day that I had my real estate license back and I had hung my license with a local brokerage, I got a home under contract day one, day one. Oh, wow. Congratulations. And from there, it just snowballed.

real estate has been life changing for me. And not only for me, but for my family, because it gives us the opportunity to see outside of you work for two weeks, you pay your bills, and you start over again. And in my history and with my family, that's how we had always lived. And so it's not that way any longer. And I'm so grateful to be part of EXP, but so grateful to be a realtor and just be able to serve this region as a buyers and sellers agent. Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that story and the, in the background and how you got into it.

One of the, one of the cool things, obviously, you're, you're demonstrating this, is that real estate is an industry that really, if you dedicate yourself to it and you figure it out, you're not, you don't have the glass ceilings that typically happen in a, in a typical sort of, you know, company style role. So if you're self-motivated, you're willing to get out there and put yourself in uncomfortable situations, have conversations.

But obviously, you got a deal under contract. The first day in the, it's pretty, pretty darn rare. I don't think I think that might be one of the first times I've ever heard that. Well, it was a blessing indeed. But also, what happened was weeks before it was time for me to be an active realtor, I started working within the small sphere of influence, the immediate people, and letting them know what I was doing. And one of the young ladies that I worked with said to me,

Jerry and I think my sister's looking for a house. And I had been friends with these people for 15 years. And I said, if she'll be just a couple of weeks, I promise no one will work harder for her than I will. And she did. And that indeed started my real estate career. Oh, very cool. Well, that's a great tip for those listening.

You have conversations before you actually get licensed, just to let people know that you're about to actually get into this business called real estate. So now, what was it that ultimately, you know, you started with a, was it a small boutique in your market? Yes, sir. That's correct. And what was your journey then to ultimately get to EXP? And why did you choose EXP over other brokerages?

I always say EXP chose me. But just because, yeah, I was with that brokerage for a period of approximately five years. And they taught me a lot. But as I grew, I felt as if I was not being. push forward. And, you know, the saying is, you know, pull away from what don't push you forward. And I knew that there was agents that were doing great volumes, not necessarily in our area, because I had already kind of achieved being one of the top producers in our area, but great volumes of real estate and production. But there was no more time in my day. There was nothing else to give.

So I started approaching my brokerage and asking for what I felt like with simple tools. to help me expand, and they just weren't there. So I gave them like three opportunities. I went to them about three different things, and it wasn't about a cap or a percentage. It was about just simple tools to help me grow, because you don't know what you don't know. And they loved the production I was doing,

as any broker-owned would, but the opportunity to advance and to scale was not there. So during that period of time, some of the local brokerages started approaching me to, you know, consider moving my license. But I was in fear. I was in fear of the success that I had would not follow me. And, you know, as Brent Gov says, you make a choice and you either live in fear or you take the plunge and you make the change. And I was directly called by someone that was working for a beta. XP. And we just, even though

EXP, it spoke to me previously, some people, this particular young lady, I had a connection with from the moment we spoke. And now that I made the change, it's, you know, we've developed a great relationship, but I'm now connected with people such as, you know, Don Yoka, Matthew Stewart, I follow Brent Gov regularly. And, you know, even reaching, going back to

the reason I came. Let me back up. The reason I came to EXP was to simply expand and grow. And in my opinion, you can't grow unless you get around people that have already done that. Unless you open your ears, you open your mind to the concepts and things that they've already put in place. And when I go on the phone, I go on Zoom calls with people such as Matthew and Dawn, actually Dawn, I was like, that's the guy.

He's got it. He's got it figured out. out. And I just began to absorb what they were telling me. And it took a year for me to make the transition because I was very fearful of losing what I had created, the work that I had done. But the moment that I made the change, I've never regretted it from one moment. Not one time have I regretted it. Awesome. Awesome. So the phrase that we hear so often around EXP, where the pros go to grow, that really resonates with you. it 100% resonates with me. That's correct. I feel like in any kind of industry,

everyone wants you to do well. And we say this kind of thing, but sometimes they don't want you to do better than them. You know, they want you to do good, but not better than them. And I began to evaluate where I was in my life. And I thought, you know, I don't want to be a small, a big fish and a small pond. I want to get out there and be around people that can help me grow to my max potential. And I couldn't do that where I was. So in East Tennessee, we are somewhat behind a lot of things that's going on in the real estate market, a lot of things in our nation, period. And that's not always a bad thing. But when you think about growth with an industry like real estate, it's nice to be connected with forward-thinking people as yourself. So that's why I'm here.

Awesome. So now you mentioned obviously some tools. and technology. Hopefully we've got some of that covered here. I'm a bit of a tech guy, so I'm pretty sure we've got a little bit of tech. But what is it that you do? Like, obviously, you've been successful even before you came to EXP and you were one of the top agency market. What are you doing to really kind of differentiate what you're doing and how is it that you ultimately we got the market share that you did and continue to grow in your local market. Well, I do use KVCOR, not to the, anywhere close to the level that I should, just because I need to back up and get people in place to support me and help me get that system

where it needs to be. Before I come to EXP, I simply had an Excel spreadsheet with all of my sphere and my past clients on it. I had no CRM of any kind. And so jumping from nothing to KV Core in itself was somewhat overwhelming to me. But the fact that I have not developed it and used it more than what I have, that's on me because I have a lot of production. I stay very busy with people. So that's the goal that I have right now is getting that KV Core to do a lot of the back end work for me instead of me having to physically do as much as what I do. But I definitely use KV Core and big on Facebook, communicating through Facebook and just getting myself out there and giving people

the opportunity to know me. I think it's very easy to find a realtor, but I think it's hard to find a realtor that will truly invest their time in you and what's best for you. And that's how I try to set myself apart. I try to be very relational with everyone. So, obviously, you're, you've connected with a lot of people in your local market. You've sort of built that sphere. And now you're starting to think about scaling your team a bit. You've got a transaction coordinator on your team. What's your goals? What's your plan? Is it to grow the team? Or is it maybe to focus more on the revenue share opportunities in the EXP? Where are you, where's your focus today? My focus today is to grow, but not necessarily within my team, to focus more,

on RevShare and to, you know, obviously sponsor other agents, but not necessarily grow a large team. My reason for that is just simply that I feel like the opportunity to create the long-term income into the later years of my life is as, if not more important at this season than it is to have a large team. And the girls that I have that work with me, they, I brought them into the team environment simply to handle basically clients that were getting put on the back burner because of the limit of my time. And I mean, there's just only so many hours in a day. So I would have people calling to go see homes and there was no availability in my schedule. So I would hand those off to the girls that work with me, the ladies that work with me. And they've been a great

job with that. But moving forward into 2025, I'm going to possibly kind of restructure that a little bit and focus more on bringing agents to EXP that are already experienced agents and that they see the value in the rev share opportunities and the opportunity to grow beyond what the traditional brick mortar offers them. Awesome. Well, basically in closing, maybe I'll just ask us one last question. And, you know, if you could give one piece of advice to an agent at EXP, what would that be? Within EXP or agents, period. Just agents period.

Just whatever, what is it that you think you've learned in the business so far that, you know, agents would benefit from hearing from you? I think to not let fear rule you. if I had my life to do over again and my career to do over again, I would have made the move to EXP prior and sooner than what I did. But I felt insecure and a lot of that insecurity was driven by people that was in my surroundings. And then now I have the support of people that have gone before me, that have paved the road for me to look beyond transaction to transaction. So don't live in fear.

You know, look at your own future. and do your homework. That would be my for any realtor, you know, don't live in fear. Don't let what other people's expectations of you limit how you feel about yourself. Awesome. That's great advice. And Gerey Ann, thank you so much for jumping on the podcast with me today.

And where can agents reach out to you or others reach out to you if they want to? Well, through work chat, if they're with EXP, you can find me there. And obviously, you know, just through Facebook, I'm on there. I have my professional account. You're always welcome to follow me on my personal Facebook. And just pick up the phone and call me. My information will be there. And I'll be happy to communicate with you and tell you the struggles that I've had with

EXP. You know, nothing is, nothing worth having is without some kind of struggle along the way. And there has been some. but it's nothing that's not. If you connect with the people, you pick up the phone, you call the broker, you get on live with through the world, and you find the answers. And there's always support staff there ready to help you. Awesome.

Well, good stuff. Thanks again, Gerrienne. And thanks everyone for listening to this episode of the expansion podcast. Have a great day. Thank you. Thank you.