Tiffany McQuaid has built the kind of real estate business that most agents want, and perhaps even claim, but few actually create: a business in which clients become advocates, referrals come in without asking, and the competition becomes largely irrelevant.
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As the founder of a Naples, Florida-based real estate agency and author of The IN-th degree: How to stand out by going all-inMcQuaid has spent years developing a repeatable approach to differentiation – one based less on flashy technology or bigger budgets and more on intentional experiences, strategic visibility and the kind of consistent follow-up that turns a single transaction into a decade-long relationship.
Recently she came to sit on the couch with us Unscripted podcast about real estate and shared the strategies she practices. They are not theoretical. They have been field tested in one of the most competitive luxury markets in the country. And most are available to any agent who wants to think differently about how they appear.
Skills shortages hide in good markets
Every real estate agent knows that the market has changed. Fewer people know the extent to which that shift exposed the difference between officers who were truly competent and those who simply operated in a forgiving environment.
McQuaid is direct on this point: “Always train and educate yourself to become sharper and more skilled – especially in today’s market.” She points to negotiation training – by Chris Voss work in particular – as underutilized by most agents, along with building robust resource packages.
The officers who adapt fastest to more stringent conditions are not necessarily the most experienced; they are the best prepared. It’s the deliberate development of skills, treated as non-negotiable like lead generation, that creates that edge.
Your competitors are telling you exactly where not to advertise
The busiest marketing channels in the real estate industry are usually not busy because they work best; they are busy because agents default to what is known. Real estate portals. Social media. MLS Adjacent Postings. The result is an expensive race for attention, in which differentiation is virtually impossible.
McQuaid took a different approach from the start. “Don’t just advertise in the real estate section,” she explains. “Go where the crowds are.” This means mapping where your target group actually spends their time (what they read, where they meet, what they do recreationally) and building visibility there.
Direct mail is not dead. It is simply wrong
The standard real estate card – portrait, market update, call to action – has trained recipients to ignore it when contacted. That is not an argument against direct mail. It’s an argument against general direct mail.
McQuaid’s approach is nothing like the industry standard. She sends an oversized, 11×17 foldable mailer titled “Key Figures You Need to Know” – with the White House and Pentagon listed first. The piece is designed to be kept, not thrown away. Due to its size, the rest of the mail is physically packed into the stack, guaranteeing that it is handled.
In a digitally saturated marketplace, tangible touchpoints carry disproportionate weight precisely because so few agents invest in getting them right. The bar that needs to be set is not high. You just have to think about whether a recipient wants to keep what you send.
Referral businesses are built on experiences, not transactions
Every agent says he is relationship driven. Far fewer companies have actually designed their business around what that means in practice. There’s a meaningful difference between an agent who closes deals professionally and someone who creates experiences that customers will live to tell.
McQuaid calls her “an enthusiastic fan business” – a purposeful framing that shifts the entire business model. Based on the principles of Disney’s approach to sensory environment design, she treats every customer touchpoint as a conscious choice: freshly baked cookies in the office, thoughtful details about the environment, consistent human warmth.
As one observer put it, “Make them feel at home in your space. Then they’ll want to invite you into their space to sell it.”
The agents who play the long game send gifts when they lose
Here’s a practice most agents would never consider: McQuaid sends a gift after an appointment for a listing she didn’t win.
“Join local businesses, such as a florist or bakery,” she explains. “Send a treat shortly after the appointment.”
The reasoning is strategic. Salespeople remember which agents behaved gracefully when there was nothing left to gain. Ads expire. Agents underperform. Circumstances change. The agent who has made a lasting impression without the company is often the first to call when the situation calls for it.
This is relationship justice – and it is built quietly over the years. McQuaid extends the same intentionality to energy and presence. “As you step into your role for the day, the enthusiasm and energy should be high,” she said.
The high performance agents are not the ones who muster positivity as a performance; they are the ones who really invest in the results for the people they work with. Customers notice the difference.
The through line
None of these strategies are secret. Most officers have encountered versions of all of them. What McQuaid’s approach makes clear is that knowledge is not the differentiating factor; consistent execution though.
The agents who build companies that survive market cycles aren’t the ones with the most tools or the largest teams. They’re the ones who do the unglamorous, relationship-building work repeatedly and without shortcuts – in both good and tough markets.
That consistency, more than any tactic, makes it impossible for a company to ignore.
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