Jill Sasser has a truly unique way of meeting new clients.

“I meet clients at bars, new and existing,” Sasser said. “I have my iPads with me when I sit at a bar or at a table and craft contracts. Typically, someone will ask me what I’m doing, and I’ll tell them I’m a REALTOR®.”

As we all have a need for housing, Sasser typically steers the conversation to try and figure out what kind of houses a person likes. If someone is in the market to buy a house, she talks about what kind of houses her sellers have. 

“Sometimes, the people I meet that are in the market either can’t find anything, can’t sell their house, or have an indifference with an agent; this happens to me as well,” said Sasser. “I advise people to stay with their agent, if not allow me the opportunity to win their business, and the rest is history.”   

Sasser has always been able to meet new people on a daily basis and strike up conversations with strangers, but she honed her ability to be engaging with various types of people when she was what she called a “smile and dial girl” with a telecommunications company.  

“I did cold calling for MCI, at 18” she recalled. “I had to be engaging on the phone, and really had to draw in my customers instantly.”

Drawing people in relatively quickly is something that has helped her tremendously as a REALTOR®. “Potential clients will decide within the first five minutes whether they want to work with you or not,” said Sasser. “Then, it becomes a joint relationship to not just find a house but to identify the best house for them and their lifestyle.”

Sasser grew up in Washington, in Seattle/Forks; Forks is on the outskirts of Seattle.  When she was 11 years old, her family moved to Arizona. A smart but shy kid, she knew she needed to be more engaging, so she took the opportunity of having a blank slate in Arizona to join the softball team and create a new identity for herself. The family moved again to Nebraska and then Sasser ultimately moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to go to college in 1995. She attended Dallas Baptist University and got a degree in business administration. After graduation, she attended Texas Woman’s University to get an executive MBA while she worked at Accor North America. 

“Growing up, I was a big nerd,” Sasser recalled. “I liked computer science and I read all the time. At MCI, I learned quickly to be ‘phone-social’, but then when I got into management, there were a lot more face-to-face meetings. I quickly discovered that my shyness kept me from being ‘people-social.’ So, I made myself go to work dinners and happy hours.”

While she became more successful at being ‘people-social,’ she also learned that working in a cubicle all day, every day wasn’t for her. Fortunately, Sasser had several family members who were successful entrepreneurs that she considered her mentors. After consulting with them, she decided to leave corporate America and took some time to figure out what to do next.

“I started a few LLCs, ones where it didn’t matter where you lived,” Sasser said. “One is a chocolate novelty company and the other one is a mobile notary business. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I had my hands in a lot of different things. Finally, my best friend asked me if I wanted to go into real estate. Being a REALTOR® offered the chance of making a good income, freedom of your time, and a flexible schedule. On top of that, my best friend ended up getting her license at the same time I got mine.”

Like many REALTORS®, Sasser says that at the heart of her real estate business are the relationships that she’s been able to build over the years. But while Sasser truly enjoys getting to know people and helping them with their needs, she focuses on quantifying what is realistic for them in their real estate search. 

“My background in management helps the engagement factor,” she said. “I’m always looking at the houses I’m trying to sell or the ones I’m searching for on my client’s behalf through their eyes.”

Sasser also tries her best to help her clients realize the best type of home for them, even when they think they want something different.

“One time, I went with a couple looking at houses,” she recalled. “They were all set to look at single-family homes, but then we got to talking about their needs and their wants. I helped them realize that a condo would be a much better match for their lifestyle. It’s all about putting people in the place where they need to be and matching personalities with the right home.”