Invite: Connections! in SW Florida - Featuring Diane Pisani from Your Home Watch Professionals

Good morning, Diane.

How are you? Terrific, Renee. Good morning.

We are in paradise right now. I look at what's going on around the world and I, time and time again, am so thankful and feel blessed that we happen to be down here in Southwest Florida during these crazy times.

Every single day, isn't it?

Absolutely. So I'm Renee Hahn and I am bringing you Connections in Southwest Florida. And the whole point of these connections sessions initially was just to be able to continue during, um, really unusual, unprecedented times to give our local residents, homeowners, visitors visibility to the great businesses and entrepreneurs that we have in the area. So I wanted to just start, Diane, by giving a little bit of an introduction. And before we hit the, the professional side, because let me tell you, audience, Diane is a legend. When I started in real estate, I heard about Diane before I even went on my first— really, she's a legend. But we'll hit that business stuff. Let me start, Diane. Tell everybody a little bit about you personally, if you don't mind.

Absolutely. And I can begin kind of with where you started, Renee, because I'm from Northern Indiana and I say about, about Southwest Florida and about Naples, you can't wipe the smile off my face. So I moved here from Northwest Indiana in 2003, never looked back. And to have the privilege to live and work in Southwest Florida is about as good as it gets. So I'm a customer service professional inside and out. And we'll talk a little bit more about the career path, but my family is still in the Crown Point area in Northern, in Indiana. So I go back and forth quite a bit. A good easy flight on Southwest, which is wonderful. But a number of years here and love, love serving our, love serving our seasonal residents because that's who I work for.

So true. And you know, it's funny because if you're not from areas where you might find a higher concentration of people that it's not their primary home, Some people have no idea that the services that you and others that you support, uh, provide. And so it's a completely new thing. Um, so Diane, tell us a little bit about the, the business. And I know you've got your feet in a couple different things, but let's kind of start in one place and talk about what it is you do professionally and how you help others.

Okay, awesome. Uh, again, customer service inside and out. And the— actually, uh, your career in real estate— mine are totally always intertwined. And it was the real estate professional that I rented from when I moved to Naples that said, no, Diane, you would make a great home watch and concierge person. I said, okay, I only had a concierge at a hotel, and what in the world is home watch? I had no idea, no idea. But she, she was, she was awesome. And I looked up home watch and I ended up working for a gentleman who had a home watch company in Naples. And this was when real estate was right before the downfall, but when it was really, really good and worked for him, got my initial training there, went to work for her. And then in 2006, I opened up my first home watch company with a business partner.

That's fantastic. And what about, you know, I always like to give a little bit of the inspiration because it's not as though we wake up one day and we decide, you know what, today I want to do— even, even when we see the need, there's something inside of us that says, you know, not only is there a need, but I've got something to offer here. Tell us a little bit about that insight.

Well, learning with Home Watch, we, we take care of the homes of the seasonal residents when they're in their, their northern homes or their primary homes, because things can, will, and do happen if a home is not checked on a regular basis. There could be damage, and our job is to find the early signs of damage before they become a disaster. So my Home Watch company with my business partner Bob grew very, very rapidly, and it's because of our real estate friends, because you care about your you're seasonal homeowners and you know that they need our services. So it's just totally a match made in heaven. And that's how our business grew from our real estate partners. And after a couple of years in the business, however, you start hearing stories about homeowners that would call to get a new Home Watch professional. And I say, well, how come you're looking for a new one? It's like, well, Diane, you're not gonna believe this. And I'll tell you, Renee, when somebody says you're not gonna believe this, my Home Watch brain says, Yes, I'll believe this. No, I've never seen it all. And the stories would often go something like, well, I came back to my condo and the sign-in sheet, the paper sign-in sheet was there and the HomeWatch person had it filled out like 6 weeks in advance. Well, heck, that means they're not showing up. Or the homeowner that would call and said, um, you're not going to believe this. And yes, I believe this. No, I've never seen it all. But I sent some friends to stay at my condo and they basically arrived there thought it was so cool that Tom left a car for them in the garage. Then they go upstairs and find out somebody sleeping in the bed in the master bedroom. HomeWatch dude let one of his friends crash there. So we started hearing these stories. I start learning about the misuse of property or HomeWatch folks that aren't showing up. And it's like, there's, there's a big need here. So the long and short of it is in a two-person, in a two-person business, Bob and I can only serve so many, so many accounts, of course. So in 2008, I started training people and helping them open their own HomeWatch businesses.

Well, and before we move on to talk more about that, because I think you raise an excellent point, there is very little more personal to us other than something that could happen to our family members. Right. That's obviously very personal. But your home is your haven. And to feel in any way a— this is a strong word, but a violation of that is very disheartening. So you're right, when you are bringing in someone to take care of one of your sometimes most valuable assets, having the confidence and the trust that the right things are getting done is huge. So, you know, I liken it to real estate. Um, when I got into real estate, I was really— um, it bothered me, the reputation that real estate agents had. And I remember thinking, I want to change how people feel about that. That's almost what you're doing in another avenue because you're getting introduced to people in some cases, some people come and they've never had these services before and you get to delight them from day one. But some are coming in with bad experiences and having to overcome that can't be easy.

Well, Renee, would you agree with me that if like if somebody cut us open, we would like bleed customer service?

Yeah, no question.

It's in our veins. It's in our veins. And when you work from your heart, you can never make a bad decision. And I want to— some of this stuff is heartbreaking. So maybe, maybe some of this is born from heartbreak. But I had a couple call one time, and here's, here's what happens. And I'm going to tell one of the big secrets right now. In Southwest Florida, especially, we call October Mold Month. And the reason that that happens is because, you know, as well as I do, Our first group of seasonal folks come back in October. So if they've had bad HomeWatch or no HomeWatch, they can often come home to a place that's destroyed by mold. So I get referrals from my partners in the mold world too. And a couple called and said, "You know, Diane, we need a new HomeWatch company." And I explained why I'm a training company, but I can refer you to somebody. They said, "No, we really wanna talk to you." I said, "Where are we?" And I was right down the street, coincidentally, guardian angels, whatever, but I was minutes away. And I said, "Shall I meet you in your condo?" And they said, "We can't breathe in our condo." And they were the folks that came and rented in the wintertime. They found their dream condo, of course, meticulously cared for, absolutely perfect. The real estate professional did exactly what they were supposed to do. They connected them with somebody that they thought was a reputable home watch company. This home watch provider was not trained, They did not know how to regulate the humidity, which is one of the most important things we do. And they returned to a condo that had a full humidity bloom, which means there were signs of mold everywhere. The cleanup alone exceeded like $25,000. They had to replace the furnishings and soft goods. Yeah. And the realtor, the realtor had their heart in the right place, but they didn't know who to refer the homeowner too, and it turned into a disaster. Sad but true. Oftentimes, uh, mold— a mold claim is oftentimes not covered by insurance.

Yeah, it's an expensive learning to have. And I— another one I've heard related to your world, Diane, is the absence of those sometimes, or even the absence of a qualified and licensed one, can also affect insurance, if I'm not mistaken.

Say that again.

My information may be incorrect. I had also heard that sometimes if you're an absent owner, not having a licensed person look over your home can have insurance implications as well.

Absolutely. So let me address that on two ends. Uh, another thing about the world of Home Watch is we're— we don't have a license for Home Watch. So not a technical license. We get a business tax receipt, but we are not a licensed profession. We're not regulated in any way, shape, and form. Or form, which means anybody could open up a so-called home watch business. I tell in a lot of my stories that it starts with a neighbor doing a favor, then a hobby home watcher, then a home watch professional. So no licensure, so there's no barrier to entry. Imagine in your profession of real estate if there was no regulation. That would be— it would be the— it would be the Wild West. And home watch is still there. But when it comes to insurance, and this is such a wonderful thing that you brought up, Every single seasonal homeowner that's looking at this should look at their homeowner's insurance policy or call their agent, because oftentimes there is language in the policy that will state something to the effect, because it changes often, if damage is found and it hasn't been seen or reported within X amount of days, they're going to deny a claim. Insurance companies do not wake up in the morning to figure out how to pay claims. They're, they're in the world of, you know, taking care of the right things, but they deny often. So they need— homeowners have to look at their insurance policies. Don't call your insurance company and say, do I need a home watch company? Because they're not going to necessarily say that you technically need that because we're, again, we're unrecognized in many, in many cases. But if something happens and there is not documented proof that it was discovered, that claim is going to be denied in so many instances.

Yeah. Well, this is a great segue, Dan, for where we were going to go. And that is, so you and your partner were providing home watch services in a way that you, you, you know, to the best of your ability to make sure that all of these things were taken into consideration. And now you've stepped up a tier. You still have those customers that you're delighting and pleasing, but you're delighting and pleasing them because now you have another tier of customers in between, which is all the people that you help to become strong service providers like you and your partner were. Talk to us a little bit about how that model works.

I'd be happy to. My business partner Bob runs our home watch company, which is like in year 14, and he takes care of all that. And around 2008, I saw the need to— we could only handle a finite amount of clients, so I tested the waters and saw an opportunity to help other people open up home watch businesses. So I established Your Home Watch Professionals in 2009, and for the better part of the last many years. I train dynamic, dynamic professionals who also have customer service in their blood and help them launch and grow their own home watch companies. So I've done classroom training at my office in Naples for many years, and, uh, this year we launched the Home Watch Academy, which is the first e-learning training and resource specifically for the profession of home watch. So now you don't have to live in Naples or fly to Naples. You can get trained anywhere, anytime. And my last, my last live class was in February. And we actually, I would usually max my class size out at 12 and I had 12 in that class and we had 2 people come in from Maryland and 1 come in from Arizona. So being, being able to do it online in an e-learning system is awesome. So they get not only the training, but, day-to-day interaction and all of the resources they need.

That's fantastic. And Diane, I have a question. Do you find of those that make their way to learn from you in this capacity, are they just starting out in the business? Do you have people that have been in it for 5 or 10 years? What's— you know, if I were somebody who was currently in Home Watch or I was, um, or interested in getting in it, what's the right time to be introduced to you? And, um, you know, is it ever too late?

No, the best time of course is always first when you're, when you're getting started because we help you with all the things you need to learn foundationally, including counting, accounting, how to set up your business and the like. That too is an awesome question, Renee, because several years ago a gentleman called and said he wanted to sign up for my training and I said, well, Mike, I said, don't you have a home watch company? He said, yeah, I've been doing it for like 10 years or so, but I've been doing it part-time. I'm ready to go into home watch full-time. And I said, well, I, I— word on the street is you're one of the good guys. You know what you're doing. I've heard good things about you. He said, well, I've been watching you too. And he said, I want to take my business to another level. And he went through the training classes, then went through the training program, and now they're running a father-son home watch company that has grown very nicely. The most, most important thing for the folks that maybe already have a home watch business or just getting started is don't be too cool for school. There's always something to learn. And, you know, we don't have official continuing ed yet, but Renee Hahn, how much training do you get in real estate? My goodness.

That's so true. And there's not a day, a year, a month that goes by that I'm not finding there's still stuff I don't know. So I can imagine in your line of work. And let me ask you, Dane, do you just focus on the process stuff? Do you focus on, you know, HomeWatch is an entrepreneurial business, your marketing, you're the HomeWatch executor, you're, you know, fill in the blanks, your IT, your— what parts does your training focus on?

The cornerstone of everything is the HomeWatch training program, which in the Academy is the biggest course. And the biggest part of that is The exceptional Home Watch visit. Because if your visit is not phenomenally wonderful, it doesn't matter how good your marketing skills are, what your artistic skills are, your networking or anything. But everything starts with the ability to make a great visit. And my biggest message to folks that maybe are starting a Home Watch company or are newer into the business, even existing, of course, is don't be too cool for school. Do not, do not think that you know it all. There unfortunately have been some lawsuits in HomeWatch in the last few years, and it's, it's almost always mold-related because folks out here do not seem to understand the importance of regulating humidity properly. And I'll tell you right now, the lawsuits that happened in both cases, it was against the HomeWatch company, and one, one, one settlement was over $50 grand and one was over $100,000. And if they would have been in the training program, they would have learned by noon the first day in the classroom program, uh, what, how to adjust the thermostat correctly and how to monitor humidity and, and, and help make sure there were not conditions conducive to mold growth. So the education is first and foremost. And the cool, one of the really cool things about the Academy is not only do I have the ability to get the actual Home Watch training program there, but it's the ongoing support. We're in our launch phase right now, so we're in our growing phase. But any HomeWatch company, when they sign up, they get a full year subscription to everything. So there's HomeWatch huddles, there's ongoing training, there's interaction, there's Zoom webinars, there is recorded stuff, everything, everything. So if they have a task they need to perform in their day-to-day work, they can just go to the Academy and pull up that module and be refreshed on it.

Well, and one of the things I love, Diane, about you, because let's be honest here, in my real estate business we have coaching models too. Yeah, I can tell you there's a lot of coaches out there who have never sold real estate. Oh, you in your world are great because you've, you've been in that business, you've walked in their shoes, you understand their challenges and their opportunities. And so you speak, you, you speak and you share from a place of complete credibility. And by the way, if that wasn't enough, you've got a couple people who have commented online that says she's the go-to expert, she's a rock star. You've got a fan club, Diane.

You know, the cool— you got to keep perspective in business because you and I know who we work for. We work for homeowners. Mine are— you have people live here year-round, but mine are exclusively seasonal homeowners, and I make every decision with their best interest at heart. So I can't make a bad decision. That carries over to the quality of the training modules in the HomeWatch training program and the support on the HomeWatch Academy. I mean, just yesterday, one of my graduates had a really bizarre situation. We're able to figure it out. Not only were we able to figure it out with him, but then we turn it into something to train the other companies so they can help. Our job is to keep the home from receiving any kind of damage when it's gone, and we can't prevent it., but we can certainly catch damage in the early stages before it becomes a disaster.

Yeah, no, I think that's crucial. And Diane, one of the things I— you talked about that you're someone in your coaching school. I might be using the wrong terminology, but they have a year of access to some of these things. Yes. What, what does that relationship— how long does that relationship go between you and the immediate customers you serve, which are home watch companies and individuals? What does that, does it vary? Are there different entry points? Are there different exit points out of the relationship? If somebody was sitting back thinking, I might be interested in Diane's services, what would that look like?

So if anybody's a business owner that wants to have a home, wants to be a business owner, have a home watch company, whether it's part-time or whether it's full-time, and I've certainly put a lot of real estate professionals through the training program. The live training that I'd done for years is now online at the academy. So that's there. That's one of the most important things you can possibly do do, but the resources are being developed as the Academy grows. And in all frankness, Renee, as far as relationship time, forever, if you will. I mean, I owned a travel agency in Indiana for 17 years. I had my certain groups, associations I belong to forever because there's always something new. When people go through the Home Watch training, they get all the forms that they need, including, including their, their client profile. Their menu of services and the like, but very importantly, their contract or service agreement between the clients, between themselves and their homeowner. So what if there's an update? What if something big has changed in HomeWatch and you took the training 5, 6, 7 years ago? You wouldn't know about it. But being a member of the HomeWatch Academy, you will have the most up-to-date information at your fingertips all of the time because things change. We even, based on, based on the way that the insurance companies were paying mold claims, we had to change and be cognizant of the language and the policies to make sure our visits were matching that language. If you just went to the class 5 years ago and didn't plug into any ongoing education, you wouldn't know that and you could be at risk. And that's one thing I'll tell you, I train from a place not only from my heart and care and customer service, but from a place of risk management. So I totally nerd out on HomeWatch. This is what I do. This is what I think about all the time. But the graduates who own the HomeWatch businesses, they're making their living when they're in the field. So they're not going to have time to do the research and all the things that I do, but they're able to plug into it.

Well, and it's interesting because the point you just made is where I was going to go next, which is when you mentioned earlier that there's no licensing body, there's no regulatory Um, yet there's huge vulnerable risk. So when you think about being an individual who's going into this as a profession, that's, that's very vulnerable. So knowing that you've got someone to look to who, in the absence of those governing bodies— and even if those governing bodies were there, there'd still be a need for your business— but to, to help make sure that you're guiding them to minimize their risk is huge. I mean, that's the old credit card commercials, and you'd list what everything cost, and you get to the end, and it'd be the experience, and it'd be priceless. I mean, that's what this is.

Thank you. You are— you're not— you're not only a good interviewer, you're very kind. So thank you, thank you. But we need to get to the place of professionalism also, and the HomeWatch Academy is the training and education. But, um, in 2017, I also co-founded the International HomeWatch Alliance which, um, for our friends here in Florida, that's like our version of NABOR, the Naples Area Board of Realtors. Excuse me. So the International Home Watch Alliance is the professional not-for-profit organization that not only, uh, helps educate the homeowners, we drive business to the home watch companies, stay on top of legislative activity, we advocate, and that's the place where the home watch reporters and get certified. So this is going towards our level of taking our wonderful, beautiful profession and turning it into an industry. And our homeowners need— our homeowners and real estate folks need to do a buyer beware here because you want to make sure that your folks are credentialed. So for you, Renee Hahn, as a real estate professional, you can send your homeowners either to the website for your Home Watch professionals or the International Home Watch Alliance. As long as the companies are listed there, they've been vetted, their credentials are up to date, they've got their insurance up to date, and the homeowner knows it's somebody who's at least invested in professionalism, in training other professionalism. And before I forget, the Home Watch Interview Guide. I know you're one of the folks that shares that with your homeowners. On either website, the homeowners can get a copy of the Ultimate Home Watch Interview Guide. Explains to them what Home Watch is, why they need it, tells them how much it should cost, and how to select a Home Watch professional. That is golden. And then you as a realtor don't have to keep up with your, you know, your business cards of different Home Watch companies because you don't know if they're keeping up with their own credentials. What's that?

It's just one link you have to worry about.

Easy button. I'm all about the easy button. Yourhomewatchprofessionals.com. In Florida, you can find them there. Throughout the rest of the, the United States and Canada, International Home Watch Alliance. It's that easy.

Great. And Diane, I, I assume— I'm an assumption— those are two separate endeavors. So someone— you would hope that people that took the time to employ your services would also take the time to make sure that they were captured in there, but you could have two separate— it— one, they're not they're not inclusive, they're two separate.

I know, you know, I just happen to be involved in both. So the HomeWatch Academy and Your HomeWatch Professionals is my company. That's, that's, that's how, that's how I make my living. The International HomeWatch Alliance is a not-for-profit professional organization run by a board of directors, membership and certification. So it's, it's, it's, you know, we've got so many organizations out here. So it's something you do after you're trained. In your case, after your license as a REALTOR®, then you join the organizations.

Well, and the beauty of that is you're helping set a standard. You and the others that are working on the Alliance set a standard for something we already talked about. The basis is there. We're talking about big resources. We're talking about, you know, very important assets to all of us. And you would, you would hope that these standards would have been in place because it was the right thing to do. So kudos to you and the others working on that that have saw the need and filled the space with holding people accountable to a certain level of performance and service.

And our board for the International Home Watch Alliance is from throughout the United States and Canada, so we're serving every place. Near to my heart too is, because I go back and forth to Indiana quite a bit, I'm helping to grow home watch companies in the Midwest, primarily starting in the Michigan, Wisconsin area, because, you know, technically if they're not there, they're, if they're not here, there, there, but there's a lot of opportunity for everybody. And we are an essential service. That's kind of cool too.

I would say so, whether anybody else declared that or not. But Diane, you know, there's no question you have such a passion for this space and it stems out of a deep, I imagine a deep concern and regard for those you serve. Your energy is abundant. If people wanted to get connected to your services, we've got the information here, but tell them the best way.

I got them there.

The best way to reach out, is it online?

Email's always good. So it's just Diane@yourhwp.com, Y-O-U-R-H-W-P dot com. And I'm very easy to find on Google and Facebook. Good. Like you, Renee. You can put in Renee and real estate and we're gonna find you, so.

Well, I'm in good company. Well, Diane, we've got just a few minutes left. I wanted to give you an open air just to share any parting comments or thoughts or wisdom that you'd like with the audience that's joined us now or that are going to be watching the replay later.

I appreciate that. And what I want to say, Renee Hahn, is, you know, our paths cross and we hear about each other, but we follow each other on social media. One of my— One of my favorite quotes is, "Success leaves clues." Girlfriend, I am watching what you're doing with your videos and stuff, and you're putting quality stuff out there because you're giving your potential buyers information they need about this area. But you're not only putting your heart, but you're doing it professionally. So for my real estate friends, I'm gonna tell each of you to know that you're a seasonal homeowner, needs to have HomeWatch services to protect it. That's part of your relationship building. I've made it easy for you. You don't need to suggest that they go to a certain HomeWatch company. Just have them download the interview guide. But for anybody considering any kind of career change, HomeWatch is awesome. But research it and make the right decision. It's a wonderful encore career. 10 years ago, I was training mostly baby boomers. So almost everybody was over 50, but now I'm training people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. It's even a great family business. And I'm better at a lot of veterans and first responders. Yeah.

And don't let your friends go stay at the house.

No, no, don't misuse the property.

This is not a career that you just get to go see lovely homes and visit them and sit down. This is about supporting and serving others, right, Diane?

It sure gives you a lot of decorating ideas.

Come on. Well, there's got to be some nuggets in there that give you some—

That's how that beautiful pink color looks when it's on something bigger than a chip. You know, we work for— in beautiful homes for wonderful people, and we get to live in paradise. What the heck more could you want?

No, that is a great way to close out today's discussion. So I would encourage you— what I hope you got from this discussion with Diana is a couple of things. Most of you already knew she was a rock star, and if you didn't coming into this, hopefully you know that now. And if not, call us and we'll let you know what a rock star she is. But beyond that, it's, you know, thinking about what this is. The audience could be homeowners that I hope this resonates with. It could be real estate agents because, as you said, Diane, we often are there to help introduce. And sometimes it's not just introducing because of a request, it's introducing because they didn't even think of something. So, um, you know, I hope as you watch this through replay that you would be considerate enough to think about how Diane's services might be able to help you. Again, whether you're a real estate agent, whether you're somebody aspiring to get into Home Watch, or are already in, like the gentleman example. So great example of someone who had been in it for quite some time, was doing very well, um, and yet flourished and grew their business or whether you're a homeowner and you're looking for someone, this is a great opportunity to be thinking about how you can enjoy paradise, not just while you're here, but while you're away. And, and I will say, Diane, the one thing I loved, you said you were in travel before, so in the past you helped people get from one destination to another. Now you're helping people enjoy the destination they selected.

That's good, Renee. You're awesome. You, my friend, are the rock star. You're, you're a polished interviewer. Thank you.

Well, thank you, Diane. Thank you for making time out of your busy schedule to share and impart some information and knowledge. So again, whether you're looking to get trained or whether you're looking to learn more about the Alliance or just generally want more information, Diane is a great asset. So don't hesitate to reach out. Again, her information is below. And if you don't see it there, feel free to comment and we can get you connected. So Diane, thank you so much. Have a fabulous weekend.

Do the same. Thank you.

And thank you for joining us, everyone.

Yay!