Insights with Sheila Cox
 By Barbara Lynn Silberg
It's no wonder Sheila Cox has a Five
Star Rating for customer service from the Houston
Association of Realtors. Enthusiastic about her work, she's
passionate about helping people. But not only does she know
what she's talking about when it comes to home buying and
selling. She has firsthand, hands-on experience with
remodeling, and decorating homes as well...
Barbara: How would you describe
yourself?
Sheila: I'm honest, ethical,
loyal—dedicated to my clients needs. I believe in integrity,
so clients trust me to help them make wise decisions when
buying a home. They often comment on how different I am than
other real estate agents they may have worked with in the
past, because I often point out the defects of a home we may
be looking at…defects that their untrained eyes may miss. My
focus is on building relationships and providing five-star
service…not just selling homes. Consequently, I'm good
friends with many former clients.
 Barbara: How would you describe
your business?
Sheila: As a Realtor, I
serve the Fort Bend area, providing five-star customer
service for home buyers, home sellers, and those interested
in energy-efficient homes. Some say that I go beyond the
call of duty in terms of customer service, and maybe I do.
One time I frosted a window for a client and another time I
helped a client shine her new wood floors before moving in.
Right now I'm helping an out-of-town Seller by getting bids
for remodeling his mother’s home and getting it on the
market to sell. I have saved him a lot of time and trouble.
It’s all about five-star service!
Barbara: Whom do you help?
Sheila: Mostly highly-educated
business professionals relocating to Sugar Land or Katy.
Secondarily, first-time home buyers. Having been a corporate
trainer in the past, I enjoy teaching the first timers and
guiding them through the complicated home-buying process.
Barbara: What did you want to be
when you grew up?
Sheila: An architect. Growing up
in trailer homes, moving all the time, I loved the idea of a
house's permanency. So by the time I was 11 or 12, I was
drawing floor plans of homes filled with all sorts of young
girl's dreams.
Barbara: How did you get
started?
Sheila: I bought my first house
in the early 90s and ended up selling it “For Sale By Owner”
because my Realtor couldn’t seem to get the job done. Over
the years I sold more of my homes “For Sale By Owner”
including my grandfather’s 550-acre ranch which was an
extremely complicated real estate deal…I’m talking mineral
rights, Life Estate issues, contractual Wills, elder law…I
actually researched and wrote the legal opinion that the
Title Company’s lawyer accepted in order for them to Close
the transaction.
Over the years I’ve remodeled many of
my own homes—once when I was 4 months pregnant!—and was
always successful selling as a FSBO. Plus, as a
do-it-yourselfer, I like remodeling, decorating, working
with my hands—all the creative and innovative ways of
figuring out what needs to be done to sell quickly and how
to get top-dollar. All this experience helps me to
understand the home Seller’s needs, and it also kept me
in-tune with home Buyer’s wants.
Barbara: Who were your strongest
influences/teachers?
Sheila: I graduated with a
Business degree specializing in Marketing. Dr. Price, who
taught my first marketing class, was my strongest influence.
He taught me the importance of target marketing and of
fulfilling each customer's needs. I worked my way through
college, doing all sorts of part-time jobs—including retail
sales—so I quickly came to understand the real-world value
of his lessons.
Barbara: Whom do you most
admire? Who are your heroes?
Sheila: Dr. Charles Deming, who
turned the Japanese auto industry around and made it the
dynamic force it is today. He was a quality assurance,
continuous improvement guru which appeals to my personal
dedication to continuous improvement. As a young girl I saw
Ingrid Bergman in “Joan of Arc,” so Joan of Arc was my hero
for the longest time.
Barbara: What has been your
greatest disappointment or failing?
Sheila: Upon graduating college,
I was recruited into Pearl Vision’s Management Trainee
program. It was while working there that I came up
with an innovative eyecare business idea. I was close to
launching a business with that product when I got pregnant
with my first child and moved to another state. So I put my
career on the back-burner to focus on raising my daughter,
and I never got to launch that business—but the idea is
still in the back of my mind.
Barbara: What would people be
surprised to learn about you?
Sheila: I used to win dance
contests and I was voted the wittiest girl in high school.
Since we moved around a lot when I was growing up, I was
always the new kid. And with my red hair, I was often a
target to be “picked on.” But I learned to make others laugh
in order to fit in.
Barbara: What is most important
to you?
Sheila: Integrity--and the
golden rule. And, of course, my family, my community, my
clients. I’m also passionate about improving the
health of our children and their children by minimizing the
toxins they are exposed to at home and in the environment.
That’s one of the reasons why I chose to obtain the
EcoBroker Certification which gives me extra training in
energy-efficient, environmentally-sound, sustainable, and
non-toxic house building techniques. In fact, I do free
"Going Green 101" seminars to show others how easy it is. |
