A Year After Closing On their Mt. Shasta Estate, I Toured Ron’s Workshop
Last week I drove out to see Ron. It had been exactly a year since he and Starr closed on their Mt. Shasta estate, and he'd asked me to come walk the property and see the workshop. While I was breathing in his little slice of Northern California paradise, Ron told me something I haven’t stopped thinking about.
A contractor for over 40 years, Ron was my father’s reliable handyman for at least 10 of those years. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t just replace a shelf, but gives you floating shelves. He always gives you something extra, that you didn’t even know you needed. He’s also the kind of man who looks at a tired old residence and looks right past the defects and sees what it could be. What it should be.
That property was rough when he bought it. Deferred maintenance doesn’t quite say it. Now you walk the grounds and it's obvious a craftsman has been here — everything built to better-than construction standards. Every line squared, every surface considered, nothing left half-finished. After all, he’s living here. He's transformed the place the way only a lifetime of solving problems and building things prepares you to put in the work.
Ron was showing me his upgraded workshop when he said it, his wife Starr right beside him.
"You know, I've been dreaming about owning a place like this since I was a young man."
He looked around at what he'd made of it.
"Thank you for helping our dreams come true."
It’s not with every client, but I've heard a version of that sentence before. You have too. That moment when the keys change hands and a family realizes the thing they've dreamt about for years is finally, actually theirs. You can’t fake that kind of gratitude.
When I think back on the beginning of my quest for the perfect closing gift, it’s that precise moment that I wanted to make tangible for my clients.
What I’m about to show you is more than a photo. To an outside observer, it may be just a token of appreciation. But to us, it’s a symbol of our decades long friendships and the achievement of lifelong dreams given form. Made tangible. Compliments of nature’s bounty, right here in Northern California.
Ron handing Cristi West the very first board — board #1 — with depiction of a woman and her horse and the words "Slow down... Take it easy."
It would normally be me handing this board to the client, except that in this special case, Ron’s the maker and I wanted the #1 cutting board to go to my parents who’ve been my biggest mentors in this business. So, they got the cutting board and Ron got a business.
Look at Ron handing Cristi, my mom and our mortgage pro at Team West, the very first board to come off the line. Board number one. Look at the design etched onto the face — a hand-drawn woman being hugged by her horse, and beneath it, five simple words: Slow down. Take it easy. Anyone who knows my parents knows that's them, in a sentence. And, that's the whole point with these cutting boards.
A good board doesn’t just sit there. It's a small portrait of the person you give it to.
Here's what most closing gifts have in common: they disappear! That bottle of wine gets drunk. The fruit basket gets eaten. The gift card slides into a wallet (and then into thin air). You spent real money but before your clients have fully settled in to their new home, there's nothing left to show for it — no reminder, no afterglow, nothing proudly on display that says this is our moment and this the person who helped me get here.
A cutting board doesn't disappear. It gets used every single day — onions and cilantro on a Tuesday, the bird at Thanksgiving, cheese and olives when it’s time to host a party. It's the perfect size and weight for all your cutting chores while being easy to maneuver in the kitchen and wipe down in the sink. Constructed of premium Northern California hardwood that takes a knife and holds its appearance for decades.
When it also bears a design that means something to the family you’re giving it to, they’re not to bury it in a drawer. They display it. They show it off. And when their guest leans in and asks where they got it, your client tells the story — their story, which is also your story.
You’re more than a two-bit character. Now they’re dropping your name. You’re an indelible part of their story.
you’re “the guy” (or gal) Who Made it All Possible
That makes an impression no postcard or fridge magnet can ever match. Imagine being quietly present in your client's home, on their kitchen counter, in their hands, for years to come.
How much do we spend on advertising to strangers? This is way better than an ad. You’re not “counting impressions” on a digital dashboard, you’re “making an impression” where it counts — in the homes of your best source of new clients. You’re not merely a service provider. You’re family.
Limited to 30 per month
✓ 11" × 15" premium Northern California hardwood (Oak, Black Walnut & Birch)
✓ Handcrafted in Northern California
✓ Custom engraving available
✓ Buy 5, Get the 6th on us
And unlike an paid advertisement, you don’t get suddenly cut off if you stop paying. Actually, things of this quality have the potential outlast all of us. Boards like these gets handed down from one generation to the next. I'd put money on the kids squabbling over who gets it someday — and honestly, what a problem to leave behind! Most of the things we give people are forgotten soon thereafter. This gift becomes the one thing on the family table nobody can bring themselves to part with.
So I'll ask you what I asked myself: If you're going to spend the money closing gifts, why spend it on something that ends up in the garage, or worse, the garbage? Why not give your clients a gift that delivers happiness daily and becomes an object of pride or even fascination in their lives?
That's the whole idea behind the cutting boards: Give that moment of maximum appreciation permanency. You deliver the moment. We’ll etch it in premium hardwoods.
Starting this month: buy five boards, the sixth is on us.
Now, you can get more board for your money. Hand them all to your clients, keep a couple for the office, or set one out in your own kitchen — I know you’ve been wanting one. And, don’t miss the beautiful new combination of black walnut with birch stripes. There are about 20 left, so put your order in before they’re sold out.
All the best,
Tyler E. West
(530) 852-1512
Lincoln Reporting provided courtesy of:
Tyler West
Founder, Premiers.Co
(530) 852-1512
tyler@premiers.co
DRE: 02135475
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The Board voted in November. The facts are public. Most of this town still has not heard. And if you are buying or selling a home here, this is a fact you cannot afford to learn after the fact.