QUOTE: “There is no investment you can make which will pay you so well as the effort to scatter sunshine and good cheer through your establishment (market center).”
Orison Swett Marden
On February 28, a great Amercian was born - ME! Don't send cards and flowers - read a book just for me (actually for you). read The Little Gold Book of YES!Attitude by Jeffrey Gitomer. After you read it you will know it was the right thing to do. www.JeffreyGitomer.com
2010 Keller Williams Realty Family Reunion will be held in NEW ORLEANS! Plan ahead now to attend in February. Watch for more details.
HEALTH INSURANCE UPDATE: They said it couldn’t be done! Health providers program coming soon. After years of searching for a partnership to provide Keller Williams associates with affordable health insurance, Keller Williams Realty has found a solution. The soon-to-be-launched Keller Williams Health Providers Program will include options for major medical, limited medical, catastrophic coverage, a separate cancer plan, as well as other types of insurance and benefits. Additional information will be provided in the coming weeks.
Newest Nugget: My 45 Favorite Books, http://www.nuggetsforthenoggin.com/.
Please watch this 10 minute video on the Metro New Orleans recovery, the new stimulus bill and the local economy in general. I think you will be a bit surprised. Kind of reinforces the belief that the economy in New Orleans is just the opposite of the nation’s. http://www.gnocdc.org/
An unfavorable update from Inman News regarding our competitors, Realogy who represents Century, Coldwell Banker and ERA. http://www.inman.com/news/2009/02/26/realogy-says-apollo-has-its-back
Local MLS, Ads Payoff for Agents. http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/berniceross/local-mls-ads-pay-agents
Amazing short video entitled VALDATION:
http://www.sonnyradio.com/validation.html
The 10 WORST THINGS TO SAY AT THE OFFICE;
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/01/24/worst.say.at.work/index.html
Thinking outside the box. For less than $200 you can create a life-size, one dimension, cut-out of yourself. Why would you do this? How about having your look-alike greeting people who visit your listings when you are not there? Just thinking.
http://www.lifesizecustomcutouts.com/
Flood Protection Link for the Northshore: (thanks to Nicole Silva for this link) http://floodprotectionforsttammany.com/Home.php
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
NEWSLETTER FOR FEBRUARY 20, 2009
QUOTE: “It takes less work to succeed than fail.” W. Clement Stone
IMPORTANT COMPLIANCE ISSUES. You must make absolutely certain that your Agreements to Purchase have the receipt signed by the Designated Agent on the front page of the Document. If you are the listing agent YOU must sign it. If you are the Buyer’s Agent, YOU must get the Listing Agent’s signature indicating the DAY, THE DATE AND THE TIME of receipt. You must be able to prove when the Agreement was delivered to the Designated Agent. PAY ATTENTION TO LINES 324 AND 343. These two lines MUST BE COMPLETED. It is proof of the DAY, DATE AND TIME the Agreement was presented to the Seller and/or the Buyer. If you files are ever inspected by the Real Estate Commission, I can assure you that they will be looking at these three things (in addition to many others but especially these) AND if you have a signed Agency Receipt – signed on your FIRST FACE TO FACE meeting with a buyer and/or seller, lessee and/or lessor.
DESIGNATED AGENT FORMS. Whenever you are away from the Market Center (local area) for more than 24 hours, you ought to complete a Designated Agent form to cover your business. When you do, you need to provide all your sellers with a copy of the form to let them know who they can contact for information in your absence.
Marketing: I have uploaded SPRING AHEAD POST CARDS on http://www.slidellcalendar.com/ in the DOCUMENTS section in the MARKETING folder. All you have to do is add your name and personal contact info. Daylight savings begins early, March 8, 2009. Take advantage of this, contact your sphere, this is one of the 33 touches you should be doing every year.
DID YOU KNOW? You can prepare the standard LEASE AGREEMENT on FORMULATOR? You can and you probably should; makes it so much easier to complete. One of the nice things about formulator is that it automatically takes you to the next box that needs to be filled in so there is no excuse for leaving a box blank.
Another GREAT Gitomer Sales Caffine Ezine. What’s The Secret of Selling? If you want to become better at sales and work on your attitude read anything written by Jeffrey Gitomer. Start with this week’s ezine: http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ViewPublicArticle.html?key=ajcdMibak3P%2Bm2Xi3MA1gA%3D%3D
Become a Certified Foreclosure Agent; check it out at: http://agentuniversity.foreclosure.com/?rsp=21841
The Do’s and Don’ts of Short Sales, a great question and answer article with an attorney who specializes in short sales. A must read for everyone. Located on http://www.slidellcalendar.com/, under DOCUMENTS and then SHORT SALE FORMS.
M&M Update. Only two people were here for the M&M meeting and we decided we would move this subject to next Monday. So the M&Ms will play “Stump the Broker.” M&Ms will come up with objections, off the cuff so to speak, and I will do my best to come up with a response. It starts at 11:00 am in the Training Room and everyone is welcome to attend. Immediately following the M&M session, I will show a new movie called Pass It On. It is 90 minutes long, picks up where The Secret left off. Fast pace, many faces and a great message. Bring your lunch and a drink and enjoy or better still, learn! Check out the movie at http://www.passitontoday.com/.
Interesting article from Inman News, “Is the 6 Percent Commission Dead?” See if you can pick out from the article where the author may have stepped over the line in regards to anti-trust laws. http://www.jphorizons.com/books.aspx.
“How Keller Williams Continues to Grow While Others Contract”, you don’t want to miss this one. http://livemag.rismedia.com/wps/portal/ris/c0/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3iLkCAPEzcPIwN_d0tTA6OQYDPPAHN3Y39vE_1I_ShznPKeBvohIBMz9SONLcxNQcxi_UgDEF0AFDLVL8hOTKpKjVQEABpLaa4!/.
“Recession-Proof Your Business Strategies” an article from SalesDog.com. Applies to general sales but can also apply to your real estate business. http://www.salesdog.com/newsletter/2009/nl0414.asp#email.
NUGGET FOR THE NOGGIN
You And A Tanking Economy!
Article by: Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, February 16, 2009
“An education will earn you a living. Self-education will earn you a fortune!” Jim Rohn
Thank about that extremely meaningful quote while considering what Gary Keller said in his book, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent when he referred to having a BIG WHY. What is a BIG WHY? It is the ultimate reason you do whatever you do. Focusing only on the money you earn will do very little in helping you achieve your ultimate BIG WHY if you do not focus on whatever your BIG WHY truly is. Question, is what you are about to say or do leading you toward your BIG WHY or away from it?
I think we can all agree that as of February 2009, the economy is “in the tank.” Just about everyone has been affected in one way or another. I feel truly sorry for people who have not prepared themselves for this to happen. To the ill prepared person, our economy is really a double dose of bad news. We have had 8 to 10 years of pretty good times. Now that the stock market is down, sales are down, jobs are at stake, businesses are closing, and real estate values both residential and commercial are continuing to decline, people who have not prepared themselves for this find themselves over-extended in their monthly payment, living in a home that they may owe more on than it is worth and possibly one person in a two person family has lost their job or even both have lost their jobs. The second part of that dose as a result of the economy is that during the good times, most people, hopefully not you, failed to see the shift coming and did very little to prepare themselves or their business for the shift.
Look again at what Jim Rohn said, “An education will earn you a living. Self-education will earn you a fortune!” I believe that Rohn meant more than a monetary fortune when he used the word “fortune.” I believe he meant that in addition to earning a monetary fortune, you will also learn valuable mental and physical skills, emotional stability and the knowledge that you can survive in any market or economy. Unfortunately you do not learn such skills in conventional schooling.
Gary Keller said that “the only time you can grow your (real estate) business is in a down market.” That, in my opinion, is true for almost any business. If you have the proper mental attitude, when you believe you cannot fail, when you have the knowledge and tools to do the right thing at the right time, this economy truly IS a place where you can grow your business. I found it fascinating watching what Warren Buffett does when the economy turns. Instead of selling off his assets, he is buying troubled assets knowing that in time most if not all of these “troubled” assets will eventually recover. When that occurs, his net worth will increase dramatically. Is it no wonder that “the rich get richer” and usually do so when the economy turns one way or the other.
Gary Keller also said that our market (referring to the real estate market) is neither up nor down; it IS what it IS at the moment. Is it trending one way or the other? Absolutely! Each of us has a choice. We can either “CO-MISERATE” with others who will listen (that is my Joe Tye training) or we can choose to make a good situation out of a bad one. If you made a lot of money over the past decade when things were good, imagine what you could have made if you had the mindset to prepare yourself for what Peter Kuhn of MEDSEEK called a “global reset.” Is that not what is occurring on a global basis? A global reset? I love that description. A global reset!
Look what happened in Florida. Florida has no personal income tax. The weather is about as good as you can get in America year-round. Life is good in Florida. As a result, people were moving to Florida by the thousands if not millions. As a result, real estate values were escalating at alarming rates but not alarming to people who already owned homes. For those folks, the escalating real estate values were outstanding. The values were adding tremendous paper value to their net worth. Everyone was happy. It was not unusual to purchase a home and see its value literally double in 5 years. Who ever said, “All good things must come to end” must have been from Florida. There is a point where the affordability of an increasing housing market had to reach a point where fewer and fewer people could afford to buy. When that happens, the housing market MUST make an adjustment just like the stock market oftentimes does. The huge difference is that normally you do not have to sell off your stocks unless you absolutely need the money. Housing is different. When a homeowner’s property value declines and for whatever reason they MUST move, there is no choice but to sell at a loss. Hopefully the lower property value does not decline to the point to where the homeowner owes more than the property is worth. Unfortunately that is what has happened in such markets as California, Florida, Nevada, and New York.
If these states were totally isolated, the declining markets would not affect the remainder of American markets but they are not isolated. On the contrary, what affects one market eventually affects all markets. Our national news media did not help by predicting the “housing bubble burst” over 7 years prior to the current adjustment or reset. In time, they eventually had to be right. Even a broken clock is right twice every twenty-four hours. I personally believe that the national media with their unending “news” stories about a pending real estate bubble burst helped to cause our current problems by publishing and feeding the scare that followed. The result? 2009.
Our elementary, middle, and high schools and our college educations are what Jim Rohn meant when he said an education will earn you a living. That type of education in addition to junior colleges, community colleges and trade schools gives a person the right to enter a career field. In my case the real estate pre-licensing education gave me a piece of paper, a license, to sell real estate. If that person’s education stops at graduation, his or her ability to earn a fortune STOPS! I know of no school that teaches personal relationships, money management, goal setting, attitude development (and I don’t mean a negative or “I’m special” type attitude), or self-education in general. Look at celebrities or sports figures. It is a good thing that they earn a fortune based upon their good looks or extraordinary athletic ability because most of them would not earn a dime based upon their attitude or what they say in public. They are the exception, not the rule! Yet we idolize these people.
The person who will succeed in this economy will be the person who has developed a self-education program. The person who realizes that the status quo is insufficient. That no other person truly cares about their future or their goals to the point that they will work to help insure their desired future or goals are achieved. Obviously this might exclude immediate family members. It would also exclude those rare individuals who learn not only to develop their own careers but to also serve a personal mission to share their knowledge and wisdom with others so that they too may develop their careers. Joe Tye said, “You would worry less about what other people think of you if you knew how little they thought of you.” I would like to suggest that YOU would also worry MORE if you knew how little other people worried about you because your future is totally left up to you. As the Midas Muffler commercial said, “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” People (certainly not you) who fail to fully grasp the importance of making a plan for their self-education and then making a plan to take action on their plan are destined, for the most part, for mediocrity and even failure. Successful people are learning based people. They are typically self-educated people who have learned the training and proper attitude to adjust, adapt and cope with their environment. They are prepared! They are learning based! Are you?
Are you really learning based? Think so? How many books do you read? How many seminars do you attend? How many non-required classes do you attend? How many educational CDs or DVDs do you watch or listen to? When you read, listen or watch, are you engaged or are you simply going through the motions. Can you remember what you learned 4 weeks later or even 24 hours later?
I have found that a great many people stop their learning because they feel they “know it all” and any additional reading or courses is much ado about the same subjects and topics. Therefore they see no value in reading or attending. It has been said that people must do the same action at last 21 times in order for that action to become a habit thus guaranteeing its results. Remember a habit could be both good (prospecting for leads every day) or bad (smoking for one). I doubt that the first cigarette someone smoked tasted good. I would bet that it took days if not weeks to get use to its taste and the associated throat ailments that accompanied smoking; like 21 days maybe? If it took that long to develop the habit is no wonder it takes at least that long to stop it? I believe you read books and attend classes to both reinforce what you have already learned (and probably are not doing) as well as what is new that you should at least give a try.
From my own personal experience it absolutely amazes me how many times I am faced with a situation and are shocked at the seemingly “right words” that flow from my lips. I oftentimes stop and ask myself, “Where did that come from?” It came from something I may have read 10 years ago or last week; words that did not come from a news program or reality TV. If you were to ask me to recall something I read 10 years ago or last week, I may or may not be able to do so. But when you are flowing with the moment, your unconscious recollection kicks in and out pops just the right words or actions at the right time.
I did not always feel this way. In fact I did not read a book between my college days and when I reached 44 years of age, I am now 64. What caused the change in attitude? A suggestion by Lee Shelton in his audio tapes “Creating Teamwork” when he suggested everyone should read “I’m Okay; You’re Okay!” which I did and that started me to think and then created a desire to read more. In the last 20 years I have read over 500 books, (I don’t say that to boast but only state a fact), I have attended an undeterminable number of seminars, classes, conventions and I have listened to who knows how many tapes, CDs, or DVDs. Self-education became an addiction; not all addictions are bad.
Jeffrey Gitomer asks, “How much of your success is result of watching the news, reality TV or unending re-runs?” In case you-know-who is reading this the answer is none!
It is never too late to engulf yourself with self-education. If you don’t start now, when will you start? When the economy gets better; resets again? Do what you love; love what you do! If you truly love what you do, you will also create a self-education plan to get better at what you do. If you want a personal mission statement that works, try this one:
Mission Statement: To be the best I can be at being a ____________! You could add, salesman, car dealer, doctor, dentist, teacher, golf pro (had to put that one in), mother, father, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, real estate broker (there I go again), name what you want to be best at.
Then use Joe Tye’s Direction-Deflection-Question (DDQ):
Is what I am about to say or do consistent with being the best ___________?
If YES, do it; if NO don’t! It all starts with a plan!
If you would like a list of the books that I would highly recommend along with a brief explanation plus internet link to the author’s web site, send me an email to JimBrown@gymbeaux.com and enter BOOK LIST in the subject line.
Friday, February 13, 2009
NEWSLETTER FOR FEBRUARY 13, 2009
QUOTE: Never Fear, Never Quit: make fear your ally and adversity your teacher. Joe Tye
BROKER BIT: Actually quite a few bits:
YOU MUST FILL IN EVERY BLANK ON AGREEMENTS TO PURCHASE, actually on all contracts. If you know the info, enter it. If the blank is not applicable enter N/A. Pay particular attention to the sections that relate to receipt of documentes and time and date documents are presented to both the seller and buyer. This also applies to Counter Offers.
YOU MUST OBTAIN A CORPORATE RESOLUTION if you are working with a buyer and/or seller representing a corporation or L.L.C. You must verify who within the corporation has the right to sign documentes that transfers ownership of property the corporation or L.L.C. owns or is buying.
ECONOMIC THOUGHT FOR YOUR CAREER: Gary Keller said, and I totally agree, not that my concurence is important, but the ONLY time you can truly grow your business is in a down market. HELLO! Guess what, TIMES ARE GREAT FOR BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS. This is the kind of market where the cream literally rises to the top. YOU ARE THE CREAM, I expect to see each of you at the top!
M&M Update. Next Monday the M&Ms will play “Stump the Broker.” M&Ms will come up with an objection, off the cuff so to speak, and I will do my best to also come up with a response off the cuff. It starts at 11:00 am in the Training Room and everyone is welcome to attend. Immediately following the M&M session, I will show a new movie called Pass It On. It is 90 minutes long, picks up where The Secret left off. Fast paces, many faces and a great message. Bring your lunch and drink and enjoy or better still, learn! Check out the movie at http://www.passitontoday.com/.
Where do you find yourself wasting time? Check out the poll on Success Magazine. Where do you fit in? http://www.successmagazine.com/poll?pollId=15
SALESDOG.COM. Great article entitled MAKE THAT SELLING POINT STICK, by Anne Miller. This is a very good article and should make you think twice about what you say to a buyer and/or seller. http://www.salesdog.com/newsletter/2009/nl0413.asp#email
TRULY AMAZING. If you like to read and would like to do it electronically, check out this site on Amazon. Yes it is expensive, $359 but you can download books, newspapers and blogs in 60 seconds or less. You can save over 1500 books on what they call Kindle2. It is as thin as a magazine and has a wireless connection at no extra charge. It is a one-time cost. Check it out at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI/ref=amb_link_83626371_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=0E3YB4BAA1SN16HC4RVG&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=469548931&pf_rd_i=507846
MORE SALES PLEASE; I NEED MORE SALES! By who? Who else but Jeffrey Gitomer. I can’t imagine better material to read than anything Jeffrey Gitomer writes. Consider subscribing to his newsletter. Great stuff! Here is the link to this very timely article about having more sales: http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ViewPublicArticle.html?key=ajcdMibak3Mt3AWQXm%2BQ2Q%3D%3D
JEFFREY GITOMER IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI. GOT MY TICKET! Check it out, Jackson is not that far of a drive from Slidell. Can’t imagine going and not being stirred for bigger and better things. Check it out at: http://www.gitomer.com/jackson-sid141.html
CRAIG GARBER, great article on the 5 Essentials Of Any Ad, you can read the article on his blog at: http://blog.kingofcopy.com/
ONE SITE, lots of great articles including what is hot in real estate today. Check it out at: http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/?author=2
FIVE REASONS YOU SHOULD WRITE MARKET REPORTS. Great article via http://www.activerain.com/. Obtain the report at:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/922654/5-Reasons-Why-You-Should-Write-Market-Reports
NUGGETS FOR THE NOGGIN
“Where’s the Refresh Button?”
Article by: Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, February 13, 2009
If you want to read a great book, read, “The Big AHA! Breakthroughs in Resolving and Preventing Workplace Conflict, written by Bill Wiersma, http://www.thebigahaonline.com/. The following is copied from Chapter 10 of the book:
“At a gathering we were both attended while I was writing this book, Carol Lynn Pearson, an accomplished author, related the following experience:
As I logged on to my personal Web site the other day, the first things I noticed were the old Christmas graphics. My Web mistress and friend, Sandy, had put them up for the holidays, and they were still there at the end of January! I thought, well, this is embarrassing!
I called Sandy and said, ‘So, what do you think…can we take the Christmas decorations off the Web site now?’
“Oh, honey,’ she replied, ‘I took those down some time ago.’ (Sandy lives in Texas and she calls me honey.)
“Now, Sandy,’ I said, ‘I’m sitting here in front of the screen right now, and I’m staring at a candy cane. The decorations are still up.’
QUOTE: Never Fear, Never Quit: make fear your ally and adversity your teacher. Joe Tye
BROKER BIT: Actually quite a few bits:
YOU MUST FILL IN EVERY BLANK ON AGREEMENTS TO PURCHASE, actually on all contracts. If you know the info, enter it. If the blank is not applicable enter N/A. Pay particular attention to the sections that relate to receipt of documentes and time and date documents are presented to both the seller and buyer. This also applies to Counter Offers.
YOU MUST OBTAIN A CORPORATE RESOLUTION if you are working with a buyer and/or seller representing a corporation or L.L.C. You must verify who within the corporation has the right to sign documentes that transfers ownership of property the corporation or L.L.C. owns or is buying.
ECONOMIC THOUGHT FOR YOUR CAREER: Gary Keller said, and I totally agree, not that my concurence is important, but the ONLY time you can truly grow your business is in a down market. HELLO! Guess what, TIMES ARE GREAT FOR BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS. This is the kind of market where the cream literally rises to the top. YOU ARE THE CREAM, I expect to see each of you at the top!
M&M Update. Next Monday the M&Ms will play “Stump the Broker.” M&Ms will come up with an objection, off the cuff so to speak, and I will do my best to also come up with a response off the cuff. It starts at 11:00 am in the Training Room and everyone is welcome to attend. Immediately following the M&M session, I will show a new movie called Pass It On. It is 90 minutes long, picks up where The Secret left off. Fast paces, many faces and a great message. Bring your lunch and drink and enjoy or better still, learn! Check out the movie at http://www.passitontoday.com/.
Where do you find yourself wasting time? Check out the poll on Success Magazine. Where do you fit in? http://www.successmagazine.com/poll?pollId=15
SALESDOG.COM. Great article entitled MAKE THAT SELLING POINT STICK, by Anne Miller. This is a very good article and should make you think twice about what you say to a buyer and/or seller. http://www.salesdog.com/newsletter/2009/nl0413.asp#email
TRULY AMAZING. If you like to read and would like to do it electronically, check out this site on Amazon. Yes it is expensive, $359 but you can download books, newspapers and blogs in 60 seconds or less. You can save over 1500 books on what they call Kindle2. It is as thin as a magazine and has a wireless connection at no extra charge. It is a one-time cost. Check it out at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI/ref=amb_link_83626371_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=0E3YB4BAA1SN16HC4RVG&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=469548931&pf_rd_i=507846
MORE SALES PLEASE; I NEED MORE SALES! By who? Who else but Jeffrey Gitomer. I can’t imagine better material to read than anything Jeffrey Gitomer writes. Consider subscribing to his newsletter. Great stuff! Here is the link to this very timely article about having more sales: http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ViewPublicArticle.html?key=ajcdMibak3Mt3AWQXm%2BQ2Q%3D%3D
JEFFREY GITOMER IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI. GOT MY TICKET! Check it out, Jackson is not that far of a drive from Slidell. Can’t imagine going and not being stirred for bigger and better things. Check it out at: http://www.gitomer.com/jackson-sid141.html
CRAIG GARBER, great article on the 5 Essentials Of Any Ad, you can read the article on his blog at: http://blog.kingofcopy.com/
ONE SITE, lots of great articles including what is hot in real estate today. Check it out at: http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/?author=2
FIVE REASONS YOU SHOULD WRITE MARKET REPORTS. Great article via http://www.activerain.com/. Obtain the report at:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/922654/5-Reasons-Why-You-Should-Write-Market-Reports
NUGGETS FOR THE NOGGIN
“Where’s the Refresh Button?”
Article by: Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, February 13, 2009
If you want to read a great book, read, “The Big AHA! Breakthroughs in Resolving and Preventing Workplace Conflict, written by Bill Wiersma, http://www.thebigahaonline.com/. The following is copied from Chapter 10 of the book:
“At a gathering we were both attended while I was writing this book, Carol Lynn Pearson, an accomplished author, related the following experience:
As I logged on to my personal Web site the other day, the first things I noticed were the old Christmas graphics. My Web mistress and friend, Sandy, had put them up for the holidays, and they were still there at the end of January! I thought, well, this is embarrassing!
I called Sandy and said, ‘So, what do you think…can we take the Christmas decorations off the Web site now?’
“Oh, honey,’ she replied, ‘I took those down some time ago.’ (Sandy lives in Texas and she calls me honey.)
“Now, Sandy,’ I said, ‘I’m sitting here in front of the screen right now, and I’m staring at a candy cane. The decorations are still up.’
“She said, ‘Oh, I know what the matter is honey! It’s all those cookies you got stored in your computer. They just hang onto everything. They send you onto the hold pathways they’ve built up habits around, and they pull up the old Web site, not the new one. Now, here’s what I want you to do. Right-click on a blank area…go ahead, right-click. Now, you see where it says, Refresh? Go ahead and left-click on Refresh.’
“I clicked Refresh, and lo and behold, the Christmas decorations were gone. Well, they had actually been gone for some time, buy my system had been stuck in the past!”
When my friend related this experience, I couldn’t help but think how easily we get stuck in the past (especially given the nature of the experiential mind) and how our “cookies” exacerbate the problem by encouraging us to define people by their histories. It’s difficult to let go. Howe convenient it would be to have a Refresh button of our own, enabling us to change how we feel and see people in a renewed way – a more accepting light.”
Well there it was right in front of me – a mental Refresh button on the brain. Not just for looking at a person in a new light but also a situation or a problem we have encountered. How many times do we form instant opinions or decisions based on an old mental photograph? Things change as do people and events. If we had a Refresh Button on our brains, could find a different position, opinion, pathway or solution to a problem? I not only think so, I know so!
In a training class many years ago, the instructor compared our brains to a pocket tape recorder. Everything that we see, hear and do is permanently recorded on a never-ending tape. We are too busy to edit the tape at the end of the day so the images become permanent. Then when we face a similar situation or even a brand new situation, we mentally and unconsciously scan our mind’s tape recorder to see how we should react based on what we believe to be true because we have it on tape. He referred to this process simply as “old tapes” and in many cases, these old tapes become limiting beliefs we hold to be true.
A more modern version would compare the brain to a desktop computer with a never-ending hard drive that logs everything we see, hear and do. Then, like the old tapes, we now have our old hard drives that dictate to our brains how we should form an opinion, take an action, or make a decision based upon the information on the hard drive – “old tapes.” Can this information be in error? Absolutely. In computer language, garbage in – garbage out. If we fail to validate the information we store on our mental hard drives, we use the incorrect or defective information to form opinions, take action or make decisions and it is all based on inaccurate data.
Big problem – little problem? Whether a problem is considered big or little really depends upon where you are mentally coming from as you encounter the problem. Problems tend to attract more problems. If you are constantly encountering bad people, bad people tend to attract other bad people. If your problems are financial, financial problems attract more financial problems; and the list goes on. It’s THE Law of Attraction at work in our lives.
If you play golf, bowl, work crafts, hunt, make jewelry or whatever hobby you pursue, if you are like most people you spend time getting better at what you like to do. Yet when it comes to your attitude, when was the last attitude course you took? What was the last attitude book you read? I have made this recommendation many times, I would start with Jeffrey Gitomer’s book, The Little Gold Book of YES!Attitude. If you work on first creating an environment to have a positive attitude and then work every day without fail on having a positive attitude, it in turn affects the way you look upon the problems and people you encounter. People with a positive attitude come from a position of:
Looking from the outside in, what is the problem?
What can I do to fix this problem?
Who can I talk to that may have experienced this problem?
Fix the problem.
Fix the root cause of the problem so it does not happen again.
What can I learn from this experience?
Who can I teach to help them avoid similar problems?
People with a negative attitude, and that would be most people but certainly not you, react rather than respond to their problems. Problems come as a surprise (not really) then anger sets in, (Why me?) and oftentimes they have a knee-jerk reaction rather than a measured response.
Therefore it is my opinion that we all need to first clean our mental hard drives of negative experiences. Think about the “bad” things that may have happened to you that you dwell and rely upon but this time think about the good that came from them; there is good in almost every event regardless of what you may think. Then focus on the good things. Erase all those negative “cookies” in the mind on a daily basis.
If you stop there you will have gained little. Working on your attitude for today and all your tomorrows is the key. When you do, problems are reduced in size to being more like bumps in the road rather than detours in life.
It all starts with a smile and a positive thought every morning, before you do another thing. Look in the mirror, smile at yourself and thank God that you can look in the mirror – regrettably as it is, tomorrow morning some won’t be able to look in the mirror, smile and give thanks. So it could be worse – much worse.
Friday, February 6, 2009
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER FOR FEBRUARY 6
LATEST NUGGET is at the end of this Newsletter. Check it out. Gymbeaux
Market Center Movie Schedule: Movie follows the M&M Group: (Recommend you bring your lunch)
Monday, February 9 at 12:00 Noon: Stand Up For Your Life, with Cheryl Richardson, approx 60 minutes
Monday, February 16 at 12:00 Noon: Pass It On, multiple artists, better than The Secret, approx 90 minutes long
YOU ARE REQUIRD TO COMPLETE 12 HOURS, NOT 8 HOURS, OF CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT IN 2009. NOW IS THE TIME TO PLAN AHEAD. 4 OF THOSE HOURS MUST BE ON THE NEW AGREEMENT TO PURCHASE. THE NEW SUBJECT FOR THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTOR’S THIRD CYCLE OF REQUIRED QUAD TRAINING WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER THIS MONTH OR NEXT, WATCH FOR DETAILS. GET IT OUT OF THE WAY SOONER RATHER THAN LATER!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The NABOR Awards Luncheon is Thursday, March 12, 2009 at Tchefuncta Country Club in Covington. 2 Country Club Park Covington, LA 70433 doors open with a cash bar at 11:30. Lunch and awards program at 12:15. Reservations required. $26.00 if made on or before Feb 25, $36.00 thereafter. See flyer in resource room for details and reservation info. We have 16 teammates getting awards – fantastic considering the market! LETS SUPPORT THEIR EFFORTS BY SHOWING UP AT THE LUNCHEON WEARING RED!
DAVID KNOX FIRST TUESDAY TRAINING: Another gem by one of the best trainers in our business. This one is on How to Negotiate Low Offers. It is only 10 minutes long but 10 minutes you do not want to miss.
https://www.davidknox.com/knox_sales_meetings/020309/
PASS IT ON; THE MOVIE: If you liked The Secret, you’ll love Pass It On. I purchased a copy of the 90 minute movie and will pay it in the training room at 12:00 – 1:30 PM on Monday 16 for anyone who wishes to see it. You can check out a movie preview at www.PassItOnToday.com.
BIRTHDAY INFO; interesting web site that gives you tons of info about the day you were born. Thanks to Dale Sibley.
http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp
Monday Morning M&M Update: The M&Ms will meet every Monday at 11:00. This past Monday was our first meeting and it was decided that the hour would be more of a conversation about real estate topics than a formal training class. The discussions are to hopefully help everyone define their goals, meet their goals and/or discuss tips, techniques, scripts, etc based primarily upon my almost 30 years in the business and the various training books, seminars and CDs I have listened to. The hour is open to everyone. Next Monday, February 9th, the meeting will be followed by a 60 minute movie, attendance voluntary, entitled, Stand Up For Your Life by Cheryl Richardson. Bring your lunch and enjoy the flick.
BLUE INK: There is no legal requirement that I am aware of but it would be in everyone’s best interests if they would use blue ink for their buyers and sellers when signing contracts. The blue ink would help to immediately identify Originals. Copy machines are so good it is oftentimes difficult to identify a copy from the original.
LISTING TIP; TAX RECORDS: You are strongly encouraged to run the tax records and print out a copy of the tax records for the properties you are listing. If nothing else, it will give you a legal description of the property and may also identify delinquent taxes which could adversely affect an eventual sale.
SELLER’S NET SHEET: Keller Williams Realty International identifies the need to include a Seller’s Net Sheet in each listing folder to be completed when the property is first listed. It is recommended that you calculate a Seller’s Net based on a full price offer where the seller pays what is typically paid by the seller and the buyer pays what is typically paid for by the buyer. This requirement appears in the International Policy and Procedure Manual as well as our Market Center manual.
MANDATORY CE: Every licensed associate is REQUIRED to take 4 hours of CE on the new Agreement to Purchase. Remember, starting in 2009, that would be this year, you must insure that NABOR Board Office receives a copy of your certificate of completed training. Also, some time in late February or March, NAR will announce what training is REQUIRED for the Quadrennial Third Cycle Training. Watch for details. It is always better to take your training sooner rather than later. REMPHASIZED FROM ABOVE JUST BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT!
BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Jeffrey Gitomer’s, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless! In my opinion this should be a required reading for anyone in sales. Gitomer, in my opinion, is a sales genius. He approaches all of his books with great clarity, gives you specific action steps to guide you to better business practices and points out the obvious in a very humorous manor. All of his books are worth reading, and this one is no exception. Do you want “satisfied” customers or do you want “loyal” customers? Nuff said! This book is hard for me to read. I’ll read one page, get an idea. Read another get an idea. At this rate, I’ll finish it in 2010.
TODAY MAY BE THE POOREST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, check it out at: http://www.mikelitman.com/blog/?p=124#more-124
Short Article: From Sales Gravy: PRIORITY #1, RETAIN YOUR CUSTOMERS IN 2009! http://mail.google.com/mail/?source=navclient&shva=1#inbox/11f4657d7b6c113e
While you are on the site, consider signing up for Jeb Blunt’s FREE newsletter.
Amazing and unbelievable Video of one dog saving the life of an injured dog on an Interstate Highway, very short, very profound. http://www.sonnyradio.com
What is your Real Age, take the test at: http://www.sonnyradio.com/realage3.swf. For the record, I am about 3 years younger than my chronological age; that would make me about 24 (just kidding)
GREAT ARTICLE AGENTS AND BUYERS SHOULD THINK ABOUT REGARDING MORTGAGES, thank you Paul Chiasson. http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/03/real_estate/new_rules_for_mortgage_borrowing/index.htm?postversion=2009020413
DR. WAYNE DYER AND MS. CHERYL RICHARDSON interview via HayHouse. Both are dynamic and very influence speakers and authors. This is a link to the interview: http://mail.google.com/mail/?source=navclient&shva=1#inbox/11f48794dd8855f3
Nugget For The Noggin
LATEST NUGGET is at the end of this Newsletter. Check it out. Gymbeaux
Market Center Movie Schedule: Movie follows the M&M Group: (Recommend you bring your lunch)
Monday, February 9 at 12:00 Noon: Stand Up For Your Life, with Cheryl Richardson, approx 60 minutes
Monday, February 16 at 12:00 Noon: Pass It On, multiple artists, better than The Secret, approx 90 minutes long
YOU ARE REQUIRD TO COMPLETE 12 HOURS, NOT 8 HOURS, OF CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT IN 2009. NOW IS THE TIME TO PLAN AHEAD. 4 OF THOSE HOURS MUST BE ON THE NEW AGREEMENT TO PURCHASE. THE NEW SUBJECT FOR THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTOR’S THIRD CYCLE OF REQUIRED QUAD TRAINING WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER THIS MONTH OR NEXT, WATCH FOR DETAILS. GET IT OUT OF THE WAY SOONER RATHER THAN LATER!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The NABOR Awards Luncheon is Thursday, March 12, 2009 at Tchefuncta Country Club in Covington. 2 Country Club Park Covington, LA 70433 doors open with a cash bar at 11:30. Lunch and awards program at 12:15. Reservations required. $26.00 if made on or before Feb 25, $36.00 thereafter. See flyer in resource room for details and reservation info. We have 16 teammates getting awards – fantastic considering the market! LETS SUPPORT THEIR EFFORTS BY SHOWING UP AT THE LUNCHEON WEARING RED!
DAVID KNOX FIRST TUESDAY TRAINING: Another gem by one of the best trainers in our business. This one is on How to Negotiate Low Offers. It is only 10 minutes long but 10 minutes you do not want to miss.
https://www.davidknox.com/knox_sales_meetings/020309/
PASS IT ON; THE MOVIE: If you liked The Secret, you’ll love Pass It On. I purchased a copy of the 90 minute movie and will pay it in the training room at 12:00 – 1:30 PM on Monday 16 for anyone who wishes to see it. You can check out a movie preview at www.PassItOnToday.com.
BIRTHDAY INFO; interesting web site that gives you tons of info about the day you were born. Thanks to Dale Sibley.
http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp
Monday Morning M&M Update: The M&Ms will meet every Monday at 11:00. This past Monday was our first meeting and it was decided that the hour would be more of a conversation about real estate topics than a formal training class. The discussions are to hopefully help everyone define their goals, meet their goals and/or discuss tips, techniques, scripts, etc based primarily upon my almost 30 years in the business and the various training books, seminars and CDs I have listened to. The hour is open to everyone. Next Monday, February 9th, the meeting will be followed by a 60 minute movie, attendance voluntary, entitled, Stand Up For Your Life by Cheryl Richardson. Bring your lunch and enjoy the flick.
BLUE INK: There is no legal requirement that I am aware of but it would be in everyone’s best interests if they would use blue ink for their buyers and sellers when signing contracts. The blue ink would help to immediately identify Originals. Copy machines are so good it is oftentimes difficult to identify a copy from the original.
LISTING TIP; TAX RECORDS: You are strongly encouraged to run the tax records and print out a copy of the tax records for the properties you are listing. If nothing else, it will give you a legal description of the property and may also identify delinquent taxes which could adversely affect an eventual sale.
SELLER’S NET SHEET: Keller Williams Realty International identifies the need to include a Seller’s Net Sheet in each listing folder to be completed when the property is first listed. It is recommended that you calculate a Seller’s Net based on a full price offer where the seller pays what is typically paid by the seller and the buyer pays what is typically paid for by the buyer. This requirement appears in the International Policy and Procedure Manual as well as our Market Center manual.
MANDATORY CE: Every licensed associate is REQUIRED to take 4 hours of CE on the new Agreement to Purchase. Remember, starting in 2009, that would be this year, you must insure that NABOR Board Office receives a copy of your certificate of completed training. Also, some time in late February or March, NAR will announce what training is REQUIRED for the Quadrennial Third Cycle Training. Watch for details. It is always better to take your training sooner rather than later. REMPHASIZED FROM ABOVE JUST BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT!
BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Jeffrey Gitomer’s, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless! In my opinion this should be a required reading for anyone in sales. Gitomer, in my opinion, is a sales genius. He approaches all of his books with great clarity, gives you specific action steps to guide you to better business practices and points out the obvious in a very humorous manor. All of his books are worth reading, and this one is no exception. Do you want “satisfied” customers or do you want “loyal” customers? Nuff said! This book is hard for me to read. I’ll read one page, get an idea. Read another get an idea. At this rate, I’ll finish it in 2010.
TODAY MAY BE THE POOREST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, check it out at: http://www.mikelitman.com/blog/?p=124#more-124
Short Article: From Sales Gravy: PRIORITY #1, RETAIN YOUR CUSTOMERS IN 2009! http://mail.google.com/mail/?source=navclient&shva=1#inbox/11f4657d7b6c113e
While you are on the site, consider signing up for Jeb Blunt’s FREE newsletter.
Amazing and unbelievable Video of one dog saving the life of an injured dog on an Interstate Highway, very short, very profound. http://www.sonnyradio.com
What is your Real Age, take the test at: http://www.sonnyradio.com/realage3.swf. For the record, I am about 3 years younger than my chronological age; that would make me about 24 (just kidding)
GREAT ARTICLE AGENTS AND BUYERS SHOULD THINK ABOUT REGARDING MORTGAGES, thank you Paul Chiasson. http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/03/real_estate/new_rules_for_mortgage_borrowing/index.htm?postversion=2009020413
DR. WAYNE DYER AND MS. CHERYL RICHARDSON interview via HayHouse. Both are dynamic and very influence speakers and authors. This is a link to the interview: http://mail.google.com/mail/?source=navclient&shva=1#inbox/11f48794dd8855f3
Nugget For The Noggin
THE GOLDEN RULE IS ALL WRONG!
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown
Okay, maybe it is not wrong, but there definitely is an alternative that could help you in sales. If you are like me, you first began hearing about the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you,” since the age of 3 or 4. God knows I am not here to suggest that my mother was wrong but in this case, I think she may have been a little mislead as I have.
I have heard several speakers and authors talk about this but who said it first - I have no idea. While watching the great movie Pass It On, I heard it again. This time it was not WHAT was said but HOW the speaker emphasized the words that initially caused me to really start thinking about the meaning of what was said. Then I picked up where I had left off reading Jeffrey Gitomer’s book, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless where Gitomer told two stories of two different hotels and how he had been treated. (Side note: This has been one of the most difficult books for me to read. Read a page, get an idea. Read another page, get another idea. At this rate I will finish it in 2010. But is a fabulous book; highly recommend it.)
In the first 5 star hotel, he was treated not only as he expected to be treated, he had some pleasant surprises thus creating a memorable event that was repeated by word-of-mouth, as well as his written word in his books; and now mine here. At the second hotel, Gitomer expected nothing less but less is exactly what he got. His treatment was shabby at best. He was shocked to find a hand written note on his hotel bed from the manager addressing him by name thanking him for his business and reaffirmed his desire to provide great service. The manager obviously sent such notes routinely to incoming customers but had failed to discuss this new visitor’s displeasure that had been voiced at the front desk the night before. In other words, this is what we really do (actions) and this is what we would like to do (false promises).
What actually transpired is not important. What hit me from his two stories was the effect of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” Gitomer’s stores created a very HUGE AHA for me when coupled with what I had heard that same afternoon in the Pass It On movie which was:
Do unto others as they would WANT done unto THEM! – not you!
Let me put this into perspective. I am the real estate broker for a 100+ Keller Williams Realty office. If you stop and think for just a minute, you realize that with 100 people you get 100 personalities; none the same. 100 likes – 100 dislikes. 100 people with different goals and objectives. 100 people with different family make-ups. 99 people who get it except for you-know-who; who has no clue! Or in other words, everyone is different. Jeffrey Gitomer who travels a great deal to his speaking engagements has come to expect quite different treatment at hotels than say I would. I travel only a couple of times a year at best. It would be far easier to satisfy my requirements than Gitomer’s because he would have far greater needs than I would. The next morning he gets up in front of hundreds if not thousands of people and has to look his best. Me? I probably will get up and go to the golf course; I don’t care if my shirt is pressed, or not – huge difference.
Question. What if you are a jerk? If you take the Golden Rule literally, does that mean you treat everyone else like a jerk because that is what YOU have come to expect? What if you are someone who gets into verbal confrontations on a daily basis? Someone who is unhappy? Someone who is simply sick, or worse, you are you-know-who? Get the idea?
Some people like to be left alone. Some people thrive by engaging other people. Some people find it difficult if they do not constantly receive praise and recognition. Some people prefer to stay in the background. Some want quick resolutions. Some want to be certain the resolution was thoroughly thought out and tested.
There is one trait, however, that we are all most likely guilty of – what’s in it for me? Would it be fair to say that every customer we have ever dealt with or will deal with thinks, “What’s in it for me?” Do you think the customer ever seriously thinks, with the emphasis on seriously, how can I satisfy this agent’s needs and wants? No way!
Think about this: How do YOU want to be treated by me? Personally, I am always aware of how I want to be treated by you? This is what I know about me. When all the fluff is set aside, I am a bottom line person. If you can get the job done in 10 minutes do not take 60! Tell me what you want. Let me know if you want me to help or just listen; there is a difference.
I tell you this because if you treat me the way YOU want to be treated and it is NOT the same as I would, you will most likely miss the mark. When you meet someone for the first time and you have only a few seconds or words with the other person there is no way you could possibly know how that person wants to be treated. You must engage with the idea of learning. You do this by asking questions and then, and this is the critical part, YOU LISTEN TO WHAT IS SAID! In the case of a hotel stay, you can pretty much understand that the sky is the limit and it would be easy to meet minimum standards but to exceed them would be determined by what that guest to the hotel had come to expect from the type of hotel they stay at. Hotels that truly exceed a customer’s expectations constantly look for ways to “raise the bar” on what is provided by the hotel and exceed what is expected by the customer as Gitomer points out in his book. In one story in Gitomer’s book, a hotel employee called him a week in advance of his stay to ask him if there was anything special he would need. Imagine that – initiative. That one action has caused Gitomer to tell others about the hotel and he has even written about it, and now I am. Word-of-Mouth marketing at its finest!
What are you doing to cause your customers to want to tell others about the service you provide, or not. Are you providing service that YOU think the customer wants; or, are you providing the kind of service the customer REALLY wants? Do Unto Others As They Would Want Done Unto Them!
What I have come to learn over my many years in real estate sales is that the more experienced the real estate agent the less likely it will be that the agent sees through the customer’s eyes. Times change and what worked yesterday may not work today. But if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it – we have all heard that. I look at it a bit differently. I look upon things as always being broken; it just hasn’t stopped working – yet! I have always done it this way, I don’t care what you or your studies show. “Do unto others as you would have done unto you!” Therefore with that attitude, you would continue doing what you have always done and most likely begin to realize diminishing returns on your efforts over time. I am a baby boomer. Believe it or not, a great many “baby boomers” are NOT computer literate. So if you go into a presentation expecting to overwhelm the baby bloomer with your technical savvy on the computer, you will succeed – you will have overwhelmed them! When you overwhelm people you also unintentionally plant the seeds of distrust. Give the customer what the customer wants. If the customer wants technology, give it to him or her. If the customer wants a gentle conversation, eye-to-eye, give that to him or her.
DO UNTO OTHERS AS THEY WOULD WANT DONE UNTO THEM!
A much better Golden Rule; at least in my opinion. Treat people the way THEY would LIKE to be treated. The way YOU want to be treated when providing service to others really doesn’t matter does it? Here is another personal example. I am a bottom line type person. I hate the endless lead-ins to eventually get to the meat of the matter. I have attended training classes where the instructor talked for over 45 minutes and did not provide one note-taking idea – it was all lead-in material. In one 2 hour required continuing education course, there was only 15 minutes of meat taking notes out of a total of 120 minutes of presentation. I was bored out of my mind. I was being treated like someone else wanted to be treated – not me Mo Frer! Treat people like THEY want to be TREATED!
Fast forward to a situation where I am selling my own home and you come to my home for a listing presentation. Also consider this fact which you would not know if you don’t read (of course that is not you) – 70% of homeowners interview only one agent. Therefore you have a 70% chance that agent would be you, unless of course you are you-know-who. You come to my home and start your presentation and I would most likely learn all about you, your company, your company ownership, your wonderful company logo and colors, and the notebook computer you present all this material on. You may even show me name after name of satisfied customers. Not once, however, did you ask me what I wanted. Remember, I told you I am a bottom line kind of person. All I wanted to know was how much you thought my home was worth and why, and, what are you going to do to sell it. That’s it! How long would that take? 15 minutes? 20? But no, you have been doing listing presentations for over 10 years and you absolutely know, with no uncertainty, what I want to hear – wrong! Do unto others as they want done unto them!
How do you know what I want and how I want to be treated? YOU ASK! Imagine that! Most real estate agents “assume” they know not only what their customers want but also how they want to be treated and that is just wrong thinking. Actually it is “bonehead” thinking. And you-know-who engages in bonehead thinking and you certainly do not want to be like that, would you? (Rhetorical question, you don’t have to email me with your response J )
Want to change your business? Change the way you think about your business. More importantly find out what your customer wants (they are not all the same) and then create a plan of action that meets your customer’s needs, wants and more importantly exceed their expectations.
TREAT PEOPLE LIKE THEY WANTED TO BE TREATED!
If you do, then the next famous quote falls right into place:
“To get everything YOU want in life, help someone else get what THEY want – FIRST!
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown
Okay, maybe it is not wrong, but there definitely is an alternative that could help you in sales. If you are like me, you first began hearing about the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you,” since the age of 3 or 4. God knows I am not here to suggest that my mother was wrong but in this case, I think she may have been a little mislead as I have.
I have heard several speakers and authors talk about this but who said it first - I have no idea. While watching the great movie Pass It On, I heard it again. This time it was not WHAT was said but HOW the speaker emphasized the words that initially caused me to really start thinking about the meaning of what was said. Then I picked up where I had left off reading Jeffrey Gitomer’s book, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless where Gitomer told two stories of two different hotels and how he had been treated. (Side note: This has been one of the most difficult books for me to read. Read a page, get an idea. Read another page, get another idea. At this rate I will finish it in 2010. But is a fabulous book; highly recommend it.)
In the first 5 star hotel, he was treated not only as he expected to be treated, he had some pleasant surprises thus creating a memorable event that was repeated by word-of-mouth, as well as his written word in his books; and now mine here. At the second hotel, Gitomer expected nothing less but less is exactly what he got. His treatment was shabby at best. He was shocked to find a hand written note on his hotel bed from the manager addressing him by name thanking him for his business and reaffirmed his desire to provide great service. The manager obviously sent such notes routinely to incoming customers but had failed to discuss this new visitor’s displeasure that had been voiced at the front desk the night before. In other words, this is what we really do (actions) and this is what we would like to do (false promises).
What actually transpired is not important. What hit me from his two stories was the effect of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” Gitomer’s stores created a very HUGE AHA for me when coupled with what I had heard that same afternoon in the Pass It On movie which was:
Do unto others as they would WANT done unto THEM! – not you!
Let me put this into perspective. I am the real estate broker for a 100+ Keller Williams Realty office. If you stop and think for just a minute, you realize that with 100 people you get 100 personalities; none the same. 100 likes – 100 dislikes. 100 people with different goals and objectives. 100 people with different family make-ups. 99 people who get it except for you-know-who; who has no clue! Or in other words, everyone is different. Jeffrey Gitomer who travels a great deal to his speaking engagements has come to expect quite different treatment at hotels than say I would. I travel only a couple of times a year at best. It would be far easier to satisfy my requirements than Gitomer’s because he would have far greater needs than I would. The next morning he gets up in front of hundreds if not thousands of people and has to look his best. Me? I probably will get up and go to the golf course; I don’t care if my shirt is pressed, or not – huge difference.
Question. What if you are a jerk? If you take the Golden Rule literally, does that mean you treat everyone else like a jerk because that is what YOU have come to expect? What if you are someone who gets into verbal confrontations on a daily basis? Someone who is unhappy? Someone who is simply sick, or worse, you are you-know-who? Get the idea?
Some people like to be left alone. Some people thrive by engaging other people. Some people find it difficult if they do not constantly receive praise and recognition. Some people prefer to stay in the background. Some want quick resolutions. Some want to be certain the resolution was thoroughly thought out and tested.
There is one trait, however, that we are all most likely guilty of – what’s in it for me? Would it be fair to say that every customer we have ever dealt with or will deal with thinks, “What’s in it for me?” Do you think the customer ever seriously thinks, with the emphasis on seriously, how can I satisfy this agent’s needs and wants? No way!
Think about this: How do YOU want to be treated by me? Personally, I am always aware of how I want to be treated by you? This is what I know about me. When all the fluff is set aside, I am a bottom line person. If you can get the job done in 10 minutes do not take 60! Tell me what you want. Let me know if you want me to help or just listen; there is a difference.
I tell you this because if you treat me the way YOU want to be treated and it is NOT the same as I would, you will most likely miss the mark. When you meet someone for the first time and you have only a few seconds or words with the other person there is no way you could possibly know how that person wants to be treated. You must engage with the idea of learning. You do this by asking questions and then, and this is the critical part, YOU LISTEN TO WHAT IS SAID! In the case of a hotel stay, you can pretty much understand that the sky is the limit and it would be easy to meet minimum standards but to exceed them would be determined by what that guest to the hotel had come to expect from the type of hotel they stay at. Hotels that truly exceed a customer’s expectations constantly look for ways to “raise the bar” on what is provided by the hotel and exceed what is expected by the customer as Gitomer points out in his book. In one story in Gitomer’s book, a hotel employee called him a week in advance of his stay to ask him if there was anything special he would need. Imagine that – initiative. That one action has caused Gitomer to tell others about the hotel and he has even written about it, and now I am. Word-of-Mouth marketing at its finest!
What are you doing to cause your customers to want to tell others about the service you provide, or not. Are you providing service that YOU think the customer wants; or, are you providing the kind of service the customer REALLY wants? Do Unto Others As They Would Want Done Unto Them!
What I have come to learn over my many years in real estate sales is that the more experienced the real estate agent the less likely it will be that the agent sees through the customer’s eyes. Times change and what worked yesterday may not work today. But if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it – we have all heard that. I look at it a bit differently. I look upon things as always being broken; it just hasn’t stopped working – yet! I have always done it this way, I don’t care what you or your studies show. “Do unto others as you would have done unto you!” Therefore with that attitude, you would continue doing what you have always done and most likely begin to realize diminishing returns on your efforts over time. I am a baby boomer. Believe it or not, a great many “baby boomers” are NOT computer literate. So if you go into a presentation expecting to overwhelm the baby bloomer with your technical savvy on the computer, you will succeed – you will have overwhelmed them! When you overwhelm people you also unintentionally plant the seeds of distrust. Give the customer what the customer wants. If the customer wants technology, give it to him or her. If the customer wants a gentle conversation, eye-to-eye, give that to him or her.
DO UNTO OTHERS AS THEY WOULD WANT DONE UNTO THEM!
A much better Golden Rule; at least in my opinion. Treat people the way THEY would LIKE to be treated. The way YOU want to be treated when providing service to others really doesn’t matter does it? Here is another personal example. I am a bottom line type person. I hate the endless lead-ins to eventually get to the meat of the matter. I have attended training classes where the instructor talked for over 45 minutes and did not provide one note-taking idea – it was all lead-in material. In one 2 hour required continuing education course, there was only 15 minutes of meat taking notes out of a total of 120 minutes of presentation. I was bored out of my mind. I was being treated like someone else wanted to be treated – not me Mo Frer! Treat people like THEY want to be TREATED!
Fast forward to a situation where I am selling my own home and you come to my home for a listing presentation. Also consider this fact which you would not know if you don’t read (of course that is not you) – 70% of homeowners interview only one agent. Therefore you have a 70% chance that agent would be you, unless of course you are you-know-who. You come to my home and start your presentation and I would most likely learn all about you, your company, your company ownership, your wonderful company logo and colors, and the notebook computer you present all this material on. You may even show me name after name of satisfied customers. Not once, however, did you ask me what I wanted. Remember, I told you I am a bottom line kind of person. All I wanted to know was how much you thought my home was worth and why, and, what are you going to do to sell it. That’s it! How long would that take? 15 minutes? 20? But no, you have been doing listing presentations for over 10 years and you absolutely know, with no uncertainty, what I want to hear – wrong! Do unto others as they want done unto them!
How do you know what I want and how I want to be treated? YOU ASK! Imagine that! Most real estate agents “assume” they know not only what their customers want but also how they want to be treated and that is just wrong thinking. Actually it is “bonehead” thinking. And you-know-who engages in bonehead thinking and you certainly do not want to be like that, would you? (Rhetorical question, you don’t have to email me with your response J )
Want to change your business? Change the way you think about your business. More importantly find out what your customer wants (they are not all the same) and then create a plan of action that meets your customer’s needs, wants and more importantly exceed their expectations.
TREAT PEOPLE LIKE THEY WANTED TO BE TREATED!
If you do, then the next famous quote falls right into place:
“To get everything YOU want in life, help someone else get what THEY want – FIRST!
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