Embarrassing Confessions & Marketing Muscle Memory

Two quick confessions:

I can’t throw a baseball.
I’m pretty sure I just scared a potential client away.

I used to be able to throw a baseball. I played little league and pony league with some success. There weren’t any pro scouts putting radar guns on me or anything, but I played right up until high school and I was regularly elected to the all-star team. (Although looking back, it probably helped that I was much bigger than all the other kids and threatened to show them my Bruce-Lee-super-fist-of-temporary-death if they didn’t vote for me… Nah, I’m sure it was my prowess inside the foul lines.)

Anyway, in high school I discovered my true calling: shot-put. After that, I didn’t have occasion to pick up another baseball until my boys started playing just a year or two ago. That’s when I discovered that I now had all the throwing grace and accuracy of a little girl. You see, by my estimate I probably threw the shot – over the course of my competitive career – 15-20,000 times. That pretty much wiped out any skill I ever had for throwing a baseball. On the other hand, it created a near perfect shot-put technique that I can still demonstrate even now… as I enter my peak “mid 40s” athletic years. (These are a lot like my peak “mid 20s” athletic years, only everything is now done while carrying around the extra weight of a small child. It’s actually quite impressive if you think about it…) Think about it or not, I can still summon dynamic and purposeful form because of a powerful adaptation called muscle memory.

Earlier this week, as I was parking my truck, I noticed a car stopped in the middle of the street. The driver was craning her neck to jot down information from an agent’s For Sale sign. She then pulled up two houses and stopped again to take down information from another agent’s For Sale sign. By this time I was walking down the sidewalk; I veered in toward the middle of the street and approached her on the drivers’ side. “Hi,” I said, trying like hell to flash my I’m a big, cuddly polar bear smile rather than my (way too similar) I’m a big, psychotic black bear smile. Pointing back toward the two signs she had just copied down I continued, “I work with both of those agents and they’re very good. My name is Sean and I’m the best damn lender in San Diego.” Then I stuck out my business card. I had to reach pretty far through her open window because at this point she had recoiled almost to the passenger’s seat. I’m guessing I frightened her.

Will she call me for a loan? Very doubtful, but then I never expected her to call me. That’s not why I did it in the first place. This was an opportunity to perform rep #7,487. Every chance we get – as agents, as lenders, as vendors… as salesmen and women – we must practice our marketing form. We must ingrain our Marketing Memory. You may lose the ability to throw a baseball, you might even scare away a prospective client. But eventually, you’ll end up with a near perfect marketing technique and be on your way to world class producer.

Filed under: LENDERS, MARKETING, REALTORS , MARKETING, Success

The #1 Obstacle to Success

What keeps us from our goals?  Whether it be work, personal, health, money; what is the number one obstacle to achieving our potential?  Assuming our goals are attractive to us and within our ability, shouldn’t we reasonable expect to achieve a majority of them?  Yet most of the people I talk to say they’re not living up to their potential… yet.  But they will, once they get around a few obstacles:  once the economy improves and rates come down; just as soon as the boss recognizes that butt kisser for the incompetent he really is; after all the Holiday parties with the pies and cookies and egg nog.  You get the idea.  But the truth is, none of that stuff “out there” is the real obstacle.  That’s because there’s nothing “out there” nearly so scary or powerful or destructive to our success as we are to ourselves.  Most of us carry around a few self-doubts, maybe even a few “I can’ts.”  If asked, I bet you could list five things you don’t like about yoursef without even really thinking about it.  It’s as if we’ve gone on a date with ourselves and halfway through dinner decided we’re not good enough for the other person… and the other person is us!

Knowledge is power and knowing that we are our own biggest obstacle is very powerful. Yes, you have to have goals.  Yes, you have to create a plan for achieving them.  But I guarantee that plan will be much more successful if its very first step, is to fall back in love… with yourself.  Sound a little corny?  Maybe easier said than done?  Fear not: I’m going to leave you with a small, powerful two-word phrase for that all-important first step.  Not long ago I was talking to my 7 year old son and I was congratulating him on figuring something out for himself.  He immediately threw his arms into the air and said “Yeah Me!”  No pretense.  No guilt.  Only genuine admiration.  Imagine that: “Yeah Me!”

Go ahead, try it yourself.  Stop reading for a moment, put your arms in the air and say “Yeah Me!”  Come on… say it with feeling – really mean it.  “Yeah Me!”  Does it feel a little funny?  Make you feel a bit awkward; a little self-conscious?  That’s not unexpected; remember, we’re the same people who decided we weren’t good enough while on a date with ourselves!  Try this: for the rest of the day say “Yeah Me!” every chance you get.  Say it at least 100 times and mean it every time you say it.    Hold a vision of yourself, goals firmly in hand, during that brief moment it takes to say “Yeah Me.”  Most importantly, don’t stop doing it all day long.  You see the moment it stops feeling funny, is the moment you discover how successful you can really become.

“Yeah Me!”

Filed under: LENDERS, LIFE THAT POPs, REALTORS , Success

How to Run a Real Estate Business: Finding Wisdom in a Baseball Storm

“Last night I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out.”  (Ba-da-bum-ching.) That’s an oldie but a goodie.  I had a similar experience recently:  I went to a baseball game and a business class broke out.  About an hour north of me is the Padres Single A affiliate, The Storm.  If you’re a fan of baseball and haven’t made it to a minor league game, you really should; they are a blast.  But that’s a different story.  Because I attended the game with a friend from the Padres organization, I was lucky enough to meet the Storm’s President, Dave Oster and we got to talk a little business.

What’s that you say?  What does minor league baseball have to do with real estate?  By now you should know that business is business.  In the end, if you’re an agent, you’re running a business and I suggest we take every opportunity we get to learn from other successful business people.  As a matter of fact, I’m going to come right out and say you learn more from someone running a business different from yours than you’ll ever learn going to another 5000 seat auditorium and listening to some “real estate expert” who hasn’t sold anything but seats for years.  (Sorry… another tangent).

When Dave and I first got to talking, my goal was to ask him about his marketing philosophy.  I am always interested in learning what someone can share on marketing.  It’s been my experience that most people (and agents in particular) do a poor job of it.  Actually, that’s misleading.  The problem most people have is they don’t know the difference between advertising and marketing.  Genuine Chris Johnson wrote a post yesterday (and Jeff Brown is famous for them ) wherein they lay out that difference, but I wonder how many people are seeing it.  In any case, that’s another post for another day because Dave gave me a humdinger of an answer.  During the course of our conversation though, he said something you almost never hear, yet it may be the most important concept in running a business.  That’s today’s topic.

I was asking, in a very general way, about the group of people who work for him.  After a bit of hesitation Dave said (and I’m paraphrasing):  “It’s hard for me to answer questions about everyone who works here as a whole.  I see them as two very distinct groups: there’s those who create revenue and then there’s everyone else…  everyone else being a cost.”  That is probably the most important concept any one of us will ever learn about running a business.  Sound simple?  Play it through.  Let’s stick to baseball for a moment: the people taking tickets are certainly taking in revenue; so are they creating revenue or are they a cost?  That’s right, they’re on the debit side.  Same goes for the people behind the hot dog window and the ushers and even the guy who turns the lights on.  They may all be important (God knows the beer vendors are important) but they all count as costs.  Who creates revenue?  Anyone whose actions or ideas directly translate into more people coming through the gates.  This is so rarely understood that even the big guys get it wrong.  But if you start to view business, any business… your business, through this lens – profits go up.

Real estate, believe it or not, adapts to this way of thinking quite easily.  If you are a rainmaker, which is to say: if you are someone who goes out and brings in closed business, then you are a revenue creator.  Everyone surrounding you, however, represents a cost no matter how important they might be.  Your transaction coordinator? Cost.  Your trusted assistant?  Cost.  Your buyer’s agent, your receptionist, even your broker?  They are all a drain on your revenue.  Why is this important?  Because small business owners often lose track of the bottom line.  We lose track of who’s important – and that’s a sure way to lose your money too.  The first thing any business owner should do is take a look around and categorize every single person who gets paid… including themselves.  You will normally find there is one, maybe two people who are generating closed sales: revenue.  Everyone else who gets paid is getting paid out of those revenues.  That does not mean what they do is unimportant.  It might even be integral.  But it does allow you to assess your resources with a much more accurate eye.  It also aides in creating chains of command.  Far, far too many people in the work-a-day world believe they are important to a company when in fact their position might be important.  They themselves are simply a cost and their importance is tenuous at best.

There’s one other way to look at this and maybe it will help.  Those who generate revenue are integral to the firm.  Those who are a cost might fill a role that is integral, but they themselves are replaceable.  Get it?  Your assistant might be very important to your success, but he can be replaced.  How do you replace the person who generates actual revenue?  Never lose sight of the ledger in your business.

Filed under: INVESTORS, LENDERS, REALTORS , Rainmaker, Success

Finding Your Perfection

Earlier this week I was watching some old reruns of M*A*S*H.  What a well done series that was; funnier the first few years than it was later, in my opinion, because they got more political.  But the later years did give us a terrific character: Major Charles Emerson Winchester III.  Do you remember this guy?  What a pompous ass he was.  Speaking of pompous asses, why am I spending your valuable time reminiscing about a sitcom?  Good question, but I’ve got an even better answer.

I’m a big believer in being present.  If you’ve read any of my stuff or heard me speak, then you already know this.  As a matter of fact, if you’re anything like the agents I meet out here, you might even be tired of hearing it.  You might find the whole topic a little touchy-feely.  “There goes Sean again.  He might be a debonair, handsome, witty, intelligent, entertaining, man-of-action; but I’m tired of the Zen-happiness thing.  (I took a little license imagining what your thought about me might be;  you might not actually find me debonair…)  So today I’m going to sneak a little happiness in on you using pop culture: M*A*S*H to be specific.

Back to Major Charles Emerson Winchester III; as much of a buffoon as he was, the writers also gave him some of the most interesting lines.  I’m thinking of two in particular.  During one of his character’s early episodes, by way of explaining himself to the other doctors, he says, “I do one thing at a time, I do it very well, then I move on.”  That’s a great line isn’t it?  “I do one thing at a time…” sounds like someone who is present.  Someone who is focused on what he’s doing right then and there.  So far, so good.  “I do it very well…”  Hmmm, a little ego coming in here;  not so much about being present as it is being recognized by others for his accomplishments.  “Then I move on.”  OK, so now we see that he’s not really present at all.  He’s thinking about the next thing, but before he goes to it he expects your accolades for whatever he has just finished.  I’ll come back to this quote in a moment.

The other line I remember comes from an episode in which a soldier arrives badly hurt and Dr. Winchester, using those superior skills he constantly talks about, saves the man’s leg.  The Doc is very proud of this:  “Thanks to me,” he says, “when this boy goes home he’ll walk off the plane.”  You can imagine the good Doctor’s surprise then, when he lets  the soldier know just how great a job he did on the leg and the patient instead asks why his hand is in a sling.  Winchester explains that there was some minor trauma and there will be some permanent loss of dexterity… but the leg!  “I’ve saved your leg!”  “I don’t care about my leg!” the young man cries out.   “I’m a concert pianist!  My hands are my world.”  Dr. Winchester, a discerning patron of the arts himself, is crushed by this news and decides to help the soldier adjust.

To make a short story very long:  Winchester ends up showing the erstwhile pianist some pieces written specifically for the one-handed musician.  “What are you suggesting?” he asks,  “that I spend the rest of life touring and putting on concerts as some type of freak?”  Winchester tries to explain to the soldier that his gift is not located in his hands; it is located in his heart… and his soul.  Then he goes on to say:  “I’m a surgeon.  With these hands I can make a scalpel sing.  But all of my life, what I really wanted to be, was a concert pianist.  I took all the lessons.  I put in all the hours.”  (Here’s the big quote I promised two paragraphs ago)  “I can play the notes, but I cannot make music.”  Think about that:  I can play the notes, but I cannot make music.  Let’s go back for a moment to his first quote: “I do one thing at a time.  I do it very well.  Then I move on.”  Sounds an awful lot like someone practicing the notes, doesn’t it?  But to make music, as Dr. Winchester learned much too late in life, requires more than playing notes.  It takes a certain letting go of ego and analysis and judgment.  It comes from the perfection found in being completely and absolutely:  present.

This applies to a lot more than playing the piano.  What about when you’re talking to a client or doing that report or exercising in the morning?  How about when you spend time with your family, your children?  Every single day you can experience the pleasure – the joy, really – of living in perfection.  Not the perfection of flawlessly playing the notes (that’s not even physically possible), but rather the perfection of making your own music.  Be present today, be perfect… and enjoy the music.

Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs , M*A*S*H, Success

The Problem With Agents: They’re Not Selfish Enough

I talk to a lot of real estate agents and if there is one universal problem I see, it’s this: you are not selfish enough – not nearly selfish enough.  I’ll explain that in a minute.  First, let me ask:  how many reading this took auto-shop in high school?  I’m guessing maybe half.  Of those that took auto-shop, how many actually work on their own cars?  Right.  You don’t take it so you can grow up and work on your car.  You take it so when your car breaks down you have a clue what might be wrong with it.  You want to know if the repair shop is taking care of you or just taking you for a ride.  The importance of wide-ranging knowledge is even greater for agents.  The real estate business is a difficult one in the best of times and it’s always time consuming.  It encompasses so many different areas, you may not need auto-shop (although I recommend it),  but you do need Mortgage-shop, Title-shop, Escrow-shop, Sign-shop, Web Site-shop, Appraisal-shop, Home Inspection-shop, Staging-shop and on and on.  Obviously you can’t be an expert in all these areas, but just like auto class, you should know enough to make sure you – and your clients – are being taken care of rather than just taken for a ride.  Beyond that the most important thing you can do is surround yourself with a team that excels in these areas.  Herein lies the problem for which I titled this post:  real estate agents are not nearly selfish enough… with their time.

I’m going to share one perspective on how big an impact this can have on your bottom line.  Last Wednesday I was involved with three different events affecting over $1.7 million of real estate transactions.  For the math challenged, that’s $51,000 in real estate commissions.  I’m writing this from a lender perspective because that’s what I am, but it’s all about the agents.

• Early on Wednesday we funded a VA purchase loan for a little over $700,000.   Not remarkable in and of itself;  what stands out is that this borrower and his loan had already been declined… twice.  Fortunately, the agent knew enough about VA loans to know this one was doable.  No different than auto-shop:  you don’t have to know how to fund a VA loan, you just have to know if it’s fundable.  This agent did, so he went looking for a VA expert and found Brian Brady and myself.   His client now owns their dream home and he’s cashing a $21,000 commission check – all because he knew enough to go find the right team.  Do you think his client was pleased?  “I have more business for you” pleased?  How about “I can’t wait to refer my friend to you” pleased?
• Later that same day we went to an appointment with a top producing agent.  She had a purchase client who was about to pull $100,000 from a qualified account and pay over $10,000 in penalties because that’s what the client’s lender told her to do.  This agent knew enough to know that didn’t sound right and she called us.  Again, no different than auto-shop:  you don’t have to know how to fund a loan from a financial planning stand point, you just have to know that such a thing exists.  How excited do you think the client was when this agent  called and said “her team” was going to save the client close to $10,000 in penalties?  “I’ll give you more business” excited?  “Here’s a referral” excited?
• As it turned out, we were late for the meeting I just mentioned.  We were late because early Wednesday afternoon the mortgage back securities (MBS) market reversed itself.  For the past few days we had been floating all of our clients and they were enjoying better rates and fees because of it.  But things changed rather suddenly on Wednesday.  Since Brian and I are both a couple of old traders, we watch the MBS market…  and enjoy it (insert “get a life” joke here).  There is often less that a 45 minute window between the MBS market reversing and the lenders freezing their lock desks for repricing.  We jumped on the phones, locked the loans and called the agents.  We saved those clients close to $3000 each in extra closing costs.  (Or, worse yet, they may have been forced to take a higher rate, costing them tens of thousands over the life of the loan.)  Either way, how happy do you think the clients will feel when their agents called them and say:  “My team is looking out for you.  We just saved you a few thousand dollars in extra closing costs?”  Will they be “Here’s more business” happy?  “May I give you a referral” happy?

Because these three events occurred so close together, it hit me what was really happening.  These transactions were getting done, money was being saved and commissions were being earned because the agents knew enough to surround themselves with people who added to their business.  They were, in other words:  SELFISH with their time.   It reminded of a description I once read of Lance Armstrong.  The biographer had said that when it comes to people trying to enter Armstrong’s inner circle (”the world of Lance,” I believe he called it), there were  no gray areas.  Either Armstrong saw you as someone who contributed to his goals with little or no distraction, or he just plain didn’t see you.  His time was much too valuable to waste with someone who was not adding to the equation. Black and white.  Here’s the thing to remember:  Lance Armstrong’s time is not any more valuable then yours or mine, he’s just more aware of it’s value than most of us.

As I said, I wrote this from a lender’s perspective because that’s what I do.  But it’s true with your title rep, your escrow agent, your attorney, your home inspector, your home warranty rep, your stager, your assistant, your coordinator and everyone else in your circle.  You absolutely must be incredibly selfish with your time.  Take a look at all the people who make up your “team.”  I mean really evaluate them.  Make sure they are contributing to your business with little or no distraction.  Make sure you’re not actually spending more time on transactions due to all their “help.”  If you don’t know enough, take a loan class or an escrow class… or an auto class.  As I wrote last week:  time is the most important (if not only) product you stock on your shelf.   It is your most precious asset and it is absolutely non-renewable.

By choice or by inertia:  you surround yourself with professional relationships.  Make sure those relationships enhance your profession.

Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs, REALTORS , Success, VA

This Post Has Nothing to do With Real Estate

Not long ago I listened to an inspirational speaker discuss ways to make our lives less stressful and more enjoyable.  At one point he told this story:

In the wild, a big lion sprints toward an antelope who’s quietly feeding.  After a short chase – if the antelope hasn’t been caught – the lion slows down and eventually stops to rest.  Interestingly enough, the antelope often stops only a short distance away and begins to feed again.  The lion doesn’t bore his friends with excuses or puff his chest out and tell the antelope to “wait till next time;”  nor does the antelope, flush with righteous indignation, cry out: “What’s your problem, you (censored)!”  They both live in the present and by doing so find great peace.

I get the “message” in the story and maybe it’s just me; but I’ve never felt all that comfortable with animal metaphors.  Here’s another story; this one’s about stress and enjoyment too, but without the potential of being eaten:

Last Saturday I attended two Little League play-off games on the same day: one for each of my sons.  During the first game, I watched my older son’s team from the stands.  The other team was employing a delaying tactic and one of the fathers from our side made a condescending remark.  A coach from the other team heard the remark and replied in a less than congenial way.  The dad followed that up with an unmistakable insult to the opposing coach and before long we had ‘tough guy’ looks going back and forth.  (I swear, you can’t make this stuff up!)  The dad in our stands (mis)spent the next two hours of the game talking about what he was going to say next and what he should have said already and telling anyone who would listen what he thought of this coach.  He simply could not let go.

Later that same day I’m coaching my younger son’s team.  When you’re in the dugout with the boys you get a chance to listen in on their conversations and they can be quite mean.  It’s not uncommon to hear a group of seven and eight year olds arguing, calling each other names and pointing out each others’ most sensitive weaknesses.  Stuff like: “You’re a terrible player – we wish you weren’t even on this team.”  “Oh no, here comes our third out.”  “I’d give you all my sunflower seeds if you could just get one hit this game.”  Some pretty rough stuff.  Anyway, when it gets too loud one of us coaches will turn and yell: “Knock it off!  Sit down on the bench,”  which they do… right next to each other.  Without a hint of animosity.  They simply let go of whatever they were arguing about and go back to the game in front of them.

In the title I said this post had nothing to do with real estate and technically, it doesn’t.  But after my experiences Saturday, I spent quite a bit of time Sunday thinking about the people around me: my customers, my colleagues, my family and my friends.  Were they more like the people I encountered in the first game or the second?  I’ve got a customer right now that won’t let go of the past; constantly telling me how they’ve gotten plenty of loans and never once been inconvenienced by such trivial matters as tax returns.   I have a colleague that complains nonstop about where the market is heading and how he can’t get a deal done.  Can you make a list of people like that?  If you can, I have some advice: FIRE THEM!  Do not pass GO, do not collect $200 – just get rid of them now.  Might lose a deal?  Might lose a friend?  Might lose a family member?  Good.

As a real estate business owner, the most important item you stock on your shelf (and quite possibly the only item) is your time.  With whom are you sharing this precious, one-of-a-kind asset?  The clients, colleagues and even “friends” who always complain about the past and worry about the future?  Or the people who know how to  “Knock it off!  Sit down on the bench,” and enjoy the splendorous game going on, in the present, all around us? Your peace and your happiness depend a lot on the environment you choose.  You don’t have to hang out with lions and antelopes, but for goodness’ sake avoid the asses.

You know, maybe this does have a little something to do with real estate after all…

Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs, REALTORS , Lions, Little League, Success

The Secret to Success (part 372)

Want to know the secret to becoming a wildly successful, top producing, charismatic, healthy and attractive real estate agent?  Want to feel ten pounds lighter and ten years younger?  Want the whole thing in one easy to swallow pill?  Me too.

I know all of us want to make money – some more than others.  But our ultimate goals: security for our family, a peaceful sense of happiness, a worry free future – they are much more than just money, aren’t they?

Earlier this week I was driving my two boys to school.  The younger one piped up and asked what day it was.  “Wednesday” I replied.  He was ecstatic with that answer; bouncing on the back seat and just as excited as a seven year old can be on his way to school.  I asked him what made Wednesdays so special.  “On Wednesday we have PE,” he explained.  “That’s like an extra recess!  And on some days we play ‘anything-goes.’  Those are the best days ever!”

I started wondering: when was the last time any of us scheduled an extra recess?  Hell, when was the last time any of us scheduled a regular recess?  Can you remember the last time you found yourself enjoying a game of ‘anything-goes?’  May I suggest that when you finish reading this article you go directly to your calendar and schedule yourself an extra recess.  I’m not talking about some quiet time where you can get caught up on your paperwork!  I’m talking about a long lunch or a long walk.  Maybe going down to the beach or the park and bringing a picnic.  How about meeting your husband or wife at a hotel near their work for a romantic afternoon?

Schedule yourself an extra recess; preferably involving a little ‘anything-goes.’  I guarantee it will do wonders for your business.  You might even have “the best day ever.“

Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs , Recess, Success

4 Lessons on Success… From India?

The following is a true story.  The names were not changed and only the mistakes were innocent.

Not too many years ago I took a month off and traveled to India (for those new to the real estate profession, there was actually a time one could take a long vacation and still be successful).  India was not so much a destination of choice as it was obligation:  I was married at the time and my wife’s family is from there.  In any case, I found myself in India.

It is common for foreigners traveling in India to become sick the first week (the malady even has a name: New Delhi belly).  When I began feeling better I wanted to go for a run.  From the tenth floor window of our hotel room I looked down upon a large, undeveloped space bounded on all sides by city streets – roughly the equivalent of a city block.  I guesstimated a lap to be just short of a half mile and headed down to get in an hour’s worth of exercise.  Seemed simple enough from the tenth floor.  Strange thing though: once on the ground the loop was not nearly as obvious and that third left turn just never appeared.  I was quickly lost:

Lesson 1: No matter how great or simple or brilliant your plan, things can and will go wrong.

I decided that I would keep going, counting on the innate, natural sense of direction all males possess… (I’ll pause for a moment while the women stop laughing).  Two and half hours later I decided I was really lost.  Nothing looked familiar and I was no longer even in town.  It was also at this point that I stopped and took a good hard look at my situation: “I am lost, I don’t speak the language, I don’t have any ID with me and I’m not carrying any money.  Hmmm, this is not good.”  I decided to enlist some help; I was pretty much all-in after running for over two hours and imagined everyone back at the hotel worried sick.  Plus, there was the ’spectacle’.  You have to imagine me – 6′1, 240 lbs, dressed in a t-shirt and black Lycra running shorts – kind of towering over all these locals who couldn’t for the life of them understand why anyone would need to run in order to stay in shape.  Their daily lives of manual labor provided all the exercise they needed.  To say I was being stared at would be an understatement of massive proportions:

Lesson 2: When things go wrong, don’t panic or lose your head.  Evaluate the situation and create a Plan Of Action.

The first thing I did was look for a policeman…  There are surprisingly few policemen in the countryside of India.  Then I looked for some type of taxi… There are even fewer cabs than there are policemen.  Next I looked for a phone.  Now you have to understand that in India they don’t have phone booths, they have these little rooms (like a small storefront) with a couple of phones and one or two employees who usually speak some English.  I found one!  In I marched, relieved, large and in charge.  “I need to call my hotel.  May I see a phone book please?”  Blank looks.  Apparently, the few policemen to be found in the countryside are sitting in the even rarer cabs and reading the only phone books in existence.  “Alright, no problem” I said.  “What is your number for information?”  Now the blank looks became blank stares.  “Ah” I thought to myself “there’s that comforting stare I grew accustomed to outside.”  I went back out and looked for another answer.  As if by miracle, it appeared right in front of me: a rickshaw:

Lesson 3: If what you’re doing isn’t working, don’t be afraid to try new ideas.  Evaluate and adapt as you go until you find a plan that will accomplish your goals.

The rickshaw driver knew my hotel and agreed to pedal me there.  He got lost himself a couple times, but eventually things began to look familiar.  Not long after that we were cruising down the main street (the one I had miscalculated so badly some three hours previously) and within sight of the hotel.  I knew everyone in my family and a good portion of the hotel staff would be in full panic mode by now.  I suspected quite a few of them would be out in front of the hotel, standing on the steps keeping a watchful eye for me.  I stopped the rickshaw driver and asked him a favor.  A minute later we arrived at the hotel.  As I imagined, all of my family and most of the staff were outside, pacing and peering into the distance.  When they recognized us, the double takes were priceless: after all, how often in India do you see a big, white American pedaling a tiny bike and pulling a Rickshaw with the driver relaxing inside?  The laughs went a long way toward breaking the tension and worry over my absence:

Lesson 4: Keep a sense of humor and be willing to laugh at yourself too.

The moral of the story is this:  have an open mind, don’t lose focus of the ultimate goal and make time to laugh (if you can make others laugh too, all the better).

Oh, and if you ever go to India, leave your running shoes at home.

Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs, REALTORS , India, Success

If (If You’re a Real Estate Agent)

A little Hump-Day fun.  (Apologies to Rudyard Kipling.)

If you can keep your deal when all about you
Are losing theirs and talking of failure to you;
If you can trust your client when all clients doubt you,
And understand their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired of writing offers,
Or, being lied to, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being rejected, don’t deal in scoffers,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream of clients – and not make clients your master;
If you can think of volume – and not make volume your aim;
If you can meet with REO agents and short sale specialists
And take pride in what you do just the same;
If you can bear to hear the comps you’ve spoken
Twisted by appraisers to make agents fools,
Or watch the escrow you gave your all to broken,
And start again with new marketing tools.

If you can save 10% of all your winnings
And run through a prospecting plan,
And gain nothing, and start again at your beginnings
And never make complaint or show you ran;
If you can force your assistant and lender and staging pro
To serve your turn after they want to be gone,
And so hold on to that open escrow
With nothing but the Will to say: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with banks and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Brokers – nor lose the common touch;
If neither real estate coaches nor time vampires can hurt you;
If all clients count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ of marketing done;
Yours is the farm and all the transactions in it,
And – which is more – this profession will be fun!

Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs, REALTORS , Success

The Agents are the Heroes

How many remember the movie Back to the Future?  I always liked the play on words in that title and I am liking it even more lately.  Why?  Because as agents that is exactly what we are doing:  going back to the future.  I believe the marketing theme for 2009 is going to be “old school.”  Going back to the “old school” ways of marketing… done with the tools of the future:  back to the future.  (Caveat: the future for me has a very Mr. Magoo aspect to it.  I appreciate the high-tech agents among us keeping the laughter down to a mild snicker.)  Chris Johnson understands “old school”, he was bleeding it here and here.  Jeff Brown understands old school – actually, Jeff probably learned this stuff when it was just “school”…

• Touching your sphere of influence on a consistent basis is “old school” – using emails, webinars and blogging to do it is the future.
• Tracking your marketing, your prospecting and your ROI from both is “old school” – using powerful software to do so is the future.
• Picking up the phone and calling past clients or mailing something personal every day is “old school” – knowing there is no substitute for getting belly-to-belly is the future.

And WE are the future.  Those of us still here.  Our profession lost a lot of people last year.  Our profession needed to…  Many of us suffered just to make it this far and some of us are suffering still  (although some flourished… think about that).  But the point is, we are here.  We stuck it out because this “real estate thing” isn’t something we do on the side or because it’s easy money.  We are her because this is our profession.  We now reap all the opportunities of 2009… AND the responsibilities.  It is our charge to bring integrity and passion to everything we do.  You, all of you, are the heroes and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  You help people find their way, now more so than ever before, through a giant minefield of potentially devastating mistakes on their way to buying or selling what is probably the largest financial investment of their lives.  Pretty heady stuff.

I say Congratulations to each and every one of you.  When you lay your head down at the end of the day, remember this: you are the walking, talking, living proof of this truth: “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”

Filed under: LIFE THAT POPs, REALTORS , Agents, Success