A Letter to My Kids

This blog is about next practices – next practices in life, business and commercial real estate.  While I tend to post more about business and CRE, I’ve had a number of triggers that led to this post.  I realize that not everyone shares my faith and my worldview.  This is how I look at life, and this post will be a little more personal than most.

iStockPhoto.com

iStockPhoto.com

To set this up, let me back up a bit.

In 2003, my great friend Mike Arnett stayed with our family for a month two different times.  He was completing medical rotations at the hospital on the Army based I was stationed at the time.  I would notice him writing in a notebook on a regular basis.  He was writing to his children.  He had two at the time.  He and his wife are now expecting their 7th (not a typo).

I started journaling to my son shortly after.  I would write about my observations of him.  I would write what was going on with me.  The idea was that when he was older, I could give him something that would tell his story.  It would also give him a view into his daddy’s heart.  I now have 3 of these notebooks – one for each child – and they all need to be updated.

I am part of a men’s group that meets on Thursdays.  We talk about our faith.  We meet to help each other lead our companies and our families better.  These are incredible guys, and I’m a better man because of their influence.  In January, one of these men shared that he wrote a letter to his children when they were young.  The letter was about all the things that he hoped for them.  I was inspired and remembered thinking that I wanted to do the same.

Then today, I was listening to a podcast from a new friend that I met last week at the Platform Conference in Nashville. Dan Hayes and his wife have a great podcast called The Simple Life Together.  I highly recommend it.  He was sharing that he wrote a letter to his son before he deployed after 9/11.  His purpose was to communicate to his son all that he would want him to know should he not return.  Again, I was inspired.

So, here is a not so short letter to my children.  I share this because I believe intentionally communicating with our children what they should know is a great idea.  Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life, but it could also be my last.  I want to intentionally take steps to share certain things with my children that could make a huge difference in their lives.  I share this to encourage you to do the same.

 

Kiddos,

I love you.  In fact, each of you have helped redefine what love means to me.  At each of your births, I remember knowing that you deserved a better dad than I was that day.  God has used all three of you to refine me, and I’m sure that He will continue to do so.

When you boil life down to its core, relationships are the only things that matter and that last for eternity.  It is not about how much you know, how much you make, or how successful you are.  It is about how you made life better for others.

I submit to you that the most important thing is your relationship with Jesus.  It is the most important thing to your mother and me.  I want you to see this in our lives – not just hear it from our lips.  The world will tell you one thing.  Many different theologies, denominations, and religions will tell you it is about something else.  I’m telling you that it is about love.  God loved you enough to create you just as you are.  Then He loved you enough to buy you back through His Son.  He loves you, and so do I.

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Will – You are so intelligent.  You are athletically gifted.  You have such a passion and a desire to succeed.  You want to please people.  You are a natural leader, and I can see how others are attracted to you.  You will have the ability and opportunity to hugely impact the lives of others in a positive way.  I want you to know that I care more about your character than your success or achievements.  I want you to know that you are unconditionally loved.  I love you not because of your achievement, but because you are my son.  That will never change – no matter what!  I want you to maximize your potential, but whether you do or not has no bearing on my love for you.  Remember to slow down and enjoy the ride.

Ben – You are the flavor of our family.  You see the world in possibilities.  Your creativity and imagination blow me away.  You inspire.  You keep us laughing constantly.  You have to be responsible for the majority of my smiles.  You are a non-conformist and your give-a-darn is completely broken.  I love that about you.  Do not let school, society, or me take away your creativity and personality.  Don’t let us suck away your passion and zeal for life.  I also don’t want you to get kicked out of school.  You have the ability to bring joy and life to the lives of the people who are blessed to know you.  Continue delivering smiles.  You belong in this family.  And I love you – no matter what!

Maddie – You are as tough as nails, and as girlie as they come at the same time.  And I love that about you!  You absolutely delight me.  I love how you light up when you see me.  I love how you run and give me a hug when I come home from a trip.  I love how you want to sing a song with me every night at bedtime.  I love that you asked me to marry you the other night.  I want you to know that you are beautiful.  I want to be a safe place for your heart.  In fact, I will protect your heart until it is time.  And when that day comes, I will give it back to you so you can give it to a blessed young man.  I see the best qualities of your mother in you.  You love people.  You already have deep friendships.  You constantly make those around you feel like a million bucks.  You have me wrapped.  Regardless of what may happen in the future, you are my daughter, and I love you – no matter what!

You three completely rock!  Love, Dad.

So what would you say to your kids?  What would it have meant to have received this sort of letter from your father?  Let me hear from you in the comments section below.

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Take Advantage of 2 Year-Making Events

This is the first time that I have used my blog to promote an event.  In this case I am promoting two events.  I am not making a dime off this.  I am simply bringing this to your attention because both of these events have the potential to bring great value to your businesses.

iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto

AuctionPoint2013

I remember when I first began in the Commercial Real Estate industry in 2004.  The idea of auctioning off a listing meant failure.  Using our own marketing and market expertise, our company could not produce a closing.  Thus, we punted and looked to auction as opposed to losing the listing.  We split our fee with the auctioneer and secretly cursed under our breaths that we couldn’t sell that property without them.

No longer.

AuctionPoint2013 is an incredible opportunity to expose your listings to a national online event.  I’m not sure where to start with the benefits, so here is a list:

  • Over $300,000 is being spent to promote the event internationally.  None of those dollars comes from you!
  • AuctionPoint2013 is a collaboration between AuctionPoint.com, LoopNet, First American Title, Sperry Van Ness, Cushman Wakefield, Marcus & Millichap, Colliers, RE/MAX, CBC, NAI, Lee & Associates, Voit, REITs, and numerous national and regional banks.
  • You keep you entire commission.  Whatever you listed the property for, you receive.  A 2.5% buyers premium is paid by the buyer.  This is half of what normal online auction sites charge.
  • You can still sell before the auction.  This is a great way to bump stalling buyers off-center.
  • This auction is already filling up with outstanding assets.  This is not an auction full or garbage assets.
  • Your brand is aggressively promoted with your property.  Every time your property/listing is seen, you are seen.
So how can you get involved?
  • Go to AuctionPoint2013.com
  • Click Learn More
  • In the circle at the bottom right, select “Click for Details”
  • This will take you to a screen that explains how to submit an asset
Important Dates:
  • Feb. 1, 2013 – Asset Submission Begins
  • March 15, 2013 – Asset Submission Ends
  • March 29 – May 28, 2013
    • Asset list released to the public
    • Nationwide market campaign deployed
    • Property inspections and underwriting performed
    • Pre-auction offers accepted
Note:  All properties submitted are reviewed by a selection committee.  Only a certain number of properties will be accepted.

Question:  What is preventing you from serving your clients by utilizing CRE Event of the Year?

 

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Free Webinar:  How to Maximize Your Brokerage Income in 2013 – Feb. 19, 1:00 pm EST

In 2010, I made a great decision to hire Rod Santomassimo as my CRE coach.  Rod is the president and founder of the Massimo Group which is the premier CRE coaching and consulting firm.  After 2 years of coaching, Rod asked me to come on as a coach for the Massimo Group.  I have been coaching CRE brokers from all over the United States and Canada since then.
In this free webinar, Rod is going to discuss proven strategies and tactics that create greater opportunities for commission income.  This will not be a Massimo Group commercial, but a real sharing of practices and ideas.  Learn how top producing brokers:
  • Fill their pipeline with continual business opportunities
  • Create a top-of-mind position with their clients and key prospects
  • Develop personal teams, both virtual and physical to increase efficiencies and productivity
  • Implement tactics which consistently help them Find, Win, and Close more business.
I encourage you to do what over 500 CRE practitioners have already done and invest 30 minutes in yourself by attending this free webinar.  You will be glad that you did.
Details
  • Date:  Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013
  • Time:  1:00 pm EST
  • To Register:  Click Here

 Invest in yourself and register today!

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What Are You Worth?

What are you worth?  You don’t have a clue, do you?

I have a mentor and client who is incredibly successful.  He owns over a dozen businesses. He employs hundreds of people.  He loves Jesus and is one of the most generous men I’ve ever met.  He is an amazing man.  He is someone who we should all want to be like.

iStock_000021836294SmallA couple of years ago, I was meeting with this man.  I asked him what the inflection point was in his career.  He surprised me with his answer. He told me about a conversation that he had with his mentor.  At that time, my mentor had hit his limit.  He was experiencing what John Maxwell calls the Law of the Lid (read the book – affiliate link).

In that conversation, my mentor asked his mentor, “Why can’t I break through?  What is my problem?”

Last week at my company’s national convention, I spoke on becoming a Power Prospector.  Afterwards, one of our top producers wanted to talk with me.  He is tapped out.  He has so much business.  However, he is struggling to keep up with it all. He’s trying to do everything himself.  It isn’t working.

I ask you again.  What are you worth?

This is one of the most important things that you can know when running your business.  Why?  Because you have more to do in any one day than you can accomplish.

Delegation

In both of the stories above, lack of delegation is the problem.  My mentor was trying to control everything.  He wouldn’t delegate.  Thus, he was the bottleneck.  He was the problem.

Our top producer has not put together a team or a system to maximize his efforts.  He is the Lid holding his business and his productivity back.  We are going to remedy this situation, and his business is going to explode.

You have heard that delegation is a good idea, but can you articulate why?  As the CEO of you, there are certain tasks that only you can do.  These are the high-dollar activities or the high value creation activities.  You want to delegate everything else so that you can focus on those activities.  Said another way, anything that anyone else can do, they should do.  This frees you up to do only things that only you can do.

To effectively accomplish this, you must do 3 things:

  1. Catalogue your activities – Before you can delegate, you must know with clarity all the activities that take up your time.  The best way to do this is to catalogue everything that you spend time on for a week.  Write it all down.  Some of you just rolled your eyes.  Don’t skip this step.  Write it all down.
  2. Triage – The triage step involves deciding which are the high dollar activities and which need to be delegated.  Ask yourself, “If I could only do 3 of these activities, which ones would they be?”  Some you will simply want to delete and stop doing entirely.  This step gives you clarity of purpose.  It also gives you the job description for the team member or virtual assistant that you may add.  If you already have an assistant or team in place, this list is now their playbook.
  3. Know what you are worth! – Many of you will be tempted to simply read this and move on with your life.  I challenge you not to.  Go through this with me.  You will thank me.

I’m going to use round numbers.  Let’s assume that you work 50 weeks a year and 40 hours a week.  Now write down what your income goal for the year is.  Great.  The math looks like this.

50 weeks x 40 hours/week = 2,000 hours worked in a year

Income Goal  / 2,000 hours = your value per hour

If you want to make $100,000 this year, then $100,000 / 2,000 hours = $50/hr.  If you want to make $400,000 this year, then your are worth $200/hr.

Rod Santomassimo, the president and founder of the coaching firm the Massimo-Group, knows his number.  He has a note on his desk that reads, “Is what you are doing right now worth $___/hr?  If not, stop doing it!”  This is why you must know your worth.  It allows you to effectively focus on the activities that maximize your effectiveness and earning potential.  Otherwise, you are leaving money on the table.

So what are you worth?  How will knowing this number effect how you lead and work?  Let me know in the comments below!

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January’s Top Posts

In case you missed them, here are the top posts from January.  Key to note – January marks the first month I’ve expanded the topics of my blog – from Commercial Real Estate best practices to Next Practices in Life, Business, and Commercial Real Estate.  Thus, please enjoy the post below on marriage as well as other business and CRE topics.  Thanks for reading!

I also want to invite you to sign up just to the right to receive my new posts straight to your email inbox.  Don’t worry about remembering to check my site.  I will do the work and make sure that you never miss a post.  I will also never share your information.

 January’s Top Posts

iStockPhoto via Erikona

iStockPhoto via Erikona

Why You Should Use a Simple CRM – ClientLook – CRE Tech & App Review – On the front-end, I must confess to being a CRM-hopper.  I started my career in 2004 with a legal pad – literally.  Then I moved on to Outlook.  Please pay attention when I say this.  Outlook is not a CRM system – sorry Dad.  It is simply email with contacts and a calendar.  Read More…

 

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12th Anniversary Trip

What 12 Years has Taught Me About Having an Awesome Marriage – I’ve had a crush on my wife – still do – since the day I laid eyes on her.  I was 10 years old in youth church choir.  She sings like an angel, and I liked being around girls that could sing like an angel.  It took me 8 years to ask her out.  Two reasons caused the delay.  I was sort of a dork, and she was intimidatingly beautiful – still is!  After 5 years of me proving that she is the most forgiving person on the planet, we got married.  (This is by far the most condensed version of ‘our story’ that I’ve ever pulled off).  Read More…

 

iStockPhoto from cosmity

iStockPhoto from cosmity

The 3 Benefits of a Well Done Prospecting Letter – You have to assume that at least 50% of recipients are not going to read your letter.  They just won’t.  And that is fine.  All I’m trying to do is warm up my initial cold call.  When I call those who actually read it, my ratio for getting a meeting goes up.  Read More…

 

 

iStockPhoto by hidesy

iStockPhoto by hidesy

The One Secret to Winning the Business Every Time – When I started in the Commercial Real Estate Business, I knew that the listing presentation was important.  Very important. I wrote and rewrote.  I practiced and then practiced some more.  I would record myself and play it back while I was driving.  It was canned…  Read More…

 

iStock_000010779625Small

iStockPhoto

5 Reasons to Develop Decisiveness Using the 70% Rule – You will experience failures in your personal and professional lives.  It should not be the failed goal that defines the experience but the way that we respond to the failure.  Consider reflecting on these questions…  Read More…

 

 

January’s Stats

I’ve read on some other sites where they post their stats.  I have always appreciated this – as much as a benchmark as anything else.  It is difficult to know how well you are doing sometimes.

  • 2,371 Unique Visitors
  • 6,761 Page Views
  • 65% Percent New Visitors
  • 61 Countries
  • 30% from a mobile device
  • 81% of those from an iPhone or iPad
  • 119 Subscribers to my email list

I wish you all a fabulous February.  I turn 36 this month!  If you have any comments on the posts above or would like to make a suggestion on what you would like to read, leave a comment below!

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The 18th Rule of Email Etiqeutte

See below…

Last week I was in Chicago visiting our main technology provider.  I had a great day with these guys.  At lunch one of them made a comment that made me rethink something I do all the time.  So thanks Vishu.  You have given me the 18th rule of email etiquette.

iStockPhoto by SquaredPixels

iStockPhoto by SquaredPixels

Last year I wrote a post called the 17 Rules of Email Etiquette.  Before I give you the 18th rule, here is a recap of the other 17.  These definitely bear repeating.

  1. DON’T USE ALL CAPS – just hard on the eyes, is it not?
  2. Sarcasm doesn’t translate
  3. Email is a poor medium for bad news
  4. Don’t reply all! – my company does this too much, and I’m falling into the habit.  That ends now.
  5. Use property grammar (revision – I used property there instead of proper – kinda Freudian, no?)
  6. Use the spell check
  7. Re-read before you send
  8. Understand the permanence of email
  9. Don’t be a jerk
  10. Proofread your emails
  11. Keep your emails brief
  12. Don’t email angry – I did this last week and definitely regret it.
  13. Please don’t forward chain emails
  14. Refrain from using ‘high priority’ – if it is high priority, call.
  15. Craft an appropriate and descriptive subject
  16. Complete your signature
  17. Be pithy

18 – It is lazy to forward an email to someone else without your comments.  How often do you forward an email with just a comment that says ‘See below…’  I do this all the time.  When we do this we miss the opportunity frame the information and share our thoughts.  If it is important enough to forward to someone else’s inbox, take the time to tell them why in your own words.  Otherwise, they just have to guess.

So I ask you – how often do you forward an email without stating why or giving context?  What would your 19th Rule be?  Leave us your input in the comments below.

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5 Podcasts that Will Make You Smarter

Recently, I was able to connect with one of my closest friends while driving home from a trip to Chicago.  This guy is the kind of friend that everyone needs.  He was in my wedding.  I was in his.  We were fraternity brothers at Murray State University.  He was the quarterback.  I was the receiver.  We even dated the same beautiful Southern girl (not at the same time) who I now get to call my wife.

iStockPhoto via jodijacobson

iStockPhoto via jodijacobson

He is the kind of friend when you haven’t spoken for a year, it is like it was yesterday.  Everyone needs at least one friend like this.  I am blessed to have a couple.

My friend was sharing with me an opportunity he has to leave the corporate world and start a business.  He has created something special that could be incredibly valuable to his customers and himself.  However, he told me that he doesn’t think he’ll do anything because he doesn’t have a clue about starting or running a business.

Fifteen minutes later I had brain-dumped all this information on him.  Now, I have started a business (that failed), and I have owned a business that I sold.  But the stuff that I was telling him surprised me.  How did I know this stuff?

Then it occurred to me that I was repeating a lot of great information that I had learned through listening to some incredible podcasts from businesses leaders across the United States (actually, most of them are in Nashville).

If you are not familiar with a Podcast, it is literally someone recording themselves speaking about some subject.  It is much like a radio show.  However, you can download these podcasts on your iPod, iPhone, or other smart-phone or mp3 player.  You simply subscribe through iTunes – for free – and they automatically download whenever a new episode is published.

Before I share with you which ones I love and recommend, let me share with you how I consume this information:

  • While working out – I can kill two birds with one stone when I engage my mind and my body at the same time.
  • While driving – great content is so much more effective than coffee at keeping me alert.  Not only that, but I can transform my car into a classroom and make the most of every moment.
  • On a plane – I’m actually on a plane as I write this somewhere between Nashville and Atlanta.  Were I not writing, I guarantee that I would be listening to one of the following podcasts.

My Top 5 Recommended Podcasts

  1. This is Your Life, A Podcast by Michael Hyatt – If you aren’t familiar with Michael Hyatt, you should be.  He has a top 100 (in the world!) blog on intentional leadership.  He has recently written a New York Times Bestseller called Platform:  Get Noticed in a Noisy World.  His is by far my favorite blog and his content is amazing.  His podcast is awesome too.  He is authentic.  You end up just liking him.  I get to meet him next month at our company’s National Conference where he is giving the keynote address.  I am also going to his Platform Conference the following week in Nashville.  Can’t wait!
  2. 48Days Online Radio Show by Dan MillerDan Miller rocks.  A mentor of mine suggested that I connect with him last year.  I ended up hiring him as a career coach.  He is also a bestselling author of 48 Days to the Work You Love and other books.  His podcast centers around careers, business plans, business models, and other career related info.  You can’t listen to him and not get fired up about what is possible.
  3. Ray Edwards Podcast – Ray probably has my favorite podcast.  He is very transparent and genuine, and he basically let’s you in on his life.  He is a productivity freak (I mean that in a good way).  His podcast is broken up into segments which I love.  He has a main message of each podcast, but also has a tech tip of the week, a spiritual foundations segment, and a segment with Stu McLaren who is great.  Ray is also a marketing genius.
  4. Entreleadership Podcast – I can’t believe that this is 4th on my list, but the others are just that good.  This is the podcast from Dave Ramsey and his main man Chris LoCurto.  Every show has a short message from Dave that sets the theme, but then they move to a guest interview.  The guests are amazing and are a who’s who when it comes to business.  You can’t get this kind of access to this kind of wisdom and experience anywhere else I’m aware.
  5. Podcast Answer Man with Cliff Ravenscraft – This podcast is obviously a little more technical.  I include it because at least the first three podcasts listed above are a result of Cliff’s expertise.  He is the expert when it comes to podcasting.  I hope to introduce my own podcast this year so I have been studying up.  Cliff is also a Kentucky boy like myself!

In one sentence, these podcasts are like being able to sit at the feet of these guys and learn from their wisdom.  And it’s free!

So who do you listen to that I don’t?  Who would crack your top 5?  Let us know in the comment section below!

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8 Great Ideas to Be a Better Parent – Part 1

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post on what I’d learned from my 12 years of marriage.  At that point, it was my most read post.  That was a pleasant surprise.  However, when my kids saw the picture of their mom on my blog, they asked me to write a post where I could use their pictures.  So this post is for them.

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I remember when my wife told me that we were pregnant for the first time.  I was so excited.  I was also terrified.  I instantly realized that my child needed me to be a better man than I was at that moment.  This was an absolute defining moment for me.  It changed me.  I became dedicated to becoming that kind of dad.  I became serious about my faith.  Everything changed.

I’m certainly no expert in parenting, but I have learned some things.  Here are the first 4 keys to being a rock star parent.

Love Your Wife

I don’t think there is anything greater you can do for your kids then to give them the security of knowing their parents have a strong marriage.  Enough said on this one.

Become a Student of Your Children

“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” ~ Prov 22:6

IMG_6746 copyI’ve heard this verse quoted by many parents with wayward children trusting that this verse means they will come back to the faith.  I’m not sure that is what this verse is talking about.  I don’t think the bible teaches that parents have the ability to parent in such a way that guarantees the salvation of their children.

I think this means that parents have the responsibility to help their children reach their potential.  This means that parents must be students of their children.  What are their natural abilities?  What are their passions?  It is like a great puzzle.  I ask my boys all the time what they love doing.

If your kid is creative, champion that in them.  My oldest is very competitive, so I play sports with him all the time.  Do whatever you can to help your kids grow towards their potential.  This does not mean making them into what you are passionate about.  This is not about you.

Pursue the Hearts of Your Children

This idea is nebulous, but you want access to your children’s hearts.  Are you a safe place for them to really share what is going on with them at a heart level?  I want to suggest that you only get a few chances when your kids will open up the windows of their hearts and give you access.  If you are a safe place for them, they will give you the key to their hearts forever.

IMG_6855 bwcopyTwo things can revoke this access quicker than anything:  anger and teasing.  If your child shares a heart-level secret with you and you get angry – access revoked.  If your son shares with you his feelings for a young lady, and you tease him, he’ll never share it with you again.

Pursue their hearts.  Gain and treasure that access.  Protect it!  Be that safe place.

Develop Your Family Culture

Developing a family culture gives your kids an identity.  Here are some things that we do together as family:

  • We eat together almost every night.
  • We pray together every night – rotating between the 3 kids’ rooms.
  • We share and reinforce the same values – honesty, a strong work ethic, risk-taking, caring for each other.
  • We play together – sports, coloring, building Lego’s, hanging out together on the couch watching The Biggest Loser, etc…

Later this week or maybe next, I’ll share with you the next four ideas.  In the meantime, share with us a great idea from your experience as a child or a parent.  What is your favorite memory with your parents?  What would you add to this list?  Comment below!

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Ask Me Your Questions

Take a look at the right column of this site.  I encourage you to sign up for the email list of this blog.  Not only will you receive every new post directly to your email inbox, but you will be the first to know of any new announcements.  There are some exciting ones coming up.  And I will never give your info to anyone…ever.

iStockPhoto from myrrha

iStockPhoto from myrrha

2013 is a year of new beginnings for me.  This blog has a new look and an expanded scope.  I have a new job.  I have a new vision for the future and new goals.  I couldn’t be more excited.

Another shift that starts now is I am purposing to focus more upon the highest interests of my readers.  Practically, that means I am trying to write for my readers.  Until this point, I’ve been writing whatever I hoped would be interesting or useful for someone.

In one of last week’s posts, The One Secret to Winning the Business Every Time, I make the case that the most important thing that you can do with your clients and prospects is understand their needs.  You do that by asking questions.

So today, I’m asking for your questions.  Here is how this will work.  You can ask me anything.  As this blog is focused on Next Practices in Life, Business, and Commercial Real Estate, your questions simply need to fall into one of those categories.  Feel free to ask about my experiences, background, job, or my thoughts on any subject.  I’m certainly no expert in most subjects, but I have thoughts on most.  I will respond in one of 3 ways:

  1. Your question will turn into a post – Some of you already been firing questions at me – and they are great questions. Those that warrant a full post will get it.
  2. I will respond that I don’t have a clue – This may happen more than I’d like.  However, if I don’t know, then I will tell you.
  3. I will find out – I expect some questions will pique my curiosity and will send me searching.  In that case, I will report back what I find.

To give you a feel for what I am working on, here are some post titles coming up in the future.

Life

  • A Review of the App ‘Book on Her’
  • How to Pursue the Hearts of Your Children
  • How to Create a Healthy Family Culture

Business

  • The 7 Steps to Cast a Vision that People will Follow
  • The Art of Delegation Results vs Tasks
  • Book Reviews

Commercial Real Estate

  • CRE App Reviews
  • Why You Should Consider Syndications as Part of Your Business
  • More Posts Unpacking the Steps in a Prospecting System
  • An Introductory Post on Creating Presence

Those are my plans, but I want to hear from you.  Here is how you ask a question:

  1. Use the comments section below
  2. Include your name and website – I will link to them if I use your question as a post.
  3. Ask your question!

So ask away!  I look forward to increasing the interaction with you on my blog and ensuring that I am listening to my readers.  Use the comments below.

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The One Secret to Winning the Business Every Time

When I started in the Commercial Real Estate Business, I knew that the listing presentation was important.  Very important. I wrote and rewrote.  I practiced and then practiced some more.  I would record myself and play it back while I was driving.

iStockPhoto by hidesy

iStockPhoto by hidesy

It was canned.  I would give that same presentation to an elderly couple wanting to sell their land.  I would give it to a bank looking to relocate a branch.  I would give it to the owner of an office building that needed to lease space.  It didn’t matter who it was.  I had it down.

I would talk about the experience of our company (this was important because I had little experience at the time.)  I would talk about successful transactions we had closed.  I would talk about my Marine Corps service (the only thing I had going for me at the time.)  I would talk about how young and hungry I was.  It was all about me.  This, I believe, is what the normal CRE listing presentation looks like.

Through much reading, coaching, and mentoring, I learned there is a much better way.  I was taught the secret.  Before I give it to you, let me tell you a story.

Not too long ago, I received an opportunity through a referral from a CPA (if you aren’t pursuing relationships with CPA’s, smack yourself and start tomorrow.)  Instead of preparing a canned listing presentation for the client’s portfolio of properties, I simply scheduled a meeting.  All I did in that meeting was ask questions.  I didn’t talk at all about me, our company, or my experience – zip.

By the end of that meeting, I knew a few things I didn’t know before.  This prospect was tired of the management and unpredictable net income of multifamily property.  I knew that the prospect wanted to simplify.  I knew that the prospect wanted to be able to hold me accountable throughout the listing.  I knew that communication was extremely important.

I then took that information and crafted a client-centric, customized, benefit driven presentation.  I explained how selling these properties could eliminate the hassle of tenant turnover, dealing with management companies, and fluctuating income.  I showed how a shift to Single Tenant Net Leased properties would essentially produce stable mailbox money.

I explained our commitment to transparency and accountability.  I showed how I could give the prospect 24/7 access to our activities through our cloud-based CRM system, ClientLook.  I promised our commitment to regular communication.  I won the listing over our competition at a higher fee.

If you haven’t figured it out, the secret to winning the business is the Needs-Analysis Interview.  There are many versions of this interview that you can find. I’m not going to plagiarize any of them here.  I am going to give you keys that must be present for this to work.

  1. You have to be authentic – People can tell when you are blowing smoke.  If they care about communication, and you promise it to them, you must be committed to delivering.  If not, they are going to tell all their colleagues.  In the story above, I discovered the prospects highest needs, and then fed them back in a custom listing presentation.  This only works if you are being authentic.
  2. You have to care – Discovering the needs of your prospect is all about putting their needs before your own.  It is about them.  It is about taking the time to craft from your capabilities the solution that meets their needs.  It is about making a difference in solving their problem or helping them capitalize on an opportunity.
  3. You must seek their pain points – You could also say that must understand the opportunity they are trying to seize.  Are they trying to simplify?  Are they trying to pass down a legacy of financial freedom and wealth?  Are they trying to get out from under a mountain of debt and stress that is wrecking their lives?  What is causing them pain.  Learn this and you will be able to earn the business.
  4. You must understand their highest interests – Is maximizing the value their highest interest?  Or is it speed?  How important is visibility to that tenant?  Will they give on price to get the lease term they want?  You can not go to battle for your clients if you don’t know what their desired outcome is.

So I challenge you.  The next opportunity you have at new business, stop.  Don’t go blazing in with your canned presentation.  Schedule the needs-analysis interview.  Let them explain to you how to win their business.  Learn to ask questions and listen, and watch your business explode.

I’d love to hear some stories of how you have used this secret to win business?  Or how do you plan to implement this into your business this year and beyond?  Comment below!

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The 3 Benefits of a Well Done Prospecting Letter

I previously wrote a post on The 8 Steps to a Killer Prospecting System.  Step 4 in that process deals with the use of a prospecting letter.  In my business, we sent just 20 letters to Dollar Store owners every week.  Then we called them the following week.

iStockPhoto from cosmity

iStockPhoto from cosmity

For the past 2 years I have used this system religiously.  It has had 4 different types of results for me:

  1. It hits the trash immediately.
  2. They see my name on the envelope before it hits the trash.
  3. It is opened and read. 
  4. It motivates the reader of the letter to call me first.

You have to assume that at least 50% of recipients are not going to read your letter.  They just won’t.  And that is fine.  All I’m trying to do is warm up my initial cold call.  When I call those who actually read it, my ratio for getting a meeting goes up.

On average, they will call me first about once a month.  70% of those calls turn into listings – that is our close rate when they call us from the letter.  That is a huge number for the cost of paper and a stamp.

I want to share 2 things in the remainder of this post:  why send a letter, and how to increase your open and read rate.

3 Reasons/Benefits to Sending a Prospecting Letter

  1. Letters warm up the cold call – This is obvious, but it works.  Not only do I have a higher success rate in getting meetings with those that read the letter, it gives me something to refer to right off the bat.  “Hi Mr. Smith.  I’m Bo Barron and I’m calling to follow-up on the letter I sent you last week…”
  2. Letters force you to follow-up with a call – How is that, you say?  The letters force me to call because I tell them in the letter that I will be calling in about a week.  This is built-in accountability.  It gives you your first opportunity to follow through with integrity – or drop the ball.
  3. Letters force you to be intentional and systematic with your prospecting – This is a huge benefit for most.  To send out a certain amount of letters a week means you must have your database set up.  It means you are intentionally signing X number of letters a week.  It means that you are planning ahead.  It means that you are differentiating yourself from 95% of the rest of the brokerage community.

Now that I have covered why to send the letters, let’s discuss how to get more people to actually open and read the letter!

  • Handwrite the envelope – Studies show that more people open mail that is handwritten versus printed.  I generally had my assistant do it.  She has much better handwriting.  Once a week, 20 letters appeared on my desk.  I signed them and gave them back to her.  She addressed the letters and sent them.  She logged into my cloud-based CRM system and scheduled the cold calls to the recipients.  I made the calls.  Clockwork.  Simple.  Effective!
  • Write a scannable letter – This is a scannable blog post.  I utilize simple sentences.  Short paragraphs.  Lists.  Bullet-points.  A friend of mine runs a local Packages Plus business.  He was sharing with me that studies have been done on increasing the read rate of a letter.  The second most likely thing that is read in a letter is bullet points.  I will tell you the first in a second.  Use them.  That is where your most important information belongs – written in a benefit statement for the reader.
  • Keep the letter short – Anything longer than a page is way too long.  Three-quarters of a page is what I think is best. You have about 15 seconds of eye-ball time.  After that, you lose their attention to something else.  Short and simple works best.
  • Talk about them – Don’t send a letter all about you.  They don’t care.  They care about themselves.  Talk about what is happening that affects their property – their bottom line – their lives.  If you don’t do this, you are wasting your time.
  • Use a Postscript – That’s right – the P.S.  The postscript is the single most read thing in a letter.  Therefore, put the most important thing in the postscript.  I suggest to you that is where you tell them you will call them.  If they read nothing but the postscript, and you tell them you are going to call them, they are much more likely to then read the letter.

Most of you will not do this.  Some because you are lazy.  Some because you don’t know where to start.  Some because you won’t pause long enough to build your database in the first place.

I challenge you to try this for 90 days.  I think you will be blown away with the results.

Let me hear from you.  Have you used prospecting letters in the past?  What worked well?  What didn’t?  Comment below!

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