Rick Thompson

Hello all,

"Rick Thompson"

I have written this coffee before, about 40 agents ago... however it is something I feel strong about so I wanted to write it again.

It was early 2006, I have had my license for 2 years at this point and Lisa for 1. Our business was starting to do well but still in it's infancy. I was sitting on floor duty one Sunday morning in the Germantown L&F office when a gentleman walked in. 

Joe - "Hello sir, may I help you?"

Response- "Hello my name is Rick Thompson"

In my mind- Holy crap Rick Thompson just walked in.

Joe - "Good to meet you, may I get you a cup of coffee or prepare a conference room for you?"

Rick- "No Sir, I have an appointment down the road in about an hour so I thought I stop in and visit."

Left side of my mind- Holy crap Rick Thompson just walked in and he has an hour to kill.

Right side of my mind- Don't say anything stupid, stupid.    

So Rick sat down in the lobby and we just started talking about Real Estate. Rick did not know me from Adam, I was just a newbie sitting on floor duty. Here is a 25M+ producer who I am sure if he put his mind to it could find better things to do with an hour then spend it with the kid on floor duty in another office. Rick was completely open with me about his business, marketing, thoughts on where the market was heading... I scribbled down every note I could. We started using his news letter after, some other techniques and we stopped doing some things that we were doing because I was told "that's dumb"  and he was right. After Rick left I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. This was not a life changing moment but it was a big "ah ha" moment for me. Many of the agents in our offices were secretive, protective and flat out paranoid, there was no sharing. From the time I went into management then on to being a Broker/Owner the concept of sharing and teaching within the offices has been very important to me. Nothing makes me happier then seeing one agent helping another out, a veteran agent helping a newer one. This business is difficult enough on it's own, having friends in the office to help and teach you is necessary. I will never stop learning or needing help, I am proud to call Rick Thompson my friend.  

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"We're not out to change the world, just the way you talk to it." ~ from a Vonage television commercial "The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate."

 

Joseph Priestly

 

TALK IS CHEAP! 

 

How ironic that today’s “inspiration” comes from a marketing campaign for a communications company. It’s touted that technology saves you time and helps you to communicate better. But isn’t it more apparent that technology now leaves us with so little time that we barely have occasion to properly interact with others? 

 

Anything that “saves time” is simply making more time that you can then devote to some other pursuit. Dishwashers and clothes dryers were supposed to be modern time- and effort-reducing marvels, but did people just sit around and relax after the cleaning was done? No, because all the “extra time” created by technology has only served to increase the hectic pace of our lives, allowing us to do more and more in less and less time. 

 

What about cell phones and email? Promoted as easy and inexpensive ways to communicate, they have ultimately diminished the personal aspect of communication. Ever gotten a phone call from someone who was killing time in line at the grocery store, or even worse, in traffic? Critical for emergencies and conducting business, cell phones otherwise give us an excuse for quick calls on the run, before the battery dies or the signal drops out (or another calls beeps in). 

 

Email is another beast altogether, having reduced our language skills to nothing more than “emoticons” and run-on sentences without capitalization. Email has replaced the answering machine as the new way to ignore communication. The sender feels good because at least they made an effort to get in touch, but the recipient is in the privileged position of responding whenever they wish. 

 

Ideally, we would all be able to sit down at home with undivided attention and give someone an hour of quality time on the phone. Or perhaps sit down with pen and paper and actually handwrite a personal letter to a friend or relative who lives at some distance. But really, who has the time?