Monday Morning Coffee

Hello all,

“Coaching”

Having Mark & Teri around is a luxury to us all in many ways. However I believe one of their best attributes is their ability to work with agents, or “Coach” them. Coaching is an interesting notion in our business, you go to a seminar, buy into the system then end up in coaching. Buffini, Proctor, Ferry… all good systems with proven success and coaching. What usually happens is you stay in the coaching for 6-8 months then drop it because you have the “system” figured out, so why pay the money. What you lose at this point is probably the most important part of coaching, “accountability”. Accountability can be a scary word, it forces us to commit to someone, open up to our plans, do the work then show that the work has been done. If you can get over the fear of having a coach/accountability partner your business will be certain to reach another level. In Mark & Teri we have two skilled technicians who having been coaching agents for many years and they cost, well, hmmm, Nothing for you! This is a benefit for us that other Brokerages simply do not have. I strongly encourage each of you to have a heart to heart with yourselves and make the commitment to work with them. Once a month, once a quarter, twice a year… make it part of your business plan to sit down with them so you can elevate your business.  

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe          

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"The greatest pleasure I have known is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident."

- Charles Lamb (1775-1834)

GIVE IT AWAY!

Here's a "feel good" idea that pays big dividends to both giver and receiver: "Give something away every day!"

We all get caught up in our day-to-day routines and responsibilities. Between family and home, work and leisure, our daily schedules are usually packed with the things we do for ourselves. Managing to squeeze in a little time for others is often out of the question.

In the big picture, however, it is not what we do for ourselves but for others that really matters in life. We're not just talking about those who are "less fortunate" in this context. The world of "others" includes family members, associates, the elderly, those experiencing illness, those in our geographical, social, or church community, or the less fortunate.

So . . . what do you give away? Are we talking big money to charities or an endowment to the local university? Nope! What you give away is up to you. It might just be your time - something as simple as taking your grandchild for a walk, offering to take an aging neighbor grocery shopping, or donating a Saturday to Habitat for Humanity. On days when you lack ideas, just give away a smile, a compliment, or some encouragement.

Maybe you give away some of your material possessions. That might include a piece of furniture, an antique, a piece of family heirloom jewelry, or the like-new clothing in your closet that never fit right. Why not donate some of the kids' toys to a day-care center?

Whatever you decide to give away, do it quietly - and anonymously when possible. Make it a habit. It will bring you the special joy of knowing you've made a difference.

Monday Morning Coffee

Hello all,

“Back to School”

This is an annual Monday Morning Coffee that I send out to congratulate all of the parents in the office. The balance between work, family and personal needs can be very difficult in our business. Having the children home all summer (even though we love them) can throw a big wrench into the balance. So to all of you parents who made it through the summer and are delivering your children back to the school system today, congratulations! I found out this summer that this goes to another level as they get older… I delivered our oldest to Towson University yesterday. There comes a time in their lives where you are ready for them to go and THEY are ready to go. Personal note- Starting with our oldest we will have a kid in college each of the next 10 years, 4 of the years 3 will be in at the same time, 2 of the years 2 will be in and the other 4 just one. Below is the famous Staples back to school commercial to get you in the mood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwcYbo7pjto

Enjoy the coffee,
Joe

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"Learn to let go. That is the key to happiness."

- The Buddha

PLEASE RELEASE ME!

Remember the song "Please release me, let me go"? If you've ever felt that someone or something had a hold on you and wouldn't let go, perhaps you needed an "attitude adjustment."

Why? Unless you are literally chained to a wall, people and things don't have a "hold" on you. It is you who have taken hold of them, and refuse to let go. It's so easy to latch on to the situations, relationships, and baggage of others - believing it possible to have some control over their outcome.

The result is never-ending worry, sleeplessness, feelings of helplessness, and other symptoms of being "out-of-control." Anger is another matter - there seems to be so much of it today. TV shows are full of it. Anger is directed at family, the boss, the spouse, or anyone else in sight. Yet anger results from feeling that things or people are not doing what you think should be done. Anger is felt when you can't control the outcome.

The truth is we are only in control of our own lives and actions - nothing more. Buddha had it right when he said, "Learn to let go." Martin Luther said, "Let go and let God." Regardless of who said it, or how it was said, letting go will open many doors of happiness in your future.

Monday Morning Coffee

Hello all,

“New Stuff”

First of all a big thank you goes out to Colleen & Danny for sponsoring our outing Saturday night. Also, to Carol of course for putting everything together. The weather Gods treated us well and everyone had a great time. For those of you who were unable to attend you were missed.

We have a couple of new things coming to the office in September so I wanted to give you a preview.

New website and back office intranet- We will be upgrading the website, the biggest thing here is agents will be able to get customized personal websites with a full IDX solution for $20 a month. Currently everyone gets a free micro site from RE/MAX but it really does not do much. The new site will give you more options and the IDX solution, it is similar to Homes Database capabilities through MRIS. The $20 per month is a pass through cost which can be added to your bill. The back office intranet (no cost to agents) will allow agents to log in to your statement to check on upcoming settlements, print commission reports, we will have a storage solution where we can put all of the important documents you need, schedule events, reserve conference rooms… It will take us a little time to learn how to stear the ship so we will be doing a full unveiling at the September sales meeting.

Small Buffini Group- Lisa and Sharleen will be starting a small Buffini group, the group will meet once a month for about an hour. This is a great energy builder and accountability session for all that attend. However to attend you must be in the Buffini system getting your blue box every month J

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe 

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"A candle loses none of its light by lighting another candle."

- Unknown

SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE!

Ever notice how those around you sometimes keep their best ideas to themselves? Perhaps it's you who calls for information from a supplier about a hot new prospecting idea . . . and asks that the information be mailed to your home so others in the office won't see it. Even if the shoe fits, you're not alone and won't be condemned for not sharing.

On the other hand, have you noticed how those who are most successful rarely mind sharing and teaching others their best moves? It's like lighting a candle. Those who are comfortable with their own success rarely feel threatened if they light someone else's candle. They know they will lose none of their own shining light by igniting the candle of opportunity for someone else.

How is candle-lighting best accomplished? First, it takes an understanding of your own strengths. Perhaps you're blessed with a beautiful smile and a never-ending supply of good attitude. If so, the candle you light for others may be words of hope and encouragement. Maybe time management and efficiency in your work ethic are your forte. If so, be a teacher and mentor to those who are not so focused.

The list of possibilities is long, but you probably get the point. Give your strength to others with no thought of reward. Do it every day. The simple candle you carry, when shared, may turn another's life into a multi-colored roman candle of health, happiness . . . and success.

Monday Morning Coffee

Hello all,

“Store Your Nuts?”

I have been at this Manager/Broker thing now for 5 years which has included my Monday Morning Coffee email. Each of the first four years I have sent my annual “Store Your Nuts” email about this time of year. Being in it every day it is easy to pick up the correlation between activity and closings. When general activity is strong you know your closings will be strong 60-90 days out because of the time it takes to get to contract, then the table. When activity is slow obviously you can forecast the opposite. Sometimes we get lulled into confidence because we are having a strong closing period but if the activity is down we need to budget for the future. Coming out of the spring market each of the last four years the activity in the office came to a screeching halt. July & August continued to be strong closing months but the road ahead looked a little gloomy, so I sent my “Store Your Nuts “ email for the fall and winter. I am not quite ready to send up the warning flag just yet for this year. Activity in the office the last 30 days has been as strong as I have ever seen, so the fall is looking good for closings. This is a bigger picture of how I look at the office however I encourage you to take the same approach with your business. Is the phone still ringing, do you have buyers in your car, going on listing appointments… These are all signs that the pipeline will stay full and the cash will keep flowing. I am not saying we are out of the woods and it could be a cold winter but for now the fall is looking good. Let’s keep working hard and keep this rolling as long as we can.

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe      

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"A single thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning."

- Unknown

THESE SHOES ARE MADE FOR WALKING!!

Remember one of the ancient sayings from your first-grade teacher? It went something like this: "We learn to do by doing." So . . . from "Chicken Soup" comes this story by John Holt:

"Not many years ago I began playing the cello. Most people would say that what I am doing is 'learning to play' the cello. But these words carry into our minds the strange idea that there exist two very different processes: 1) learning to play the cello; and 2) playing the cello. They imply that I will do the first until I have completed it, at which point I will stop the first process and begin the second. In short, I will go on 'learning to play' until I have 'learned to play' and then I will begin to play. Of course, this is nonsense. There are not two processes, but one. We learn to do something by doing it. There is no other way."

How do we learn to swim? Do we get the basics in a classroom, taught to us on a chalkboard, and then hit the pool like Mark Spitz or Esther Williams? How about riding a bike? Do we study the laws of physics, the effects of gravitational pull, or other Einstein-like theories, and then launch ourselves into the top spot in the "Tour de France?" No - we just fall down and scrape our knees a lot.

Want to add new direction to your life? Begin walking in that direction. Put one foot in front of the other. In other words, "Just do it!" It all begins with your imagination harnessing the power of your mind and the energy of your body. Once you choose a new role for your life, don't learn the part - act the part. One other thing - don't let that "single thorn of experience" deter you!

Monday Morning Coffee

Hello all,

“Sales Meeting”

Quick coffee this morning. I wanted to remind everyone about the sales meeting tomorrow, 9:30 at the Black Rock center. We have had several exciting additions to our organization over the summer, this will be a great opportunity for everyone to meet each other. We will also have a brief presentation from ATC which is a short sale negotiating company which has really figured out the process, they will also be staying after for Q&A. We only have 10 meetings a year and we were off last month so I would like to see as many of your smiling faces as possible.

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
- Stephen Covey

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS!

From the book "Wellsprings of Wisdom" comes this story:

A sturdy but diffident young man asked a farmer for a job as a farm hand. "What can you do?" inquired the farmer. "I can do whatever needs to be done, and I can sleep when the wind blows," replied the applicant. Although mystified by the phrase "sleep when the wind blows," the farmer did not press the question but hired the young man.

Some nights later a violent storm awoke the farmer. He got up and tried unsuccessfully to arouse the farm hand, then with considerable annoyance went out himself to see if all was well. He found the barn locked, the chicken coop properly closed up, a wagonload of hay covered with a tarpaulin that was securely battened down, and all else in a condition of safety from the elements. Then the farmer realized what his new farm hand meant when he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows."

Think how often the storms of life give us a wakeup call. How many times have those storms caught us with our guard down and our barn unlocked? The hired hand knew that simple precautions practiced on a daily basis could render impotent the howling winds of uncertainty in life.

Stephen Covey, in his "Seven Habits," talks about being proactive - heading off problems before they arise. While the hired hand never read the book, he understood the practice of closing up the chicken coop every evening. So, how are YOU sleeping when the wind blows?

Monday Morning Coffee

Hello all,

“ROI”

What if I told you that if you spent $4,000 a year plus 2 hours a week on something, in 2-3 years you could have an ROI (return on investment) of $40,000-$60,000 a year or even higher? I imagine most of you would write the check pretty quickly. Most top agents work their sphere of influence but also have an area or geographical farm that they work through marketing and community involvement. For this example I picked Fountain Hills in Germantown. When you pull the tax record, then remove the absentee owners there are 624 properties in the geographical farm. So if I wanted to farm there this is what I would do:

Step 1- I would contact a mailing company like Marketing Matters to set up a regular mailing. In this case you could send a nice 5.5 X 8.5 2 sided color post card with your pretty face plus a slick marketing piece on it every 2 months. The cost would be about $400 per mailing or $2,400 for the year.

Step 2- Pick 2 community events that you would sponsor a year in the community, yard sale or family pool party are good ideas. The cost would be around $800 each which gets us to the total of $4,000.

Step 3- Create a Facebook page for the community. “Fountain Hills Community page” would be nice. You would then start following what is going on in the community and post it on the page. You would also need to have creative ideas on how to get people to sign up for the page. This is the 2 hours a week part.

Individually these steps might not get you there but collectively and through repetition you should be landing 4-6 listings a year, in 2-3 years. That’s the $40,000-$60,000 a year part. Next Monday I am going to talk about ”market share” which takes this to another level. For today I would like to conclude with I understand this is a leap of faith. But the only things stopping you from doing this in your community is fear and lack of confidence. Two things you must to overcome if you want to be in sales.

Enjoy the coffee,
Joe

 

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:"Strength of numbers is the delight of the timid.
The Valiant in spirit glory in fighting alone."
- Ghandi

COMMITTEE COMFORT!

It has been said that "a camel is a horse created by a committee." You've probably witnessed the process yourself. You put any twelve decision-makers in a room together, and they can't seem to make a decision at all. Worse yet, they create something that is comfortable to all members - a camel of their own making.

Ghandi says numbers are the "delight of the timid." At some time or another, we all want the comfort of being surrounded by others with interests common to us. Maybe it's on sales meeting day when the discussion turns into a gripe session. Maybe it's in the break room, around the proverbial "water cooler," or in a training class we've just taken. Wherever the group meets, the results are often the same - a lack of action backed up by all the reasons that justify the inaction.

Ghandi also says the glory is "in fighting alone." Look around. Do you see one or two individuals who spend little of their time with the group? Sometimes called "loners," these are usually also the over-achievers, the top producers in life and business. They know where they're going and they don't need your approval to do it. The committee says they aren't "team players."

Being human, it is certainly normal to seek the comfort of others. In the case of those few individuals described as "the Valiant in spirit," however, their strength comes from their accomplishments. In each of us, there is also that "Valiant" spirit - the part of us that wants to strike out on our own. You can do that by resigning from the committees of your life. Elect yourself President and Chairman of the Board of your own future - and make it unanimous!

Monday Morning Coffee

Hello all,

“Full House”

This week we warmly welcome 4 new agents to our RE/MAX Town Center Family! Dave Goldberg, Joyce Fekkak & Margaret Plumly comprise to make the Goldberg Group, Donna Pheiffer will be joining Lisa on the Sabelhaus Team. All wonderful additions and we are very pleased to have them. In addition to selling Real Estate the Goldberg Group comes from a strong Property Management background. They have formed and will operate Goldberg Property Management out of the office, more to come on this down the road. So if everyone takes a minute to look around the office we have a wonderful little problem on our hands “Full House”. There are no immediate plans for expansion however we are exploring several options. In the meantime if agents come along that need office space I have an agreement with Pinnacle Apartments (Our Landlord) for a short term apartment rental to put them in. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about expansion feel free to pull me aside in the office to share.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Mom’s in the office. Hoped you enjoyed your Day!

Enjoy the Coffee,

Joe

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:"Infinite patience produces immediate results."

- Unknown

TIRED OF WAITING?

Have you ever wanted something special to happen in your life or desired to attract a person or outcome into your life? Maybe you laid specific plans that should have produced the desired results. Maybe you prayed that the results would occur. Perhaps you focused on the desired outcome with great intensity over an extended period of time.

What was your response when nothing happened, when there occurred not the slightest apparent movement towards your desired objective? If you became impatient, chances are good that you were too attached to the outcome. Perhaps, while you were waiting, you were also skeptical or allowed friends and associates to dampen your belief that the desired outcome would occur

Today's quotation at first glance appears to be at odds with itself. After all, there's a great chasm between "infinite" and "immediate." Yet, when you exercise infinite patience, the desired results often appear immediately, or so it seems. Patience means not being so attached to the outcome that you sit waiting minute-by-minute for the results. When you take action to achieve or strongly believe in your objective, it cannot NOT occur.

When you are detached from the outcome, you do not sit idly by waiting for the result. You continue doing other things, moving towards other outcomes. As you do, the results you sought earlier come to you of their own accord and at the appropriate time. You cannot rush them, and they often come disguised as other outcomes.

The next time you desire a specific objective, keep it to yourself. Avoid putting it out on the line for all to see and criticize. Exercise infinite patience, and know that what you desire is already on its way to you. Then, recognize its arrival with gratitude!