Find Your Mentor Today!

The traditional mentor-mentee relationship is history! You no longer have to personally know or physically meet with the person you call a mentor. This is in large part due to advances in technology and the use of social media by great leaders and mentors. I used to always say, “I wish I had a mentor or coach to meet with me that could teach me life and business lessons and help me to be more successful.” This type of thinking is now flawed and can actually prevent you from personal and professional growth. Mentors are waiting for you out there, you just need to seek them out and engage them in new ways.

… Continue Reading

The Power of a Personal Note

A brief word of encouragement and thanks is a great way to connect with people and build relationships. The personal note is my favorite vehicle for delivering these types of messages. In his book The Power of Encouragement, author David Jeremiah says,

“Written encouragement comes directly from the heart, uninterupted and uninhibited. That’s why it’s so powerful.”

Every day we are surrounded by negative news, people using foul language, people screaming at each other on the news, and just an overall lack of positive encouraging words being spoken or read. A personal note thanking someone for who they are and what they mean to your life and business may be the most important words they get all day.

… Continue Reading

7 Elements of a Great Buyer Presentation

This week my team and I are re-tooling and developing our buyer presentations. More than ever consumers need a brief and quality presentation on becoming a home owner. In this post I’ve outlined the essential elements of a buyer presentation and the formats your presentation must be in to ensure the highest probability of success.

As you read this list please understand that a buyer presentation is not the same as a pre-qualification phone call or appointment. The presentation comes after you have established the prospect is someone you want to pursue a long-term relationship with.

… Continue Reading

Opportunity Is Knocking

Are you someone that seizes opportunity when things are going good and when things are going bad? No matter what the situation or circumstance success requires us to see the opportunity in all situations and take action. Opportunity is knocking, will you answer?

This past week MSN posted an article from Forbes magazine that listed the “Top 5 cities where home prices are plummeting”. The article lists the Portland Metro area as #5 on the list. This is the overall market where my team and I serve clients every day.  The article will be fodder for the naysayers and general pessimists in life and will cause many people to disengage from the real estate market. The reality is that this is probably the best thing for some buyers and sellers right now, but for others it is an opportunity.

I’ve asked my team to consider the reality and the hope of our current real estate market and to think outside the box on how they can differentiate themselves and their services during this challenging time. The standard approach by consumers, real estate firms, and real estate agents will be to see this news as depressing and add it to a long list of excuses of why their company is not profitable, their business is slow to non-existent, and why they just can’t be successful in this market.

… Continue Reading

Sign Your Name To Each Day

At the end of every day are you willing to sign your name, knowing that you gave all you could to that day? I am talking about whether you are willing to take ownership of how you conducted your life and business. “Will I sign my name to the end of this day?” is a question I’ve been asking myself for a few years now. Believe me, there are times when I feel great about signing my name and days when I don’t even want to look at the pen. Usually those are the days where nothing has gone right or every step I took forward was met with a new challenge.

There is grace in this question I ask myself. You’ll notice that I don’t ask, “Were you perfect today?” “Did you knock it out of the park with every sales call, interview, or interaction with a client or team member?” Rather, the question asks did you give all that you could? And, at the heart of that question is, “Were you true to your purpose and vision, were you true to you heart?”

There are so many important and unimportant things that can fill our day. We are called to meetings, we have to answer emails, tend to client needs, and handle interruptions. The list goes on and on. With a world constantly vying for our attention and giving us an infinite number of choices on how to fill our day, it can be difficult to look back after a long crazy day and see any semblance of purposeful execution that you want to sign your name to.

… Continue Reading