“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward I love Thanksgiving. Sure, forget Pilgrims, Indians, imperialism…. just breathe and reflect on the simple, yet loving idea behind the holiday: Gratitude. Thanksgiving in this country was held to celebrate the first harvest in the New World and to reflect on other blessings of the year. Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated… Read More »Happy Thanksgiving
You see it on the Sunday night poker challenge, you saw it in Casino Royale. At the peak moment of the game, someone risks everything and goes “ALL IN!” They’re putting all the chips they have out in the pot and just, simply, going for it. This concept, thought by some to be admirable, is thought by as many or more, to be absolutely crazy. Then there are the small,… Read More »Almost Halftime! How Committed Are You?
No two buyers or Sellers are ever the same – regardless of generation. But, to arrive at individual needs and wants, it is beneficial to become familiar with groups and preferences. Generational groupings provide a unique framework from which to start. In several classes I teach, each of the four main home buying generations Millennials (Gen Y), Generation X, Baby Boomers and Matures are discussed in detail along with a… Read More »No Two Clients Are Alike, BUT…
Long, long ago…. Like 1980 ish, I attended a track and field clinic and one of the speakers was the great Joe Newton, perhaps one of the greatest high school running coaches of all time. I have notes I took somewhere, probably in a box in the basement, and I’m sure I gleaned a multitude of gems from coach Newton. What I don’t need notes to recall and what I’ve… Read More »The Importance of Discipline
As we say good-bye to 2022 and look to the coming year with hope and anticipation, I can’t help but to think it’s going to be a much better year. It HAS to be, right? The question, then, becomes: How do I (that’s you, me, anybody) make it a better year? For me, the answer has always been clear: Gratitude and Optimism. We will deal with gratitude in a future… Read More »Optimism, the Pencil, and 2023
Yesterday I taught a class called Setting the Course for 2023 for the UTAH RRC group at the Salt Lake City Board of Realtors. It was a Ying/Yang kind of day that could have been thought of as disastrous. But it wasn’t. It began nicely. I successfully navigated the latest “storm of the century,” I got a killer parking place at DIA, walked in the terminal and stepped RIGHT UP… Read More »A Ying/Yang Day is all Ying in the End
Milton Berle once said, “You can lead a man to Congress, but you can’t make him think.” Thirty years ago, I used to teach American Government to 9th graders. I can’t imagine having to do it in the last two decade given the complete disregard politicians from BOTH sides of the aisle have for us, the people, and for the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Centuries ago the phrase “public… Read More »Politicians, Sales People, and Loving the Process
The last three days, I have been on the Coldwell Banker Sales Rally and Roadshow, something I haven’t done in maybe 13 years. While it was a nice opportunity to take a trip down memory lane with some old friends and also meet new ones, it was mostly a chance to talk about one of my favorite topics: your strengths, and why they are so important in your business. It’s… Read More »Your Strength is Your Strengths
In his landmark customer service book, Selling the Invisible, Harry Beckwith offers a three step approach to marketing your product or service(s). Step One is where you are trying to get what Beckwith calls, “a basic, acceptably reliable product” (or service). This occurs most often in budding businesses where the product or service is unique or new and customers will accept minimum standards. In fact, Beckwith calls this stage, the… Read More »Nothing and Everything is Possimpible
Christmas has come and gone, and pretty much 2020 has as well. For many, the arrival of 2021 is a welcome event as most have found 2020 to be a highly objectionable year. The reasons for that have been highlighted, and will be highlighted in many a new year in review. So, I will pass and choose to focus on the upside of the closing year. After all, the hope… Read More »The Best of 2020, Pandemic Year: Books, Shows, and Gratitude