Toby Boyce
By Toby Boyce
It was a quiet Monday night until the cell phone rang. My mother-in-law was on the other end, and five hours later my wife and I arrived in Cleveland – via Bellevue – and the Cleveland Clinic as my father-in-law was admitted.
It would go without saying that we were scared, nervous, and extremely worried as we were settling in for what would be a four-day stay in a hotel that we were barely prepared to stay for a single day. We were not prepared for this situation – but the Cleveland Clinic was. They have dealt with this on a daily basis for hundreds – if not thousands – of patients that arrive on a daily basis to the premier health facility.
They were prepared for us to ask questions we didn’t even know we had. We knew the clinic’s reputation – that’s why we were there – for health care, but its total commitment to the patient and family care is where the correlation to real estate begins in this post.
How can I help you? Five words that can change the way your clients treat you. (Penny Mathews/sxc)
The first night we were there, I was wondering around looking for some food. It was going on 11 p.m. and none of us had eaten since lunch. I was half-awake, half-aware, and totally-hungry as I stepped off the elevator at the first floor. I looked left, then to the right, and stopped. A gentleman pushing a broom stopped and smiled asking, “Can I help you?” He directed me to the all-night diner where I picked up food for the mother-in-law and headed back to the room.
But that was the beginning of my amazement. “How can I help you?” Five words, none more than two syllables and they changed the entire way I looked at the clinic experience. Continue reading »
Lincoln Crum
By Lincoln Crum
I recently closed a transaction that I had listed for 10 months. There were all kinds of difficulties with the transaction but we worked through them, one by one. My seller was out of state and was really good to work with, but towards the end was growing impatient. To say the least… as was I.
Once we got a month away from closing we ran into more challenges and I was afraid the deal would be dead more than once. Both my seller and I agreed to be relentless in our pursuit to get to the closing table. We spent quite a bit of time on the phone trying to make sure we were always on the same page. At the height of our frustration about three weeks before the closing, I was talking to the seller on the phone and we both hit our breaking point with the transaction. We took a brief pause, both realized that we were “over-analyzing” the situation and stopped thinking too much. Needless to say, the transaction became a lot more smooth after that realization.
I believe that we can “over-think” our real estate business sometimes. We’ve probably all been guilty of worrying about things that won’t happen. I’m a student from the school of thought that if you worry about something enough you may just make it come true. So, I practice the art every single day in my business of not driving myself crazy about things that are out of my control.
This specific transaction took longer than it should to get to the closing table because of market circumstance way beyond anyone’s control. My patience was tested more than once, but I didn’t let up. I made sure I was always positive in my approach with the seller and other agents involved. I take great pride in setting the tone from the beginning.
It all paid off for me last night when I opened an envelope from my seller. Inside the card was the sweetest note coupled with a $50 gift card to Outback. I don’t know how my seller knew that Outback is my favorite restaurant, let alone a bottle of Greg Norman Merlot and the Rockhampton Ribeye, but she did. Her note and the gift card meant as much to me as the commission, it’s nice to be appreciated.
Remember that we as agents have the opportunity along with the challenge of always setting the tone. If you approach every transaction with a good solid foundation of positivity, I’m convinced that you’ll lead the way and gain tons of respect from others in the real estate community, along with your own clients. You’ll be glad you did.
Lincoln Crum is REALTOR®, auctioneer, and entrepreneur based out of the Louisville, Ky. area. Lincoln can be found at www.ReachLincoln.com.
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