Anand Patel
By Anand Patel
The word “role model” gets a lot of lip service. We live in a society that loves to point fingers at our teachers, musicians, athletes, and actors when our kids behave badly. Personally, I never deeply considered the importance of being a role model until recently.
As you may know, I reference my 3 1/2-year-old daughter every now and then in my posts. The fact is, she has inadvertently taught me many life lessons since her birth that I continue to learn. Well, she is now at the age where she will copy what we say and do — from her mimicking a recent conversation I had on the phone with another real estate agent to her skipping through the living room on an imaginary horse as we watch Psy’s Gangnam Style video. This has really caused me to reconsider many behaviors — things as simple as eating a piece of chocolate in the evening when she asks me, “Why are you allowed to eat sweets before bed but I can’t?” She was right. I had two choices, either I changed my behavior, or I let her do what I was doing. The choice was mine.
Have you considered that we are also role models for those we interact with on a daily basis? If you are a broker, you act as a role model for your agents. If you run a team, your teammates look to you for guidance. Even your customers to an extent look to you as a role model:
- How do you dress when you meet with your buyer or seller?
- Do you show up on time?
- Do you show up prepared?
- How quickly do you respond to their requests?
- Do you listen?
Our behavior gives others permission to do the same with us. We set the example. As you look to define or redefine yourself in 2013, keep this in mind: What you give is what you get. What kind of role model will you choose to be?
Anand Patel is broker and president of Pangea Realty Group based in Tampa, Fla. You can connect with Anand on Twitter: @anand_tampa; Facebook: www.facebook.com/prgtampa; LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anandpatel1; or on the Web at www.anandsblog.com.
Melissa Krchnak
By Melissa Krchnak
We all have pieces of our business that can suck our time away from being successful: meetings that don’t feel productive, emptying our inbox, conflict resolution, admin tasks, and chatting with our friends and colleagues. Just yesterday I encountered the worst of the time sucker, the commitment-phobe. This particular person is an over-analyzer who uses that as an excuse for, you guessed it: Never. Making. A. Decision.
I’ve met with this person three-to-four times over the last couple of weeks with each meeting lasting an hour or so. Yesterday, when he was supposed to be signing on the dotted line, he again wanted to ask more questions. He knows this is the best decision, but can’t “buy in.” I worked through every objection masterfully until I was fed up. So, I gave an ultimatum. “You need to make a decision on how you want to move forward by Wednesday at 3 p.m.” No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I don’t know what Wednesday holds precisely, but one thing it certainly does possess is a resolution.
Melissa Krchnak is the assistant team leader for Keller Williams Realty in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Connect with her at kwrancho.com.
Kelly Reark
By Kelly Reark
What ways do you network with your fellow real estate agents? Do you walk away from a happy hour or business card exchange really knowing much about them or their business? Likely not. Do you ever wonder why?
Having a pocket full of business cards is one thing, but getting to know other real estate agents is another, and very beneficial. You want to broaden your referral network with more than just a name on a business card.
Recently, I made it my mission to take networking a step further. I had collected business cards from a real estate retreat that I had attended. I began with an agent I thought I could refer business to that is in a market about two hours from me. She brought in another agent, who brought in another agent… and on and on. The best part is that we all have specialty areas in which we work. We have spent a full day in many of our markets, learning about the areas from one another. The plan is to keep learning and growing. It is amazing how much we are able to teach each other. Frequently, our preconceived notions of an area were corrected.
I now know that I have a completely fabulous, intelligent, trustworthy, bright agent network to refer my customers to in a variety of market areas. I know that they will be taken care of, and so will I. I know that if they have sticker shock in one location, they can be referred out to another with similar lifestyle qualities. Or if their preferred lifestyle is not available in my market, I know which agent to send them looking with. Plus, I can call on them to tap into resources or fresh ideas for marketing, technology, and peer training. My network of international agents grows stronger by inclusion of each of their networks. Continue reading »
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