Empowering Your Life and Career with Two Extraordinary Words
By Julie Escobar, Director of Corporate Marketing, ProspectsPLUS!
Thank you. Funny, isn’t it? How two little words can make such a difference? We’ve heard a lot over the last few years about the power of fueling your life with an “attitude of gratitude.” There are hundreds of variations of that thought and probably a million or more examples of the very real connection between abundance, riches, wealth and happiness and our ability to give thanks. So in this season of thanksgiving, let us explore just how we can adopt that “get by giving” philosophy into our lives year around and what that can mean for our careers, our clients, our communities and our families.
Start and end your day with thanks. It’s amazing really, when you add up the people that affect your life every day. Beginning and ending your day by giving thanks for the support, lessons and love you get from your family, friends, clients, prospects, colleagues and peers is the best way to keep life’s obstacles, challenges and trials all in perspective. Even those who “challenge” us – teach us.
We get what we give. Floyd Wickman was the first to introduce me to the phrase, “we get by giving,” twenty-plus years ago when I was a fledgling in this business but it still holds true. I spoke at length about this with Coach Patti Kouri of The Real Estate Game recently. Her thoughts echoed my own in that having this component in your life, and living it really is a way to not just increase your business, but be happier, healthier and more fulfilled in the process. “Without coming from that place of appreciation each day, you really can’t attract more of what you want. Granted, sometimes you have to look HARD to find what you appreciate about some people, but take the time to look around you. Consider the administrative assistants, past clients, friends, even those toxic clients have something to offer – if nothing else an opportunity to ask yourself, ‘What did I learn?’ I always tell my clients, “You can’t expect people to give to you unless you have given value first. It’s like only making withdrawals from a bank – eventually – there’s nothing left. You’ve got to always put in more than you get.”
Mix it up. Get creative. There are some great ways to show your appreciation above and beyond frequently saying those two important “thank you” words! Pat Tasker with Shorewest Realtors actually got together with three other agents to throw an easy-but-effective Customer Appreciation Movie Night. The cost was affordable, and the results were amazing. “Between the four of us, we had about 150 people attend, everyone was thrilled and splitting the bill between the four of us was really very manageable. The nice part is, even those that didn’t attend felt special just for being invited. It gave us all a reason to connect with our client base in a positive, fun way! The movie theater made it easy. It was $6 a person for the movie, popcorn and drink and all we did was show up early, greet everyone when they came in, took pictures with families and friends, watched the movie and that was it! Easy!”
Movie nights are a great way to get large groups together to say thanks, and it really is extraordinary to see the referrals you will receive afterwards as well because you’ve reached out to your client base, your name is top of mind and they know that you are appreciative and there for them. If movie nights are not your thing, read our blog post: Celebrate Your Customers – Ten Great Ways to Say Thank You.
Talk about mixers; consider this idea from Patti Kouri: “Go into your database and choose a small group of people each month and invite them to lunch. Make the lunch a networking event of sorts and start with the question, ‘How can I help you?’ Before long, you’ll have a whole group of people exploring ways to help each other and all appreciative that you facilitated something that was not just about listing a house or getting a referral but truly helping people. Make a regular habit of this and watch as the law of reciprocity kicks in! Consider calling people individually as well – and ask what you can do for them. How can you help them in their business or endeavor? You’ll find when you approach ‘prospecting’ in this way it:
- Feels better than cold calling
- When you’re giving not asking for something, it’s easier
- You create a natural ‘boomerang’ and invite good things back to you
Keep trying new ways to help your clients. Many agents come from a place of fear, which is really a place where you don’t want to do anything. Take the opposite approach and you’ll find that you immediately and instinctively want to take action.”
I also called on the very talented, very inspiring Karin Hill of Watson Realty Corporation in Florida. As the broker and manager of a great team in the Orlando area, Karin definitely is a think outside the box professional. “We do a lot of community service work here. It’s a wonderful way to build your business while really working for a greater good. At any given time we are involved in several charities. For example, right now we are working with the Second Harvest Organization on a food drive. They estimate there are roughly 250,000 homeless children in Florida and could use a few helping hands to reach out to them! We have the information on our sign out front, and it’s wonderful to have strangers come into our office with donations. It really lets people know that we are there for the whole community, not to sell them something and they appreciate it. We even have the agents bringing in canned goods to our weekly office meetings!
We’ve organized charity runs, car and motorcycle drives, ‘adopted’ families in need, poker runs and more. It’s a great way for us to work together as a team, stay connected to our community and give back all at the same time!”
All great ideas from great thinkers! Another great way to give back and show your appreciation for your community is to work with your area schools. Most of them are looking for business partners who can help them provide the things they need for the students and staff. It’s a fun way to get to know the teachers, the faculty and the parents and they always appreciate the helping hands so it’s definitely a win-win for everyone! Learn more about this strategy here: Take a Back To School Approach to Prospecting!
So this month, and EVERY month, give thanks for the opportunity before you. As real estate professionals, you are only limited by your own thinking. There are no glass ceilings in this business, no one telling you that your income is capped and your goals are too high. Are there challenges? Most definitely – but challenges make us stronger, push us to try harder, learn more, and fine-tune our skills. Give thanks for those VIPs that make up your book of business and who invited you into their lives and those of their families to help them with one of the biggest decisions of their lives. Treat them well, show them you care and they’ll be a customer for your entire career, sharing their lives, their business and their referrals. Give thanks for your family and friends. They tolerate the often odd hours, pick you up on tough days and celebrate with you during the triumphs. Lastly, give thanks for another day to give back, to work hard, to try again and to make a difference in the world around you.
Here’s a great quote from John Southard to help keep things in perspective: “The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.” That said, know that we appreciate YOU! Thank you for spending a little time with us today reading this article, for being a client, for doing all that you do. What can we do for you? How can we help? We’re just a phone call away. Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season!
Ready to kick your niche marketing into high gear? Visit www.prospectsplus.com or our blog at blog.prospectsplus.com to learn more great ideas for staying top of mind. There you’ll also find valuable training resources, customer tools and more. Call if you need us at 1.866.405.3641.
