What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of your sox?
In my 30 years as an agent, manager, and trainer of commercial agents, I’ve found that there are 9 areas that come together to have an agent perform his or her best. These 9 areas are prospecting, mailing, scheduling appointments, obtaining exclusive agreements, closing transactions, having great people skills, building relationships, obtaining referrals, and pursuing one’s own continuing education and training.
While all 9 of these components are continually interacting with each other, some of them are activities that an agent does, while others are milestones that validate one’s own success along the way. Along with these 9 components, the most important element that any agent can bring to the table is their incredible passion and love for the real estate business, along with their unyielding drive to be hugely successful at it. This is the engine that completely drives an agent’s success in our industry.
As the year draws to an end and we look to a new year ahead we would like to thank all of you for the relationships we have and those that we will grow in the future. Since this is the season for prognostications, we’ll see, hear and read everything under the sun that can be sent to us on our three screens. However, I am going to tell you that although you will hear about the end of the bull market, rising interest rates, e-commerce, crowd funding and such, everything simplifies to three simple things for every craftsman, carpenter or builder;
- Refinish
- Refine
- Repurpose
At the core of most every trend (and every piece of real estate in San Diego) is the fact that they are refining something that exists or refinishing or repurposing it going forward. I challenge all of us to finish up the year and the Holiday Season and look at our own lives and business and see how we can use these three “Rs” to re-energize and re-invigorate both our lives and our businesses. On the subject of building, (and another “R”), we understand that trust and relationships are the cornerstone of the brokerage and commercial real estate business. Listening to clients and keeping an eye on trends can identify needs and processes that need to be changed to preserve owner trust. You can ignore all of these as just a passing fad, but look at how well that turned out for Kodak, Swiss watch manufacturers, Blockbuster, travel agents… Or you can spend time and money on lawsuits to fight off the competition. Just think if the taxi companies spent their money digitizing dispatch instead of fighting off Uber.
So even if you are not 100 percent ready to jump on the bandwagon to refine, refinish or repurpose , as you go through the holidays and turn the page into a new year, keep the following sentiment of Mother Teresa in mind; “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things”.
We hope you enjoy the Holidays and the story…
Regards,
The Carpenters Glasses
On this particular December day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to orphanages in Middle Eastern refugee camps. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for the Middle East !
He had spent a lot of money for those glasses that very morning. He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. It’s not fair, he told God as he drove home in frustration. I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.
Recently, , the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in the Middle East, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago. The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting him.
But most of all, he said, I must thank you for the glasses you sent last. You see, ISIS had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses.
I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top.
The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that.
The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items that they had sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.
Happy Holidays from the Team at CDC Commercial!
Don, Nick, Matt, Nancy, Cheryl and Candy
