Category Archives: Career

In business, there is only one boss

Career

Sam Walton who founded Walmart said “in business there is only one boss. The customer. He can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

I was reminded of this over the weekend dealing with a business situation. It is so easy to forget the most important thing in business is the customer. Without him or her, you have no business. All you have is debt, liability, office rent and employees you have to pay. The customer is the boss of everything.

That said, this doesn’t not mean that you should put aside your moral values and honesty. Every now and then, I have had to fire a customer because I refused to do what he was asking me to do. This is rare, but it happens from time to time. In the more broad sense of business, it is the customer that defines whether you will be in business or not. If the customer doesn’t trust you and hire you and or shop with you, you don’t really have a business.

Never forget that the way you feel when you call someone and get their voicemail is the same way your customer feels. The way you feel when you cannot find a phone number on a website is the way your customer feels. The way you feel when you call some business and the receptionist just transfers you to someone’s voicemail without telling you the person is not there, is exactly the way your customers feels when this happens to them. The way you feel when you call someone and leave a message and they call you back in 2 days is how your customers feel.

Many pitfalls in business would be averted if people would just treat the customer the way they wanted to be treated. So simple, isn’t it?

Carl D. Silver was a very successful business man in Fredericksburg, VA, who was born in 1925 and passed away in 2011. Carl owned hotels, shopping centers, car dealerships, retail centers, office and pretty much all types of commercial real estate. He was the most successful real estate investor in Virginia. One thing that always intrigued me about Carl was that we would return every call before he left for the day. It was just his thing. I would call his office and his staff would do just about anything to not have to leave Carl a message. I would just politely tell them I only wanted to leave a message for Carl because I knew Carl would call me back before 5pm. Without fail, I could set my watch for Carl’s return call. Carl did this throughout his business life until he was well into his early 80’s. This was a business decision he made as a young man and never stopped doing it.

The internet, email, texting, websites, social media are so available and so easy that sometimes people in business forget that the phone still works. Customers respond very well, even if you answer the call and ask if you can call them back in an hour. It’s the personal touch or the heartbeat of business that we never need to forget. By and large your customers want the same thing you do: to be treated with respect and gratitude for their business. KT

Being a good leader starts with being a good teacher

Career

There are leadership roles that are given and there are leadership roles that are earned. More times than not, the longevity of a leader depends on if that person was given or earned the position.

In my line of work I have seen many puffed up blowhards that didn’t last long in leadership roles because the people they were supposed to lead did not want to follow. Without people that want to work with you and be involved with you, there really isn’t a leadership role. It’s more of a placeholder role until the company can replace the leader.

One important thing that all leaders should be very aware of and do their best to implement is the role of a teacher versus a leader. People respect and respond to someone that is not just giving orders, but is helping the person to better themselves. There are many teaching moments that are often overlooked that leaders could do a better job with.

I remember one time many years ago I was on a conference call with 4-5 people and I mistakenly would start to talk before the other person was finished. I did that a couple of times on the call. After the call was over my boss called me and said “Keith, I want to have teaching moment with you.” He proceeded to teach me about conference call and phone etiquette when someone else was talking. I really respected how he handled that talk with me. It is big difference when you get called and told how wrong you were versus being called and told he wants to have a teaching moment with you.

That really made an impression with me on how to approach people on your own staff to help them improve. After that call with my boss I had a greater respect for him because he treated me with respect. I believe one of the greatest fundamentals of being a leader is being able to get people to respect you and want to work with you. How you handle these “teaching moments” usually will determine how good a leader you become.

So in summary, if you are a leader, think of your role as a teacher instead of a leader and you will be surprised how much of a leader you become. KT

A little bit at a time

Career, Life

Many of the changes in our lives occur a little bit at a time. The important changes in our lives take time. Let’s look at a few examples. Health, finances, education, business and the way we think are just a few. These all take time to improve and change in our life.

You can’t go from poor health to good health in a week. Many people try with these 7 day diets, but almost 100% of those fail. If you are in sales, it just takes time get traction and develop relationships and build a pipeline of business. In your finances, it is very unlikely you will go from need to oversupply in a few months. All these aspects of our lives take time and consistent behavior.

My mentor Harmon Born was speaking to our church years ago about giving and tithing. In that church like many churches, there were plaques and name plates around the church where someone gave once to a project years ago and had their name engraved on a plaque. Many times that person gave once to get their name on the plaque and then didn’t give anymore. I remember Harmon saying one time that what we need is a plaque that recognizes the weekly giver that gives consistently and not just for one time givers.

Your life, your church, your finances, your health, your joy, your peace are all a product of consistency in our lives. There are many people looking for the quick deal, the quick way or the quick fix to their situation. Most of these attempts fail to have a lasting effect on us.

With our brokers at Hotel AG, the long term stability of our business is showing up for work and consistently making calls every week. The brokers that rely on past efforts for present gain usually end up leaving this line of work. We have one broker that consistently will out work and out call everyone else and it is no surprise that that broker has the biggest pipeline of business and is more successful than many of the others.

We had an employee one time years ago at another firm I was with that decided one weekend to go have liposuction as a quick fix to her weight situation. Well, her idea was that if a little liposuction was a good thing than a lot of liposuction would be even better. What could go wrong with this plan? She left one Friday and had liposuction surgery in about 7 places on her body and just about died that next week. It is this kind of thinking that I am talking about.

So as you look at where you are in life, I believe the secret is to make a decision to change and then create in your heart an achievable consistent plan to systematically day by day move toward your target. Move a little bit at a time toward your goal and the likelihood of your long term success is much greater. KT

Continuing education

Career, Life

In real estate if you are a licensed agent or broker, you have to complete continuing education every 4 years. Each state has its own criteria but it is a generally accepted rule that in order for you to continue in real estate you have to complete the education. Most of it is done online but there is also classes you can attend

This week I had to do 30 hours of continuing education for our Oregon real estate license. I believe I would rather have a prostate exam or have my nose hairs pulled than to have to do continuing education. Ha.

The only way I could get through it was to give it a spiritual application and thought process. It is like if you need to have surgery, you want your surgeon to be fully up to date with his knowledge and techniques. Right? Same thing for the CPA that prepares your taxes or the lawyer that represents you. You want to know that that person that you have entrusted is fully prepared to help you.

If you are a mechanic on cars or trucks, this also applies with each new model year as you will need to get educated or knowledgeable on the new models. This certainly is true over in social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) as that market changes every day with new options to reach people. Don’t even get me started on Microsoft changing the operating format for outlook emails that you have to learn. This is the dumbest thing because there is some little 100 lb. tech guy that decides what we all need is a totally new format instead of just an updated version of what we already know. Can I get an amen to that?

Anyway, why is then that over in the spiritual realm that we are ok with learning something 30 years ago and assuming it is as fresh in our consciousness as it was then? See, we need to make sure that the fundamental beliefs we had and have are still in our hearts. A little continuing education over in the spiritual realm is a good thing and needed thing to make sure we are confident in our faith. The bible says that “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” The interpretation is one of “continual hearing.” So if your faith is based on hearing the words (reading the bible) 30 years ago, it may do you good to get a fresh revelation by rereading what you already know.

So make continuing education a part of your spiritual journey as well as your physical journal. KT

Be careful how you speak to yourself

Career, Life

Some of the most powerful words you will ever hear spoken are your own words. These words will either edify you or tear you down. The bible speaks to this when it says “whatever is in your heart in abundance will come out of your mouth.”

Years ago I had no teaching or basis for understanding this cornerstone of life, but I just knew in my heart that I needed to be careful with the words of my mouth. Especially when I speak to myself. There have been many times when I embarrassed myself in a presentation or messed up a pitch or didn’t respond with the right words or in my case even say the words fluently. I was always tempted to get in my car and say things that would tear down my spirit. Somewhere in there, I just knew that I needed to be careful when I was alone with myself because I was my own worst critic.

One time in New York I was speaking to a group and I blundered, stumbled, stuttered and basically felt embarrassed when I finished. I felt that I have really blown the speech. The next day a friend of mine that I trusted came up to me and told me it was one of the most moving and timely speeches he had ever heard. When I told him how I thought I had messed up, he said to me, it was actually very powerful. What we often think people are saying about us, many times is not true at all.

The speech I gave was one evening and what the friend told me was the next morning. I had that whole night to think alone and potentially beat myself up. I will confess I did think about it all evening, but I refused to speak to myself wrongly.

I have heard people say things to themselves like “you’re stupid,” “you’re dumb and ignorant,” “you will never succeed,” “you will never make it,” “nobody wants to be your friend,” “you always make bad decisions,” “you have no friends,” “no one likes you,” “you always fail,” “you always lose,” “you are ugly, overweight, or whatever.” These are the kinds of things that people say to themselves when they are alone and no one is listening or watching.

Many actions and decisions we make in life can be wrong because we make those decisions on the spot. It would be far better if we decided ahead of time what our decisions would be before we had to make them. When the Navy Seals land in enemy territory, they don’t looked at each other and say “what do we do now?” No, they do exactly what they had already trained and planned ahead of time that they would do. This is how we need to look at some choices and decisions in our lives.

Make a decision today that you will only say edifying and uplifting things to yourself and that you will be careful how you speak to yourself. KT