Swing for the Fences

Monday Morning Match is a quick post - maybe a quote, inspirational story or idea - intended to spark some motivation inside each of you so your week gets off to a fantastic start on Monday morning.

"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

Babe Ruth

The smell of football is in the air with college starting up in a few weeks. The professionals have finally resolved their labor issues and are in the midst of training camps and will kick off their season in a little under a month.
 
In competition to the cheers soon to be heard around your local gridiron, the "boys of summer" have started heating things up and the pennant races across America's baseball diamonds are keeping at least one of the true sport's fan's two eyes on their game.
 

With just under 40 games left to play before the playoffs, the games will begin to get a little bit more contentious. The managers will think through every lineup change, the pitchers will throw a little bit harder and the hitters will become just a little more focused in hopes of  leading their team, city and loyal fan base into the coveted month of October where a World Series Champion will be crowned. 



80 years ago today (August 21st, 1931), the great Babe Ruth hit his 600th home run. As most sports fans know, Ruth went on to hit 714 home runs in his career and held that record until Henry "Hank" Aaron broke it in 1974. There are only 8 players in history that have knocked it out of the park 600 or more times (with Minnesota's Jim Thome joining the club just last week) so needless to say, Ruth, Thome and the other six had to swing at a lot of pitches. In fact, all 8 members of the 600 Home Run Club are among the Top 100 in strikeouts in the history of baseball.

 

 
From the Baseball Field to the Field of Real Estate
 
It's a new week. Let's think of it as the top of the inning and guess who's up to bat? Yep, it's you.
 
Are you ready to get up there and swing for the fences? Here comes the pitch... 
 

• Will you call that former client of yours who you ran into this weekend?
• Could you stop by the expired listing that just showed up in the MLS Search of your target area?
• How about calling on that For Sale By Owner who has been trying to sell for the last several months in your neighborhood?
• Should you try out the new dialogue that you've been practicing in the office on your next Open House visitor?
• Don't let fear stop you from showing up at your next coaching session.
• Reach out to some of your "less vocal" connections on your social media channels and get engaged.

 
The market isn't going to toss you any easy pitches so you better dig your feet in, focus on the ball and start swinging for the fences.
 
Get out there and start building relationships, solving problems and having fun.
 
There's no way you can swing and miss at all three of those.
 
 

Flickr photo credit - Meadowsa

 
 
 
 
 

 

Welcome to the Wide World of Real Estate?

Monday Morning Match is a short post - maybe a quote, inspirational story or idea - intended to spark some motivation inside each of you so your week gets off to a fantastic start on Monday morning.

With many sports in full swing right now, there's a lot of emphasis on teamwork. You've got  the National Hockey League and the NBA starting their repsective playoffs while Major League Baseball just kicked off their 8-month season. MLS  Soccer is in full swing as are many of the high school and little league sports teams.

Yes, it's true. In most cases, real estate agents consider themselves to be "independent contractors." They don't really have a boss and they technically can't be told what to do. But this is much more of a team game than people realize.

How's your teamwork this year?

How supportive is your branch manager in your efforts to achieve success in real estate and remain balanced in other areas of your life?

Do you have a coach helping hold you accountable? Can you share your goals and dreams with this person as easily as you share your challenges and fears?

Do you have affiliates who help you with your additional services such as mortgage, title, home inspection services and home warranty coverage?

Does your office or company have staff members who help make you look good? Do your receptionsists and office administrators work tirelessly to make you look good?

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.”

~ Babe Ruth

Perhaps you have specific departments that help you leverage your talents to better serve your Buyers and Sellers such as a Marketing Department or a Relocation Department or Training Department.

How successful could you be if your IT Department and help desk wasn't available to help you navigate through viruses, email spam and other computer issues? 

Are you a "team leader" who enjoys all the credit and recognition but you have assistants and specialists who work behind the scenes to get the deals to the closing table?

Do you have a recognizable brand behind you that has great recognition and respect in the community? You don't have to work for a huge company or the biggest branch in town but you should be proud to wear the logo on your chest each day. Do you?

When you meet with your Buyers and Sellers, do you use words like "we" and "us" more than you say "I" and "you"? When you make it more of a "team" effort to find the right house or get a home sold, there's more people invested in the outcome.

You see, real estate is much more of a team sport than people think. Sure, the "buck" stops with you but you don't have to be the one to feel all of the pressure either. When transactions successfully make it to the closing table, there are a whole lot of people who get to bask in the "thrill of victory" while each time something occurs that causes a deal to fall through, people will feel "the agony of defeat."

Just make sure that every once in a while, you thank your teammates for keeping you on top of your game.

Until next time, keep building relationships, solving problems and having fun.