All the Ingredients We Need

You'll probably never see an episode of Emeril Live or Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill where they spend the hour making good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly, beef broth or scrambled eggs. The Food Network also supplies them with unlimited ingredients, tremendous equipment and materials to supplement their skills and a fabulous facility in which to prepare their creations.





Now, I am no Emeril or Bobby Flay and I wouldn't even consider myself in Chef Boyardee's category when it comes to culinary creativity. Heck I still have to look at on-line cooking instructions to see if I am supposed to butter my grilled cheese before or after I put it in the pan. But one thing I do know is our company offers some pretty darn good tools, technology and training that we should all be taking advantage of. Business Principle #10 talks about it when it says:

We utilize our superior tools, resources and systems to provide our customers with exceptional service and guidance

Let me ask you...Do you ever take for granted the stuff you have in your daily job or life in general? If someone of lesser opportunity or means had ten minutes in your office or house, would they find something they might be able to use that you haven't touched or used in the last five years? The last year? the last week? Have you ever caught yourself staring over the fence at "the Joneses" and neglected to realize how pretty your own grass was?

Let's not forget that we not only have "tools, resources and systems" to help us do our jobs, these are superior tools, resources and systems. Start taking advantage of the ingredients that are right in your own kitchens like CBOLT, Performance Coaching and CBWorks. Attend your scripting sessions, activity workshops and company offered educational programs. As VP of Marketing Jim Stevenson always says, "Take care of the brand and the brand will take care of you!"

We've all been a part of building a custom-built house. Our kitchen has a walk-in pantry the size of Rhode Island with the best ingredients from floor to ceiling. We can create whatever culinary specialities we choose so let's not continue to order out for pizza.

Until next time...Build Relationships...Solve Problems...Have Fun!

A New Way to Look at the Housing "Crisis"?

As the local and national media continues to pound away at the dreaded state of real estate in our country, check out this very simple, easy to understand viewpoint from CNBC's Dennis Neale.

Re-Framing the Housing Crisis

Protecting Our Assets

Are you like most people in today's tightening economy? Trying to save a buck here or there?

• Do you find yourself combining trips so you don't have to drive any further than needed? At $3.89+ per gallon of gasoline, that's a wise move. (It's still not as expensive as bottled water per gallon but it's getting close)
• Are you re-learning how good a brown bag lunch can be instead of visiting the local Panera for lunch?
• Relax...Starbucks will not go out of business because you cut back on your daily double shot half caf low fat mocha frappachino.
• Sure, Coors Light ain't exactly Sam Adams but you don't need the extra calories anyway, right?

Are you finding yourself cutting back on some expenses, exercising better judgement when it comes to spending and making better business decisions? If you are, you'll see why Business Principle #9 is so important to the future success of our company.

We are responsible for protecting the assets and resources of our company.

As an independent contractor, your "company" is you. You are the CFO of your company so you are undoubtedly watching your expenses in relation to your income, right? Well, you're also a vital part of the larger company (your "partner") so hopefully you're just as conscience about the choices and decisions you're making when it comes to our financial future.

Now, I am not talking about turning off the lights when you leave the bathroom or anything silly like that but we all need to think twice about how we are "spending" the company's money. How many copies are you making for that overpriced listing where the Seller isn't being realistic about the price? Do you really need to print full version MLS print outs of the 83 homes available in the buyer's price range or would it be easy enough to email them the link to the MLS feed? Will it really make your weekly business meeting ineffective if the bagels aren't available anymore?

I think it is easy to take for granted many of the tools, technologies and training tools we have available but we should always remind ourselves that these things cost money. If we can find ways to succeed while saving a penny here and one hundred dollars there, that all starts adding up.

Every once in a while, ask yourself this question - "Would I make this same decision or take this same action if I was the one in charge? If I was the one paying the bills?" We all win when we try to make decisions that are in the best interests of the whole, not just the parts.

Thanks for thinking about it.


Until next time...Build Relationships...Solve Problems...Have Fun!

Pretty Good…But Can We Make It Better?

It’s been said that “good is the enemy of great.” It’s a common cliché that just challenges those among us who are satisfied with being “good” at something. Why not take things to that proverbial “next level” and strive to make things “great”? How much more effort, knowledge, skill, financial investment or luck would it take?



Remember the old television show from the 70’s called “The Six Million Dollar Man”? It starred Lee Majors as Steve Austin, the former astronaut that was outfitted with bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye after a near fatal crash. Major Austin was used as a crime-fighting opponent of evil. In the opening credits the narrator spoke the words that all of us who were raised in the 70’s will remember – “Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”



Those words, uttered on over 100 episodes in the mid 70’s remind me a lot about this week’s Business Principle #8 which states:

We are committed to identifying inefficiencies and communicating concerns, thus enabling us to improve our performance and systems

Now that doesn’t mean we spend our waking hours looking to find fault with people or systems within our control. It also is important to realize that if we identify areas of concern that we are empowered to communicate those concerns to the appropriate people within our organization. (See Business Principle #7)



We are constantly striving to make things better. Former Notre Dame head football coach Lou Holtz said in his 1991 video If Enough People Care that “loyalty doesn’t mean just saying good things about your company.” We need to look at every aspect of our industry, company, office and individual business platforms to identify what is working and what isn’t. Much like the gentlemen at the Office of Scientific Investigation (OSI) felt with Steve Austin, we have the technology. We can make things better than before.



Technology is just one of what I call “The Five T’s of Coldwell Banker” that makes us great. The others are Tools, Training, Teamwork and Traditions. Let’s all remember this Business Principle as we are continuously observing and fine-tuning our services and skills to succeed.



I’ll end this post with one of my favorite quotes I have seen in recent years and it comes from one of our generation’s biggest successes – Tiger Woods.


“I do not seek perfection because it is unattainable. All I strive for is professional excellence.”


Watch the video clip below and you'll see a great example of Business Principle #8 in action. Tiger Woods - the world's #1 golfer - is always trying to "become better."


I challenge you to do the same by consistently living Business Principle #8 in your daily activities. What do you think? Can we “make things better than before”? Add your comments to the end of this post and share your thoughts on the topic.




Until my next post…Build Relationships…Solve Problems…Have Fun!

Brainstorming 101

What is the one question that kids learn to ask as soon as they can speak?

Their use of it will diminish when they reach their teenage years because they then begin to feel they know everything.

Use of the question continues to drop in adult years for several reasons - people either feel they already know the information or should know the information but are too afraid to ask.

The answer to my question is "why." "Why is the sky blue?" "Why is grass green?" "Why does corn on the cob taste better than corn off the cob?" "Why don't school busses have seatbelts?" "Why do I have to go to bed now?"

"Why?" "Why is that such a great question?" Because it is a perfect introduction into our 7th Business Principle:

We encourage an open exchange of ideas throughout our organization

As independent contractors our success and failure rests squarely on our shoulders but that certainly doesn't mean we have to "go it alone." There are plenty of people available to assist you and help you accomplish what needs to be done to achieve your business goals. Sometimes all you have to do is ask

Ideas are shared every day between agents in an office. Ideas are exchanged everyday by staff members seeking to find more efficiency with specific programs or job tasks. Ideas are shared everyday from one manager to the next. That is how one can be so powerful...because you actually end up latching on to the knowledge and power of others.

If you need to know how to hold better open houses - seek out the best holder of open houses in your office and buy them a cup of coffee. ask them what they do to get such consistent traffic at their open houses.

If you notice another agent sells her listings quickly at 98% of asking price and you want to know her trick, offer to buy her lunch and learn what she does differently.

Can't decide which marketing campaign might work bets in your farm area? Ask for help and advice from a successful agent in your office who has some great personal marketing campaign success.

Just remember...the "open exchange of ideas" isn't a one-way exchange. You can assist people as well.

Say you learn of a great opportunity being offered at one of your local establishments and you think others in your office might benefit from it. Could you share that news at your next business meeting? When you come across that great new website or blog, could you forward the link to the rookie agent in your office who one day wants to be "in your league"? Have an idea for the company to improve? Reach out to your manager or sales advisory representative and discuss your thoughts.

One way we can always exchange ideas is through our virtual suggestion box. If you have an idea, thought or comment that you feel might benefit our local companies, don't forget about these addresses:

Coldwell Banker King Thompson - suggestions@kingthompson.com
Coldwell Banker West Shell - suggestions@cbws.com

Emails sent to these addresses will be read by the company president and will be addressed. While not ever suggestion can be accomodated, every one of them will be read.

Most of us will agree that the more you learn in this business, the more you learn there is to learn. That means we must constantly be looking for help, guidance and wisdom from others and also being ready to provide the advice, assistance and feedback that others may need.

I want to know about an idea or tip that you may have learned from another associate, manager or staff member in our company. Reply to this post and tell me about it. Remember - Business Principle #12 says "we seek opportunities to recognize excellence." This might be one of those opportunities.

Until next time...Build Relationships...Solve Problems...Have Fun!