Small Talk – No Talk ______________________________ Stereotypes can be cruel. As a product of two German immigrants I have many times been assumed to be a stubborn man with angular skull features. Once they come to know me, sadly, theyll realize their assumptions were largely correct. Although in my defense, I am only stubborn when I believe I am correct! However there is no denying the shape of my head. When time finally takes its last toll on my hair,... View Article
_____________________ A common refrain among free market proponents, myself included, is that the presence of competition in the marketplace is a benefit to consumers. Many of us have learned to accept as fact the notion that the more choice we have the better off we are in terms of both price and service. I have stumbled upon an outlier in the capitalists theory! We are in the early stages of planning significant enough changes to our home that moving out... View Article
____________ My parents met in Denmark, while spending a collective 8 years in a post World War 2 refugee camp. They entered at the ages of 10 and 13 after fleeing from their family homes, initially, and incorrectly, believing theyd return sooner than later. If our early childhood years are impressionable, the people they became were very much formed by their war and post war experiences. The degree to which we are formed in any part by our parents personalities,... View Article
___________________________ A senior mentor of mine offered a gentle admonishment that continues to resonate with me more than 20 years after he spoke. More proof, that our words remain deep in the conscience of the recipient, long after we believe them to be forgotten. After listening to what amounted to my regurgitation of a political commentators diatribe as to what was wrong with a particular social policy, he opined: It is easy to see what is wrong, but dont talk... View Article
________________________ While delving down the Wikipedia rabbit hole this weekend, I stumbled upon a Jose Mourinho (manager of Manchester United Football Club) quote about a rival manager: “This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse.” The identity of the rival manager is irrelevant. For those who have followed Mourinho, you may well understand that he believes everyone but himself to be a donkey. The metaphor, though clearly enough understood, got... View Article
_______________________ Chris Rock, for those unfamiliar, is an acerbic comedian who may make you both laugh and cringe – especially if your kids (or parents) are in the room. Humour however, is the close relative of wisdom, so it should be no surprise when funny people say wise things. And so it was when Rock observed a phenomenon from his years as a starving artist when he could not afford a reliable car: “I’d always end up broken down on... View Article
__________________________ Like many professions, the Real Estate sales industry is one in which it is common for prospective clients to interview multiple salespeople before selecting one with whom to work. Google How to select a Realtor, and you will probably be exhorted to interview a minimum of 3 prospective salespeople before making your decision. Salespeople know this, and the more successful of them, thrive through this process because they have honed their skills to such a degree that they know... View Article
________________________________ This spring marks my 30th year in organized real estate (oddly, aside from crime, the only profession that feels the need to let people know we are organized). As mine was a family business, it was not uncommon for former clients of my father to wander into the office when the circumstances of their lives required the services of a Realtor. In an age in which database management amounted to dropping by unannounced every few years, one would think... View Article
___________________________ Like many businesses, ours relies on the part-time labour from University students, mostly covering evening reception duties. It is a position that requires answering the telephone in a friendly manner, and efficiently relaying the messages to our salespeople. It can be mundane work at times, but vital as well. A missed call can be costly for both our salespeople, and more importantly – their clients. Matt is one such student, and Matt made an error. While paging out... View Article
_________________________________________________________ The psychology of sales is the subject of volumes of books, endless seminars, curiously absent from our educational system, and not necessarily something I profess to be an expert in. Few do it exceptionally well, but most of us would probably recognize how not to sell something. An acquaintance of mine recently relayed a fine example. The pertinent background information on my friend the buyer is that he and his wife are, in the parlance of salespeople, qualified purchasers.... View Article
