Business today • Interesting stuff • Uncategorized • March 19, 2013

Leaders all have something in common!

by Michael Fanning

So if you’re a college football fan then you most likely have heard of Nick Saban. He is the head coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He has been said to be one of the most powerful head coaches in college football today, and his record stands for itself.

My reason for talking about him is based on his 5 leadership lessons. Much of his philosophy applies directly to business owners today.

1. Surround yourself with talent. When you are building a business you want to have strong successful individuals that are good at what they do. It happens all the time when there is an owner who fully believes he knows it all. Remember you don’t have to know everything you just have to hire smart people that know and understand the concept of team.

2. Create a process. When you have a system that creates consistency then positive outcome is the end result. My son plays baseball. He is 9 and during the game all they want to know is what is the score. My response is focus on hitting, fielding, and throwing and the score will take care of itself. Too many times we just want to focus on the outcome but don’t put the process in place to learn and master the fundamentals.

3. Manage your message! Do you have a message that can be spoken in one voice by all? This starts with your vision. Your team players share in the vision which will produce a consistent message to your customers. Have you created this vision? If not, then you may be a ship with out a rudder.

4.Keep it simple. Don’t over think stuff. Many times if you listen to your gut it is the right decision. I have often seen business owners always getting ready to get ready. I sometimes believe in fire read aim method. If your a bit off the mark then re aim.

5. Make wise investments in the future. Many times if you’re thinking about what is happening now and you’re basing investment decisions on now time then you are way behind the 8 ball. In order to be in front of momentum you need to take off your now blinders and look up ahead of you. What is coming? Often the signs of where we are going is just in front of us be we are so focused on the now that we don’t look up.

Here is the link to the Forbes article about Nick Saban. Football coaches are much like the CEO of any company. They have a job to unite, and direct talent to work together to share a common goal and vision. The outcome will vary based on your success of the 5 lessons above.

Business today • Living • August 31, 2011

Consumers aren’t listening anymore, there is too much noise!

by Michael Fanning

so today in the world of marketing we are completely overwhelmed with advertising in multiple mediums. I can prove this point using my son as an example.

He can see 5 commercials on TV on a given Saturday, or look at an add in his kids magazine or here a radio commercial about a toy in the car. You ask him the next day what he saw, heard, or read and what it was that they were selling. He might remember one but that is about it. Now you may be saying ,”well your son just has a bad memory!” That isn’t the case either because he will remember a conversation we had two weeks ago to a “T”. Or he will recite the words of a song that he has only heard once or twice. But in each of these cases he was engaged. That topic for what ever reason rose up over the ad noise and stuck with him. A connections was established. I would hope it because he loves music and he enjoys having conversations with his Dad 🙂

Today marketing is every where and it comes at us form all angles. It has become in a way white noise, at some point we just begin to shut it off. Below is a great quote form Seth Godin on the topic of interruptive marketing.

“Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t,” (Seth Godin)

Take a look at this graph below it depicts the impact ad marketing had in the 1980’s compared to ad in 2005. I can tell you from 2005 to 2011 the numbers have gotten even smaller.

My point is this:

Focus on being a real person and connect with people by being real and being interested in them.

Establish the relationships first and the business will follow.

Business today • Living • August 31, 2011

Consumers aren't listening anymore, there is too much noise!

by Michael Fanning

so today in the world of marketing we are completely overwhelmed with advertising in multiple mediums. I can prove this point using my son as an example.

“Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t,” (Seth Godin)

Take a look at this graph below it depicts the impact ad marketing had in the 1980’s compared to ad in 2005. I can tell you from 2005 to 2011 the numbers have gotten even smaller.

My point is this:

Focus on being a real person and connect with people by being real and being interested in them.

Establish the relationships first and the business will follow.

Business today • Living • Uncategorized • February 3, 2011

Customer relationships are the key to your business success!

by Michael Fanning

I read a stat the other day from NAR. It stated that when a buyer was asked right after the close of their transaction if they would use their broker again 83% said yes but in reality only 11% actually used the same broker.

Same question applied to the Seller and 82% said they would use their broker again but only 28% actually did.

The biggest reason for this disparity has to do with the broker only interacting with their customers during the transactional phase of their business and then having no follow up of any kind. Here is something you should think about.

“We live in a world where the little things really do matter. Each encounter no matter how brief is a micro interaction which makes a deposit or withdraw from our emotional subconscious. The sum of these interactions and encounters add up to how we feel about particular products, brands, or services. Little things. Feelings. They influence our everyday behaviors more than we realize.”

Here is another good article that touches on the same principal!

I was asked the other day about this exact problem and if social media could play a role in enhancing the relationship by allowing for more micro interactions. In fact this is exactly how using social media is suppose to work.

Then came the question that proves why we still have a disconnect.

“How can I automate the interaction with my social media data base, is this possible.?”

Think about it this way, do you automate your friendships? Is there a company you can go out and pay to meet your friends for drinks and go to events with them then have them report back to you about how well the relationship is coming along? I think we all know the answer to this one. Building long lasting relationships is built on, connections, consistency, trust, and being real. I challenge you, before you venture out to find new clients look at the clients you have now. How much micro interaction is going on in that world for you?

customer services • Real Estate Related • Uncategorized • January 7, 2011

How are you leaving your mark?

by Michael Fanning

I recently read a post by Seth Godin called:

Soles: where he said this.

“There’s a sign on most squash courts encouraging players to wear only sneakers with non-marking soles. I’m not sure there’s such a thing. If you’re going to do anything worthy, you’re going to leave a mark.”

I really liked this article because now is the perfect time to take a look at your business and think about what your going to do differently that is going to leave a positive mark on the customers you serve.

I’m not talking about a new shiny tool or a funky marketing scheme. I’m talking about a genuine interaction that when they are all set in their new home or at closing after the sale of their home they will have a permanent reminder in their mind about the great relationship they just built with you. This is by far the most powerful thing you can accomplish with your customers.

Too many time we focus on the deal and not the relationship, this was a good article from Zappos called: Don’t network, build relationship. Here is what I liked about this article and I believe there is a lot of turth to this.

“So my advice is to stop trying to “network” in the traditional business sense, and instead just try to build up the number and depth of your friendships, where the friendship itself is its own reward. The more diverse your set of friendships are, the more likely you’ll derive both personal and business benefits from your friendships later down the road. You won’t know exactly what those benefits will be, but if your friendships are genuine, those benefits will magically appear 2-3 years later down the road.”

I would challenge all of you to focus on your friendships and really think how are you leaving a mark!

If there is something your doing now that is working please share.

Real Estate Related • Uncategorized • February 17, 2010

What makes a great leader?

by Michael Fanning

This came to me today via e-mail from a co worker of mine (Scott Wetzel). I got to thinking about our business in real estate and how we may come across sometimes to our clients. In today’s world your buyers and sellers need a person to lead them down a road of success and home ownership. In reading these guidelines they fall right in place in terms of how you as a real estate professional should be showing up and working with your clients. I say this because I have seen in our business where we beat our own chests and fight for power, and place big titles on ourselves to try and make us look bigger and better than we are. The fact of the matter is that doesn’t work. So read this and see, Are you a good leader?

What gives a man or woman the right to lead?

It certainly isn’t gained by election or appointment. Having position, title, rank, or degrees doesn’t qualify anyone to lead other people. And the ability doesn’t come automatically from age or experience, either.

No, it would be accurate to say that no one can be given the right to lead. The right to lead can only be earned. And that takes time.

The key to becoming an effective leader is not to focus on making other people follow, but on making yourself the kind of person they want to follow. You must become someone others can trust to take them where they want to go.

As you prepare yourself to become a better leader, use the following guidelines to help you grow:

1. Let go of your ego.

The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people. Perhaps that is why Lawrence D. Bell remarked, “Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things, and I’ll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things.”

2. Become a good follower first.

Rare is the effective leader who didn’t learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United State Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first – and why West Point has produced more leaders than the Harvard Business School.

3. Build positive relationships.

Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. That means it is by nature relational. Today’s generation of leaders seem particularly aware of this because title and position mean so little to them. They know intuitively that people go along with people they get along with.

4. Work with excellence.

No one respects and follows mediocrity. Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.

5. Rely on discipline, not emotion.

Leadership is often easy during the good times. It’s when everything seems to be against you – when you’re out of energy, and you don’t want to lead – that you earn your place as a leader. During every season of life, leaders face crucial moments when they must choose between gearing up or giving up. To make it through those times, rely on the rock of discipline, not the shifting sand of emotion.

6. Make adding value your goal.

When you look at the leaders whose names are revered long after they have finished leading, you find that they were men and women who helped people to live better lives and reach their potential. That is the highest calling of leadership – and its highest value.

7. Give your power away.

One of the ironies of leadership is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. You’re meant to be a river, not a reservoir. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.

Real Estate Related • November 6, 2009

Embrace change and succeed in business.

by Michael Fanning

In the world of Real Estate, especially today we are in a state of flux. The economy has taken a big toll on our business, relationship building and marketing are going digital, and the banking industry is causing real estate deals to fall out of escrow on a daily basis. All that said it really boils down to change. In any business you have to always be open minded to new ways of doing business and thinking out of the box.

Many real estate professionals today suffer from trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Never befor have we seen such change in a short period of time. So as you look at your business think about these three thing that were said best by Don Price

1. Embrace change and the challenge that goes along with it. Develop the confidence in yourself to survive whatever comes your way. Try new and unexplored ways of marketing to grow your business.

2. Increase your flexibility. Take a serious inventory of your rigid routines and thinking patterns. Then make some deliberate changes in the way you think and operate. Having difficulty in forcing the changes? Look in the mirror; remind yourself that the price of being inflexible results in stifled growth, and being left behind.
3. Stop being content with the same predictable activities every day. Most new ventures, marketing ideas and activities carry an unfamiliar ring and a fear of failure, but these negative emotions are usually short lived.

Not my words but good words to think about as we approach the end of 09 and look to 2010. I would challenge you to think outside the box with your business. Remember that the Real Estate business is a relationship business and always will be. How are you creating stronger relationships with your customers? Are you adding value, are your listening, and are you engaging them on a frequent basis. Are you providing them with something they aren’t getting elsewhere? Think about transparency and being a real person and not a sales person. Also if you have some good ideas on this topic I would love to get your feedback.

Thanks for taking the time.