Wake them up from their dead dream

Back in 2002, when I was a partner at a technology company, a client surprised us with an unannounced visit. He drove five hours from his corporate office. Arrived wearing jeans, Tony Lama's and his signature Tommy Bahama shirt.

He hung out with our staff. Handed out gifts -- plaques denoting his appreciation to everyone involved in working on his project.

Later that day, he joined us at The Cliffs in Shell Beach. He bought dinner, handed out cigars. We stood near the gazebo and toasted as the sun deposited itself into its piggy bank horizon.

Then he handed each of us an envelope. I stumbled in my efforts to vocalize sentiment. The best I could come up with was something along the lines of "man this is so over the top and completely unnecessary." 

"Never forget who brung ya." he said, grinning.

Back then, his account was the life-giving deal that birthed our young company from the canal of anonymity. He would say that his gesture was a little gratitude for the big work we did to help launch his new idea. I would disagree. His gesture, one of many, taught me much about creating lifelong clients.   

Who was your first customer? You know, the one who took a risk on you before you were a proven anything? They brung ya.

Who was your last client? The one who bought into your reputation. Believed in the word of mouth about your company. Your service. Or maybe they were someone who took a gamble on faith. They brung ya too. 

Do they feel forgotten? What have you done to keep them believing, loving, heralding you?

Do they know how deeply woven into the fabric of your success story they are? If not, why?

Better yet, forget why. Instead get busy dusting off the memory. Wake your customers up from their dead dream. Shock them. Amaze them.

Vendors, brokers, agents: Find that gazebo where you can stun your customers and partners into speechlessness.

- Davison

Sunset from The Cliffs

 

Redfin sets sail: Are you following?

Redfin broke a big taboo this week by "co-mingling" FSBO's and foreclosures with MLS listings.

Under every circumstance it's the right thing to do. It delivers exactly what the customer wants: All the listings, in one place.

But there's something more here. Look beyond the mashup. How do you think the Redfin brand is being strengthened by offering every housing opportunity, politics be damned?

I'll suggest the following:

• It makes the company and its agents appear distinctly more expert.
• It makes the company seem more consumer focused and more trustworthy than other brands.
• It makes the company appear more sensitive to the needs of the community by providing representation to people with alternative needs.

I don't believe the first question most consumers ask when they hit a site is if it has all the listings. I believe they don't know to ask. Trulia's fabulous traffic proves that. If anything, the consumer has been slipped that false notion mickey about coverage for a long time.

But that's certainly about to end. And it's about time.

So what's next? Well, it wouldn't hurt to follow suit. The data feeds are out there. Along with a herd of new company sunrising across real estate's horizon with new ideas, tools, apps and possibilities. And it certainly wouldn't hurt to leap frog either. One up them as they say.

Or not. You certainly have options. You can use this opportunity to vilify Redfin. Or allow your local MLS to ban you from co-mingling.

I think that continuing to moor your boat to old taboos is a bad idea -- especially when your competitors have set sail into the future. 

- Davison

There's something about Chip

I found Chip standing outside my front door this past Saturday morning.
The time was precisely 12:00.
I remember because it was at that very moment that I was blown away.

My wife collects people. Plumbers, electricians, handymen. She needs to. If asked, she'll say "put a tool in Marc's hand, reserve a gurney at the emergency room." It never fails -- a byproduct of inner city apartment living.

We go through service people like matchsticks. Few ever left an impression. Lori thinks they juggle too many clients at once. It sounds right. But it's nonetheless unacceptable.

Chip was the new hire. A handyman. Referred by a friend. He communicated with us a week ago. Said he'd arrive at 12:00 on Saturday. I've heard that before so I made other plans just in case.

Chip entered with a tool box and air of confidence. Dispensing with small talk he attacked the project immediately assessing the parts and created a supply list for Home Depot. There was something about Chip. I decide to postpone my backup plan and join him. 

For the first ten minutes he quietly drove his truck as I excused myself to take a call. When I hung up he asked what I do for a living and how I got into it. I explained.

I then asked him what his story is.
I've been dwelling on it since.

As it goes:

Chip was homeless between 1987 and 2003. Courtesy of alcohol and drugs. That was then. Today he owns a “service business” as he puts it. And a home. A truck. A trailer. A motorcycle. And a list of happy clients that refer him tons of business.

There is something about Chip. The way he navigated himself through Home Depot in search of an idea. The way he interacted with the sales staff in search of assistance. The way he passionately approached the simple task of installing some lighting in my house.

What I remember most about Chip was what he shared with me on the ride way home:

You know, there are a lot of handymen in San Luis. And I can honestly say that I am not any more skilled at what I do than my competition. But I don’t need to be. All I have to do is deliver on three simple things. I need to be on time. When I say I will be somewhere, you can take it to the bank. I need to complete the task when I say I will. Not two hours later. Not 2 weeks later. That means understanding the job as it is, not as the client describes. And 3, I charge $10.00 an hour less than everyone else. What I have figured out is that these three things are more valuable to homeowners than being the most skilled.   

The hour I spent with Chip is something I wish could share with everyone I know. Five years ago he was living under the three towers in Morro Bay. Today, when he is not delivering on his promise to his customers, he’s back out in Morro Bay delivering on a different promise.

There is something about Chip. 

I left him back at the house to finish the job. I had to take care of other things - things that did not require tools with sharp pointy ends.

Chip finished the job at 2:30. Precisely when he said he would. Not a drop of sheet rock dust anywhere. Lori re-hired him to install some air turbines in our attic next weekend. He had time to install during the week but I asked Lori request he come next Saturday. I wanted to be around when he comes back.

This morning I gave his name to a friend. He asked me how good the guy was. “He's as good as anyone" I said, but he's on time, gets the job done exactly when he says he will and he's ten dollars cheaper than his competition"

The last thing Chip said to me was “If you love what you do for a living, you will never work again.” Some figure that out early in life. Some later on. At the bottom of life's ravine.

You want to build a strong career? Start with the simple things.
The ones you can control.
The ones your competitors take for granted. The little things that will blow people away. Like returning a call immediately. Delivering your product or service ahead of time. Giving them a good deal even if they don't ask for it

And make that your everything.

- Davison

The Three Towers in Morro Bay, Ca

Where’s mom when you need her?

Once upon a time, you “walked in” for real estate services. A pleasant face greeted you. You had questions; helpful people had answers.

It was a simple.
Friendly.
It worked.

You called, someone answered. You were handled. Not routed through some invisible air traffic system waiting for a faceless controller to pick you up a day later with a response.    

The Realtor was once a servant. Performing the heavy lifting and attending to the smallest details. Making sense of things.

The client was afforded the luxury of being serviced. They were unencumbered by the minutia of the process.

When I was young we spent time huddled around the kitchen table. Eating. Talking. Dreaming.

Back then, the only box we all stared into was the Ebinger’s cake box. Pale green with brown crosshatching. We craved its contents - sweet and addictive.   

In these happy golden days of yore, the customer was king -- even though they weren’t “empowered”.

If you think consumers are truly empowered today, you are clinging to fantasy

You enter the local yogurt shop. Pick your Styrofoam cup. Pour your own yogurt. Choose and apply your own toppings. The only visible and meaningful exchange between you and the service person is experienced at the cash register.

Fast food. Self service. 

Today you enter real estate the same way. Pick your Styrofoam website. Pour your own flavor of search. Apply your own data, sign-up, log-in, drag, drop, join, calculate and map out your real estate treat. The only visible and meaningful exchange between you and the service person is experienced at the real estate cash register.

Fast food real estate. Self service.

All this technology. Amazing feats of invention. But if you think leaving it in the hands of the consumer is empowering, you are clinging to fantasy. 

The power I see

Technology can be empowering. But what happens when those who license and present it to the consumer are incapable of adding to it the nuance of expertise, the touch of service?

What happens when they have no aptitude for integrating it into a cohesive experience?

What happens when the professional skims the surface of technology, takes the cheap route and makes technology an Achilles Heel when it should be a strength?

I’ll tell you what happens. You lose control of your business. You end up with a wary consumer that doesn’t know what to do or who to trust. You end up having your entire value proposition eviscerated by outsiders, your carcass picked apart by squawking crows on the trash strewn shoulder of your industry.

How empowering is that?

Technology is amazing. If used right. But if not, if misguided, you end up selling your brand down a dry river bed littered with crappy websites, crappy search and a workforce of spoiled agents that don’t want to work -- or even know what work to do.

Empowerment is not conning oneself itself into believing the consumer wants to do everything themselves. Empowerment sunk when real estate began believing the consumer would have no issue paying top dollar for the privilege of serving themselves.

Where’s mom when you need her?

Today, we all gather round the same dining table. We still dream, eat, talk and wonder about our next home. The box we all stare into is equally alluring as the old Ebinger’s. Its contents just as sweet and addictive. Filled with empowerment and promise.

What would be incredibly empowering is if real estate started leveraging its contents better. Serve it up like mom used to. She knew exactly when and how. And was always there when you needed her.

That’s what real estate needs now more than ever. 

- Davison

When loyalty is based on indifference.

It's amazing what some companies take for granted.
It's amazing what some companies leave on the table.
It's amazing what some companies don't do to blow their customers away.

It's sad how little most companies invest in building affection with their customers. I could be talking about major real estate brands. I could be talking airlines. I could be talking about phone carriers.

My Verizon bill

After nearly dropping dead from the shock of my January cell-phone bill, I dialed 611 while pacing a trench in my living room.

As it turns out, the culprits were the hordes of Verizon folks who'd switched to AT&T over the holidays, reeking havoc on my free mobile-to-mobile minutes causing my otherwise stable charges to skyrocket. Just like that.

Verizon could have built an alert of some kind that recognizes when we, the loyalists, are on the threshold of a violent overage. But they didn't. They could issue a voucher for it's customers to be used against spiked minutes due to the anomaly of so many customers switching carriers at once. That would have been  mind-blowing. But the company instead chose to do nothing.

According to a summer poll conducted by M:Metrics, roughly two-thirds of people interested in buying the iPhone (the leading driver of a lot of recent carrier-switching) are not currently AT&T customers. Verizon knew this was going to happen. And they did nothing.

And that also blows my mind.

Being stuck is not the same as being loyal

I could leave Verizon. And go where? In a sea of phone carriers, they're all the same. One just as bad as the next. So I'm stuck with what I have.

Corporate folks, as they crunch numbers, tend to view this repeat business as brand loyalty. I disagree. And if the foundation of your business is built on that very same premise, I'd check it for cracks.

Had Verizon checked, it would have noticed that after getting over the shock of the bill, I had to wait over an hour to finally reach a salesperson who took another 40 minutes to investigate why my bill was over $600.

I hung up frustrated, abused, discarded.

What does this have to do with real estate?

Everything. What are you doing right now to mine the richest vein before you -- your existing and past customer base? What meaning are you applying to your brand right now that could translate into genuine loyalty?

Brokers: What are you doing right now, from the top down, to relieve frustration among your customers? To embrace them? To make them feel respected rather than used?

Your brands are stabbed into America's front yard. They know your names but they don't know you. They are hard-pressed to express your value proposition. You are like everyone else. How are you leveraging your differences, your essence, to enhance a sense of loyalty?

AT&T partnered with Apple to create that new bond. Maybe it's working. Who knows. I am already hearing a hue and cry from their newly converted about dropped calls and lousy service. Meanwhile, Verizon does nothing other push that oddball "Can you hear me now?" guy on us while it remains deaf to the gripes of its customers.

So this is my point: In the face of today's market, with all of the issues facing the American homeowner -- from shrinking equity to volatile credit markets to impending foreclosure -- what new bonds are real estate brokers creating? What new offerings or alerts are you presenting to your past customers that could not only bring immediate benefit, relief, information or counsel but that also could assign some new, greater sense of value for you and your brands?

Vendors: In the face of today's struggle to stay afloat, in light of the market and shrinking sales, what are you doing right now to drive new products, services, tools and pricing back to your current broker client base? Are you reengineering your technologies? Are you enhancing your old platforms? Are you working with modern code or are you just sticking to the same old, same old in hopes that your clients just continue writing checks because you've mistakenly confused the futility of finding a better vendor with loyalty?

Can you hear me now?

A new cell-phone carrier will one day emerge with a Zappos-like service ethic, an Apple-like retail experience and a Starwood-like rewards program built to cultivate affection and loyalty. Or not. What interests me is what this would look like in real estate. From consumers within the industry to homeowners outside it, all one has to do is gaze out across the landscape to see the millions of unclaimed, disloyal, stuck hearts looking, yearning and hoping for something they can fall in love with.

Don't wish the cycles would turn; turn them yourself.

- Davison

Change your thinking, change your life

Lots of talk, focus, concern about the economy.
Lots of fear about money.
About spending it.
About making it.
About where more is going to come from.
About how little there seems to be of it.
About tightening up the belt.

Larry Winget, the self professed pit bull of personal development and the author of It's called Work for a Reason and Shut Up, Stop Whining and Get a Life has this to SAY about money.

We all know these things but sometimes it helps to just be reminded where your greatest assets are and how you can be leveraging them to make... more money even during times when it seems unlikely.

Starting now, change your thinking. It can change your life

- Davison