Life has an uncanny way of serving up reminders and inspiring reflections.
Last weekend, I had one of those moments. I had pulled into the corner store for a quick supply run – ice and essentials for the weekend. The customer in front of me, a mom with several children, was flustered because she’d gotten to the counter with her goods and realized that she had forgotten her wallet. It was a no brainer for me to offer to pay, and I did. I wanted her kids to have the ice cream that they’d picked out, I wanted her day to go on smoothly, and since I’ve been in that jam before myself, I simply wanted to help. Fast forward a couple of days and I was on a Starbucks run, picking up a relatively sizeable order. A few drinks to take back to the house and a few pastries. As I prepared to swipe my card, the clerk told me not to worry about paying because the person in front of me had picked it up. I was immediately struck by how unexpected the gesture was and how truly incredible it was that it happened in the same weekend I’d done something similar. Positivity begets positivity.
Those uncanny moments last weekend reminded me of my 2012 business plan and some of the decisions in my professional course that really catapulted my business to a new level.
In 2012, my goal was not GCI or production. I put my focus instead on a philosophy of giving. That year, I wanted every single contact in my database to feel taken care of and to feel like their needs were covered. I went all in on giving and developing a reputation of thoughtfulness and by 2013 my business had doubled. It was a breakout year for me and new leadership opportunities came along with it.
It feels great to be service-oriented. There’s real personal value in the sensation of helping people and connecting with their needs rather than your own. Making my business truly relationship-based has created great professional returns, but it’s been just as rewarding personally. I love creating good experiences for others.
A “giving mindset” does a couple of things:
- You become more authentic and more approachable to your past clients and to prospects. When you genuinely want to help, people sense it and they gravitate to you with trust.
- The experience with you is more memorable when you base your service around giving. It’s one that your clients will want to talk about.
- A giving philosophy keeps you focused on what is important… taking care of your clients. Treat your clients as guests in the experience that you are creating, almost as if you were hosting them in your home. Be thoughtful about their needs, tend to their preferences, make sure they are comfortable.
- Most importantly, giving creates a higher energy frequency. Even without fully understanding the laws of cause and effect and reciprocity, you can remember that positivity begets positivity.
There are easy examples of how to use giving daily in your business:
- Just pick up the phone and contact your clients regularly. Ask them “Is there anything I can do for you? I’ve got a screened list of service providers. I’m always here to help."
- Keep in mind that people aren’t paychecks. It’s the work that you do and the way that you treat people that builds your business, so don’t look at your clients and prospects as commission checks. Stay focused on the long-term relationship. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes and solve their challenges they even know that they have a challenge. Use thoughtfulness along with expertise to get them where they want to go.
- Help other brokers grow. There is no better way to leverage your skills than by helping other brokers learn and get better. There was no better accelerant for my business in 2011, 2012, and 2013 than by helping my fellow brokers through the very early stages of Take Flight. It wasn’t about a guaranteed return; it was part of my plan for giving and sharing. I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t doubled down on putting time and effort into other people.
Our society has certain expectations. The basic expectation is that you will be knowledgeable and responsive enough to get your client from point A to point B. But those that do well in this business are those that go beyond the basic expectations and create exceptional experiences. If you exceed expectations, your sphere of influence will want to help you as much as you helped them. Just like I felt in that corner store, it’s natural to want to do well by others when they’ve done well by you.
My focus this fall is going to be based on creating a Customer Service Plan instead of a Business Plan. I will be pushing you to double down on next level service as your marketing differentiator.
Great marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.
The best, most highly sought out companies focus on making the lives of their customers better. They focus on the special treatment that creates a memorable impression, and that’s what we are going to do too. There’s an enormous difference between service and hospitality, so you’ll hear me use words like ‘Hospitalian’ that encourage you to go beyond standard service. As our industry becomes more transactional, we will set ourselves apart by becoming more personal. It starts with giving.
