Happy Sunday Everyone:
I had Dayton Schrader and his wife, Kendall, in town yesterday from Texas. Kim and I took them all over Napa with a driver and did our best to show them a good time, and based on my head today, I’d say we were successful. He’s an unbelievable guy, which I’m sure has something to do with why he’s capable of closing 50 purchases last MONTH as a Realtor (WHO DOES THAT???). Dayton will tell you there is nothing special about him, he’s about as humble as you can get….with the “oh gosh, I’m not really sure, I’m just fortunate…..” but he got me thinking and one thing I noticed in spending the day with him is he’s as gracious as you can get. He’s a gracious guest. He’s fighting me to pay bills, he’s trying to buy everything, he and Kendall are thanking us constantly for the day, how special it is, the wineries, the restaurant etc…. My point is this, he makes me want to show him the best time I can….and why? because I know how much he appreciates it. He shows me through his actions and his words, I know he appreciates my efforts and that makes me feel good. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t go through life doing things for people for the recognition of it, but let’s call a spade a spade, when someone appreciates your efforts, it makes you want to come back for more. Opposite is I had someone ask me if they could fly their team captain out to meet with Erica for the day, I originally said no, we’re too busy…..he followed up and called me….I said yes. Erica spent the entire day with him and I never received a phone call, or letter expressing any gratitude for what we had done. So I take two things from that…they either were not impressed with our business, or didn’t appreciate the time we took, or both….either way, it doesn’t leave me with this feeling of “wow, if this person ever needs anything again, I’m here for them”. in all honesty, because this person reads these emails, it’s not a big deal, but it’s a real life example of showing appreciation for someone’s efforts. We need to show appreciation for others efforts, and we need to do it always. It’s not a process, it’s not a task, it’s not a system….it’s a mindset, and it goes along with gratitude. If we have gratitude, we show appreciation. If we don’t, we don’t.
So I ask you the question, are you someone that people want to help? Are you the person that shows others appreciation for their efforts? Anytime you think you need to say thank you, any time you think you need to show more appreciation, you’re always right, always. I for one need to focus on this more. I’ll skip the example but I was recently reminded of my own lack of appreciation for someone who does a lot for me on a regular basis…..my lesson to myself is not to get used to someone else’s constant efforts to help me. If I do (or we do), at some point they recognize it and start thinking “I think he’s lost the appreciation of my efforts”….and then you’re in trouble.
Hope this think about this one…personally, I think it’s a really big deal.