Happy Sunday Everyone:
My team had a lunch date this past Friday with a Realtor Team. They were actually taking us out to lunch to say thank you for 2017, which was pretty cool. Of course I have to think through everything, i.e. why did they do that? what was different in 2017? In 2016 we closed 2 clients together, in 2017 we closed 10 clients together. So we could say “8 more clients”, big deal? not a big deal? or we could say we had 500% growth year over year with them…BUT WHY? This part is embarrassing, in 2016 I sat down with 15 business partners (most of these are great business partners) to map out and understand what they were going to accomplish in 2017 as well as what I was going to accomplish, and then suggest we get together monthly or quarterly to track results, discuss what was working, what wasn’t, where we could help each other etc….of the 15 business partners, guess how many stuck with the monthly or quarterly meeting (I view this as my fault, not theirs)? only one, and it so happens that’s who we had lunch with Friday. He would tell you in 2017, we became legitimate business partners. If you asked me why? and how? The questions below helped.
1. I need to understand what he’s going to accomplish in the next year as it relates to volume, buyers, sellers, revenue, and track it, even if, and especially when, its off track from the goal.
2. I need to understand how he’s going to do it? Does he want my feedback?
3. I need to understand his top 5 priorities for the next year, does he know what those are, if he doesn’t can I help him discover them through asking the right questions?
4. I need to understand what he considered a success this year and what he considered a failure, and why?
5. I need to understand where we were valuable to him this year and where we fell short, operationally, with 100% honestly/transparency.
6. I need to understand his entire business model and where we fit into it (or question if we do).
7. I need to question if our business relationship is one that he’s committed to i.e. does he consider me a business partner or just another vendor?
8. What type of input does he want from me? Business planning, time blocking, hiring, leadership, structure, culture, etc.….This guy literally asked me to speak with people before hiring them (what an honor)! Bigger point here is we need to understand real value vs. perceived value. Just because I’ve got a giant bag of tricks, doesn’t mean someone wants them all.
9. I need to understand if this type of communication and accountability is interesting to him or not. As an example-one of my favorite business partners of all time said “Hunter, I hate this crap, I want to get together with you, drink wine, talk about life, and close some deals together”….I love that, but the point is I need to understand it.
10. I need write down and track everything above and bring to the monthly/quarterly meeting, every single time.
Success in what we do is rarely going to come by accident. It’s rarely going to come without a plan, and its rarely going to come with business partners you don’t understand. Success in what we do is going to come by purpose, with a plan, and understanding what our business partners goals are, and how we fit into them. It’s no different than any other relationship, if you know what someone needs/wants, and you help them get there, you’re an asset. Assets typically stick around, liabilities do not. If you don’t think you have the right to do this, or if its valuable, I think you have the wrong mindset. For those thinking “I don’t have time”…if I had 15 hours a month to meet with people I enjoy, and responsible for at least 50% of my income, is that worth 9.3% of my time?
Have a great week ahead. BTW-for all of us that say “I’m cooling down for the rest of year”…..those words are guaranteed to get you off to a terrible start next year….I know from experience. If you’re going to go to work, work. If you’re not, take the day off and enjoy yourself but don’t try to mix the two…showing up to work, doing nothing, than feeling bad about it is a little crazy.