For the last 4 months of my life, much of my free time has been spent searching for a home in the Minneapolis area. My wife and I are newly weds and we knew our budget for a home was tight. However, we were committed to finding the right deal for ourselves even if it took some time.
Throughout the process we had many ups and downs riding the emotional roller coaster of a house search. "We found the one!" "Nevermind, it sold already. Here is the one! Oh, wait the kitchen is the size of a coffee can." Although it was discouraging at times we hung in there and in the end found a deal that had everything on our list, all for 5 thousand dollars less then we budgeted. It was quite a find. After overcoming one or two more hurdles I can happily report that we are scheduled to close August 10th!
Throughout this process we worked with many individuals, however one stood far above the rest. This was our Realtor Katie. Over a period of months her hardwork and dedication earned not just our business but our respect. As I thought more about the experience and what made it stand out from the rest, I realized that we as owners and managers of businesses can learn a lot from people like Katie who by their actions make a real difference in the lives of their customers. Katie performed exceptionally well in the following four key areas:
Communication:
Without asking she was always updating us with the latest news. She responded to her phone and emails quickly and consistently. She made time to talk with us and hear our desires without us ever feeling like we were wasting her time.
Honesty & Trust:
These two work hand in hand. Trust is honesty over time. Katie never held back. She was tactful but told things as they were, not how she thought we'd like to hear them. If she didn't know something, she did not pretend like she did. It gave us real peace of mind to be able to trust her to take care of the details we were inexperienced with.
Knowledgable:
These two work hand in hand. Trust is honesty over time. Katie never held back. She was tactful but told things as they were, not how she thought we'd like to hear them. If she didn't know something, she did not pretend like she did. It gave us real peace of mind to be able to trust her to take care of the details we were inexperienced with.
Hardwork:
Every 2-3 days I would get a whole new set of listings to go through. When something came up we were interested in she was ready to jump in her truck and meet us at a moment's notice. When we went to close, she made special visits to our house, caught up to us at restaurants, whatever it took to move the deal forward. We never signed an exclusivity agreement at the beginning, because we never had a need to. From the start she worked so quickly and methodically we would never have considered anyone else. She never showed any visible signs or concerns about getting paid. She took it on faith that working hard on the right things, would ultimately produce the results she desired. Despite outside influences, both positive and negative, Katie consistently delivered her best efforts. This naturally led to our desired outcome, which led to her desired outcome.
Not everything was perfectly rosy. There were plenty of disappointments along the way. However, all things considered our Realtor Katie, did a stand up job for us from beginning to end and we would recommend her to anyone. Seeing what someone does in specific situations can be quite valuable if you are in that specific situation yourself. For real estate agents this is a great model to follow. However there are also universal lessons that can be gleaned from this example for all people in any situation. A person like Katie is not successful by accident. She is successful because she has weaved certain beneficial habits and practices into her character. If markets go up or down, Katie will continue to do well because she focuses on doing the little things correctly, day in and day out. When positive traits become daily habits, results have a way of taking care of themselves.
This is a lesson we can all benefit from. When we open our eyes and honestly examine our own habits and character there are things each of us do well, and things that each of us can do better. Building character is the process of keeping the habits we desire and removing those we do not. Examining a respected colleague or mentor is a great place to discover positive characteristics.
— Jason W.