Article for Broker/Agent Magazine (December 2004)
Coffee Stains On The Seatback Trays…
By Jason Hartman, Empowered Investor International
…mean we don’t maintain our jets properly. This was the substance of an airline CEO’s admonition to his employees. He wasn’t speaking literally, of course. The mechanics who service the engines are not responsible for wiping off the coffee stains. But little things make a big impression with the customer and can tarnish the image of the entire organization. Never give the impression that you don’t care about the little things – it leaves clients and customers with an uneasy feeling. Our offices at Empowered Investor International are the outward manifestation of the overall style of our service. We are very particular not to leave coffee stains on our seatback trays and my employees probably get tired of my incessant harping on the subject.
The business of selling seems far removed from running an airline, but the concept is the same. Overall impressions matter! Clients want to feel that they are important and an salesperson who looks sloppy and drives a messy car says that the client isn’t important enough to make the effort to create a good impression and show respect for the client’s sensibilities.
In my business, professional image (personal brand) is the sum total of everything you do and say. It means your advertising materials are top-notch and your listings are staged to look as good as they possibly can. In addition, there are many intangibles that add to or subtract from your professional image: do you return phone calls promptly and courteously, are you on time for appointments, are you prepared when you meet with your clients?
When I first got into the business in the mid-‘80’s, computers and desktop publishing technology was in its infancy. In those days, salespeople made promotional materials with a pair of scissors and a glue stick. That is no longer acceptable. Professional salespeople know that a good image depends on utilizing state-of-the-art technology to always produce the best. Today, paste-ups and hand-lettered flyers look like an afterthought, as if the salesperson didn’t care enough to take the time to do it right. Salespeople who are stuck in a time warp and refuse to learn how to use modern techniques and materials create the impression that they are behind the times in everything else, including the latest financing programs, creative marketing techniques, etc. Clients wonder if these salespeople even know the latest community developments, future expansion plans, most recent legal requirements, and how to compete effectively against more astute agents when marketing a listing.
Lest you think I’m making mountains out of molehills, close your eyes for a moment and imagine these scenarios, and honestly imagine how you would react:
1) You are scheduled to meet an agent to view a home you saw advertised in a local newspaper. As you enter her office, you are impressed by the décor – neat, tasteful, sophisticated. Your agent comes out to greet you. She’s well-dressed, professional and polite. A good first impression has been made. You feel confident that you have a top agent. As you walk to her car, you are impressed by the polished, late model luxury cars in the lot. You are a bit taken aback as you walk past all these new, shiny cars toward a 1987 Oldsmobile that apparently hasn’t been washed in a month. Inside, the floor is littered with discarded McDonald’s hamburger wrappers. Your impression of your agent has taken a massive turn for the worse, even though she might be the most capable Realtor in town. The coffee stains on the seatback trays, so to speak, have overwhelmed all the good things and now you are not so sure that you will get top-notch service from this agent.
2) You are showing a home to a client that you are sure meets all her criteria. You previewed it yesterday and it showed well and you are sure she will make an offer. You open the front door and start your tour. Everything looks good until you get to the kid’s room. Dirty underwear is on the floor, the bed is unmade and an unidentifiable foul odor permeates the room. The spell is broken and your client seems anxious to move on to the next property. The coffee stains on the seatback trays have once again overwhelmed all the good things and the sale was lost.
You can imagine many other scenarios, and have probably experienced some of them yourself. Obviously, I am not making mountains out of molehills. Human nature being what it is, people tend to focus on the negative, and even when the negative is a little thing, it tarnishes the entire image. My business is a difficult one in which to differentiate yourself because we are all selling essentially the same product. Companies have long known that their brands are fragile – one misstep can damage or destroy years of careful product brand management. The same can be said for personal brands. We as salespeople must build personal brands to succeed. In this process, we tend to focus on the big things, ignoring the little things or giving them passing attention. The successful practitioner knows, however, that the whole is the sum of its parts, even the little parts.
Remember that the Challenger space shuttle, an extraordinarily complex machine built of millions of parts, was destroyed by the failure of a small rubber o-ring. Keep your seatback trays clean if you expect to excel in business!
Jason Hartman, CRS, GRI, CSP is the author of “Become The Brand of Choice – Make Your Name A Powerful Brand and Earn Millions” and President of Empowered Investor International. For more information visit www.JasonHartman.com or www.BrandofChoice.com
