First, if you have not had the opportunity to meet Greg, I encourage you to do so at your earliest convenience. If you don't know who Greg is, I encourage you to go to the 68Ventures website and check out his resume. We are very fortunate to have him in our court!

I invited Greg to one of our Orange Beach & Ono Island sales meetings and asked him to give us the most important things we need to pay attention to in our business to minimize conflict in a transaction. Check out these 8 simple yet very important suggestions from Greg:

1. Manage our communication– The main objective of communication management is to ensure smooth flow of information between two people or a group. There are specific things we can do to improve our communication skills:

• • Listen
  • Who you are talking to matters
  • Review and have clarity of your message before you hit send
  • Be brief yet specific
  • Write things down
  • Think before you speak
  • Keep it real
  • Be timely
  • Focus on consistency and reinforce it
  • Encourage feedback
  • Empower your Broker

2. Drop the terrible client– We often know right away within the first few minutes of meeting a client even if it is not in person that they are going to be difficult. If a client is taking way more of your time than you planned on giving them, they're hurting your business.  Dropping them will let you find more profitable clients. Here are a few reasons why we should consider firing a client:

• • They make unreasonable demands.
  • The want everything for nothing.
  • They don't listen.
  • They don't respond in a timely manner.
  • They show a basic lack of respect.
  • They don't respect our time.
  • They are verbally abusive.
  • They wear down your morale (VIBE & MINDSET)

3. Review the contract with your client– Sounds basic as it should, but we need to do this every time for the following reasons:

• • It reduces our legal and financial risk.
  • It provides an opportunity to have a clear analysis of the terms, clauses and conditions that are contained in the contract.
  • It assures the client knows their rights and obligations if something were to go wrong.

4. Cell Phones– They can be our worst enemy on our best day. Here are some examples why they can be bad for our business.

• • Perception
  • Liability
  • Security
  • Boundaries
  • Efficiency
  • Corruption
  • Data hacking
  • Distraction
  • Social disruption
  • Wasting our time

5. Lack of communication– The lack of communication can kill even the best clients. Clients are the core of our business. If you develop strong interpersonal skills, you can maintain good communication with your clients and build lasting relationships. Great communication makes a happy client. A happy client becomes an advocate for your business which provides repeat and referral business.
   
   Great communicators choose their words well, understand their audience, and connect with them under any circumstance. The worst thing you can do in a transaction or for your business is to go underground on your client!
6. Don't let clients write addendums - We are the professionals! Do NOThesitate to ask your Broker for help here! An addendum is a post-contract attachment that modifies, alters, or totally changes conditions of a previously established contract. We need to be in control of all addendums, because we have the most experience and understanding of the contract. Letting your client write the addendum is wrong in many ways. Just don't allow it!
   
7. Protect our client's information – As REALTORS® we have a duty of confidentiality and loyalty.

• • The most sensitive information to protect includes bank account numbers, social security numbers, pin numbers, credit card numbers and passwords.
  • When you protect your client's personal data, you protect YOU and YOUR business. By safeguarding your client's privacy, you can protect your brand and market value, your reputation and yourself from costly lawsuits. 

8. Don't modify the contract or let your client modify the contract– In Baldwin County use the BR Contract. In Mobile County use the Mobile Board Contract. Period! These contracts have been authored and improved over the years for a reason. The reason is to help us manage the transaction in a simplified manner that is easily understood and to minimize conflict between the buyer and the seller. Do not let your client modify the contract. Most client contract modifications lead to confusion and problems.  Some even end up with you raising your right hand before a Judge. Just don't do it!

I hope you will find the time to thank Greg for the insight and knowledge to better our business skills!