Breast Foot Forward (the mummification of Kirsty)

No you did not….

Surely it was over the phone….

In person! Are you serious? That would have been enough for me to walk.

My friend (a sensational working mum) was aghast. In fact, so was I, at what I was telling her.

I’d just made a job offer to someone, in person, face to face… while breastfeeding my child.

One minute I’m an entrepreneur who’d rather hold a meeting than a close friend’s child and the next I’m this hybrid businessperson/manic mother whose attempts at multitasking today included:

- trying to feed my child while sitting in the driver’s seat in a drive-through car wash (note this was not successful: the car wash was very exciting to the tiny child)

- creating from instructions on the internet (because I couldn’t wait for postage from the States) my very own hands free breast pumping bra – so that I can use both hands to type while listening to the rhythmical whirr of the pump (one sports bra destroyed, but it works surprisingly well)

- and the aforementioned feeding of the child whilst making an offer to a candidate to come and work with us

Now in my defense, the person to whom I made the job offer had the option to see me today with child or tomorrow without and chose today and I have known her for some years. But ask me 3 years ago if I’d ever do what I did today and you’d have been met with a laugh and a scoff.

A mummy was something I travelled to Egypt to see, not something I was. Maternal instinct extended to me being exceptionally proud of my former staff when they started their own businesses, not something that would have me screaming in my sleep at my husband to stop rolling over lest he squash the baby (who does not and has not ever slept in our bed). Work-life balance meant having a fabulous husband who was fine with me working long hours or travelling when required, not dealing day to day with “mother’s guilt”. (NB: For those of you unaware of mother’s guilt – it seems to be the pretty commonplace fear that when you’re at work you should be with your child and when you’re with your child that you should be at work).

In my life I’ve done some things that others might see as being difficult. I’ve started businesses from age 15, bought and sold companies, worked with over 100 staff, owned over 40 properties and yet the most difficult challenge I’ve faced thus far is how to retain myself, my goals, my dreams, my business aspirations and to mesh them seamlessly with all I want to be as a mother (and believe me I want to do it to the best of my ability) to this tiny human who has come into my life.

Sometimes I write blogs when I’ve figured something out and want to share what I’ve learned. Not the case today. I’m simply writing to applaud the mothers that have worked with me previously and done amazing jobs at work and at home – I didn’t understand what you were going through – I’m only just beginning to see it now.

I’m also writing to thank my friends who are mothers for their help in working through these exciting and challenging times with me. You are my mentors. You help me see what’s possible, what’s not and what’s really important.

By Kirsty Dunphey with 2 comments

Protect or propagate?

The tiny child (aka my 5 month old daughter Milla) is having her first bout of illness right now with a painful and red throat. She’s only comforted in my
arms or her Dad’s and is clearly in quite a lot of pain.

Right now, every maternal instinct in my body wishes that it were I who was sick and not she. It’s a natural desire for a mother to want to take away her
child’s pain.

Let’s pretend for a moment it was possible for me to take away her pain for me to “fix her” with a blink of an eye. If I could help to be immediately well
right now with some made up superpower, would it be the best thing for her? While it would yield a short term gain to both her mood and my ears, she’d miss out on developing antibodies that her little body is making right now and it’s unsustainable and impractical for me to be able take away every ache and pain for the rest of her life.

I once worked with an amazingly talented senior staff member who was a master at “fixing problems” in her workplace. If you had a problem you took it to this staff member and they’d “fix” it. Only problem was, the team around the senior staff member didn’t develop their own “problem-solving-antibodies” – they didn’t learn the skills needed to fix their own problems. If that senior staff member were ever on leave people weren’t equipped to deal with the problems that crop up (anywhere) on a day- to-day basis.

So the solution – at home, comfort the tiny child, look after her medically, but don’t look for a magic wand. And at work – teach the skills by working with my team in problem solving, not trying to magic wand a solution there either.

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Blended Behavior

Blended Behavior I’ve been reading a lot (and I mean a LOT!) of books on baby sleep at the moment (yes, the tiny child has recently gone through a bit of a rough patch with her sleep).

One of the more interesting concepts I’ve read about is “blended behavior”. It’s when your child might show some sign of being sleepy such as rubbing her eyes, but then flash you a big smile and coo happily like she’s wide awake. In short, it’s blended behavior, and she’s probably very tired! Don’t let the smile fool you.

Ever had one of your workmates exhibit adult blended behavior? Snappish one minute and lovely the next? They could well just be tired. When do you need to take it in hand? When the snappish behavior continues longer than an “off” day.

One day they’re dishonest and the next day perfectly pleasant? It’s likely they’re just simply dishonest. Confront them at the first instance of dishonesty and explain that it’s not tolerated in your workplace.

Lazy one minute and interested the next? You probably already know their heart isn’t in it. What can you do to help them revitalize their interest? A new challenge perhaps? But be sure they know we all have mediocre parts to every job and without that (boring) backbone getting done, the organization has no substance.

I must dash now… it’s time to wake the tiny child for her final feed and solicit as many smiles as I can (even if they’re blended in with yawns) before she goes down for the night!

By Marjorie with No comments

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

A good friend and mentor Rik Rushton (www.insightpd.com.au) recently asked through facebook – “When was the last time you did something for the first time?”

I like to think of myself as a pretty adventurous person, I love to travel, I love experiences and I’m a bit of a daredevil and so when I read Rik’s question internally I scoffed – “Pfft… I’m always doing things for the first time!”

Until I actually tried to recall the last thing I’d done “for the first time” and I was at a bit of a loss.

When was you the last time YOU did something for the first time?

So… thanks for the challenge Rik. Since you posed your question I have:

- booked my first holiday with the tiny child (we’ll be cruising through the Greek Isles)

- bought my first rent roll (with www.elephantproperty.com.au) which we turned around and settled within a week!

- Decided to go to China in a couple of months (a big and exciting first off my list)

What will you do for the first time? Not surprisingly googling “first time” lead me to a whole heap of places I didn’t really mean to go, but for a bit of extra homework, why not check out: http://www.thefirsttimer.com/ The First Timer on her journey to ticking things off her “first time” list!

By Kirsty Dunphey with 2 comments

Can you be the cup?

Bruce Lee famously and eloquently once said: “Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Here was a life cut too short far too early.

We’ve all met people who were like water before. They’re people that can step into any workplace setting and find their feet quickly and easily. They can mix with all different types of people. They adapt, they become what they need to become to suit the task at hand.

I love the way Bruce Lee also hints at the power and backbone behind water as well “water can flow or it can crash”. Just because the water can mould itself to its surroundings doesn’t mean it can’t command attention, doesn’t mean it’s weak or can be pushed around. Anyone who has tried to fight the current in a rough ocean can attest to that.

So what can I learn from Bruce’s wise words today?

- to see the people who are like water around me and look to learn this skill from them (and encourage more of them to work with me!)
- to seek to become more adaptable myself (I look forward to becoming a teapot!)
- to learn to empty my mind more often

How can you be more like water today?

By Kirsty Dunphey with 1 comment

Striking out swinging or looking?

Despite being an Aussie who should have probably grown up loving cricket, thanks to my American-sport-loving Dad I’m a huge fan of baseball instead.

For those of you not super familiar with the game, you’re probably still familiar with the phrase “strike out” - where the pitcher is able to throw three “strikes” past the batter meaning they’re out.

There’s two different ways you can “strike-out”.

You can strike out “looking” – which is where you watch the ball go over the plate not attempting to hit it.

Or you can strike out “swinging” – where you’re doing your darndest to connect bat to ball but don’t quite get there.

People write to me often asking me for advice on how to know if it’s the right time for them to start up a business. My advice to them is typically this - what’s going to hurt them more in the long term:

- the regret of knowing they had a great idea and did nothing
- or the potential downside that may come with the financial loss of starting up a business that doesn’t succeed.

In short, do they want to strike out looking or swinging? If you strike out looking, there’s no chance of a home run. If you’re swinging – sure you might strike out – but you might also make that connection that makes all the difference.

See a cute girl across the bar? If you ask her for her phone number and she says no, you’ve gone out swinging. You’ve given it your best bet. If you never ask, you’re in exactly the same position, but you never had a chance for a date.

Know that promotion is right up your alley? Apply or not? Swing or look?

Think you are deserving of an award? Nominate yourself or remain quiet? Swing or look?

If the possibility of striking out is real (and, lets face it, in almost every endeavour it is) how would you prefer to go out?

By Kirsty Dunphey with 2 comments

The power of pause-itivity

The world seems to be crashing down around my ears today. I haven’t held the tiny child enough, my inbox is overflowing, there are three fires to put out in the office, I know I left a letter half written open on another staff member’s computer, I’m waiting on a bunch of people to get back to me so I can complete jobs and to top it off I snapped at my husband within 10 minutes of walking in the door.
Pause… deep breath… stop.
Hold the tiny child, cuddle her, hang out with her uninterrupted for a half hour til she goes to bed. She looks at me with her big blue eyes and giggles.
Pause
Apologise to husband for snapping, take a minute to just give him a huge hug. Mood calmed significantly already.
Pause
Categorize my emails, prioritize my to do list for tomorrow, move anything I don’t need to work on tomorrow into a folder called “do after tomorrow”. Tomorrow’s list already looking do-able.
Pause
Fire off a few more emails and tick a few things off tomorrow’s to do list.
Pause
Take 5 minutes and send out an email to two of my team who do a great job, but that I haven’t acknowledged enough lately.
Pause
Have a long relaxing bath.
Pause
For me, multi-tasking only leads to more confusion. I know I’m not getting anything done when I’m mid-way through 5 different things. I know I just need to pause and do one thing at a time and do it well. If I just take the time to pause, the list doesn’t seem so overwhelming. A huge and insurmountable list can be broken down into more achievable chunks by simply taking a moment to pause, stop, breathe, reassess and start on (and finish) one thing at a time. Do you need to pause?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Onwards, Over and Upwards

Thanks to Adam Drummond for sending me this video to follow… Three and a half minutes of action packed fun.

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

I think this bike run is a great analogy for business. The guy racing through the obstacle course (who appropriately seems to be wearing a pin striped suit) is always looking forward.

He goes through ups and downs. At a time he even gets off course, but at no stage does he look backwards, he just gets back on course and continues on. Were he to look backwards he’d almost definitely crash.

There’s even a very difficult obstacle (with 4 legs) in his way at one point, but he continues onward, finding a way over it. At no point does he stop his forward momentum.

Too often, it’s easy to have an off course moment, or an obstacle that makes you stop or look backwards. Forward momentum with constant adjustments works for our pin striped racer… could it work for you too?

By Kirsty Dunphey with 1 comment

The power of the word

I’m quite distraught. I was eating my personal trainer approved afternoon snack of 12 almonds (my suggestion of 12 Tim Tams: not approved) when I got a lovely crunchy surprise in my mashed up almond mix. Part of a rear tooth had dislodged and was busily working its way towards my small intestine.

Having my wisdom teeth stitches “accidentally” left in for about 2 weeks too long has left me with a justified fear of going in to see the man with the drill. Not to be deterred I picked up the phone and was told by the monotone receptionist: “you won’t be getting in for at least 4 weeks”.

Now note this was not “our next vacancy is in 4 weeks” or “I’m really sorry, barring dental emergencies we won’t be able to fit you in for 4 weeks” this was simply “you won’t be getting in for at least 4 weeks”.

The front face of this business, the director of customer relations and the person I think is responsible for calming irrational odontophobics like me (yes, that’s the word for those who fear the dentist) had actually somewhat alleviated my fear... by replacing it with indignation!

In your business or in your workplace does your front face realise the power of the word? Do you? Perhaps take a leaf out of my hair dresser's book – they answer every phone call with “Thank you for calling Bladerunner. How can I make your day today?” It’s a bit zany, it makes them laugh and it makes me smile.

The power of the word can invoke rage, or cultivate a fan – what do the words at your business do?

By Kirsty Dunphey with 3 comments

What’s your Rider?

I was just browsing the website of Seth Godin, a great writer and speaker and I came across his “rider”. For those of you who don’t know, a rider is a term I’ve only ever really heard used by those in the music profession before. It describes what they need to have the gig go off without a hitch (ie: white lillys in the dressing room, ample Evian water, a certain type of guitar amp, 7 nubile virgins for the drummer, you get the drift.)

Seth, being a bit of celeb, is well within his rights to call his technical specs his rider if you ask me. Have a read of Seth’s rider here: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/rider.asp

It sets expectations and his requirements beautifully and succinctly. It’s clear and there’s no room for confusion yet Seth doesn’t come off as spoilt or a diva.

Clearly Seth’s learnt from less than perfect experiences over the years and so now he’s had the forethought to set the expectations right up front to alleviate future frustrations.

If you could educate your clients with a rider prior to them signing up to do business with you, what would it say? And while you may not call it a rider, how could you put something in place that serves the same purpose today to stop your future frustrations?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Test for the Taste

I had an amazing service experience last week.

A person was coming out to my house to quote me for an installation we want to have done.

At about five minutes to when she was about to arrive, she called to say that she was caught in a little bit of traffic with the rain and may be a couple of minutes late.

She then showed up just 2 minutes late and I was over the moon that she had called.

Her behaviour at our house was extremely professional, she asked great questions, made relevant suggestions and really knew her product. She was able to give us a very professional quote on the spot and told me she'd follow up with an email later that day which she did.

All in all - a fantastic service experience.

There's only one thing. Our interactions ended on a slightly funny note. Instead of a professional work email she used a hotmail email account and at the bottom of the email read: "Looking for a hot date? View photos of singles in your area!"

Now given that she'd provided such great service up until that time, this wasn't a huge issue for me - more of a giggle. But given that hotmail does this without you even seeing it, it'd be something I'd be upset about as a professional (and she was extremely professional!)

This is one reason it's a great idea to test out your entire sales process on someone - and get their feedback. This lady was sensational, but that last little thing could leave a sour taste in someone's mouth (especially someone who may not know that she didn't put this tag line on her emails!) and she may not even know it's happening.

How will you test yourself out today?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Should I leave secure employment to start a small business?

Thanks to the number of people who asked me to blog on this topic. Starting their own business seems to be a dream for many, realized by few and realized successfully by even fewer.

So – if you want to start up your own small business, but you’re afraid to leave your secure employment… I say – that’s ok! In the current economic climate, having a respectful amount fear isn’t the worst thing – IF it turns into you doing more research, preparing well and being financially, emotionally and mentally ready to start a business. If it’s just fear for fears sake – and nothing more than a massive cause of paralysis then I’m not a fan of it.

I’m a big believer in doing things that stretch, but still fit into your comfort zone (bearing in mind that your comfort zone is different to mine, to the person next door to you at work and probably different to your partner, friends and family).

So – before you leave your employment to start your own business please consider:

1. Take 5 different small business owners (preferably in similar sized businesses to the one you would ideally like to run) out to lunch, coffee or cocktails. Get the low down from them on what it’s REALLY like to be in business (and not just what you think it’s like from reading BRW).

2. Figure out how far your dollar will stretch. How long could you go in this new business of yours without making a single sale. John Ilhan, founder of Crazy John’s waited 6 months for his first sale! If you’re not well funded, why not consider starting a business on top of what you currently do for work? If you watch 2 hours of TV a night, simply devoting those 2 hours gives you 14 hours you could be putting into starting a business that doesn’t require a full time presence from you.

3. Take a look around your current business, or see a business broker – perhaps there’s an existing business with cash flow that you could buy or buy into that may be a good option.

4. Figure out whether you’re starting a business or starting a job? A business where you’re the only employee, it depends totally on you and pays you the same or less than your current job is a job, not a business.

5. If you started a business and it failed miserably and you lost all the start up capital you put into it and your time and your lost wages for the time you were in it, do you think you’d still be able to look back on it and say “I’m at least glad I tried?”

6. Do you have a passion for the concept behind business you want to start? As the old saying goes: if you love your work you’ll never work a day in your life!

7. Have you got your business brain on? I’ve seen a truckload of successful sales people start real estate businesses because they were great sales people (it didn’t make them great business people). The same goes for the fabulous hairdresser or mechanic or doctor. Just being awesome at what you do doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to run your own successful business.

8. Have you read The E-Myth by Michael Gerber?

9. What’s your point of difference? Please don’t be another “me too” business doing things exactly the same as all your competitors. Be exciting, be different, give people a reason to want to tell their friends and family that they MUST do business with you!

10. Finally – don’t be discouraged by this blog, by your friends, by your family or by the guy down the road who thinks he knows everything. If you have the passion and desire to start a new business, you know the risks involved, you have a great plan and you know that if you were 99 years old and looking back on your life you’d regret not doing it – have a crack! As Bon Jovi so wisely say “It’s my life, it’s now or never!” (oooh I’ve been waiting to blog about Bon Jovi for some time now!)

By Kirsty Dunphey with 2 comments

From Setting up to Getting Up

If you’re anything like me, you’ll only have to work in real estate for a nanosecond before you start seeing things that could be done differently. Let’s not mince words, when I say “differently” you know I really mean “better”. Ahh the naivety and blissful ignorance of my youth.

I was not more than 19 before fantasies of owning my own agency so I could do things “my way” started permeating my work life to the point where I knew that some day, if I wanted to stay in this industry, I’d have to start my own agency.

Now, as I write this at age 32, having started two independent agencies with business partners from scratch, one at 21 (which later brought a franchise group into the mix), the other at 29 I smile when I think of just how little I knew at 19.

My fantasies didn’t have a great basis in reality. But it’s a great thing they didn’t, because if they had, I may never have started that first agency.

If I’d been aware of the difficulties I’d go through over the next few years including: staffing issues, partnership issues, financing issues, client issues, legal battles, expansion issues and more I might have just gone with my plan B which somewhat sophisticatedly involved finding a job where I could live in my pajamas day in and out.

That said, my adventures in real estate, both as a career through business ownership and as a passion through property investment have lead me to where I am today. My second book was called “Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can” and I have this beast called real estate to thank for being able to state that.

So, if you’re like I was: young and eager to make it on your own, or perhaps even older and more experienced and looking to create your own path – what are the important issues to consider before you step out of security and into entrepreneurship.

Firstly, lets talk why you wouldn’t do it. There’s any number of reasons but these are the ones that jump straight to my mind:

• If you’re a great sales person and you want to make even more money: being a great sales person doesn’t mean you’ll be a great manager and I’ve know plenty of business owners whose top sales person makes more than they do from their business (with a lot less stress).
  
  
• If you’re doing it to improve your work life balance: Ha! Most business owners I know double their work hours in the first few years and regardless of just the hours, the stress is always more when it’s your business.
  
  
• If you’re planning on doing everything yourself: you probably already have a job. Starting an agency that is completely reliant upon you takes you from one job (where someone else shoulders the stress and responsibility) to another (where you do so!). It’s also no way to build a saleable asset and one day (at some stage) you WILL need to dispose of your business whether you retire or get the urge to move on before then. A business that’s just you and your brilliance is a hard one to sell without you leaving your brain in a glass jar by the door.

So say you pass the three pronged test above and you’re still crazy to go ahead. Get ready to start making some choices.

Franchise, Independent or Purchase?

Having done each of these three options there’s huge pros and cons to each:

A franchise gives you structure, experience to draw upon, networks, referrals, systems, training and a brand. But you also have to live with being restricted as to what you can do with your branding, you have to be happy to be lumped together with the reputation of everybody else within that franchise (good or bad) and there will be times when you don’t agree with the decisions handed down from high. Flexible it ‘aint, but it can offer you an amazing leg up IF you choose the right organization.

Starting as an independent your world will be awash with decisions. What colours do you want to go with, what will you call your new baby, what will your logo be, who will do your website, who can you turn to for advice. Once you’ve made those decisions you’ve now got to face the harsh reality that no-one’s ever heard of your fledgling brand. You get to create your own reputation, but you’ve got to start from scratch.

Much like a franchise, but even more so, buying into an existing operation buys you into an existing reputation within your marketplace. You might have the added benefit of a rent roll to give you some sound cash flow, but you’ll also typically have a larger debt than those establishing from scratch will be able to bootstrap. Then you’ve also got the minefield of taking on existing staff, will you be getting a star or a diva?

Shop Front, Office or Closet under the Stairs?

Where to operate from probably forms your next big question. Over the years I’ve had real estate offices in: a 2 bedroom residential apartment with no commercial zoning, a motel (where I also got to live on site as the manager), shared space in a lawyer’s office, ground floor office space, a converted brick townhouse and a huge three level building.

Each served its purpose at the time, but I must say, being in one place that really suits far outweighs moving all the time. That said, we started in an apartment because that’s what we could afford. What we lacked in our ability to even see clients in it (no zoning) we made up with a lovely view!

Right now my business is purely property management and for that, we haven’t felt the need for a shop front. In my last company, we were the state head office and a sales and property management company, so the ultimate aim was to own a space that large enough for us, had a great street frontage and had parking on site.

Know that wherever you hang your shingle, ultimately, if your operation, plan and people are good enough, your location won’t be the primary factor in your success or failure. Real estate is all about the people involved and the experience and results you provide, not what your walls look like.

Advertising, Press or Talk?

So now you’ve got your brand and your office, but what about getting your clients? This is the trickier side of business ownership. As I see it, you’ve got three main methods of client attraction. Which will be the most attractive to you?

Advertising: Billboards, television, newspaper, online, brochures, yellow pages, letterbox drops and more. This is the marketing stuff you flat out pay for to get your name out there. If this is your main angle, make sure all your marketing materials reflect your brand and the type of client you’re trying to attract. Budget well because you can spend your whole opening budget just on marketing before you blink. Aim to get a verifiable return from any $$s you outlay. How to do this? Survey all clients as to how they found out about your agency.

Press: If you’ve got an angle to your business you stand a chance at getting some free marketing in the form of good press. For me, it’s typically been about being a young female in the industry, or from the awards I’ve won. Find your uniqueness and get prepared with your sound bytes. Respect and value journos time and make sure they see the experience as a positive one if you ever want them to return to you.

Talk: Social media, twitter, facebook, your website and your blog all form free or low cost methods of engaging and talking with your clients. Done well this is a modern form of promotion that can enhance your relations with tech savvy clients. Done poorly you’ll find that this can just eat up hours and hours of your day with little to no return.

Best Talk: To me, the best form of marketing any business can have is when a friend asks another “who should I use to sell / rent my house?” and the friend emphatically names you. It’s harder to cultivate than any of the above because it involves knocking the socks of each client you deal with and it can be derailed quicker than any of the above by a bad interaction, BUT, to me, this is the most important form of “getting your name out there” any business can do.

So… I honestly hope I’ve scared some of you off. If you’re going to get scared by a few words on a page, the difficulties you encounter in business ownership WILL be too much for you.

But… for those of you still keen. Go forth and plan, do your research and your homework – but not too much, I believe if you wait for perfection in planning you’ll never get started.

As much as I’ve had difficult times over the past decade of real estate business ownership, I’ve had some of the highlights of my life including:

Meeting my husband across the real estate counter (he was a purchaser and he thought I was the receptionist!)

Watching 9 of my former staff members go on to real estate business ownership for themselves and knowing I’ve been a part of their progression.

• Achieving financial security for myself and my family.

• Assisting thousands of people in home ownership, in moving to better places and in financial security through management of their investment properties.

• Forming some of the closest friendships I’ll ever have in my life with those who have been on my teams.
  
  

So whether you’re itching to start from scratch, investing in an existing business or going forth with a franchise, I hope your happy moments far outweigh the challenges, as mine do.

By Marjorie with No comments

A perfect three step customer service plan

To set the scene of my most recent blog: Cusco, Peru – imagine a dusty back alley, intricate stone walls, the most vibrant coloured printed fabrics, alpacas roaming around and me exhausted after completing a 46km trek (the Inca Trail) in 3 days (instead of the usual 4) going up to 4,200m in altitude (all the while pregnant).

So of course, I needed a little pampering after my adventure and had promptly, after a huge breakfast at Jacks Café, booked myself in for a mani / pedi. Near comatose during the manicure I snapped back to reality at it’s conclusion when my manicurist followed a near perfect customer service plan without batting an eyelid.

Firstly – she offered more than was promised and up-sold. I was offered a small shoulder and foot massage at no extra cost and then told about the minute amount it would cost me to get a full hour long massage.

Secondly – she asked me if I was happy with her work on my nails. This may sound like such a small thing, but when was the last time you asked your customers if they were happy with your work?

Thirdly – once finding out I was happy she asked for referrals. As I left she gave me a handful of her business cards “for my friends”.

All this done in mere minutes in a dusty back alley with an alpaca guarding the door (well almost!)

If a Cusco manicurist can do this as second nature – what’s stopping you?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Strategy from a mentor

I’m lucky to have a number of mentors in my life and this blog is about one in particular who has an almost foolproof strategy for customer retention.
He’s a great business person with, I’m sure, many strategies for winning and keeping new business. I’m just going to talk about one. It’s something he’s famous for and something I’ve experienced again and again first hand.

I don’t know what my mentor calls it – but I’m going to call it the “Crazy amounts of love strategy”.

Each year on my birthday, flowers arrive at my house or office. They’re my favourite kind of flower. Every person in my office knows they’re not from my husband, they’re from my mentor.Each year on my wedding anniversary, same thing, flowers, not from my (fantastic) husband, but from my mentor.

While I was pregnant with my first child, almost weekly gifts would arrive for my unborn child. Again, from my mentor.

My mum has photos up in her house from a photo shoot of me he organised. My mum also has a key ring with my daughter on it (made from photos he saw on my facebook page).
When I caught up with him for coffee recently he came with a gift for my daughter and before he left, bought me a little something at the shop we met at. He also met me in quite an awkward city location stating that I was worth the $70 parking ticket he would (and did) get for parking right out the front while he fit me into his busy day. Oh and before he left he offered me the usage of his holiday house and picked up the cheque despite my protests.

In short, he’s relentless. He’s got great systems (for remembering dates), but he’s also got an amazing heart and generosity.

Now while I don’t doubt the validity of our friendship, I also see it for the amazing customer retention strategy that it is too. Could I ever deal with anyone else if there was a real estate need in his area? Not a hope and I’ve done business with him personally a number of times. Would I refer friends and family to him? Absolutely and I have done so. If anyone mentions real estate in his area to my team – his name is the first that trips off their tongues.

He’s a whirlwind of magnanimity and I could never hope to replicate his generosity in its entirety – but I can and hopefully have learned from it over the years.

Each time he remembers a special date to me or an upcoming exciting event, I feel special. How can I replicate that feeling with my clients?

Each time he spoils my daughter or another family member my heart goes out. How can I implement strategies to have that affect on my clients

His actions have the effect of ensuring my utter loyalty, but he never asks for it nor do his actions ever seem transparent or faked. How can I learn to make my customer service strategies as powerful, real and long reaching?

I guess the final experience is, that not only does he shower me with generosity and gifts, but also in amazing customer service lessons. The giving never stops with him!

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Don’t get too hooked on the system

If you read my blogs often you’ll know I’m a big fan of a system. I love a checklist, a procedure, a manual – in short, I’m a big fan of making a job almost impossible to mess up.

BUT – you need to make sure that when you systemise customer service, you check that it’s relevant for all occasions.

Take for example my friend who recently hired an elliptical trainer for home workouts. It was delivered with a welcome pack which included a pen, a drink bottle and a big box of chocolates! The choccies are probably highly appropriate when you’re delivering a rented TV – but for the soon to be workout junkie, the gesture is sweet, but may not have been the most helpful thing!

If you’ve got a customer service system – awesome – you’re one step ahead of most BUT, do a quick check to make sure that what you’re systemizing is always going to work.

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

A killer question when shopping for a service provider

I just got off the phone with a friend who was telling me about a time she was shopping for a new service provider.

Being an avid researcher she’d contacted most of the providers in the area she was looking in by phone and ruled out those who weren’t suitable so that she had 4 to interview in person.

Along with a long list of other questions, she asked one which I thought was an absolute stunner:

“Who’s the second best in your area (if you’re the best)”

I have no doubt none of the people she was “interviewing” were expecting that question and as such, she probably got very honest answers.

In fact, three of them told her the same name (that of the 4th provide she was interviewing). What a high compliment for this one person.

You can guess who she hired right?

If you were being interviewed and someone asked you this question, what would your game plan be?

More importantly, would your competitors (when speaking honestly) list you as the next best option in their marketplace?

By Kirsty Dunphey with 2 comments

Pulling a Trump

When you’re starting a new business – I’m the first to admit how easy it can be to want ALL the business you can possibly get your hands on.

The more experienced you get (and the less blinded by the initial jump in sales or client numbers) the more you realize that some business just isn’t worth having regardless of the revenue it may provide because of the time or energy it saps.

In my industry – real estate, you can typically put the type of business you don’t want to have into two categories:

Problem Products

and

Problem People

Problem products for me – are properties that aren’t going to be suitable for me to look after. They might be too far away from my core area, they might be outside the typical price bracket we work in or I might not be able to find great tenants for them given the type of database we offer.

Problem people are a whole other thing. These are the clients who can’t or won’t do business in the way that you need to perform your job best. For me that might be a property owner who thinks it’s ok to keep a property in a very poorly maintained state, someone who won’t provide me all the information I need to do my job or simply someone who is unpleasant or rude.

Problem products are typically easy to identify – you should be able to see these coming fairly easily and you should listen to the warning bells in your head and really consider whether the time it’s going to take to manage this type of business is worth the increase in revenue.

Problem people however can be a bit harder to spot. You might ignore initial rudeness in your eagerness to present a professional sales pitch, you might not know about information that’s being deliberately withheld. The hardest part is when you get to a stage where you know you’ve got a problem person – and unfortunately you’ve already accepted their business.

My suggestion? Channel Donald Trump and fire the client. As hard as it might be put a high value on your time and energy levels and know that in firing that client you’ll have more time to dedicate to providing amazing service to nice, cooperative clients.

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Expecting the worst?

“Are you going to pick that up?” screeched the woman at the young lady who’d just callously littered and dropped a piece of rubbish on the ground. Moments after this interaction the woman was furious, and so was the young lady.

The woman knew that young people just didn’t have the same sense of responsibility that they had in her day. She saw examples of it everywhere.

Isn’t it always the way…

When you expect a car sales person or real estate agent to be a shark, you can always find one that is. When you expect people to treat you poorly, there’s always row after row of examples to show you that’s the truth. When you know that you deal with the craziest clients here’s yet another waiting to prove it.

Funny… Because I think if the woman above had gone out that day with a different expectation, instead of seeing another young person littering without a care in the world, what she might have seen was a young mum and a close personal friend of mine, juggling her baby, a large pram and an awkward seating arrangement who was just about to attempt to grab the fly away piece of rubbish before she was scolded by a complete stranger.

Who knows, if she’s gone out with a different expectation, she might have even been generous and reached over and grabbed the piece of rubbish that was out of the reach of the young Mum who would have reacted with her trade mark sweetness and thanked her enthusiastically. Both parties could have then left the exact same encounter with smiles feeling better about the world they live in.

What a shame expectations weren’t different.

What expectations do you have that might be clouding your vision of the true situation?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

I judge a good business book…

I judge a good business book… by the number of times I put it down. A great business book gets my brain churning and gets my ideas flowing.

I was reading Ivanka Trump’s new book – the Trump Card this weekend and I must have put the book down 10 times in one chapter to grab my iphone and type myself a note. Say what you will about Donald Trump – I’ve always loved watching Ivanka on the Apprentice. I can’t fault her business logic and commonsense feedback to the contestants, especially impressive given her age.

Now despite stopping so many times to write notes, they weren’t all things she’d written in her book. She’d write something on organization and I wrote a note to myself to do up a flow chart in relation to something quite different in my property management business.

A good business book doesn’t give you all the answers, I think it reminds you to think for yourself.

If you’re ever feeling stifled in your business – grab a re-read of an old favourite or a new title off the shelf and start your creative juices flowing – but don’t read without a note pad or note taking device nearby.

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments