Читать книгу 7L: The Seven Levels of Communication - Michael J. Maher - Страница 10
Оглавление| JAY MICHAELS SPEAKS | 2 |
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
CHINESE PROVERB
BY THE TIME FRIDAY CAME, Rick was his tired, listless self again. Still, he couldn’t back out of this event. Naturally he could think of a million excuses that sounded plausible; but Michelle had left a voicemail, sent an e-mail, and mailed a card reminding him. Canceling now would be beyond tacky, and Rick still prized his integrity even if he felt like his dignity was bleeding to death.
He was shocked to find the convention center parking lot nearly full when he arrived fifteen minutes early. He entered the building and looked around. I’ve never seen this place so crowded. There must be something else going on too. Yet a glance at the signs seemed to reveal that everyone was there for the same event. Not only that, the crowd seemed eerily friendly. People were hugging, exchanging warm handshakes and even kisses on the cheek. It felt more like a family reunion to Rick: someone else’s family reunion. What am I doing here?
He found the registration table and received his packet from a cheerful young woman. In it he saw a black rubber bracelet just like the one he had glimpsed on Michelle’s wrist at lunch. I hope I can find her. Rick didn’t mind being alone, but something about the intensely friendly conversations around him made him feel left out. He needed Michelle to help him make sense of all this. He examined the black band and was reading it when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“There you are!” Michelle said, giving him a quick hug. That was nice. Does she ever not smile? “I’m so glad you made it!”
“Me too!” Rick said quickly. Truthfully, he had been glad she wanted him to come, even if he felt a little hesitant about being there. “I appreciate all the reminders.”
“Well, I think you’re really going to enjoy it. Oh, and thanks so much for e-mailing your broker. I called him and we’ve got the “Lunch and Learn” scheduled.”
“Oh, good, it was no trouble really,” Rick said, trying to sound casual. “Anyway, I’ve never seen this place so full.”
“I saved you a seat close to the front with me and a few others. Let’s head up there before they get started.”
Rick followed her into the main auditorium and down towards the stage. Wow, we’re in the “Reserved” seating. I guess she does know some people. Rick was very glad he was headed there with her, instead of sitting by himself in this crowd.
When they arrived at their section, Rick shook hands with a few new people. Oh, there’s Alan, he noticed, looking down the row. What’s a lawyer doing here? Rick felt a small twinge of disappointment that he chose to ignore.
The crowd began to hoot and holler as the lights dimmed and some music began to play. It was strange to feel so much energy at a business event. Do they think we’re at a rock concert or something?
An introductory video played, which stirred up everyone even further; and finally, Jay Michaels himself jogged to the center of the stage and waved to the crowd. He was of average height and build, dressed in a black suit and mock turtleneck. Rick realized that he had half expected to see a movie star or celebrity athlete emerge. He found himself rising with everybody else to give a thunderous standing ovation. The intensity was reaching a fever pitch with shouts and cheers. Rick felt chills run up his spine, despite himself. It reminded him of the time his high school football team had made the playoffs for the first time in ten years.
“Thank you!” Jay started. To Rick’s surprise, instead of quieting down, the roar got louder. The back and forth continued for what seemed like several minutes as Jay continued to greet the crowd and they welcomed him in return.
“Welcome, members of the Generosity Generation!” Jay began. “I am so excited to share the Seven Levels of Communication with you and show you how to go from relationships to referrals. Even veterans and Ambassadors in the crowd will spot many new items tonight as we continually improve our game!” More cheers. Jeez, these people really love this guy.
Jay raised his hands and the crowd quieted almost instantly. It was time to get to work. Rick noticed nobody took their seat. Jay continued, “As many of you know, I always start my day and my presentations with affirmations. They focus our minds for the task ahead. Let’s get started!”
Oh, great, Rick thought. He had tried affirmations before, staring in the mirror every morning and telling himself he was stronger and better. It had done nothing. Here goes nothing, he thought.
Jay passionately said the affirmations and then the crowd repeated them. A loud clap followed each. Rick mouthed along, and glanced to his side to see what Michelle and her row of fans were doing. They were enthusiastically participating, although he caught Alan looking at his BlackBerry several times. He can’t be here for anything but Michelle.
The affirmations continued. “I do it now!” Jay shouted.
“I do it now!” The crowd responded. CLAP!
“Excellent!” Jay shouted. “I want each of you to take a look at the black rubber bracelet you received in your packet. This is your procrastination-elimination-solution.” My what? Okay . . . Rick thought. “Do you remember when your teacher made you write something on the chalkboard over and over when you misbehaved? My teacher made me write phrases like, ‘I will not pull Cindy’s hair’ and ‘I will not chew on my pencil in class’. She made me write those things so that it would be instilled in my mind to do the right thing. I want these wrist bands to instill a sense of urgency in you. If your buyers aren’t buying and your sellers aren’t motivated to sell, perhaps it is YOUR sense of urgency that is lacking, not theirs.”
Rick thought about that for a moment. MY sense of urgency? For all this noise and hype, Jay had cut right to the chase. Rick felt oddly alert in response.
“To conquer procrastination, this band will remind you to DO IT NOW!” Jay continued. “Tap your band right now and say to yourself, ‘Do it now.’”
Everyone tapped his or her band and shouted, “DO IT NOW!” Rick repeated the line along with everyone else. Another thunderous clap followed.
“Again!” Jay implored.
Rick tapped the band on his wrist. “DO IT NOW!” the crowd shouted and then clapped. They did it five more times with each shout and clap getting louder.2
“Affirmations—what a great way to start!” Jay continued. “Please have a seat. Thank you.” The crowd settled in.
“A wise man once said, ‘Begin with the end in mind.’ What’s interesting about the philosophy of the Seven Levels is that the first thing you look at is the end. . . your end. It sounds horrible, but we are all mortals and will someday face our end. We need to make sure our lives AND our businesses are aligned with the legacy we want to leave. To draw a line from point A to point B, we need to know where point B is and what it looks like. Consider these questions: If there were only twelve words written on your tombstone, what would you want them to be? Who would you want at your funeral? What would you want them to say about you?”
Rick shuddered. Who would come to my funeral if I died today? The thought was a terrible one. Rick didn’t want to pursue it further but he couldn’t resist. Did this really have anything to do with his business?
“What you want said about you at your funeral has everything to do with how you do business today,” Jay declared, as if in answer to Rick’s question. “Your business should be a vehicle for helping you live and leave a legacy. Your business should help you fulfill your purpose. The most important conversation you ever have is the one with yourself. Your affirmations are statements of who you are and who you will be. They shape the kind of business you will run and in turn the type of life you will lead.” As Rick pondered this, Jay began telling a story about cold calling, spamming and door-knocking which was getting a lot of chuckles. Rick had never thought of his business as much more than a way to make a living, much less a “legacy.” The thought of his funeral continued to bother him.
“Like most of you, my brokers told me the only way I could succeed in this business was to be a spammer, a solicitor or a criminal!” Jay declared to roars of laughter. “I knew I had to find a better way.”
Well, if you did, I’d love to hear it, Rick thought sarcastically.
“Then I thought about who I had really sold to in the last six months: my mother’s cousin, my college roommate’s brother and another friend of a friend,” Jay continued.
So?
“And the difference hit me: the people I had sold to trusted me. They used me because we had a relationship. I realized that it was my relationships, not my marketing budget that was going to create my future.”
Rick considered his point. Josh had used him because of a mutual friend.
“I stopped chasing leads. I decided not to spend another dime on advertising. I decided to be like a lighthouse that attracts, guides, and directs instead of running all over the place pursuing clients. Guess what happened?”
You burnt out, Rick chuckled to himself.
“I doubled my business. . . every year . . . for four straight years!” The crowd cheered.
Sure, if I had a ton of friends and relatives all over the place, I could make a killing selling to all them too.
Jay went on, “When is a lighthouse most necessary? When there is a storm. We look for a lighthouse when we need guidance and direction, and especially during a storm.”
I see where this is going. He’s trying to say his system will make you shine in “economic” storms. . .
“Look, the press loves the high winds and rough seas. It’s nothing personal, but nobody rushes to buy a magazine or watch a special report on how safe and wonderful everything is. Fear is a powerful motivator and fear sells ads!”
Rick had never really thought of it that way. True, times were tough. But how much of his perception was shaped by the media? He would have to consider that.
“Listen to that quiet voice inside: you know what those news reports are saying doesn’t affect you!”
It doesn’t?
“Look, you can’t control the national or global economy, but you have total control over your personal economy and your attitude. You can lose your car, your job, your home . . . all your stuff. It could happen. But what do you have that no one can take away?”
What do I have?
“Your knowledge, your relationships, your family, your love for others, your health, your faith and your happiness. Those are yours. They don’t depend on economic conditions. They don’t depend on the market. They depend on you.”
Rick thought about that.
“I started to do the math of what a business based on referrals, introductions and connections could look like. I know you were told there would be no math” – the crowd laughed—“but this may be the most important math you’ve ever seen. Let’s say you have 150 people in your database. Raise your hand if you have at least 150 people in your database.”
Rick raised his hand and looked around the room. Nearly every person had his hand up. “Now, every business has a turnover rate. For example, the National Association of REALTORS® estimates that the average person moves one out of every five years. So that means one-fifth or twenty percent of your database—thirty people—moves each year.
“If you did thirty transactions last year, you would be in the top ten percent of all real estate agents nationwide,” Jay continued. “And when you think about it, if those people sold and then bought, that’s sixty transactions a year from a database of only 150 people.” The crowd murmured. Rick hadn’t thought about his database in months. He had started it in some software program and then started collecting business cards and keeping them in a shoebox. I doubt I can get sixty transactions out of that box.
“But where it really gets interesting,” Jay went on, “is with the folks that the people in your database know. The average wedding has about 250 people invited, but we’ll say that everyone you know is connected to 150 other people. So 150 times 150 is 22,500 and that is your Community. If you’re a real estate professional and twenty percent of your Community is moving, then 4500 people in your Community are moving. Folks, that is 9000 transactions! And that’s with a database of just 150 people!”
Did I hear that right? Jay repeated the figure and Rick took out a notepad and started jotting down what he was saying.
“Now before we break, let’s hear from an Ambassador who is implementing some of the strategies of the Seven Levels. Ladies and gentleman: Janice Weinberger!”
A tiny lady—she had to be less than five feet tall— stood up and appeared on the screens. She must be sixty! Rick tried to imagine what this woman could possibly have to say to such a large crowd. He thought about checking his texts.
Janice spoke, “I just want to say that I am living proof that you’re never too old of a dog to learn new tricks. I have been a real estate agent for thirty years.” Rick’s ears perked up. “I absolutely love helping first-time buyers get into homes and start building wealth. After years of blasting neighborhoods with six weeks of postcards and getting maybe one or two calls, most of them angry calls. . .” Rick laughed along with the audience. I remember those calls.
“. . . I decided to give my coach’s methods a try. I focused on one apartment complex where I knew that rents were going up and there were affordable homes nearby. I wrote each of those renters a handwritten note letting them know that when they decided to look for a home, I wanted to be their gal. I let them know I was having a home buyer seminar and invited them to come.” The crowd murmured, waiting to hear what happened.
“I’m here to tell you that out of 350 people— yes, I wrote 350 handwritten notes—I had 77 respond—77! And ten of them let me know that they were sorry they couldn’t attend but wanted to learn more! Six months later, I am still working with some of those people that called.” The audience clapped and a few stood up. Rick wanted to stand up too. What a great idea! “The lessons of the Seven Levels work. No matter what your age, you can become a member of The Generosity Generation. Thank you, Jay,” Janice finished.
Thunderous applause followed as Jay announced the break.
Rick looked at his notes and took a deep breath as the crowd began to get up and mingle. As he glanced up from his seat, he saw Michelle standing near him. He smiled and stood up. “Wow, this is really something. . .” he offered, not really sure what to say.
“I know,” Michelle replied, clearly pleased with his response. “And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t wait for you to see the Communication Pyramid and The Upward Spiral of L.I.F.E . . . Before I forget I want to introduce you to a couple of people. You remember Alan of course.” Alan looked up from his BlackBerry and offered his hand again.
Rick said, “Sure, from EVT.” His voice involuntarily deepened as he spoke.
“Yeah,” Alan answered. Then he turned to Michelle abruptly. “Listen, I’d better get going. I just got a message that the firm needs a brief filed by Monday morning. You know I have tickets to the game tomorrow, so . . .”
“Oh that’s okay,” Michelle said kindly. Rick thought he detected disappointment in her voice. She gave Alan a hug goodbye and introduced Rick to Jeff Schmidt, a chiropractor; and Christy Sutton, a network marketer. After a little conversation, Rick found out that everybody had met with Michelle last Tuesday at EVT Restaurant. Huh, she’s really getting it done.
Rick remembered what she had said about being perceived as a mover and shaker. He looked down again at his pages of notes and thought about the homework Jay had assigned them. Normally, Rick would have ignored a presenter’s “action items,” but this time he felt strangely motivated to look at his database.
The lights began to dim again, alerting everyone that the break was about to end. Rick strode back to his seat quickly. This is actually helpful. Could there be a different way of doing business? I bet Don doesn’t know half this stuff. . . Rick felt a pang of humiliation in the pit of his stomach as he tried in vain to put that conversation with Don out of his mind. “Rick, to be honest with you, I don’t think you’ll be in the business a year from now.” He was relieved to see the crowd settle down and Jay Michaels jog to the stage to loud cheers and applause.
“Okay, guys,” Jay resumed, “Now it’s time for the Communication Pyramid you’ve heard so much about. I need everyone here to stand up. Some of you know what’s coming but I know you’ll indulge me anyway.” Rick stood up along with the crowd.
“Great. There is only one rule for this game: you have to be completely honest. Now I want you to imagine that you have no plans for next Friday. You open your morning paper tomorrow and you see a full page ad with a picture of Donald Trump saying, ‘I want you to attend my upcoming event in your city.’ If you are 100% certain you will attend that event, based on seeing that ad, I want you to sit down now.” Rick kept standing. He looked around. Everyone else was still standing too. Where is he going with this?
“Really?” Jay laughed. “C’mon, guys, this is the most famous man in real estate and he ran a full page ad to get you to come to his event. Now what if you got a jumbo postcard in the mail with the same picture and the same message? Any affect on those Friday plans? Sit down if that’s going to get you there.” Rick remained standing. He thought he saw someone sit down out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t be sure.
“And what if you got an e-mail inviting you to the event?” Jay continued. “Would that make you absolutely certain to go?” Rick saw a guy near the back sit down and a woman sit down near the center aisle. “Sure, you might. After all, he might not make it out this far too often. He might sign your book. . . it could be fun!” The crowd chuckled.
“Now let’s say you got a hand-addressed note from a return address you don’t recognize,” Jay said. “You open the envelope, flip open the card, and there is a handwritten note from Donald Trump. He asks you to attend his event that is coming soon to your city. You lick your thumb and wipe the ink, confirming that it was original. If you knew beyond a reasonable doubt that the note had come from Donald Trump, would you go?” Rick saw that more than half the room was now sitting down.
Jay continued with a smile, “Now you’re at work and your receptionist says you have a call. You hear that familiar voice say, ‘This is Donald Trump. I only have a minute here, but I wanted to invite you to an event I’m having in your city. Can I count on you to attend?’ Now if that happens, and you know you’re not part of a prank, how many people in this room would be at that event? Rick sat down along with many others. A phone call from Donald Trump? Sure, I’m there. . .
“And for you holdouts,” Jay laughed, “What if you came out of your office to find Mr. Trump himself in your waiting area. He shakes your hand, tells you about the event and asks you to come. Will that get you there?” The crowd murmured loudly as every last person sat down.
Jay hesitated to let the point sink in. The crowd was murmuring.
“Okay, that got all of you,” Jay said as the crowd quieted down. “So now you see why no one responds to the billboards, or the bus benches or the huge ads. You wouldn’t respond to that, and neither will they. Yet you just heard how many people responded to my friend Janice over there, when she took the time to write each of the people in that apartment complex. Because you see, to the people in that apartment complex, Janice is their Donald Trump! She doesn’t have a TV show, but she is the gal getting it done in their community! She showed she cared enough to write personally and offer to help. How many of you found out about THIS event by a handwritten note, phone call, or in-person invitation?”
Every hand went up in the room. Rick was floored. It was so true! All those cold calls, all those newspaper and magazine ads: they never worked. They never generated any decent leads. I’ve been wasting so much time and money. . .
“Well, I know we didn’t run a single ad. I think you guys are starting to get it!” Jay laughed. Jay continued moving through some slides, further explaining the Seven Levels of Communication and the Communication Pyramid and Rick took notes as fast as his pen would allow him.3
“Now before we let you go tonight, you’re going to be offered the opportunity to invest in yourself by signing up for coaching. I think almost all of you can see that this is more than anyone can absorb and implement in one night.” You got that right. “So there are two more people I want you to hear from. Like Janice, they came to a conference just like this. And like Janice, they signed up for coaching. The first is a mortgage professional that was ready to throw in the towel just under a year ago. Everyone, welcome Michelle Phillips.”
To Rick’s shock, Michelle rose from their row and walked up on stage and stood next to Jay. Jeez, did she get taller? Seeing the woman he had just chatted with so casually addressing a crowd of this size felt almost surreal.
“Thanks, Jay!” Michelle said. She looks so confident! “I have been coached for about seven months now and it’s been an incredible experience.”
“Michelle, tell us how things are going and about some of the strategies that you’ve implemented under your coach’s leadership,” Jay said.
“Well, Jay, in a market that was down 40% in number of sales and 20% in sales price, we’ve INCREASED our business by 78% in transactions and our volume by 49%. Most of that came in the last six months of the year. I’ve increased my income by over $100,000 in the last six months.” Rick joined the crowd in applauding. “One of the most important factors in your homeownership experience is your relationship with your neighbors. Even in today’s fast-paced world, we need to take the time to get to know the people around us,” Michelle continued. “So now we throw a housewarming party for every one of our buyer-clients as a way to meet those neighbors.”
“How does that work?” Jay asked with genuine interest.
“Well, we throw them a party thirty to forty-five days after closing. That timeframe seemed to work best. We cater the food, put out branded signs and take a picture with our clients in front of the house with a sold sign. My coach also suggested that we give out door prizes so that each guest fills out a door prize entry form. That’s how we get information for follow-up and ask for referrals. We get three or four referrals on the door prize entry forms at every party.”
“Wow, that’s a great idea,” Jay said, and the crowd applauded in agreement. That is a great idea. Rick’s mind was filling with possibilities. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? “What does it generally cost you?” Jay asked.
“Between 200 and 300 dollars for food, but I’m lucky enough to have several partners in my business who help me with the cost for the party. I used to be really shy. . .” Yeah, right, Rick thought. “And I was still coming out of that shell when we did our first few parties. My coach suggested I put myself in the role of a server. As soon as I did that at the parties, not only did I feel more comfortable, but I got more referrals!”
“Did you have any challenges with this model at first?” Jay asked.
“Oh, sure,” Michelle laughed. “We used to wait until closing to ask the clients if they wanted to do a housewarming party. That didn’t go over so well when they were stressed out about moving. So after some trial and error we got smarter and began explaining the housewarming party at the initial consultation instead of waiting until closing. We just made it a part of the process. You get pre-approved, make an offer, get a contract, sign papers at closing, then host a housewarming party.”
“And your coach has helped you refine your model?” Jay inquired.
“Oh yes,” Michelle confirmed. “Coach is never satisfied. Our system was pretty good four months ago. Then my coach showed me how to use some of the concepts from the Communication Pyramid to take the parties to the next level. First, he suggested that I call all invitees to confirm that they would be attending. We were sending nice invitations out and I felt that was enough. I figured it was up to the buyer-client to get them there. But my coach kept emphasizing that we wanted to immerse ourselves in our buyer-clients’ circle of friends. To maximize my time, I needed to get as many as possible to that party. So I began calling to confirm and attendance soared. Instead of getting 50% or less, we are now getting more than 75%. And with more people, the energy is also higher. The clients seem to enjoy themselves more. These parties are a lot of fun!4”
“So it sounds like this is a big reason you’ve seen such growth in your business while others are seeing declines,” Jay offered.
“Absolutely. Coaching helped me understand how to implement what I was learning about the Seven Levels. The ideas are simple and inexpensive but very powerful. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am without these principles and my coach’s help in putting them into practice.”
