I had the opportunity yesterday to attend the “7 Levels of Communication” event with Michael Maher. Michael is well known for being the “most referred” real estate agent in the country. After seeing his energy and sincerity I can see why. He believes the days of the “me” real estate agent are over (you can substitute in any job where sales is a main component, not just real estate agent). We have moved into the “Generosity Generation”, where focusing on others is the key to our own success. If we are able to provide help to others we can build stronger more personal relationships.
My take away from this event came when he asked everybody to stand up. He went through a scenario where he asked the audience to decide if they wanted to change their day, and schedule, to attend an upcoming event (just made up for purposes of this exercise). He then went through the “7 Levels of Communication” that could be used to invite a potential audience. We were asked to sit down if the method of communication he described was enough to make us want to attend the event. I wont go through the whole scenario but will say that the first method of communication was the least personal and the last method was the most personal. As you might expect, the majority of the audience members would not change their schedule to attend the event until the invite became more and more personal. This concept is something most people realize but how many of us actually put it into action? As I have said in the past, social media is great, but if the end result is not a personal one on one interaction then we are not getting the best results from our efforts. I will be the first to admit I have a lot of room to improve in this area. Michael’s event served as a good kick in the rear to help me rededicate my marketing efforts. I would like to establish new relationships with readers of this blog post. If you are in my area and would like to get together, give me a call, we can have coffee and get to know one another. I look forward to hearing from you.
If you have any real estate appraisal related questions you can call me at 205.243.9304, email me, or connect with me on facebook.
Tom,
These principles give me hope to invest in my relationships and community with those skills. Here is hoping that this book brings millions of success to you as well.
Courtney
What a great message Courtney!
Michael
Thanks Tom for the blog post. I had not heard of the 7 Levels of Communication. It sounds like a great book and I just signed up to preview the 1st chapter.
I have already read the first several chapters and so far it is an easy read. If the book is anything like the live event I can’t wait to read more. As I said in the post, it brings home how powerful the personal touch is. Social networking and email marketing will only get us so far, but we must get to know one another more personally to be the most effective.
Great post. Thank you for the kind words Tom. I’m glad you find it educational and entertaining. The Donald Trump Demonstration has changed many salesperson’s minds about how they spend their time, money, energy, and effort.
Michael
Michael, thanks for commenting. Your demonstration, while simple, really brought home the concept of being personal. As I said, I think everybody is aware of this, but it’s really powerful when you see it in action. I started reading your book this week and can’t wait to put your plan into action. Thanks for everything.