Where's St. Lucy When You Need Her?

A few years back when we were all enjoying the blissful ride of 'the economic bubble' I went on hiatus from hotel sales and took a plunge into real estate.  New homes sales to be precise with one of Atlanta's preeminent home builders, John Wieland.  This time spent in the comfort of a beautifully decorated "Sales Center", which is actually a fully built home with offices and displays, molded me into a better sales person.  How you ask?  Let me tell you how.....it's called having a little faith!

First off there is a precise way to sell a new home, yes indeed a formula of sorts.  And if you happen to get the incredible training that I was fortunate to receive then you are on your way to being 'fruitful'.  When someone enters your "Sales Center" the first order of this blessed event (a customer comes to you instead of vice/versa) is determining who's "UP".  This simply means you take turns with your fellow sales-mate.  Sort of like 'you go, I go, you go, I go’....you get the picture.  And if you are really lucky, like I was, then you have the opportunity to work with a partner like Joanie.


Joan is the quintessential real estate sales person.  She's the type you beg to be placed with especially when you're new.  She fair, she takes turns in the proper way - never pretends she didn't know it wasn't her turn.  She doesn't knock everyone down as she rushes to the door when the tinkle of the doorknob bells ring.  She's smart, been doing this (and well I might add) for a while and yes more than willing to share what she knows.  'How to and How the Heck Not To' work the sale.


So that's how it started for me.  Great neighborhood partner, lovely well-built homes and customers coming in (most days).  What's not to like...nothing?  In fact I loved it with one small exception.  Now this isn't something I didn't like, it's just that it left a permanent knot in my stomach. What pray tell you ask could it be???? 100% Commission.  Yep - foreign turf for an ole hotelier.  Wow.  So this is what real sales people go through.  OK, “I'm up for this...I can do it....I'm trained...I took good notes....I execute well....I have a great partner....I'm in”!  And I was.


I'll never forget my first closing....that's something wonderful I'm just going to tell you.  Money in the bank and a decent amount too, even after all the splits.  So things are rolling along after my ramp up period.  I'm on track, meeting my goals which at that point are somewhere between 2 and 4 contracts per month.  Is that all you're asking, just 2??  Well let me tell you not everyone that walks into a model home is actually going to buy one.


"We're just here to look; we love to look at decorated homes".  "What color paint is in the powder room in the house on Lot H-11?"  I mean really???  And of course you go to your sources and not only get the color name but the number and give them all the details - because you never know they might just decide they would rather buy that bathroom than paint the one they already have.


Well the time came when it was hot...summer had arrived...people were on vacation and not interested in looking at houses.  Except on holidays when they had 'company' and nothing else to do but ride around and look at new homes.  Of course with no intention (and sometimes even means) of buying one - plus they already own one that they hadn't thought about selling in the past 20 years.  So Joan and I are in a little bit of the desert, so to speak.


Now when you hit these 'dry' times you have time to talk and get to know your partner.  You learn a lot about how the other thinks and what they believe.  What they hold dear and what they could and would give up if required.  So I guess it was during this time that Joanie and I really got to know each other.  We are from totally different backgrounds, she's from Queens and I'm a Tennessee gal (-- yeah worlds apart) but we discovered we shared a lot of the same values and beliefs.  So the conversation turned, as it will when you are living on 100% commission and things have dried up a bit, toward all things spiritual. 

Thinking about our conversation I decided to bring a recent purchase - a book about Saints - to work the next day.  We flipped to the back and started looking through the index.  Hmmmm now under these conditions who would be a good Saint to look up? First we  looked up our birthdays, ok these are good to know but didn't seem to be exactly right. Then we head to Saints for Personal Problems (being broke does really seem personal). Here we find, Saints invoked against Bad Luck (Agricola of Avignon), Desperate Situations (Gregory, The Wonderworker - now that sounds pretty good) and even Hopeless Cases (Jude - we decided that might be a bit overboard). Then low and behold there it is, right before our eyes under Occupations.  St. Lucy - the patron Saint of Salespersons.  Yep, she's the one!


We turn to Lucy on page 182 - I actually love that it's a woman Saint - fitting huh?  So not only does she cover Salespersons she's good for Gondoliers, Glaziers and Lamplighters and can be invoked against Dysentery, Eye Disease, Hemorrhage and Throat Disease. Wow, who knew?  We seemed pretty covered with her.


OK here's Lucy's story in a nutshell. She's from Sicily, wealthy and beautiful but her mother was troubled with an internal complaint.  So Lucy accompanied her to the shrine of the Virgin Martyr St. Agnes where her mother received a miraculous cure.  Lucy vowed right there to die a virgin and give all her worldly goods to the poor.  Now this greatly distressed her "fortune-hunting" fiancé so he denounces her as a Christian to authorities.  Bad news for Lucy – but as she is condemned to a brothel not even a team of oxen could move her from the place she stood.  She even survived an attempted burning at the stake and is said to have been praising God all the while.  OK, warning...here's where the story gets a little gory. At some point during all this she plucks out her eyes and presents them to her suitor who had always admired them (her eyes that is).  Yowie!  She means business.  And she is also the "Santa Lucia" about whom all the gondoliers of Venice sing.


As our chat about Lucy transpired early we decide to ask her for a little guidance. This starts the day with us feeling pretty confident and optimistic.  Sometime after lunch the tinkle of the door bells fill the air and it’s my Up.  A nice couple walks in and I give the usual greeting of "What brings you to Rivergreen today?"  And the sales dance begins.  We hit it off right away; they are relocating from Chattanooga and need a home.  (Lucky me they’re in the right place).  I gather all the info I need and we head out to look at houses. After the wife mentally places all her furniture in the 3rd house I ask the big closing question - "shall we go back and write a contract on this one?"  And what do my listening ears hear???  "YES, let's do."  Oh wow, my first real floor pop!  Someone that comes in and goes to contract before they leave.  It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does it pretty wonderful.

I must have been there till 9pm that night writing the contract and Joanie was of course gone for the day.  But the next day I promise you we looked at each other and said ---

"St. Lucy....you go girl".
And of course a "Thanks be to God" just for good measure.

Color Outside The Lines

Recently I had the opportunity to serve on an industry panel to discuss the status of our business today and going forward.  You know one of those....."what are you doing to survive.....how are you keeping your current customers and how are you attracting new ones?"  Ok, that's deep right?  No actually there's nothing earth shattering going on here.  As a matter of fact it's really all about getting back to the basics.  So with that said, here's one suggestion I came up with to share.

Color Outside The Lines.

Yep, that's right....outside the lines.  I was one of those kids that always tried my very best to color inside the lines and use appropriate colors like "Goldenrod" for Barbie's hair and "Midnight Blue" for a night sky.  But the entire time there was a nagging pull inside of me that wanted to color like mad with random disregard for the lines.  So I have my chance - be creative - now is the time. 

When the economy goes south or crisis brings a downturn in business then thinking and doing things outside of the norm are required.  (I know - you operations folks are squirming right now).  But it's true, what worked yesterday may not work today.  And what works today may fall flat tomorrow. 

Be flexible, creative, thoughtful, considerate, open-minded and have a strong resolve.  Change.....challenge.....courage....OK, YES color outside the lines!

Never booked a dog show before?  Well, maybe it's time to consider the options.  Regional Specialty Shows are a good place to start and my personal experience is that they are well organized.  They usually want to maintain a good reputation with hotels so they can book future events.  They understand the process of "checking history". 

Car clubs, rare bird collectors, cross dressers,  - the list goes on and on.  Many of these types of groups are shunned by hotels because they are considered 'hard to pull-off or risky'.  But tell me, is their cash green?  Can you arrange to put them in a need date?  If you work with them, will they work with you?  Chances are Yes.  It's worth a try - again don't think about what you've always done - color outside the lines. 

Remember at the beginning of this blog, I told you there is nothing earth shattering here.  Just some things to give you a little jolt and start you thinking along different lines.  Do it.  Be bold.  Reach out into the unknown.  Go where no man has....oh wait - someone's been there before and they have the STAR reports to prove it.

Happy hunting!