For most all of us, our days are filled with meetings and conversations with family, friends, work associates, and clients.
That’s what we humans do. We communicate with each other to figure things out . . . to work with others to coordinate things, for advice and counsel, or to gain their support or business to help us accomplish our personal mission.
Am I right when I conjecture that most every communication we have has the potential for a disired result for one (or both) parties?
that is . . . most folks enter dialog with some notion in their mind of a desired outcome. Success of the conversation (for me) comes when I feel the objective is met . . . and that objective is simply that all participants have the opportunity to recieve or share something of value and are more fulfilled at the end than they were going into it.
I know this may seem to be going in an obscure direction, but I do have a point . . .
The burden is on the individual (YOU) to participate fully in any conversation and to take responsibility for getting what you want/need from the conversation . . . and to move elsewhere at that point when “it’s over” meaning that the mission is accomplished or it becomes clear that you’re not getting anywhere with it.
A big part of this taking responsibility piece is sticking your neck out there and ASKING DIRECTLY for what it is that you want/need.
“I came to meet with you because I want to be your REALTOR. I feel that I am the best Real estate professional for YOU. Can we agree to work together to find your new home?”
Occasionally, I’ll have a conversation with a person and walk away from it wondering why we had the conversation. When that happens, I understand that I certainly could have been the one to ask the question: “Where are we going with this conversation? How can I help you? What do you need?”
How often do you have a meeting that you think is about a particular scenario only to discover as the conversation unfolds that the other person has a different agenda?
I had a hilarious meeting a couple of months ago. I went into it thinking the other other Broker was meeting with me to try to recruit me . . . He was actually there to get me to recruit HIM. We figured that out 1/2 way through the conversation, had a good laugh, and shifted our focus.
So . . . as with anything done well, I believe there’s an art to communication that begins with clarity of purpose. I’m not suggesting that you’ve gotta go through life pushing your own agenda in every human encounter because this flows both ways.
What I am saying is that when there is uncertainty as to the purpose . . . ASK THE QUESTION!
There’s NOTHING worse than walking away from a great conversation “empty handed” because you couldn’t screw up the courage to ask.
I’m just sayin’
Best,
b
As I meet daily with Real Estate Professionals to discover if they are a good fit for Pareto Realty here in nashville . . . or Home Buyers and Sellers to discover if I can help them with their Real estate needs, I have to pinch myself constantly to remind myself (a guy who loves to talk and tell stories) to get to the point and ask the question.