Are You Putting Out Fires or Growing Your Company?

As your startup grows the business challenges (i.e., the fires) you face will grow two-fold.

Your daily to-do list can be determined by the newest fire, the fastest growing one, or the blazing fire you simply can’t seem to put out. This is make or break time – are you simple putting out fires or are you going to get focused and grow your business?

The good news is that every challenge you face is another way to learn. But, the way you solve it can also have a long-term impact on your business (no pressure). There’s a very important question you need to ask yourself before you jump into firefighting mode:

What is the actual problem I’m trying to solve?

Stop, Drop and Problem Solve

This sounds simple, however sometimes you may be moving so quickly that you’re at risk of making changes for the sake of change. Remembering to stop and truly identify the underlying issue will enable you to stay focused and create a powerful solution that will last.

Here’s an example, and it’s one that you may have already faced: Let’s say you’re receiving complaints about customer service, especially when a customer is upset about their ordering experience. This frustrates you to no end because you built this business by always taking care of the customer and making sure they had a smile on their face—no matter what.

The correct firefighting solution is this: Identify specific customer service reps who are tied to the issues and provide refresher customer service training on how to handle complaints.

The powerful, lasting solution comes next. Once you look back at how you handled customer complaints you realize that you spent your entire day interacting with customers and never “bottled” your approach.

After reviewing your customer service training materials, you recognize they walk employees through handling a complaint in a generic manner. There is none of your passion and commitment to taking care of the customer regardless of what the issue such as listening, not being defensive and most importantly, not taking it personally.

So, now what?

You can now create new, simple training methods that begin with your company’s customer service mantra: Listen. Empathize. Do Whatever It Takes To Make It Right. You have everyone in the company take part in this training, including you, so your staff knows that it starts at the top. This mantra then becomes an integral part of every employee’s onboarding, regardless of their role.

Putting Out Business Fires, Permanently

This question, “What is the actual problem we are trying to solve?,” can be asked for nearly any business challenge you face and it can be modified based for the matter at hand. Beyond solving problems, it can also help you frame areas for growth. In some cases you’ll need to ask yourself, “What is the true opportunity ahead of me?” It will make you think big . . . maybe even bigger.

The key when going through this exercise is to peel back the layers and look beyond the surface. Don’t be fooled, this is definitely not the easy solution. It’s the one that budding entrepreneurs follow if they want to evolve from volunteer firefighter to a great business leader.

Source: http://yfsmagazine.com/2014/10/14/are-you-putting-out-fires-or-growing-your-company

5 Ways to Stand Above the Competition as a Property Manager

A huge part of being a property manager is learning how to market yourself and your company.

You have to do it twice, after all: once to your client owners, the property owners who allow you to look after their buildings, and once to your client tenants, who live in those buildings. For all that, you’re no “middle man.” Most of the minds sharp enough to succeed at investing in real estate aren’t really the same guys who want to get their hands dirty underneath a sink or spend their time chatting up the old lady with the seven cockatoos to convince her to pay the rent.

You’re the go-between who makes sure everyone gets as much of what they want as they can get.

Unfortunately, it’s rare that either side sees you in such a positive light, so mastering the art of marketing is part and parcel of the job. As you learn about marketing, you learn about a concept called the “USP,” or the Unique Selling Proposition. In short, it means, “What do you do differently than everyone else, and why does it make you better than them?” Or in even more easy terms: how do you stand out from the crowd?

Every business needs to have an idea of what makes them better than their competitors, but not many businesses actually have that idea. If you’re struggling to separate yourself from the crowd, here are four tips you can take to develop something outstanding.

5 Tips to Stand Out From the Crowd

1. Create Something Exclusive

Exclusivity sells — if you can describe to your clients and/or tenants something that you do that very few other people are doing, you create a firm “anchor point’ in their mind to hang their thoughts on.

Everyone is constantly competing for “price” and “customer service,” so you’ll have to come up with something that isn’t part and parcel of either of those.For example, perhaps you could offer the opportunity for tenants to pay their rent via an app or a mobile website. This appeals to tenants because it makes paying easy, and it appeals to clients because it means tenants pay on time more often. It’s also not something that many property managers are doing yet, so it presents the air of exclusivity.

2. Be Who You Are

When you sit down to brainstorm things you can do to stand out from the crowd, don’t try to become something you’re not. Consider your strengths, be authentic to what you (as an individual and as a company) do best, and above all, avoid insincerity.

If you’re not “green” by nature, don’t try to force-start a recycling program in your building. If you’re not tech savvy, skip out on the online rent payment. If you do something that doesn’t come off as genuine, you’ll end up chasing people away.

3. Build Anticipation

Whatever you create, spend the time to brainstorm some ways that you can whet your clients’ and tenants’ anticipation for that program. Oftentimes, the promise of a reveal is more effective of a marketing technique than simply laying out all of the details of a program or service up front.

In this case, you’re focusing mostly on the tenants — your clients tend to be more of the analytical, return-on-investment type who will respond better to a complete understanding of what you’re going to do for them.

4. Keep It Simple

A vast quantity of good ideas fail ultimately because they require too much effort. They sound good on paper, but when it comes time to actually implement some special program, it turns out that it’s more important to keep the normal flow of business flowing. Similarly, if an offering is going to be too challenging for a client and/or tenant to take advantage of easily, they simply won’t, and you might as well have never come up with the idea.

5. Be Consistent & Be Memorable

Very few property owners will hire you when they first encounter your marketing. The simple reason for this is that they’re usually contractually committed to one of your competitors.

So you want to be top of mind when they are thinking about switching companies. The only way to do that is by repeatedly exposing them to your company. They’ll more easily remember you, even with less repetition, if you can be memorable somehow. This is the reason people do crazy things in marketing!

If you can combine simplicity, authenticity, exclusivity, and anticipation consistently, while throwing in something to be memorable, your chances of standing out from your competition increase exponentially. Standing out means more business on both sides of the desk! 

What steps do you take to stand out — as an individual and as a company?

Let us know in the comments!

Source: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/09/27/5-ways-to-stand-above-the-competition-as-a-property-manager

Will I Get a Raise This Year? And What Is The Average Raise?

Unless you are a senior executive of a Fortune 500 company you probably won’t be seeing a double digit raise this year. According to the seventh annual Compensation Planning Survey by Buck Consultants, workers who were among the highest-rated at their firm got average raises of 4.3% in 2013, an increase of just 0.2% from a year earlier.  And according to a survey by Towers Watson, the highest performers got an average salary bump of 4.6% in 2013, compared with 2.6% for average employees. And employees shouldn’t expect their employers to make it rain anytime soon: According to Towers Watson, employers are planning on doling out average raises of just 2.9% for salaried, non-management employees — virtually unchanged from last year. “With the job market remaining relatively soft, most companies aren’t feeling pressure to raise salaries by much more than the rate of inflation,” said Laura Sejen, global practice leader for rewards at Towers Watson.
With inflation low and economic growth tepid, it is unlikely raises will be much more than last year. So even if you are star performer at work and your company is going well I would budget for a 2 to 5% raise at best. Though, looking on the bright side, any raise is a considerable improvement over the recessionary years from 2008 to 2010 when keeping ones job was a challenge let along getting a pay raise.

Source: http://www.savingtoinvest.com/2014/06/will-i-get-a-raise-this-year-and-what-is-the-average-raise.html

Why Now Is The Time To Buy Scottish Real Estate

Scotland’s decision to stay in the United Kingdom will drive growth in the local property market. Both sellers and buyers had been sitting on the fence for the past 18 months, but look set to return in large numbers.
As a result, local realtors expect a marked increase in activity, especially at the upper end of the market, which has traditionally been fuelled by wealthy incomers from England and abroad.
All forecasts point to a rise in local housing values across the next few months, followed by another one in 2015 and by further rises in the next five years. This means now could be a very good time to bag a Scottish home, before the price tag goes significantly up—so here is a selection of great Scottish properties currently available for sale.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carlapassino/2014/09/19/scotland-no-vote-why-now-is-the-time-to-buy-scottish-real-estate

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