Director of First Impressions: Using Voicemail to Start Off Right

		Robert HernandezMBA, Hablo Espanol Private Capital Ventures, Inc. Phone: 650-776-3280 Fax 415-573-0930 NMLS :241292 Broker Lic.: 01935727 Robert@1PCVI.com www.1PCVI.com

Director of First Impressions
Using Voicemail to Start Off Right

Have you ever stopped to consider how many times a new prospect gets your voicemail before they have a chance to speak directly with you? Your voicemail greeting provides an excellent opportunity to create a first impression that can have an enormous impact on whether people decide to use your services. It can also be used as a dynamic marketing tool.

If the first time you called a CPA, Financial Planner, or Real Estate Agent, you heard a voicemail greeting that was energetic, educational and professional, wouldn't that set the proper tone for the rest of the relationship? Very few people take into consideration the full potential of the voicemail greeting!

Here are some suggestions for creative use of your voice message:

Leave your schedule for the day, including the time of day you can be expected to return calls.
Most people don't mind leaving a voicemail message if they know when you will be returning the call. This shows that you are very professional, organized, and busy in your daily practices. It makes it crystal clear that you've taken the time to structure your day.

Assess what would be important to a prospect that is calling you for the first time.
What would they want to know about you? What would they want to know about your profession? If you seek to teach in every interaction and form of communication that you have with people, you will be wildly successful regardless of what business you are in. If you are a Real Estate Agent, discuss the market trends in your local community over the past 30 to 60 days. If you are a CPA, share any new or potential changes in tax laws that might be hot topics in the news.

Use your voicemail greeting to promote philanthropic activities.
Announce activities you are involved in with your church, school district, clubs or other organizations. This creates a lasting impression that you are deeply rooted in the community.

Give people optional ways of communicating with you.
Provide your email address. Leave an alternative contact should they require immediate assistance, and be sure they know how to bypass the message and transfer to another extension within your system.

Robert HernandezMBA, Hablo Espanol Private Capital Ventures, Inc. Phone: 650-776-3280 Fax 415-573-0930 NMLS :241292 Broker Lic.: 01935727 Robert@1PCVI.com www.1PCVI.com

 

Email Signatures that Make an Impact

Your email signature is more than just a virtual business card. If utilized effectively, it can also be a great and inexpensive tool for marketing and branding your business, growing your database, and even generating leads. Here are a few tips to help maximize the full power of this simple, but often overlooked, marketing marvel:

Create Consistency – According to marketing experts, your email signature should be short and sweet, which means between 5 and 7 lines of text. Just be sure to include at minimum the following information: name, title, company name, phone number, and website address. Some companies include an email address in their email signature, but others see it as redundant since the email is coming from you. Either way, it is essential that everyone in your organization is consistent about it, and follows the exact same format.

In other words, your email signature should look like a uniform company stamp of which only the names and titles change from person to person within the organization. That's the first step in branding your name and image. And it's the easiest part of creating a consistent experience.
Forget the Bells and Whistles – Avoid unusual fonts, colors, and symbols in your email signature. Not only can these come off as unprofessional, some email software programs simply do not support these high-end graphic features.

Acceptable options to your signature, according to the experts, are a line separating your signature, short inspirational quotes or marketing taglines, brief announcements of a new product or service, small banner invitations to an event, seminar, workshop, or subscription to a newsletter, e-zine, or other publication. These should all link directly to your website, driving traffic and strengthening your brand with every email that's sent out by you or anyone in your organization – something even the best business card can never accomplish. Here's an example of an ideal email signature:

Mr. John Smith
Vice President, Platinum Realtors
3000 Main Street, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(310) 555-1212 Ext 23
PlatinumRealtors.com

"Your Real Estate Solution Specialist"

Pay it Forward – Finally, while using an email signature is a great way to advertise your products and services for free, spare your co-workers and close colleagues from your signature appearing over and over again on reply and forwarded messages. Set your signature to appear on "new messages only" or simply delete everything except your name before sending your message.

Proactive or Reactive? It's Up to You

Robert HernandezMBA, Hablo Espanol Private Capital Ventures, Inc. Phone: 650-776-3280 Fax 415-573-0930 NMLS :241292 Broker Lic.: 01935727 Robert@1PCVI.com www.1PCVI.com Proactive or Reactive? It's Up to You

Everyone makes choices. Their outlook on life, whether at home, at work, behind the wheel or at the theater, directly correlates to the decision to be either positive or negative. In essence, it's as simple as whether you see the glass half full or half empty. As author Stephen R. Covey puts it in his much publicized book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,* you can choose to be proactive or you can choose to be reactive. He takes his theory a step further, saying that a proactive stance leads to greater success and contentment. From that perspective, a reactive person is sabotaging himself or herself. Covey contends that every single day, people have 100 opportunities to be proactive or reactive. Let's say you're in your car on the freeway and an overly zealous driver is practically sitting on your tail in the fast lane. You're driving at the speed limit, actually a couple of miles faster than the law permits. But the motorist behind you thinks he's at the Indy 500. You can stay where you are, infuriate him and possibly get rear-ended. Or, you can move out of harm's way, to that opening in the right-hand lane and let him pass. He's in the wrong, and there's no question about it. Will you follow his lead? Will you be proactive or reactive? It's up to you. It's very empowering to look at life from Covey's point-of-view. If you moved to the right lane, the reckless driver didn't force you. He didn't win. A vehicle can be a deadly weapon and you made the sensible, mature decision that shows why you deserve a driver's license and the other driver belongs on roller skates. At work, you can be proactive if you take the time to learn about the principles of nature - in this case human nature and people interaction. "If you ignore the principles of human effectiveness, you (can) work very hard, but still not get what you want," Covey says. Say that you've been working with a prospective client for the past three weeks, really putting a lot of effort into the new relationship. Then you learn, through some mutual acquaintance, that this would-be client ended up going to a competitor for the same service. It happens, and you don't have to necessarily blame yourself. But, you should take time to reflect on the past three weeks. Were you really proactive or were you reactive? How did you interact with the client? Covey says principles are "natural laws that govern the world." To attain a proactive mind-set, he emphasizes one must create beneficial relationships, build trust and commit to self-renewal. "To be trusted, you must be trustworthy over time," Covey asserts. As for self-renewal, he says renewal means "preserving and enhancing your greatest asset - yourself."

Negotiating Like a Billionaire

Robert HernandezMBA, Hablo Espanol Private Capital Ventures, Inc. Phone: 650-776-3280 Fax 415-573-0930 NMLS :241292 Broker Lic.: 01935727 Robert@1PCVI.com www.1PCVI.com Negotiating Like a Billionaire Donald's Dos and Don'ts

In Donald Trump's 2004 book, Trump: How to Get Rich*, he dedicates an entire section to the secrets of negotiation. I think you'll be amazed to know how much the dealings of a multi-billionaire relate to business at any level. Here are some of the tips he shares for successful negotiation: Consider What the Other Side Wants. If you remain too focused on what you want, you'll miss which concessions you can make that might satisfy the other side. Be Reasonable and Flexible. Unless you are never going to be negotiating again, it will hurt you in the long run if you show an unwillingness to bend. The word will eventually get out, and no one will want to work with you. Trust Your Instincts. If it sounds too good to be to true, it probably is. Don't let the same brain that struggles with long division be the only decision-maker. Trust your gut! Know Exactly What You Want and Keep It to Yourself.Chess masters know they've lost the game when their opponent can see their true attack coming. In other words, as soon as the other side knows what you want, they have you by the throat. Let Your Guard Down, but Only on Purpose. Let out some facts or opinions to "test the waters." See if people are agreeable or disagreeable, in order to gauge what they're thinking and feeling. Be Patient. Stubbornness is not the same as patience. Don't let your impatience overrun the deal itself. Be willing to wait for the right conditions to be met. Be True to Your Friends.Be loyal, be kind, and believe that both sides can come out winners.

The Google Effect

Robert HernandezMBA, Hablo Espanol Private Capital Ventures, Inc. Phone: 650-776-3280 Fax 415-573-0930 NMLS :241292 Broker Lic.: 01935727 Robert@1PCVI.com www.1PCVI.com

The Google™ Effect Learn About Your Prospect Before the Appointment!

Do you know enough about your prospects and potential strategic partners when you meet for that first appointment? The Internet can tremendously aid your business in many different ways. One of the great benefits is Google™, the world's leading search engine, aptly located at www.google.com. This search engine allows you to access a wealth of information about people – possibly those with whom you seek to form a relationship. Use this utility to research backgrounds on individuals prior to meeting with them. As sales people, we've been told, "Use your mouth less and your ears more," especially on the first few appointments. That gives us a clearer view of our prospective clients' and referral partners' hot buttons. Often, because of our insecurity as sales people, we present our sales pitch too aggressively. We essentially toss darts at a dartboard and hope to come close to hitting the bull's eye. That's where Google™ comes in handy. Consider the value of walking into an appointment, armed with the knowledge of a prospective client's goals and interests. Many people have Web pages loaded with personal information about their family, their hobbies and their successes. The more data you gather about your contacts, the better you can tailor your presentations to suit their needs and desires. By doing a little preliminary research, your interactions will dramatically improve. This will lead to an increased conversion ratio from prospect to client. Here's another hot tip! Would you like a quick listing of all the professionals in a certain field in your area? Try http://local.google.com, and put in the name of the profession (for example, "CPA"), along with your zip code. Google™ combines search data with Yellow Pages references to compile an amazing list of professionals, including business phone numbers, addresses, as well as links to their websites. You can use this information to develop strategic partnerships in a variety of fields. Look for more Business Boosters about efficient methods I use to manage my business and provide stellar customer service!

Leadership Essentials - Avoid these Bad Behaviors

 

Robert HernandezMBA, Hablo Espanol Private Capital Ventures, Inc. Phone: 650-776-3280 Fax 415-573-0930 NMLS :241292 Broker Lic.: 01935727 Robert@1PCVI.com www.1PCVI.com

Leadership Essentials
Avoid these 4 Bad Behaviors

Employees look to leaders for reassurance, insight and feedback. As a leader, the four bad leadership behaviors below can create morale problems and worse, stifle ideas from your employees, who likely know the business best:

Interrupting. Wait for the other party to finish first. This works best for three reasons:

1. You allow yourself and others a chance to listen and form more valid and insightful opinions
2. Some team members may need time to "warm up," and jumping in too soon could derail a potentially valuable breakthrough
3. Everybody roots for the underdog; helping someone save a little face will maintain a team-focused atmosphere

Interrogating. Nobody likes to be cross-examined, nor do they like to see this happening to anyone else. Healthy morale and team-building is possible simply by fleshing out problems together.

Judging. Instead of judging any ideas on the spot, try taking notes on all of them. Then regroup to discuss those that made the cut, or just announce your decision after the fact. Avoid making powerful non-verbal signs of disagreement, such as eye rolling or frowning.

Pretending. Turning on the charm with clients and higher-ups one minute, then being prickly with your direct reports is superficial and arrogant. People notice this game and will respect leaders who are firm, fair and treat all reciprocally and with respect.

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