I’m writing this post on Labor Day, and thinking back on my various past jobs. I started in real estate in 2001, beginning in the South Loop area of Chicago. I worked with a lot of buyers and some sellers. My market was condos, lofts and townhouses. I did a few multifamily homes, (two and three flats) and a very small number of single family homes. When I moved to Huntley in 2006 my market changed and the primary “product” became single family homes.
However, as with many people in real estate, I had another earlier career. For twenty seven years I worked for what was “the phone company”, in its various incarnations. In looking back over those years my favorite job was major projects implementation. I think the skills learned in one career help in the next.
As an independent real estate broker, I find that I prefer to work with with buyers and I’m moving my focus to exclusive buyer agency. I find that, in helping the buyer with the purchase, I use many of the same skills and approaches that I used in implementing telephone systems. Whether phone systems, condos or houses, having a system makes things go more smoothly. This is a simplified outline of both processes.
- Determine the need.
In implementing a telephone system, the goal is to design the best system possible for both internal and external communication needs. For a real estate purchase, the need is to find the best home for the buyer(s) at a fair price. In both cases, the process must be as smooth as possible, minimizing disruption.
- Define the parameters.
In this step, two way communication is the most critical. In implementation, it was to meet with a representative of the company buying the system and get a clear understanding of how the system would be used. For a real estate buyer, it is important for the agent and the buyer to communicate the needs. Size of the house, location, features. Equally important, it is necessary to know of any restrictions, such as price, distance to work, schools, shopping and other objective and subjective factors that may narrow the home search.
- Organizing and coordinating.
In implementation, I prepared forms and order sheets which clearly defined the the exact parameters of the system and the specific features of each phone based upon the individual needs. Now, with a buyer, I still use a systematic approach. When I’m showing homes, I create a spreadsheet of all the houses we will see that day and what we have seen before. I give a copy to my buyer client and I use one myself. During and after the showings, my clients and I review each home and determine what they liked and didn’t like and why. This approach helps me to eliminate houses that would not fit my client’s requirements.
- Coordinate a team of experts.
In the phone company, I worked closely with a team of sales people, engineers and foremen and installers to properly coordinate the installation. In the real estate purchase process, the team consists of the buyers, mortgage broker, inspector and the attorney. The key here is to let the experts do their job, while I do mine and not to cross into their area of expertise. Communication within the team is essential.
- Getting to the final product.
In telephone system implementation, the final step was called “cutover”. My job entailed lots of nights and weekends. The cutover, or switch from the old system to the new typically took place on a Friday night and often extended into Saturday and sometimes Sunday. This was to ensure minimal business disruption for the customer. The final product the real estate purchase is, of course, the closing. Although I’ve been to some closings that seemed to take an entire day, they usually go smoothly if the team has all done its job well. This is the best part of both projects because we get to see all our efforts come together for a satisfying conclusion.
- Follow up.
Although not a part of the process, the follow up lets you know how well things have worked out. In my implementation job, I was usually at my customer’s business at the beginning of the day on Monday. Yes, even after spending most of the weekend there. This was the final piece of the puzzle where we saw how things worked in a real life situation. With the home purchase, follow up lets me know how the house worked out for my clients. In both situations, the better the process is from beginning to end, the better it works out for everyone.
Richard J. Quigley
Independent Real Estate Broker
Huntley, IL
www.richquigley.com
