Ann-Marie Clements Luxury Homes REALTOR® M.S. Ed., Saint John, NB

In the past 3 years as a REALTOR in the Saint John area, I've seen many Realtors that speak before they think! They usually let their ego do the talking and lose their client or opponent Realtor at the other end. Being a former Math & Science teacher, I learned this early, but make it a point to reinforce it daily!

I'm the quiet type and have an advantage, since I listen for fluctuations in their speaking (when on the phone) and read body language (when in person). I never let them realize this, I just let them talk, so I get even more information from them.

This blog is for many of the Realtors who have never really got their "Listening Skills" down. I will be discussing the very basics on listening skills to help them negotiate the next deal and come back with their clients needs & expectations.

1) It's far more important to be a good listener than a good talker, when negotiating!

- State your case clearing & concisely & then "shut up".

2) Silence is a great weapon!

- Talking more gives information to your opponent.

- Let the other side do the majority of the talking.

- Active listening gives you clues on what the other side really wants to accomplish.

** The party who talks the most makes the most concessions.

3) Listening skills have to be learned! (This is something you are Not born with.)

- Work on improving your listening skills daily, so you can master the art of negotiating.

a) Listen more by talking less.

b) Take notes.

c) Ask more constructive questions.

d) Don't interrupt your opponent.

e) Use more eye contact.

e) Use the RSVQ Formula:

1) Repeat what was said in your own words.

2) Summarize the main points & subpoints.

3) Verify that your heard the correct information.

4) Query, by getting more constructive questions in and to give you more info.

**** Good listening skills provide the foundation for effective negotiating!

Finally, I always remember these two phrases on negotiating:

"He who speaks 1st loses."

"The party who talks the most, gets the least."

Meeting enthusiastic Elizabeth Rowe, Owner of Urban Deli, gives you the feeling that she loves the daily challenges of her new business in Uptown Saint John. Opening July 13, 2009, she has watched her business evolve, just like a child from infancy, from opening the doors and running it day-to-day. She loves the daily interactions with people; clients, suppliers & staff!

Elizabeth and her business partner, Gord Hewitt, purchased their building on 68 King Street East, across from the Brunswick Square area in April 2008. The building is designated Heritage, which means there are guidelines to follow on the exterior; therefore the Urban Deli canopy needed to comply and reflect heritage by including sculpted edging and the new front door had to reflect heritage.

Although clients vist from all over New Brunswick, Elizabeth believes that some of the core support comes from Uptown Saint John - it's the 80/20 rule. Elizabeth said it all with this quote: "The name Urban Deli simply fit it all for us: location and style." Elizabeth has created "a great gem" with fresh unique deli food and creative menus that include a brunch on Saturdays 9-12. Her focus is to attract and retain customers one at a time.

The Urban Deli specializes in Montreal Style Smoked Meats. Her rye bread and bagels are purchased from Montreal and the Deli mustard is homemade. No processed meats here!

The Urban Deli has a smoker on site and many of our meat products are smoked. Elizabeth enthusiastically says, "Our ribs are fall off the bone." Elizabeth shares the fact that there is an ever growing demand for appealing to Vegetarians and Vegans and is totally focused on capturing a larger share of that demographic over the next year. "I think that we have one of the best veggie burgers in the city." The Urban Deli also caters to Celiacs and now has partnered with The Gluten-Free Menu Company" to retain Gluten-Free breads and desserts

When you enter the Urban Deli, the environment is very vibrant, lively and fast moving. The color scheme includes original brick walls, hanging light fixtures, black and red colors to create the environment for social gathering and having fun! The background music is from the 60's & 70's because she likes it and "it's music everyone knows and can identify with; the roots to day's music!"

Elizabeth is always giving away samples to her clients to create an interest and loves their feedback...good, bad or indifferent. "It's valuable and it helps us to perfect our products." It's an open door policy on feedback from her clients & staff. The goal is always to encourage clients to come back and to tell their friends and family about their experience.

She realizes that the Urban Deli is very fortunate to be successful as quickly as it has been...this is due to atmosphere, food, consistency of food, staffing and truly caring about her clients. "Customers can go anywhere to spend their money on food and when they walk through our door, we love it! We never take anything for granted."

Budgeting is always tight for a start-up business and to date there has been zero dollars budgeted for advertising. In Elizabeth's mind she would rather stand out on the street and give away samples of her food. "This way potential customer's can see, taste, smell and touch the Urban Deli product. To date, I am not aware of any advertising that can deliver all of these things."

Her plans for the next year are to focus on retailing some of her products; salad dressings, homemade sausages, smoked products, homemade pastas, her vegetarian items, increase catering and roll-out our online ordering.

Her 3-year plan is to have more equipment for smoking products, more items for retailing (cold & hot smoking). Her 5-year plan is very energizing! She plans to have multiple locations (kiosk in the mall, retail outlets and/or other Urban Deli's at different locations).

For the technically inclined, the Urban Deli has a website that posts the menus and recipes that she has given to her clients and recipes that her clients have reciprocated back. She has a Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Acct:

WEBSITE: http://www.urbandeli.ca

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Saint-John-NB/Urban-Deli/109885939407?ref=ts

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/urbandeli

LINKEDIN: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/elizabeth-rowe/2/926/bb6

Give Elizabeth Rowe's new business the Urban Deli a try from Monday - Saturday.

Monday - Thursday, 11:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Friday, 11:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Brunch from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)

*** You won't be disappointed with the food, environment or service! ;>))

My home was built in the late 1970's by an eccentric woman who designed it. When my family and I moved to Canada 6 years ago, from the U.S. we looked at many homes for over 9 months and found this one that had 28 feet ceilings, with a very steep hip roof and a 52" square diameter skylight in the middle of the home, above the stairway of our home.

I live in the middle of Granite City, in fact my home is on Granite/Slate Rock in the middle of Grand Bay-Westfield, a bedroom neighborhood of Saint John, New Brunswick (NB), Canada! I could literally take it from my old land, but then my house would probably be unstable!

As you can probably tell, I'm getting ready to redo my kitchen, with Natural Cherry Cabinets in a shaker style to go with my relatively modern open-concept home!

This week, I hit every kitchen renovation place, including the standard; Home Depot and Kent's Building Supplies. The problem I've had so far is "WHAT COUNTERTOP SURFACE DO I WANT?"

My previous background (before becoming a Realtor) was in; Math, Sciences & Education, so the educator in me decided to do some research on the durability, wearability and overall best deal for my bucks! I looked at: Granite, Cultured Marble, Engineered Stone, Solid Surfaces, Laminates & Tile.

Just some info on the terminilogy:

ENGINEERED STONE - all are made of natural quartz (which is one of the hardest substances and a combination of various materials).

Another name for them are; Silestone, Technistone, Formica Stone, CaesarStone, Hanstone.

Silestone - made of natural quartz, resin for binding & pigment.

Technistone - made of 93% natural quartz, quartz silica, granite or recycled mirror4, combined with 7% resin,

colors & binders.

Formica Stone - made of 93% natural quartz crystals, & 7% high-performance polymers.

CaesarStone - made of 93% natural quartz & 7% polyresins.

Hanstone - made of 93% natural quartz crystals, combined with high-quality polyester resins & pigment.

SOLID SURFACES - includes; Meganite or Avonite.

Meganite - made of Acrylic Resin & Aluminum Tri-Hydrate.

Avonite - made of Polyester & Aluminum Tri-Hydrate.

Here's the information I discovered in my research on the desired attributes of countertop materials:

1) Uniformity in Appearance:

Granite is Inconsistent.

Cultured Marble is Fair.

Engineered Stone is Good.

** Solid Surfaces, Laminate & Tile are Excellent.

2) Custom Colors & Color Matching:

Granite & Engineering Stone are not available!

Laminate & Tile are Limited.

** Solid Surfaces & Cultured Marble have the Best Colors & Matching available.

3) Resistant to Water:

Granite, Laminate & Tile's Grout are Not Resistant.

** Engineered Stone, Solid Surfaces & Cultured Marble are Resistant.

4) Sealer-Free Surface:

Granite & Tile's Grout are Not Sealer-Free Surfaces.

** Engineered Stone, Solid Surfaces, Cultured Marble & Laminate are Sealer-Free Surfaces.

5) Virtually Invisible Seams:

Granite, Engineering Stone, Cultured Marble, Laminate & Tile are Not Virtually Invisible Seams.

** Solid Surfaces are the only ones that are Virtually Invisible Seams.

6) Appealing to the Touch:

Granite, Engineered Stone & Tile are Cold.

** Solid Surfaces, Cultured Marble & Laminate are Warm.

7) Ability to Resist Heat:

Cultured Marble & Laminate are Not resist to heat.

** Engineered Stone, Granite, Solid Surfaces & Tile are resist to heat.

8) Ability to Resist Bacteria & Mold:

Granite, Laminate & Tile are Not resist to bacteria & mold, mostly from their joints & grout.

** Engineered Stone, Solid Surfaces & Cultured Marble are resist to bacteria & mold.

9) Reparability (To Original Appearance):

Granite, Engineered Stone, Cultured Marble, Laminate & Tile Grout are Not Reparable.

** Solid Surfaces are the only ones that are Reparable.

10) Non-Porous:

Granite & Tile Grout are Not Porous.

** Engineered Stone, Solid Surfaces, Cultured Marble & Laminate are Porous.

11) Easy to Maintain:

Granite & Tile are Not Easy to Maintain.

** Engineered Stone, Solid Surfaces, Cultured Marble & Laminate are Easy to Maintain.

12) Renewable Surfaces:

Granite, Engineered Stone, Cultured Marble, Laminate & Tile are Not Renewable Surfaces.

** Solid Surfaces are the only Renewable Surfaces.

13) Ease of Installation:

Granite is very heavy.

Engineered Stone & Tile are Not Easy to Install.

** Solid Surfaces, Cultured Marble & Laminate are Easy to Install.

14) Overall Cost of Installed Product:

Engineered Stone is the most expensive or $$$$$

Granite & Solid Surfaces are the next expensive or $$$$

Cultured Marble & Tile are the 3rd expensive or $$$

** Laminate is the cheapest or $

15) Warranty:

Granite & Tile have No Warranty.

Cultured Marble & Laminate have a 1 year Warranty.

** Engineered Stone & Solid Surfaces have a 10 year Warranty.

Based on our needs for our family, we have decided to go with either; Engineered Stone or Solid Surfaces! We do love Granite, but it has too many issues with durability, wearability, feel and overall maintenance. Now off to my Countertop Specialists I go...

What's your preference of countertops???

Yesterday, 225 years ago or on May 19th, 1785, the City of Saint John, NB, became the 1st Incorporated City in North America!!!

There are many activities going on today and for the rest of this year here in Saint John, NB...

Here's a link to all of the activities in the Saint John area: http://www.saintjohn225.com/

As a local Realtor here, I wanted to give back to the community, so for the rest of the year, I'll be taking $225 off anyone who uses me as their Buying Agent or Selling Agent!

This should help all the local people who feel a little tight at the end of the buying or selling process...

Here's my ad beginning this weekend or May 22nd in the Telegraph Journal, that will run for the rest of the year!

ENJOY all of the celebrations!!!

;>))

We finally have a COSTCO that will open next month in May!

I love IKEA stores!!! I think IKEA home furnishing stores are innovative, keep you organized within your home or office and have items I've never seen in any other store! These popular European stores are all over the world, but the only ones I've seen are in Canada and the U.S. Their kitchens are to "die for".

In fact, the closest eastern stores are either Montreal, Quebec or Boston, Massachusetts, where both of them are at least 8 hours away!

So I went to http://www.ipetitions.com website and created a petition to get as many local Saint Johner's signatures as possible!

By using an assortment of websites, I hope to create enough traffic to create the desire to have an IKEA here in Saint John, NB. I'm trying for 100,000 signatures so that I can summit this petition to IKEA's Corporate offices.

If you know anyone from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island (PEI) or even Maine, that would like to sign this petition, feel free to point them to this blog...

I've put this on my Twitter & LinkedIn connections:

http://twitter.com/YourKeyStJohn

http://www.linkedin.com/in/annmarieclementscanada

I created a FACEBOOK Fan Page for this cause also:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Bring-an-IKEA-Home-Furnishing-Store-to-SAINT-JOHN-NB/108130575887435

I also created a Kijiji Community Ad in the Saint John area:

http://saintjohn.kijiji.ca/c-community-activities-groups-SIGNATURE-PETITION-Lets-get-an-IKEA-store-to-Saint-John-W0QQAdIdZ196386247

Here's the link to my petition for the people of New Brunswick, especially my neighbors & friends of Saint John:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ikea_to_saint_john_nb_canada/

:>))