The one thing I find missing from our Capitalistic Climate lies within the very title of this post.  I deal with the lack of grace all the time and am damn sure I'm not the only one.  Too many instances arise when you help folks, guide folks, try and point them in the right direction, and all of the sudden they disappear.  Without notice, without a word.

Click here.

Perhaps they found a better deal. Can't win them all.  I'm cool with that.  That's competition and I don't fancy myself Rocky Marciano just yet. 

It puzzles me and makes me understand the "churn & burn" attitude so many sales folks have.  Get them in, get them out.  It's more of a one night stand than a relationship. Maybe that's the way it should be done?

But I disagree, especially when it comes to something like, I don't know, your house for example.  Do you really want to be sharing the sheets with Bill Maher when you can dance with Jon Stewart?  Mysterious analogies aside, I want to be advised by someone who holds some semblance of trust and credibility with me. 

I ran into a 'Rate Shopper' a few months ago and we've been in constant contact since.  His decision on which Lending Entity to choose came down to three. I was one of them. When he made his decision, it was based upon my fees being higher than the competitor and that competitor happened to be the Mortgage Company he had already dealt with. He sent me a pleasant email articulating his decision. I was quite shocked!  Not because of his decision per se, but because he took the time to let me know.  My response back was a grateful message thanking him for doing what so few do. His response verbatim is as follows:

"You're very welcome, Jason.  I felt that I owed you that in light of your helpfulness.  As someone who's essentially a missionary (financially), I raise all my support, and get frustrated when people don't have the thoughtfulness and/or courage to let me know they're not going to support us (or stop doing that). 

In any event, thanks for your kind words.  That means a lot to me, too.

Grace to you,
Bryan"

I'll take Bryan as a prospective client any day of the week, even though I didn't earn a dime in my communications with him.  He earned a reputation with me.  I think I did the same with him.  Reputation turns into relationships.  And while almost every relationship I've heard of has rocky roads to travel, that's the way to do business the right way.  At least until I find a goldmine under those covers with Bill Maher.

Smart Sales translate into closed deals.  Smart Sales is also ensuring it's a long term gig and not a short-term (and often perceived) fortune.