First, let me express thanks to AR bloggers and readers that have commented on my posts and especially those that have picked up the phone to give me a call.  You've influenced me to pause and meditate on what I've observed in both the virtual and real worlds.

OK, here we go....
I received a call last night regarding a broker's desire for team building and growth of an existing brokerage. When asked where the company should go for help, my response was immediate ... sign up with a franchise!  This most definitely was not what the caller wanted to hear!  I found myself listening to justifications for hiring a coach/mentoring consultant and why signing up with motivational programs is a good idea.  NOT!!!

The caller's objective was GROWTH OF A BROKERAGE.  Long ago in a millennium not so far away, experts way smarter than me proclaimed that "brokerages surviving this century will be franchisees or smaller family type organizations".  I have watched this prophecy fulfilled while observing hundreds of new brokerages come and go.  Those demonstrating dynamic GROWTH are ALL franchisees, so the answer was a no-brainer for me.

Buddha would be proud of me ...
I'm not going to wave any franchise's flag or thump its Bible for them (for free).  In the above illustration, the Caller had already decided to seek guidance from a Real Estate Guru ... the question was "which one".  Or, to echo a summarized version of what your clients say every day ... "Tell me what I want to hear".  NOPE!  SORRY ... I just ain't gonna do that!

Cosmic Fundamentals of our REALITY.... 
We're all kindred spirits sharing a common human nature that guides our decision making process.  Here are some foundational principles guarded by politicians and shared by professional coaches (for a price)...

1. Absolutely the MOST IMPORTANT: "PERCEPTION IS REALITY"
   Mold someone's perception by spinning the truth or nasty lies and YOU control their reality.
    
2. People move away from pain and towards pleasure
   Kind of a "duh" thing ... we would all prefer to play rather than work all day.
    
3. It's easier to buy the FIX than prevent the problem
   Refer to #2 above ... buying the "FIX" takes us away from pain while buying the "Prevention" forces us to face and deal with problems.
    
4. We fear rejection
   People not only fear being rejected but are uncomfortable rejecting somebody else and causing them pain.

As applied to our Realty businesses ...
If I were a better writer I could formulate this next section and not ruffle anyone's feathers.  But I can hammer out computer code faster than words and really need to get to work.  (The risk of insulting you is more painful than my productive work.)  So I'll leave you for now with these quoted words of wisdom...

• Yoda: "Do or do not ... There is no TRY!"
   
• Unknown:  "Those that can, DO ... those that can't, TEACH"

Thanks for hanging with me this far.  I promise to pick this up again soon.