Growing up, my brother and sister and I were in the pool at a very early age.  Maybe it's because we went to camp, or maybe it's because we were taught to jump to my father as he would catch us.  To this day, when I reflect back, I still have very fond memories of swimming.  The irony is that we didn't even have a pool in our backyard.  We grew up spending most of our summers in camp, and the time out of camp was spent at a pool club.

When we moved to our current home, and it already had a pool, I thought for sure that I would be creating the same memories with my son that I did with my dad.  The only problem was that he had a great fear of the water, so this process has been difficult (to say the least).  With all of the drownings that we hear about each year, part of you would like to keep them afraid so that they are not tempted to ever go near the water without adult supervision.  However, this fear will only get worse if left unchecked so we knew that we had to do something.

As luck would have it, my son's best friend's dad is a police officer that helps run the Suffolk County P.A.L. (Police Athletic League), and they were having a swim program for two separate four-week sessions over the summer at a local college.  If ever my little guy was going to go in the pool and get over his fear of the water, it would surely be with his best friend right by his side.  After all, no kid wants to feel like they're missing out on fun.

Well, this is no ordinary Kindergartner.  This is a boy that can act his age at one moment and then act my age at the next moment.  The ability to rationalize like an adult is both a blessing and a curse.  It's great to be smart and well-spoken, but it's also great to be young, and my fear was that he would not have the memories of this care-free time in his life that other people do.  How many of us would love to have the freedom that school age kids have?

The swim classes were difficult, but ultimately, with a lot of patience, a young man named David was able to build a rapport with my son and earn his trust.  The average kid's mindset is usually one of joy to be able to frolic around in the water, even if it is in a structured environment.  However, this was not the case.  Every step was a struggle and if not for the patience that David showed, we probably would still be having issues with this learning process.

Slowly, but surely, my son started to look forward to going to swim class because he had fun and liked to see his teacher (and new friend), David.  By the time that August came around, my son was the one always asking me to go in the pool with him.  He even took it a step further and coaxed me into a lake during a family reunion in upstate New York on a very windy day, which I wrote about in a blog entitled Time Flies -  Make Every Day Count. 

It had become apparent that my son had finally started to share my love of the water, which made me very happy.  This little boy went from being petrified of the water to being excited to swim in a matter of weeks all because of a great teacher that showed a lot of patience with him. 

In another blog entitled New Beginnings, I spoke about another very patient and compassionate teacher that has helped my son with the transition to Kindergarten.  Being somewhat of a homebody, my son has had some issues with the separation that Kindergarten requires.  The first day of school this teacher helped coax him into the school much the same way that David coaxed him into the pool, by building a rapport and earning his trust.

These two men did what came naturally to them in an effort to help my son through scary times in his life.  As agents, we should follow their lead and realize that the most important part of the decision-making process when someone chooses us as their REALTOR® is not the listing presentation itself, but rather the ability to build rapport and earn their trust. Margaret Wodawrote an excellent blog about this subject entitled The know / like / trust presentation, if you'd like some more insight about using this concept.

This approach worked so well for my son that he insisted that we take one final dip in the pool yesterday because it was being closed this morning until next summer.  Sometimes in life, we learn lessons that we can bring into our business and make us more effective.  David did such an amazing job with my son that we were in the pool yesterday afternoon for as long as our bodies could tolerate the numbing cold of the water. 

Before his swim lessons, he used to cry before he got into the pool.  When we got out of the pool yesterday, he cried because this was the last swim of the season.  This transformation has been amazing to watch.  Hopefully the school teacher can now work the same magic that David did, as my son is still is working through some separation issues that have been brought on by being away from home so much.

Something tells me that the rapport that he's built with this teacher, and the trust that he has in him, is going to help my son to overcome this hurdle too. 

The next time that you go on a listing appointment, think about how far you can go by building rapport and earning trust.  Here's a little secret...you can go a long way towards creating a know / like / trust presentation simply by posting well thought-out blogs on Active Rain, and then guiding prospective sellers to your blog page. 

Don't you think that you too can make a SPLASH? 

Please share your thoughts about building rapport and earning trust as a way of building your business.