I just made an offer on a property today.  After selling my house this summer, I'm trying to find a new home.  This is my fifth attempt to buy something.  That's right; I've made five offers on five different properties.  I lost the previous four in multiple offer situations.  Yea, I made low offers on two of them, but one offer was full price and one was $8,000 over list.  Did someone say this was a bad market?

There are probably a number of lessons to learn here, but this has reminded me of one I've known for years: The power of story telling.  What a great conversation piece.  I always get the response, "But I thought the market was bad now?"  Giving me the opportunity to be the real estate expert with a response like, "It's slow but not dead, and the quality properties that are priced right are selling fast."  Telling a story builds rapport, adds credibility and can really help in making an important point.

Of course we don't always have an immediate personal story of interest, but I'm sure we all know someone who does, that we could share.  I can't count the number of times where a situation has come up with a client, and a story of a similar past experience is helpful in the resolution.

So keep up the communication with your colleagues, and keep your ears open for those interesting, funny and unusual stories that will make for good conversation pieces.  You may get a new client or put a deal together as a result.

And by the way, I'm in competition on this offer too.  Wish me luck.