I'm going to step on some toes with this one, but when I read a recent bit of advice by Jeffrey Gitomer, I was in such complete agreement, I knew I had to blog it! If you're not familiar with Jeffrey Gitomer and you're in any type of sales, you need to get familiar with Mr. Gitomer. His no-nonsense approach to sales training and advice is always on target. But sometimes when the arrow hits that target, it can make you want to strangle him, while at other times, it can make you want to grab the nearest phone so you can call him and say "thank you, thank you, thank you"!

Here in Port Orange (and the entire Daytona Beach area, all the way to Flagler), we get a small periodical that is amazingly chock-full of useful information. It's called the Volusia/Flagler Business Report. And the one thing I always look for ASAP, is the half-page article by Jeffrey Gitomer. And that's what brings me to this post.

I frequently get requests from other agents, for me to please update my personal information for their records. These requests are always via e-mail, and are usually wanting me to fill out some type of online form for what I assume is the individual's personal, online database. Now I want to make this crystal clear, to anyone who has ever sent, or plans to send me one of these requests. I will never fill out the form!

If you need to know why I will never fill out these requests for my personal information, it's because I don't trust an online database. You may think it's only for you, and that nobody else has access to this information; and you may be correct. But I'm not convinced. And I do not want anyone else to have my e-mail address.

(Warning - Mini Rant coming!) I despise spam! And since I'm already stepping on toes, I may as well drive it home. My definition of spam is ANY e-mail which I did not specifically request, coming from someone who is trying to obtain business from me. Is that clear enough? Because I've certainly received plenty of these types of e-mail from other Rainers with whom I am NOT familiar! And yes, it ticks me off. And so I can make this crystal clear, I automatically send all spam (by my description) to my Outlook Junk Mail Folder. I don't even look at it, no matter what it is. (*Adding this line after some of your comments: I do look in the folder just to make sure it's not holding anything that is not actually spam.) And if it goes from one spam message, to repeated abuse, I reveal the headers and send it to the Federal Trade Commission. I know I'll never be able to stop all the spam, but I get a little bit of pleasure out of knowing that due to the Can the Spam Act, the law is on my side, and has the ability to charge a fine to the spammers. But I digress. Obviously, I feel very strongly about spam!

But back to the subject at hand... The e-mail requests for me to "update my information" via online databases. In Jeffrey Gitomer's latest column in the Volusia/Flagler Business Report, Jeffry titled his article "Don't ask customers to do your work - do it yourself!" In this article, Jeffrey addressed these e-mail requests for information updates. As I read it, I wanted to jump up and down and yell "YES!" over and over again.

Here are a few quotes from Jeffrey, regarding the requesting of information via e-mail...

• "Stop the stupidity, stop the rudeness, stop the laziness. Update your own records."
• "How do you think your customers perceive you as a sales professional when you do this?"
• "Where's the value? Where's the professionalism?"
• "What kind of an image of yourself and your work ethic are you sending to your customers and prospects?"
• "Every action you take as a salesperson exposes you and how you conduct yourself as a sales professional."

In the remainder of Mr. Gitomer's article, he suggested that anyone in sales should come up with some ideas that would leave positive impressions on their customers, rather than "pathetic" ones. He also suggested that we pick up the phone and make personal contact with our clients, customers, friends and family. After all, updating our databases is a valid and a really good opportunity to reconnect with many people that we need to talk to, if for no other reason than to let them know that we're still in the real estate business. Let's face it. In the last couple of years, many agents have been forced to find other jobs. The fact that we're still selling real estate deserves accolades... from those who are in our Contact Managers! So why not call and give them the opportunity to pat us on the back ;) We should call them just to chat for a while, and make sure they know we're still available for any of their real estate needs.

Jeffrey is right. Asking our clients to do a job that we should do is like announcing that we're lazy. So to finalize this post, I'll just use a couple more words from Jeffrey Gitomer. This is not a direct quote, but I did like his wrap-up. As we go into the new year, why don't we update our Contact Managers by making personal contact with everyone we know. This way, instead of a "delete", we just might leave them with a feeling of "delight".