Peter Fletcher

Wanted: Personal Assistant

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Help wanted sign

Wanted: Personal Assistant

In 25 years as a business owner I’ve employed a lot of people but never a personal assistant. It’s time that changed.

Here’s what the role of PA will involve.

  1. Maintain company secretarial volumes.
  2. Maintain super fund records.
  3. Liaise with accountant and bookkeeper to collate end of financial year reports.
  4. Research material for courses.
  5. Conduct research for white papers.
  6. Collate KPI reports for monthly management meetings
  7. Liaise with graphic designers to build slide decks.
  8. Manage seminar and training session bookings.
  9. Proofread and edit blog posts, add relevant images where required.
  10. Arrange meetings and travel.
  11. Prepare for functions (catering, drinks, and associated logistics).
  12. Prepare proposals and presentations.
  13. Prepare meeting agendas and minutes.
  14. Manage computer backups.
  15. Manage archives.
  16. Maintain records in customer relationship management software.
  17. Coordinate mail-outs.
  18. Prepare and send invoices.
  19. Other tasks as required.

The person I work with will need:

  1. A positive attitude.
  2. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  3. High attention to detail.
  4. A mature outlook.
  5. A happy, pleasant nature.
  6. Self confidence.
  7. Excellent computer skills.
  8. Well developed research skills.
  9. Preference will be given to someone who has experience in the real estate industry, although this isn’t essential.

Hours of work

The position is full-time although consideration will also be given to applicants who require flexible working hours.

If that sounds like you please send me an email or call 0419 538 838.

Image credit: Brenda Gottsabend on Flickr.

Let’s listen to the stories of the battler

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The real estate industry creates its heroes by numbers. Those who list the most, sell the most and who make the most get the accolades.

That’s not to say that those who sell less aren’t recognised, it’s just that they’re not recognised as much. Perhaps that’s OK. Maybe all those who’s performance puts them in the middle of the bell curve are perfectly happy but I think we’re less well off by not hearing their stories.

We’re less well off when we ignore the stories of mums who struggle to juggle a career and family, of single parents who stretch themselves thin to put food on the table and go to their kids’ sports carnivals, of grand parents who choose both a career and to baby sit their grand kids to help their own children get a start.

These are the stories we miss out on when we anoint as the best those who’s lives allow them to spend crazy hours at work and who’s support network allows them to follow their career dreams.

And it’s not as if those who earn the big bucks don’t have a story to tell – they do. Often they’ve overcome diversity and beaten the challenges that life has thrown at them. For that I say a big well done. But let’s not be blinded by the big money and the big numbers. Instead, let’s open ourselves up to listening to the wonderful, rich stories of the little people, of the battlers and of those who have lived a good, simple life.

5 moments when silence is always the best option

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A tranquil lake

There’s a time for words and a time for silence

Words can be powerful. They can influence and they can persuade. But in the same way the space between notes create rhythm, silence between words and sentences give people a place to pause, reflect and respond.

So, when are the best moments to be silent.

1. After you’ve asked for the order

The mark of a great sales person is how comfortable they are with the silence that inevitably occurs during a sales call. The tension is particularly evident immediately after the sales person has asked for the order. New sales people often mistake that silence for disagreement but the best option is always more silence. Avoid the temptation to fill in the silence with more words. It rarely works. Instead, sit still and quietly and listen. More often than not the answer will be yes.

2. When you start a speech

Nervous speakers hit the podium and start talking right away. The best option, though, is to pause. Look out over the audience. Make eye contact – then start speaking. That deliberate pause is the most powerful ways of getting attention at your disposal.

3. When you’re listening

Nothing says you care more than active listening. That means eye contact and it means nodding. But it also means attentive silence. Your friends, your family and your customers will thank you for your willingness to be silent.

4. When the people you’re trying to sell to are debating the purchase

Purchase decisions – especially for those who aren’t experienced negotiators – can be stressful. That stress can cause couples and buying groups to argue amongst themselves. When that happens it’s almost always unwise to say anything. Instead, stand back, listen and let them talk. Don’t interrupt. Often arguments are a way for people to slow the decision making process down. And the reason they want to slow things down is they love what you’re selling. But the more they debate the closer they are to a decision. Right now silence is your best friend.

5. When emotions are running high

When emotions are running high words are rarely helpful. On the other hand silence soaks up anger like a sponge and it gives sadness the space it needs to transform into joy.

What moments have I missed?

Photo: Alias 0591 on Flickr

7 reasons I’m grateful for my competitors

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When I first started out as a real estate agent I had no time for my competitors. I distrusted them and wanted to beat them at almost any cost. But a lot has changed since then.

Over the years I’ve learned that my competitors aren’t the threat I once thought they were. Rather, many of my current competitors have become close friends and mentors.

Here, then, are my top reasons to develop strong ties with the competition.

1. What is not given is lost

OK, that’s an old (possibly Chinese) proverb but it’s one that I’ve found to be true over the years. For me it means that ideas I hang onto will be lost for everyone. When I share ideas I enrich the lives of the people I share them with. But when I hold on to them I become diminished.

2. Sharing helps us all grow quicker

The flip-side to the previous point is that sharing helps everyone grow faster. I’ve seen how this works during REBarCamp where a bunch of real estate agents get together to share marketing ideas. One idea helps to spark another and then another and then another. Soon one idea that seemed run-of-the-mill to the person that shared it has created something that’s changed another person’s business forever.

3. They help me realise I’m not alone

When I started my business I kind of thought that I had to do it all. I had this sense that I was a one man army fighting a war that was never going to end. But the time I’ve spent with my competitors has taught me that we all face similar problems and issues. It might be staff recruitment and retention, team building or lead generation – whatever the problem we each have ways of dealing with the issue that can be helpful to someone else.

4. They helped me realise I’m doing OK

Over the years I’ve been my own worst critic. I’ve gone to conferences and listened to the sales gurus and come away thinking I can and should be doing so much better. But once I started sharing ideas and results with my competitors I soon realised I was doing OK. Sure, there were areas I could lift my game but in most areas I could hold my head up high and feel proud of what I’d achieved.

5. They make me feel super supported

Sometimes running a business can be lonely and hard. Sometimes you don’t know all the answers. And when that happens today I pick up the phone and ask. In an instant I’ll have the answer I need. Today, I couldn’t do without my support network of super-generous competitors.

6. They’re the reality check I want and need

I’m always coming up with new ideas. It’s almost a disease. If I have any doubt I’ll have a coffee with one of my competitors and ask them for their feedback. They can be brutal. Sometimes they’ll give me the green light. At other times they’ll tell me why it’s such a bad idea. Either way their feedback is essential – and valuable.

7. They lift me higher

Sometimes I think I’m doing ok, then I have a chat to one of my friends and they tell me what they’re doing. Suddenly I realise how far I have to go and how much work is still ahead. It spurs me on to do more.

Those are a few of my reasons to stay connected with my competitors. What about you?

7 tips for being more effective

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A dog listening to it's owner.

Listening is a key strategy for being effective. So is being your own dog.

If you want to be more effective try these simple strategies.

  1. Take responsibility for what’s happening in your life. Sometimes it’s tempting to blame other people for how we feel or our lack of results but ultimately it’s a disempowering way to live. Instead, when things don’t go to plan, look for what you could change that might lead to a better result next time. If you blame someone else nothing will change but taking responsibility means you’ll be able to make meaningful changes that will give you a different – and hopefully better – outcome next time.
  2. Lose your smartphone. Your smartphone won’t help you eat dinner or drink beer. Nor will it help you focus on what’s being said in a meeting. Why’s this important? Because people love having our undivided attention. They love knowing that we care enough to listen intently to what they have to say. Checking your phone every few minutes creates a distraction and denies your friends and work colleagues from you being your best.
  3. Pay attention. Related to the previous point give what you’re doing your full attention. If you’re in a meeting concentrate on what’s being said and especially so if the meeting is boring. People love working with sharp, engaged people. Be one of those people.
  4. Don’t interrupt.  Get into the habit of listening. Avoid the temptation to interject especially with your version of the other person’s experience. Just listen. Nod, ask questions, maintain eye contact (without staring) and let the other person know you understand what they have to say. People love people who listen.
  5. Get rid of negative people. Life’s too short for negative people. Get rid of them. Toxic relationships and negativity will drag you down. And don’t believe it when people say they’re going to change. Instead, believe it when they have changed.
  6. Be your own dog. Start living your life on your terms and your schedule, not someone else’s. Want a good place to start? Turn off social media and email notifications on your smartphone. Set up your own schedule of checking your email and Facebook. People love people who are drivers of their own life. Be one of those people.
  7. Don’t be a whinger. No-one likes a whinger or a whiner. Decide today to replace complaint with action. If you don’t like something do something. If you’re not willing to do something you then what you’re complaining about isn’t really important. Now start looking for something positive, supportive and encouraging to say. Be a positive influence in your own life and in the lives of those around you.

What are your tips for living a more effective life?

Image: Zach Dischner on Flickr.

5 tips that will keep you performing at your peak

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Nutritionist and peak performance coach Julie Meek has the following simple tips that will help you to perform at your best.

1. Treat your life like a sprint, not a marathon. Put another way, keep the finish line in sight. Creating short-term, achievable goals helps to give today and tomorrow urgency and meaning.

2. Create cycles of intense effort. Rather than watching the clock for 8 hours divide your day into 90-minute segments. Make it your goal to go all out then have a break. Get up, walk around and reward yourself for a few minutes. Then get back to it for another 90 minutes of intense effort.

3. Get moving. Study after study have shown that people who are active are more productive. In fact, just 20 minutes of exercise every second day halves your chances of developing Alzheimer’s.

4. Take performance enhancing supplements. No, that doesn’t meta contacting the Essendon club doctor but it does mean taking some basic supplements including fish oil tablets (or eating more fish), a probiotic such as Yakult, and — this is my favourite — up to 3-4 cups of brewed coffee per day.

5. Take a break. Whether that’s a physical break such as a weekend off or deliberately quitting a project that’s not working it’s important that you continue to be the person with the hand on the steering wheel of your life.

31 things I’m grateful for – The internet

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We love internet sign

I’m grateful for the internet

In 2006 I sold my real estate business. Most of my friends wanted to know what I was going to do next. The truth was I had no real idea.

One evening, shortly after the sale contract was signed, I was out for dinner in Fremantle. Quite by chance I got talking to a young man from Holland who was in Perth for an Ultimate Frisbee competition. He told me that he owned a web design firm.

“Do you have someone looking after it while you’re away?” I asked naively.

He appeared bemused.

“No,” he explained patiently, “it’s an internet design firm. It’s based on the internet. I can run it from wherever I can get an internet connection.”

It took a moment for what he said to sink in.

“Wow, that’s it! How awesome would it be to have a job that allowed me to travel. Now that’s freedom!” I thought.

Right there I knew I’d found the direction for my career.

Over the days that followed I came up with a recipe for my next job or business. First, it would nod it’s head to the past but embrace something new. For me, that meant being associated with real estate but involved with new technology. Second, it should allow me the freedom to travel.

Armed with that formula I began to look for opportunities. The principal of a large real estate firm called to offer me the job of running a large team of property managers. I politely declined. And, just when it seemed that nothing would come my way, I read an ad in, of all places, the newspaper. It was for a new course in internet studies being offered by Curtin Uni. This was my opportunity to add the technology ingredient to my career recipe.

Within weeks I was enrolled.

Over the next two years I experienced the joy of laying under the pine trees at Curtin reading the works of Deleuze and Foucault. I started a blog and began to tweet. I wrote a 20,000 word honours dissertation. And I came to understand the way the internet both shaped and was shaped by society. At the end of my studies, the internet was no longer just wires and routers but a means by which I could reshape who I was.

Today, there’s very little of my life that’s not connected with the web. I use it to get my news, my music, and the movies I watch. I use it to connect with new people, communicate with my friends, and market myself and my businesses.

For me, the internet means freedom and free expression and I’ll always be thankful to have it in my life.

Image: Kristina Alexanderson

 

Location

You can find me at Residential Settlements in Burswood.

5/170 Burswood Road
Burswood WA 6100

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If you're ready to take your business to the next level, get in touch with me now.

Send me an email using the contact form or call me direct on 0419 538 838.

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