“People will forget the things you do, and people will forget the things you say. But people will never forget how you made them feel” - Maya Angelou
After some investigation, it appears that Maya Angelou may not have said this. Well, not the first time it was said anyway. There’s a whole page on the web dedicated to the origins of the quote, if you have a spare five minutes. She simply appears to be the most famous person to have done so.
Over the past week both myself and my wife have celebrated our 40th Birthdays.
Detailed plans were made, then changed and finally due the second national lockdown, cancelled altogether. Instead of being abroad or in the English countryside, we celebrated at home with our two daughters, with a small number of well-wishers arriving individually and standing at the end of the front path for a quick, socially distanced chat.
Which in many ways, was perfect. We live in a time where everyone, myself included, is after likes. I want people to like my blog, I want it to resonate with them, and for them to have a better understanding of who I am as a result of reading it. It’s my attempt to build an audience based on a shared understanding of the world, and how Real Estate Agency should be (in my opinion anyway).
There’s a really great quote by Briana Wiest about just this;
“The real question is what work are you willing to do even if nobody claps? What will be worthwhile if it goes unacknowledged? How will you feel loved by a few people if you aren’t recognised by many?”
For me the most interesting part of the quote is the last sentence. On my Birthday, and hopefully on my wife’s too, we both felt loved by a small number of people who are very important to us. It felt amazing.
Which, as is often the case, got me thinking. Wouldn’t it be incredible if as Real Estate Agents, we could make the people we interact with on a daily basis feel like this.
Whilst I’m not about to start buying my clients birthday cake, and I definitely don’t need them to buy it for me after ten months of lockdown, I do want them to feel certain things when dealing with me. There are also things that I definitely don't want them to feel. Stressed, anxious, worried, nervous or disappointed.
I am fairly certain that if I make them feel like their needs and wants are important, and that I’m also doing the work required to realise their goals, then we’ll have a successful and ongoing relationship (whether we transact or not). They’ll also be likely to recommend me to their friends, colleagues and even random acquaintances.
So yes, I’m trying to achieve something which will hopefully be recognised, acknowledged and appreciated - by people who are hoping to engage the services of someone trying to make things a little bit better.