Are you getting the most out of conferences & training events?

Illustration: Oscar Ramos Orozco

With conference season in full swing, and of course ARPM 2014 (Australasian Residential Property Management Conference) just around the corner it is important to make sure that the time spent away from the office is both productive and effective. If you’re going to spend money to sacrifice a significant portion of valuable time that could be spent taking action, then we’d better make it worthwhile!

I’m a huge believer of taking time out to work ON the business instead of IN the business – but we get so busy keeping up day to day that we often forget to put time aside to develop and improve our service, systems and ourselves - time purely committed to getting better at what we do and how we do it.

So with this committed time, it’s important to me to be as organised as possible leading into the conference or training event so you can focus, actively listen and take in as much as possible; as well as ensuring that you walk away with tangible outcomes, projects to action and new ideas to implement.

Of course post-conference, we want to feel that we have got value for our money and time spent. So how do you measure the value of a conference? Is it the number of new ideas written down? Is it the number of business cards collected? Old relationships rekindled? Time spent brainstorming with your team? Are you just relieved to sit still and listen to someone else for a change?

The defining points of value may be different for everyone but to assist you in getting the most out of your next property management conference or training event I have a great handy document of the “Top 10 Tips to get the most out of Conferences and Training Events” – simply click here and we’ll shoot it over!

Are you switched on?

Are you switched on?

by Hermione Gardiner

Our team was switched on this week along with 3000 of Australia’s best agents at AREC 2014. Inspirational speakers from around the world graced the stage with big concepts motivating us to ‘Switch On’, ‘Own it’, ‘Cut to the Chase’, ‘Overcome fears’, ‘ Improve Productivity’, ‘Get Passionate’ and  ‘Get Accountable’. Despite being a sales conference, we found these concepts completely relevant to our property management world where “complacency can kill” (as one speaker aptly described).  

Within the new business space (like sales), we have to be able to switch on and quickly demonstrate our passion and enthusiasm. If we can show the client we are excited about their business we will be better placed to build the relationship and stand out from the competition.

There are always going to be those days when we aren’t feeling so enthusiastic, and we can’t all go to a conference and get switched on every weekend.  So how can we “Switch On” daily and create an energetic experience for every client?  How do we quickly get into that headspace?

One of the conference speakers, Chip Eichelberger, helped us to consider what actions we are taking to bring that desired energy – what are we doing to “switch on and own it”. His simple physical techniques had 3000 people on their feet, energised and fist pumping the air and cheering “YES!” before 10am! Everyone could feel the energy in the room.

So how do you get yourself on your feet and cheering before 10am? How do you get into a passionate and enthusiastic head space? What do you do to fire up ahead of your listing presentation? Are you listening to ‘Eye of the Tiger’ in your car? Are you visualising the smile on your face as you leave a successful meeting? Are you fist pumping the air with a big “YES” to get yourself energised and excited?

It’s important to know your own “ON” switch so that you can walk into every listing presentation fired up and ready to go. If you can master that attitude and energy, we’ll help out with the rest.  

 What’s your “ON” Switch?

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real TV where you can watch New Business Bootcamp 9 - Listing Presentations part 2