The Seven Levels of Communication book notes

The Seven Levels of communication tells a store of a Real Estate agent named Rick Masters, who is suffering from a down economy when he meets a mortgage professional who has built a successful business without advertising or personal promotion.  Skeptical Masters agrees to accompany her to a conference to learn more about her mysterious methods.  Masters soon learns the that the rewards for implementing these strategies are far greater than he have ever imagined.  In seeking success, he finds significance. This book is a both building a business that not only feeds your family, but also feeds your soul.

The author Michael J. Maher is North America’s most referred Real Estate Professional and founder of the Generosity Generation, he is dedicated to helping sales people earn a better living.  He rocketed to the top of the profession by earning 1 million dollars in his third year of full-time real estate.

This book tells the story and gives you insight and nuggets along the way.  These are my highlighted notes from the book.

• Don’t wait for a life changing event to change your life.
• When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters–one represents danger and the other represents opportunity–John F. Kennedy.
• Generosity Generation:  Give more than you get.
• If your buyers aren’t buying and your sellers aren’t motivated to sell, perhaps it is your sense of urgency that is lacking and not theirs.
• The National Association of Realtors estimates that the average person moves one out of every five years. So that means one fifth or twenty percent of your database moves every year, which would be 30 people if you have a base of 150 people in your database.
• Write hand written notes to everyone for everything.
• If you are a realtor, when you sell someone a new house.  Throw a house-warming party for them.  It’s a great opportunity for you to get in front of more people.
• L.I.F.E:  Learn, Implement, Fail, Evaluate.

7 levels of communication:

• 1 on 1 meetings (this is the top of the pyramid) (influential zone)
• Events and Seminars (influential zone)
• Phone calls (influential zone)
• Handwritten notes (influential zone)
• Electronic Communication (informational zone)
• Direct Mail (informational zone)
• Advertising. (informational zone)

• When your why is strong enough, the how takes care of itself.
• To get fifty referrals you will have to give out 100 referrals.
• Write your blessings down every morning.
• F.R.O.G: Use this acronym to carry on a conversation.  Ask about a person’s Family, Recreation, Occupation, and Goals.
• Be strategic in your meeting times.  Stack them together and make sure each person meets the other person. EX:  Schedule an 11:30 am, 1 pm, and a 2 pm.  Be sure your 1 pm meets your 11:30 am meeting.  Your 2 pm meeting meets your 1 pm.  This is called the networking STACK.
• The DISC profile is an assessment that determines a persons behavioral styles.  Everybody has some of each, but one of them is typically more dominant than others. The four behavioral styles spell the acronym DISC.
• D stands for dominance. D’s are straight to the point.  They tend to be driven, fast paced, impatient, efficient and brutally honest. They aren’t into long explanations–they want the bottom line.
• I stands for Influence and I’s love socializing.  They are often outgoing, friendly, emotional, and energetic.  They;re the life of the party.
• S stands for Steadiness.  An S is steady and dependable.  S’s nurture.  They live to serve and please.
• C is for Compliance. C’s are perfectionists who expect everyone to comply with the rules. They crave order and process.
• The DISCovery:  Care like everyone’s an S., Smile like everyone’s an I, Prepare like everyone’s a C, and sell like everyone’s a D.
• End all meetings with people, especially when networking.  With these two questions:  How can I help you and what can I do for you.
• If you are a sales person and you are hesitating to call, it’s because you’re thinking about yourself.  If you’re thinking about helping the people you’re calling and fouling on their needs, its easy to pick up the phone. 
• The person who talks the most dominates the conversation, but the person who asks the most questions control the conversation.
• Rank your network:  A+ are ambassadors.  These are people who have big network as well and they are outgoing enough to self for you.  They’re like your unpaid sales staff.
• Emails are for you to inform, confirm, or to get people on the phone.  Don’t sell, or try to close deals via email.
• Focus on people.  When you take care of the people, the numbers will take care of themselves.

• 1st and 10.  First thing upon arriving at the office make ten phone calls.

This book was really designed for people in Real Estate and the guy in the story is a Real Estate agent. However after reading it, I pulled several key insights that can apply to any business.

To your success and your future.