LOL. I thot U would hold ur ground like a man and maintain ur stance. Why cant people just read the thread as it is on the the site instead of kusumbuana. Its like asking ur fb friends to copy their status updates kwa word the waku emailie time after time. get life pipo.

@Ceinz I'll try that stint, sure way to keep variants away.

Yap. You can only help someone to a certain much. Kwani wana taka Marty awapatie loan!

@Mukiri and @Ceinz, by any chance are you arsenal fans? Don't ask me why but I am certain you are..

Boss, I take it you are this generation that follow football blindly? Everything is summarized into which team one is, eh? Meet a chic, which team? Build a house, would Sir Alex like it.. xyz!

The only game I take sides is 'Who wants to be a millionaire'

Don't bring soccer here.This is not for such games.

Is your name good?

On that Friday evening, I received this call from this guy who was talking non-stop like a radio with new batteries. From the few minutes we talked with Kamau, I knew he had the gift of the gab. I deduced that he was a man of cloth. Kamau insisted that I must sell him a plot wherever I am having one. But I was curious to know why he was so sure he shall buy from me irrespective of the location as long as the price was in his range. That is when the brother told me that he was the right hand man to a pastor based somewhere off Thika road. It was the pastor who had referred him to me. In fact the pastor announced to the congregation that there are some nice dudes selling land off the bypass who had sold some plot to him. I could not remember selling any plot to a pastor, or maybe I did but he never disclosed that. The culmination of the marketing by the pastor was giving my cell phone number to the faithfuls and advising them they can talk to me if they need some honest business. To make the long story short we agreed with Kamau to meet the day after and I took him round on a viewing mission of the various properties on sale whereupon he later bought one. He is still my good friend after I realized how highly he rated me. The word of these men of cloth is taken as the gospel truth and obviously I must have made a few sales out of the marketing the pastor did on my behalf.

This was the day that I realized I was sitting on a gold mine cum time bomb depending on how I handled myself. Obviously with establishing a small name and making sales from references was key to reaching higher levels of business growth mimicking climbing a mountain slowly but surely. On the contrary, doing anything that would spoil the small good name would result in a downfall from atop the mountain like that of the rolling stone on a hill that the mzungu man advises that gathers no moss. That day it dawned on me and I communicated to my partner the potential we were sitting on and the need to maintain our principles of honesty and straight forwardness. After all we had the opportunity to cut a niche in real estate based on the said principles.
There is nothing as powerful as a spoken word. It is a double edged sword. Solomon, the wise one of the Bible in Proverbs 18:21 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. What your customers say about you and quite importantly what you also say about yourself is really powerful.

That brings me to the big question. As an individual or even as a business that you own, what are you known for? What do they say when you can’t hear them; after all that is most likely the truth about you unless they are malicious. Like that guy who has saved the number of his boss as ‘shetani’ only for the boss to discover that under unavoidable circumstances. At your work place, what stands out for you? How do you brand yourself? How would you rate yourself if you considered the points below:

1. Are you passionate about what you do? I will tell you am really passionate about my real estate business…I not only invest time and money on it, but my thoughts too. If it means retreating to Kilaguni to strategize…so be it…the cost is rather small compared to what am eyeing. Martin Luther said once something to the effect that if you are a sweeper sweep to the glory of God.

2. Do you have a reputation for keeping time for meetings and appointments? Until you have a reputation for respect for time you will not project yourself as a powerful brand.

3. Do you deliver reliable and extra ordinary service? Most of the time, the little small things that you can do leave a lasting impression on the people you interact with.

4. Someone once said this “To create a brand of yourself you must stop thinking employment/employee and begin to see yourself as an independent contractor irrespective of whether you are a cleaner, a CEO, a teacher or a middle executive” You see, when employed you are riding on someone else’s brand…

5. Powerlessness is a state of mind…Think Wangari Mathai, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King who would have coiled back with the assumption of being powerless. But deep conviction inside them translated to power and authority that made them do things that will be forever etched in history books…For sure all of us have the power to effect change in small and big ways.

6. Do you continually learn and upgrade your skill in all facets of life. I meet all the time people who are willing to be financially independent but they are not doing much about it. How will you get there if you even lack the basic knowledge of dealing with and making money? After all, it is never rocket science but simple basic proven and tested ways that work.

Work on you brand…

Next post we shall talk about customer profiling of course relating to my line of business but definitely applicable to most businesses.

Marty kindly add me in your mailing list.dunkip02@gmail.com.Thanks

Do you know your customers?

“If you want to sell to everybody, you'll most likely sell to no-one”

Simply put, you need to have a target group for your customers as opposed to attempting to sell to everyone even those who may not need your product or service. You can imagine attempting to sell a plot to a man who does not know where his next meal will come from. Of course the man would not mind owning a plot, but that would be the last thing in his mind at that point in time. The same man may afford one a year or two later.

In real estate we meet all manner of customers and with a bit of experience one can tell a serious one from a joker. Interestingly, a serious customer for a plot or house actually pushes you as the vendor to seal the deal. Consider like the purchase of a house; the purchaser takes their sweet time before a decision is made. They go through a long decision corridor and they can only do the actual purchase upon reaching the end of the decision corridor. The decision corridor may involve viewing so many properties and gathering lots of info before a final decision is made. Woe unto you the seller if you meet a client who has just joined the corridor.

My good partner Paul someday gave me a funny analogy in reference to some customers. When we were younger and chasing girls, you could meet a girl whom you like and for all intents and purposes you’d target to chase. Her strategy is to give you lots of hopes so that you continue with the chase. Obviously she is thrilled by the chase while you are eyeing something else. Soon you realize that the chase will never end coz she is good at ducking you. At some point you give up and set your target on another one. Much later and maybe due to loneliness, the first girl comes back to you and this time round she is there for your taking. Some customers will take you round and round until you give up. They may go out there and do lots of comparisons of products for a long time but by the time they show up the second time, they just buy without much ado.

When I was selling my very first plots off the eastern bypass, I met a gentleman called George. I know he is a wazua addict so he’ll most likely read this. George was the most fearful customer I ever met. He was so afraid of losing money and I was even wondering how he’ll ever buy a plot. I obviously noted so and advised him to go carry out some due diligence on the plots I was selling coz back then I had no previous sales for him to refer to. That time we were selling each plot at 300k. He must have gone round and round looking for alternatives for quite a long time. When he came back to me one year later, he was so frustrated out there to an extent that he just wanted to buy and close that matter. I sold him a plot which was less primer than the first ones and at 600k…things move that fast. Nowadays the fear in him is gone and he has done much more that you can imagine. Obviously he relates well to that analogy of the girls’ chasing. Notice how frustrating it can get if you keep meeting customers who are taking you round and round and you may end up investing a lot of time and resources on them only to realize that they were never serious.

The best customers I meet are references, what I sometimes refer to as configured customers. And there is another type I refer to as strategic customers whom I make lots of sacrifices to capture. I will talk about those in the next post. And the middle class that has a habit of overanalyzing things to their detriment.

The big lesson today is to stress the importance of understanding your customers; otherwise you could find yourself selling Johnie Walker blue label and Jack Danielles in a zone where they expect KEG. Or opening a coffee house in the interior of Murang'a and an attempt to sell Cappuccinos and Caffe Lattes of this world and them prospective customers might ask you ‘huto ni tunini?

@Marty: Great educ you are giving here.Thanks for the effort and commitment put in.Sorry to derail you a bit and ask a quick question on construction.I need some guidance on architect & structural engineer fees as well recommendations on some you've worked with, as well as who does change of user and amalgamation and what sort of fees are charged.Could it be possible to post reply to my mail at wavidani at yahoo dot com? If not just post here. Thanks and sorry for the imposition.