Major League Appreciation

I had a wonderful opportunity last week to work with groups in three of America’s best cities. Three cities that are as “major league” as you can get. I’m talking about Pittsburgh, Dallas and Denver.

These three cities have 13 Super Bowl Championships and 6 Stanley Cups between them. I just wanted to use this forum to show my appreciation to the fine people who not only brought me in to speak to their teams but also to continue to challenge those people who heard my presentations.

My week started in my hometown of Columbus before I headed east to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was scheduled to meet with two groups of associates and managers from the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage team in the Greater Pittsburgh area.

On my way over, I stopped to see a good buddy and fellow real estate instructor, John Hamilton on his family farm in Eighty Four, PA. John always has some great wisdom and captivating yarns that passed the time quickly. I appreciate the time he spent with me discussing ways to get better in my agent development and speaking careers. Hey John, please give a “shout out” to your lovely wife Ginny and her delicious homemade Black Raspberry pie.

The two groups in Pittsburgh were wonderful and very engaging. It’s always nice when people show up early and claim seats in the front row. I think both morning and afternoon sessions enjoyed learning about the many tools, tips and techniques that they have in “The Realtor’s Toolbox” and based on the great feedback I have received so far, it sounds like they are putting it into action.

Special thanks to Cheryl Stephan, John Wdowiak and CB Pittsburgh President, George Hackett for bringing me in to spend the day with your teams. Keep up the great work and leadership.

The middle of the week took me down to one of my favorite cities in the country – Dallas, Texas.

After landing at DFW and receiving the “dime store” tour of the North Dallas suburbs from my driver (thanks Dave), I arrived at the lovely Renaissance in Richardson, Texas. A relaxing afternoon led to a wonderful dinner with the leadership team of Coldwell Banker Apex and their broker/owner Lori Arnold. We enjoyed a wonderful discussion on the Greater Dallas real estate market, the challenges that they are facing and the positive outlook for 2010 they all shared for their agents and clients they work with.

Thursday was their big Mini IBC company event and saw over 300 agents start the day with a wonderful trade show featuring 30+ vendors. I was very proud to serve as the keynote speaker, delivering a presentation called “Get in the Game ~ Score Big in 2010…and Have a Ball Doing It.” After lunch, the CB Apex leadership team did a wonderful job of securing 18 high energy breakout sessions with several star panels, technology sessions and great energy by all the speakers. They even had a big give away for a sales promotion where one agent won a $5,000 bonus.

Once again, big thanks to Lori Arnold, managers Melba Frye Davis, Debbie Karalla Holland, Sarah Lee Rose, Mickey Fletcher and my good buddy and Julie Gezella. I hope your agents were as pumped up as I was afterwards from the energy in that room Thursday morning.

My week wasn’t over so after a flight from DFW to Denver, I travelled 60 miles west to Black Hawk, Colorado in anticipation of the Coldwell Banker Colorado Previews Top 100 event. A dark ride through the mountains ended at the brand new Ameristar Spa and Resort, a lovely casino/hotel in the new gaming area 45 minutes from the Mile High City. (Actually, Black Hawk is at 8043 elevation)

Friday’s presentation was titled “2010: Taking Your Business to the Next Level.” The audience was truly the “best of the best” in a very successful market, led by my good buddy and fellow Integrity Coaching student Chris Mygatt. Mygatt is the President of the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Denver and the outskirt resort areas of central Colorado.

It was an honor to speak to this group of top producers and hope that I delivered some useful tools and inspiration to maintain their success and even reach new heights. (Hard to do when you’re already a mile and a half above sea level).

A special thanks go out to CBRB Marketing Director Todd Moir for his hard work and efforts on this event.

To all the people who planned, coordinated and attended the sessions this week, I thank you for making these events special. I have just have two words for you to think about this week…