Jim Finch knows real estate!

September 5th, 2008
As a newer member of Capital’s management team, and contributor to our recently expanded “Blog”, I wanted to take this opportunity to briefly introduce myself. Presumably I’m doing this so that readers can quickly judge my many professional qualifications to blog – then I realized that one doesn’t need any qualifications to blog. However, I suspect that its greater usefulness is for you to determine if we have any common interests that might cause you to return after reading my blog post.

In any case, here goes.

 

My expertise would generally be described as being in “real estate”. Is that broad enough for you? I am a “generalist” as opposed to a “specialist” in that my real estate background includes time in various related fields.  These include: architecture, city planning, public administration, residential and commercial real estate brokerage and corporate relocation. I have worked in the public and private sectors, been an employee, employer, business owner, agent, broker and consultant.

I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up!

Although obviously quite diverse, there has been one common thread to all of this and that is “real estate”, in one form or another, from one perspective or another.   I always seems to come back to “real estate”.  As might be expected from such a significant number of differing involvements, I have been at this for a long, long time. As such, not only do I have the advantage of great wisdom acquired from old age (?), but a perspective formed over considerable time.  Hopefully, this gives me the opportunity to provide you with interesting, as well as valuable thoughts and insights. With that in mind, I will make considerable effort to make my posts interesting and valuable, and I would appreciate hearing from you, either way.
Given the current state of the real estate market, I envision a few initial blogs covering some of the basics about selling a home, including how to put your home in marketable condition; selecting and working with the best real estate company and agent; attracting potential buyer interest, etc. This  may sound too basic to be interesting, but the reality is that many of the difficulties that impact a corporate relocation program can be minimized if real estate matters are handled more professionally and objectively.


Let me hear from you with your thoughts and interests: jfinch@caprelo.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Home Sale Programs: What’s right for your company?

August 28th, 2008
In today’s challenging real estate market, more companies are questioning whether the homesale portion of their relocation program is meeting the needs of their transferring employees

Firms that primarily utilize an appraised value program (AVO)  are inundated with upset and even angry employees complaining about the “low” appraised values. On top of that, CFO’s of the same companies are finding it harder to approve massive loss on sale amounts on inventory homes. Is a switch to a Buyer Value Option (BVO) program the right move at this time?

Concurrently, firms that rely on the tried and true BVO program have transferees tied up in the marketing of homes for extended periods of time as they search for that ever elusive market value that meets his or her needs. Will shifting to an AVO program, giving the employee a guaranteed out, be the panacea that each party is searching for?

The answer to both questions is a resounding NO. Hopefully, when policy makers chose their home sale program, they took careful consideration of the fairness of the benefit and how it fits into their corporate culture and overall strategic objectives. Most have done thorough benchmark studies to remain competitive in their respective industries. A knee jerk reaction during times of uncertainty in the market will not result in happier employees, cost efficiencies, or differentiate you in the marketplace. Stick with what works for and fits into your company’s plans for the long term.

In the meantime, look to “tweak” your policy without changing the intent. Investigate more loss on sale programs or offer mortgage subsidy programs to enhance buying power in the new location. Grant exceptions for temporary housing and household goods storage as marketing times increase. Offer buyer or broker incentives, even in BVO programs, to set the properties apart form the competition and move them quickly.

Keep the main facets of your policy intact while offering minor adjustments for the marketplace fluctuations. We know the real estate market will eventually turn upward again and your current policy will be right where it needs to be without changing a thing.

The market is more complex that it’s ever been – on both the real estate side and the talent side.  However, don’t overreact – don’t even “react”.  Complexity brings with it great opportunity to transform your challenges into long-term, sustainable advantages.  That’s what we do every day at Capital.  If you’d like to get some ideas to navigate these challenges – just send me an email, I’d be glad to help.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A day in the life…

August 15th, 2008
Managing a relocation program can be quite hectic.  I thought of this the other day when I was listening to U2, one of my favorites bands, covering The Beatles famous song – Helter Skelter.  I realized that if we’re not careful, our lives – and that of our clients – an emulate the song.As I began writing the first of what I expect to be many posts, I was thinking about how I could best engage with you.  I decided to focus my next few postings to reveal the typical day for those of us engaged in employee mobility to see if we can learn a bit about each other and apply the leanings to our situation.

I’m going to use The Low Stress Relocation Process™, Capital’s unique process for managing relocation as the prism.  So, let’s start with one of my days from last week – Thursday.

Step One:  The Relocation, Recruitment and Retention Review.

It probably won’t surprise you that we focus on relocation, recruitment and retention of our own staff,.  A delightful part of my day involved approving the promotion of a Capital employee  and discussing his future development with his leadership team .  You likely wouldn’t trust us with your employees if we can’t ‘get it right’ with our own!

Step Two:  The Policy Developer

Part of my day was spent reviewing the relocation program for a prospective client.  We created a spread sheet comparing their program against “best practices”, including recommendations.  The results – $112,000 in annual savings.  Now that deserves a WOW!!!

Step Three:  The Productivity Multiplier

A new technology client is in the final stages of implementing their new program.  Part of Thursday was spent finalizing a Master Service Agreement (contract) with specific Service Level Agreements important to both Capital and the client.  We are now ready to begin assisting their transferring employees.  

Step Four:  Low Stress Logistics

All too often, I spend time discussing strategies with clients on today’s abysmal real estate market.  Today was no exception.  The challenge was an executive relocating for a second time in  less than a year.  She still owns two properties from these prior moves, and the client needs a solution that will fall outside their current policy.  We find one and begin executing the strategy.

Step Five:  Knowledge and Wisdom Capture

You may know that this part of our process with our clients involves reporting.  Thursday, a Capital ‘key’ supplier met with us for the annual review.  We had a lively discussion on process, reporting and business results.  We agreed to several refinements and additions to the reporting package so that we both come away with a clearer understanding of the real results. In addition,  the supplier provided an excellent training session for our team members.  Capital does this exercise with our suppliers – our clients do it with us.
¦lt;br /> Step Six:  The Results Refinement Process

My day started here.  A colleague and I met with representatives of a long term client in the morning for two hours to review the results or their program.  We participated in a group setting of brainstorming yet another real estate challenge relating to a new employee is having in their old location by personally interviewing the employee.  The meeting introduced new services that will save the client $75,000 a year through policy changes, and address the needs of the individual transferee and his family.

Whew – it was a busy day.  I did all the things I love to do.   Interaction with clients, customers, suppliers and our own employees in positive, solution oriented ways.  I hope you enjoyed this view into my work life.   Look for future posts about other Capital employees who play important roles in the providing a low stress experience to our clients relocating employees.

 

George Herriage

gherriage@caprelo.com


Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Execute your plan: Use I.D.E.A.

August 9th, 2008
Ever had a great idea to improve your business but it didn’t go anywhere because it wasn’t understood as well as it needed to be? Imagine the thousands of great ideas that get nowhere every day, every week, every year. Now, resolve yourself to commit to an effective communication plan so your ideas noticed, understood and implemented!We deal with this issue everyday at Capital Relocation. We regularly need to communicate very complicated information to multiple constituencies. Our job is to manage that communication in an easy, low-stress manner that ultimately gets implemented through multiple levels of our client’s company. How do we present complex data analysis to our clients in a clear, meaningful and actionable way?

We commit, as on organization, to understand that the reason great ideas go unnoticed is:1. We don’t get the attention of the decision maker,
2. We haven’t done our homework, or
3. We are afraid of being rejected.

Here is an easy I.D.E.A to use to get you through the bureaucratic mazes and help your organization implement good ideas.

Introduce your idea

 

Focus, focus, focus! Don’t begin with something generic, “This idea will make things better.” Start with something tangible and meaningful to the organization., like: “This idea is estimated to decrease our operational costs by $150K per year,” or “…projected to increase employee satisfaction by 15%”.


Demonstrate how the new idea would work

 

Go visual! While a 10-page description might be appealing to some, humans are visual creatures (hence the wisdom that a picture tells 1,000 words). A better approach is to provide a graphical representation such as a flowchart, process map or even a scale model. Make it appealing and easy to understand.


Explain why the idea is an improvement over current practice

 

Provide copies of your analyses so that everyone can see that you have thoroughly examined the current process/practice. Stay focused on the positive attributes of the improvement rather than honing in on criticizing the current process/practice.


Attend to criticism and be prepared to respond to questions

 

Prepare. Have a respected colleague review your information and identify enhancements that can be made for content and clarity, and key areas where questions might arise. During the time you are presenting the idea, don’t assume that any criticism or questions that you receive are attacks on you personally. Rather, take such criticisms/questions as a sign that the decision makers are engaged and listening to what you are saying! Document the issues that surface so that you can be sure to follow-up and address them specifically with the individual that raised them.


It’s time to get noticed! By using the tool above you can more effectively introduce, communicate and ultimately implement your ideas.

Terry Gothard

tgothard@caprelo.com

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Presenting Customer Service Results

July 31st, 2008

I’ve been thinking about “customer service,” since our department at Capital is responsible for presenting results from our surveys to a variety of audiences.  ‘Customer service’ (also known as Client Service), as defined by Wikipedia:  “The provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.”


We’ve learned a lot in the past few months.  For instance: ¦lt;br />

  • The visual display of the results varies depending on the audience
  • When detail is stripped, the results lose some credibility
  • “Too much information (TMI)” can bore the most introspective audience

One of our former challenges was providing customer service results to our prospective clients with minimal understanding of their strategic initiatives, productivity goals, and cost management challenges. In responding to questions related to transferee service, for example, without specificity in the question, we were faced with difficulty in selecting not only on the content of our response, but on the best way to present it so that it provided an accurate snapshot of ’service’. We overcame that challenge by adapting the “Low Stress Relocation Process” into our interactions with prospects.  What a difference!  We now respond with the right visual display and the right amount of detail.


I’m often reminded of one of the best definitions of customer service that I’ve seen:  I want what I want, when I want it.  Not too much, not too little – just right.  While it’s certainly difficult to receive that type of service, the key to getting it (or as close as you can) is to ask the right questions before looking for the answers.  We have a philosophy at Capital that says the value of a good question far outweighs the value of a good answer.


I love the saying “if the pain of change becomes worse than the pain of staying the same, then you’ll change.”  If ‘customer service’ is in any way painful for your organization, or your results are simply focusing on the “during” and the “after” of the purchase, take a look at what’s happening BEFORE you make the purchase.  If you want some really good questions to be asking of yourself, give us a call or send me an email @ tbianchi@caprelo.com. 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Newer Entries »