Is Inflation A Good or Bad Thing, & Other Lies, Distortions & Half - Truths?

Economics, economic theories, and political realities often cross paths, and make many people wonder what's going on. We have offered heard about the dangers of inflation, the dangers of recession, and other similar terminology, yet most of us will hear the media, and especially the business media, one day warn of the risk of inflation, and another day cite the lower than anticipated inflation rate as something to be concerned about. There are even different sets of indexes, one that includes core items (whatever that really means) and another that measures the inflation rate including energy costs.

The only thing that most American consumers concern themselves about from day to day, is how these costs impact them. Is their cost of living going up, staying the same, or going down. I have not met anyone recently that has told me that he feels that things are costing him less. At the supermarket, manufacturers continuing their clever "game" of effectively raising prices by keeping prices the same but reducing the package size. Shouldn't pricing be considered for these cost of living indexes the way the unit pricing is required by a lot of states, that is, by showing the cost per ounce, or per serving? Most of us have observed increased costs in milk, most meats, fowl, fish, cans of soda, bottles of soda, etc. Yet, we are being told that there is no or little inflation.

Gas prices are constantly fluctuating, yet the pattern is that prices go up (even though for the past year, or two, the trend has reversed) About the only thing that has not kept pace with these increases is average wages. Many workers are being paid for fewer hours, while others have been laid off. The unemployment rate statistically is about 5%, but realistically is more than 9%. Many Americans are either under-employed or unemployed, and this has been going on for so long, that, for many, unemployment benefits are expiring. If these people's benefits run out, the statistics will show a lower unemployment rate, because the official statistics does not count people not collecting benefits. It also does not count individuals who owned small businesses, that had to go out of business, because owners of these types of businesses are generally not eligible for unemployment,

The Federal Reserve determines interest rates, keeping them low when the economy needs a boost, and then raising them, to counter inflation! However, the markets often over - react to even the hint of a change, and are economists, in fact, any better at predicting economic future, than the meteorologists are at predicting the weather? Politics, particularly Presidential politics, often factor in, yet one is rarely certain what will happen, under any scenario!

The bottom line is that statistics are misleading. There is an old saying that the difference between a recession and a depression is, that it's a recession when it happens to someone else, and a depression when it happens to you. It is time for the American public to demand that our government officials stop partisan politics, and realistically address the economy and the joblessness issues, making those the overwhelming top priorities.

The Art & Science of Selling: Proactive; Interactive; Reactive & Inactive

One of the most challenging components of developing effective sales people, is to drum into their head, that selling is not merely either an art or a science, but rather a combination of both. When someone is asked whether he is selling, or, in sales, most respond that they are in sales, perhaps because it makes them feel better, prouder, or more compassionate and empathetic! This tendency generally indicates an inactive seller, rather than one who either takes charge, participates in a discussion, or actually, professionally sells. This article will tend to brush the surface, in order to differentiate between how the art and science of selling differs, depending upon whether one is proactive, interactive, reactive, or inactive. Understand these principles and concepts apply, whether one sells a product, service or himself, so large businesses, small ones, organizations, service professionals (e.g. Real Estate Professional; physicians; dentists; etc), and in each of our day - to day lives.
 
1. Proactive: Only when one proceeds in a proactive manner, is he professionally selling. This procedure helps someone maintain control of the situation, making suggestions in such a way, that the customer or client, feels like it is his own idea. It is akin to the leader, who has a vibrant, vital vision, and understands he must get others to adopt it as their own, if it is to proceed forward successfully, Proactivity involves bringing up and asking relevant questions, with the intent of creating a meeting of the minds. Doing so properly, the other person genuinely feels a kinship, and truly gets the point, so the conclusion creates what is referred to, in selling, as a successful close (a.k.a. a deal).

2. Interactive: While it is far better to be an interactive salesperson than an inactive one, doing so creates a situation where one loses control and direction of the process, often creating a limited opening for bringing up all the necessary, pertinent, and relevant information, that might bring a sale, to fruition. In this scenario, there is give and take, but neither party is dominant, and while that might be preferable in day - to - day, interpersonal discussions and relationships, is often, far less than ideal, in selling cases.

3. Reactive: When one sells in a reactive way, he permits the other person to control the discussion, which often causes the discussion to veer either off - topic, or at least, not in the most preferred, desirable direction. Rather than controlling the direction and content, this salesperson lets his potential or actual client or customer, control these aspects, and he is left merely reacting and responding, often placing him in a disadvantageous position.

4. Inactive: This is what I call the How may I help you seller. We often witness this in telephone customer service representatives, who merely act courteously (hopefully), and are glorified (or perhaps not so glorified) order takers. They may take orders, but are not truly selling, because they make few suggestions, limit the potential larger order, rather than the more desirable up - selling, etc.

If/ when you sell, do you do so proactively, reactively, interactively, or reactively? Remember that regardless of what you do, everything actually involves selling: either selling a product, service or yourself!

Effective Sale Professionals Are Developed, Not Born!

Becoming a proficient sales professional takes a commitment to excelling at the skills necessary to maximize results. Contrary to what some people say, almost no one is a "born salesperson," and most people need to learn and then hone the necessary skills. While many claim they have the "secret formula," the most effective way to be successful in sales, is to practice proper techniques. Excelling at sales can be compared to excelling at sports - - it requires first learning the proper and best techniques to get the desired results, and then practicing. Either fortunately or unfortunately, there is no short cut.

One cannot learn how to sell merely by attending classes, reading, or observing others selling. While all of those are important in the orientation and training process, becoming good at sales requires practice and repetition. However, this becomes complicated because if an inexperienced, ill-trained, and unprepared individual attempts to sell before he is ready, often times he "blows" the opportunity with the individual he gave a less than ideal presentation to. For that reason, as well as others, it is essential to develop and use other training and practice methods and techniques.

The best way to be trained and to practice one's sales presentation is by "role playing." Role playing requires the assistance of a trained and proficient sales professional, to oversee the process, and to assure the technique being used is excellent. Just as a tennis player constantly practicing using poor form, or a golfer constantly repeating a less than ideal golf swing, or a baseball player practicing a bad swing, role playing practice is only effective if the technique used is good.

The first step in role playing is that one first assume the part of the customer or client, and that the experienced, proficient sales professional present to him, while one attempts to make it difficult for the professional. After repetition, discussion, and practice, the roles should be reversed, and the new person should now do the presenting to the seasoned individual. It is essential to realize that this is not a one- time role playing practice session, but must be repeated on an ongoing basis, initially multiple times per day, then daily, then perhaps weekly, etc. Even the most seasoned professional must role play on a regular basis, in order to assure that he has not developed habits that weakens his performance. If one thinks about it, that is why actors use writers and directors - - to guide them to their optimal performance.

The first step is to effectively learn everything necessary to sell either the product or service. That includes necessary technical information, introductions, script, listening skills, consultative selling techniques, etc. I recommend reading my Ezine Articles on these topics to assure success. Then, one must learn how to answer and overcome any possible objections. For a review of that techniques, one can review my previously published article on Ezine articles. An effective salesperson also develops the techniques and skills needed to successfully use the fall-back strategy of knowing how to recreate need and give yourself another opportunity.

After all that is learned, re-learned, practiced and re-practiced using role playing effectively, and one is confident in his abilities and techniques, then "a salesperson is born."

Why It's Important to Create A Successful BRAND?

Nearly everyone observes someone or some company using some degree or sort of branding on a regular basis. Whether it is a company logo or slogan, a color scheme or niche philosophy, it is indeed this brand that often drives something or someone to loftier heights of success or relevance. Whether one thinks in terms of a large or small company, large or small organization or not - for - profit, or for one's personal brand, in terms of his self - employed involvement (such as any professional, real estate professional, etc), branding, and a consistent message, are essential and paramount! In thinking about a BRAND, it is important to specifically address certain details or concepts:

A. It must begin with genuine beliefs that align with providing some benefits that others will feel important and will distinguish you from others ( aka your competition); 
B. Whatever the product or service being provided, it must be relevant to others and to society; 
C. It must be indicative of, and in accordance with your attitude and the actions that you take; 
D. There must be some need that is identified and fulfilled and you must create the niche that you wish to be identified with; 
E. You can't merely rely upon empty rhetoric, but rather must deliver on your promises.

1. Before one begins the branding process, he should first think thoroughly about and consider what his beliefs are, and how those beliefs might align with what others consider to be benefits and/ or beneficial. No matter how pure and great your beliefs may be, unless you can motivate others by showing them how these beliefs benefit them and others, your brand won't take off the way you might desire.

2. What about what you stand for is relevant enough to make others care or be inspired? Why will what you do or make motivate them to follow and believe in you, or even more importantly, identify with you?

3. It won't be your brand if it does not reflect your attitude! However, unless you use that attitude to direct you towards specific actions that will indicate what you stand for, no one else will fully appreciate that attitude. Whether this is of personal, professional, business or corporate branding purposes, it means one must focus on leading by example, because actions nearly always speak far more loudly and decisively than mere words.

4. Have you considered what needs you are addressing and why these are important to both you and others? Perhaps even more importantly, have you considered what niche you wish to address and serve, and how you may be distinguishable from others? Do not do this in generalities or banalities, but rather do so in detail and distinction!

5. Will you actually deliver on your promises? What distinguishes an effective brand from a lackluster one is your degree of dedication in order to actually deliver on what you state are your goals and aspirations.

Branding is an essential part of becoming more successful. However, only when this process is done, with consistency, impact, and thoroughly, will it be truly meaningful.

Data May Be Valuable or Worthless - Getter Better At Using It Successfully!

Every day, we witness numerous submissions of data, statistics, etc., that some organization or other, interprets in some way. We often see different polling organizations doing polls that they claim to be statistically valid that are widely different. One of the glaring examples of that is in political polling, where one polling organization sometimes distributes polling numbers that widely differ from another, while both polls claim to be accurate within a statistical variation, how could they both possibly be when they show far different results.

We often witness surveys that indicate certain types of results. However, these results are often skewed because of the wording, or timing of the specific questions. How many times have you, or anyone you know, been polled, so one might ask, who exactly are these surveys polling?

Financial and stock market analysts often present numbers in a rather confusing manner. Even if a particular company met or exceeded the companies stated objectives, we often hear analysts state that the numbers were below or worse than many analysts expected. Wouldn't that make one suspect that perhaps many of these analysts do not fully understand the situation?

When there are fewer individuals applying for first time unemployment benefits, is that a good or a bad think from an economic and financial standpoint. Aren't there a number of factor that might be involved? How does seasonal employment impact these numbers? For example, when many Americans were hired for temporary Census employment, the employment rate improved. When those jobs ended, therefore, wouldn't and shouldn't it have been suspected that the unemployment rate would go up again?

If a company had a bad previous financial period, and the numbers are not as bad in the following period, it can be reported that a company was still having difficulties, or it can be "spun" to indicate that there was improvement.

When the Obama administration states that a certain number of jobs were created because of his economic stimulus programs, how does anyone know how many would have been created anyway? If the economy is indeed cyclical, which historically it has always been, won't there always be modifications and improvements?

Many organizations use surveys to find out feedback from its members, or attendees at one of its programs or events. However, aren't the people filling out the surveys probably a somewhat skewed audience, firstly because they were one of the attendees, and secondly because they agreed to fill out the survey. Of course, there is also the difficulty in knowing how honest and accurate the information was.

Many seminars ask attendees to evaluate the program. While the intent of this might be fine, isn't it a fact that the reason most people attend a seminar is because they do not have a thorough understanding of the topic? If that is the case, how would that attendee know if what he learned was important and accurate, or trivial and inaccurate? It has been indicated that many people complete surveys based on either emotion, entertainment or the need to please?

Several years ago, Michael J. Fox starred on a television program, "Spin City," which was about how politicians "spin" the facts for maximum impact. While this is true in politics, it is also true in almost every other type of data interpretation.

I always recommend that someone study the raw data carefully, understanding how it was gathered, rather than relying upon a so-called expert's analysis. Data can be valuable or worthless, or somewhere in-between, dependent upon how and by whom it was gathered,

How To Know, When to Buy, or Sell Real Estate?

How does one really know when to buy or sell real estate? There are many factors involved, and without a crystal ball, you can't be 100% certain! Every day, the media publicizes a lot of confusing information, and it is very difficult for the average person to know what it really means.

We all know that from the middle of 2008 (and before in some areas) through 2014 (in many places), in most areas of the country, housing prices fell, in most areas by more than 20% since the height of the market. However, many people tend to forget that the real estate market has experienced these down cycles before, albeit usually not as severely. What is unique about this "cycle"is that the dramatic drop in prices has been accompanied by record low mortgage rates! While one would logically think that would create a buyers market, the combination of high joblessness and under-employment, combined with the lower stock prices (through 2014), and extraordinarily tight credit market (making mortgage loans much more difficult to get), has caused buyers market pricing conditions but neutral market market conditions. The number of buyers has been inconsistent - especially the number of qualified buyers. Buyers realize that they do not have to act with the urgency that they did when the market was higher because there are very few bidding wars out there. It took sellers quite a while to realize, or at least accept the fact that they were not going to be able to sell their houses at the pricing when the market peaked, and thus many homes either did not sell, or sold only after numerous price adjustment (PC way of saying "price drops"), and the number of days a listed home remained on the market increased dramatically.

Qualified buyers - - those with good credit (credit scores of 700+), at least 20% to put down, and sufficient demonstrable income - - got some "great deals." Lending institutions received billions to "bail" them out, but very little of this money went to loosening credit. Most of that money simply made the banks more profitable. The typical American's credit score was "arbitrarily" lowered because of how it is calculated, and the impact that most credit card companies lower the vast majority of individuals credit limits. This caused the credit ratios to change, and thus credit scores to be lowered. This, in turn, tightened the mortgage market even further, because individuals with seemingly good credit, saw their credit scores lowered because of bank policy that had nothing to do with them specifically. The continuous of this "circle of circumstances" was that this policy created even fewer qualified buyers, thus causing additional havoc in the housing market.

The fear of the recession and the joblessness rate created many potential buyers to shy away from house hunting. The Federal first-time housing credit, combined with the extension and enhancement of the program to cover many that have held homes for more than five years, helped bring out some additional buyers. Since this program expired in mid-2010, there was, temporarily, an added incentive to buy a home. Since 2014, in many regions, the real estate market has once again picked up, raising prices not only to previous levels, but often to higher ones. However, mortgage rates remain low, which means a qualified buyer can afford far more house for his dollars, because there is a significant savings when interest rates are low.

Therefore, with record low mortgage rates, low home prices, and a slight easing of the mortgage loan availability, there was a limited window for qualified home buyers to take advantage of a great circumstance, in the first half of 2010. For the next three years or so, the market slightly and slowly improved, and theb began to heat up slightly in 2014, and significantly, this year. In fact, this summer, it has become a seller's market, because there is limited inventory.  Obviously, as the economy increases, and mortgage rates rise, and markets stabilize, the cost of home ownership will increase. A serious home buyer should take advantage of these conditions, before we return to less favorable buying conditions. Remember that the real estate market is cyclical, and there may not be a better time to buy a house for many years than there is today! 

You should also understand that real estate, in most cases, is best held for a longer period, rather than traded as a shorter term commodity. Consider your housing expenses, as well as the investment ones, unless you are buying and selling real estate, as an investor!

Strategic Planning: A 6 Step Process

Many leadership trainers have begun to stress the importance for organizations to create a way to institute a strategic plan, and having the ability to measure progress and performance (often referred to as metrics). There is no doubt that there is a need for this form of comprehensive, in-depth evaluation and understanding, done with the objective of developing the best strategy to help the group achieve to its optimal level, but, all too often, organizations do little more than spend lots of time, money and energy, and discuss things, but it often degenerates to little more than a moan and groan, or blame and complain, exercise, and little significant progress occurs. Having witnessed this lack of positive plans or programs created, far too often, during my over three decades of identifying, qualifying, developing, training and consulting, to over a thousand individuals in positions of leadership, as well as facilitated Board and organizational strategic planning sessions, I feel a simplified process, with checks and balances, and quality reviews, is a needed understanding. Here is a 6-step process to improve the results of strategic plans. This is not only relevant to organizations, but is a process that every business (large or small), every individual, and every self - employed person (such as a Real Estate Professional, or other professional), should consider carefully. This article will discuss it from the perspective of organizations, but is equally applicable to these other circumstances.

1. Historic/heritage review and consideration: This must not be done as a one-plan-fits-all, but rather must be based on the specific heritage, mission, and vision of the specific group. Begin by understanding the history, and the perceptions of existing members. Understand why the group may, or may not be, considered as relevant, as it once was. Review opportunities taken, as well as missed, and clearly see the ramifications of each action. While great organizations evolve, they know who and why they are, and tweak, as necessary, but focus on their vital vision and mission.

2. Objective analysis-strengths and weaknesses, and ramifications: Every group has both strengths, as well as weaknesses. Part of quality planning must commence with knowing where the group presently is, and how to best utilize the strongest areas, while addressing and improving upon areas of weakness. Whether action is taken, either timely or not, or even if it is avoided (procrastination, or burying one's head in the sand), there are always significant ramifications.

3. Vision; mission; needs; priorities; relevance; sustainability: Embrace the vision and mission, or tweak it, and evolve it! Focus on the direction the group needs to go in! Only when priorities are focused upon, will any group be considered relevant, and without relevance, no organization will sustain.

4. Gather input - Stakeholders concerns, wants, needs, priorities, and expectations: Never assume you know what your stakeholders seek, nor that a small group's views should shape the strategy! Proceed to do broad interviewing and discussions, using several methods, including mail, face-to-face, email, surveys, etc.

5. Develop immediate, intermediate, and longer-term plans: Know and address current needs in a timely, comprehensive manner, because if you don't fix what's wrong now, it will affect the future adversely! However, avoid the myopic approach, and create a plan that carefully considers present, and future needs.

6. Implement plan: The greatest plan, unless implemented, goes nowhere and achieves little positive momentum! Carefully go through the process, but proceed forward with an action plan, prepared with the ability to tweak, based on prepared-for contingencies.

Organizations need ongoing strategic planning, if they wish to remain relevant and sustainable. Individuals need to undergo a similar process, if they are to become the best they can be! However, only when this goes beyond the rhetoric-stage, and advances to quality action, are desirable results achieved.