The Best Thing 'House of Cards' Taught Me About Sales

In the most recent season of the Netflix original series “House of Cards,” the actor Kevin Spacey plays the President of the United States, Frank Underwood. As ruthless as he is cunning, there are several important takeaways from his portrayal. Several authors, critics, and journalists have already pointed out some of Frank’s key traits ranging from leadership, relationships, and power. However, I believe there is still one more lesson to learn from a vital scene in that program that many people overlook. That scene can hold the key to success for anyone in the sales industry or looking to start a business.

In the scene, Frank Underwood reads a review of a video game written by the prominent author Thomas Yates (played by actor Paul Sparks.) Frank had played this video game in an earlier scene as a way to blow off steam, as Frank had often done in the past. Mr. Underwood is so enthralled with this video game not because it is addicting but because of the magnificent review given by Thomas Yates. If Mr. Yates’ review of a simple video game could convince the most powerful man in the world to play it, then Thomas Yates must undoubtedly be a talented author.

In this moment, businessmen and women should glean an undervalued sales lesson. Thomas Yates wrote a simple review of a video game – a far cry from his influential nonfiction work – and unknowingly turned it into a way to create a relationship with the President of the United States. Similarly for sales professionals, the best way to create true and lasting business is to do your best work on every one of your projects, especially the projects when people are not expecting a lot out of you; or the projects people don’t pay attention to; or the projects when you think no one is looking.

Thomas Yates did not write this video game review to score a book deal with the President of the United States. Thomas Yates wrote a video game review because he was tasked with the chore from his supervisor, and as a respected and insightful author he gave the best possible effort he could give. Even though he thought no one influential would ever read it, his name was attached to his work. As a business owner, the work you do will forever be attached to your name.

Imagine all the times when you only gave a half-hearted attempt at completing a task. Or imagine all of the times when you only did just enough to get by because you thought no one would ever take you seriously. Or imagine all of the times you simply rubbed stamped mediocre work. Now, I want you to imagine replacing all of those half-hearted and mediocre instances with your best possible effort, focusing all of your energy on producing your best work on that particular project. It does not matter if you know – or you think you know – no one will ever pay attention to it. 

Always give everything you do for your business your absolute best effort. In the beginning of your sales career or in the early stages of starting your business, your actions will speak significantly louder than your words. Why not make sure that your efforts are the best they could possibly be? While you may think no one is looking at your work, someone will undoubtedly come along and review, either publicly or privately, your work. Why not make sure all of your work is the best it can be?

If Frank Underwood, the ruthless and cunning President of the United States, can be influenced enough by the work of a video game review, imagine what your future clients are thinking of you by the work you are doing right now.

Adding Lanes to the Highway of Your Career

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket." "Make sure you diversify your savings." "Hedge your bets." "Minimize your risk and exposure." Sayings like these are all excellent mantras to live by when you think about ways to invest and save your money. But what about when you make your money?

Imagine your career trajectory as an interstate highway with one lane. That one lane is the one job that you have now. You do one thing and you get paid one way to do one thing. For most American employees, this is standard operating procedure.
But what happens when there's an accident on that one lane highway? The road completely shuts down because people cannot pass that accident. The same thing will happen to you if you lose your one source of income. Your life will essentially come to a halt if you are not prepared to deal with a loss of income from your one job.
Now imagine your career trajectory is a two lane highway. Each lane of the highway represents a different source of income. (For me, these two lanes are real estate sales and construction services.) When an accident happens in one lane, I can still manage to get by in life - albeit slower than normal - and move pass the accident. This allows me to still make a living even though one source of income has been reduced or lost. On top of protecting yourself in the event of an accident, when the road is clear and open, you can drive a little faster than you could drive on that one lane highway. Essentially, a two lane career trajectory offers more opportunities in a shorter amount of time.
Let's take this another step forward. Imagine a three lane interstate highway. Speeds on this highway can reach some of the fastest in the country. So too will your career advance if you learn to add more lanes to the highway of your career. (For me, these three lanes include real estate sales, construction services, and property management.) When an accident happens in one of these lanes - i.e. a loss or decrease in income - I can easily get by with little inconvenience because I am not relying on only one source of income.
An obstacle that drivers often come across on the highway is construction. Road builders and civil engineers continuously add lanes to overcrowded highways to make traffic flow more smoothly in the future. While there certainly are temporary headaches to contend with, ultimately the project has benefits for everyone involved. This is how you should look at the training and education you give yourself in your career. While taking some time away from work or family to focus on getting an advanced degree or pursuing additional licensing may result in a temporary roadblock, the long term benefits will certainly outweigh the short term inconvenience. Focus more of your attention on highway construction now to benefit more in the future.
A note of caution for everyone trying to add lanes to their highway. Make sure the lanes are all going the same direction. Drivers don't like it when engineers are resurfacing roads because each lane is different than the other during the resurfacing process. Don't look to be an events manager, a car salesman, and a biotech engineer. Clients and customers will be confused by what services you really focus on. Stick to careers that have a similar or complimentary trajectory so your customers will understand the added value you can provide.

Finally, when building your super highway that is your career, you will notice an interesting phenomenon. As you add more and more complimentary lanes to your highway, more lanes will be built and added for you. The more and better projects you work on, the more people will want to be involved with the work that you do. This will ultimately allow you to make more connections and add even more lanes to your highway.

While the saying, "don't put all your eggs in one basket" is a mantra that should be highly regarded in the world of finances and savings, it is time you start applying that ideal to the process of making money in the first place.

The Best "Green" Homes in Tampa Bay

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, millions of people around the country celebrate by wearing the color green. Today, the word green has many different meanings from color, to currency, and now to environmentally conscious practices. In that same respect, sustainable design and building has come a long way in the last two decades, especially in the residential real estate and construction industries. To honor these new "green" leaders, here is a look at some of the best sustainably designed and built homes in Tampa Bay.



A note about the rankings: the homes on this list have been compiled by examining the HERS index. All the homes on this list have a HERS - Home Energy Rating System - score of under 70. A typically resale home in the United States will have a HERS score of 130, while a new construction home will have an approximate HERS score of 100. Therefore, homes with scores at 70 or below go at least 30% above and beyond what is required for sustainable construction.

#5 4213 Callista Ln., Sarasota
HERS Score: 68
$349,900



This two bedroom, two bathroom home with a den boasts nearly 2,000 square feet of interior living space, with nearly another 1,000 square feet of exterior living space. This home also qualified as an Energy Star Home and a Silver rating by the Certified Florida Green Home Council. Special features in this home include low-maintenance James Hardie Fiber Cement siding/fascia/soffits, PGT impact rated hurricane rated low-E insulated windows throughout.

#4 21219 Quiet Haven Ct., Land O' Lakes
HERS Score: 63
$419,000



This four bedroom, four bathroom home with a bonus room, theatre room, and a three car garage on nearly 3,300 square feet of heated living space is a Southern Crafted new construction masterpiece. This home achieved a Certified rating with the Certified Florida Green Home Council all while maintaining the creature comforts the best of modern construction can buy.

#3 10832 Charmood Dr., Riverview
HERS Score: 61
$464,990



This five bedroom, four and a half bathroom split-garage home with two master suites boasts over 4,300 square feet of interior living space, with nearly another 1,000 square feet of outside entertaining space. With all of the latest sustainable and green features available in new construction homes, this property has the best of luxurious design and environmentally friendly features.

#2 14204 Homosassa St., Tampa
HERS Score: 59
$531,517



This four bedroom, four and a half bathroom, two-story new construction home gives the best of energy efficiency while being close to the heart of the city. Every new construction home in this community showcases the builder's commitment to providing incredibly energy-efficient homes that let you spend your money on better things than utility bills. Known for their energy efficient features, our homes help you live a healthier and quieter lifestyle while saving you thousands of dollars on your utility bills.

#1 1414 S. Osprey Ave., Sarasota
HERS Score: 56
$950,000



This three bedroom, three and a half bedroom luxury home features 2,300 square feet of perfectly executed design in a sustainable home. With a energy efficient rating nearly double that of current new construction homes, this home allows you the benefits of luxury living without spoiling the natural environment around the property. This home achieved the highest rating, Platinum Certification, from the Florida Green Building Coalition while including an Energy Star package.

The White Spaces in Your Organization Chart

Every employee currently working for a company - whether it's a small, medium or large business - has a job to do. Those duties and tasks were most likely laid out during the interview process, and most of those specific functions have stayed the same throughout that employee's tenure with the company. Then, to take it a step further, those that hired that employee also have specific jobs to do and they have specific people to report to. Moving up the ladder of responsibility, each supervisor also has specific jobs and functions they must perform and specific people they must in turn report to as well.

To help employees better understand their roles and remind them who they should report to, companies develop organizational charts. Within any company that has more than one employee - be it a three employee sales office, a 30 employee retail store, or a 3,000 employee manufacturer and distributor, there will be an organizational structure to define the roles and responsibilities of each employee from the CEO to the receptionists. (See the title picture for an example of an organization chart.)

But, one thing you may not notice in an organization chart is all of the white space in between and around each person. Employees and managers typically function and perform well when their roles and their duties are defined and when they know who is their superior. But what happens when those roles and duties are not defined? What happens when a task may require two, three, or four different people or departments to have a hand in the decision making process? What happens when there is no clearly defined boss?

Here are three crucial elements to sort through when addressing any issue that pops up in the white spaces of your organization chart.

Communication

No matter the type of company or the type of industry, every employee, every supervisor, and every customer will benefit from clear, open and consistent communication. Secrets and lies are the bane of every decision made within a company. The more open a company is to have meaningful discussion, the better off is that organization. A company should encourage ideas and brainstorming. A company should never discourage or quell communication. When employees are free to express their thoughts and opinions, the more likely a company can come to the right decision that best fits everyone involved.

Leadership

While communication may be the key to addressing any issue that does not directly fit into an organization chart, having thoughtful and motivated leadership can make a cacophony of ideas seem like a concise and clear message. If every department within your organization has come up with a solution to a problem on their own, it can be nearly useless if someone from each department does not head the charge to connect with the other departments within the organization. Then, once the organization as a clear message established, one leader should take the reigns to recite the message to the company's clients and customers.

Care

Having a strong leader or leadership team deliver a clear message to any party involved in an issue can be rendered useless if the message falls on deaf ears. Essentially, your leaders have to make sure that those who are delivering the message truly believe in the message that they are giving. The general public and members of the press can pick up on messages that do not have any beliefs behind them. Think of the athlete or politician who must step to the podium and deliver the same humdrum apology every time they do something wrong. While the words coming out of their mouths are the right words on paper, they almost surely have no heartfelt intent.

On top of the level of care needed by those who are delivering the message, those messengers must also be sure to respect those to whom they are speaking. If a customer only cares about getting a complete refund on a product or service and a company is unwilling to give any compensation for an unsatisfactory service or good they provided to that unhappy customer, the company has failed. Instead, the company should understand exactly what the customer wants and provide them with exactly what they want, if possible, or provide a reasonable, respectful solution that can benefit both the company and individual. This goes a long way toward showing clients and customers that the company truly cares.

An organization chart is meant to keep duties, functions, and responsibilities for all employees of a company in check. However, when something comes up that does not fit specifically into a particular place on the organization chart, a company must make sure to have clear and consistent communication, thoughtful and motivated leadership, and a sense of care to all parties directly and indirectly involved. While you may always have the white spaces in your organization chart, the best companies know exactly how to fill them.

Reader's note: the following blog post was something out of the ordinary for me, but I felt the topic was a good one. I was inspired to write this blog post after attending a panel discussion, hosted by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, where Pete Slade, CEO of the Tampa based company Nitro Mobile Solutions gave some meaningful insight to some of the problems with expanding companies.

What Tampa Can Learn from the Best Economic Development Projects

Recently, Business Facilities magazine - the source for corporate site selectors - released their results of the best upcoming and ongoing economic development projects in the United States. The projects range in size, value and location but all will have or already have a significant impact on their surrounding communities due to the breadth and scope of the projects.

According the the report, Tesla's Gigafactory in the Nevada dessert won top honors; the new Boeing 777 factory in Washington state came in second; and the Comcast Innovation & Technology Center in downtown Philadelphia rounded out the top three. Honorable mentions were given to projects in Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas.

The city of Tampa is currently in the midst of its own large and highly anticipated economic development project. Jeff Vinik, former hedge fund manager and owner of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning, has purchased nearly 25 acres of land in downtown Tampa surrounding his hockey team's arena over the last five years through his development arm Strategic Property Partners. In his audacious vision, Mr. Vinik plans to bring the campus of the University of South Florida medical school to his downtown project as well as lure a large corporate headquarters to a nearby location. In return, Strategic Property Partners will construction several mixed-used buildings with new retail, office, and residential space for students and employees to live, work and play.

But what can the city of Tampa and the surrounding communities learn from the best economic development projects around the country? There are three important takeaways from the recently released list: bigger is better, brand names go a long way, and government leaders and private owners need to play nicely together.

First, the size, scope, and scale of each of these top award-winning economic development projects are large. Quite large. The top three projects will contribute a combined $17 billion annually in economic development to their respective areas. (Image what the city of Tampa could do with an influx of development even a quarter of that size.) It is significantly easier to develop areas that are already in development than completely undeveloped areas. Bringing in companies and projects to support the current, on-going development only helps to increase everyone's bottom line.

On top of the direct financial contributions development projects have on a particular location, job creation is another highly coveted prize when courting a significant development project. With the top three projects projecting to produce over 54,000 new jobs in total - either via direct or indirect employment - a massive influx of employees increases nearly every economic indicator from property values to school ratings. According to the National Association of Realtors, for every one home purchased, 3 jobs are supported. Inversely, that could lead to approximately $1.2 billion in property value on county and city tax records. (Imagine what the city of Tampa could do with an influx of nearly 6,000 new property owners.)

Secondly, the top three projects all have highly coveted owners or developers leading the charge. In Nevada, Tesla - the electric car company headed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk - could be the most highly anticipated car company of all time. With as much buzz and hype surrounding Tesla, surely several suitors will follow in the footsteps of the company in order to gleam a piece of the development prize. In Washington, no company might be more closely associated with a particular state than Boeing is with Washington. This deal ensures that the state will continue to have a long relationship with one of its most important benefactors. Similarly, the city of Philadelphia has been the corporate home of Comcast - the mass media goliath - for the past several decades. As the company outgrew its existing space, new space was needed quickly. While the company shopped around the country for possible sites, it ultimately wanted to renew its relationship with the City of Brotherly Love.

While the city of Tampa plays host to several large and important corporations and education hubs, crafting a long term relationship with a Fortune 500 company or top-tier university could draw outside attention to this second-tier city. Companies and universities that have a significant gravitas tend to pull others toward them, wherever they may be located. In Tampa's case, being known for one (or multiple) corporate headquarters may be just the thing to make this town a first class city.

Finally, with any large economic development project, the backing of city, county, and state lawmakers as well as the cooperation of private owners means that all interested parties can stand to benefit significantly. Obviously, local governments - acting through their development boards - look to increase income through taxation and increase attention through notoriety by landing lucrative development projects. Conversely, owners and developers want to find locations where the local municipalities will best support their companies and their workforce. As such, the common ground where lawmakers are willing to forego initial income in the hopes of a long term benefit and where owners can bypass as much of the initial startup costs to generate lasting and sustainable business is the area where deals can be made. While both sides of the transaction have the difficulty of overcoming certain obstacles in the negotiation phases, both parties have an obligation to have the other's interests in mind.

As development projects progress, several moving parts need to come together at once to be completely successful and to have the intended positive economic impact. While the size and name of the developers involved certainly play an important role in getting these development projects underway, ultimately it is the responsibility of all parties to cooperate to the best of their abilities to achieve the best outcome for all those directly and indirectly involved with these projects. If the city of Tampa can learn from the best, surely Tampa can be the best.

The Real Estate Industry is Ripe for the Taking

Norm Brodsky is a veteran entrepreneur who has founded and grown six different businesses in his lifetime. In 2007, he sold one of his businesses for over $100 million. Mr. Brodsky is a columnist and senior contributing author to Inc. magazine and recently penned a great article about starting a new business. While his topic might have been general, he certainly had the real estate industry pegged.

                       

Mr. Brodsky posed the question, “instead of searching for the ‘next big thing’, how about going into a business everybody already understands?” To define a business everyone already understands, he gave three specific points: a business that has been around for more than 100 years, an industry that is a little antiquated, and one that has the potential for you to carve yourself a niche. The real estate industry easily passes the first requirement. The real estate industry has been around for well over 100 years in the United States, and over 1,000 years in Europe and Asia. (If you think about, real estate as a product has been around for over 10 billion years.) A business that has been around for over 100 years does not need to be hyped or advertised. People know the basics of how the real estate industry operates.

Secondly, the real estate industry is antiquated. Other than the advent of the Internet – which radicalized all industries – the real estate industry has remained far behind in terms of a true shift in culture and behavior. Real estate agents 100 years ago still showed their clients various pieces of property in person. The only difference between a showing appointment today and a showing appointment 100 years ago was the means by which the agent and the client arrived at the property. Yes, there have certainly been improvements to the systems and techniques real estate agents use on a daily basis, but there has not been a theoretical shift in how the real estate industry operates. The real estate industry is antiquated, and the sooner real estate professionals find a way to stay ahead of the curve the better for those professionals and the industry as a whole.

Finally, according to Mr. Brodsky, a business must have niches. Without niches, although the industry may be well established and be antiquated, the business would not be open to growth. Take restaurants for example. Every restaurant does not serve every kind of food; instead, every restaurant offers its own unique menu of foods. So too does the real estate industry have the ability for professionals to create a unique niche. A commercial real estate agent can focus primarily on medical offices. A residential real estate agent can focus primarily on high-rise condominium buildings. Or, a real estate professional can focus on investment or distressed properties that need renovations.

If you are thinking of entering another industry instead of the real estate industry, I challenge you to examine that industry to see if it passes Norm Brodsky’s three requirements for a powerful, sustainable business. If the other industry does pass these three requirements and your mind is more engaged by the other industry, I encourage you to enter that industry. But, if that industry does not pass the test, I strongly encourage you to take full advantage of all that the real estate industry has to offer.

South Tampa Home for Sale

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