Start With A Win

Our guest on this episode of the Start with a Win podcast is Tony Iacoviello, also known as “The Geeky Agent.” Tony is a RE/MAX agent in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, which is halfway between Toronto and Niagara Falls. Tony became known as The Geeky Agent several years ago when he was asked to create a character that would narrate his journey to and experience during the annual R4 Convention. Based on his childhood love for sci-fi and comic books, he told his character’s story in the form of comic book pages, and when R4 was over that year, he adopted the avatar he had created and has continued documenting his business adventures to this day. 

Tony has experienced a few failures that have brought him to where he is today. First, when he went through downsizing in the recession, he started his own construction and renovation company, which eventually brought him into the real estate world where he has found his fit. Secondly, he went through a divorce which caused him to do some self-evaluation and reconfigure the relationships in his life. He now views his time with his sons as truly special and he finds purpose, gratitude, and perspective from his time with them.

Another big win in Tony’s life has been the responsibility that has come from being a recognizable representative of RE/MAX as The Geeky Agent. “With great power, there must also come great responsibility,” and Tony has found that The Geeky Agent provides him with both.

Links:

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg - https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081298160X

Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley - https://www.amazon.com/Seconds-Graphic-Bryan-Lee-OMalley/dp/0345529375/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1544109740&sr=1-1&keywords=seconds 

R4 Convention 2019 - http://www.cvent.com/events/2019-re-max-r4-convention/event-summary-df767bb0c6a84450a31e8ff25770f088.aspx?RefID=Above%20Summary%20Link

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On this episode of the Start with a Win podcast, Adam discusses the concept of becoming incrementally better every day. The Japanese idea of kaizen means “continuous improvement,” and car companies like Toyota and Honda are excellent examples of this ideology. They are committed to continually improving their quality, even stopping an entire assembly line in order to fix an issue on the spot, rather than allowing defective parts to go through the complete process and being dealt with at the end. By practicing this concept day-in and day-out, they achieve drastic quality improvements over time which sets them apart from companies who do not follow this philosophy.

Sir David Brailsford has been honing his craft, which he calls “the aggregation of marginal gains,” since 2002. He was asked to coach the British cycling team in 2003, and he led the team through a series of very small changes such as new seats, adjusted tire pressure, a lighter paint color, new pillows to sleep on, and a commitment to maintaining healthy living, which created a culture of collaboration and collective improvement. The team won 8 gold medals at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and he was then asked to coach Team Sky at the Tour de France in 2012. Following the same model of the aggregation of marginal gain, Team Sky won the Tour in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Following these mindsets, consider what small changes you can make to live a fuller and more fulfilling life. Try getting up earlier, exchanging a starch for a vegetable at a meal, smoking one less cigarette, drinking one less cocktail, watching 1 less television show so you can read 1 more chapter of a book, or telling your family that you love them one more time. You will likely be amazed with the results over time from making these small consistent choices.

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Podcast Name: Start With A Win
Episode Name: Interview With Sue “Pinky” Benson.
On this episode of Start With A Win, Adam Contos interviews Sue “Pinky” Benson. Sue, or “Pinky” as she’s known by, has had huge success as a RE/MAX agent and social media enthusiast. Sue encourages others to really get
out there, create content, and own who they are. In this remarkable interview, Sue opens up about her son, Sawyer, and how grief can give you a new perspective on life. During the episode, they discuss how wins can come from failures. The show starts with Sue introducing herself and explaining how she is a mom, RE/MAX agent, and video enthusiast. The discussion segues into the fear that many people have being in front of the camera. Sue explains how people are judging you no matter if you are in front of a camera or not. You have to get out there and really own who you are. Sue opens up about the tragic loss of her son. She shares how that experience has affected her life in all areas. Recently, BombBomb has announced Sue as one of the Top Video Influencers. Sue describes how she got to this incredible place in life. She was able to learn the technology and start creating products that improved over time. She recommends using Facebook Live and Instagram stories as user-friendly platform tools. Her goal for 2019 is for more women to join her in creating videos without fear. Sue shares how she motivates herself at the beginning of each day. She suggests reading Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World and Brave Enough. She closes with two of her favorite quotes and she advises listeners to own their stories. and share
who you are with the rest of the world!

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Follow Sue on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-pinky-benson/
Check out Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk
Check out Brave Enough by Cheryl Strayed

On this episode of the Start with a Win podcast, our topic is fear, which Adam calls False Evidence Appearing Real. If you have an aversion to fear and you dread the feeling, you have an unhealthy and unproductive relationship with it, and you could solve a lot of your own problems by learning to handle fear differently. Many people harbor a known or unknown infatuation with fear as evidenced by their love of the scary or creepy elements of Halloween, craving for the “rush” feeling that comes from roller coasters, or dependence on the “breaking news” elements of the news industry. These are all caused by fear-mongering and maintaining an open loop version of reality that leaves too much room for imagining the worst-case scenarios. An unhealthy relationship with fear leads to unhealthy personal and business relationships and practices and puts you in a cycle with no good results.

Adam’s first key to creating a healthy relationship with fear is to ignore the attempts by the media to communicate fear by keeping the right perspective and seeking out the facts. Second, you should convert your feelings of fear to the ability to move forward with confidence and look for opportunities. When you are tempted to think “fear”, you should learn to think “Go!” instead.

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On this episode of the Start with a Win podcast, our guest is Ward Morrison, president of Motto Franchising, a US mortgage brokerage franchise brand. RE/MAX created Motto Mortgage in response to the increased consumer protections regulations established after the financial crash of 2008 requiring the mortgage brokers stop using marketing service agreements (MSAs) with customers. This caused a shake-up in the industry while opening the door to more forward-facing business operations between consumers and loan originators under the new compliance and legal guidelines. 

Motto Mortgage surpassed the 100-franchise mark within 23 months of the company’s beginning, confirming that industry professionals see the start-up resources and coaching available to them through the Motto franchise setup as a huge benefit over starting their own small business. It could be referred to as a “mortgage brokerage in a box”, which eliminates blind spots and surprises from the entrepreneurial journey and provides franchisees with a network of colleagues to whom they can reach out.

Ward also spoke about the challenges Motto has encountered along the way, namely recruiting and retaining personal and professional loan originators who can stay up-to-date on changes in the industry and maintain fruitful client relationships. Motto helps set realistic expectations and benchmarks for franchisees to meet that will hopefully allow them to be productive, well-staffed, and engaged with their customers and communities. In fact, Motto is committed to corporate social responsibility, and they are very involved in feeding the hungry in every community that is home to one of their franchises.

Ward’s way of starting with a win is being sure to surround himself with the right team: individuals who are customer-focused and committed to the organization. He always tries to hire people who are smarter than him in complimentary areas of business and have a social and emotional intelligence that makes everyone around them better.

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As you can imagine, Adam is a frequent traveler. On this episode of the Start with a Win podcast, he shares with us his travel tips and hacks to make traveling a good experience instead of something you dread.

• Get to the airport early. You never know how long security will take, and you don’t want to start out your travel day stressed that you are going to miss your flight. BONUS: Take an Uber rather than having to worry about and pay for parking.
• Travel with a carry-on if at all possible, and pack smart by using packing cubes.
• Get TSA Pre-check or Global Entry to make the security process as quick and painless as possible. Some airports also have the Clear program that is similar, so look into what will be most convenient for your local airport and go through the process to get approved.
• Take noise-cancelling headphones with you and make the most of your “me” time by listening to audiobooks or podcasts.
• Choose an airline to be loyal to and sign up for their frequent flier program. BONUS: Invest in their club membership or buy a one-day pass to gain access to refreshments and free wi-fi as well as an exclusive customer service desk that will rebook your flight for you if you have an issue.
• Stay healthy by taking Vitamin C supplements and traveling with Clorox wipes to clean any surfaces around your seat or in the waiting area.

By following these tips, your travel days can be enjoyable and effortless!

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On this episode of the Start with a Win podcast, Adam shares with us the 3 ways he has found that leaders fail, and the ways to avoid or adjust these behaviors:

1. Becoming a “me” person rather than a “we” person – This issue ultimately stems from an unhealthy ego that values personal gain over the good of the team. Leaders must remember that one of the main sources of their success is the contribution of the members of their team and their mentors along the way.
2. Ordering people to do things rather than influencing them – Ordering your team members to do things results in lower quality and forced results, but influencing them brings them into the process, allowing them to buy in and want to do the tasks or projects before them, which means better results for the team as a whole.
3. Burning your bridges rather than your boats – Work together to solve problems and face challenges and your team will have the commitment necessary to “burn their boats” with you, but be sure to avoid destroying relationships (“burning bridges”) in the process.

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Our topic on this episode of the Start with a Win podcast is the importance of staying current, relevant, valuable, and present with your customers. It would be easy to get comfortable with the systems and processes that you have in place right now and fall behind as new technology emerges, but this makes you irrelevant and pushes you farther away from your prospects and clients. Every time you let a technological advance pass you by, you lose value and become less accessible. Adam’s 3 key ways to stay current, relevant, valuable and present are:

1. Find and deliver value daily – Recognize that every day is a gift and you are never beyond learning something new. Take advantage of the vast resources out there for your enrichment: books, audiobooks, podcasts, and simple discussions about new topics with friends. Having something valuable and constructive to say in a conversation makes you more able to connect to those around you.
2. Contribute – Ask questions of those around you, always trying to glean all of the information you can from the conversation and maintain your curiosity in life.
3. Reach out – Communicate and network with others by developing fun and deep relationships that are mutually beneficial and edifying.

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On this episode of the Start with a Win podcast, we discuss the 3 typical reasons why sales people fail. These ideas can also be easily translated to any area of life, making you well-rounded and more successful overall.

Reason #1: Not going out to get new business every day.

• It is important to continue prospecting and networking while maintaining your current client base. Think of each new lead as food for your business; if you aren’t bringing any in, you are starving your business.

Reason #2: Failing to nurture your relationships with your customers.

• Customers expect to be “handled” by the sales process at companies with which they are involved. What can set you apart is building authentic relationships with your clients by creating mutual trust, communications, and expectations.

Reason #3: Never asking for the close.

• By having too many prospects in your sales pipeline that aren’t being converted into clients, you are clogging up your system and not giving yourself or your clients the breathing room that you need. Asking for the close can be awkward, but if you have a script and role-play it, you can focus instead on being kind and empathetic in the closing conversation and add lifetime value to the relationship, which will result in repeat and referral business.

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