EXECUTIVE AGENT MAGAZINE- VIRGINIA-JUNE 2023

Teresa Grant

Executive

Teresa Grant

Executive Agent of the Month

Realtor® Teresa Grant has a mantra that powers her award-winning real estate practice at The Realty Group Team, Keller Williams: “Sell from your heart.” And anyone who has worked with her knows that is exactly what she does.

June, 2023

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Better Is Something You Become

Awise and resilient old gentleman who used to dine every month in his club downtown— sitting at a long table covered with a white linen tablecloth and sporting silver candlesticks, and served by tuxedoed waiters—loved to regale companions with the fruits of his many years of experience. After dessert and coffee were served, he would push back from the table and light an enormous imported cigar.

“This cigar is the only indulgence of an old man,” he would say with a chuckle as he struck the wooden match against his thumbnail, and then he’d launch into one of his stories.

They usually began with a question, such as, “Did I ever tell you about the time when I was setting up factories for the Giant XYZ Corporation in the backwoods of Georgia and was compelled to teach them a little lesson in business and good manners?”

Although the stories always started out the same, no two stories were ever alike, and there would always be a wealth of wisdom through example, a veritable mother lode of remarkable instruction. And this man who was so old, so wise and so flexible had one ironclad rule for dealing with other people. This rule involved learning and growing from every experience, so the negative ones need never happen again.

He said, “If a man fools me once, I think, That’s not nice, and I remember it. If the same man fools me a second time, I think, Shame on you. If the same fellow tricks me a third time, well, I have been warned and should have changed my ways and didn’t, so I think, Shame on me.”

If you’re not changing your responses to the situations and circumstances that make up your life, you’re not being flexible, and you’re throwing away the greatest asset as an individual human being. None of us can completely control external events, but we can always control and adapt our responses. None of us can know which cards fate is going to deal out, but we can always control how we play them.

None of us can completely control external events, but we can always control and adapt our responses.

I once did a seminar for a group of oil company executives during their convention in Honolulu. While

we were sitting around the conference table, one of them asked, “Mr. Rohn, you know some important people around the world. What do you think the next 10 years are going to be like?” I said, “Gentlemen, I do know the right people. I can tell you.” So they all listened very carefully. I said, “Gentlemen, based on the people I know and from the best of my own experience, I’ve concluded that in the coming 10 years, things are going to be about like they’ve always been.”

I said that to make a point, but also because it’s accurate. Things are going to be about like they’ve always been. The tide comes in, and then what? It goes out. That’s been the case for 6,000 years of recorded history, and probably long before that, so it’s not likely to change.

It gets light and then what? It turns dark. For 6,000 years. We are not to be startled by that now. If the sun goes down and someone says, “What happened?” he must have just gotten here, I guess. It always goes down about this time of day.

In rotation, the next season after fall is winter. And pray tell, how often does winter follow fall? Every time, without fail, for 6,000 years that we know of. Of course, some winters are long and some are short, some are difficult and some are easy, but they always come right after fall. That isn’t going to change.

Sometimes you can figure it out, sometimes there’s no way to figure it out. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it gets in a knot. Sometimes it sails along, sometimes it goes in reverse. That’s not going to change. That last 6,000 years read like this: opportunity mixed with difficulty. It isn’t going to change.

Someone says, “Well, then, how will my life change?” And the answer is: When you change.

Whether I’m talking to high school kids or business executives, my message is always the same. The only way it gets better for you is when you get better. Better is not something you wish for; better is something you become.

-by Jim Rohn

Having Faith And Trust Will Lead to Success

Iam a big believer in goal setting. I know for sure that when you set a goal, and believe in your heart of hearts that it’s going to come true. This Universal law has been proven to me over and over again throughout the years – basically it is “ask and you shall receive.” The thing you desire the most will eventually come to fruition. But it’s the “eventually” part that can be frustrating.

What do you do when you have been wanting the same thing for so long – maybe waiting for years – and you still don’t get it? Just hang in there, knowing that what you want is already yours.

When you know what you want and have done everything you can, the only thing you can do is have faith and trust that Infinite Intelligence is working to make your dreams a reality. Sometimes it takes a while. We have to know our dreams were ours the minute we decided we wanted them. They are manifesting themselves. We just need to be patient.

Is being patient an easy task? Not always. Sometimes it can even be depressing waiting for what we want to show up in physical form. But we have to realize if we weren’t supposed to have what we dream about then we would never have had the dream. We just need to believe in our dreams and ourselves and allow the Universe to work in its own divine time.

You need dedication combined with perspiration moving toward a destination to get your ideal realization.

In closing this week, I’d like to offer an exercise to complete in the week ahead:

So, how do you keep the faith when it doesn’t seem like anything is happening? Stay focused. Stay focused. Stay focused. Keep your mind focused on your goal. Don’t allow present circumstances to fool you into thinking that this is your future circumstance. You know your future. You know what you’ll be doing. It’s manifesting itself right now. You just have to meet it and be ready when it arrives.

One way to do this is by “acting as if”. Act as if you are already living in your dream home. (After all, you will be). Act as if the promotion or new job you desire is already yours. (In reality, it is.)

When you wake up in the morning I want you to close your eyes and see yourself living your dream. If a new job is what you really want, see yourself arriving at that new job, smiling and ready to go to work. If a new home is your dream, watch yourself as you walk outside to retrieve the morning paper. Turn around and look at your dream house. It’s there. It’s yours. You dreamed about it. Now it’s a reality.

Do this 10 minutes every day, first thing in the morning and last thing at night. “Act as if” until you’re living your dream.

Mark Victor Hansen, “that Chicken Soup for the Soul guy®”, inspires NEW VISION that generates innovation, productivity and profitability. markvictorhansen.com. Copyright(c) 2003, Mark Victor Hansen. All rights reserved. For information about Mark’s Keynote Presentations, contact the Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@frogpond. com; http://www.frogpond.com

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4. Veteran Job Creation – Provide employment opportunities through posting on our military and veteran job board. We are also working on creating awareness among companies to include veteran-owned businesses in their supplier diversity program.

5. Affordable Housing – Provide affordable home buying opportunities for veterans and service members who have gone through VAREP’s homeownership education counseling services.

Are You Lazy Enough to be a Great Manager?

When you first see them together, the words “lazy” and “great manager” may not look like a logical fit, but believe me, they are!

Think about this:

When your employees are so well trained that they can do whatever needs to be done when it needs to be done without your intervention, you can be lazy.

When your store runs so smoothly that problems don’t arise or are easily and immediately handled, you can be lazy.

And when crises don’t happen, you can spend the time you used to spend handling them being lazy! (Of course, in this context lazy doesn’t really mean lazy. It means having more time to do the things you want to do and excel at doing.)

Reaching the point at which you are lazy enough to be a great manager is simple. Just teach everyone who works for you how to do every job there is to do. You’ll expand your employees’ skills, boost their confidence levels and reduce the amount of time and effort you need to spend managing them.

Why should you make a practice of training every employee to do every job? Because studies repeatedly show that most people, when offered the choice between making more money and doing more interesting work, unhesitatingly choose more interesting work. And the simplest way to make work more interesting is to make it more varied, which also frees you from over managing!

Managers sometimes tell me they’re concerned that training their employees this extensively will cause them to leave for better-paying jobs. Though once in a while this may happen, the fact is that well trained employees tend to stay, not leave. And if they do part company with you, it’s likely to be because you’ve trained them so thoroughly that they

are leaving to become managers at other stores—or that you’re moving up the corporate ladder yourself. Help people to get what they want and they’ll help you to get what you want is more than a nice sounding saying, it’s a very practical truth!

Training doesn’t cause employees to leave, but having to perform the same limited tasks day in and day out can cause them to look for greener pastures in a heartbeat. It’s the under-trained employees who are most at risk to leave because they want more interesting work.

Besides, if you don’t invest the necessary time and effort in training, what will you have? A bunch of poorly trained employees, that’s what! So which would you rather do, keep them ignorant and working for you or teach them what they need to know to make your business more profitable—and your job a lot less stressful?

Getting to the point at which you can be a great “lazy manager” does require some extra effort on your part initially. And even when everyone who works for you is trained to do every task there is, you must still remain alert to what your employees need from you. But these things are a small price to pay for the rewards of a store that runs smoothly and well–and for the ultimate reward of being lazy!

Mel Kleiman, CSP, is an internationally recognized consultant, author, and speaker on strategies for hiring and retaining the best employees. He is the President of Humetrics, a leading developer of systems, training, processes, and tools for recruiting, selection, and retention of the best hourly workforce. He is also the author of four books, including the best selling “Hire Tough Manage Easy”. Copyright© 2004, Mel Kleiman. All rights reserved. For addition information, contact the Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@frogpond.com; http://www.frogpond.com.

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

-Winston Churchill

Know of a REALTOR® doing amazing things?

NOMINATE them to be our next Executive Agent of the Month

Teresa Grant

Executive Agent of the Month

Written by H. K. Wilson

Realtor® Teresa Grant has a mantra that powers her award-winning real estate practice at The Realty Group Team, Keller Williams: “Sell from your heart.” And anyone who has worked with her knows that is exactly what she does.

For the past 20 years, Teresa has guided residents in the Greater Lynchburg, Roanoke and Smith Mountain Lake areas through the process of buying

and selling homes with service that is customized to their unique needs and preferences. Her exceptional knowledge and customer care have earned her numerous professional awards and have made her name synonymous with real estate excellence.

Teresa leads The Realty Group Team, an assembly of 12 professionals that she describes as both family, and close friends, all of whom she considers her family.

Teresa

Grant

“I have three non-negotiable requirements, you must be eager to learn, have a strong work ethic, and a kind heart.”

“We’re everywhere you want to be”

The team is highly skilled in several niche areas of real estate, including investments, new construction, luxury properties, and their favorite first time home buyers. They maintain a large portfolio of investors, and Teresa’s son Greg specializes in investment properties in downtown Lynchburg and Smith Mountain Lake. Teresa is an expert in new construction and has handled 16 communities throughout the area from start to finish. Also a certified Luxury Listing Specialist, she is the number one luxury agent in her Keller Williams office. She

maintains three offices, one at Smith Mountain Lake, Lynchburg, and Amherst VA. The SML office accommodates her many clients who span the lake’s 500-mile scenic shoreline. While Teresa has the expertise to close multi-million-dollar transactions with precision, she says she is equally excited about helping buyers with their first home. “I think of them like my children starting out. This is not just a job to me. I love meeting people at all stages of life and helping them get exactly what they need, a place to call home.”

Teresa and her team believe in maintaining a close connection with clients, not just during a transaction, but far beyond the close of escrow. Their quick response times and commitment to sharing current market information, vendor contacts and other useful resources make The Realty Group Team indispensable to area homeowners who are also quick to refer their friends and family.

One client described her experience with Teresa this way: “She was honest, knowledgeable, helpful, and respectful. She stood by me throughout the entire processes of buying and selling, and always made me feel like I was her top priority. She made the experiences easier than expected. I could not have dreamed of a better real estate agent than Teresa, who I now consider a friend. She is awesome.”

Another stated: “Working tirelessly for her clients, she treated us as if we were her own family members looking for a house. She is one of the hardest workers we have ever known. We recommended Teresa to close friends, and she worked just as hard for them as she did for us and found them a perfect home. One simply will not find a better real estate agent as dedicated as Teresa is at doing right by her

clients and making sure they are happy!”

The same caring spirit inspires Teresa to nurture new industry talent. “What I love equally to selling real estate is training and teaching new agents to reap the same rewards that I have been blessed with throughout my career. Since the recent sale of my Keller Williams franchise I’m focusing more on my team and trying to help others learn what I know. My training is free and open to all Realtors® who are looking to help others and grow their business. I have a fond memory of a young single mother who walked in my door many years ago. Her car was barely making it when she came in looking for a job to help her take care of her young children. I told her to get her real estate license and if she came to all our trainings and worked hard, her children would always be taken care of. She thrived and is now a successful Realtor® passing on her blessings in teaching others what she has learned. It changed her life but it also changed mine, because I was once a young single mother many years ago as well. I think it’s important to give back when you have gifts and blessings to pass on. I have three non-negotiable requirements, you must be eager to learn, have a strong work ethic, and a kind heart.

Teresa recently renovated a quaint waterfront home on Smith Mountain Lake that is a gathering place for her family and friends and reserves precious time for her grandson Isaiah. “I can’t think of anything else in the world I could wish for,” she says.

Teresa sums up, “My team is passionate about helping people find their next home or sell their home to move on to a different phase of their life.

We hope to be the team of choice when they’re ready to make a move. We work as a team, and someone is always there to answer questions and guide our clients from the beginning of the transaction to closing day and beyond. Our motto is, “We’re everywhere you want to be!”

Roanoke

Hotel Roanoke

Blue Ridge Mountains

Sales Motivation

Sales motivation is about being able to get yourself or your sales team to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. It’s the ability to get yourself to take action whether you feel like it or not. In sales, one of the toughest aspect is having to deal with constant rejection. This is why most people fail to be a success in the field of sales. The stress that can be caused by this profession can be through the roof especially if it’s 100% commission based.is.

Sales happens to be the number one highest paid profession in the world. Guess what the lowest paid profession in the world is? That’s right, also sales. Anyone can get a job that pays on salary or by the hour and make a certain secure amount of money every month but it takes a certain type of person to be able to control the amount he or she earns each year. The profession of sales is not for the weak minded person.

Mental toughness in sales is about the ability to have 99 people say, “No” to you and still be fully confident that the 100th person will say, “Yes.” How many people do you think can go in and talk to that 100th potential client with the same enthusiasm and excitement that he or she had with their 1st prospect? Not many at all.

Sales is truly one of the few professions where a person with no educational background, with no talent or skills, can become one of the highest paid most respected people around. The skills needed to become a highly successful sales person is something that can be learned. What it really

takes isn’t brains, or a nice expensive suit, or even knowing the right people to begin with. What it takes to be highly successful in sales is a burning desire to be the best at it. It’s that sales person who will not stop making cold calls until he/she gets the amount of appointments necessary to achieve his/her goal.

If you are in a leadership position, your job comes down to having the ability to give your team a vision of who they can become and where they can go regardless of who or where they are right now. It’s the ability to inspire confidence in your team and ignite that intense desire to succeed in each and every one of them that will make you a true leader.

There’s no doubt about it. Sales can be a life changing profession. If you are in sales, then you can literally change your entire life around, from poverty and broke, to wealthy and fulfilled. If you are in a leadership position, realize that you have the opportunity to help change people’s lives. Learn everything you can about motivation and there will be no limits to what you can achieve.

I’ll leave you with a couple of videos that will hopefully motivate you to take your sales career to the next level. Enjoy!

-by Kevin Ngo

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You Don’t Have To Be Great To Start, But You Have To Start To Be Great -Zig Ziglar

Sense of Humor

“Conversation never sits easier than when we now and then discharge ourselves in a symphony of laughter, which may not improperly be called the chorus of conversation,” according to the eighteenth-century essayist Sir Richard Steele.

Humor is a social lubricant. It gives us something to share and creates bonds of appreciation. We are automatically endeared to people who make us laugh.

Successful people take their commitments seriously, but seldom take themselves or life too seriously. Above all, they have the ability to laugh at themselves. People appreciate those who can see the humorous side of any situation.

Humor should be appropriate, however, if it is going to be effective. Keep the following suggestions in mind:

Keep it in good taste. Know your audience and the type of material that they will appreciate. Some people are more inhibited than others. Use discretion and respect their standards of good taste.

Don’t go overboard. If you are making someone laugh, do not assume that being “on a roll” justifies going on indefinitely. If their body language indicates that it is time to get back to work, then get back to work! People appreciate digressions as long as they are short and sweet. You do not want to be known as “that clown who doesn’t know when to stop.”

Humor is not just telling old jokes. If you rehash jokes that have been circulating for years, you will be regarded as a jerk rather than a person with a great sense of humor. The best humor consists of

original, spontaneous comments that flow with the conversation or the ideas being discussed.

Look for humor in everyday life. This is the best way to improve your sense of humor. Some people believe that a sense of the comic is a

God-given talent, but it can be cultivated. There are numerous opportunities for you to increase your repertoire of humorous anecdotes and comments. If you make an awkward mistake, remember: Don’t take yourself too seriously.

The television star Lucille Ball is a perfect example of someone who learned to take her tasks seriously but not herself seriously. Ball was given the opportunity to audition for the part of Scarlet O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. In the middle of this serious dramatic reading, she dropped the entire script on the floor. As she kneeled down to pick it up, she tried to continue reading. She was so nervous that she continued to read right from the floor, picking up the papers as she went. The Director was shrewd enough to realize that although she was wrong for the role, she was a talented comedienne who had the ability to laugh at herself but take her tasks seriously. He ended up giving her first big break.

Dr. Tony Alessandra, CSP, CPAE has authored 13 books, recorded over 50 audio and video programs, and delivered over 2,000 keynote speeches since 1976. Dr. Tony Alessandra is recognized by Meetings and Conventions Magazine as... “one of America’s most electrifying speakers.” Copyright© 2003, Tony Alessandra. All rights reserved. For information about Tony’s keynote presentations, contact the Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@ frogpond.com; http://www.frogpond.com.

Setting Expectations

One of the key components to effective leadership is setting expectations for those who follow you. You’ve heard it before; people will, most of the time, rise to a level of performance/ behavior that is set for them. In that light, what expectation are you setting?

Some key points to consider:

• Does your team hear you cast your expectations on a regular basis? Don’t leave this for the annual meeting or retreat that you hold. Make sure that your vision and expectations are repeatedly stated throughout your tenure.

• Are you holding people accountable to the behavior expectations that you have set? It won’t do any good to state your expectations and then not follow through with your team if an individual is not playing along. Dissension can be fatal. It is important that you allow the people that work with you freedom to express their opinions and beliefs without any negative ramifications.

However, it is equally important to realize that not everyone is going to agree with every decision that you make. Let them know that you realize that. And, when it does take place, you need to help your team understand the why’s behind the decision and ask for their respect with it.

Holding people accountable to behavior is not dictatorship; that went out some time ago. And, it also does not mean that you are to go around and clean up every single statement that is made that is petty in nature. This is about creating one-on-one face time, when needed, with the influential people in your team. You know who they are. Every group has at least one, if not more; that individual who is either publicly vocal about her woes with you or works quietly behind-the-scenes to create doubts and frustrations. Don’t tolerate it. Gracefully confront the issue. Repeatedly state the clear value

that she has to your team. Remind her how much you need her assistance but be firm with your statement of expected behavior.

• Are you the calm-in-the-storm? Chaos is part of every business these days. The key is for you to create a sense of organized chaos in your organization versus heavy dysfunction. Your team needs strong guidance during turbulent times and, whether you want to accept it or not, turbulence is here, and has been for quite some time and I’m not sure how quickly that will dissipate, if ever. Help your people understand the organizations priorities as well as reminding them how far you’ve come. Share the history as well as the future. Tell stories of successful ventures and what has been learned from the perceived failings. Remind them that we’re in this together and can get through it. Show some vulnerability while also sharing your dreams for the future. Let your team hear the passion and confidence in your voice. Allow emotions to be shared.

True leaders have lots of demands on them and yet, that is usually why they are in that role. Without demands, boredom could set in and there is nothing worse than a driven leader feeling bored or unchallenged. Set your expectations. Set them high…not so high that they are impractical or unreachable but just high enough so your team has to stretch a bit to get there. Stretching is good; as long as it is handled with courage and grace.

Peggy L. McNamara’s overall theme, or brand, is Stimulate Some Action™. She is an expert in the area of personal development. Peggy is the author of inspirational book, “My Tender Soul - A Story of Survival”. Copyright 2004, PLM, Inc. All rights reserved. For information about Peggy’s Keystone presentations, contact the Frog Pond at 800.704. FROG(3764) or email susie@frogpond.com; http:// www.frogpond.com.

Our bone marrow transplant reunion is now standing room only.

Each year, City of Hope invites bone marrow transplant recipients and their families to attend the “Celebration of Life” event. It’s a joyous time during which survivors of blood cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma embrace their health, their life and each other. It began more than 35 years ago when City of Hope created what is now one of the largest and most successful bone marrow transplant programs in the world. In fact, we’ve completed over 11,000 transplants and, according to national reports, our outcomes are among the best in the nation. The goal of curing cancer isn’t just something we work at. It’s what we live for.

If you have cancer, make us your first call. Or ask your doctor for a referral. We accept most insurance.

800-826-HOPE

WE LIVE TO CURE CANCER.

From

the Blue Ridge Mountains to Smith Mountain Lake... The Realty Group Team is everywhere you want to be!