John gives a brief review of Michael Maher's book The Seven Levels of Communication: Go From Relationaships To Referrals. The book is not targeted specifically for Realtors, but rather has a much broader audience as a work of fiction that explores how any salesperson can generate more referrals by intentionally farming the relationships they already have.

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Transcript

JOHN:  Hey, guys.  John Jones here today with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee.  Glad to have you here.  Today, guys, I’m talking to anybody out there who’s selling anything.  I just read a great book that I want to give a review on.  It’s called The Seven Levels of Communication.  It’s by a good friend of mine, Michael Maher.  Michael and I are a part of the same Star Power Mastermind group, real estate Mastermind group.  Michael’s a very successful real estate agent in Kansas City or Overland Park, Kansas.

And it’s called The Seven Levels of Communication: Go From Relationships To Referrals.  And I know he’s a buddy of mine, but I’ve gotta tell you it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read on sales.  It’s real.  It’s the basics, but yet, he puts it in a way that is so easy to read and fun to read.  Basically, it’s a fiction book based on a character by the name of Rick Masters who’s kind of a struggling, downtrodden real estate guy who’s coming through this bad economy who happens upon a mortgage rep who’s kind of calling on his business who is just doing extremely well.

And she kind of lets him in on a secret.  Anyway, it’s just a really neat story that really tells you as a salesperson the things that you need to know to take relationships to referrals.  And it’s basically the backbone of any good salesperson is relationships and referrals.  I’ve always said or it’s always been said that people want to buy things from people that they like.  And I think that we’ve gotten away from that the last few years.

I know in the real estate business we have.  We spend all this time on advertising and branding and doing all this stuff kind of trying to buy the business when in essence, the best customer or the best client you can work with out there is that referred client from a third party who has said nice things about you.  But there’s an art to managing those relationships.  There’s an art to keeping in touch and adding value to people’s lives so they are in a position to give you referrals.  And this book puts it all in a nice package and puts a bow around it and makes it very easy to understand and very easy to implement.

So if anybody out there needs a boost right now in your sales career, I’m telling you, read this book.  There’s no magic pill here.  It just is a very effective book in showing you the importance of managing those relationships that will allow you to get more referral business.  So Michael, you did a great job on it.  I’m very impressed with it.  We’re going to put the website up right here (www.7LBook.com) where you can go order this book from Michael, and also I’m sure you can go to Amazon and type in The Seven Levels of Communication by Michael Maher.  Thanks and we’ll see you next week.

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Transcript

TIM:  Tim Dutton here with another edition of Taste of the Town.  Folks, today I’m at the Cedar Bucket, which is located right next to Kroger on Middle Tennessee Boulevard.

RICKY:  Right.

TIM:  I still want to go by some of the old name.  And guys, I’m sitting here with Ricky Turner who’s the owner of the Cedar Bucket.  And Ricky, tell folks a little bit about what you guys are doing right here.

RICKY:  Well, the Cedar Bucket Restaurant is a southern homestyle cooking , meat three type restaurant.  Different days, every day we have a different menu.  Like we have a set menu for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.  And it’s cafeteria style.  You can do a meat and one, meat and two, meat and three, or all vegetables.  Or some people just like all meat.

TIM:  Right.

RICKY:  So whatever you want.  We also offer salad bar as well, and we have homemade desserts daily.  So we try to offer a variety.

TIM:  And you guys, it’s all home cooked like you would do at home.

RICKY:  Yes, sir.

TIM:  So guys, you can come down to the Cedar Bucket and put some south in your mouth and I don’t think you’re going to regret it.  Now Ricky, what have we got right here, man?  What did you put forth for us to take a look at?

RICKY:  Today we’ve got our Thursday menu.  Again, like every day we have a different menu and on Thursday we have our baked chicken; we have fried pork chops; and we have this Caribbean chicken, which is a chicken tender that we kind of marinade in spices, let it sit overnight, and then just fry it.  And then we have six different vegetables.  Today we’ve got pinto beans, green beans, sweet potatoes, rice, and green beans.  And also, au gratin potatoes.  So this is just a sample of what we have today on the menu if you come by on Thursdays.

TIM:  Folks, that’s just like being home at momma’s.  And the rice, what do you do to the rice, Ricky?

RICKY:  Well, the rice is just a rice pilaf, just a regular rice and we kind of season it, give it a little spice and stuff.

TIM:  It’s good, man.  And then we’ve got the cornbread here.

RICKY:  Now that’s what we’re pretty much famous for, our cornbread.  It’s not hot water cornbread.  It’s not oven baked.  But what we do, a lot of people tell me it’s what they refer to as the old hot cakes.  How farmers, those who worked out in the field, they couldn’t go back to the house to fix the bread.

TIM:  Right.

RICKY:  They would take the meal and make up the batter and take the metal part of a hoe and put their meal on that and light that and that’s how they came up with hoe cake.  But we fry ours on the skillet.  And like I said, I think we’re the only ones in this area who pretty much does that.  And that’s probably one of our most popular items.  A lot of people come in just for the cornbread.

TIM:  Man, that is good.  Now the other is baked chicken here, right?

RICKY:  Mm-hm.  We know that we live in a kind of health-conscious society now, so we don’t like to fry.  A lot of people are trying to get away from a lot of fried food, so we consider Thursday our healthy day.  We go with the baked chicken and give—

TIM:  Give them an option.

RICKY:  Give them an option rather than so much fried food all the time.

TIM:  I’ll tell you what.  You’re doing it right, Ricky.  Now what’s the other days?  Have you got standard menus?

RICKY:  We do.  Like tomorrow is Friday.  What’s on Friday is fish day.  We’ll have catfish, fried chicken, and spaghetti, white beans, cole slaw, turnip greens, fried okra, and corn on the cob.  So every day is a set day for right now.  Next month will be first year here in Murfreesboro.  The Cedar Bucket itself has been in existence for three years.  We come out of Shelbyville. We were doing business down there for about two years, and we relocated here to Murfreesboro and finally got open last September.

So a lot of people always come in even though it’s on a certain day that we have a set menu and on that set menu, that’s the only thing we serve.  Like today, if somebody wanted fried chicken, they can’t have fried chicken because we’ve got a set menu.

TIM:  Right.

RICKY:  But we noticed that even though we have a set menu, some people still want certain items.  So we’re going to kind of cater to them more next year or this upcoming year that if you want fried chicken, we’ll probably have fried chicken every day.

TIM:  Whatever days you want it.

RICKY:  Yeah, yeah.

TIM:  Now Ricky, what kind of hours are you guys open?  What days a week?

RICKY:  We’re open Monday, Tuesday from 11 to 8, also on Wednesday from 11 to 6.  Thursday and Friday 11 to 8, and also on Sunday.  We have a Sunday what we call brunch from 11 to 4 where we have a big what I call after church menu, after church dinner.  And that seems to be our biggest following right there.

TIM:  After worship service?

RICKY:  After worship service, yeah.

TIM:  So the only day you’re closed then is Saturday?

RICKY:  Yeah.  Well, what we do on Saturdays, we do two Saturdays a month, but we don’t have a set Saturday that we open and we don’t have a set menu.  Really it depends on what’s going on in the city or what we have going on because we also cater; we also deliver; we do private parties.  So there’s a lot of activities that we have to do on the weekend that would cause us not to be here.  So that gives us an opportunity to kind of do other things.

TIM:  So y’all cater this food; you do private parties; and you deliver this food too?

RICKY:  Yeah, yeah.  We do it all.  We do it all.

TIM:  Things are going to get worse for me.

RICKY:  Yeah, yeah.  We have so many people that are moving into Murfreesboro from the north and other parts of the area who’s really not familiar with southern cooking.  So this is the place to experience southern cooking.

TIM:  Yeah.

RICKY:  You know, southern cooking to me is really a dying institution because there’s not that much of it.  It seems like we’ve gotten away from our southern roots.  Most of us, if you were born in the south, you grew up on pinto beans and fried chicken and cornbread and sweet tea.

TIM:  Mm-hm.

RICKY:  That’s just a part of our southern upbringing.

TIM:  Right.

RICKY:  But it seems like we’re getting away from that.  But we want to bring that back in because even among our young people they don’t get enough greens; they don’t get enough vegetables.  It’s always fast food and all this.  So we’re trying to bring southern food back like you said with a little taste and a little flavor, a little seasoning just like grandma...

TIM:  You’re right.  It’s a different ball game and it’s not like this.  Ricky, do you have a special for the people that come in and say they want to put some south in their mouth and they saw it on Taste of the Town?

RICKY:  Yeah, if you come in and say that you saw this program, we’ll give you a free drink.

TIM:  Your drink free for coming in here and trying some of Ricky’s food.  And I’m going to tell you, you won’t regret it.  That’s about it for this edition of Taste of the Town.  And remember, if you’re thinking real estate, think Tim Dutton.

In this episode of Tuesday Morning Coffee John Jones shares his pricing strategy for the current market.

Tuesday Morning Coffee is also available as an iTunes Podcast HERE

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Transcript

JOHN:  Hey, guys.  John Jones here with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee.  Today, we’re going to talk about pricing and pricing in the market and how buyers actually buy homes.  And the point that I want to make is I had a situation the other day that’s not uncommon, happens quite a bit.  I was sitting there with a seller and we’re going through the comps and we’re going through the absorption rate and we both were pretty much in agreement where the price for this home would probably ultimately sell.

Probably somewhere between 185 and 190.  Well, after discussion a little bit on where we should price it, they wanted to go higher, like $209,000.  And I asked them why would you want to go that high.  And they said we would like to leave a lot of room for negotiation.  We think if somebody’s going to come in here and make us a lower offer, we have negotiating room.  And there you know I see where people think that because we get that all the time.

But let me tell you how people buy homes.  People buy homes by comparing them to the other homes for sale.  So for instance, let’s take the house we were just talking about.  Let’s call it house A and it’s priced at $209,900.  And the house down the street, which is house B, is priced at $199,900.  First of all, a lot of people may not even look at price A because they may have parameters where they’re only going to $200,000.  They might not even come across that house.

So you miss a whole pool of buyers if you price out of the market.  Secondly, even though house A is sitting there with owners sitting there saying that they would accept 190 for the home, they don’t get the offer because home B looks like such a better value to them at $199,900.  Home B might end up getting marked out at 193 where they could have come over here and bought home A for 190.  The problem is, home A was never in the game.  It never got a chance to participate in the comparison because it looked so much higher than home B.  So home B got the offer.

Now the question is: “But what if they come in there low?  What if that person came in there at 180?”  What if they come in at 175?  It happens every day.  What we do know is 70% of the people that make offers on a home are going to end up buying that home.  Now they may try.  They may make you kind of a low ball to begin with, but if the home is priced right, stick to your guns.  Negotiate a little bit and at some point, you just have to say, “Hey, this is what we’ll accept for the home.” 

You’d be amazed at home many people step up and buy the home because they’ve been around; they’ve seen the market.  They’re emotionally tied to the house.  They made an offer, and chances are 70% of the time they’re going to end up buying that home even though they came in and made you a crazy offer.  So pricing in the market is very critical because buyers compare homes before they make offers.  And they’re going to make the offer on the home that appears to be the best value to them.  If you have any questions about anything, please call us, 867-3020.

This week's Taste of the Town Special? 10% off just for mentioning Taste of the Town. With the Slick Pig's already low prices you just can't beat that!

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Transcript

TIM:  Tim Dutton here with another edition of Taste of the Town.  Folks, today I’m sitting at the Slick Pig with owner, John Robinson.  John, thank you for having us today.

JOHN:  Well, you’re welcome.

TIM:  Man, I’ve been looking forward to this one because this is not my first trip as far as eating your food, man.  And it is always delicious.

JOHN:  We appreciate it.

TIM:  John, you want to tell folks a little bit about where you’re located first of all.

JOHN:  Okay.  We’re down here about a mile from MTSU going away from the square, and it’s 1920 East Main Street.  We’ve been here for 15 years, started in 1995.  Our hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 to 8, closed on Sunday and Monday.  We’ve been doing this for a long time.

TIM:  And been doing it right for a long time.

JOHN:  We appreciate that.

TIM:  Yeah, you guys have exploded in business.  Some of the things I wanted to talk to you about today, you guys make your own potato salad, coleslaw.

JOHN:  Everything’s homemade.  We do it right here every day.  We’ve got a couple of women who make the potato salad homemade.  We’ve got the coleslaw.  It’s homemade, special ingredients in there.  These right here.  We’ve got a BBQ sandwich on garlic toast.  We sell a lot of them.  Now we’ve got the ribs right here.  We sell a bunch of them.  We’ve got a Friday special on them for $12.99 for a whole rack, guaranteed to be satisfied on them.

The hickory smoked wings right here, we sell a bunch of them.  That is our biggest seller right there.  We marinade them and smoke them, and we’ve got a special seasoning that we marinade them in.  And we’ve been selling a bunch of them.

TIM:  John, nothing that you guys do comes in pre-packed.  I just took a bite of the potato salad and the coleslaw and it’s all done…

JOHN:  It’s authentic.  It’s like your personalities up here.  It’s authentic.  We’ve got everything.  It comes in not on a truck.  We get it and we start making it every day.  We get here at five in the morning, and we’ll start working on all the prep stuff at five in the morning, and that will last all day long.  If we run out at 5:00 tonight, we’ve got a lady that makes it from 5:00 to 8:00, and it’s all done homemade, fresh every day.

TIM:  I’ll tell you what, man.  I’d hate to waste any of this.  I know you have accidents with the bibs, but it didn’t seem to go to the shirt.

JOHN:  Hey, that’s a new idea right there.  Get some bibs, Slick Pig BBQ.

TIM:  That is good.  And the wings…And you guys cater too.

JOHN:  Yeah.  We do a lot of catering.

TIM:  Because I’ve been to several different events and stuff.

JOHN:  And they’ve had our food?

TIM:  And they’ve had your food, and these things go like crazy.

JOHN:  Yeah, they do.  We sell them, Tim, by the thousands.  And I’ll tell you what, we’ve had so many compliments on them wings.  And I mean, every day smoking thousands of these things.  I mean, like today, we’ll go through 5,000 wings on a Thursday.

TIM:  That’s how popular they are.

JOHN:  That’s how popular they are.  From big businesses to small businesses, the little company picnics, 10 or 15 people.

TIM:  Yeah.

JOHN:  Fifty people, luncheons for their work.  Weddings.  We cater all these things right here.  And I mean, they go out of here.  Once they get them, they come out.  Try them ribs right there.

TIM:  I was going to say they do.  And John, I don’t know that I’ve ever tried your ribs.

JOHN:  I’ll tell you what.  Them things are just tender as they can be.

TIM:  Whoo! 

JOHN:  And that right there.  That will win first prize at the county fair.

TIM:  And John, you guys have daily lunch specials.

JOHN:  Yes, we do.

TIM:  You want to tell folks a little bit about them?

JOHN:  We’ve got the No. 3 lunch special every day.  That’s a pork sandwich, drink, and bag of chips, and small baked beans.  That’s for $4.99.  That’s every day, all day long, even at night.  We’ve got a No. 2 lunch special that comes with two sandwiches.  That’s BBQ pork, chips, and a sweet tea.  I believe that one’s $5.50.  That’s every day as well.

We’ve got a Brunswick stew coming out of Georgia.  It’s like a soup, but that’s made with pork, beef, chicken, tomatoes, and corn.  It’s like a soup, a thick soup.  And that comes with garlic bread or cornbread.  And that’s done homemade.  And that right there is $2.95.

TIM:  Now John, is it on Tuesday night that you’ve got your 99-cent specials on the sandwiches?

JOHN:  Well, the 99-cent BBQ sandwich is all day long.  It starts at 11 and ends at 8:00.

TIM:  And that’s every Tuesday?

JOHN:  Every Tuesday, yep.

TIM:  Folks, that’s a no-brainer.  Come on down.

JOHN:  That’s right.

TIM:  It is a complete no-brainer.  Come on down here to where East Main Street tris to turn into Woodbury Highway and get you a 99-cent BBQ sandwich.  John, do you have a special for the people that come in and say they saw it on Taste of the Town?

JOHN:  Yeah, if they come in and say they seen it on Taste of the Town, we’re going to give them 10% off.  If they just mention they seen this on Taste of the Town, we’ll give them 10% off their meal.  And that’s a no-brainer as well.  It’s very simple around here.

TIM:  Well, you need to for me to keep up, man.  Well, listen guys, it will not be a waste of your time to come down here and see John and try some of this delicious food, if you haven’t.  And if you’re a regular customer, come on down and get 10% off.  And remember, if you’re thinking real estate, think Tim Dutton.

John Jones shares the Rutherford County Tennessee real estate statistics as of August 2010.

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Transcript

JOHN:  Hey, guys.  John Jones with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee.  First of all, today, I want to give a shout out to my good friends who watch us every week from Idaho, John and Heather Fischer, and they grew up here in Murfreesboro.  And I’ve been informed that they keep up with what’s going on here locally and watch Tuesday Morning Coffee, so how are you guys doing?  I hope you’re doing well.  And they live out in Idaho right beside the Wyoming border out there.  But good friends of mine.

Today, we’re going to talk about July home sales here in Rutherford County.  They were down quite a bit.  We kind of expected it because of the hangover from the tax credit, but here locally in Rutherford County in ’09 we did 366 units.  This year, we did 263.  That’s down 28% over last year.  Pendings were off 24% over July of last year, which means August is probably going to be down a little bit as well.

Overall, for the year, still positive news.  Home sales are up 10%.  They took a big whack.  They had been running about 18 to 20%, but this month kind of took them down a little bit.  Another interesting statistic, for the year, closed home sales, we averaged last year in closed price of $169,662.  This year, it’s at $165,676.  So our prices are staying pretty close to where they were last year.  Thank God.  And I hope that continues.

I think in the upper price range we’re still seeing some devaluation, lower price ranges not so much.  Maybe 100 to 130 to 140.  I think they have pretty much stabilized.  Our inventory is 2,200 homes on the market, which is about exactly where we were last year with 2,257.  So our inventories are coming back up a little bit due to the last month or so, but my predictions here on out, I think next month is going to be weak.

And I’m hoping that the fall weather kind of cooling off a little bit will help us get more people out looking around, and it’s still depressed pricing, lowest interest rates we’ll ever see.  It’s still the most awesome time to buy a home that I’ve seen since I’ve been in the business.  So if you have the opportunity to buy or are thinking about it, definitely, definitely do it.

But if you should need anything, please give us a call at 867-3020 or you can reach us on our website at JohnCJones.com.  And one other thing, if anybody knows someone—and I think almost everybody does—that is facing foreclosure, please have them give us a call, 867-3020.  We’ve been able to help a lot of people in the last 24 months avoid foreclosure.  Please give us a call and we’ll see if we can help them, 867-3020.  Thank you.

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Transcript

TIM:  Tim Dutton here with another edition of Taste of the Town.  Listen y’all, today, I’m here at the Chef’s Place, and I’m sitting with Chef Julio.  Julio, thank you for having us, man.

JULIO:  How are you guys doing?

TIM:  Good.  Now you guys have moved.  You’re now located on the square right on Maple Street, right?

JULIO:  Yes, sir.  Like I tell people, “We are moving uptown.”  We were on Medical Center Parkway for almost 3-1/2 years, and we got the opportunity to come to the square and we just jumped into it.  This is probably the most beautiful square in Tennessee period.

TIM:  Now Julio, something that a lot of folks don’t know or a some folks don’t know, you also cater; you also do a personal chef.  Tell people about the different aspects of what you do as a chef?

JULIO:  We are a full catering company.  We have been voted three years in a row favorite caterer in Rutherford County.  We do personal chef.  We go to people’s houses and cook and serve the meal and on a smaller scale of course.  We do cooking classes here in the store, and we have frozen casseroles to go.

TIM:  So you take them home and cook?

JULIO:  Yeah, if your wife doesn’t feel like cooking, she can just come here, fill up the freezer.  And when she comes home, put them in the oven, and you have your meal ready—a good home-cooked meal.

TIM:  Guys, you’re a phone call away from having Julio at your house being your personal chef if you choose.  Now Julio, you guys are also going to start opening up in the morning through the month of August to kind of test the breakfast situation.

JULIO:  Well, we started last week serving a lot of our neighbors who asked us to serve breakfast, so we are trying to test the waters.  That’s why on our flyer it says this is just a test.

TIM:  Right.  Good.  Now are we just talking about eggs, bacon?

JULIO:  We have biscuits, eggs, bacon.  Today, we made some fresh banana muffins.  And I need to get one of the girls to bring you one because you’re going to die for them.

TIM:  I’m a muffin lover from way back.

JULIO:  Bring him a banana muffin.

TIM:  Tell me a little bit about what we have here.

JULIO:  We’re emphasizing health salads.  This is our Caribbean salad.  It’s baby greens with black beans, mandarin oranges, grilled chicken, tortilla strips, and don’t forget the champagne dressing.  That’s our house dressing.

TIM:  Now this is healthy?

JULIO:  As healthy as it’s going to get.

TIM:  And you guys make all of your own dressings, right?

JULIO:  We make our dressings.

TIM:  It’s your recipe.

JULIO:  Well, champagne dressing, that was Arthur’s Restaurant’s dressing.  That was their house dressing, but I was the one making it.  So since the restaurant closed, I talked to the owners and they said you’re more than welcome to make it.

TIM:  Take another bite here, man.

JULIO:  Then we have sandwiches.  Like that one is the maple strip club made the old-fashioned way, bunches of meat, fresh tomatoes.  We are using homegrown tomatoes.

TIM:  We’re doing a little business with the farmers out there at the farmer’s market.

JULIO:  Yes, sir, we are.  Well, when you cut a tomato and it looks like a watermelon inside, you know it’s going to be good.  There is no reason to have white tomatoes right now with the temperature 100 degrees outside.

TIM:  Right. 

JULIO:  You can have nice red tomatoes, and that’s what we are serving.

TIM:  That’s what you guys—

JULIO:  We don’t serve anything pre-made.  Everything is fresh.

TIM:  Now Julio, I took a little sneak bite—

JULIO:  Mashed potatoes.

TIM:  —of your mashed potatoes.

JULIO:  Good old-fashioned mashed potatoes.

TIM:  Well, I don’t know, man.  Grandma’s is good, but this has got something else different in it.

JULIO:  Well, my idea of old fashioned is garlic, is parsley, is butter, is cream.

TIM:  It is outstanding.

JULIO:  It ain’t diet.  I’ll tell you that much.  Mashed potatoes are not diet.

TIM:  Now what do you have right here?

JULIO:  That is a polish sausage.  That is a company from Chicago that I buy all my sausage from.  And they have polish sausage.  But the secret is to start with a real sausage.  I try not to buy commercial sausages from the store.  Like I say, I bring my own sausage from Chicago.

TIM:  Now you had mentioned the muffin.

JULIO:  Well, Vanessa, my helper in the kitchen, she’s the one that started breakfast.  And she came up with a recipe to make banana muffins.  And I think she has a winner because it’s really good.

TIM:  That is good.

JULIO:  Made 100 percent from scratch.  Nothing synthetic.  And I don’t even know how to make it.  That’s Vanessa’s deal.

TIM:  Julio, do you have a special for anybody that comes in and says they saw you guys on Taste of the Town?

JULIO:  Well, I’ve been thinking about that.  And I think since they are your customers and I want to get them to be my customers, if somebody comes and mentions that they saw you on your show, how about we give them buy one, get the second one half price?

TIM:  And I guarantee the food, folks.  Well, that’s about it for this edition of Taste of the Town.  And remember, if you’re thinking real estate, think Tim Dutton.

In this episode of Tuesday Morning Coffee John Jones interviews Phil Cavender, an investment and retirement specialist in Murfreesboro. They discuss building a tax free retirement.

Tuesday Morning Coffee is also available as an iTunes Podcast HERE or you can watch this episode on your iPad/iPhone HERE.

Transcript

JOHN:  Hey, guys.  John Jones here with Tuesday Morning Coffee.  As I’ve told you guys many times before, I always love to learn from people that are a lot smarter than me, which isn’t hard to find.  But today, it’s definitely the case.  Phil Cavender with the Cavender Financial Group is here today with us, and Phil’s a good friend of mine.  And Phil has done some amazing things to help people build wealth and also he specializes in tax-free investments.  Is that fair to say?  In a nutshell, Phil, tell people kind of what you do.

PHIL:  Well, John, mainly we’re managing people’s I guess you’d say their money in safe money instruments; 401Ks, IRAs, SEPs are such a large part of what people have placed their money in, so you naturally have to look at those instruments and manage those.  However, I think the greatest benefit that I offer really is more tax-free incomes that people are not aware of, something like a Roth IRA.

JOHN:  Right.

PHIL:  Or some other things that actually outdo a Roth.

JOHN:  Right.

PHIL:  So those are the things I look at.  I try to get people on the idea of tax-free retirement income rather than taxable retirement incomes.

JOHN:  I got you.  In fact, we were just talking—pick up that book—talking about the tax man and the IRS.  Phil is part of a group called Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group, which you’re probably the only guy in Murfreesboro or maybe one of the few in Middle Tennessee that’s even a part of this group.  They get together—

PHIL:  Twice a year.

JOHN:  —twice a year and they go over—just this right here is one year of tax law changes, just in one year.  So this guy is on top of this stuff.  But what was interesting is a few weeks ago, Phil and I were having lunch and I looked at Phil because I’ve been thinking about this.  I said, “Phil, every year I’m told to put as much as I can into my IRA.  I’m told to just man, really pump that up.  That’s how you’re going to get wealthy, retirement income.”

And I was thinking about it and I said, “Okay, I’m taking every dime I can muster to put it in here because I’m supposedly saving taxes, tax savings in this current year.  But it’s going to grow and it’s going to grow—hopefully—although it hasn’t.  And then when I pull it out at 59-1/2 I’m going to be paying taxes on it.  Correct?”  And he said, “Yeah, You’re right, John.”  And I said, “But Phil, I don’t know what the tax rates going to be then.  So is this really smart?  I don’t know.  I’m uncertain.”

And he made the greatest analogy that I want him to share with you today, and it really hit home with me.  And that’s about the corn.  We’ve got corn here, guys.  There’s a reason.  We’ve got our props.

PHIL:  You know, I might, John, add to that it would be like you with one of your clients and they’re buying a house.  And they go to the bank to get the loan and the banker says, “Sure, we’ll let you borrow the money, but we’ll set the interest rate later on that, what that will cost you later.”

JOHN:  Yeah.  It’s kind of an unknown out there.

PHIL:  I don’t know that many people would be taking advantage of that.

JOHN:  Right.

PHIL:  But my point about my illustration that I told you about a few weeks ago was I compared it to a 401K or IRA plan to a farmer who gets ready in the springtime of the year to do his spring planning, so he goes to the co-op and he goes to buy seed.  And the co-op manager that year says, “John, this year, if you want to you can pay the tax over here on the seed.  And if you pay the tax over here on the seed, then when the harvest comes in over here, all that money will be yours tax free.  On the other hand, if you want to defer the tax over here, then when this comes in at the end, you’re going to be taxed on all of that money and we don’t know what the tax rate’s going to be in the future.”

That’s the deal we have with our government.  And so the point there about all the tax law changes, this is the tax law change in one year.  And so it’s constantly changing.  It’s manipulated.  It’s kind of like social security when it all began.  If you go back and look at the tenets of how it began, it was going to be tax-free money; it was going to deductible, the amount that you put in.  None of those things are true today because the government makes the rules.

It’s like former President Gerald Ford, back when he was living, I had lunch with him one day in Nashville.  And I was talking to him about what I did, and he said, “Just always remember this.  Any government big enough to give you something is a government big enough to take it all away.”  And I’ve never really forgotten that.

JOHN:  That’s very true.

PHIL:  And it’s certainly true in 401K, IRA distributions, SEPs and any other qualified retirement plan where somebody’s getting a deduction.  There is no tax savings.

JOHN:  Right.

PHIL:  The terminology’s wrong, and yet I hear everybody say they’re going to save taxes.  The terminology’s wrong.  They’re deferring taxes.

JOHN:  They’re deferring it to a later date on the growth, and we don’t know what the rate is.

PHIL:  It’s the harvest there.

JOHN:  The harvest.

PHIL:  And then you’ve got many people that have risk instruments, so in our illustration here today, you could take away half the basket of the harvest here because that’s where a lot of people are right now.

JOHN:  Right.

PHIL:  They’ve got half of what they used to have, and yet that half hasn’t been taxed yet either.

JOHN:  Wow.  That’s interesting.  That’s good stuff.  Phil, if somebody wanted to contact you what’s your phone number out there?

PHIL:  Our phone number is of course 615, but the number is 895-7773.

JOHN:  What about your website?

PHIL:  The website’s CavenderFinancial.com.

JOHN:  Phil, thank you so much.  I love your wisdom.  I think it’s very powerful, and I think it makes a lot of sense.  And I think your clients have done pretty well over the last few years compared to most.  Wouldn’t you say?

PHIL:  We haven’t lost a dollar of anybody’s money.

JOHN:  Well, maybe I should have found you a few years ago, but Phil, thank you man.  I appreciate you so much.

PHIL:  You’re welcome.  Thank you.

JOHN:  Okay.

• Curb Appeal – Make your house look as good as possible from the outside so buyers will be excited about getting inside.  Manicure your yard and garden; put fresh mulch around trees and shrubs.  Pressure wash siding, decks, and sidewalks.  Caulk around the doors and windows.
• Cleaning – Clean the inside of your house like never before.  Pull out the stove and refrigerator.  Scrub the toilets and tile until they sparkle.  When a house doesn’t look and smell clean, buyers tend to search harder for other problems.
• Move Pets Early – Once the house is clean, find someone to keep your pets while the house is on the market.  Pets and pet odors are a huge turnoff to many potential buyers.
• Staging – Consider hiring a professional stager to help you put your home in the best possible light.  They don’t cost as much as you think and can be a real difference maker in the sale of your home.

In this edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee Rob "Peanut" Janson sits down with CEO of Star Power and CDPE Alex Charfen in Murfreesboro TN to discuss the Star Power 2010 Conference which was just held in Murfreesboro at Embassy Suites featuring Dave Ramsey as the Keynote Speaker.

Tuesday Morning Coffee is also available as an iTunes Podcast HERE or you can watch this episode on your iPad/iPhone HERE.

Transcript

ROB:  Welcome to another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee.  Obviously, I’m not John Jones.  This is my first time ever being the man in front of the camera instead of behind it.  But we’re going to do this special edition, STAR Power edition, and John doesn’t know about it.  And I think he’ll be pretty surprised when he sees this.  I’m Rob Janson, better known as Peanut.  I am marketing and technology with our company.  And I have with me the man who needs no introduction in the real industry, Alex Charfen.

ALEX:  Thanks for having me, Rob.

ROB:  So why did you choose Murfreesboro as your spot for the event here? 

ALEX:  Well Rob, there were several considerations.  One was we had Dave Ramsey as a keynote speaker.  We wanted to make things convenient for him.  And we also wanted to choose an area where we could get a hotel that we kind of controlled the whole hotel.  So everybody was in one place—the vendors, the participants, the speakers—everybody kind of got to spend a lot of time together.  It was very close quarters, which we wanted.  We wanted people to really be able to interact.

We knew it was going to be a smaller conference, and in order to get everything you could out of it, you really could spend a lot of time with each person.  Also, it helped a lot that John and you and Joe are here in this area.  And John, I can’t thank you enough for all your help with this convention.  You really helped make this possible.

ROB:  So, you didn’t foresee the flood?

ALEX:  Can you imagine had we booked at the Grand Ole Opry, we wouldn’t have an event right now.

ROB:  I appreciate you coming even if it’s not just because I’m here.  But tell me a little bit about how you got Dave Ramsey as our keynote speaker.  That’s pretty interesting for all of us in Middle Tennessee.

ALEX:  My Dave Ramsey story is one similar to many people.  I found his information through my wife who started reading it probably about 3-1/2 years ago—maybe a little longer.  I’m not good with timelines.  But when we went through a personal financial reversal, we used Dave Ramsey’s materials to get us through that and we read his books.  We read his books; we bought Financial Peace University.  You get hired at my company—you might even get one when you interview at my company—we hand everybody a copy of Total Money Makeover.

Even people we haven’t hired.  If we can tell that they need some help, we give it to them as a gift.  And it has been an absolutely revolutionary thing for our business.  And to show you just how amazing it is when you’re doing the right thing, within about two years or three years of reading those materials, I was invited to speak at Dave Ramsey’s Accelerate Conference.  And we spoke at accelerate; we saw that there was tremendous synergies between our two companies.  Their company has been incredibly gracious about helping us and supporting us as a company.

And from Accelerate to our entire executive team spending the week with the Ramsey Company down in the Bahamas, we asked Dave and he committed to speak here, and I think he shared information that will absolutely change the 500, 600 people, however many showed up to that presentation, I think it will change their lives.  And it’s amazing to me that somebody that in two hours can change paradigms, shift belief systems, and really get people started on the path to financial freedom.

ROB:  I have never actually seen him speak, and I can say on a personal level he really changed my life.

ALEX:  Sure.  Oh, I know exactly how you feel, Rob.  We go through our lives with such a low level of financial confidence, and everything that Dave teaches is common sense.  And everything that he teaches, any one of us can apply.  And for me and for Katie, we went through the seven baby steps in about a year and nine months.  We went all the way through and now we’re in the wealth-building stage.  We haven’t bought a house for cash yet, but we’ve saved all the money to do that.  And I can tell you that when you start going through those steps, it changes your relationship with money.

And it changes the outcome with money.  And you start budgeting and doing all the things that you’re supposed to do.  And really, money changes with you.  And the amazing thing is people say money isn’t everything.  But I’ll tell you, it sure does make things a lot easier, and I can tell you that financial stress makes things harder.  So while money doesn’t buy happiness, the lack of money absolutely buys pain and suffering and all the other things that you just don’t want to have in your life.  And that’s why it’s such valuable material.

ROB:  Not on a business level, on a personal level, he really spoke to me as a—I’m financially irresponsible.

ALEX:  The decision to change your life can be made right now.  And if you commit to it right now and you decide that you’re no longer going to be financially irresponsible and you start looking at the value of running your life in a financially prudent way, you can change your life right now.  And your life changes.  We’ll see the effects in a year or two.

ROB:  Right.  After being in Murfreesboro, what did you think of our city?

ALEX:  You know, I think it’s awesome.  It’s great.  The people here were incredibly supportive.  We went around at a local restaurant, and they were amazing.  This is one of the best hotel staffs that we’ve been able to work with.  And I think that from an attendee point of view and from our staff’s point of view, I don’t know that we could have been treated any better here.  It was absolutely fantastic.  And no major hang-ups with the hotel.  Anything that we needed done, they fixed it.

The local restaurants even brought in additional staff and additional people and additional cooks to deal with our convention.  So what a great city.  What a really nice population.  I mean, they’re just a supportive, salt-of-the-earth population.  And I’ll tell you, I know I already said something, but you, John, Joe, everybody at John Jones Real Estate really helped us pull this off.  And I can’t thank you guys enough.

ROB:  I’ll tell you what, The Star Power Conference is such an inspiration to us.  What is your inspiration?

ALEX:  I’ll tell you, Rob.  My inspiration is the fact that for some reason, and sometimes it shows itself and sometimes it doesn’t, but for some reason I’ve been blessed to connect with and be influenced by and spend time with people that it’s just not normal to be able to do that.  Then it’s amazing.  The people who are just giants of the real estate industry and really any industry for some reason I have had the privilege of connecting with those people.  And on a daily basis, I think my inspiration is living up to the responsibility that having that kind of mentorship provides.

And really I think that every day I wake up in the morning with a simple intention.  And anybody who’s heard me speak has heard it.  It’s to be the best husband I can be, the best father I can be, and help as many people on a daily basis achieve their goals as I possibly can.  And that’s my inspiration.  Seeing people come to an event like this and grow and be challenged and have personal revelations like the one that you had.  That is inspires me like you wouldn’t believe.

ROB:  Any closing words?  What’s coming down the pike for Star Power?

ALEX:  Well, there’s some amazing stuff coming up, and we are really excited about it.  We actually may have sold out at this conference.  I’m not sure.  But if we didn’t sell out, we’re very close.  We’ve got two new events coming up.  One is CDPE All Access.  And that’s CdpeAllAccess.com.  It’s going to be held in Austin, Texas.  Both are in Austin right at our headquarters.  We’re doing two very intimate events.  High profile, high-definition video recording, full camera shoot, full camera crew.

ROB:  Ahh, you’re talking my language now.

ALEX:  Yeah, it’s going to be exciting.  So we’re shooting our distance courses and we’re doing it in September and October in Austin.  So the first one is CDPE All Access, which is a very intimate rerecording of the CPDE with a whole bunch of extra stuff, a three-day event.  The second one is the launch of the CIAS or the Certified Investor Agent Specialist.  That’s also in October.  Those two launches are going to be tremendous for us.  The latter is really going to be interesting.  Brand new product never seen in the market before.

We’ve spent about eight months in development or heavy development.  It’s been on the drawing board for about a year and a half.  When CIAS comes out, I think it’s going to be just as impactful on the real estate as CDPE was.

ROB:  Is there websites we can go to?

ALEX:  CIAS.com.  So it’s Certified Investor Agent Specialist, CIAS.com.  And we launched it here.  We didn’t want anybody to know about it until they heard about it here at Star Power.  And that website will be up and running in the next two days.  We’re loading everything onto the server right now, and we’re really looking forward to launching that product.

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Transcript

TIM:  Tim Dutton here with another edition of Taste of the Town.  Folks, today I’m here at Bobby McKee’s and I’m sitting with George Pinger.  George, thank you for having us to begin with.

GEORGE:  I appreciate you guys coming down and showcasing some of our food.

TIM:  Hey man, I’ve looked forward to this one because I’ve heard the food is great.  George, do you want to tell folks where you guys are located?  Give them a little idea?

GEORGE:  We’re over by Stones River Mall in the Stones River Mall area right across from Shoe Carnival in front of Dillards.

TIM:  Off Old Fort Parkway right here in the mall area.  Now George, the atmosphere here at Bobby McKee’s, tell me a little bit about the basis of the atmosphere and what’s going on.

GEORGE:  Tim, what we tried to develop here was a fun environment with friendly, inexpensively priced food and then a wide variety, probably the largest variety, of imported beers in Murfreesboro.  We have over 60 beers on draft and we have another 62 in the cooler.  So we have a total of 122 different beers basically from all over the world.  So people can come in and try things—a double chocolate ale or a Swiss beer that they haven’t had the opportunity to try before.

TIM:  And it could take a little while to get through those.

GEORGE:  Take quite a while to get through it.

TIM:  Also, you’ve got the bar, which has got the environment.  Just sit down and take a minute out and have a drink or two.

GEORGE:  You know, we just wanted to create a fun, comfortable environment where people can come in, sit down and talk, and enjoy some good food and some good beverage.

TIM:  George, tell me a little bit about—I don’t know where to start.  Man, this stuff looks just great, just off the charts great.

GEORGE:  Obviously, small portions are not a factor here.

TIM:  I see that, man.  I see that.  What do we have right here?

GEORGE:  This here is our Irish nachos, and it’s a Bobby McKee’s twist to a traditional Mexican dish of nachos where we’re using the waffle fries.  And then it has pico de gallo with the cheese on it and some bacon and sour cream and chives.  And it’s all fat free.  We don’t charge anybody a dime for fat.

TIM:  Fat free, folks.  Right up my alley.

GEORGE:  The fat’s all free.  So this is our Irish nachos.  And then to your right, Tim is our—

TIM:  Let’s talk about these Irish nachos a minute.  What kind of cheese?

GEORGE:  It’s a cheddar cheese.

TIM:  It’s a cheddar cheese.

GEORGE:  A cheddar cheese.

TIM:  And you’ve got bacon, the sour cream…

GEORGE:  Tomato, chives, sour cream on it.

TIM:  Guys, you better not be watching your weight with this one.  And it is good to say the least.  Now George, excuse me.  I’m not going to even try to attempt the burger on camera, but trust me man, this thing we’re going to try it here in just a little bit.  What we got?

GEORGE:  This is our Big Bobby.  And this is a full one-pound hamburger.  It’s an angus ground beef and it’s actually four quarter-pound burgers that are all cooked on the grill and served with French fries.  And that’s another kind of a signature of ours here, and it comes with a variety of different cheeses if you’d like also.  And on an onion roll.

TIM:  And on an onion roll.  Guys, it looks terrific.  And I’m sure you need a couch after you got finished or a cot to take a little nap.

GEORGE:  Exactly.

TIM:  That and a few brewskies.  We’re in.

GEORGE:  And you’re good to go.

TIM:  Absolutely.  Now George, what do we have right here?

GEORGE:  There is our fish and chips, which is our most popular dish.  This particular one is served with the sweet potato fries and it’s an Icelandic cod.  You get three pieces that are about three ounces a piece.  It’s dipped in a beer batter, deep fried, and also served with either tartar sauce or malt vinegar.  A big difference between this and your traditional fish and chips that they serve over in England is we’re not putting newspaper on the plate.

TIM:  I’m going to personally guarantee this right here.  That is top-quality fish and it comes with the sweet potatoes.

GEORGE:  Comes with the sweet potato fries.

TIM:  Sweet potato fries.  Finally, George—

GEORGE:  The last, which I’m trying to get standing here.

TIM:  Hey man, it’s too tall.

GEORGE:  This is one of our signature desserts.  We actually have three desserts that we feature at night.  One is our six-layer carrot cake.  Once again, this is more of a dessert for two people.  We also have our Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake, which is made actually by a local company right down the street.  Cornerstone Cheesecakes makes it to our recipe.

TIM:  Great.

GEORGE:  So we use a Murfreesboro company to make our cheesecake.  And then we also have a chocolate bread pudding that we serve.  But I thought I’d bring this one out to start with, get you started on this.  This gives you your morning sugar jolt.  If I can get it to stand up.

TIM:  Let’s if we can ease it over here.

GEORGE:  And those of you who like carrot cake, it’s definitely the ultimate in carrot cake.  And that there is a dot of Lipitor that we put on the side of it.

TIM:  Y’all, you will not regret a visit and a taste of any of this stuff, and I’m sure all the other that they provide.  And man, the portion size of this is just to write home about.  George, do you have a special for the people that say they saw it on Taste of the Town?

GEORGE:  You come in and tell Shawn, our general manager, or whatever manager is here you saw Tim’s show and we’ll give you half price off on an appetizer.  But come in and say hello.  Let us know that you saw Tim.

TIM:  Well, guys.  That’s about it for this edition of Taste of the Town.  And remember, if you’re thinking real estate, think Tim Dutton.

Firstly please let us apologize for the late edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee this week. While the episode was delivered Tuesday morning as schedules to those subscribed via RSS feed, iTunes Podcast, www.DNJ.com, our www.JohnCJones.com homepage, and all the various video and social media outlets, we know many of our viewers prefer to get their weekly fill of Tuesday Morning Coffee right here on our blog. The good news is the late posting to the blog is due to a very exciting (and hectic) week here in Murfreesboro. The annual Star Power real estate conference just wrapped up at Embassy Suites here in Murfreesboro. As the host city our team was able to play hosts to a large contingent of the nation's top Realtors, as well as a number of local real estate agents who were in attendance to gain inspiration and network with a Who's Who of the real estate industry. We certainly came away with a renewed vigor and intensity after spending four days sharing and learning from the best in the industry in sessions covering every aspect of real estate, six of which featured members of The Jones Team and a very inspired keynote address by middle Tennessee's own Dave Ramsey. You can expect some great content in the coming weeks. So without further adue here's this week's Tuesday Morning Coffee.

In this continuation of last week's episode Murfreesboro Realtors John Jones and Debbie Flowers sit down to discuss lead generation and follow up.

For more Tuesday Morning Coffee visit www.TuesdayMorningCoffee.com

Tuesday Morning Coffee is also available as an HD iTunes Podcast HERE or you can watch this episode on your iPad/iPhone HERE.

Transcript

JOHN:  All right.  Hey, John Jones back with you from last week.  We’ve got Part 2, Debbie Flowers, the broker team leader with Keller Williams here in town and my old colleague.  We used to work together for many years at Snow and Wall Realtors.  And last week, we touched on lead generation.

DEBBIE:  Right.

JOHN:  But we really didn’t go in depth.  Talk to me about what you’re training your folks on lead generation.  When we say “lead generation,” how are we generating these leads?  I know it can be different for everybody.  Tell us a little bit about what you guys are doing.

DEBBIE:  Okay.  Well, first off, I want to say that lead generation is very, very critical to your business.  You and I both know that.  Lead generation it’s your business.  It’s what you do.

JOHN:  Sure.

DEBBIE:  You have to go out and get the lead, but you’ve got to find ways that work for you.  One of the things we teach our agents is you have to talk to 10 live people a day about real estate.  Now you’ve got to find what works for you.  Is it social media?  I have agents that love Facebook.  They get a lot of leads from social media.  Is it past clients?  Is it going out passing out your business cards every day, meeting people in the community?  Is it door knocking or cold calling?  We have agents that do nothing but cold call all day until they get their leads.

But you’ve got to talk to 10 live people a day, 50 people a week.

JOHN:  Right.

DEBBIE:  That’s one of the things.

JOHN:  And I agree with that.  I remember when I was new in the business, there was another agent that started the same time I did and she was a female.  And she was excellent on the phone.  I mean, she would just call for sale by owners daily and she could work them.  I wasn’t so good on the phone, so I really used open houses.  I was more a face-to-face person.  I did better in front of people. 

So like for instance when we’re talking about this, I would be someone that would probably want to do more social events or breaking breads, taking people out to eat, open houses—wherever I could get in front of people, that would work better for me.  There’s some other people that they’re animals on the phone, and I think you do have to find the perfect fit.

DEBBIE:  Right.

JOHN:  Database follow-up.

DEBBIE:  Wow.

JOHN:  Or touches.  Let’s talk about touches.  Everybody has a different thing on this.  All right.  Let’s say that you meet somebody at open house.

DEBBIE:  Right.

JOHN:  You have a pretty good rapport.  They’re not working with another agent.  What do you guys say as far as how many times do we have to touch somebody before we’re going to bring them in to build that trust?

DEBBIE:  Thirty-three touches.

JOHN:  Thirty-three touches.

DEBBIE:  Yep.

JOHN:  In 33 touches, how long is that spread out over?  What kind of timeframe?

DEBBIE:  I’d say in a year.

JOHN:  You want to touch them 33 times.

DEBBIE:  Oh, yeah.  Immediately, they need to get a thank you for coming to your open house.

JOHN:  Sure.

DEBBIE:  You know, immediately.  And then follow up with them.  And one of the things too is you’ve got to categorize your buyers that you meet at these open houses.  They might not be an A buyer.  It doesn’t mean as an A buyer they’ve got to buy and be in a house tomorrow.  But they may be a B or C buyer where they have a house to sell.  They’re going to move in the future.  You’ve got to categorize your buyers.  But you’ve got to set them up in a touch program so when they get ready, they think of you.

JOHN:  Yeah.

DEBBIE:  Does that make sense?

JOHN:  I think one of the biggest mistakes we make as agents, and I know I have over the years, is I work my A buyers real, real hard.

DEBBIE:  Oh, yeah.

JOHN:  And if I’m working a lead and I realize they weren’t an A buyer, then I put them over here and eventually they’d fall into the garbage can.

DEBBIE:  Yep.

JOHN:  But then I’d look around 10 months later; I’d see these folks buying a house somewhere.  And boy, it just hurt my feelings, but then I’d just have to go look in the mirror because I did nothing to stay in touch with them.

DEBBIE:  Oh, yeah.

JOHN:  The key is plug them in the system because some people might walk through an open house and then it be 18 months before they’re a buyer.

DEBBIE:  Before they buy.

JOHN:  But if they’re in a system—and I think you have to have a system—

DEBBIE:  You have to have a system.  I do Top Producer.

JOHN:  Top Producer is a great one.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.  Top Producer’s great.

JOHN:  And I think what we’re both saying is it doesn’t matter if it’s Top Producer, Agent Office, Real Pro or whatever—even ACT!—have something where it systemizes a way for you to touch them.  Today I’m supposed to call them.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  Next Thursday, they’re getting an e-mail.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  The following Wednesday, they’re getting a postcard, whatever.

DEBBIE:  I think one of the things that agents forget too is when you’re out there selling, you’re not selling a product; you’re selling yourself.  People like to know if they like you.  They want to know if they can trust you, and really you’re selling yourself.  You’re not selling real estate or a product.  You’re selling you.

JOHN:  Right.

DEBBIE:  So I think that’s something you have to remember.

JOHN:  I think we all want to do business with people we like.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  You know what I mean?

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  I think you and I both know we could probably go out and find somebody that could give us a little bit better deal on a haircut.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  Or we could go find somebody that might give us a little bit better deal on a car somewhere or clothes.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  But we end up gravitating back to people not so much because it’s the best deal or whatever.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  Because we like them and we trust them.

DEBBIE:  Because you like them and you trust them.  Absolutely.

JOHN:  That’s right.  That’s right.  Well, this is great stuff.  We could go on and on for hours.

DEBBIE:  We could.

JOHN:  But we don’t want to spend too much time of your day.  But thank you, guys.  Thank you, Debbie for all that you do for your industry here, constantly doing things.

DEBBIE:  Thank you, John.  Thank you for being a leader.

JOHN:  So anyway, thank you guys.  If you need us, JohnCJones.com.  Thank you.

This week's Taste of the Town Special? 10% off your total bill at Sal's Pizza in Murfreesboro just for mentioning Taste of the Town!

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Transcript

TIM:  Tim Dutton here with another edition of Taste of the Town.  And folks, today, we’re at Sal’s Pizza, which is located on Church Street, and I’m sitting here with Rosa who is Sal’s daughter.  Now Rosa, tell the truth.  Your dad’s name isn’t Sal is it?

ROSA:  Yes, sir.  It is.

TIM:  That just sounds so Italian, New Yorkish.  Tell me about the background of your family and the pizza business.

ROSA:  Okay, first of all, his name is Sal.  It’s Salvatore, and both of my parents were born in Sicily, Italy.  And I was born in Brooklyn New York.  My parents came down here in 1976 and started pizzerias, the first pizza by the slice.  And we have been doing so since then.

TIM:  So we are talking about authentic Sicilian…?

ROSA:  Yes, sir.  Everything is made from scratch from the dough to our sauces to our cheese we shred ourselves.  Everything is prepared fresh daily.  There’s no preservatives, no artificial flavorings.  Everything’s made by Italians.  They’re both from Sicily.

TIM:  By authentic Italians.

ROSA:  Yes, sir.  Yes, sir.

TIM:  This is not just a name on a menu?

ROSA:  No, sir.  My father’s name is Salvatore, and we are Italian like I said, and we’ve been serving pizza to the people of Nashville since 1976.  It started in Hickory Hollow Mall.

TIM:  And you guys, y’all do a buffet here.

ROSA:  Yes, sir.  Seven days a week from 11 to 2.

TIM:  And it’s all you can eat.

ROSA:  For $6.99.

TIM:  You’ve got spaghetti.  I saw some pasta.

ROSA:  Yes, sir.  We have three or four different types of pasta.  Every day it changes.  Same with three or four different kinds of pizza.  Fresh garlic bread.  Then we also make a pasta salad and then a house salad, cucumber tomato salad.  And then we also have several desserts.  And it is all you can eat, seven days a week from 11 to 2.

TIM:  Now what hours are you guys open because you do other things other than the buffet?

ROSA:  Of course, we have a full dine-in and takeout menu with all different kinds of pasta dishes, almost every type of pasta dish imaginable, along with a very full menu of different variations of pizza.  And we’re open from 10 to 10 during the week and 10 till later on the weekends.  We are a mom and pop restaurant, so depending on business, we stay open later if needed.

TIM:  If need be?

ROSA:  Yes, sir.

TIM:  Now Rosa, we took three different samples of what you guys put out on the buffet.

ROSA:  Yes, sir.

TIM:  And you’re going to have to help me a little bit.

ROSA:  Okay.

TIM:  And I’ve been eating regular pizza all my life—

ROSA:  All your life.

TIM:  —and love it.  But it’s just been regular pizza.  I think the first time I came here was a couple of weeks ago and I said we have got to do a show on this restaurant.

ROSA:  Well, thank you, sir.

TIM:  Tell me a little bit about what we have here.

ROSA:  Okay, that’s our double crust, which is two layers of hand-tossed dough.  And in the center, we load it with Italian meats, which would be like our Genoa salami, ham, Italian sausage, pepperoni, and beef, and it’s got two layers of cheese.  And then of course it’s baked in the oven, and it’s called the Sal’s Double Crust.

TIM:  Sal’s Double Crust, eh?

ROSA:  Yep, because it’s got two crusts and the meat inside and then there’s also cheese and sauce inside and then cheese on the top.

TIM:  And the person overseeing my diet wouldn’t have a problem at all with me eating this, would they?

ROSA:  It’s delicious.

TIM:  This is right up my alley.  Guys, if you’ve never eaten true Italian pizza, you have got to come here and try this out.  That is magnificent.  I don’t know the words to describe what you and Sal have put….

ROSA:  Thank you, sir.  Everything is fresh.  Everything was made today, and like I said, we’re blessed because my father is getting older and we’ve brought Alex in as my father’s partner and he’s done a stupendous job in upholding his reputation and quality of food.

TIM:  That’s as good as it gets.

ROSA:  We’ve been very fortunate and blessed.  The people of Nashville as well.  Thank you so much.

TIM:  Because that’s kind of where you guys got started in Nashville was it?

ROSA:  Well, my father started originally in Brooklyn, New York, but Nashville has really brought us to another step of success.

TIM:  Right.  And you’ve been in Murfreesboro for how long?

ROSA:  About a year now, sir.

TIM:  About a year?

ROSA:  But 30-something years, since 1976 in Nashville.

TIM:  Yeah.  Now tell me about this one.

ROSA:  This is the typical, hand-tossed, New York-style pizza, which is just straight up New York style, a nice big slice of New York pizza.

TIM:  Thin crust.  Now how do New Yorkers eat this?  Do they fold it over?

ROSA:  We fold it in half, sir.  Just like that.

TIM:  Like this right here?

ROSA:  Uh-huh, and it should stand straight up and you should be able to eat it perfectly like that when you know it’s a good slice of pizza.  Just like that.

TIM:  And it is a good slice of pizza.

ROSA:  Thank you, sir.

TIM:  The taste is…

ROSA:  Well, because our pizza sauce is homemade.  It’s out own special blend of cheeses.  No fillers.  My father uses only real mozzarella.  It’s all real products.  You’re getting the real deal.

TIM:  And you know what?  It tastes that way.  No need for me to go to New York or Italy?

ROSA:  No, sir.  No, sir.

TIM:  Either one.  I’ve got it right here in Murfreesboro.

ROSA:  You’ve got it right here.

TIM:  Finally, what do we have right here, Rosa?

ROSA:  This is our typical stromboli, and you can get it in any way you’d like with any toppings.  This one was made with pepperoni and cheese, and of course, we sprinkle it with parmesan, oregano, and dress it with a little bit of our garlic olive oil.  And we also make calzones, but the stromboli is very popular.

TIM:  Now do people just pick it up and make a mess out of themselves with it?

ROSA:  Yes, sir.  And a lot of people like to dunk it in some marinara sauce.  But it’s loaded with cheeses.  You’re making me laugh.

TIM:  Oh, my goodness.  I could not work here.  I’ve got issues anyway.

ROSA:  No, it’s really healthy for you.  Hey, pizza’s got all four food groups all in one slice.

TIM:  I love it.  You know what?  It may not be how long you live; it’s how you live.

ROSA:  It’s how you live.  Exactly.  Hey, and Italians, we eat good; we live good; and we work hard.

TIM:  This is terrific.  Hey, one of the things that I wanted to mention.  Sal’s is located on Church Street and it’s kind of across from the Waffle House as you’re getting ready to go over the interstate on the left.  It’s in the old Burger King building on the left-hand side before you get to I-24.  Rosa, do you have a special for people that came in and say they saw you guys on Taste of the Town and want to try it out?

ROSA:  I’ll give them 10% off their check.

TIM:  Ten percent off their purchase?

ROSA:  Yes, their purchase.

TIM:  I guarantee you, you will not regret this.  Well, that’s about it for this edition of Taste of the Town.  And remember, if you’re thinking real estate, think Tim Dutton.

In this episode of Tuesday Morning Coffee John Jones interviews Debbie Flowers, the Broker/Team Leader of Keller Williams Realty in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In part one of this three part series they discuss the importance of staying positive in a down market and the nuts and bolts of the real estate industry, lead generation.

Tuesday Morning Coffee is also available as an HD iTunes Podcast HERE or you can watch this episode on your iPad/iPhone HERE.

Transcript

JOHN:  Hey, John Jones here with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee.  It’s with great honor and privilege, I have an awesome old friend—not old.  Great friend, Debbie Flowers, with me today.  When I started in the business, Debbie was at Snow and Wall Realtors here in Murfreesboro, and I worked with her for several years.  And now Debbie is the broker team leader—

DEBBIE:  For Keller Williams

JOHN:  —for Keller Williams here in Murfreesboro.  Just wanted to make sure I got the terminology correct.  And let me tell you something about Debbie.  Debbie is one of the most positive people that I’ve ever been around in the business, and I can see where she is really doing a good job over there.

DEBBIE:  Thank you.

JOHN:  She was a great producer.  She’s gotten out of the production mode for the last five or six years and is more into managing and coaching and training, and she gets right in the middle of it.  So I wanted to have Debbie on today because I wanted to talk about the things that they’re doing over there and we were going to kind of share with some things I’m doing here.  And this will work for any industry.  Anybody in sales I think will benefit from this.  So it’s a real treat and I’m glad to have you, Debbie.

DEBBIE:  Thank you.  Thank you, John.

JOHN:  What I’m going to start off with today, Debbie, obviously the media is telling us that we’ve been in a recession now for 2-1/2, 3 years and there has been a shift in the market.  And it’s not the same market that you and I knew the previous 15.  And running a business, and as many agents as you guys have over there, what do you do to deal with that?  What do you do to train against the negative and keep those people upbeat.  Tell me some things you guys are talking about over there.

DEBBIE:  Well, first off, it like you and I discussed before.  You can’t listen to the media.  You’ve gotta just stop watching the news.  If we all listen to the news, we’d just stay home in bed and never get up, right?  Don’t you agree?

JOHN:  I would go jump off a bridge.

DEBBIE:  So I think mindset is so critical in today’s market.  Ninety percent of everything you do is mindset.  You’ve gotta have a passion for what you do, and you’ve gotta really care about these people because they have a lot of sellers and buyers out there that are struggling.

JOHN:  That’s right.  You were talking about affirmations.

DEBBIE:  Affirmations, yes.

JOHN:  And I know a lot of people think that affirmations are goofy or whatever, but I’m a big believer in affirmations.

DEBBIE:  Absolutely.

JOHN:  I’m a big believer in that.  In fact, I was telling you earlier I used to have laminated cards in my shower that every day I would sit there and say, “I’m a listing animal.”

DEBBIE:  I’m a lean, mean, listing machine.

JOHN:  A lean, mean, listing machine.  Do you believe in affirmations?  Do you talk to your people about that?

DEBBIE:  Absolutely.  Absolutely.  Affirmations every day.  You’ve got to speak positive every day.  “I’m a lean, mean, listing machine.”  “Buyers and sellers are attracted to me.”  “I have what people want.  God loves me, and no one can take that away.”  Those type things.

JOHN:  That’s good stuff.  I love that stuff.

DEBBIE:  Thanks.

JOHN:  Talk to me about the knowledge and the education stuff y’all are doing.  With the shift in the market, it’s not the same market.  I mean, in ’06 I derived about 80% of my commission dollars from new construction.

DEBBIE:  Right.

JOHN:  And about 20 from existing.  And for me that’s flip-flopped now.  So what are you guys talking about as far as where the market is and how to articulate that to your clients or whatever?

DEBBIE:  Well, one thing I always say is when you get out of the learning business, you get out of the earning business.  Always remember that.

JOHN:  That’s awesome.

DEBBIE:  Always remember that.  Education is so critical, and knowledge is power.  If you want to have the right mindset, get all the education you need to be a professional in whatever business you’re in and then your mindset is so comfortable that you feel comfortable with what you’re doing.  But lead generation, as you know, we talk about it.  Real estate is a lead generation business.  It’s how many people can you talk to every day about your business.

JOHN:  In fact, we both know the quote from your CEO, Gary Keller, your founder and leader.  And he says in his book Millionaire Real Estate Agent, “We are not in the real estate business; we’re in the lead generation business.”

DEBBIE:  We’re in a lead generation business.

JOHN:  It’s not too hard to help somebody find a home once they choose you to work with them.

DEBBIE:  Right.

JOHN:  The hard part is getting them to choose you to work with them.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  We both had the good fortune, which was kind of unheard of 17 years ago and 23 years ago when you got in the business.

DEBBIE:  Right.

JOHN:  We had a leader, Howard Wall, at Snow and Wall, that was big into training.

DEBBIE:  Yeah.

JOHN:  And you didn’t get that back then.  And we were very fortunate.  But I can remember something Howard told me because when I started I was 24; I was scared to death.  And he said, “John, once you get through this training, you will know more than 95% of the people you’re going to come in contact with.”

DEBBIE:  Absolutely.

JOHN:  And that really gave me that armor to go out there.  When I had that knowledge, it gave me that armor and confidence to go out there and really have a shot at succeeding.

DEBBIE:  Absolutely.  And I want to give a kudos to Howard Wall.  You know, in your business you’re going to find—we call it the ring of five.  There’s five people that got you where you are today, and I want to say that Howard and Sally Wall are the people that got me where I am today because he gave me training knowledge that we did not get anywhere else back then..

JOHN:  No, it is incredible.

DEBBIE:  And it was how to get on the phone.  It was about lead generation.  It’s about passing out your business cards daily.  And if you remember, back in the day, he would have us go out back then in 1990 and pass out our business cards every day and come back and report to him of whose names and information we collected.

JOHN:  Yeah.  He held us accountable.

DEBBIE:  He held us accountable and we were doing the basics back then.

JOHN:  Right.

DEBBIE:  Before we even knew that that’s what we should be doing all along.

JOHN:  Right.  It’s amazing.  Well, guys, thank you for watching today.  Debbie, thank you so much.

DEBBIE:  Oh, you’re welcome.

JOHN:  And you know what?  We are going to follow it up with a part two that you’re going to see next week because this stuff is so good.  So anyway, thank you.  If you need us, call us or hit us at our website.

Find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TasteoftheTown or subscribe to our iTunes Podcast via This Link

View on iPad/iPhone HERE

Transcript

TIM:  Tim Dutton here with another edition of Taste of the Town.  Today, I’m sitting with Greg Baughn with the Great Harvest Bread Company here in Murfreesboro.  Greg, tell folks a little bit about where you’re located.  Help them to understand where you guys are.

GREG:  Okay.  Yeah.  We’re located at 2445 Memorial Blvd., and that is right across the street from SportsCom or we’re diagonally across the street from State Farm regional office, which houses about 1,600 employees.  We’re out 231 going toward Lebanon, right between MidSouth Bank and Rite Aid pharmacy.

TIM:  Right across from the Sports Com folks.  Now Greg, when I saw the name, I was thinking bread, but you guys man, y’all make sandwiches.  You’ve got just a wide variety from chicken breasts, salads, and different things.  Tell folks a little bit about what other things you do other than just the bread.

GREG:  Sure.  Well, of course, the thing that does drive us is our bread.  We’re a whole grain bakery.  We bring the wheat from Montana and we mill it in our store and then we make fresh bread from it.  From that, we also do various whole grain muffins, scones.  We do a thing called the Savannah Bar, which I can get one of those out here too.  So we do a lot of breakfast, people coming by and picking up a cup of coffee and a scone or muffin.  Or they can pick up a six pack of sweets for their office and take it by the office to feed employees.

TIM:  Great.

GREG:  Another thing we do is the lunch.  We have a pretty good walk-in business.  We’ve got several sandwiches that we do.  Of course, we’re making the bread from scratch every day.  And we also do catering, so we can put those sandwiches on trays or we can put them in boxes with boxed lunches.

TIM:  From breakfast all the way through dinner, you guys have something for people here.

GREG:  We do.  Now our hot sandwiches we only do from 11 to 3.  So we don’t do the hot sandwiches at night per se and we do close at 6:00.  So we’re not open until 8:00.

TIM:  Okay.  Greg, tell me a little bit about the sandwich we’ve got here and the type of bread we have.

GREG:  Okay.  This is our best-selling cold sandwich.  It’s a chicken salad sandwich.  And this sandwich comes with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and mayo.  And it’s on honey wheat bread.  So this bread actually, our honey wheat, only has purified water, yeast, salt, and honey, and our flour.  And that is our best-selling cold sandwich.  The one thing about our chicken salad I think that makes it so good is we have a sweet and spicy pecan in it and it’s all white meat chicken.  And it’s very high quality.  And I don’t think you’ll find much better than that.

TIM:  No.  And man, the details in that bite of bread alone with the chicken.  I mean, you can tell a world of difference between this bread right here and what is ordinarily put on sandwiches.

GREG:  Oh, yeah.  It’s going to be a lot different than store-bought bread because we’re making it from scratch.  We’re making it just like let’s say your grandmother would take a wheat berry and mash it.  All natural.  We’re making our own flour, and it’s very difficult to make whole grain bread like that, and that’s what Great Harvest has perfected.

TIM:  That is good.  Now Greg, we’re got another sandwich here.  Tell me a little bit about it.

GREG:  Now that is our spicy smoked turkey pepper jack panini.

TIM:  That’s a mouthful.

GREG:  It is.  It is.  And it’s also a mouthful when you take a bite of it.  But it’s a very lean turkey with a pepper jack cheese.  It’s got lettuce and tomato and it also has a chipotle mayo.  And it’s on an Italian herb focaccia bread that has basil, oregano, and olive oil.  And that’s something that we make right here in the store.  And that is probably the best-selling panini sandwich, that and the Tuscan chicken that we have.

TIM:  Guys, y’all need to come in and try this.  This is different, but it is great.  I mean great.  Now Greg, I think you’ve got a sample of all the different bread that you guys cook.  What are some of the different ones?

GREG:  We’ve got a lot of our breads right here.  And I already talked about the honey wheat.  So we actually mill our wheat.  We add purified water, yeast, salt, and honey, and that’s going to be our honey wheat bread.  That is the base of all of our whole grain breads.  This bread is actually a Dakota bread.  So you can’t really probably see it very well, but we add pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, millet, and sesame seed to our honey wheat and we make a Dakota bread.

And this is a whole grain goodness bread.  So we take our honey wheat and we’re going to add millet, sunflower seed, flax seed, some pecans, and whole almonds in that.  So that is full of all healthy stuff.  It’s called whole grain goodness.  This is the pumpernickel rye, which you’ve probably had before.  It’s a pumpernickel, caraway seed bread.  It’s going to be colored a little bit and it’s got a really nice texture.  And people who like that kind of bread, they love it.  And people who don’t like it don’t like it.  But they know what I’m talking about with the pumpernickel rye.

TIM:  Right.

GREG:  This is a strawberry shortcake muffin, and this is a peaches and cream muffin.  And then this right here, that’s our Italian herb focaccia, which this sandwich is on.

TIM:  I can account for that one.  It is great.  Greg, all your bread man, it’s such a cut above anything that you’re going to get anywhere else.

GREG:  It is.  Yeah, I think it’s going to be a cut above definitely the grocery store.  You are going to pay a little bit more for the bread than at the grocery, but our bread keeps seven to ten days on the counter.  You can also double bag and freeze the bread, and it freezes really well.  And it’s hard to really get that bread to mold just because it’s all natural.

TIM:  Right.

GREG:  It’s the good stuff.

TIM:  Exactly.  Now Greg, do you have a special for the people that come in and say that they saw you guys on Taste of the Town?

GREG:  Yeah.  Right now, if you come in our store and say that you saw us on Taste of the Town, we’re going to give you a free lunch cookie with your sandwich purchase.  So you just tell us that you saw us on Taste of the Town and when you order a sandwich, we’ll give you a free chocolate chip lunch cookie.

TIM:  That is great.  So guys, that’s about it for this edition of Taste of the Town.  And remember if you’re thinking about hot, quality bread, think Great Harvest Bread Co., and if you’re thinking top quality real estate service, think Tim Dutton.

A comparison of the Murfreesboro TN area real estate statistics from June 2009 and June 2009 as well as the year-to-date numbers. John Jones explains why the statistics support that the Rutherford County real estate market has finally stabilized.

Tuesday Morning Coffee is also available as an HD iTunes Podcast HERE or you can watch this episode on your iPad/iPhone HERE.

Transcript

JOHN:  Hey, John Jones with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee.  Thanks for tuning in.  We’re going to go over June numbers today that came out last week.  I was interested to see what June looked like.  June we had 8% more closings this June than we did last June.  I still feel like that is part of that carry over from the tax credit.  Remember, those had to be closed by the end of June.  They did extend it a little bit to be closed; I think gave them 90 days, but for the most part, everybody was in at that point.  So they were up 9%.

Now an interesting statistic that I was really more concerned with, what were pendings for the month?  Pendings for June were 17% less than last June.  And I know that’s less, but quite honestly, I was surprised it wasn’t more and I’m happy to see it was not more because the tax credit had run out, we knew there were going to be less pendings, but I honestly thought that number would be higher than 17%.  So let’s kind of recap the last few months.  Okay, you had April, which was kind of a record month as far as closings, 54% up over last April.

A lot of that had to do with the tax credit.  May was 21% over last May.  There again, a lot of that had to do with the deals that were written before the end of April for the tax credit, and June was slightly up as well.  I think we’re going to see some small decreases for the next few months as far as closings compared to last year.  But I don’t think they’re as bad as what maybe I anticipated or at least I hope not.  The pendings for this month give me hope.  Another interesting statistic.  Our closed sales price was almost dead even year to date with this time last year.

Year to date last year we were at $165,587 average close price.  This year, we’re at 165,538, so I mean it’s like $50 off, which is incredible.  That tells me that maybe we’re kind of stabilizing on evaluations here a little bit.  Another thing, year to date, we have closed on 21% more homes this time this year than we had this time last year.  Twenty-one percent, so we’re still on an increase there.  That’s about all I have.  If you guys have anything or need anything real estate-related, please call us at 867-3020.  We would love to help.  And you can see us on our website at JohnC.Jones.com.  Thank you.