Quote that made me pause

I’ve been a subscriber of Signal vs. Noise by 37 signals ever since I watched the first presentation of Ruby on Rails at OSCON 2005.  Recently a post really spoke to me, from a technical and business perspective, which was probably the point.

Overall the entire post was great, but this was the quote that stopped, drew me back to read it again, and ponder it’s meaning.

“Training is a tax you pay for a lousy hiring environment…Marketing is a tax you pay for being unremarkable.”
-Robert Stephens of Geek Squad in A Geek’s Guide to Great Service

The first part, I can probably argue with to some level until the cows come home.  That’s my nature, to argue.  I’m also an advocate of training.  I live in a world that changes, rapidly, I have to learn new things and I assume, even expect those around me to keep up with the changes.  New employees will have to be trained on either environment that they will be expected to contribute in.  It’s only part of the hiring process.  But that’s not the point, I discounted that part of the quote, it’s the second part that is true.

Marketing is a tax you pay for being unremarkable. This probably spoke even louder to me just for the simple fact it was 37 signals that was sharing the message with me.  A company that is remarkable.  They have developed their entire business to be different, remarkable.  Even their blog adds value to those that follow it.  And as someone that reads a lot of technical and business books (for fun at that), I study remarkable companies, Southwest Airlines, GE, Apple.  I learn as much as I can, trying to find some lessons that I can apply to my life and my businesses.

With the current market that my businesses exist in, I find myself thinking more about marketing, and getting the word out about my services.  How can I let the world know about me and my services?  Just as I’m trying to figure it out, here comes that quote, Marketing is the tax for not being remarkable.  I realize that I’m having to pay a tax and I would prefer not to.  I want to be remarkable, I want people to seek me out, but I have failed at that, or at least partially.  When I create a system or solve a technical problem, I draw lots of attention, I’m remarkable and am considered as someone that thinks out of the box.  But that is not true of my Real Estate business.

Where am I failing, how can I improve?  These are tough questions.   When I code, I can try lots of different things, benchmark results, try different angles, all in a matter of a couple of hours.  When I help someone buy or sell real estate, I don’t have that luxury.  I have to be more conservitive to protect them and their interests.  Does that mean that I can’t be remarkable?  No, I think I can find a way to be remarkable.

I’m already remarkable in the fact that I check and double check the details of the transactions, I’m almost annoying with my questions on anything that seems out of place.  Title agents know that I am reviewing the HUD-1 with a microscope.  But those things are already expected of the agent, therefore not really remarkable.  I will tour homes that my clients may be interested in purchasing, taking additional photos, giving them impressions, in hopes of saving time later, again, they appreciate the extra work, but not really remarkable.

Maybe I’m remarkable because I am always trying to better the service that I provide my clients.  I’m always asking what more can I do to help?  I maintain the relationship long before and after my services are needed.  Those things aren’t really getting my clients advocating my services, yet, but I keep trying.  Until I can find a truely remarkable service, I will have to pay the tax.  Someday, I will find a way to be exempt from that tax though.

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