Real Estate School Named Exhibition !!

 “To be successful in real estate, you must always and consistently put your clients' best interests first. When you do, your personal needs will be realized beyond your greatest expectations”…Anthony Hitt

Anthony Hitt has served as Chief Executive Officer of Engel & Völkers North America since January of 2014. Anthony has been personally involved in Engel & Völkers’ emergence in the United States since 2010, when the Hamburg-based real estate leader tapped him to establish its US base. Sure the things about real estate Anthony has understood is what made him a successful real estater & high time for our Pune builders to learn from such expertise. What made me to recall this quote of Anthony’s is my recent participation in Sakal Pune West real estate exhibition.  

At the first I must admit I am a poor marketing person & as usual what you are bad at you avoid taking those jobs; adhering to this philosophy I rarely handle customers by myself! There are another facts also about it as one I am not good at selling anything, even my own product i.e. home, second it needs lots of patience to handle customers which they don’t teach in engineering & third is I do believe in my marketing team’s capacity! So whenever we participate in any exhibition I visit the venue like any other visitors rarely spending time on our stall. Obviously this exhibition also wasn’t an exception; that way currently real estate market is pretty low on sentiments & I personally have a intuition that instead going for very large real estate exhibitions which features entire city its always better to go for smaller versions i.e. exhibitions focusing particular side of the city like this one was showcasing only properties in west side of Pune. This is because no more Pune is town where anyone will buy a home anywhere, no sir gone are the days, a guy who is having a job in east part say Hadapsar, won’t even think of buying a home in western suburbs even he gets best deal of his life. In the Smart City mission when the citizens concerns has been asked then traffic is on top of worries for most & no wonder as the city of which you could complete a round in hardly one hours time just a decade back, now you require two to three hours to reach from one end to other in rush hours, such is the scene of traffic! Public transport is something we better not speak & the infamous BRT is joke of the entire city & Metro is our favorite dream which yet to has see daylight!

On such background where the life is stressed enough by the work hours & job demands, a person is bound to look out for a home near to his workplace & that reduces the footfall for a general entire city covering exhibition. Also then one has to look out things for kid’s schools & marketplaces/social outing places, which comes second & third on list of selecting location for a home. So when it’s an east or west type focused exhibition the crowd which has already made their mind for settling in western or eastern part does prefer to visit such venue. 

Proving my intuition right there was quite a good foot fall at Sakal West property exhibition & while I was standing near my stall busy in clicking selfies with my son & wife on background of the stall two interesting chats caught my attention, one was my real estate blogger friend Ravi who was covering the exhibition & his conversation with a visitor couple about whether rates will come further down & another was a family, a rare sign was here all three generations of a family have come together for home search, were asking questions to our marketing team. Giving priority to our own sale first I moved towards the stall counter (keeping the market rate trend aside for next topic of sharing) & started listening to the questions of the client families, actually there were two families, inquiring about the flats at the stall. The questions rather quarries were, does our projects ready possession flats got completion certificate, if yes can my team provide it, why the top floor flats are unsold yet, does they get heat up in summer, what about hair cracks in the plaster of walls when the flat is new (they have visited the site), have our project is approved by SBI i.e. State Bank of India & if yes can they see approval letter of the bank, does the project is cleared by environment NOC (Environment Clearance is what they meant) & the list of quarries was on like a machine gun at fire. 

The  three genre combo family was more keen about knowing water proofing process of the terrace & what care we take & what about our after sales maintenance service as well what will be outgoings per month they will have to shell out! One look at my marketing team face & I could see that they are trying to handle the gun fire as best they can but they were no match as this is serious client stuff & the clients were well studied. So politely I slide in the conversation & started taking the charge, I opened with asking question about their back-ground. No wonder both the couples were from IT sector & technically qualified. One by one I explained them starting from the care we take for terrace water proofing such as more slab thickness for top slab as well 6” thick brick bat water proofing with chemicals & then testing it for fifteen days with making a water pool on it. Also I made them know nothing is water proof in this world but water resistant is proper term. Most of the terrace leakages cause due to bad slopes i.e. poor draining arrangement of rain water & it’s the accumulated water which is main cause so how much care we take to drain out the rain water which fall on the terrace. Also the heat repellent paint we apply for the roof slab so as to keep top floor cool & lastly I told them we have put a clause in our flat agreement of top floor flats giving life time warranty against waterproofing of the roof, provided society has not damaged it post possession. They immediately asked for the agreement draft which I told will mail them as I wasn’t carrying it at exhibition. Similarly I explained them patiently about hair cracks in plaster & the reasons behind them as well the cure on the same.

Now when their most of techno stuff taken care then the clients came down to carpet salable ratio which they have found is varying at every stall. I again patiently explained the concept of salable area as well made them understand first what is carpet & built-up. And this also I shared frankly that I too am bit not sure about the right salable factor but when I am swimming in a sea I can’t swim against the tide, this frankness they appreciated! I told them after all any rate of the flat or property agreed may be quoted on per sq ft but it is a multi-dimension thing & not just carpet salable area dependant. I told them it can vary builder to builder & site to site as unfortunately there is no single scale which governs this aspect of real estate & that’s no fault of mine, on this they did share a laugh! Well they did promise to come back again & book the flat with us. And one of the couple actually came back for booking in the evening. I was at the stall as I have realized importance of my presence at the stall, not that I don’t have faith in capacity of my marketing team but they needed support in my form.

When the couple came back for booking they asked how much to be paid as booking amount & what if the later decides to cancel the booking. My marketing team said please do pay as much you can right now, on this again I intervened, I told you can book even by paying mere 1 rupee as its matter of trust but that will look too cheap for both of us so its Rs 1 lac which we usually accept as booking. And then I clearly said you will get all you money as refund if you cancel as I have no right morally to take any of rupee as cancelation as I will be selling it to other person but in such case please do it within eight days as we want to execute the agreement in maximum fifteen days time after booking, which is actually in favor for both of us! This also they accepted & were delighted to know as they said not many builders were so clear & most said their booking money will be forfeited if the cancel the flat. On this I said it’s up to the individual how to run his business!

The entire episode has taught me many things & I decided to spend more time at stall as it was like again going back to learning days & I did realized I have overlooked or over estimated many things about the clients! I have made the very basic mistake which most of the developers are doing all along i.e. taking the clients granted & by not being present at stall! As I thought I have understood everything about the clients & no need to meet in person to the customers or my team is capable enough to do that. But few hours at stall has taught me so many things; I used to think not many buyers visit the exhibition on work days which is wrong, rather the serious buyers prefer to visit exhibition on work days so they feel they get attended properly & not just get leaflets or broutures by the staff which is happy with crowd flooding the stall on weekends! No more the questions are about amenities or specifications of the flat & swimming pools or gym are not star attractions! Rather people are more concerned about the monthly outgoings after possession & want to use every rupee for basic needs which are essential. Most of the inquiries are targeting towards ready possession or nearing possession units, which show the low confidence of the buyers on builders’ capacity to complete the project. The buyers are no more restricting their question within the project but wants clear & transparent answers about infrastructure like road, water around the project & do mind they have already studied your project on goggle maps, so don’t try to blunder! This genre of clientele is young confident & don’t hesitate to ask any question & very clear about mode of payments like awkward issues! They are not shy to ask direct questions like how much discount you are offering as its down slide in market! At the same time you should not lose patience & show too much eagerness that you need bookings desperately as well should be frank enough to admit yes market mood is bit down!

The builders need to spend more time with the customers as well the team handling customers also should be trained to do so in proper way. Gone are the days to get bookings by just showing glossy broutures & 3D walk ways; now days clients needs more direct approach & want to understand with whom they are dealing. Rather we can think of hiring or asking our existing customers also to be at stall so they can vouch for your work to the new inquirers! This may seems exaggerating but while you are arranging site visits to ongoing projects lets think of making the new clients meet your existing customers too! It’s high time for the builders to understand today’s bunch of customers as they are ready to buy the homes provided they feel they are getting right deal. And right deal is not just money aspect but the customer should feel there is “No Ullu Banayaing” thing here, and then only he will buy! Remember, in the end a bitter truth is always better than a sweet blunder, that’s the Mantra of today’s buyer of real estate, so go on & gear up for the same, as this approach only will show the “Achhee Din” to the real estate!

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Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2015/06/agreement-ho-gaya-rabba-rabba-permanent.html


http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Understanding The Man in The PoliceMan!

“Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.” ..Benjamin Spock

Benjamin McLane Spock was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the best-sellers of all time. Its message to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do”. And surely Benjamin’s quote about police tells us that even in country as advanced & civilized as USA, image of police force in the minds of common citizens isn’t much different than whatever it’s here in our country! In India with due respect to all its diversity, geographical as well social, yet one thing is common & that is image of the police forces in the society & no need what is that image! Out of ten hardly one person will speak good about police in private of course & it’s this image which made us at Sanjeevani to think about doing something for the police force! And in the vain when I wrote a letter to Director General of Police, to my surprise he not only just replied but responded; result of which I got a call from Pune Joint Comm. of Police & he called me to discuss what can be done to change rather say improve the image of the police in eyes of the common man.

Agreed I am no saint to make miracles neither I wanted to become one but what I feel that we are number one, especially  when it’s to criticize anything that to a faceless organization we call govt & on top of it when it’s police but when it’s time to actually doing something to improve the system then how many of us stood to that cause is a question! 

Here many will say why to show any sympathy to police, they are paid to do what they are supposed to do; some even goes to the extent that we are paying taxes & it’s our tax money which they take as salary so they have to serve us! Agreed, we all pay taxes & then we all are here to serve someone or other yet some jobs are above all as like army & police, they are getting paid as equal to a bank clerk or junior engineer but then army jawan & policeman can lose his life in doing their job, how many other services offers such threat to the service person? That’s why these jobs are special & so are the men who are doing such jobs!  I thought of doing something to help police force to regain their glory, I don’t say they have lost all the glory but when nine out of ten people speaks negative about any organization then there is something wrong surely.  And our image isn’t going to change by advertises which any way police department isn’t allowed to do but only by our own actions it’s possible. And who better than the constable, a lowest rank of the force which actually is on street & face the public to start with! So I proposed that we will conduct a personality building program for the constables & sub inspectors of police force with the help of  my friend Anuj Khare & his team who have worked on similar training programs for forest guards. 

Frankly we weren’t sure about the outcome as forest guards case is different, though extreme work conditions as well risks involved in the job are similar with that of police force yet police especially city police has to face lot of people where as job of forest guard is secluded from common people. So we decided to make the focus of entire training about communication skills as well make them understand importance of the job they are doing. The later part is for the new kids which has joined the force & are having higher educated as gone are the days when the constables popularly known as "hawaldars" used to hardly 12^th standard pass & could barely speak in even good Marathi leave apart English. This new genre is well conversant with computers & many are science or commerce graduates. But then the education is curse some times as the job of a constable isn’t that easy except it’s a govt job. When they compare with their fellow friends doing much comfortable jobs in private in AC offices, then some where frustration creeps in! And police duty hours are erratic; expectations are very high, leaves unheard of with no family life & very poor facilities from the system which is their employer! All this makes you realize there is no fun to wear that “khaki wardi” along with three lions & then the frustration catches you. The outcome is you forget to smile, you are always angry with anybody who comes to you & on whom you can blow your anger easily which usually is some harmless common citizen & you surrender to some addiction!

Best part was Jt. CP of Pune police i.e. Mr. Sunil Ramanand, who  not only listened the concept but immediately called his DCP Mr. Tushar Doshi & after a brief discussion we planned first session for Zone 1 police team which controls western part of city & the first ever training session was on!

We then roped in people in the field of fitness i.e. Mr. Arun Yadav who is a well-known fitness trainer, Mrs. Meghna Pethe a working Executive in Forbes Marshal & expert of health care & hygiene. Anuj & Anand Kolarkar themselves decided to conduct team building & communication & for wild life awareness Mr. Nitin Kakodakar who is IFS officer & chief conservator of forest agreed to share his knowledge about wild life & gave a wonderful presentation about State’s wild life heritage. Here I will share just few reactions from the participants which will give idea about impact of the training. On day first some fifty odd policemen & women gathered at morning with a bit confused look in their eyes as what’s this training is for. We were at gate & welcoming to the participants & all came with typical grim face with no smiles (that way tell me when last time you have seen a smiling policeman?)! And when the training started in presence of DCP Tushar Doshi as well Shantilalaji Katariya, President of Credai Pune Metro, we briefed about the concept yet they were not sure what they are going to learn here. Next day when we were again at gate for welcoming the participants, everyone came smiling & said good morning to us! As in the training we specially asked them when last you have smiled at the person visiting police station & have said good morning to him? We didn’t surprised with the answer which was, "never"! Anuj’s team made them play games in which some participants has to do role of policeman & some of criminals & some of complainants & other participant were to observe how they behave with each other; well, you could imagine the laughter they had identifying their own way of meeting people & flaws in that! They asked lots of question right from what is a white tiger to does the snakes fly & Mr. Kakodakr also happily answered each of them! Equally important was the sharing about fitness of mind & body & how a clean surrounding can make the same old work place better! I was surprised when a constable discussed with us about genetic changes & why if man is developed from monkey then the stages in between this development got vanished in the process, such were the questions & mood of the seession! They all were thrilled to have knowledge which they have never been exposed to, may it be health, hygiene, wild life or management! This is something other than just law & order & to make them better human being is what they realized. In the closing session we asked them to express what they felt, on this a senior constable who is due for retirement in coming year, said he has attended countless training programs but this he thought is the best of all & first time targeted towards the man in the policeman! Another constable shared in person that till now he used to think only DG’s & Commissioner’s are the brand ambassadors of the police department but today he realized he too is, rather he is the best brand ambassador the department can have!

The lady constables also were happy & said they have realized how much knowledge of other things than just patrolling & crime control is important & refreshing to them! They sheepishly said, “Sir please tell our seniors to conduct such seminars every six months, it has made us feel so light & stress free!” Here I must mention one more thing, the food was by Shreyas hotel & Mandar Chitale & his team were all the time attending the participants & every participant mentioned that they are sweetly surprised by the quality of food as well serving way as never such care has been taken for their food needs neither at trainings nor when they are at bandobast! Many shared their personal experiences in the duty which they thought has made them a bit frustrated & angry against the system they are working but here after they agreed that they will face the duty with more positive mind & smile on face! Bet part was they opened up what they feel & in that process they started looking at the duty with more clear vision which is positive outcome!

I think what that senior constable shared, speaks about the need of such training's i.e. understanding that man in policeman; we all expect a policeman to be always attentive & available for the duty but we conveniently neglect our duty towards that man in the policeman! And that is the cause for the gap which is ever widening between common man & the policeman as both thinks other should improve. Whether our effort was a success or not only time will tell but at least we tried is what more important! As it made myself, anuj & our team feel nice about our own self that though we are not wearing the khaki yet for a  while we became part of it & I think we all have a policeman within, but problem is we expect others to do his duty!  If we all understand & stood to that policeman in us then only we have a right to look for the man in any real policeman! And what was more important is, understanding of such efforts from the top bosses as the DG Mr. Pravin Dixit whatsapped me, allowing sharing his email address as well cell number with the participants so they could share their feedbacks about the training directly with him!

To conclude, I will put up sharing from a young constable, when I joined them for lunch on second day, a constable in his thirties said, ”sir in service of ten years first time I went with  a smile on my face & even slept with smile, just remembering the team games & training moments in the day, my wife was so surprised & happy to see me in this mood"! I think it’s the best ever compliment or feedback about our efforts; so I just smiled to him as that was the best comment I could offer to that Policeman on his sharing!

-- 

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2015/06/agreement-ho-gaya-rabba-rabba-permanent.html


http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com