In a marathon somewhere between the 18-20th mile it is considered the wall. This is typically the point at which first time marathoners are exceeding their training runs. For a seasoned runner it is at this point when you start thinking more about how hard the next few miles are going to be (they have come out of the zone). When I run marathons or do an Ironman (which ends with a marathon), I know that physically and mentally the toughest part of the race is miles 20-22. Getting to mile 20 never seems to be all that difficult, I just plug away and I am there. But once I am at mile 20 I start doing this calculation in my head that shows I am running slower and that I still have a good bit of the race left. My head starts taking over and as a result it's taking me the wrong way.
I have been competing marathons for the past 7 years and have found a few workarounds for “the wall”. First off, since I am not the only one dealing with this issue, the race sponsors do a great job helping people over the wall with signs that read "Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever" or "First 20 miles legs, last 6 heart". I strategically place my cheering squad (the last place you need someone to cheer for you is at the finish) at mile 20. Fellow runners are great support also. They are going through the same challenging thought process and need to get their heads back in the game. And the last thing I do, is remember why it is I am out there on that either hotter or wetter than usual day of the year. I remember that I set a goal for myself to complete the race and not end at mile 20, and that when I set goals I finish them. I remember that the race is always won at the finish line. It's these workarounds that have gotten me through some pretty tough races and it's what is getting our company through a marathon of a recession.
Our team is out there changing away towards the finish line. As with most marathons the end is still nowhere in sight but it will come. When it does, it will be a glorious sight. Until we finish this race, we must each conquer every mile and breakdown the walls that hinder us.
This weekend I witnessed something right out of a textbook on overcoming the wall. I saw our leasing team reach goals this weekend and accomplish what was unthinkable in past years DESPITE OUR CURRENT RECESSION. I see individuals performing as a team like I have never seen before at Signature. I witnessed a sense of pride and commitment to success that can only result in great success.
I have attached below a sample of the email banter that crossed the country this weekend, which is a clear example of why Signature Community is such a success.
Thanks for making the impossible happen every day for our residents and for Signature Community.
Nick
----------
Nick Jekogian:
All Hands on Deck!
This weekend is going to be our biggest of the summer.
So far our busiest 3 day period produced 150 leases. We can beat that!
This Friday through Sunday we will set a new record. Let's get out and have some fun. No time for cleaning it's Deal making time!
As encouragement I have $1000.00 to give away!
Yes I will be giving you $1000.00!!!!!!!!
The categories are:
1. Earliest lease signing or deposit.( you may have to wake up early for this one)
2. Latest lease signing or deposit. ( for the night owls)
3. The largest leasing team. (take a picture) You may get help from your residents, friends, kids, parents, whatever it takes. Everyone should wear blue shirts so you look like a Signature team.
4. Most leases signed
5. The best party. ( judged by Management, photo evidence required)
6. The most showings
7. Highest conversion rate.
8. Craziest marketing gimmick
9. Most money saved ( lease "as is" units )
10. ???? The Surprise?????
Plan and execute as many resident/prospect events as possible. Serve up more lemonade than a KANSAS barbeque. Drum up more traffic then an Eagles tailgate party. Make more noise then the Indy 500. Flyer every corner of the city. Call back every prospect. Let's top fire spinning. I want fire breathing giants!! I want to see how big you can go!
HOW BIG CAN YOU GO?• Resident referral weekend 1/2 off next month for any resident who can bring in a new approved lease. Use Yardi to email every resident.
Michele Antonopoulos:
If anything your a south park maniac!!! I guess the rest of the world has gone to sleep and are going to let you take the prize!!! Keep going Kyle!!!
Nick Moos:
WAHOO KYLE AND DT INDY!!!!!! Off and running with Crazy Kyle and the I team, make it happen!
Michael Jekogian:
I'm waiting to see the wine come out. what happened to wine and winks? or what was it? I also had a question would a midnight lease be both the earliest and the latest? So I hear there are some properties who have really set the bar high for some of the categories.
Don't go quite we all need our cheering sections as we push through this wall, and you guys have been the best. I could be watching TV but I think this is better.
Next season I will have to see if we can make a reality game show out of Signature leasing.
Help me with the script we can all be famous.
You are the best! Keep it up! Let me hear you roar!
Tom Scott:
Sorry for the radio silence out of KC....we've been too busy LEASING!!!!!!!!!!!
Just to give you an update- Kellen just had a lease just signed at
5:35 CT- unit 708 at the Plaza! I attached a pic below of the lease
and the clock here at Plaza Towers.
Here are some numbers from plaza (last 24 hours) -
4- Apps Taken
3- Leases Signed
2- Days to go this weekend
1- Unified Goal- (taking home bonus $$$)
I know its hard to believe, but in-between all of the madness here at
PT, Lorrie and the leasing office got a great gift from one of our
residents who is transferring units in the building! She brought a
fresh blueberry pie! (pic attached)
Customer Service and Exemplary Salesmanship? I smell green coming to KC!
More to come tomorrow!
Michele Antonopoulos
GOOD MORNING SCM! This is so true! Now everyone needs a redbull!
Haven't heard much since last night any late night leases? Or early risers?
Charlene have a great party today. Send pics and updates. She may come up from behind and swoop the into the game?
Tom Scott
Greetings from KC!
Michele I hear you about the red bull- I'm moving over to coffee
though now at the plaza b/c coffee is for closers, and we have had a
busy morning here.
So far we have a 100% Sunday conversion rate at the Plaza!
2 Showings = 2 Applications + 2 Deposits
More to come... I will keep you updated.
Michele Antonopoulos:
We are all past the days of the big game, or are we? Maybe the game just changed?Think about it. I've heard we can only get 89% or 92%, what I can't understand is why can't we get to our end zone? From this point on we are all blindfolded. " I don't want you giving up at a certain point when you can go farther"Don't look at our occupancy and say we are good enough. We can rest with pride knowing we made it every bit of the way after August 18th. Will you be one that goes beyond the point they thought they could. Or will you be the one sitting the bench?We all need each other to make this goal of nationally sold out! Can we count on you to carry your teammate into the end zone?Let us know if you are going to be in the game or have you already admitted defeat. Hit respond all and tell your team.
Tom Scott:
It aint over till its over! Last time I checked the weekend was over at midnight on sunday!
Kc is not done! We are gamers, and champions!
We will be in the office tomorrow while our competition is not.
Already have 3 appointments tomorrow. 1st one at 11am for the studio over at the seville.
I'll keep you posted. I will be sharing our youtube updates from today tomorrow morn.
Kyle Benner:
Dt indy is in it till the end giving it our all. We still have time to make it. We have taken our over all goal and broke it down to a daily goal. With an overall goal of 51 all we need is 1 a day to make it. We did the bus stop tour today in the rain and within an hour the flyers we taped to the bus stop bench and to the glass walls of the bus stops were getting picked up. Horns were honking making noise for us because we were doing something differant. Being differant being flexable to do a tour or sign a lease (renewal or a new lease) at what ever hour is making noise. We as a national team stand out let's keep it up and make some noise. We as a team can make it happen.
Tom Scott:
It was a beautiful Saturday here in KC. We have alot of great Flicker
footage that is currently uploading so look for it later today or
tomorrow morn!
All I can tell you at this point is that it involves Me, Michele, a
hot Dog Costume, Signature Community Flyers, and lots of amused people
in the Plaza!
We had a great day over here. Kellan just went over to Cambridge for
the last showing.
We had good traffic, 2 lease signings, 2 applications and 1 move in.
Human Hot Dog footage to follow.
Nick Moos:
Fantastic, keep dry Kyle and Shana!!!! I wonder what the reaction is when people get off the bus and see Crazy Kyle sitting at the stop. Midwest ROCKS!!!!! We even have recuited some New Jersey "guns of steel" to wow the ladies on the Plaza in KC
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Fwd: On the Tunney Side of the Street-No quit
Nickolas W Jekogian
www.NWJCompanies.com
917 763 3500
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jim Tunney <jim@jimtunney.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Subject: On the Tunney Side of the Street-No quit
To: jekogian@nwjcompanies.com
![]()
From: Jim Tunney <jim@jimtunney.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Subject: On the Tunney Side of the Street-No quit
To: jekogian@nwjcompanies.com
|
Jim Tunney Associates | P O Box 1500 | Carmel-by-the-Sea | CA | 93950 |
Monday, July 20, 2009
Doing the Impossible
Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.
John F. Kennedy
40 years ago today, the first man walked on the moon. An unbelievable accomplishment for the US and our relatively new space program. It's said that the simple act of walking on the moon, has fostered the can do and innovative spirit that makes the United States the world's leading economy.
When President Kennedy announced that the US would send a man to the moon in four years, many (if not most) thought that he was crazy. He was proposing to do the impossible. 4 years later it didn't look so impossible.
So much of success is created by envisioning the impossible, selling the impossible and then relentlessly pushing forward to do the impossible.
NWJ/Signature Community is based on the basic premise that has guided my life, from when I was young. Nothing is impossible.
NWJ/Signature has done the impossible many times in the past and will do it again in the future. We have closed deals that everyone said would never happen, created a brand in a commodity business, successfully expanded into markets when others had failed. We seek out and do the impossible, year after year.
My personal life is no different. This weekend with little preparation I represented the Signature Community team in a 24 hr 128 mile relay race to fight homelessness. www.Backonmyfeet.com. I along with 4 other team members (Michael Jekogian, Steve Wissak, Uncle Nick) including my 85 year old uncle, ran for 19 continuous hours to reach our goal. When we first realized we were doing this race with 2 men short, we thought it would be impossible. But when I was out there, finishing the last lap at 4 AM with the only source of light being the crescent moon and a AAA battery flashlight, I knew that we had accomplished the impossible.
As we push to the final weeks of our leasing season, I see that same spirit I felt out there on the race course. The attitude of accomplishment, the attitude that nothing is going to stop us and that nothing is impossible. Same with our acquisitions group and their goals. We may be short a few people but the goal is still the same and we will reach our goals. Our finance and accounting teams have reiterated too that they are going to make it happen.
It's the "we can make the impossible happen" attitude, that made this company a success and will make us one of the greatest lifestyle brands of the 21st century.
I have attached below a few links to some of my favorite motivational videos. Every once in a while when I feel that something isn't possible I take a look at one of these and remember that nothing is impossible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RahJz54Untg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSM1mvMypWU&feature=player_embedded
Thanks for Making the Impossible Happen!
Nick
John F. Kennedy
40 years ago today, the first man walked on the moon. An unbelievable accomplishment for the US and our relatively new space program. It's said that the simple act of walking on the moon, has fostered the can do and innovative spirit that makes the United States the world's leading economy.
When President Kennedy announced that the US would send a man to the moon in four years, many (if not most) thought that he was crazy. He was proposing to do the impossible. 4 years later it didn't look so impossible.
So much of success is created by envisioning the impossible, selling the impossible and then relentlessly pushing forward to do the impossible.
NWJ/Signature Community is based on the basic premise that has guided my life, from when I was young. Nothing is impossible.
NWJ/Signature has done the impossible many times in the past and will do it again in the future. We have closed deals that everyone said would never happen, created a brand in a commodity business, successfully expanded into markets when others had failed. We seek out and do the impossible, year after year.
My personal life is no different. This weekend with little preparation I represented the Signature Community team in a 24 hr 128 mile relay race to fight homelessness. www.Backonmyfeet.com. I along with 4 other team members (Michael Jekogian, Steve Wissak, Uncle Nick) including my 85 year old uncle, ran for 19 continuous hours to reach our goal. When we first realized we were doing this race with 2 men short, we thought it would be impossible. But when I was out there, finishing the last lap at 4 AM with the only source of light being the crescent moon and a AAA battery flashlight, I knew that we had accomplished the impossible.
As we push to the final weeks of our leasing season, I see that same spirit I felt out there on the race course. The attitude of accomplishment, the attitude that nothing is going to stop us and that nothing is impossible. Same with our acquisitions group and their goals. We may be short a few people but the goal is still the same and we will reach our goals. Our finance and accounting teams have reiterated too that they are going to make it happen.
It's the "we can make the impossible happen" attitude, that made this company a success and will make us one of the greatest lifestyle brands of the 21st century.
I have attached below a few links to some of my favorite motivational videos. Every once in a while when I feel that something isn't possible I take a look at one of these and remember that nothing is impossible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RahJz54Untg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSM1mvMypWU&feature=player_embedded
Thanks for Making the Impossible Happen!
Nick
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Best Advice I Ever Got
Fortune magazine did a cover this week on the best advice current day CEOs ever received when they were younger. Some great examples from this years issue: learn to do things yourself, even if you don't have the perfect answer if you convey your answer with confidence it will become the perfect answer, set realistic goals, achieve them then re-calibrate.
Some really great advice is to read thru them and the try to execute on a few of them for the next few months.
Here are a few that I have adopted over the years;
The secret to success is - hard work. Period.
Do what you love. Otherwise its impossible to get out of bed every morning.
The greatest mathematical equation is the law of compounding interest the more time/effort you put in early in life the higher the rewards later in life.
Pay it forward - if you want to make $100,000 a year then work as though you make it already. It will come in time.
When you stop having fun its time to move on.
Get on the bus. There will only be a few big opportunity times in your life don't miss them.
Never, ever , ever give up.
The race is won at the finish line.
In real estate - I rather regret not doing a deal then regretting having done a deal.
The first 90 seconds is what matters. This goes for wife, husband, kids, customers alike.
Write your goals down and put definitive dates on them. Otherwise they are called dreams.
Learn everything you can every day. Never stop learning.
Get out of your comfort zone. Do something scary everyday.
Make it happen!
Please add any advise that has worked for you.
Thanks for making it happen.
-Nick
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0906/gallery.best_advice_i_ever_got2.fortune/index.html
Some really great advice is to read thru them and the try to execute on a few of them for the next few months.
Here are a few that I have adopted over the years;
The secret to success is - hard work. Period.
Do what you love. Otherwise its impossible to get out of bed every morning.
The greatest mathematical equation is the law of compounding interest the more time/effort you put in early in life the higher the rewards later in life.
Pay it forward - if you want to make $100,000 a year then work as though you make it already. It will come in time.
When you stop having fun its time to move on.
Get on the bus. There will only be a few big opportunity times in your life don't miss them.
Never, ever , ever give up.
The race is won at the finish line.
In real estate - I rather regret not doing a deal then regretting having done a deal.
The first 90 seconds is what matters. This goes for wife, husband, kids, customers alike.
Write your goals down and put definitive dates on them. Otherwise they are called dreams.
Learn everything you can every day. Never stop learning.
Get out of your comfort zone. Do something scary everyday.
Make it happen!
Please add any advise that has worked for you.
Thanks for making it happen.
-Nick
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0906/gallery.best_advice_i_ever_got2.fortune/index.html
Monday, July 6, 2009
Who are our customers?
17 years ago when I started NWJ cos the United States was in a very bad real estate recession. In the Philadelphia area where we started there was a lot of over building in the late 80s so it wasn't easy to lease an apartment in those days. I was the leasing agent, property manager and handy man in the early days. I would sometimes show apartments 10-20 times before anyone would make an offer to lease. Times were tough back then!
The one thing I loved about showing the apartments so many times was the number of opinions received by the potential renters (future customers) some would say they wanted more modern units, different locations, cheaper rents, more amenities, etc, etc. With that information we grew our portfolio to include units that met all those requirements. Just like major brands its not just important to know our existing customer but we also need to know the needs of the ones that got away. The data available from these potential renters is invaluable in the further development of our brand.
This year we have taken extensive measures to hear customer feedback at all levels of the organization. We have daily huddles for leasing and management and senior management; weekly leasing planning meeting and shared experiences on the Signature customer service call. These are the grass roots way that our company uses to transfers this vital information from the field to the entire organization. We are now using this information to target acquisitions opportunities and fine tune our brand offerings.
A business consultant recently spoke to me and a group of business owners in NY and after doing extensive research with Walmart stores they found out that the key difference between Walmart and its competitors was that they created people systems to transfer information quickly. They also require all there senior management to spend the first 3 days of the WEEK (yes week, not month or year) in stores, sometimes their stores sometimes their competitors. Then on thursday the are allowed back to corporate to share the information with the rest of management. On Friday they decide how to use the information gathered and by Saturday prices are changed on a national basis. For a $300 Billion company that is amazing fast reaction times. That's why most of their competitors have either gone broke or are substantially smaller than Walmart. The consultant actually boiled it down to one number -- 9. Walmart is consistently 9 days ahead of its competitors.
On Thursday last week after our quarter's management strategy session senior management and I spent time painting of apartments and doing apartment showings. It was great to get back to our roots and hear the customer. One thing I was very much excited about is the brand recognition and the value that the prospect saw in our offerings. Some of the negatives where the age of the buildings and the condition of the units. I tried to explain that its part of the charm and character of living in a Signature Community. For some that explanation worked for others it was not their style. One thing that every brand must learn is that you can't please everyone.
In the end I did receive great feedback from both potential and existing residents that really affirmed that what we are doing is working. The world does need a customer service focused landlord. And that is the niche we are happy to fill.
Thanks for making it happen.
Let's keep growing the brand.
Nick
The one thing I loved about showing the apartments so many times was the number of opinions received by the potential renters (future customers) some would say they wanted more modern units, different locations, cheaper rents, more amenities, etc, etc. With that information we grew our portfolio to include units that met all those requirements. Just like major brands its not just important to know our existing customer but we also need to know the needs of the ones that got away. The data available from these potential renters is invaluable in the further development of our brand.
This year we have taken extensive measures to hear customer feedback at all levels of the organization. We have daily huddles for leasing and management and senior management; weekly leasing planning meeting and shared experiences on the Signature customer service call. These are the grass roots way that our company uses to transfers this vital information from the field to the entire organization. We are now using this information to target acquisitions opportunities and fine tune our brand offerings.
A business consultant recently spoke to me and a group of business owners in NY and after doing extensive research with Walmart stores they found out that the key difference between Walmart and its competitors was that they created people systems to transfer information quickly. They also require all there senior management to spend the first 3 days of the WEEK (yes week, not month or year) in stores, sometimes their stores sometimes their competitors. Then on thursday the are allowed back to corporate to share the information with the rest of management. On Friday they decide how to use the information gathered and by Saturday prices are changed on a national basis. For a $300 Billion company that is amazing fast reaction times. That's why most of their competitors have either gone broke or are substantially smaller than Walmart. The consultant actually boiled it down to one number -- 9. Walmart is consistently 9 days ahead of its competitors.
On Thursday last week after our quarter's management strategy session senior management and I spent time painting of apartments and doing apartment showings. It was great to get back to our roots and hear the customer. One thing I was very much excited about is the brand recognition and the value that the prospect saw in our offerings. Some of the negatives where the age of the buildings and the condition of the units. I tried to explain that its part of the charm and character of living in a Signature Community. For some that explanation worked for others it was not their style. One thing that every brand must learn is that you can't please everyone.
In the end I did receive great feedback from both potential and existing residents that really affirmed that what we are doing is working. The world does need a customer service focused landlord. And that is the niche we are happy to fill.
Thanks for making it happen.
Let's keep growing the brand.
Nick
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