The Swartz Report: Don’s New Year’s Resolutions

Post written by Donald Swartz, President and Principal at Swartz + Associates, Inc. | Lover of Chiefs, Royals and golf | Avid “Cruiser” | Poker Enthusiast

As we start to settle in for 2017, rather than stating the usual, “I want to exercise more” or “This year, I plan to lose XX pounds” and the oh so close, “I want to be a single digit handicap”, I decided to create a list of work-related New Year’s resolutions.

This isn’t meant to be my marketing plan, but my resolutions hopefully will allow me to be more effective as a motivator, cheerleader, technician, mentor and business owner:

1. Delegate. Delegate. Delegate. And then delegate some more.
   While I’ve made this a focus in previous years, I must continue to let others handle situations, particularly complex appeals and communications with our clients. I will always be involved, but I want to make sure my employees continue to feel they’re making a difference and are valuable to the organization.

2. Provide Consistent, Positive Reinforcement.
   In our business, we often get so caught up in the “next case, the next review, the next appeal.” I must remain cognizant of the fact we need to take the time to celebrate success and acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of all involved in creating positive results for our clients.

3. Get Away From The Desk…and Meet People.
   It’s so easy to hide behind a desk all day. I’m convinced I could find enough things to do at my desk for the next several months. However, getting out and talking to friends, associates, referral sources and pushing to create new friends and relationships is critical to personal and professional growth…for me and for my team.

4. Continue to Build Trust with Our Clients. 
   Businesses work so hard to earn new clients and gain their trust, so it’s critical to maintain that trust throughout the relationship. We must continue to communicate with clients to ensure we’re consistently exceeding their expectations.

5. Don’t Worry. Be Happy.
   I enjoy coming to work every day. It truly doesn’t feel like work when you have a passion for what you do. Although each day isn’t a bed of roses, we have so many interesting clients with wide varieties of property types, how can we not be excited to see what each day brings? A happy work environment is a healthy and productive environment.

This is a good list to get me started on 2017. What do you think? What other ideas do you have? What about you…what are your resolutions (maybe more blog reading :)?

As always, I appreciate your support of our blog, our team and our work.

P.S. – Please remember us as 2017 property valuations will begin to be issued in the upcoming weeks!