I’ve been home from vacation for a couple of weeks now, and I am pretty much caught up at work. Thankfully there are no big surprises.
That hasn’t always been the case. The most difficult post-vacation challenge I faced was arriving home to learn we sold one of our properties, twice. Yes, one property, two buyers, each holding a signed deal. Oops!
Here’s the story. Before my vacation I negotiated to sell one of our properties. The buyer made a very good offer, and with the knowledge of my father/partner I signed a Letter of Intent. Then I flew off for vacation.
When I got home I found a new executed contract with a different buyer on my desk. The price was higher – which was great – but what happened to the Letter of Intent I signed before leaving? I walked into my Dad’s office to ask.
“Dad, looks like you made a great deal on the property. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” he replied.
“Um,” I stuttered, “what happened to the first buyer? The one we signed the LOI with?”
He looked at me blankly. Uh-oh, I thought.
Without getting into all the specifics, we had accidentally sold the same property twice. We had two buyers who fully expected us to close a deal with them in 60-days.
Dad and I never did figure out how the miscommunication happened between us. He maintained I had not told him the LOI was binding. I maintained that I did. But neither of us fully remembered who said what.
After a month or two of intense negotiations, including lawsuits and long depositions, we finally sorted it all out. It was an expensive process.
But it was also a valuable lesson to learn. Communication matters. It is the lifeblood of a business transaction.
That seems ridiculously obvious, doesn’t it? But oh how quickly we forget! Here are a few simple (and obvious) lessons I learned from the experience:
1) Take the time to communicate. I’ve gotten into the habit of over communicating – to the point that some folks ask me to shut up! I’d rather share too much information than too little.
2) Learn how others absorb information. Some people need to hear information. Others need it in writing. Still others are visual learners. Learning the best way to communicate with your colleagues, partners or employees is critically important.
3) Ask others to repeat the information you just shared. This is the easiest way to quickly eliminate misunderstandings. Ask the person what they believe you just said.
4) Emphasize the consequences of the information you are sharing. Telling my Dad the terms of the LOI wasn’t enough – I should have said, “This means the property is sold. We can’t sign other offers.” Far too often we assume others understand the consequences of the information we have shared.
5) Listen. There are millions of books, seminars and YouTube videos about how to express your ideas. There are hardly any that teach us how to listen. A good communicator is a listener.
6) Be patient. We make mistakes. We forget. We get distracted. Don’t be quick to grow frustrated with others or yourself when this happens, just persevere and try again.
7) Find people you communicate well with. At some point you have that choice – when you decide whether to partner with somebody, whether to hire somebody, or even whether to take a job with somebody. Figure out your communication compatibility beforehand.
8) Closely associated with #7, value communication compatibility over aptitude or talent. Give me a team of average people I communicate well with and I’ll achieve more than with a team of all-stars that don’t understand where I’m coming from.
9) Values matter. Don’t put up with people who lie. Even though my Dad and I miscommunicated, we never tried to blame the other or cover up our own shortcomings.
10) And the final and most important lesson I learned about communication, never sign a Letter of Intent 14-hours before you hop on a plane for vacation!
