Guys, I promise I'm almost done talking about baseball. After last week, you know I had to talk to you about John Middleton. John Middleton holds 50% ownership of the Philadelphia Phillies and is worth about $3.4 billion dollars. The lesson I want to tell you about is that while John has all that money, you would never know it to be around him. We talked about the Phillies journey with the World Series, and what I want to say about John is that it really doesn’t matter how much money you make, what your status is, or your position. You still want to create relationships with people and that's what I saw John doing so well throughout the playoffs—really saw him value the importance of relationships. John makes a point to be involved with the fan base, in fact he goes to away games and home games and sits in the cheap seats just to be with the fans. He gets out on the field during batting practice with the players, interacting with them and interacting with the fans. His energy is infectious. That's the lesson here—that we need to create relationships in our real estate business. We need to care about people, we need to engage with them. When they clenched the trip to the National League Championship series, they were handing out the trophy for the National League Pennant, and this is where John Middleton really surprised me—he went behind home plate, let a couple fans hold the trophy, and then came on top of the dugout where he let a couple of us hold it as well. I was one of the people who was fortunate enough to hold the trophy and get a picture with him. I look at that picture and it’s the craziest thing—the owner of the Phillies, a guy worth over $3 billion, is standing on the dugout, interacting with the fans, handing out baseballs, letting fans hold the trophy and take pictures with it. John Middleton has figured out that to have a successful business, he has to build relationships with people—not only being willing to be kind and friendly, but put a good product on the field. What matters is the relationships—John Middleton has done that with the Phillies, and we need to do that in our real estate businesses. You want to create relationships where people want to know you and want to be around you. That’s the lesson—it's all about creating relationships, caring about people, and thanking people for showing up. If you can take anything from what I'm saying about John Middleton, I want you to think about this with your clients and your relationships. Are you willing to give them time? What kind of relationships are you creating with your clients, with your friends, with your family? How are you cultivating relationships and continuing to develop and build those relationships with the people that you know? That's what I saw John Middleton doing, and I hope that you can apply it to your business as well.

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener.