I just returned from the most amazing company party I have ever attended. It was hosted by the two principals of Sapphire Realty, Hope Andrews and Randy Hillman. Sapphire Realty is a one-year-old real estate company in Kissimmee, Florida.

It was a sit-down, five-course dinner for 30 people, including spouses.

There was the usual “thank-you for a great year”, presentation of the Realtor of the Year Award, a six-day trip to Utah for the winner of a listing contest, a caroling quartet, and the presentation of a sapphire ring to every agent.

As outstanding as this was, there was more.

I was amazed when Hope stood up and began giving specific reasons why each agent and why each member of the staff was so unique and important to the company.

She thanked each sales associate not only for his or her sales contribution, but for the ideas they had submitted that “we are using today.”

After dinner, one her new agents, Melissa, approached me and said “What she did will come back to her 10 times.” I agreed, but we both knew that was not Hope’s motive.

Her motive was to share a word of encouragement and to pay a sincere compliment to her team.

It is a wonderful thing when the boss praises and employee privately. But when one is praised in front of their peers, it is a gift of unspeakable riches.

What are you giving those who have meant so much to you this year?

A sincere, specific word of praise in front of others might be a nice gift idea.

Published: January 2, 2004

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David Fletcher has been a Florida real estate condominium and new homes broker for 30 years with more than $3 billion in new construction sales. In 2008, Keller Williams Realty International named him a "Lifetime Achiever." Along the way he has chaired the Florida Homebuilders Associaiton Sales and Marketing Council, trained thousands of general agents and on-site agents to work together, and was a featured speaker at the National Association of Realtors. Recently he founded New Homes Niche, a builder-certified co-broker training system "to meet the growing trend we see in short sale buyers moving to new homes for a lot of reasons." Call David at 407 234 2349, , and visit his website.