As part of my posts on routines, I've added business men and women to the universe of writers, composers and historical figures whose routines I'll post.  Some of the greatest influences on me have been business men and women who through their daily routines combined with extraordinary actions have molded the cities they live in and the people they know.  I can't think of a better one to start with than a man who has been one of my mentors since I was fifteen.  My first interaction with realtor, Patrick Guanciale was a business transaction.  It was either scraping weeds from the cracks of the flagstone sidewalk in front of his downtown office or sanding and painting metal real estate signs (the world needs ditch diggers too).

"Follow-through" was scrawled on the faxed document that landed on my desk several years ago.  Earlier in the day I was talking with my friend Patrick Guanciale about the keys to sales success.  I was working through some issues related to our company's sales efforts and sought his advice.  He was in the middle of something and said he would get back to me.  The document attached to his handwritten note was from a recent seminar he had attended and it outlined how important follow-through was to closing the sale - answering objections, clarifying, getting the sale. 

If you know Patrick Guanciale you know that he is a very successful realtor.  He is active in the community and never seems to sleep.  For years, when his real estate office was located in downtown Newark, Ohio, his office was an old sun room extending off the historic brownstone building on the corner of Second and Church Streets.  The office was surrounded with old leaded glass windows and Guanciale was rarely far from the room - unless he was selling a piece of property, house or building, attending a meeting or going to a fire (long story).  I recently asked him some questions about his routine.  With his usual efficiency, he bullet-pointed the following to me by day's end:

1.  To office by 6:00 a.m.
2.  Check emails, print schedule (a single sheet of paper, which he makes note on throughout the day), check two MLS (Multiple Listing Services) for overnight updates, read Cultural Offering (suck-up) and other blogs.
3.  Have everything set and ready for my planned appointments.  This gives me time later on in the day for unscheduled appointments.
4.  Once in a while I will entertain a guest wanting some coffee before 7:00 a.m. and I usually call a friend in the mornings to catch up on what is going on.
5.  My day can be weird.  I can think at 7:00 a.m. that I have a light day and be full of appointments.
6.  My biggest goal of the day is to go in early and get a lot of paperwork, etc. done so if I do not have evening appointments I can be home and not sitting in the office clearing off my desk.