Recently I have been thinking about the issue of trust. Webster defines trust as: reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something.

We depend on trust more than we think. We trust that the car coming towards us will stay on the right side of the yellow line. We trust our bank to guard our money. Trust is paramount to our daily lives.

Trust is an enormous part of our company’s success; in fact, I think it is what we “sell”. Our clients must trust us so that we able to do our job and do it well. If that trust is broken, we are done. Once trust is violated, the relationship will rarely recover.

Character, ability, strength and truth. The foundation of a great business, trust me!

With below average snowpack and a very dry March, we are anticipating significant fire danger this spring and summer. As a result, we are proactively working on evaluating wildfire risk at client homes and consulting with industry experts on appropriate action. We find the insurance companies very receptive to our approach. While our clients may never see this type of work we do in the background, we believe this is an important part of our role in protecting their best interests.

Today we celebrate William Bonsack’s 8 year anniversary with Cornerstone. Will was a successful salesman at Glenwood Springs Ford when I met him; we purchased several vehicles from him for our fleet.

Somehow, Will always had the exact vehicle I was looking for. I discovered later that he would go to his boss and tell him to find the specific vehicle because he knew we would buy it. They would go out, purchase it and miraculously have exactly what I wanted. That was the kind of customer service that we looked for.

Will’s background in the Navy gives him unique skills that have proven to be invaluable for us. He can figure out almost anything mechanical and if it has wheels, he knows how to take care of it. Add his strong work ethic, loyalty and a heart for service, and you have one great Property Manager.

Will’s daughter Payton is now in middle school and along with his wife Angie, he can be found running, biking or camping in his spare time.

Will is yet another example of why Cornerstone thrives in the care of client homes!

I recently read this quote from the late Andy Rooney and found it humorous, yet thought provoking.

“What does spring cleaning look like in your home?
Vacuuming a large rug is the easiest housekeeping job. Anyone doing it gets more credit than he or she deserves. This is partly because the vacuum cleaner makes so much noise it gives the illusion that someone’s working hard.

Putting away the vacuum cleaner is harder than vacuuming.

The single easiest thing to do in exchange for the most credit, is mopping the kitchen floor. It sounds like a big deal but it isn’t.

Forgetting to put the trash out by the curb on the day it’s picked up is the single worst mistake a homeowner can make.

There are parts of a stove where grease collects that I don’t want to know about.

No soap, detergent, scouring pad, brush or grease-remover that claims to make cleaning easy makes cleaning easy. It’s hard no matter what you use.

An easy way to get out of housework is to go get something at the store.

Whenever I iron something, I think of my mother. Every time she ironed, she said, “I enjoy doing a little of it.” I realize now that what she was really saying was, “I hate to do a lot of it.”

Like I said, thought provoking for me because while I found the humor in it, I immediately thought of our team of housekeepers charged with keeping a large number of large homes spotless. They do a great job and they do it quietly and efficiently. Housekeeping is probably the hardest thing that we do for our clients and I am very appreciative of our girls!

This month marks the 6th anniversary of Carlos joining the Cornerstone team.
Carlos exemplifies our business philosophy; he is wired to serve and he does it really well! Carlos has been a vital part of our growth and success over the years. He has been able to absorb the details of each client and knows the ins and outs of our properties. He has become the foundation of our crew with his wealth of knowledge and experience. We are privileged to have him; he makes us a better company.
Carlos is married to Arcely and they have two boys, Sebastian and Mateo. In his spare time, Carlos loves to run, work in his community garden and camp with the family.
Know that whoever Cornerstone is taking care of any given day, Carlos is in the background making sure it is done well!

Thank you Carlos!

One of the joys and corresponding responsibilities we feel in our organization is to give to those in need. We strive to make a difference not only locally, but globally. Compassion International has been one of the giving opportunities we have enjoyed over the last several years.

In 2009, we “adopted” Alphonse, a young man living with his family in Rwanda. He is now 19 and attending school with the goal of getting into the construction business. Alphonse’s parents are farmers, living on the plains of Murambi, home to approximately 15,000 people. The average monthly income in their area is $12. Alphonse is responsible for helping his family with cleaning, caring for their animals, carrying water and gathering firewood. His hobbies include soccer, basketball, reading, singing and listening to music.

We have been impressed with his dedication to helping his family and to working hard in school. Alphonse celebrates his 19th birthday this month (February 13) and we write this in his honor. We wish him a wonderful day with his family and their friends and hope he knows we are thinking of him. We hope he knows that a group of people from the other side of the world care about him and want to give him opportunities to succeed just as we have been given.

Happy Birthday Alphonse!

With the internet’s ever increasing reach, there are new opportunities to take advantage of technology to improve our ability to care for homes.  We are in the middle of testing the idea of monitoring the temperature of client homes remotely.  While this concept is nothing new or earth shattering, it has been previously limited to very high end homes that are built with specific capabilities to allow for remote viewing and management.  Translation:  very expensive and complicated.

 We are testing a system that is relatively inexpensive and easy to use.  The driving force behind this effort is to offer us another layer of protection on behalf of our clients.  This idea, along with the FloLogic, gives us an advantage over our competition as it allows us to check real time temperatures in a house as an indicator of potential HVAC issues.  Additionally, we will be notified via email or text if a temperature reaches a preset limit.

 More to come; “excell still more!”

Today’s business climate is a lot like the weather, very unpredictable and almost impossible to predict. The pace of change in our economy and our culture is accelerating-fueled by global adoption of social, mobile, and other new technologies-and our visibility about the future is declining. From the rise of Facebook to the fall of Blockbuster, from the downgrading of U.S. government debt to the resurgence of Brazil, predicting what will happen next has gotten exponentially harder. Uncertainty has taken hold in boardrooms and cubicles, as executives and workers struggle with core questions: Which competitive advantages have staying power? What skills matter most? How can you weigh risk and opportunity when the fundamentals of your business may change overnight?

Look at the global cell-phone business. Just five years ago, three companies controlled 64% of the smartphone market. Today, two different companies are at the top of the industry. This sudden complete swap in the pecking order of a global multibillion dollar industry is unprecedented. There is no question that we are in a new world.*

Sounds intimidating and scary. As businessmen and women, how do we react to this kind of worldview? I find great confidence in biblical principles that have been in place for 2000 years, are unchanged, and are a formula for success.

· Work is meant to be good and fulfilling; enjoy what you do

· Work deserves our best effort and commitment

· Let your yes be yes; your no be no

· Treat others (customers, vendors, employees) the way you want to be treated

· Put others before yourself

Worry and anxiety about the future become less important. Don’t be anxious about things we can’t control but claim the things we can affect. I know this to be true about our business: If we do great work every day, the future will take care of itself.

*Adapted from Fast Company magazine, February 2012.

David Packard, founder of Hewlett Packard:

“Why are we here? I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists solely to make money. We have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our being. As we investigate this, we inevitably come to the conclusion that a group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company so that they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could not accomplish separately-they make a contribution to society, a phrase that sounds trite but is fundamental.”

This from a technical genius that started his business in his garage. He understands the desire to provide a service that is of value and to do it really well. I believe our team takes this kind of pride and ownership in what we do every day for our clients. I also believe it is the drive that keeps challenging us to improve.

In USA today: summary of 2011

“All of our lives are seen from different angles of time and circumstance”

In the listing of notable deaths of people in the business world, I was struck by several things.

1. The large majority of those listed were in their late 70′s, or 80′s suggesting that they stayed active and engaged after retirement.
2. I had never heard of most of them although they typically lead major corporations.
3. They died

Given the above quote, I would guess that the majority of these men would rather be remembered by something other than being the head of a large company. I venture to guess they each have fascinating stories of relationships, hobbies and personal achievements.

A reminder that relationships are just as vital in our work lives as in our personal lives.