Old Guys Rule - With Technology - 5 Ways

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We've all seen the T-Shirts - "Old Guys Rule" a cute way of reminding our society that if you were born before MTV, you are not irrelevant! Quite the contrary - you might actually still have a voice! I’m often mentioned as one who has captured social media as an integral part of marketing my commercial real estate brand. Others nationally include Howard Kline, Coy Davidson, Duke Long, Linda Day Harrison, and Barbi Reuter. Locally, folks such as Randy Mason, Andrew Bermudez, Justin Smith, and Sean Ward light it up. Most of us are of the age - we remember flat front pants - the first time they were popular!

I like to refer to this chapter of my life (I'm 62, BTW) as the "sir stage". This precedes the “he’s old - who cares” stage! If you doubt that the "sir stage" exists, take this test. If you share my chronology, see how many people refer to you as "sir" the next time you shop (Amazon doesn't count), eat out, or go to the car-wash. If you have a fade haircut (under 35), how do you respond to a customer or client that is over fifty? I'll wager that you call him "sir" - even if you don't hail from Georgia - where "sir" is mandatory - regardless of age.

So, just how is it that OLD GUYS RULE with Technology? Simple!

We lived and worked BEFORE technology was affordable. I've said this many times, in this space, but technology makes things sooo much easier than the old ways of doing things. The preparation of a survey of available properties for an occupant tour used to take a week, now it takes thirty seconds - and the survey is in the client's inbox in one minute. Before, the only way to see a building was to visit it in person. Now, with the click of an app, a virtual tour is created. And, need a signature? Instantly you have it with DocuSign.

We know MORE PEOPLE than you do. The sheer number of folks we know creates a hurdle that is solved by the use of technology - how do you stay in contact? Easy - Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube. Reunions these days are populated by the folks online and off. The online people spend little time catching up - social media allows an image roll of our lives. We can get to today without recapping the past.

We understand what SCARES people about technology. All of us OLD GUYS who have ventured onto the dark side of technology understand some are afraid of the new reality. An example of this happened to me the other day as I listened to some grey hairs kapitzing about Twitter - “yeah, I don't use it and I don't believe my clients use it either". You can imagine the raised eyebrows, when I recounted the number of engagements Twitter had created for me. Because we understand the FEAR, we can empathize with credibility.

We are not afraid to call someone. OLD GUYS know that you gotta get a meeting (real or virtual) if you wanna make a deal - and we are not afraid to take an ONLINE relationship OFFLINE. Not so long ago - our business required a call, a fax, or mail to make contact. We learned how to do this. Before the days of swipe left - you actually had to dial a real person.

We are concerned about LEGACY. Blogs, videos, shared images, ALL are great ways to deposit our knowledge for the future. I can actually see my grandkids watching a Tuesday Traffic Tip (my video series) or reading an archive of the OC Register someday and replying - my GrandDad was the MAN!

Yep! And it's SIR to you sonny boy.

Allen C. Buchanan, SIOR, is a principal with Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in Orange. He can be reached at abuchanan@lee-associates.com or 714.564.7104. His website is allencbuchanan.com.