Clients First: The Two Word Miracle

Chapter 13

Synergy of the Three Keys

JoAnn often says, “I would never do this business without Joseph.” Then, like an “I love you, too,” I agree and say the same thing to her. But it’s more than an “I love you, too.” While I think JoAnn could, I don’t believe I have all the tools. What we do have is synergy.

As related in the introduction Marge read at the Mustang Library, JoAnn is good with people and I am good with paper. Of course, this is an oversimplification meant for effect with an audience. The truth is that JoAnn is perfectly capable of handling any contract, form, or memorandum, and I speak with dozens of people a day. But our respective strengths are, for JoAnn, being able to understand a client’s situation and, for me, going to the heart of any document. This makes us a great team. Sometimes we joke that between us we have the makings of one pretty good agent.

Actually, between the two of us we have something far more than one good agent. We have something that confounds mathematicians and puzzles logicians. What we have is one plus one makes three. Sometimes the combination equals four or five . . . or even infinity. When you combine two things, and the total is far greater than the sum of the two parts, you have synergy.

Have you ever felt this strange effect in your life? How much more difficult is it to parent as (or to be parented by) a single mother or a single father than when two share the load? Could Lewis have reached the Pacific Ocean without Clark? Could ...