STARS & STRIPES
HEARTLAND INVESTMENT COMPANIES
JANUARY 2020
DARINGARMAN.COM 319-350-5378
AND HOW YOU CAN HELP MAKE HEARTLAND BETTER MY QUEST FOR CONSTANT SELF-IMPROVEMENT
I like to get a head start on my New Year’s resolutions. While some people wait until Jan. 1 to sit down and take a hard look at the year ahead, I started my research back in November, running the numbers to figure out where Heartland Investment Partners excelled in 2019 and also where we developed weak spots. The holidays are our slow season (people suddenly get more interested in Santa than investments, though I can’t imagine why), so every year I start calculating pretty much as soon as we tidy up the Thanksgiving leftovers. When I’m making my assessment, I always look at three areas: 1. OUR FINANCES This is where I figure out how much money we made this year — both as a company and for our investors — and set next year’s targets accordingly. 2. OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE Here, I ask myself questions like, “Are we providing a great experience for our clients and investors?” Have we improved our service over the course of the year?” And, “Which areas could we continue working on?” 3. MY PERSONAL GROWTH Finally, I try to honestly evaluate where I am in life. I look at everything from my weight, health, fitness, and my relationships with my wife and kids. Then I ask myself, “Can I do better?” In all three categories, no matter how fantastically the year has gone, the answer to the question “Can I do better?” is always “Yes!” Whether the results are good, bad, excellent, or ugly, I always resolve to improve them. A big part of my two-month assessment period involves asking for feedback from my clients and investment partners. If you noticed me asking a few extra questions last time we talked, that’s why! I don’t send out a survey, but I do try to solicit your honest views and recommendations when we get together to talk properties.
“NO MATTER HOW FANTASTICALLY THE YEAR HAS GONE, THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ‘CAN I DO BETTER?’ IS ALWAYS ‘YES!’”
In the past, this practice has led to some really valuable insights. For example, I recently had a few investment partners approach me and ask that I make some updates to Heartland’s website so they could see not only the big picture on all of our investments, but also details on each individual property. Their goal was to compare and contrast metrics like occupancy and rent price. When my team and I realized people wanted to dig deeper into each property, we jumped right into making those changes. We want our website to be as user-friendly as possible, and we’ll never get there without feedback from you, the users! Speaking of feedback, if you have thoughts on how we can improve our service, I’d love to hear them. You can reach me with suggestions or advice at darin.garman@gmail.com or by calling 319-350-5378. Who knows, your suggestions could become my resolutions! –Darin Garman
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