I’ve been reading The Seven Levels of Communication by Michael J. Maher. Or, rather, rereading as you can tell by the copious sticky notes cropping out of the pages in the photo. The book is written in the form of an allegory. We follow the adventures of down on his luck Realtor Rick Masters who meets Michelle, a mortgage broker, for lunch, who changes his life by inviting him to a seminar.
In the sequel, The Miracle Morning, Maher admits he’s not a writer. We once again meet Rick Masters, struggling again, only now this time we know at least he’s married Michelle!
More than business book,s you might say. More of a how you too can have a fullfilling life if you follow these simple steps in your business, which will spill over into your personal. I mean, Michelle has a pretty nice built-in referall partner after marrying Rick–he’s just feeding her all kinds of new buyer-mortgage leads.
That’s probably my main complaint about the book. You have to try and figure out what Maher is saying, or what he’s trying to teach you. If you’re not paying attention, if you’re not taking copious notes, it’s easy to miss the deeper meaning behind the allegory.
The book has a lot of high praise. Dave Ramsey says, “If you want to win in business…this book will show you how.” Gary Keller says, “Master the generosity game…build a powerful, referral-based business…put the wisdom of (7L) into practice.”
Todd Duncan, New York Times bestselling author of Time Traps and High Trust Selling, says, “(7L) is the most reliable and sensible business-building system I have ever seen… If you follow this amazingly simple recipe, I guarantee success will follow you. Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI and Referral Institute and New York Times bestselling author of Masters of Sales, says, “Every real estate agent needs to read this book and give it to all their referral partners. In (7L), Michael J. Maher shows you how to build a recession-proof network.”
Larry Kendall, Chairman Emeritus of The Group, LLC, and author of Ninja Selling says, “(7L) is the clearest, most concise book I’ve read on what it takes to be a great salesperson. It is obvious whe Michael J. Maher is one of the greatest sales people in the world. This book will become a classic.”
Well, poppycock. And if you’ve read the book, you’ll get the joke here.
The other major complaint I have is that the book is just badly written.
It’s very hard to engage. There’s a general rule for 21st century fiction (and even though Maher’s is a business book, the allegorical format suggests he should have been following some very serious rules for writing fiction). The first line in chapter one is:
“Rick, to be honest with you, I don’t think you’ll be in the business a year from now.”
This is a great sentence, and follows that fiction rule that the opening of any story should begin with at least two characters, an emotion, a conflict, and an action. We have all of that here. We have the two characters: the speaker, and Rick. We have emotion. Rick is feeling bad. We have a conflict–Rick is doing badly in business. And then we have finally an action; someone is speaking.
However, in the next few lines, Rick is stepping over yesterday’s laundry, fumbles around for shaving cream, barely gets to his meeting on time, and he’s hungry. Throughout all of this, Rick is alone. The passage is to show readers how discombobulated his life is. But you know, I really would have rather seen on the page that conversation Rick had with his real estate competitor Don Dasick. That would have been way more interesting that reading about how Rick felt in retrospect about Don’s off-handed comment.
By the way, have you begun to notice the names? Rick Masters. Masters because Rick is going to master the concepts in the book. Don Dasick. Dasick, as in Don is sick, not healthy. And at the end of the book, Don is the one seeking advice from Rick so that the cycle of mastering the networking strategies can start all over with Don. Jay Michaels is the Tony Robbins guru hero in the book, and probably Michael Maher’s counterpart or author shadow-self in the book. Cause, you know, Michael Maher, Jay Michaels. A lot of Michaels there.
The book gets a lot of accolades. Over a 1000 five-star reviews on Goodreads.
But I didn’t even know about the book until my Keller Williams Coastal and Lakes and Mountains in-house business coach started touting the tome. In face, he kept repeating a quote from the book, “Somewhere in the city someone needs your help, and it is your job to find them.” That’s actually a pretty cool quote, but..
Because our in-house coach had been pushing the book, I had the chance to watch other people read Maher’s book, and got to watch their real-time reactions. If I remember correctly, something someone said was along the lines of “If I ever see the word poppycock again, I will tear all my hair out.” Or sometimes, responses were more gentle, like “What was this book even really about?”
And all of that is a damn shame because Maher conveys some really strong lessons around a relationship-based business model. Just some of the ideas he covers:
- Self-Understanding: Understanding your own communication style, strengths, and weaknesses is crucial. This self-awareness helps you connect better with others.
- Connecting: Building genuine connections is fundamental. This involves being present, actively listening, and engaging with people on a personal level, rather than just focusing on transactions.
- Creating Value: Offer value to others through your knowledge, expertise, and resources. This could mean providing insights, sharing connections, or offering help without expecting anything in return.
- Referrals: Cultivating a network of referrals is essential. Maher emphasizes the importance of nurturing relationships that can lead to mutual referrals, which can enhance your business.
- Relationships: Focus on building deep, meaningful relationships rather than superficial connections. This requires ongoing effort and authenticity, creating trust over time.
- Follow-Up: Consistent follow-up is key to maintaining relationships. Maher suggests developing a system for keeping in touch, whether through calls, emails, or personal visits.
- Advocacy: Finally, turn your satisfied clients into advocates. Encourage them to share their positive experiences with others, creating a network of advocates who can help grow your business.
I mean, those concepts and ideas, I can see why people are providing a lot of 5-star reviews; however, having buried the information into an allogorical story, much of the ideas are lost if you’re just doing a quick read. And a 155-page book should be a quick read, especially if the book is a story of any kind. The story, the silly name choices, the thinly veiled weak plot–none of that is the main point of Maher’s book, and that’s an absolute shame because the style and structure of the writing overshadows the more important and vital concepts.
