Alpha One, Alpha All #

[alpha99]

Hi Luis,

As it happens I have just spoken to W and by coincidence did as you proposed. We both agreed we don't want to decorate the house as it would cost too much but that it does need cleaning. We are going to do that together over the next few days and W is arranging for someone to come and value the house at a time when we're both available next week. I pointed out that we don't have to jump right in the first company to value it and we should approach this sensibly with a mind to getting 'us' the best deal. W agreed.

I did start the conversation by asking what she wanted to do. Then I listened and validated all her thoughts. I gave my thoughts afterwards. W knows I am financially minded and agreed with my points. Considering we're talking about the sale of our family home due to the death of our M it was quite a pleasant conversation.

I did fear W was going to be antagonistic due to the circumstances and her wanting money, money, money! She did let slip that as I suspected she hasn't got much money at the moment. She seemed pleased with the prospective amount of money we might get from the house sale.

I think I handled the call really well. I had written out bullet points in Notepad to make sure I covered the things I wanted to. I validated the hell out of what she was saying. Finally, I was calm, rational, and clear headed throughout the conversation. No emotions involved.

W is definitely more comfortable communicating with me right now. I don't think I'm being easy on her. I think I am letting her see I understand and value her thoughts. I made sure to compose myself before calling her back and thought about what the purpose of the call was, how I might act 'as if' I was fine with everything...and then stuck to those guidelines.