I have this friend who is young and just started a new sales job in commercial real estate. He has been at it for about a month now and for some reason (I don’t why,) he thinks of me as his mentor, so he copies me on much of what he is doing and how he is doing it.

He is making so many mistakes in his approach I have lost count. I have rewritten many emails for him and even helped him on a few zoom calls and he just fumble around and to the untrained eye, he looks like he will never make it.

That is to the untrained eye. To my eye, he is a breath of fresh air and tenacious enough that he will make it. Frankly, he reminds me of myself that first year selling hotels. I didn’t know anything about hotels other than they had beds and a bathroom. I didn’t understand any of the economic factors and didn’t even know how to talk intelligently to someone. What I did do right was, I didn’t wait until I had all the answers before I started. I guess you could say, I got a double PhD quickly in hotel real estate. See, that’s what happens when you just go for it. This young friend of mine is just going for it.

Over the years, I have worked with some of the brightest professionals that never could get out of their own way. They felt as though they had to know the answers before they would get started. Many of them never got started and went on to some other line of work.

I could be wrong, but I think people see someone really trying (even though they don’t know anything) and they subconsciously want to help him. It almost endears them to the person. That is what is happening with this friend of mine. I wouldn’t put it past him that he hasn’t already called Donald Trump. Ha. He is fearless and that is a quality that will help him throughout his whole career. He will call anyone that will answer the phone and you got love a kid that just fumbles around because he will quickly learn the business and all those clients, he called early, will remember him. Never forget that people hire and work with people they like and trust. Seeing this young broker fumble around and making calls and getting in front of people could be used as a quick start training program. Give them a business card and phone and let them figure it out. They will figure it out much faster that way than taking three years to learn the answers before they even start. KT