Direct Communication

I have always been a direct communicator. When there is an issue, I want to speak with someone personally. As can be attested by my family, many times when calling a company, I have to repeat the magic words, “representative, representative” and then several more times,” representative”. Then I have to confirm they are in the United States and not overseas somewhere.

Why am I telling you this? Companies are increasingly moving to voice message only and forcing customers to listen to menus and select options and just maybe, after five tries, you may get rewarded with a human being that can actually speak to you. They are doing everything in their power to get you to address all your issues on their website. Likewise, the younger generations are increasingly reliant on email, chats, bots, leaving a ticket (this one really gets me going) and any other means of communication other than actually speaking with someone.

I have done this many times – I tell a staff member to call so and so and get this or that done. I check three days later and ask them if they got it done and hear, “oh yes, I took care of it.” Only when I say, “tell me in detail how you took care of it,” do I get the real story and that is that their method of ‘taking care of it’ was sending an email or doing a ‘chat’ or my personal favorite ‘putting in a ticket.’

In these situations, I feel like screaming at them but that won’t solve the issue. Therefore, my default is the following, ‘Tom, I want you to listen to the very words coming out of my mouth. I want you to call (physically pick up the phone) so and so every 30 minutes today until you actually speak to them and get this resolved. Do you understand what I am asking you to do? No emails, no chats, no questions on a website and certainly no putting in a ticket. Tom, please confirm you understand. “ha

Well, there you have it, the very outdated, old-school method of dealing with an issue by H. Keith Thompson. KT

Helping others

Below is one of the sweetest videos I have ever seen. The family in the video has two dogs and one of them is deaf. When the family comes home after shopping, the girl dog goes to wake up her deaf brother dog to come and welcome the family home. They have probably only been gone for a couple hours but to a dog, it is an excitement that needs to be shared. She wants her brother to be able to share in the joy.

While watching this video, I couldn’t help but think about the upcoming election and all the animosity, anger, hate, resentment that is in the news every day. How did we get it so wrong? A dog doesn’t judge you. They just care about their fellow friends and that is how we should be.

I could write on this subject for 10 pages but after watching the video, you will understand what I am saying. KT

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/life/animalkind/2024/10/24/see-the-sweet-moment-a-dog-plays-alarm-clock-for-her-deaf-brother/75828137007

Life changes

Me and my blushing bride are going through a few life changes. Elaine retired at the end of September. We closed our long-term hotel office and moved in with the greater Avison Young Team in the downtown Atlanta office. I started drawing social security this month. Go figure. Lastly, we are adding onto and retrofitting our lake house (Lake Lanier) with plans to sell our long-term home in Eagles Landing and move to the lake full time around this coming January or February. Whew, that’s a lot

When changes happen in our life, we are generally faced with two options. Embrace it or resist it. The best I can tell, change comes for all of us, and we can stand up and welcome it or go down the rabbit hole of trying to keep life the same, knowing you really can’t.

In my line of work (hotel brokerage) I have a very unorthodox way of determining if it’s time to keep going or to hang up my cleats. I call it relevancy. How long does it take for clients to call you back or call you back at all. So far, I still have clients that will call me back but that too could change in the near future. I think the key to enjoying retirement is to leave when the music is still playing. Maybe not your peak season of life, but close to it.

Jack Ward was a mentor to me when I started in the business. He was older that all of us at the firm and I loved him so much. He taught us all how to do life while succeeding in the sales world. He told me once, sometimes the best time to sell, is the very time you don’t want to. For those of you in sales, you will know what that means.

So, regarding change, I am revved up for the future and I am choosing to embrace life’s changes while setting goals/objectives for the next dance. Me and my bride are on the dance floor and the music is still playing. KT

Working from home

Until today, I have never “quote” worked from home in 34 years. Even during the pandemic, I continued to go to the office every day. Sure, I have hung out from home and answered emails from my phone or answered calls, but never brought my computer and dual screens home.

Last week we moved the hotel group in with the much larger Avison Young office in mid-town Atlanta. The hotel group has always operated out of a separate office in the Eagles Landing area. Now all the practice groups are under one umbrella and in one office. In doing so, I will be working from home most of the week and today was the first day of full on working from home.

I thought it would be terrible but what I discovered was pretty telling. The bathroom is down the hallway and never busy and you never have to wait in line. The Kitchen is 20 feet away and comes supplied with all kinds of snacks. My favorite coffee is always available. The breakroom (living room) comes with the big TV and all my favorite shows, ha. The workout room is downstairs, and the shower is just at the end of the hallway.

The best I can figure, if I time it just right, I can eat 13 times a day. I can work-out while I am answering emails, watch NCIS while I am on a zoom call, play with the dog at work, listen to Hot Rod TV in my office and the best part – no one can interrupt me with questions they should already know the answer to. In all, it was a pretty good day!

I am sure after several days the novelty will wear off but, it’s hard to beat having everything at your fingertips at the same time. KT

Who you listen to

I gave two interviews yesterday with college students that are close to graduating with a degree in hospitality finance. One was from Cornell and the other was from the University of Texas. I don’t know how they found me, but they did. I guess all the smart people turned them down. Ha

In both interviews they asked the usual questions, how I got started, what decisions were made etc. etc. At the end of both interviews they asked if I have any other advice. I told them to be careful choosing who they listen to and to choose people that have actually been on the playing field of life (done something in business) and not just giving their opinions from the stands. I told them that their professors (most likely) have been on salary their whole career and have no concept of debt, stress and the risk of running a business.

Theories and suppositions are great in a classroom, but when you need real advice on real life, choose someone that has actually strapped on a helmet, put on some cleats, got a little blood on their jersey and actually played on the field. KT