All posts by Keith Thompson

Asking the right questions

Career, Life

How many times do we find ourselves in situations where we didn’t ask the right questions? I can rattle off at least a dozen situations from investments to personal situations where if I had asked the right questions, it would have kept me from getting into a situation that I didn’t want to be in.

Many times a misunderstanding is not because anyone lied or did something wrong. It is simply that what you assumed is not what the other party assumed. In our business, I have learned to always cover up front how the money will be split after it is closed. In the brokerage world, assuming something on your own generally will cause you a great headache. When we list a hotel for sale we always try to cover the splits upfront because the worst thing you can do in our line of work is wait until the deal is about to close to discuss money.

Personally situations are no different. How many time have we assumed something only to find out the other person assumed something totally different? It is always, always, always far easier to discuss things upfront before something happens, than to try and correct it after the fact. There was this teenager that wanted to go to a party at a friend’s house. He told his parents that the friend’s parents were going to be at the house. What he didn’t tell his parents was that the friend’s parents were going to be at the house after the party, not during. Well you can guess what happened. There were police involved etc and it could have been all averted if the boy’s parents had asked the right questions.

Years ago I was involved in selling a company where I would remain after closing to help run the company. The buyer was completely truthful and honest and was actually a very good guy. We just went through the closing having assumed that the operations and overhead of the company would remain intact for the new owner. Again, notice the word assumed. Well about 3 weeks after we closed, I really found out the buyer’s plans for the company. There was not one single thing the buyer said he would do that he did not do. The problem was I didn’t ask a couple of pretty important questions before we closed. Had I asked those questions, I would not have sold the company.

Such as in our personal life with family and friends. Ask the detailed questions and that way you won’t be surprised with the outcome. KT

Recognizing when life gives you a gift

Career

All the Atlanta Hotel AG brokers have this thing we do when we sell a hotel. The broker that sold the hotel has to buy everyone lunch. There have been some years where we have eaten a lot of lunches together and then other years (like 2009) when we missed lunch for the whole year. Ha

Yesterday was one of those lunches together. I have a doctor friend who was also at the restaurant when we were there. His father is an attorney and in very poor health. My friend the doctor commented that he remembers fondly when his father was healthy and active, he would take all the staff out to lunch and it caused him to reflect on those memories of his dad. His exact words were “time doesn’t discriminate and to enjoy those moments.” My translation is “recognize that you are living in a gifted period because it won’t last forever.” Time will change your life and you may look back with great longing on what you took for granted. In short, recognize when life gives you a gift.

When I read his words in a text it struck me that the life we have is in fact a gift from God that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It should be recognized for what it is. It is a moment of life’s joy that you have been able to be a part of. There will be a time for all of us, when the phone stops ringing as often, the job ends and what you do every day is simplified.

Listen to me here. Even though your life may be complicated and even stressful, close your eyes and whisper a prayer of thanks for God letting you be where you are today. KT

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans

Life

Isn’t this how life usually works? You are laying out all the grand plans for your life, when life itself interrupts and says, excuse me, this is how it is going to go.

How many husband and wife’s have had the unexpected baby added to their family. They thought all the children were born and in high school or college only to find out, wait a minute, we are having another child. How many people have thought this job would be the last job, this house would be the last house, this relationship will be the last relationship, and I will do this or that in life only to find out that God has a different plan. On a sad note, how many people die unexpectedly? If you are a 134 years old, it may be expected but no one plans for an early death.

Therefore my point is that many times, life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. When I started in business, I used to be a goal setter. At the beginning of the year I would write out sales goals and income goals and have a great plan all written out. It never turned out like I planned. Along about the 3rd year of selling hotels, I stopped setting goals and chose rather to just be available and go where the year took me. I was much happier that way than trying to write it all out and pretending I could predict the future.

To some people, goal setting is a good and needed thing but for others it becomes much more problematic. In some situations it can even work against you. If your income is steady, I think setting financial goals of how much to save, how much to give etc. is a very good thing. If your income is not predictable, it changes how you plan for the future.

Sometimes it is the unpredictable things in life that are the sweetest. It is having your children or grandchildren come by unexpectedly even though it changes your plans for that day. It is like you and your spouse, friend or child just deciding spur of the moment to go out to dinner. It is like Friday afternoon just deciding to go somewhere for the weekend. Sometimes being too rigid in our planning keeps us from the spontaneity of the moment.

I believe the main point is to recognize how little control our plans actually have over our future and we need to recognize who is the master planner of our future. KT

Joy light switch

Life

Sometimes it is hard to find Joy even though you have all the reasons why you should have it. It can be elusive. It can be close but just out of reach. It can be seen but still be unattainable. Joy is hard to get and sometimes even harder to hang on to.

The pressures of life, family and work many times crowd out peace and joy. If only there was a light switch to turn it on, it would be easier for us to obtain.

Here is the light switch. The most important point is to follow what you believe, not what you feel. Let me say that again. Follow what you believe, not what you feel. Feelings will mislead you. So, back to the joy light switch. Wait a minute, I need to tell you one more thing. Your first thought will be to discount what I am about say as hogwash so just do this for one day where no one can see you. What will it hurt to do this one day? After you do this one simple thing, you will know in your heart what I am saying. So on with it.

Stand in front of a mirror at home or look in your rearview mirror when you get in the car. Make sure to look at yourself when you say this. If you are in the car, trust me, people will just think you are on your Bluetooth or hands free phone. Look in the mirror, smile as big as you can and say “I am a child of God and I choose that this day will be full of joy.”

Many times we let our physical man lead our spirit man because of what we feel. It is supposed to be the spirit man leading the physical man because of what you believe.

Give it shot. What do you have to lose? KT

The one thing to do in sales

Career

In sales, the one thing to always do, is sale.

Every job is a sales job from working in a hardware store to being a nurse in the hospital. Everyone is a salesman of themselves. The objective is to find what it is you are selling. Is it your voice, your personality, your mannerisms, your intensity, your honesty, your work ethic? It could be all the above but make no mistake about life, we are all salesmen or saleswomen regardless of what our job is.

In any sales organization there is usually one main thing that needs to be kept the main thing. In every organization where humans are involved, there will be people that mislead you, lie to you, talk about you, try to hurt you, secretly enjoy when you fail, are not who you think they are and basically do not wish you well and success. And that’s just in the church. Ha. There are of course good people in every organization and people you can trust. That said, there always seems to be one or two people that are unhappy and they want everyone around them to be unhappy.

In every organization there is that one thing you do to get back on tract and to get past the past.

Hotel AG sells hotels and our lifeblood is new hotel listings. When you deal in transactions, any number of things can happen from buyers that back out of a deal, a seller that changes his mind, getting mislead to not getting hired. Our answer to the problem is simple, just go list some more hotels. That one step seems to be the insulator that cures all the ailments of the past. I have often said, the more you work on, the more you want to work on. When you have just a couple of deals you are working on and something happens, it can steel your spirit and your hope. New listings will always offer the salve to cover old wounds.

Let’s say you are a pastor. Your answer is to go knock on someone door. If you sell insurance, your answer is to meet with a new client today that you didn’t know yesterday. The list could go from ditch diggers to bankers. In every profession there is that one thing you need to keep in focus and never lose sight of. There are times at work where you just need to step back, refocus and go do the main thing. I heard a guy say one time that if your wet wood won’t burn, go get some more wood. That statement is incredibly simple, yet so very true. Just go get some more wood. KT