All posts by Keith Thompson

Difference maker

Career

I am in sales and over this past weekend, I thought about all the brokers we currently have with our company and all the brokers I have hired and worked with in the past. I thought about what makes some brokers successful while others fail.

It is not education, age, looks, speech, background, polish, location etc. It is something far more simple than that. If you judged me by any of the above criteria, I would have failed on the first day 30 years ago.   What I tried to decide was if I had to boil down all the things you need to do in order to be successful in selling hotels and put that into one actionable thing, what would that one thing be?

It is cold calling three people a day, five days a week. That’s 15 people you talk to this week that you didn’t talk to last week. That’s it. Its that simple. That is the difference maker.

Let me explain. When you make a cold call, you might have some idea how you will start the conversation, but you have no idea where it will lead to. By its very nature you can’t plan the call, can’t layout all the strategy, can’t overthink it (what most brokers do,) rather basically, you have to be flexible and sharp because you don’t know where it will lead. It is like jumping off the high diving board. You might think you know what’s going to happen but when you’re in the air, things can change. You can end up with a gold medal finish or you can end up doing a butt flop. It’s being willing to accept either one.

So, what I determined this weekend was it is clearly not about training, exposure, talent, education etc. It is about the one ability you need above all others. Availability. It is the willingness to go into something where you may not know all the answers. That is the difference maker between some brokers standing the test of time and other running out of time. KT

Swing of the Pendulum

Life

Yesterday, after six months of carnage in the hotel business, I decided to leave the office early and go clear my head. It was one of those days and I just needed a moment.

When a pendulum swings, it moves from one side to the other but when the pendulum stops and just hangs straight down, it takes a lot to get it going again. That describes the hotel transaction market today. I have been through many cycles and it generally swings from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market and the shift is predictable and generally smooth. We can transact in either market, you just put on a different hat. This cycle, the pendulum was swinging very high January through the middle of March and instead of swinging the other way, it just fell straight down and has been hanging there for the past six months.

Yesterday I decided to go home and help my two sons-in-laws clean some stuff out of our garage but basically, I just wanted to do something different for a little while. On the way home I cranked up some Lynyrd Skynyrd (Call me the Breeze and Sweet Home Alabama) and realized there are sometimes when you need to be quiet and then there are times you need to turn up the volume. Yesterday was one of the later.

After a few minutes of Skynyrd and some time away from the office, I was good to go. Below is a link (just in case you need some Skynyrd) to Ronnie Van Zant and the Skynyrd band in live concert in 1976 singing ‘Call me the Breeze.’ KT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsIqEq9OFxE

If what you are doing isn’t working, try doing the opposite

Career, Family

Years ago, my dad I were at his house working on my 64 Impala Super Sport and had taken the hood and hinges off in the process. When we went to put the hinges and hood back on, I learned one of the best lessons I have ever known.

My dad was an aircraft jet mechanic with Eastern Airlines. To say he was a mechanic is almost an understatement. We bolted on the hinges and the hood but couldn’t get it to go all the way down. We knew the hinges were on the correct way so we adjusted them all the way up and then all the way down but could not get the hood to close correctly. My brother Mark, who is also a certified mechanic had stopped by while this was going on. He looked at what we were doing and said something that day that has stayed with me.

He said, “if what you are doing isn’t working, try doing the opposite.” We said well, ok, and took the hinges off and turned them upside down even though they looked wrong. We bolted the hood on, and it closed as smooth and perfect as you could wish for.

In life, finances, raising children, exercise, relationships, work etc. sometimes (not every time of course) if you are having trouble making something work, take a step back and try it differently. Like the story above about my car, it may surprise you what can happen. KT

Nothing new under the sun

Career, Family, Life

Ecclesiastes was written in 250 BC by Solomon who was the wisest and most wealthy person that has ever lived. In verse 1:9 it says; “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun.”

Have you ever seen a house with rust color carpet or harvest gold fixtures from 1970 that now is back in style? Take cloths designs that circle back around every 20-30 years or the retro house designs and mid-century modern furniture that is now all the rage. The list could go on for pages. The point is to just keep everything because it may eventually come back in style. ha

With COVID, many families in society stepped back into a simpler lifestyle. More time with the children, gardens, walks, alone time, reading more, family time and most of all spending far less time on the phone and internet. Actually, talking to each other. These are just a few examples that echo what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes.

In many commercial real estate segments and markets, COVID has caused many commercial investments like hotels, office, retail etc. to go back to the performance levels of the 1990’s. Many markets like New York and Chicago have stepped back into the crime history last seen in the 1980’s where people were afraid to walk down the street.

The point of the scripture is that there is really nothing new that is every truly new. It might be new how you access it but take social media as example, people are doing the same things they have done for 100 years, they just have the internet platform to talk about. It seems new but it is still old stuff. Take Amazon as example, the mail order concept it not new. Sears and Montgomery Ward started doing mail order 100 years ago. Amazon just does it better and faster than Sears did it, but the idea is not new.

People basically have the same feelings, emotions, wants desires, needs as they have had since creation and will continue to have for the future. I was talking with this hotel guy recently that wants to develop a mid-century hotel concept where guests can experience what it was like in 1960. No internet, no 60-inch plasma TV. Just a bed, pleasant people, good food, a land line phone and a swimming pool. Ha I believe I would like to go there for a few days and leave the rapid life pace behind.

Remember, hang on to those bell bottom pants, original Levi’s and that double-knit shirt.

The difference between this recession and past recessions

Career

One word, Bandwidth.

In past recessions, the internet and bandwidth you could get at home was just not strong enough for face to face video calls and sustain business every day. Today it is. Six months ago, companies across America had a dense office workspace, cubicles, full meeting rooms, communal areas etc. In fact, six months ago if you wanted a job, you had to be in the office.

The greatest difference in this recession and past recessions is that companies (when forced to because of COVID) found out they could still function remotely and function well. They also found out that they didn’t need all that expensive office space and labor was cheaper in South Carolina than in Manhattan.

Owners, bosses, staff and employees found out that the bandwidth (ability to connect) was as good in rural areas as it was in say, New York, Chicago, DC etc. and they didn’t have to spend two hours a day in the car driving to and from the office. That is why the results (in my opinion) from this recession will be very different than previous recessions. Take New York for example; most of the vehicles on the streets today are moving trucks because people are leaving the city in hordes every day. They are cancelling those expense apartment rents and moving to other states. Corporate America has found out that they can meet with clients via zoom from their home for free instead of getting on an airplane and spending two thousand dollars just to meet face to face.

Bandwidth and the ability to do business without the expense of office space and travel will have (in my opinion) significant long-term effects to the office building industry, airlines, hotels, travel, restaurants, entertainment and almost every commercial segment you can imagine. Who would have thought six months ago that bandwidth would change the face of corporate America? Well,,,, I believe it has. KT