I love the story of Holiday Inns and its founder Kemmons Wilson probably more than any other hotel or business story I know. Numerous books have been written about this subject but I will try to condense it to one page.

Kemmons Wilson was a home builder who lived in Memphis. He had 6 children and in August of 1951 his wife finally convinced him to take a family vacation to Washington DC. They drove in his non air conditioned Oldsmobile back before interstates were built. Then, there were no franchised hotel chains like Holiday Inn, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott etc. On that trip Kemmons and his large family had to stay in old independent mom and pop hotels that had no consistency and always charged extra for each child. As written, Kemmons said it was a miserable trip.

When he got back to Memphis he decided to start a chain of hotels that would have consistency and where the guests would know what to expect at every Holiday Inn. Kemmons had no formal education, knew nothing about the hotel business and knew nothing about franchising. He started with an idea and a sketch pad.

He hired an architect to draw up some plans for his hotel idea. The architect was finishing the plans during the Christmas holidays that year. The movie White Christmas didn’t come until 1954 but Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire made a movie eight years earlier called Holiday Inn. The architect was rolling up the finished plans while watching that old movie and he just took a pen and wrote in cursive, the name Holiday Inn. When Kemmons saw the plans and the name on the plans he fell in love with idea and the way the architect had written the words Holiday Inn. That cursive scrip of the name Holiday Inn is still being used today.

Kemmons personally built and paid for the first 4 Holiday Inns located in Memphis and opened the first one in 1952. A few years later he hired a young lawyer named Bill Walton to be the first corporate attorney and told him to learn how to franchise. Bill’s first desk was an old door propped up on cinder blocks and he was self-taught on all things franchise.

By the late 50”s they were selling franchises as fast as they could approve the construction and by 1959 there were 100 Holiday Inn hotels and by the mid 60’s they were opening a new Holiday Inn hotel every week. By 1975 there were 1700 Holiday Inn hotels worldwide.

Kemmons Wilson retired in 1979 having sold all his stock in the company and today his three sons run the business ventures for the family. The family has used me extensively for the better part of 23 years to sell their hotels for them and I can tell you from first hand experience, they are the classiest and most honest people I know.

Kemmons Wilson was an average guy that had an above average idea who believed in setting the example and leading from the front. He consistently out worked everyone around him and the process he became world famous.

What’s the point of this story? The point is when God gives out ideas, it is usually to average people like you and me. I could talk for days about the people who founded companies like McDonalds, KFC, Walmart, Marriott etc. and how they all started with a simple idea and then simply worked that idea. KT

Momentum is a funny thing. It is almost impossible to plan and predict and even more impossible hang on to. Have you ever watched a football game where one team is just pounding the other team? I was watching one recently like that where the team that was getting pounded got the ball on a big play and they were able to turn the momentum to their favor and ultimately went on to win the game.

I remember Tiger Woods was asked once about momentum and he said something that was very true. He was in a period where he hit any shot he wanted and had no fear and won almost every time he went out. A sportscaster asked him if he ever dialed it back to give the others players a chance. He said that if you turn the switch off, you may never get it to it back on. He meant you can dial it back by choice but you can never by choice turn it back on. Momentum is like that. When you have it, you need to do everything you can to keep it going because there will come a day when you don’t have it.

In business I look at how the market and momentum can change so quickly. Take Volkswagen for example. In June of 2015 they became the top selling car maker in the world for the previous 12 months. It was a first for the company and they looked unstoppable. By September 2015 they were hit with the emissions scandal and today in October 2015 some are questioning if the company can survive. So within 4 months they went from being the world’s top selling Car Company to questioning their survival. There are many business examples like this where people become complacent and just assume it will always be that way.

In life like in business, you need to recognize when momentum is with you and be focused. It is during those time periods that we need to be still, listen and be appreciative for the moment. KT

Have you ever met a person that never stops trying to sell you on something? I ran across a guy recently that was that way and after spending 30 min with him I knew I never wanted to be like that. Sure I am salesman but I would like to think that my clients also look at me as a friend. Like with everything in sales, there is a time to sell and then a time to stop.

I think people appreciate the sales person that lays out the offering and then stops trying to convince you to buy it. I remember one time Elaine and I when to look at a timeshare for the one hour presentation. My gosh, the guy would not stop selling even after I told no. He was like a Gatling gun trying to convince me to buy his timeshare.

Integrity selling is a real term. It means that you get to know the person first and connect with him/her on a personal level before you try to sell them something. I believe that people buy from people they like and trust. For me it is really that simple. If a client doesn’t trust you, the conversation will never get past the sales mode. I would venture that a meaningful percentage of the hotels I have sold over the past 25 years came from a relationship that was formed out of the first meeting.

Two of my dearest friends in the world were both hotel buyers I met in the first 3 years of selling hotels. In both situations I was selling a hotel and called on them to see if they were interested. The relationship started and in both cases goes on even today. I would venture that these two people have sold or bought 40+ hotels from me. It all started when I was more interested in getting to know them personally than trying to sell them.

You don’t have be great salesman to be a great salesman. People can read honesty and integrity and usually choose to work with the people they enjoy being around and trust. KT