YOU!

When I first started working as a broker, It was very difficult to get things up and running in the beginning. It was difficult to get used to the concept of hearing "NO" over and over again. It was  difficult trying to build a business while being broke with no money and not getting paid anything at all until you can get some clients. It was difficult to have on old clothes or to have to borrow my fathers suits and difficult having holes in my shoes and barely have enough money to get back and forth every day. One of the most difficult things about being broke with no money, would be watching others around me who sat next to me who were successful doing the same. So, one day I get this big prospect on the line, I set up an appointment to call him back. This is a huge opportunity that could change my life forever, so I didn't want to blow it.  I approach the most successful guy in my office and I ask him if he could give me any tips or pointers so that I could land this big client. This guy was one of the most successful brokers in the office, but he was an absolute jerk to clients and prospects. He was rude and abrasive, loud and vulgar and very pushy.  But, it worked for HIM and he was super successful. His clients couldn't get enough of it. He said to me, "I'll tell you what, get the guy on the phone put him on speaker phone, I will listen to him I will feed you lines and you just repeat everything I say and you say it back to the prospect". Cool, this is perfect I thought, I will land this account in no time. So we get the prospect on the phone and right off the bat, the successful broker is trying to feed me lines and he is telling me what to say and how to respond. He immediately starts in telling me rude, abrasive, pushy stuff to say, but because that's not my personality I'm hesitating to say some of the things he is telling me to say. Because, I'm not him I didn't pause when he would have paused, I didn't place emphasis on the same words that he would have placed emphasis on. I didn't raise or lower my voice the exact same way he would have. I couldn't hear some of the things he was telling me to say so there were gaps and holes in my pitch. Plus, I was concerned about the prospect hearing the guy on the other end of the phone. The whole thing just became very awkward and uncomfortable and lasted about 5 minutes. I end up telling the broker who was helping me out, never mind I will do it myself. But by the time I started to be myself, I could tell that the prospect that I had on the line was getting uncomfortable and could sense that something was going on. HE COULD SENSE THAT I WAS NOT BEING MYSELF!

Long story short I ended up losing the prospect and I didn't get his business. Apparently he wanted to do business with ME not ME TRYING TO BE SOMEONE ELSE! (Good thing though, because if I had landed the client I would've  had to spend our entire relationship playing the part of this other broker. I would have had to pretended to be someone else the entire time, and I don't know how long I would have been able to keep up the act). Even though I lost the prospect, I learned an amazing lesson. I CANT BE ANYBODY BUT ME, AND NOBODY CAN BE ME BUT ME.  I have learned that he was successful because despite how rude or pushy or abrasive he was, he was successful because he was himself at all times and he attracted like minded clients that I would have never been able to attract. And my personality attracted clients that he would have never been able to attract. The point is nobody has a monopoly on genius, or good ideas, or skills and talents or abilities or greatness. WE ALL HAVE THEM! We are ALL unique individuals with unique skills and talents and we all have a pool of customers or "fans" out there just waiting to do business with US, not US TRYING TO BE SOMEONE ELSE. NO TWO PEOPLE IN THE WORLD CAN ACT, SING, WRITE, DANCE, CUT HAIR, DESIGN, DRAW, SELL, PAINT etc. EXACTLY THE SAME.. Those gifts and skills and talents that YOU have, have YOUR name on them. YOUR clients, YOUR business, YOUR opportunities have YOUR name on them. So no one can steal business from you or steal opportunities from you. THEY ARE YOURS AND YOURS ONLY.

YOU DONT NEED TO BE OR ACT LIKE ANYONE ELSE! YOU ARE SKILLED, TALENTED, GIFTED, FUNNY, STRONG, COURAGEOUS AND GOOD ENOUGH ON YOUR OWN! BE PATIENT, BE CONFIDENT, BE YOURSELF! THE WORLD IS YOURS! NOW GO GET WHATS YOURS! CONGRATULATIONS!

PEACE!