Last week, I received encouragement and compliments from an unlikely source: an agent with another brokerage. And it was exactly what I needed.
See, for those of you who know me, you know me as a man of integrity - a nice guy with respect for everyone around me. I know you can't make everyone happy all of the time, but people like me at least try to make everyone happy at all times. And for the most part, it pays off. My family, my friends, and my clients all seem to appreciate it. I know there are many of us out there, so please don't believe that I think I'm a rare breed or anything.
But everything comes full circle when you come across someone who, no matter how hard you try, you cannot make happy. Usually, someone like this is looking for you to be "tough" and "overly aggressive," even in situations that don't call for it. They either try to get a rise out of you because that's just their personality, or they don't understand a specific situation and how to behave in it, so they just become disagreeable no matter what you say.
Obviously, since I am writing this blog entry, this happened to me recently. I came across someone who for whatever reason, wanted me to be "aggressive" in a situation that didn't call for it. Therefore, we butted heads and the partnership I spent so much time and effort cultivating just didn't work, and it fell apart. At first, I blamed myself.
I thought to myself that maybe I did need to be majorly aggressive and oftentimes more pushy/bossy/bullying to be successful in real estate. If that was the case though, I was in big trouble because that is not me. When a situation calls for being aggressive, I am. When a situation calls for me to be firm and demanding, I am. But can I be that way all the time, even when it's not called for? No way. So, I blamed myself, questioned myself, and doubted myself. But in the back of my head I kept thinking about all of the other people I knew who valued me for the kind way I delt with situations. It just didn't make sense.
So last Friday, I was sitting in on a closing for some of my clients. I was representing the buyers in this transaction, and the Sellers' agent, from across the table took it upon herself to tell my clients, "You have a great Realtor. He knows what he's doing. He's genuine. He's nice. He's a pleasure to deal with. He's already a really good Realtor." Then she started talking about to be successful in this business so many people think you need to be mean and aggressive, but that just isn't the case. "You just need to be nice," she said. "If you're nice, it will all come back to you."
She had no idea how much I needed to hear that. But she's one of the area's top agents, so coming from her, that was not only comforting to hear, but I knew it was true. She knows what she's talking about, and it makes me feel completely comfortable that I know what I'm talking about.
Nice guys don't finish last - only once in a blue moon. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they finish first. And I must tell you, it's pretty nice being first and holding the blue ribbon.
