Taking It Personally

Years back, as we were growing our team at Al Filippone Associates in Fairfield County, Ct., I watched with great interest the way in which certain agents conducted their business compared to others.  In many cases it was obvious why some consistently met their goals while others didn’t.  In other cases, however, it was not so obvious, particularly when two agents had similar business plans and seemed to invest a similar amount of time and resources into their business.

The Best

One day I happened to see an interview on television that. in my mind, provided insight into the varying results among Realtors and probably all business people.  It was one of basketball’s great superstars who was being interviewed, and he was asked  what separates him from the rest.  Without hesitation he responded, “I truly believe that the upper echelon of players take losing personally.  It has to bother you when you lose, bother you a lot.”

Spot On

For whatever reason I didn’t expect that response, and I immediately thought that he hit the proverbial “nail on the head.”  It was absolutely, in my mind, a big part of the reason that some accomplish more than others in any field.

Perspective

At one time we hired an agent who struggled to get her career jump started at another firm.  She was delightful and very personable.  After a short tenure with us, she asked me what I thought her biggest impediment would be to becoming a top producing agent.  I told her that I thought it was important to have a competitive nature; and that if she did have one I had yet to see it.  I then spoke about all the other great qualities and skill that she possessed and advised her to build upon those.

Quick Departure

She wasn’t with us for long, and after struggling to develop a customer base, she left real estate entirely.

Another entrepreneur whom I heard speak put it this way.  “In business, if you don’t have a competitive drive, people perceive you as being too nice.  And then they confuse being nice with being naive.”   I can’t imagine that such a perception is good for anyone’s business.

Results

I suppose that it comes down to this.  If you don’t win the order and it bothers you more than it does most others, your frustration will often inspire you to improve, to work on your skills and to try to perfect them.  The alternative is to be satisfied with the status quo, which will generally result in more orders lost.

I look back, proud of our results but realize that we need to continue to improve.  I also realize that the basketball star and the entrepreneur offered valuable insight.  If you want to succeed in business, you have to take losing personally.

How do you react to losing the order?

What benefits have you reaped as a result?

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