Hunter Hearts

People ask how I've been able to do what I do for the last 12 years. Let me introduce you to Melissa Baugher, from Ojai CA. 

Melissa is a long time client turned friend. As a real estate professional she was of instrumental help when I first moved to the Central Coast as she ordered a lot of Cutco and introduced me to several amazing clients (Nora Davis;)

Most importantly, she was just a cool lady with an awesome husband and 2 great kids (Taylor and Hunter). Quite an example for a young family bound person to look up to. 

In 2009 after a few stellar sales years with Cutco I was asked to co-author a book called Cutting Edge Sales. 

My chapter is on client relationships and referrals. Go figure!

I went to Melissa's house to share the good news and her little guy Hunter (11 years old at the time) had such an Entrepreneurial spirit like his mom I had to give him a signed copy of the book.

Earlier this year, Hunter Passed away in a tragic motorcycle accident at age 16.

Last week Melissa and I got to reconnect when I came out for her annual knife sharpening :) My wife Monica came along and we chatted about life and how they've been handling their loss. 

Her Husband and daughter have since both received their real estate license to support Melissa and run the family business!

The next morning Melissa sent me these photos of the Cutting Edge Sales book still on Hunter's shelf with this message:

"He kept that the whole time... He said he would be rich one day and buy me a house in Lake Las Vegas. It was fun finding it and remembering how excited he was to have met you. "The knife guy" who is taking over Ventura co.

Looks like he was right!"

No matter what's on our business card, we're in the people business. 

Every interaction is an opportunity to meet someone with a remarkable story. 

And if we engage, if we truly care, sometimes we get to be a part of that story too!

Pain is a great teacher

Pain...the greatest teacher on planet earth.

I called a client today who was referred to me several weeks ago. "I'll call tomorrow" I said in the moment... then I forgot...for 3 weeks. Remembered randomly today and called the client back ONLY to find out she had ordered from another rep because I never got back to her and she really NEEDED buy. No need to go into details but the commission would have been enough for a couple car payments and all it would have taken was maybe 10 minutes tops. I deserved that!

The truth is I HATE REJECTION. It's "the thing" that holds most of us back from taking action in the moment, from asking that person on a date, saying what we really feel, or returning a simple phone call.

Rory Vaden talks about "Creative avoidance" in his book Take The Stairs. If we're in sales we notice how dirty our car is when we need to be calling clients. If we're a student we remember to call that friend back when we really need to be studying. Or as a parent we stay busy "making a living" when issues at home get worse.

Creative avoidance is nothing more than Fear avoidance.

My fear is to be taken as "too eager", aggressive, pushy, self-centered, and if I'm being really honest the biggest fear is "not being good enough". What if I call back and the client says "Oh never mind...that's too expensive." I literally think of that.

Fear of "rejection" is the biggest fuel to the fire of insecurity. And we can get pretty tricky to avoid it at all cost. Speaking for myself that is.

Thus...today I embraced the fear and received a notice from a broker to come speak at a marketing event next week. I called her back in less than 60 seconds from which she messaged me. She was beside herself, happy to schedule me in and then she tried to recruit me to work for her...lol. Opportunities come to those who hustle!

LESSON #1: The feeling of immediate Rejection is not nearly as bad as the feeling of a missed opportunity.

LESSON #2: Pain is not a bad thing. It's an awareness tool. Pain is merely a cue that "something needs to change."

You don't have to wait for other cars to start moving to prove it's ok for you. When the light turns green...GO!