When
my friend was in college, he minored in English and enrolled in a course called
“Feminist Literature” (don’t worry, we’re not about to get political, I
promise), which was taught by a very outspoken and intelligent professor who
polarized the small university community.
On the first day of class, the professor introduced herself and welcomed
everyone to the new semester, and then she handed out the reading list for the
course. As the professor was giving an
overview of what she wanted the students to take away from her course, my
friend started scanning the reading list.
The authors and their subjects didn’t surprise him in the least –
he went into this happily and with eyes wide open. What made him do a double take, though, was
the sheer number of books he and the rest of the class were going to be
required to read fully and be prepared to discuss at length and cover in
exams. At that moment, he knew he was
going to need to make a beeline to the administration building after class and
withdraw from the course –
there was no way he would be able to pass all his other courses if he devoted
the time needed in this one.
The
professor then asked that they go around the room and have everyone introduce
themselves and tell the class why they chose to take this course. She started on the opposite side of the room,
so it gave my friend time to get a feel for his classmates and see if there was
a slim chance that he could convince himself to stick it out. The class was composed of about thirty
students with four of them (including my friend) being male. Almost every single person who introduced her
or himself gave a very (I’m using his term) “brown nose” answer to why they
chose to take this course –
everyone was clearly in love with this professor and the idea that they were
taking this course to “rebel” against the conservative nature that pervaded the
small university he was attending. The
funny thing was he also noticed that each time a student sort of professed
her/his love for the professor’s daring nature, the professor had a look on her
face that could be interpreted as stoically pleased or slightly perturbed.
At
long last, it fell to my friend to introduce himself and tell the class why he
had chosen to take this course. Still
not quite sure what the professor’s “look” was telling him, he decided to
gamble by just introducing himself and then going silent. As the next student was eager to introduce
herself and was about to launch into her story, the professor stopped her and
asked why my friend was taking this course.
He smiled and took his time to look around the room and make eye contact
with as many of the female students as he could and then said, “Because I’m
looking for dates.” Amid a few groans
and some stifled laughter, he looked up at the professor and noticed that his
gamble paid off: she smiled and openly laughed –
she
valued sense of humor over blind servitude.
He
had decided to withdraw from the class (the “brown nose” classmates clinched it
for him), and he knew that in the future he might cross paths again with that
professor in another course. He figured
if the professor remembered him, and remembered him positively, that would bode
well for him. Even if she hadn’t found
it funny, he figured it
would be a lot easier to reason and work things out with one person than a
group of them. (And he already had a
girlfriend who would become his wife, so dates weren’t something he needed.)
In
the real estate/mortgage world, it’s all about focusing on the single person
rather than the group. If you’re someone
who is looking to purchase a home, it’s important to focus on yourself (and
your goal) by foregoing an occasional night out at the bar with the group so
you can save for a down payment –
the group won’t be buying the house for you.
For us on the business side of things, it’s a sad day when you ask
someone if they can name the agent and the lender who helped them buy their
first house, and their response is, “I remember he/she was with X Company, but
I couldn’t tell you his/her name.” When
that happens to you, you’ve been lumped into a sad group, and that group isn’t
going to help you get new business.
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