I am into real estate marketing thus I got to know people and enter places that I never dreamt of entering. It's one thing about the business that involves people and networking. You have to attend events both the ones you are invited and the one that you aren't just so you can get to have more leads to follow up on.
In one of these events i got to know Ade. Ade was twenty two years old when I met him and he was a people's person. He knows what to say at the right time and that connected him to the household of one of the wealthy kings in the country. He came from a very poor background and when he was invited by one of the servants in the palace he instantly gained favour in the heart of the palace manager who allowed him to work in the palace. It was a total shift in his life compared to where he was coming from. He got paid every month for working in the palace, eat free food and also free accommodation. All these enabled him to be sending money home to his family.
The king is a real estate mogul and so have some of his real estate managers visit him in the palace. Ade was able to make friend with one of these managers who told him everything about the business. He became interested knowing fully well that it may possibly be his only chance of making it big in life without any formal education. He got his work done on time,take permission from the palace manager and then head out to attend real estate seminars in the king's company. In one month he was able to understand few things about the business and so started pursuing it relentlessly. He goes for inspection to the many properties owned by the king to make videos and take pitures of them for his marketing.
The day I met him, we got talking about the challenges in real estate business especially on the follow-up part. He mentioned a particular man that who showed interest in buying one of the duplexs that he advertised and how the man suddenly ghosted him. He stopped replying his messages and calls.
"But are you sure he reads them atall? What if he have blocked you?" I asked him."
He replied that he was very sure that the man didn't block him as all his whatapp messages are being delivered but what he wasn't sure of is whether he's reading them atall since his read receipt was off.
" I have been following up on this man for almost a year now, sometimes I feel like deleting his number. These people are just so annoying. Atleast say something like seen or thank you. So that I will know that I am not wasting my time or sending messages to a dead person."
We both laughed it off and ofcourse encouraged ourselves to keep showing up no matter the challenges. After the event we exchanged contacts and said goodbye. We didn't get to see again but we kept in touch through whatapp. Seven months later, he sent me a message telling me that I will not believe what happened to him.
It turned out that the man called him when he least expected his all, on a Sunday to be precise and ask him if the properties are still available. He answered yes that only few units are remaining. The man asked for an inspection that same Sunday. Ade turned it down because it was Sunday his resting day. The man made it known to him that he was a busy man and so that Sunday was the only time he have. Ade changed his mind and decided to go since he was not doing anything serious that day.
The phase one of that estate was almost sold out and so the man decided to buy into the phase two and a unit of house there is sold at 95 million naira. He told Ade that he want to buy 21 units. Ade almost fainted. He called one of the company managers and the deal was sealed immediately. His commission from that deal was 10% and that was how his story changed.
When the king heard that one of his servants sold 21 units of terrace duplexes he sent for him. For the first time since he entered the palace, Ade dressed up to dine with the king. After the dinner the king promised him a brand new Lexus jeep and a three bedroom duplex in one of his Estates. He became the King's friend and often grace the palace occasionally to say hi to the king.
That was how Ade was turned into a millionaire and changed the financial status of his family. His story encouraged me and he told me that no matter what I should never give up on any prospect.
This story is a true life story