No One Ever Told Us That: Money and Life Lessons for Young Adults

CHAPTER SIX

A LITTLE BIT OF NEW JERSEY OR BROOKLYN

I was talking to one of my partners about a friend in our business, who intellectually, could run rings around most people. This friend was very well educated in the Ivy League and in England. He understood the financial markets and loved researching ideas. But he had a modest business and not much luck in bringing in new clients. “He needs a bit of New Jersey in him,” my partner said, who grew up in New Jersey, street-smart.

It is tough to teach someone to be more aggressive, to punch the greed button in someone else. But we are all in sales in one way or another, whether in politics, religion, development, or any profession. A young lawyer friend of mine called me recently and said, “You were right.”

“About what?” I asked.

“You tried to get me to be a financial advisor years ago, and I told you, ‘I hate to sell anything, I just can't do it.’ Now I want to be a partner in my law firm and management tells me, ‘If you want to make partner you're going to have to bring a lot more new business than you're doing now.’

“I didn't realize it years ago,” he said, “but I guess we're all in sales in one way or another.”

The best salespeople I've ever met in financial markets could make everyone they talked with greedy; they could verbally paint dreams, dreams that they could convince others would come true. The best stockbroker salesman I ever knew would tell prospective clients, “Do yourself a favor; buy some of this for your mother.” This ...