Rookie Sells Over $700k in 30 Days | Nate's Motivational Story

Well, I just know that. I know how I was, you know, as a bad person making bad choices that no one wanted to be around. And I just know this. I don't ever want to be that person again. And I see this. I see these people, these other sales reps are starting off, hey, they may not have any confidence. And for me, for God, what he did in my life to change, get me out of drugs and alcohol and put the right people. So what I say is only takes one person to believe in you. Sometimes that's what it takes for a person. And if I can be that person that they need to believe in them, I'm going to believe in them because that's what it takes is me get. You get turned down, Turned down, Turned down. You're starting out in sales. You got a family, you're young, and you're trying to make a living. You get paid once a month. You've got to work the hours. I mean, it's not. It's not an 8 to 5 job. It's a. Or even a 9 to 5. It's, hey, sometimes it's 6 in the morning to after dark. And this time of year, you've got to go hit the doors and you've got it. Always be looking for something and, and don't look at it like you're selling something. Look at like consulting and you're providing a service to help people.

This is the story of how Nate sold almost a million dollars in a single month. He's going to share with you the one breakthrough he had on how he approaches the sales process that took him from a struggling sales rep just a few months ago. Battling the objection and failing hearing you're too expensive or the other guy can do it cheaper. To now becoming not only a leader.

In his company, but in my opinion.

A leader in the industry Now. Nate's story is incredibly inspiring. He had a dark past and did things he wasn't proud of. He had to rebuild his entire life. Unfortunately, someone believed in him and gave him a shot. But Nate is probably the most humble salesperson that you're ever going to hear from. He's not here to brag about the kind of sales he made. And the number, by the way, whether it was a 700,000 in contracted sales that he collected or the 938 that were contracted but didn't have a deposit. That's why you'll hear in the interview that he said there's a little discrepancy on the numbers. It doesn't matter. And he doesn't care about it now. This video inspired me and that's why I want to share it with you. It's amazing. And if you're someone that is either new to this business and looking for inspiration because you're in the depths of your own struggles, or if you're a salesperson who might be burned out and say, hey, you know, I really need to tap into some new motivation. Nate is going to bring it to you. So I'm so excited to bring this interview to you. Please share it with your team. And again, welcome or welcome. Welcome back. Adam Benzeman here. And if you're new, everything I do on my channel is designed to help you and your team outsell, outgrow, and out compete the rest so we can.

Stomp the scum out.

And Nate is a perfect example of the type of person who is united with us around that mission.

Now let's get started. Roofing sales is personal development in disguise and the reward for growth is life changing. I hope my content helps you create a richer life and bank account. $938,000 in sales this month. How in the hell did you accomplish such an incredible feat when the first time you and I met you were really having some sticking points in the sales process. What happened.

First of all that somewhat the information got jumped again a little bit because some of it didn't get signed to like for the first this month.

Gotcha.

It wasn't that, that it wasn't that much. But I'll tell you what. So you know, you taught me about the knowledge gap and you probably ask questions and no one else asked. So what I do is when people talk about closing, presenting. So when I open up my truck door, that's when my closing starts. Actually close starts on the way side. Look at my details. I read my details that my inside sales left and I know the pain points already, you know, and most of the time when people tell say stuff they don't remember it. So you go there and you work on those pain points. But mine starts with the on the always start on the left. Downspout, my inspection starts there, goes around the house looking at the face of the guttering, looking at the window screens, looking at the personal property, the air conditioner, looking at their deck, looking at everything. You know what I mean? The face of the door. Wrap metal window, wrap everything. And then the time before you even get on the roof because my next thing would be all the way back around the house from the garage door to the front door and then I would Say, hey, four out of five contractors. Where there's five is the. The fifth one. Four out of five didn't even ask. Looking at it. They didn't spend no more 10 minutes. So when I create my knowledge gap, I'm talking to the customer around the house before I even get up on the roof. This thing, they're ready to sign with our company. I'm not being cocky when I say that, you know, like. Like, if it's. If they call us, I. I think I got like a stat from you or somebody. Like, there's like 70 or 80. They've already made their mind. So when you're thorough, it's all about thoroughness, you know, and also, as far. As. I've got to say this, as far as doing good, it's your. It's not you. It's your team behind you. You know, it's the person who takes the phone call, the person who does all the HubSpot stuff, all the way down to the guy that picks up the shingle. You know what I mean? Like, our production is amazing. We've got the tool, and we utilize those tools, and we. The knowledge that we have, we apply in the process that. That our company has, then it's a win situation.

Yeah, Nate, that's. I just want to highlight these three things that you had said or four things. One is creating a knowledge gap. And just for anyone who is. It's a new language. Knowledge gap is asking questions that someone can't answer because our homeowners, they think they know it all right? They're like, you're going to come out. A roofer's a roofer, a roof's a roof. They're all the same. And when people have this narrative, we have to ask questions that disrupt that narrative. Almost like if you're watching a movie and you're predicting how it's going to end, it. It becomes. You get hooked when the movie takes a different direction. Like, wait a minute, I. That's not how I predicted. And then you're drawn in. So that's the knowledge gap. The other thing you mentioned is that stat that 80% of the buying decision has been made be. If someone reaches out to you before they even sign. So on an inbound lead, that's 80%, by the way, that's attributed to Marcus Sheridan in, I believe, his book, they ask, you answer. But Marcus Sheridan is the one that I. That I quoted that from. You also mentioned being wildly thorough and asking the knowledge gap questions. Did the other contractor do this? So you're you have. You have a higher level of detail and attentiveness, but that in and of itself isn't enough. It's the fact that you ask about it, because if you don't say, did the other person do this? The homeowner doesn't know the difference. And I really appreciate the fact that you gave credit to your team, so that's awesome, man. So, obviously, you're the reason that we're talking. I want to get a couple things straight. John, who you work for, messaged me that message. He goes, Nate sold 700,000 this month. And then I talked with him, and he said that number was 938. And I know he said that was, like, contracted on paper. Do you know what the total was? Sounds like there was. It was somewhere between 700, 938, depending on if you qualify.

It's going to be this month and last month. It's going to be up there, you know, nine something, probably. I mean, for sure, it's just, you know, how the process go. People sign in and all that. But, yeah, I got it. It's going to be good. And I'm not here to brag about numbers, and I'm here to brag about processes in our team.

And you. Absolutely.

I mean, you're. The reform alliance is a big part of my everyday thing. And. And our team, if you know what I mean. Yeah, we're all working from Kansas City. We merge with as part of our team.

It's all, Dude, I appreciate you saying that, because the reason, by the way, the only reason I wanted to get down to the specific numbers, because there are people that tune in. They're like, they're critics. So the point is 700 plus in a month, that's not the reason that we're talking. The reason that we're talking. The reason I wanted to start with that is there are so many people that come into this business and have no idea what they can accomplish and what they're capable of. And many people feel like they're the underdog, they're facing an uphill battle. And I wanted to hear your story. John said, nate's got a really inspiring story. So I wanted to open this up to say this is possible, but it's not about the numbers. I mean, today, in today's RSRA session that I led, we talked about the path to greatness, which is the roadmap to being wildly successful in this business. And I define greatness as the act of living your highest potential. And at the end of the Day the numbers don't matter. It's are you living your highest potential every day? And each day we raise that. So what I'd love to turn to is like, I'd love to hear your story, like, where. How did you end up where you are today, achieving the level of success that you're having. So let's go to the very beginning. Where were you and what was life like before roofing sales?

Well, it was. So I'll just start at the very beginning. So when we were younger, my grandpa had like Abernathy Construction. He did trim work, built some spec houses and stuff like that. So our dads, mine and John's dads are brothers. And when we were, I don't know, he's. When I was 12, he was 10. We were up there ripping roofs off and picking up stuff. So we started like that. Well, and now I'm not. And then John took it over and he did what he did today and he worked it, you know, he worked his finger to the bone hours, all night long. Except to get it where we are. But for me, three. I made some bad choices. No excuses now. None. I made some bad choices. I got on some drugs and alcohol and. And stuff like that. And I had to go away and pay for my bad. I'm not even calling mistakes, they're bad. I chose to do it. So it was all my fault. And you know, I was just lost, man. I'm telling you, lost. And my uncle came and got me out of it, put me in a rehab. He paid for the rehab. I. I was done, but I was. Had burned so many bridges and stuff, so I just asked my uncle, I said, hey, you got some work I can do for you, pay for this. And he came, he said, look, I'm just going to take you. And I. And he did. And after that was over with, my sister brought me into her house. And John's watching from a distance. The John's theory is this. You can't fox cheap work, get it done. You know what I'm saying? So he watches from a distance and. And my sister has a real good guy named Bobby Frank from Monet, Missouri, that believed in me, give me a job. While John was watching, John watched. He said, hey, once you come on back and you know, take care of my rentals, like my rental houses. And he said, install solar and then put me at project manager. Then one day he said, hey, if you can give me some lead, 10 leads by the end of January, by the beginning of January, I'll give you Shots. And so that was in October and last year. And he. I got like five leads the same day. And he said, hey, you know what? Just finish up that roof you're doing. I'm gonna send you, put you, I'm gonna put you in sales. Well at then our training process was. So I've kind of. John trained me personally and he continues to train me. Austin Waterson, Chris Martinez, Brian. Brian Royster is like a big mentor of mine in our company. And they kind of took me underneath their wings. So the only way to make it in sales is not. It's not waiting for leads. And they come to you. You got to go get the stuff. You got to get up at 6 in the morning, buddy. You got to work till 9 at night. When that's that time of year, you gotta work till 10 at night, 11 at night. And then in between leads, you got stuff you can do. Go get. You got to go take a. You know, go get intel reports, sample singles. You got to go do stuff. So I'm like attempted repair videos. You got all kinds of stuff you can do all day long to make it successful. And I used to look at it like, well, it's the end of the month, new month, I'm being stressed out. But now it's just like a flow because you just. Part of it's out working your competition, you know. And as far as the knowledge gap goes that you taught me, you can create that knowledge yet not just between you and other customers, but for the customers between you and the other contractors, you know? You know what I mean? Like, you're pointing out stuff that these guys didn't even. They didn't spend 15 minutes to these people's house, you know, didn't even get up on the roof. Most, in most cases, a missing Redex left and right, all that kind of stuff. Dead valleys, all that. You know, you just bring up everything, anything and everything and just be. Have integrity and just be straight to the point. That's how I do it with, you know, not. And I used to tactics car park. I watch all your videos and, and can I like use the same beverage as you? Probably not, but I make it my own. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I love that.

So what I did was when Michael took me to rehab, I just never looked back. You know, I don't drink, I don't smoke marijuana. I don't take any pills. I don't do nothing because I know that if I drink, I'm drinking all. You know what I mean? Everything around and it's just not no good. So all I want to do is just work hard and be blessed enough by God, which is already blessed me, the people around me, and give me the strength to go through what I'm going through and to be able to financially be able to help other people, you know, help our. Like I train everybody or involved in training. So when it's their time, I take winner. You got to be a team player. You take winter stuff that they put in your pipeline. There are winners and you just put it in the new guys pipeline. Because when they sign something, the confidence level goes up. You know what I mean? It doesn't hurt to give something to somebody.

You know what I mean?

It's going. And you do it out of just pure trying to help somebody. Because I know how it is. The first couple months with me was rough, and you know, it was because we had that video.

Yeah. You know, Nate, I got a couple questions for you on what you hit on.

And.

I have talked to a lot of sales reps who have a similar background as yours. Addiction, drugs, alcohol. Many were incarcerated. And those are the people. And by the way, I didn't know any of these people's backstory, so a lot of the most successful sales reps I know have a similar backstory. Again, not knowing it. Like, then we start talking and I'm like, why is this? And the common themes that I see are a deep sense of gratitude, a desire to actively act out what's right each and every day because it's a practice, and the desire to help other people succeed. And I'm curious with your perspective, like, with where you were to where you are now, how do you feel like your background influences how you bring yourself to your career today?

Well, I just know that I know how I was, you know, as a bad person making bad choices that no one wanted to be around. And I just know this. I don't never want to be that person again. You know what I mean? And I see this. I see that if these people, these other cell groups are starting off, hey, they may not have any confidence. And for me to turn my life from the drug for God, what he did in my life to change, get me out of drugs and alcohol and put the right people, I mean, my uncle and John and my sister and Bobby and all these people, they say they God put in my life to save me. So what I say is, only takes one person to believe in you. Sometimes that's what it takes for a person. One person believes in them. They're ready to give up and you. And if I can be that person that they need to believe in them, I'm going to believe in them and I'm going to push them up, you know, put them on up the, up the ladder so they can get confidence. Because that's what it takes is me. You get down. You're starting out in sales, you got a family, you're young and you're trying to make a living, get paid once a month and you're working, you know, you've got to work the hours. I mean it's not an 8 to 5 job, it's a, or even a 9 to 5. It's hey, sometimes it's 6 in the morning after dark and this time of year you've got to go hit the doors and you got it. Always be looking for something and don't look at like you're selling something. Look at like consulting and you're providing a service to help people.

Yeah.

You know, because there's so many people out there, I've gone to, they have a receipt stuck on the wall and it says 13 squares this much money, you know, don't even have nothing about drip edge or new felt or nothing on there, you know what I mean? And then they paid them half and people disappeared. You know, you're providing service and you providing a contract that holds you just as liable as it does them, you know, to pay you when you're done. So and you got, you know, you got all the tools provided to you. So let's just work hard and use them in the way that we're supposed to. Yeah. You know, I don't never want to be that person again. So. And I'm not going to be, you know, so I'm not afraid to share my story with anybody. Am I bragging about it? No. Am I ashamed of it? Yes. Am I thankful for where I am now? Oh, more than anything. I know it's not just me, it's God and who he put in my life.

Yeah. So you'd mentioned that you're not there selling anything. And I really like when you said you're acting as a consultant. Sabri Subi, he wrote this book called Sell Like Crazy and what the quote that I'm going to pull from him, I believe it was him in this book. I'm 99. Sure. He says sell like a doctor. And if you think of that like what you're doing your job first to show up, diagnose the situation, help the homeowner understand just like a patient Comes in and they say, hey, I'm not feeling well. Well, it's not just, oh, you're not feeling well. Well, guess what? I got new antibiotics, I got new anti inflammatories, I got probiotics. Take them all. Like you have to understand the patient or in this case, the prospect as a consultant to discover what's going on, what they're aware of, and then prescribe the proper solution for them. So I, I love that you had.

Said that the other you said doctor like a doctor because you know surgeons, they have to make decisions like this. Like each patient's different. They make a decision and they're confident and they know what they're talking about because they did the homework. So same thing with us. We've done the homework, we know what we're looking at. We've been in the attic. So when we get down, it's not wondering, you know what I'm saying, what we have to do. We know what has to be done. We know the ice and water has to go up the valleys. We know it has to be on the inside wall this much because it's cold. We know this and we know that, you know, on 212 or lower it's going to take. I mean, if you don't put roll working, you got to put ice and water under. We know all that stuff. Well, these people ain't even heard of ice and water. They heard the codes, they don't know what code upgrade is. Hey there. Their insurance papers look like algebra to them. You know that it looks like calculus. And us being able to explain that in a clear cut way, being up on your homework, I mean all that stuff matters. Closing for me is when I open up my truck door, you know, I'm not going back and presenting, but I'm presenting. For me, it's not, not, I'm not bragging, but presenting for me, I found a way. When I present it, it's just, hey, sign right here. You know what I'm saying? Because they've already, I've already closed it.

Yeah, because you did.

Thanks to you. Thanks to John and everybody around me. That's the only way, you know that that's what's going on. Is going on.

Yeah. I love that, man. You, you said something that really hit home with me and that people will succeed when you believe in them. And for sadly many people don't have someone in life that believes in them. And I think as leaders, and all of us are leaders of ourselves, leaders of everyone that we serve, leaders for Our homeowners, leaders for our crew. We, we are, it doesn't matter where you are in your chain of command, at your company, you're a leader. Who was the first person that believed in you, that helped you set on this path of believing in yourself?

Well, I give everybody every reason not to, you know, but my uncle did it. John's dad, Minnie Abernathy, that's who came, got me out of the a drug neighborhood, met me, said, let's go see your dad. We had a talk. He didn't. And it wasn't no kind of talk like. And there's no reason he had to believe in me, you know, besides he maybe love me because I, because all every action I had done proved opposite. But I told him I was physically sick and I told him I was done with this stuff. And he said, we're going with. My dad was in the hospital at the time. He said, let's take him, let's go see him. And now on web3. So I'm taking up. I'll pay for everything if you just want to go. You'll be done this time. And I have never looked back since then. So yeah, it was my dad and I mean with my uncle, I mean my dad, mom, they've always been behind me, but my uncle came actually physically got me out, paid for everything and got me like in September 1st it'd be two years without any drink, nothing period. No pill, no, no marijuana, nothing like that.

Yeah, congratulations, man. I too am sober and it, yeah, coming on six years, life's better. I wish I stopped when I was 19 and I wanted to originally, but here we are.

It started off partying after work and then partying got so bad that hurt people's feelings. Instead of me being a man and dealing with my feelings that came with hurting other people, I figured out that the substances would kill all feelings, you know what I mean? And then it just took and it got out of hand completely. And like I said, there was no excuse. Nobody did nothing to me. I mean, I was raised right. I mean, look, John worked hard his whole life and we both have, but I've been, I had to go away. So all the time I was away, John worked his, you know, and he's done this for the family, for the community, for everybody. And I'm just, you know, there's no excuse for me. I, I chose the choices. You know, it's a lot of it's choice, you know what I mean? I mean all of it's choice, all.

Of it, all of it is choice, man. I. I really appreciate and admire one, how humble you are and to the level of extreme ownership that you take. You know, you're not a victim. You're like, hey, this is what I did. I want to come back to what you had mentioned in the beginning that like your start, it was a rough few months. And I'm going to guess that a lot of people that are tuning in to hear your story are newer in their journey because it's when people are struggling, getting started, because this business is not. It's not a cakewalk. Success is not guaranteed.

It's not, but it's wrong.

Quit or get fired. So I have two questions for you, but let's start with the first one for you. What was the hardest part about getting started in this business?

Oh, well, it was overcoming, like. Like I asked you, you know, you asked me, what's your deal? It was overcoming price or, you know, trying to sell quality in your company. And I figured out from that video on, you know, create the knowledge gap. But you don't have to create just by talking actions created, like, why would you look at Phil all around the window edges, up and down the gutters, and why would you feel. Why would you want to look in the attic? Well, the customer's going to. No one else done that. They're going to want to know why. So they're going to start asking what the questions that you told me to ask, They. I figured out by my actions. They start asking me that because they're wondering like, what's this guy doing? You know what I mean? Yeah, he's thorough. You know, I'm telling you, before you get on the roof, even on retail, they're gonna, I mean, not being cocky, but they're gonna go with us if our. You know what I mean? Even if it's a thousand or two thousand more, they're gonna go with us because we've already showed them that we're a thousand or $2,000 more knowledgeable, at least that much than the previous companies. You know, and my style might be a little bit different. I mean, you might go with me and you'd be like, oh man, you know, this guy's crazy. But. But barely.

Not because it's working people.

I just talk to people, you know, I gotta. We got a killer inside sales team. You know, my. We're all assigned different inside sales. Mine has been great from day one. I mean, everyone and we got are knowledgeable, they're thorough. Hey, they're as knowledgeable as most of the contractors we have out here, our inside girls are, you know, we got an inside guy too, but they're all knowledgeable, they're all thorough. Our team. Yeah. Does the team. Was it rough switching over CRM and all that stuff and merging with the Royal out of Kansas City? Yeah, that was rough. And did I understand everything? No, but some. But sometimes you just got to say, yes, sir, I'll do it. And if. Even if you don't understand it until you do understand, you know, because. Yeah, there's a reason why they're above you. People are above you. God place them in your life, and that's because, you know, it's for you to learn from and to grow from and grow from mistakes. You know, a lot of people. Ms. Redex, I mean, I. I quoted a couple jobs the other day. It's five different. On a college campus. Well, there's like eight of us quoted them and we were $2,000 higher. But the reason was because I'm the only one that got up on the roof, found the Reneck on one of the buildings, you know, did I. And I didn't get the job because it was like in front of a board and the board was like, didn't understand redec. I didn't get to go present. So I. I've learned from that. I should have put it on the contract a different way. You know what I mean? I've learned from that. Like, you know, this is my price, but this is what's going to be if we have to find a redake. I should have did that. I would have won. But you learn from every single thing in life.

Yeah. It's only a mistake if you don't learn from it. That's my.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

That's my view. So, Nate, what kind of advice would you give if. If you were to mentor a brand new person that you were taking under your wing? What advice would you give them to be successful in this business so they don't turn into the statistic of the two out of three that don't make it.

Well, for one, I would say don't be thorough, don't be lazy. And. And you know, like, somebody sells that, we don't got set hours. Don't take advantage of that. You know, don't take advantage of that. Get up early, get started, be at the office first. Get your stuff done, get. And don't, you know, just be thorough. And at the end of every day, I don't have any quotes left to do for tomorrow. I make sure that, you know, so I don't want it because it can snow pile, but. And then help others use the dog you get. And I, I believe in the push pull method like this. Push somebody up in front of you, pull somebody behind you, and then you always got somebody pulling and pushing for you all the way through your journey in your business. You know what I mean? I don't. I do. I want to mod. Do I want to win every time in our company? No. I want these young guys to beat me. I want them all fired up to. I want these guys to be successful. And then my goal is I tell John all the time not to be rich. My goal is to be the best at what I do in the United States. Will I be that good? Who knows? But if I fall short of it, then fine, I'm still going to be good. I'm still going to try. You're only going to work hard every day, you know, that's. And then just provide a service, look at it as providing the service and have a consultant mind. Not the sales mind, but the consultant attitude. You know, I'm here to help you, consult you. Even if you don't go with us, this is the stuff you need to know, you know what I mean? And then that really puts. Takes their defense down when you say that. I don't. You can go whoever you want. Make sure that they bring this up with that up and you know what I mean? Whatever.

You know what you just mentioned there about being a consultant and just trying to be the best you can in the industry. The best and best in the country or best in the world at this. Simon Sinek, his book the Infinite Game, he talks about what he calls the just cause. So some people have like a goal, you know, I'm going to achieve this. And. And he challenges people to have a just cause, which is a mission that you're never going to be able to fulfill or may not ever be able to fulfill. And I love when you're like, I will be the absolute best person out there. And I love that right after you said, but it doesn't matter if I achieve it, because it's the journey of getting there, of trying your best and doing.

That's what it's about, trying to be the best. Yeah, Trying to make the people around you the best, you know, you know, like encouraging them to, hey, you know, here I am here. Here's the number one guys, you know, here's in place in our companies. I want you to beat them, you know what I mean? I want you to take care of your family. I want you to not, you know, to have stuff in your pipeline that's going to last you all winter. You know, I want you to be a winner.

Yeah.

Not just. It's not about me. It's about our company.

You know, I want to mirror something back to you that you said, because I don't. You may be aware of this. Many people don't understand the power of what you just said. And it was probably overlooked when you mentioned that your goal is to be a consultant, whether they work with you or not. This is something that I teach. I say, hey, you know, my mission and purpose is to show you your. Understand you and your roof, show your options, help you make a decision, even if it's not with me. But the difference is actually meaning it, because when you actually mean it like you do, one, you are detached from the outcome, which alleviates all pressure from a homeowner. Two, you serve from a servant's heart. So you're just doing what's right for the sake of doing what's right, not for an end goal or purpose. And three, when you're detached from the outcome and you just say, hey, I'm just here to do the best job, do whatever the hell you want, you know in your heart of heart that you're the best in Abernathy is the best for them to choose. In that level of detachment, people that feel that way, close the most compared to those that want the sale. And you and I know that you're a humble guy, and I really admire that. But the fact is you were the top salesperson at the company, and you weren't trying to be. You were just focused on doing what was right by everybody. And I love that. Like, there's no doubt in my mind that when you were there, of course we all want to win business, but when you just say, I'm going to go out every day and do the best job, whether they buy from me or not, that level of detachment. In fact, I don't know if you're. This is another good book called the Creative Act. It's a Way of Being by Rick Rubin, and it's about creativity.

I'd like you to list those books that you have for me because I am a reader.

I'll send them both to you. I'll email them to you as soon as we're off. I'll leave them at my desk just as a reminder. But those. What Rick Rubin talks about in his book, which I really like with creativity, is that we need to create our best work every day, regardless of the external validation, regardless of the outcome. And when we just focus on the process, the people that are the highest performers do that. So I just wanted to reiterate that message. One, for everybody tuning into your story, and two, to help you realize, like, man, even though that came off like nothing, you're like, no, I just do the best I can. It doesn't matter who they work with. That is like your secret sauce. Keep doing that. Because it is wildly powerful.

Yeah. Each time you get a chance, whether you sell or not, if you have a goal to be the best, hey, that's just like taking reps in football practice. You know what I mean? You're getting better. You're getting better. You're getting like. Like, I want my job to. We do gutters and we do siding. We do roast, you know, like insert scope. You know what I mean? You've read, I'm sure, 100 times. Look, but each one I do, I'm trying to figure out a way to make my next one cleaner, better for the company. Because the win for the production, for the company is a win for you, automatic. You know what I mean? And. And I've seen somebody commented on the last video you did something about, I've been trying this. It's just not working. Or sometimes you go out there and you look at these videos and you go out there and you try to be Adam Benzeman. And the way. See, I can't talk like you. If I could talk like you, buddy, I'd be best in the United States already. I'm a stutterer. You know what I'm saying? But what I'm saying, I mean, you talk, but you walk it. I didn't mean like you walking. I watch it. And I look up to you too. But if you don't try this or try that, make it your own. Take the points out of it and spin it and. And don't try to change the person you are, you know, be the person you are, but use the facts out of the videos that you, you know, the. The procedures, the facts, all that stuff out of the videos and put them to work for you, you know, Put them to work for you. Talk to people like, you know, like, they have Texas lawnmowers that on start talking football to them, you know, or, you know, and just get down to business to just be. That's what people like nowadays. They don't want to use garden. They want to sell them, and they want to someone that's just going to be clear cut and that we can give our quotes to you right before I leave in your living room. You know, that's how all the tools that we have and that's what people like Nate.

This I wish the video which we're going to link to in a second of you and I talking. If you were to watch that now, you would see a different person on camera that is sitting here right now today. Your confidence, your tone of voice, your. You have again, like a doctor, a commanding authority because you know your. And you know it because you practice it and you walk it every day. And there's a saying that competence breeds confidence. When we know what we're doing, we become confident. And it's interesting because then someone says, well, what comes first?

And it.

There's no cheat code. Do it. Practice, learn, study somebody's house.

And you go like you're looking at their roof like this. Well, next you go there with top knits. You know what you're looking at? You know what I mean? Yeah.

On the personal side, do you recognize the person that, that you are, like, looking back with who Nate is right now in this moment.

I watched that video the other day and I was like, you know, I remember that and I don't think it's good and from where, but I'm telling you, if it wasn't for God in my life first and then for like John and, and you and Austin, like I said, Chris Martinez is like, you know, with my best buddy, it brought me underneath his wings. Brian Royster. If it wasn't for people like you that push me to be better and to study, I don't know where, you know, I, I, you know, and the money in my pocket, not what makes me like this. I don't care. I'll give it all away. You know, what I'm saying is I really do want to be one day sit here and be the best that there is. You know, that or, you know, I'm not. And not just so I can say I'm the best. I just want to be able to do a good job every single time. You know, do I still make mistakes? Yes, but I learned from them and that's what I got around me. People that don't shoot you down for making a mistake, they help you learn from them, you know? Yeah.

How do you. I really appreciate this because this is also a common theme. I have an another interview with an RSRA member coming very soon who has a similar backstory and a similar current story. Very successful and the most important thing, he's a skydive instructor. And the first thing he does, and he pays for it, he brings the new hires that are on his team. He's a team leader, skydiving, and he pays for it and it costs him. I don't know if, you know, skydiving is not cheap. And he does this to a lot of people. He doesn't care about the money, but he wants to believe in people. He wants to help them conquer their fears. So this idea, like when you said, I'll give away the money. How do you define success.

In the people around you? You know, it are the people, you know, I define success in how our team is doing. Not, you know, if I looked at just me grab everything up myself, what's that going to do for the team? You know, it's the company, it's the team, it's the people around you. If you can, even through hard times, you keep a smile on your face, you know, and know, hey, we're going to get through this.

We're going to get.

Or the new guys that John has me training and you know, Chris is our sale inside, outside sales manager. I'm what John calls leader, team leader or, you know, whatever. I don't care about titles either. I don't care, you know, I told him I found a title, you know, I'll just do what I do, do what you want me to do. So, you know, the new guys coming in, they're a little bit lost and they're nervous because they're on a, they're on a training paper so long and then straight over commissions, buddy, you know, so. Yeah, I know how that is. As nice as that. What I like to do, and Chris does too, is, you know, so much stuff comes in. If you got a whole pipeline already and you see, oh, well, this is for sure gone and just load their. Before they go over to, you know, over to commission base, you will help load them up with some wins, you know, some they're going to have to work for. Some are some for sure wins. But success is people around you, attitudes of the people around you every day and the. Your company. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's success for me. Not just me individually, you know, I don't. Yeah, I don't want that. I want our company. I want Abernathy and Royal to be known across the United States, you know, for doing, not for being big, but. But we're doing the most thorough job to get it done.

And you got a great team and great Leaders who believe in their people and what they're doing. Nate, I'd love to end on this note. If you could give yourself advice from when you first got started, knowing what you know now, what would you tell yourself about the future?

Just don't get arrogant. Always help people. You know what I mean? Always help people. Look for a person and help them. Even if they don't ask for it, help them. You know, if you with the attitude of doing it and not, you know, like, if I do something for you and I think in my head, well, I'm doing, do it because I know I'll get this later on. Well, I never did anything anyway to begin with. If I have that, you know, if I think I'm helping Adam because I know he'll give me this later, then you didn't do nothing. But if you just do it, forget about it and know that it's going to be, you know, it's just something to do. It don't cost nothing to be nice.

Yeah.

I just don't get arrogant. Don't get cocky. Always be a team player. And, hey, get up early in the morning. Work hard.

Yeah. Nate, thank you, man. I really appreciate you being here and sharing your story.

I appreciate you too, man. I appreciate it.

Yeah. Thank you.

And jump in contact with me. Send me them books.

I'm going to right after this. And I want everyone watching to jump right into this next video with Nate because you're going to see a different person and the transformation that occurred from what Nate was struggling with, which is probably something you are, and how creating a knowledge gap can help overcome the biggest objection, which is price saying you're too expensive and you'll be able to achieve success like Nate has. So thank you. We'll see you on the next one.