We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nick Pacal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
My Mission is to help. I have been in sales for 20+ years and the consistent theme is that most people are underserved. That makes it a challenge for a true sales professional that just wants to HELP people get what they deserve. I have always worked for companies that I believed in their product or service. This made it easy for me to promote the product/service. The only thing then that I would need to over come is the service. I’ve found that being responsive, caring, informative and doing what you say that you will do has great success. I’ve been on all sides of a sales process and getting bad service when buying high priced items is absolutely horrible. Then the constant back and fourth with the company/sales professional. I have always been the professional that is truly there to help the client get the best price, support or answer to any question they had. What bothers me is today, it doesn’t seem like people want that anymore. They want someone that lies to them, makes everything look like a piece of gold when in fact in the end they become more frustrated with the process and feel stuck. I want everyone to have a wow experience when they work with me as a realtor and wold feel comfortable referring me knowing that they friends, family or co-workers will be is excellent hands. I have countless stories of clients telling me their stories and horrible experiences. So my mission is to give the BEST service I can while learning how to improve my service everyday.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. Went to both universities, UNL and UNO. I loved mowing the yard growing up, I still do. The fresh cut grass smell. lol. I worked at a Private country club and had for years. My mom told me I should go to school for it. That degree was Horticulture with a Turf Grass Management Option with the intentions of working for a high profile golf course. Two things became very hard for me, chemistry and finding a professional golf course to complete my internship. After a conversation with my mom, I told her that I wanted to switch majors to Finance. During that time my father passed and I quite school. I also decided to get into banking due to a close friend having success. I thought, if he did, so can I. I quickly. realized that it would take a very long time in order to make any real money to be able to start a family. From 2003 to this day I have been in a number of sales roles all with the idea that I would work my tail off and retire with “x” company. What I found is that sales professionals are a dime a dozen and that hurt my feelings. I worked so hard to hit goals, make an income and grow all while being pushed back down to the bottom. I was always in the top 5-10% of sales and at time ranked in the top 1% nationally. As I got older and realized that I had real skills and a genuineness about serving the client I started asking for promotions. Most organizations wouldn’t promote me because they needed my skill set. So, after a period of time I would quit. Over time I was able to slowly move up the corporate ladder and I started to see real success with the hard work I had put in. By this time, what I was experiencing in these “higher” profile roles is that I was being brought in to improve sales, help with the restructuring of a business department so that it was profitable, or completely rewrite SOP’s for sales divisions. What started happening is that these companies started closing down their sales divisions, taking the money and strategically investing in other divisions OR drastically reducing pay for professionals hitting their goals. I decided to make a 360 degree move and move to an industry that was going, that was a multi-million dollar industry. Renewable energy! It was new, exciting, and had growth opportunities. All of which happened. I was promoted, top of the management leadership boards on a national level. Then….we all received calls that the company had be acquired. I had been apart of acquisitions with a prior company, we were the ones buying another company. It’s okay, your role is safe. Within 1 year the new company started trimming the fat and within 1 year after the entire company was gone, all 5,500 employees. My wife told me that I needed to find a role that I enjoyed, that I could make a career out of. She suggested Real Estate. Close friend had told me for 10+ years to get into this industry. I didn’t do it. I was scared, didn’t think I would have any support, all of the above. To add to this story, as I am studying for my RE license, I get a phone call from one of the top Energy Producing companies in the nation. This was an opportunity of a lifetime. To really make a HUGE impact for my family, the most income I had ever made, Life changing money. 4 months of background checks and now suddenly my mother is in the hospital fighting for her life. I received a call from this company and they asked if I had a college degree. I hadn’t lied throughout the process and I responded with No as I indicated on the application. I was denied the job. This is were it gets wild! I called the university to ask if I had enough credits to get a degree. 24 hours laters they called back and ask if I knew I had a student account balance. I responded with no and was advised if I paid that and the application fee that I could graduate in May. I cried! Called Human Resources and was advised that they wouldn’t take a letter from the university that I had meet all requirements and that it needed to be electronically verified. I kept all of this information to myself, except for my wife. Then the worst happened….my sister and I had to make a choice….keep fighting for my mom’s life or let her go. I never want anyone to go through what I had to go through when we let my mom go. It affects me even writing this. My mom is now in heaven with my dad. I miss her everyday!! I was told by the hiring company they needed to wait until June 9th so that the degree could be electronically verified. On June 9th, I received a call from HR stating I was no longer eligible for the role. WHAT??? Emotional wreck or not I had to get back on the horse and ride!!! I passed my real estate license, was recognized as a rising star and the rest is apart of history. That’s how I got into real estate….my wife told me I needed a career…something I could see myself doing…Half of my family were in trades and the other half Executive leaders.
I help clients with the largest purchase of their lives, I take price with the service I provide and truly consider my clients my friends and family! I’m proud of that. Each one means something different to me. You aren’t just getting a professional, you are getting human that truly cares about your well being and your success. When you work with a Professional like myself, you are not just a number! YOU ARE A HUMAN THAT MEANS SOMETHING TO SOMEONES FAMILY!
When you work with me, this is what you get: A husband, Dad, Friend, Teammate, and someone who is looking out for your best interests. Someone that is genuine and truly cares.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My story is still being written. This is the part of being Human….You must “Fight” each and every day, be consistent, and work hard. Don’t worry about what the competition is doing, it will make you wonder why you got into the business. Don’t be hard on yourself, you’ll have good days and bad days. I call those seasons. God didn’t put us on earth to lose. He put us on earth to win. Everyone deserves it! You just have to want it just as bad!!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Not sure if this is a lesson. I used to study sales pitches like nobody’s business. Sure, it lead me to having some successes early on in my sales career. What I found is that if you are just human, focus on the relationships and have the ability to communicate well. You will be successful. I make it sound simple. I guess that’s why my dad always told me I had to have patience. That in time it will all come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pacalrealestate.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickpacal/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NicholasPacal
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickpacal/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nickpacal7066
Image Credits
Boystown Fire Department
Nick Pacal