Having a Forward Market Mindset!

First of all, before I get started with this blog entry, I want to make it clear that I am not suggesting that we mentally skip summer or not enjoy the warm weather (Which I am still waiting for!) and all the activities that go along with the summer months.  And no, I did not get an endorsement fee from Old Man Winter for writing this blog.   In fact, before writing this blog I had multiple discussions with my clients and presented them an overview of the content that I will be posting. two things happened, 1.)  The look of sadness and dismay on their faces that I had suggested to mentally skip summer was not a good thing. 2.) I could hear the lighting of the fires and the rattles of the pitch forks and the words “Let’s get him”   By the way, I barley escaped a few offices.

Now, in no way am I saying not to enjoy and work hard in the summer.  The fact of the matter is that we are almost half way through the year.  (Yes, this is where the buzz kill comes into play) The Reality in the real estate business, and in most other businesses, is that we have to have a forward market mindset.  What I mean by that is we must be thinking what our lead generation plans are going to entail for the 3^rd and 4^th quarter of the year.  The old saying, “summer goes by so fast” is true.  Next thing you know you’re in September and looking at the end of the year.  Here are a few suggestions that I have that you can implement immediately to be proactive in not just generating leads for the 1^st quarter of next year but actually closing deals in January, February, or March. 

• If you don’t have a business plan in place right now, it’s time to get to it! (If you have questions on that please let me know.  I am here to help) If you do have a business plan in place it’s time to review it!  The real estate market can change, so your plan has to adapt to that as well.  I suggest reviewing your plan at least twice a month to make sure that you are on track. 

• Don’t feel S.I.C!  We all may feel a little SIC when we don’t this in our business.  S= Schedule.  Must schedule time to sit and create your review your plan.  I= Implement. Take action and execute the lead generation and marketing actions steps in your plan. C= Commitment.  Make sure you stay focus and commitment to the strategies and lead generation activities that you have within in your plan. 

• Tools & Recourses. (Now before I give you this valuable resource for your business, I just want to make it clear that I don’t receive compensation or sell this product.  I have used it for several years personally and it has been a great planning tool for my business.)   www.forecasts.org  This is a site that gives you economic forecasting for the next 3 years.  They forecast Housing Starts, Interest Rates, Oil, Dow Jones, Treasury Indexes and etc…..  Now the market can change at anytime, and nothing is guaranteed, but to have a tool that you can build your business around, that is pretty priceless.  Check it out and see what you think.  Please use this site at your own risk. 

Again, I am in no way wishing the summer away, I’m merely suggesting that we be proactive now in our marketing efforts to set us up for high level of activity in the 3^rd and especially the 4th quarter so we can come out of the gates in 2012 not just generating leads but actually closing deals in the 1^st quarter. 

So I ask you, do you have the Forward Market Mindset? 

Also, don’t forget to have a Positive Market Mindset as well!

Mike 

Contact me at: 

Mike@allamericantitleco.com 

Do you have the D.P.T Mindset!

For those of you that have been following this blog, you know that I am a big proponent of working through your strengths and the S.W.O.T analysis (soon to be S.C.O.T analysis, Strengths, Challenges, Opportunities and Threats) and how it can have positive impact on your business.  Well today, I am going against the grain and share a challenge (Weakness has such a negative connotation to it that I like to think to use the word challenge, and challenges are something that we can overcome) that I struggled with, and still do today, in my real estate career.  The challenge I’m speaking of is analyzing how my time and lead generation activities was being spent during the week and the direct results that it would have to increase the sales in my business.  I like to call it Dollar Productive Time or D.P.T.  I would go a mile a minute (which has not changed) and feel like a pinball being bounced around all over the place with no direction.  In fact, I was chasing time instead of creating time to be proactive and productive in my business. Being time organized and having a well thought out place for the week is a key in creating a successful business.  Having a Dollar Productive Mindset can mean many different things and it can be overwhelming at times.  What worked best for me was to sit down and qualify the activities that I was doing on a weekly basis and rate them from high priority to low priority.  Here are just a few of the activities that were considered of the up most importance. 

• Lead Generation: Minimum of 2 hours a day. For the successful loan officers and agents, this is an actual appointment that is never moved or changed! It’s the highest priority and importance when it comes to generating new sales for your business. 
• Database Management:  This is going to be ongoing on a daily basis but needs to be consistent.  If new contacts are being created, take time in the day to qualify and add them to the database.  Don’t be in a position of having 64 new business cards (to be exact) in your suite pocket that spill out and create a massive pile on your desk.  This creates an overwhelming and guilty feeling of not doing the due diligence of following up with your new contacts.  Each day that goes by, it becomes more unlikely that you will capture that business.  Don’t let the moment pass you by. (Trust me; this has never happened to me in my career!  In the immortal words of George Strait, “ I have ocean front property in Arizona” )
• Qualified Meetings: Make sure that meetings aren’t going to be a time sucker.  Evaluate why and who you are meeting with.  Make sure you have an objective or goal to come away from the meeting.  Coffee is good, correct that, phenomenal, but don’t walk away empty handed.  Make sure you come away with a commitment or at least another step in the direction of closing the sale. 
• Networking Events, Seminars, etc.: Great way to build new business to business contacts that can refer you the business that you are looking for. 
• Business and Personal Development:  At least 2 hours a week needs to be spent on business and personal growth   Take time to read a book, attend a workshop or seminar, grab coffee with a successful colleague that can give you tips and ideas on how they became successful, or just keep watching and reading my blogs. Now that is D.P.T well spent!

Again, this is something that I have been working on for a long time and still a work in progress.  Life can be hectic, but having a D.P.T mindset can help in harnessing and controlling your time which will create an efficient and productive work week! 

So I ask you, do you have a D.P.T mindset? 

By the way, there may be a D.P.T Seminar coming to your area soon!  I will keep you posted!

Also, Keep a Positive Market Mindset! 

Early on in my mortgage origination career, I met a gentleman, who today is a very good friend of mine, who coincidentally started his mortgage career around the same time I did.  We became fast friends and because of the lack of training and support at that time within the Mortgage industry, we ended up working together to help mentor each other to grow and learn more about the mortgage business. In fact, I would recommend having a colleague you can lean on for support no matter how long you have been in the business, especially in this challenging market.  From that support, it’s amazing how many marketing ideas, sales techniques, and loan solutions come from hours of discussions and synergizing. 

This colleague of mine, also love to invested in the stock market. Now, with me coming out of a family business after 16 years and into a new profession, I was clueless on how the financial sector worked.  He would come in and say you have to take a look at investing in this certain company.  I would return his statement with a question.   “What makes that company so great and why I would invest my time and money into them”?  After he had analyzed the company and did his research, he then proceeded to let me know about the products and service they provide, the systems they have in place, the growth strategies they have developed, the public perception, the ownership, and etc…..  Then it hit me like the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona! (Now, I have not experienced that in my life, but it’s on the bucket list) I asked myself “why am I not running my personal mortgage business like a major corporation that offers a stock.  My thought was that people can invest in me and the services I bring to the community. I started to analyze every detail of my business. For example:

• What products and services do I offer that would make me unique in the market place. (Unique Selling Proposition)
• What systems do I have in place to create new sales opportunities while maintaining my current clients as well as my current list of relationships?
• What plan do I have in place to create strategies and activities to meet my goals and objectives?  (another shameless plug for my “Check Up From the Neck Up”)
• What Value do I bring to my referral partners and business to business relationships?
• How could I get my clients to buy into my stock and then tell their relationships about what a great return on investment they had through the products and services I had provided during their transaction? 

As soon as I was able to answer these important questions, I adopted the Stock Market philosophy  and my business started to flourish!   My goal was to be the E.F. Hutton of the mortgage business. “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen” (The 40+ year old club may get a chuckle out that one)

So then the question I ask you; Is your stock rising?  

Again, remember to keep a Positive Market Mindset!

Working Through Your Strengths

I have made a few discoveries along the way over the last 10 years in working with realtors and loan originators in helping develop and grow their businesses.

1.) Having a database that is non-functional.

Meaning that their list of relationships and past clients are sitting on a shelf collecting dust (Trust me, there was a time in my career where my list of relationships collect RUST, not Dust!)

2.) Not knowing what makes up their personal strengths.

I have presented my seminar “Check up From the Neck Up”, a growth and development seminar, for many loan originators and realtors. In one section of the presentation, we walk through what is called a S.W.O.T Analysis.  Strengths, Weakness (I like to call challenges) Opportunities, and Threats.  Two major things stood out when doing this exercise. One, I would ask the group about their strengths, the room went silent and all I could hear was the sound of crickets!  Two, as we discussed the weaknesses, the answers came back at me like misquotes on a late summer night. (Yes we will get to the warmth of summer!)

The realty is that we know more about our weakness than our strengths.  As industry professionals we need our mindset to change when it comes to this topic.  The best thing that happened to me in my business is utilizing the book “Now Discover Your Strengths”. There are many other strength finder books on the market, but this one was right for me.  Here are the strengths that I discovered about myself.

Communication
Includer
Ideation
Positivity
Developer

In the book they have descriptions of each of the strengths.  I have digested the information over time and I found it to be very accurate.  I put my strengths to work when it came to business planning, sales, training, and any other area of work and life.  I always keep my strengths top of mind and it has changed and grown my business immensely!   I always say.” A business plan and,your work, is not what you do, but who you are! 

So the question I ask you; are you working through your strengths? 

Don’t forget to have a Positive Market Mindset!

Cure The Fear!!!!

Here we go!  Spring Market is right upon us, and as a former loan originator, I was very excited about the spring real estate market.  It was a phenomenal time to to build new relationships with realtor's and other business to business  relationships. I accomplished this by visiting open houses during the weekend, working the Minnesota parade of homes, attending networking events, and getting involved with the local real estate trade associations.
  
On the other hand, rewind a few months back and I can tell you my feelings were much different.   And in today's real estate market and you may have the same feelings!  The feeling I am referring to is the feeling of "where is the next deal going to come from?"  "What am i going to do?" "How am I going to make the income for next month"? Having that in your mindset creates a whole lot of fear and anxiety!!! Trust me, I was the master at creating fear and anxiety.  I even think I invented it, that's how much I worried! One day I got to the point where the fear and anxiety took over my business and I found myself paralyzed from creating new business.  Let me fill you in on a little secret!  Next month has not arrived yet.  In fact tomorrow has not arrived yet!  I was so worried about the future that I was not committed and focused on what I can control today. 


So you may be asking "what is the cure for the fear"  Simple; Lead Generation and Activity!  Period.  


Here are some tips that helped me in Curing my fear!  

• Create  a plan of attack when it comes to daily activity and Identify what types of Lead Generation activities you are going to do! (See Prior Blog, "Quickest way to Generate a Viable lead"). e.g Call through list of relationships, make contact with your business to business clients, past clients, etc....  
• Utilize your led generation time well.  Create a mindset of Dollar Productive Time (DPT).  Make sure the activities that you are doing are going to yield in leads that will transition into Income! 
• Set your Activity goals on a daily basis!   How many calls are you going to make? how many contacts are you going to add to your list of relationships on a weekly basis?  how many personal notes are you going to write?  marketing campaign etc......  
• Most of all, have a positive mindset when making your calls.  Someone has to write the mortgage, Sell the property, help with the buyers, and close the transaction!  Why can't it be you?????   It will be you!!!!! A toxic mindset will destroy your business.  

Listen, I know that phone can look as big as the Grand Canyon when your about to lead generate, but the anxiety level and guilt only gets worse if you don't make the calls!   What's the worst your contacts are going to say?  No! Then move on and have an attitude of, "their loss"!!!!!   

Fact of the matter is, if at this moment, you are reading this blog, it may mean that you are still in the business and already made it through the tougher times.  Congrats!   We are almost there for a great change in the Real Estate market! Stay consistent, heighten your lead generation activity, be patient, and most of all, have that Positive Market Mindset!   That will Cure the Fear!  

Quickest Way to Generate a Viable Lead!

Here we are already into the 2^nd month of 2011 and the spring market is right upon us.  As a Realtor or Loan Originator, what activities are you doing to gear up and generate a viable lead for the spring market?

Here could be the answer!  

The fastest way to generate a lead now is through your list of relationships, or what most of us know in the business as a database.  Through my years of sales training, consulting, and loan origination, the most under utilized tool a sales professional has is their current list of relationships (Database).  In the real estate business we can get caught up in searching for where the next deal is coming from.  We start looking at purchasing leads, hitting up real estate agents, loan officers, or looking for the next magical system that will take us to the next level in our career.  Don’t get me wrong, these are viable activities and necessary to conduct business, but there is also nothing like working by referral! 

Tips on calling your list of relationships! 

• Make sure you have a viable database management system.  (if you don’t, ask me how)
• Call through each person on your database and gauge their willingness to refer you?  Qualify them.
• Just engage in conversation.  Be natural!  Begin calling clients you have already done business with in the past.  They will welcome your call and it will be great to reconnect.  It’s also a confidence booster. 
• Remember, your database is not about quantity, but about quality.  Make your clients work for you! 

These are a few tips to get you started!  Good luck, stay consistent, and have a positive market mindset.