by Brian Brady
Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL
The following essay is taken from a lecture by Todd Duncan at the Strategic Equity Summit. Mr. Duncan opened the conference of 3,000 mortgage originators with an electric speech chock full of useful information. Mr. Duncan is an author, a highly sought after speaker, and a business consultant. His company, Todd Duncan Enterprises, serves salespeople in general and mortgage originators specifically.
The Six Daily Disciplines of Purposeful Advisers Are:
1- Knowledge Acquisition: We work in changing markets. An daily hour should be dedicated to learning more about our industries. Much of the weblog reading I do helps me stay on top of mortgage markets but I supplement it with podcasts and books. Originators would do well to examine a monthly investment of $59 in Mortgage Planning University.
2- Partnership Planning: Purposeful Advisers have a referral-based business. Planning your communication each month with these referral partners helps to drive your integrated approach to client advisory. I spend approximately one hour daily on this function. Mostly, it’s a few phone calls to that partnership base but I supplement it with online conference calls and personal meetings.
3- Prospecting Engine Maintenance: Purposeful Advisers have a prospecting engine which drives potential clients to them. Direct mail, radio advertising, telemarketing, and cold-calling are traditional engines for newer originators. I use online seminars, weblogging, online advertising, and direct mail.
4- Prospect Follow-Up Program: A system should be in place for sufficient follow-up. Nothing hurts more than when you get the news that a potential client chooses another adviser because of insufficient follow-up. I use drip e-mail campaigns tracked by Salesforce.com CRM. This is my most glaring weakness.
5- Client Consultations should take up most of your day. For originators, you’ll be talking to past borrowers, current borrowers, and potential borrowers about lending strategies to build wealth. For Realtors, you’ll be showing property, negotiating contracts, and following through with contracts in escrow. If you aren’t in a client consultation, you should be calling to set more up for tomorrow (or the next day).
6- Reflection and Planning: An hour should be spent daily on reflection and planning. What did I say that made that potential borrower happy? Did I ask for a referral properly for each and every phone call? Who will I call tomorrow? What will I schedule for tomorrow?
cindy@staged4more says:
This is great advice! As one running his/her business longer, these systems should be in placed and used daily and systematically. Any of these are very crucial to his/hers survival and success. When we are working for ourselves and with little marketing budget, prospecting is very important. You really reap what you sow. When I get busy in my business, my prospecting efforts slip, and I feel it couple months down the line where my website #s has gone down significantly and I need to put in extra effort to push it back up. This is why we need to get our own systems in placed so whether busy or slow seasons, we still stick with our prospecting plan and show our clients that we are here for the long haul. Thanks for a great post!
Cheers,
Cindy
July 3, 2007 — 9:17 pm