Skip to main content

Pencils and Shrubs: the Woods of Success (Posted May 2, 2016)

If I were to ask you, “What makes your mortgage company a good sales partner for you?”, your response would most likely resemble something like, “They do what they say they’re going to do, and they make sure the loan closes on time.”  Am I close?  Well, that’s a good answer – and an accurate one – but for a different question.  That answer would fit better with “What makes your mortgage company a good service provider?”  Do you see the difference?

The question first asked was about being a SALES partner – in other words, what are we doing to help you increase your sales?  The mark of a good mortgage company is one that helps you become BETTER.  In that vein, I have a piece of advice and an offer to help you become better.
 
The Advice
When NASA started sending folks up into the cosmos, they spent $12 Billion and ten years on developing a pen that would write upside down, at extreme temperatures, in zero gravity, and even underwater – and they did it.  Meanwhile, the Russians addressed all of these problems in one fell swoop without spending $12 Billion: they used a pencil.  Sure, it’s not nearly as sexy or as cool looking to put a pencil in your pocket protector, but it does the job. 

What’s my point?  Look for the simple solution – don’t get caught up in what’s shiny and new.  If you happen across a new cell phone app that you find helpful, more power to you.  But remember: you were an agent before that app came into your life, and that app can’t do what you do, which is sell.  Whether you’re a part of a team, or you work independently, you and your talents are the most effective tools at your disposal – don’t surrender them to something that can ONLY be an extension of you!

The Offer
We have some shrubs in our backyard that have grown fairly tall, but they don’t look all that healthy.  We read someplace that in the heart of the shrub, there are a lot of dead branches that keep the rest of the shrub from thriving.  So, in order to bring the shrub back to a point where it has good, healthy growth, we had to get to the base of the shrub and start chopping away – in other words, we had to get rid of the dead wood.  It was hard work and took time – time that would have been more fun eating nachos and watching a good movie – but it was worth it. 

What’s the dead wood in your “shrubs” that’s impeding your growth?  Not sure what it is?  Let me give you a hint: it’s whatever that’s linked to your saying, “I need to get to that tomorrow”, but you never do.  Whether that “tomorrow” item is a physical or a mental block, it’s a block.  It’s certainly dead wood that’s keeping you from good, healthy growth. 


Here’s the offer: Let us tackle the dead wood FOR YOU.  We’ve done it for a number of agents, and they’ve seen measurable results of increased production.  We can give you references – we’re happy to!  Let’s sit down and talk about it TO MAKE YOU BETTER!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An Age-Old Concept Reaping Future Rewards

W hy are social media like Facebook and Instagram so darn popular among real estate and mortgage folks?   Hint: the top reason might be an endless supply of memes, cat videos, and the chance to be snarky, but the other reason runs a VERY CLOSE second.   Give up?   Answer:   They’re free – and they really help even the playing field by enabling a one-person shop look and market like an organization who employs an army of wordsmiths and graphic artists. This new century is glorious, right?   With that in mind, let me re-introduce you to a centuries-old concept that is equally glorious – and can help IMPROVE the playing field for you, regardless of the size of your team: karma.   On the subject of “free”, I’m not suggesting that you work for free, but when you freely give of yourself and your knowledge, you’ll see a greater payoff, I promise! Recently, an agent came to us with a question: she has a client who is looking to sell his condo.   It...

KNOWING is Half the . . . Problem

If you’ve learned one thing from reading these columns, it’s this: I don’t read a ton of books by or about the French philosopher Descartes or spend large amounts of money traveling the world to view the Masters’ paintings in far-flung museums – my entertainment and sources of knowledge run to the more . . . mundane, if you will.   Well, I’m not about to disappoint.   In the movie Men in Black , the two main characters J & K (played by Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, respectively) have recently met and K is trying to recruit J to join the clandestine government agency that monitors aliens on planet Earth.   Agent K has just shown J a lot of things that are hard to believe/explain and urges J to keep them secret.   At this point, J interrupts him, and this piece of dialogue ensues: J: Why the big secret?   People are smart.   They can handle it.   K: A person is smart.   People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you...

Control Your Money, Not Vice Versa

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post very similar to this - in fact, some aspects are identical - but I'm putting a slightly different twist on it to alter the perspective by a tad.   Whenever I meet a real estate investor who likes to take the fix-n-flip approach, I always ask why they go that route rather than subscribe to a buy-n-hold approach.  There are different answers to that question, but they all seem to have a common thread running through all of them: "I need the money to go out and buy another house to flip."  Sure, most people have a limited supply of cash on hand, so that makes sense.  With that said, there are three options EVERY real estate investor should know about - but, usually, they only know about the first one.  Let me set this up: Real-life example: the property in question costs $77,000 to acquire and $18,000 to rehab (total cash put out equals $95,000).  The property then can sell for $135,000.  Ready? Traditional...