Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog followers! We are wrapping up a really special year and we should all be very thankful we have the opportunity to do what we do. With that in mind, all of my originators and Realtor® friends, did you have a “Black Friday Strategy” all set up this year? No, I don’t mean planning what store opens when, or where to get that 50” TV for $99. I mean did you have a strategy to do a loan or sell a home this weekend?
Funny thing is that most in our industry look at Thanksgiving as the end point of the year to put together transactions that will still close in the current year. Most will leave the office today and begin looking for all the holiday parties and think about what next year has in store for us. Well, this is really flawed thinking by a vast majority of those in our industry. In fact, for a few really advanced teams of loan originators and Realtors®, this isn’t the end of anything, it is the beginning.
For those advanced teams, they have a strategy to use this weekend to find any last minute transactions that need to be completed before the end of the year, as well as identifying opportunities that will close early in next year. You see, people who are actually working this holiday weekend are doing so because they have too. While everyone else is shopping or relaxing with their family, a few professionals are engaged in putting together deals that just have to come together. Let’s be honest, not many people out looking at property this time of year are doing so just to look; they are doing so to BUY! They are out looking because they HAVE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!
So while you are watching football or reaching for that bowl of chips, think about the opportunities there might have been if you had a simple “Black Friday Strategy” like this:
1) Let all your referring partners know you would be working the weekend and will be available to meet with their clients.
2) Schedule some time on Black Friday to go out and visit each real estate office you work with and let people know you are around and maybe share a discount on closing costs for those that are preapproved this weekend and close by January 31st with you.
3) Work with a few Realtors® to identify their listings where we might engage the sellers into offering a special “Black Friday Price” for their currently listed property and hold a special Open House over the weekend for those properties.
Three simple ideas that help you set yourself apart from everyone else. That is a big part of any business plan, differentiation! Always ask these important questions:
1) How do I help my referral partners do more business?
2) How do I bring value to them during the process?
3) How do I create new opportunities from current circumstances?
4) How do I provide value for my customers?
5) What action do I need to take to get it done!
Having a strategy is important. You can’t develop much of a business if everything that happens is accidental and not planned. Not everyone wants or needs to work a holiday weekend. But for those that do, they need to put deals together and put them together NOW!
Black Friday is a day that begins on Thursday and has people waiting on long lines to save money on things they may or even may not need. Well for loan originators and Realtors®, Black Friday is an opportunity to close out the year with a few needed transactions and start the next one with people committed to getting a deal done.
I have never come across an originator or Realtor® that had great months in January and February that had a bad year. The best way to start the year off well is to have a head start! Your head start is NOW!
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