“Black Friday Sale in Action”

Every year I push my originators to focus on making a real effort the last couple of weeks in November and into December. So many opportunities to generate transactions and find new relationships, that it seems almost too simple not to succeed. One of the things I really like to push is the “Black Friday Sale”. There are two versions, one that includes your Realtor® referral partners supplying a number of their listed properties and holding a special sale over the weekend, and the other just simply having the originators offer a video coupon discounting closing costs or providing a lender credit for people who go into contract and complete the loan application process by a specific date.

This year did not disappoint. Response to both strategies was pretty strong, and for those who have been doing this for a few years now, they have really begun to master the process. A few have even “extended” the sale to include the last possible date they can accept a transaction that will close this year. Please remember, if you work for a company that can still accept applications that will close before New Year’s, you have a distinct advantage over your competition and one that grows in importance, every day further into December you can go!

Pushing hard the last two weeks of November and the first two of December generates important distinctions between you and your competition. Understanding that there are people out in the market who still need to buy or sell a house, as well as your Realtor® referral partners that are just one or two transactions short of moving to that next tier on their commission schedule. You also have a unique opportunity to be in front of a select group of people who value the time left in the year and understand that it’s pretty tough to have a bad year if you ROCK the first quarter! That’s what pushing now does; it sets up your first quarter of next year!

Take the time and explore your schedule for December! How far can you go and still close loans this year? Have you shared this information with your pre-approvals and your referral partners? Not just your Realtor® referral partners either, your accountants and financial planners also have clients that would benefit from closing a deal this year!

A special shout out to my client Richard Veldman of Benchmark Mortgage in Michigan. Richard was weary of the Black Friday Sale Strategy at first and thought it might be a complete waste of time. However, since he has made a commitment to coaching and at least trying to incorporate a few selected strategies into his life, He made his video and shared it with his clients and referral partners. The response was swift and positive. He had Realtors® asking him if they could share his message on social media, and he received 3 new transactions in the first two and a half days! I love it when people just TRY!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to share a short post this week and wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving! Those of us in the mortgage industry are blessed to have such abundance of opportunity to reach whatever level of performance we desire. The ability to choose what we want to do and when we want to do it is like no other business. I am also blessed to work with such great people and I never once forget that serving my clients is my only job!

For those of you who are taking some time off this week to enjoy the holiday, have a wonderful time with your family and friends; just be sure you get back ready to rock and roll as our business just seems to be moving right along! Maybe people have chosen to get a home for holidays instead of going home for them, but whatever the reason, numbers are up across the board with my clients in all markets, making for an exceptional December and start to 2018!

The rest of you that have a holiday action plan in place and are sure you execute and follow your schedule. Open houses this coming weekend will be less than a typical fall weekend, but those hosting and for those visiting, these are the very people who need to get a deal done! So pay close attention to those open houses, the agents that are hosting, and especially the people taking the time to stop by!

So if you are taking off, enjoy the holiday weekend. If you are working, enjoy Thanksgiving and get out and be visible Friday, Saturday, and Sunday because those people, who are out working, will be grateful for your attention!

On a quick note, I am interested in the topics you would like me to cover in the blog post and monthly calls. If you have a specific topic you would like me to address, please just email me and let me know!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

“21 days and counting”

So here we are again, counting down the year and the time remaining to put those last few deals together that will close this year. Hard to believe it’s almost over, but 2017 is quickly coming to a close, you have 21 days or less to get the job DONE!

Now many of us have projected what we wanted to do. Our referral partners may have also set themselves targets of accomplishment as well. Now is the time to connect with people and get onboard the process of performance and get some deals together and closed before this year disappears!

Action steps: Loan Originators

• Create a “Black Friday” video offer and discount your services (lender credit) to anyone you pre-approve that goes into contract and closes before the end of the year!
• Share this video via text message and email with all of your pre-approved clients.
• Same holds true for all of your Realtor® referral partners! Get them involved.
• Prepare a video for your accountants and financial planners letting them know that there is still time to get a deal done before the year is done!
• Get out and see who is working! Those agents still working need to put a deal together!

Realtors®

• How many deals are they short to “tier up” their commission schedule?
• How many of their listings need to sell by the end of the year, and how can you help them get sold?
• Agents doing Open Houses are in need of your winning strategies and the valuable tools you can provide them.
• Share the “Costs of Waiting” information in your area.

Other Professionals

• Create your offer for year-end services to your accountants, financial planners, and attorneys. The end of the year can be a very real deadline, help them to provide additional value to their customers.
• Get your year-end video coupons recorded and posted! Drive traffic to your referral partners by providing significant value to your clients, referral partners, and followers!
• Plan and record the first three video coupons for 2018!

The time left in 2017 is finite and running low. How you use that time and the value you create in that time is up to you. Many people are already coasting through the end of the year. I have even heard a fellow coach tell people that if they had already reached their goals it was just fine to take off and relax. Clearly that isn’t me. I want you to drive through the finish line! I say that because we are in a flow business and no matter what the calendar says, just because the year ends our business doesn’t. Bad starts are caused by poor finishes!

So plan your time off and schedule all the activities you like; just don’t disappear for the next six weeks and think that it’s okay to do that just because it’s the “holidays” and “nobody” else is working. That is nonsense. There are BILLIONS of dollars in transactions that are going to come together in the next 21 days and close this year. There are also thousands of people who want to engage this housing market now, who will close deals in the first quarter of 2018! So plan your time effectively. Enjoy the holidays with your family and friends! But remember that there are large opportunities contained in the next 21 days if you are out there with a plan to get in front of them!

It’s all part of the “W-O-R-K of the J-O-B”® of a true mortgage professional!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

Don’t wait for the new year to start elevating your mortgage business to new heights.  Start coaching with Mortgage Mentor, Mike White today!  Visit: http://www.imtcoaching.com/fast-start-180.html

“Slow go on doing video?”

It’s hard to believe that it was just a little more than six years ago I started talking to my clients and training mortgage originators about the power of using video. Like many other topics, a few grasped the importance of this powerful tool and began working toward building value and a social media presence. However, many ignored the power of this platform and found excuse after excuse for not engaging this important technology. Using video to deliver important and valuable information is something to embrace and master. Video provides you with a personal 24/7/365 arena to deliver your message and support your relationships. And while video will never replace your real time personal connection, it’s the next best thing to being available to those people who want to connect at their convenience.

Video also provides important documentation of information. It’s easy to create, share, and store. Just like websites and email did twenty years ago, video is the direction people who want and need to engage in a relational process and not just a transactional process are going. It the evolution of communication between professionals, their clients, the referral partners, and the process! It will never replace you as a professional, but it will support you and make your process open, available, and accessible at any point and at any time it’s needed. Just like an assistant, video is an extension of you and your system, not a replacement of you!

That all said, if you aren’t really clear on what you do, how you do it, how long it takes, and how you are important to the transaction and the value you bring to the table, video will just prove it again and again! So get really clear on who you are and what you do as a mortgage professional. Get your system and your process written down and really clear as to how and why you are the obvious choice. Know exactly how your team connects with you and how your orchestration takes the transaction to a smooth and timely conclusion. If you don’t know how or why you are important to the process, then it’s likely you’re NOT!

You don’t need a lot of money or tools. You need a smart phone, computer, and some time to follow the simple directions outlined on the website. You need a list of ten to fifteen FAQ’s that you can answer in less than a minute. Just generic bullet points on the topic and the offer of personal assistance. You will need four or five product or program tutorials about the loans you are doing every day in your market; real information about real life transactions that are closing every day in your market. These should be no longer than about three minutes. Again, offer personal attention at the end of the video and direct them on how to find your other videos or how to reach you for help!

Clearly all of this has to be done in a compliant manner. Each company, state, and federal agency may have compliance issues to deal with. They are simple to address and by using text boxes and free tools on YouTube®, you can easily create a compliant video quick and easy! Always be generic and offer specific personal assistance!

If nothing else, create your video business card. Stop using paper cards and share video business cards with your referral partners. They don’t need to be printed or shared. They can be emailed or texted to a prospective client or referral partner; and people always have their phones so you never run out of cards! Also think about how simple it is to track? All that ever needs to be done is have your referral partner copy you on the email or text of your video! As long as you are copied, you have a record and contact information of the referral partner and the prospect!

I haven’t even begun to talk about video couponing, testimonials, community events, or many other exciting and valuable things you can do with video to create differentiation and value! For more on this subject, visit the website: www.IMTcoaching.com and have a look around. Start with your FREE BUSINESS PLANNING seminar and workbook to help you get ready for 2018!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

Hungry for more?  Join the legions of Originators who have excelled to the top of their industry through working with Mike White.  Find out more today!  Click here for more information.

“Watch Your Step!”

Last 60 days of the year and you really need to watch your step and avoid the professional landmines that fill your path toward the future. Far too many originators fail to look clearly in November and December as months that are critical to your business. Here are five simple steps to help you avoid typical mistakes in ending one year and beginning the next.

• Failing to create a business plan and accountability partner!
• Not connecting with your prospects!
• Building a success schedule through the holidays!
• Organizing the “Party Schedule”!
• Failing to say “Thank You”!

I have talked about the value of business planning enough and everything you need to know is on the website www.IMTcoaching.com so you have no excuses for not having a meaningful plan and an accountability partner to help hold you to your commitment. So just go do the work!

There is no excuse not to connect with every one of your prospects and find out what they are doing. Some have unfortunately closed on a home and didn’t use you. Get over it and ask what you could have done, or done better to have earned their business.

Some have lost interest in the process. You need to talk to them about the costs of waiting. Find out why they wanted to buy, and why they haven’t done so yet? Nobody ever finds the perfect house! It doesn’t have to be a perfect house to be an excellent home!

Others may have had some issues along the way that may have prevented them from moving forward. Be compassionate and help them establish a path back toward home ownership!

Failing to create a work schedule leads to a great deal of wasted time. It gets easy to take hours and days off at the end of the year. The closer we get to the end of the year, the more people start to pack it in and push their efforts off until next year. Nothing can be more damaging than bailing out on your effort. We are in a flow business. What you do in November and December really shows up in January, February, and March! You want to start of the year with a bang or a bust? Nobody ever had a bad year with a great first quarter! A bad first quarter puts you in a hole you may never recover from! Create your work schedule and do your job!

We are a very relational business and there are lots of holiday parties on the calendar! You don’t have to go to all of them and you certainly need to plan out attending those that are important to you and your referral partners! If you have a team of people, now is a good time to take one or more of them with you to meet the people they are serving! Be sure you watch the drinking! Holiday cheer can go too far if you get too “happy”! Set a one drink limit per party, or avoid alcohol all together.

Be sure to say “Thank You” to everyone who has been part of your process. Clients, referral partners, vendors, product and service providers all deserve a little attention and a kind word. Plan a call, a card, a handshake, and most importantly; your sincere thanks for being part of your success.

It’s how you finish the race that is important. Do the work! Create the plan and the success schedule that will get you through these last couple of months without stepping on the landmine called complacency! Don’t assume success, plan and schedule it!

Questions or comments: Mike@IMTcoaching.com

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