By Dan Harkey

Summary:

Success comes from the implementation of preplanned strategies turned into action habits…

Successful strategies, such as offering personalized solutions like tailored loan packages or exceptional customer service, often involve going against the grain and doing what others don’t.

These action habits, which are consistent and deliberate actions that lead to desired outcomes, must be laced with tenacity…

There will be successes, setbacks, frustrations, gained momentum, effective use of time to maximize productivity, and hopefully, many paychecks.

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Introduction:

For loan salespeople, the strategies outlined here are not just concepts but crucial stepping stones to personal and financial growth. They are the key to achieving our career and financial success goals, inspiring us to reach new heights.

These strategies are not a one-time fix. They demand unwavering commitment and consistency from you. By establishing procedures to develop a marketing program, structuring daily action habits, and consistently executing the strategies, you can pave the path to success. Committing to the plan is the key to achieving these goals.

Components of a new strategy:

• Assess one’s attitude and willingness to change.
• Recognize the need to develop entirely new behavior patterns.
• Be willing to form and commit to new action habits.
• Commit to constructing a unique marketing system.
• Set up appropriate software and databases that help consistently market daily, weekly, and monthly programs.
• Consistent follow-through is the key.
• Execute the strategy aggressively and show tenacity by sticking with the plan.
• Commit and follow through. Have a coach, friend, or loved one hold us accountable. Report our progress and solicit feedback.

Time is not just a commodity; it’s a precious, limited resource that, once gone or wasted, is gone forever. We have the choice of how to use it. Effective or ineffective time utilization is always a choice and a design. By mastering the art of time management, we can take control of our lives, feel empowered, and confidently work towards achieving our goals. In the context of loan sales, effective time utilization can mean the difference between closing a deal and losing a potential client.

Effective use of time applies almost universally whether folks organize their daily tasks, manage family activities, plan social events, plan special occasions, shop for a date or someone to marry, or engage in an actual money-profit-generating enterprise. For a loan salesperson, effective use of time could mean prioritizing follow-ups with potential clients, conducting thorough research on the market, or attending networking events to expand their client base.

Resources designed to magnify the value of time effectiveness have become a combination of motivation and technology-driven, including software programs, online databases, and sufficient hardware. These resources are tools and our support systems on the journey toward success. There are more brilliant programs than anyone would ever dream possible. The same applies to implementation, training, and daily execution. Learning to perform well with a horse and a saddle still requires good training and daily practice. With these resources, we are empowered and equipped to take control of our success.

Structured planning breeds individualism, personal happiness, and sovereignty, improving civil society for future generations. Success also serves as an example for friends, associates, kids, and family. It is a great motivator and the best revenge for those who doubt us. It’s about achieving financial success and finding personal happiness and sovereignty in our journey, inspiring those around us, and contributing to a better future.

A platform for change:

A written action plan is not just a piece of paper. It’s a practical roadmap to our success. It contains a daily list of activities, prioritizes their importance, and schedules each personal and professional goal. For example, a loan agent who solicits prospective borrowers for financing—usually a loan secured by real property—should have a preplanned written daily action plan and outbound call system with a weekly activity schedule. Following this plan can bring a sense of accomplishment and keep you motivated.

The loan agent or other salesperson has multiple tasks:

• Identify a qualified lead.
• Pursue getting an appointment.
• Make a sales presentation.
• Explain the benefits.
• Answer questions.
• Handle the objections.
• Ask for the order (closing)
• Close the transaction.
• Or repeat 2 through 6 again.

Motivation to produce many closed loan transactions to satisfy customers, employers, and oneself is necessary to earn commissions and sustain a decent standard of living for one’s family. It’s important to remember that while professional success is crucial, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is equally significant. This balance ensures that we succeed in our careers and personal lives, providing a sense of reassurance and support.

Suggestions for creating an action plan.

• Define your ‘universe of possibilities, ‘which is the total of all potential leads combined in your network and the other professionals, such as real estate agents, financial advisors, and attorneys, who correspondingly have their network. This number represents the maximum potential leads you can tap into and is crucial for setting realistic sales targets.
• How many prospects can I manage to contact daily and weekly?
• How frequently should I follow up with prospects? Is the answer 30, 60, 90, or more days?
• Do I have a written script for verbal conversations and email marketing? (The language ‘script’ may be formal or informal based on your product, personality, and past relationship with the person).
• Ask questions and allow people to talk about themselves, their feelings, and their families. This can go a long way to establishing a lasting relationship. The answers also help you build a history.
• Do I have a formalized written marketing plan? (This plan should outline your target audience, marketing channels, and specific strategies for each channel, helping you stay focused and organized in your marketing efforts).
• What action habits should be expected daily, weekly, and monthly? When consistently practiced, these habits can lead to significant progress and success in your career. For example, daily habits could include reviewing your active leads and planning your day, weekly habits could involve reaching out to a certain number of prospects, and monthly habits could consist of evaluating your overall performance and adjusting your strategies accordingly.
• Do I start each morning by organizing my day, reviewing my active leads, and focusing on transactions nearest completion?
• Am I prioritizing the follow-up of my daily active leads? The highest-quality leads get priority. (Active leads are those who have shown interest, such as those who have requested more information or expressed a desire to move forward and are more likely to convert, so they should be given more attention in your follow-up strategy.)

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• Will I practice great tenacity in daily follow-ups of active leads (this concept is critical)? Tenacity here means persistent and determined follow-ups crucial for converting leads into sales. It’s not just about making the initial contact but about consistently following up to keep your product or service in mind for the prospect.
• Am I well-focused on being present or “out there” while communicating with others? I will convey energy, focus, and determination. I will execute my plans to the best of my abilities, ensuring every interaction is meaningful and productive.
• My responsibility is to assist the customers in making the best decisions for their financial needs.
• Professionally, completing transactions is our responsibility. Fiduciary duty, which is the legal obligation to act in your client’s best interests, is ever-present.
• How many real estate, loans, or other completed tasks are my goals to be closed monthly?
• An envisioned and crystalized amount of gross revenue anticipated to gain for a specified period, such as a month or a quarter—could prove extremely helpful.
• Am I working effectively with co-workers, superiors, subordinates, and independent contractor vendors with mutual respect and dignity and understood objectives to close the transactions?
• Do I have the best office technology, phone technology, email marketing systems, customer relations management system (CRM), network marketing, and industry-specific software to do the most professional job?
• Do the people around me, including support staff and other kindred folks, share my values about business, loyalty, relationships, and customer follow-up? Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who share your values can provide community and support, enhancing your journey towards success.
• Do I associate with others with kindred values who share my desire for success, self-motivation, and tenacity? Surrounding yourself with self-motivated and tenacious individuals can be inspiring and help fuel your determination to succeed.

A suggested action-filled daily work schedule.

Start time: 9 am to 4:30 pm- Monday through Friday.

Maximum performance may require additional hours, some evenings and weekends. Prolonged physical and mental effort requires breaks for physical and psychological sustainability. And one should take occasional breaks away from all the everyday stresses. Daily walks in the sunshine will work wonders for energy, focus, and stamina. Walk a dog or call a friend while “frolicking in the “forest.”

Many believe that input of effort and output of results create equal corresponding or equal results. In other words, input and output correspond. The common assumption by many is to expect the same results from each hour of active work. Suppose you are an hourly wage earner at a fast-food establishment. That’s how it works- but technology has changed that. But that is not how success works in most profit-making enterprises. Input and output rarely correspond. The results created from efforts may be leveraged by gaining additional knowledge and proper technical tools so that creation and production are geometrically higher. Identify those tools.

Wow, this worked; I bet I can do better.! We cannot motivate individuals to achieve. They must develop and internalize the desire and motivation on their own. Sometimes, learning to improve becomes a passion through modified and leveraging processes. Repeated successes always bring confidence.

Thousands of brilliant individuals could achieve more if motivated and their time management and daily action habits changed.

The success of one’s action plan varies depending on one’s circumstances and stated goals. The preacher, teacher, psychologist, company manager, supervisor, clerk, bookkeeper, accountant, a prisoner in a confined environment, or salesperson relying on commissions have different success priorities. What is most valuable in a time segment for these folks will differ. Each person should construct a platform and assess each minute’s importance, time spent, and results received.

Historical references in explaining why focusing on the most productive actions multiplies the results:

Economists and philosophers have written about the concept known as the 80/20 rule for centuries.
• Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) was a French economist who first coined the word entrepreneur.

“The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of the lower area and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.”

• In 1896, an Italian economist and sociologist, Vilfredo Pareto, developed the 80/20 rule.

“In any series of elements to be controlled, a selected small fraction of the number of elements always accounts for a large fraction in terms of effect.”

“The Pareto Principle.” was born.

• In 1949, George Zipf, a Philosophy professor at Harvard University, stated:

“The input of resources (people, goods, time, and skills) tends to arrange themselves so that a small portion of resources (20% to 30%) account for a larger corresponding output (70% to 80%) of results.”

• In 1951, Joseph Moses Juran, a management consultant and significant contributor to the quality control revolution, wrote the “Quality Control Handbook.” He renamed the “Pareto Principle,”

“Rule of the Vital Few” and the “Rule of the Trivial Many.”

• In 1957, C. Northcote Parkinson wrote two books, “Parkinson’s Law” and “The Law and the Profits.” His first law was:

“Work will expand to fill the time available for its completion.”

His message concerns wasted time and the expansion of unnecessary bureaucracies in business organizations and governments. When people and institutions spend other people’s money, they have a natural incentive to be inefficient and extend the time for completion. Consuming assets rather than getting results is generally their motive.

“An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals.” “Officials do work for each other.” “The number of employees will expand 5-7% per year, irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done.”

To sum up, most of us misallocate our daily activities. While 20% of our activities account for 80% of the results, 80% only achieve 20% of the intended results.

• 20% of loan salespeople produce 80% of the income.
• Conversely, 80% of loan salespeople make 20% of the available income.
• 20% of the lender companies control 80% of the market share.
• 80% of the lender companies control 20% of the market share.

Most companies and bureaucracies allocate 80% of the available resources to the least effective 20% of activities. Bureaucracies such as the government are not motivated by performance or results but by consuming assets, so next year’s budget is equal to or greater than this year’s. They strive for more funding and accumulate more subordinates, no matter how trivial the jobs are. Make-work jobs, or otherwise, constantly grow.

Quality of loan leads:

• 80% of the profits in our loan leads will result from 20% of our lead base.
• 20% of the profits in our loan leads will result from 80% of our lead base.
• Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are consistent with the 80% -20% rule.
• 80% of our happiness comes from 20% of our relationships, both in business and personal lives.
• 80% of our dissatisfaction comes from 20% of our relationships, both in business and personal lives.

Eliminate superficial relationships with negative attitudes and repeatedly expressing destructive opinions.

Mutual respect and dignity are necessary ingredients for long-term relationships. That includes respecting the time value of others.

I love critical views from people who have no skin in the game and don’t care. They believe that they are innately intelligent and informed! Their opinions are always without forethought or consideration for anyone else’s views. No other opinions matter: they are the messiahs, the “anointed ones” who possess it all. Self-righteousness is their claim to moral superiority. Insecurity is their proper foundation.

Acquaintances who do not share our positive attitude about life and our value system are usually negative pains in our neck (a*s) and should become ex-friends. The same goes for (online superficial friends) parasites we have never met but always express their unintelligent, emotional, and irrelevant opinions. These parasites tend to express their ideological views and attempt to sway others to their way of thinking, which is always a 100% waste of time.

Of course, their knowledge is science-based, spoon-fed information, according to the propaganda machine on mainstream media news, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and FOX. The same goes for obnoxious and opinionated co-workers and employees. Does anyone care about their superficial opinions outside their self-subscribed microcosm? Who cares? Not Me! It is tiring to deal with stupid.
Eliminating cluttered relationships from our personal and business spheres will provide tranquility, dignity, and positive results.

Suggestion for a time/value system of daily activities with variable time importance for each activity:

Leveraging time will create more free time. Some of our daily activities can be eliminated, consolidated, or delegated. We can use others and technology to leverage our time, talents, and skills. Others may be associates, employees, or independent contractors.

A, B, C, D, and Time Off are subsets of the time management systems.
Time effectiveness may vary according to our motivation, regimen, objectives, tenacity, and use of strategic leverage. Leverage comes from delegating to others.

“A-Time” is the most valuable time spent. A-Time is face-to-face or one-on-one communication with our targeted buyer or seller. The communication may be in person, by phone, or by email but must expressly reflect “a request” that the party or prospective buyer/seller wants to work with us or buy our products, goods, or services.

I suggest that average salespersons do not apply 10% of their workday in an A-Time mode. They should strive to spend 60% to 80% of their available time in an A-Time mode and delegate everything else.

“B-Time” is the time spent preparing (preparation time) to transition into A-Time. A phone call request, a letter request, or an email request is probably involved. B-Time may constitute 30% of one’s daily schedule. Push our time into A-Time and delegate B-Time to another.

Examples:

• Preparation time.
• Draft a letter, email, text, or phone call to request an appointment for a face-to-face meeting with the prospect.
• A-time does not begin until the customer or lead is in front of you or on the phone.

“C-Time” is for administrative activities with no specific defined results. However, it does have value in driving our business forward. C-Time most likely consumes 50% to 80% of our workday. The key is to delegate C-Time to support staff—employees or independent contractors—to shift our resources to the most effective use of our time.

Examples:

• Once we consummate the transaction, all other follow-up activities to drive the process forward fall under C-Time.
• Record keeping and regulatory compliance activities are C-Time.
• Developing and maintaining marketing systems, including updating the database.
• Office organization and administrative duties activities are C-Time.
• Interactions with staff and co-workers.
• Interface with third-party vendors such as escrow, title, appraisal, environmental engineers, and property-related insurance companies.
• All general activities required to maintain our business enterprise but not directly attached to closing a transaction are “C-Time.”
• Industry educational events.

“D-Time” is the catch-all of activities that produce no results and have little value; in other words, wasted time. These activities may consume a large portion of our day. D-time differs from time off or away from our business or money-making activities.

Examples:

• Reading news and conversations with friends and family. (Some may argue that conversations with friends and family are not “wasted time.”)
• Maintain social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.
• Casual conversations with employees and staff not related to business.
• Industry meets and greets—cocktails with the boys or girls.

Time off:

Time off is not D -Time but is time away from work-related emotional pressure and clutter.

Everyone should take the time to recharge their (mental, emotional, and physical) batteries. Any semblance of work pressures should be avoided, including turning off the phone and computer. Avoid burnout by scheduling focused blocks away from anything related to work—hopefully, full days, unencumbered and away from the business environment altogether.

Most people have developed a place to escape from their business life or activity that helps them transition from a frantic hustle-bustle into peacefulness, tranquility, serenity, and resolve. A personal tune-up comes to mind.

The escapee can divorce from work and, no matter how temporary, can figure out how to spend free time away from societal pressures. I refer to this location as my “Mental Hobby Shop.”

Why do people misallocate their time and resources?

One prominent reason is the fear of rejection! Fear of rejection is the unconscious reason people move into the “safe space” or comfort zone of B-C-D time. When we request that someone work with us, they may say “No,” “Yes,” “Not now,” or “Maybe later.” They could also totally disregard us.

The most challenging learning curve in any salesperson’s career is understanding that “a prospective buyer is not rejecting us personally, but merely our request.” The salesperson must locate someone who needs their products, goods, or services.

Marketing Strategies:

Marketing strategies include face-to-face communications, direct calling, mass and individual emailing, postal mailing, group networking, online presentations, Zoom calls, and attending industry-related trade organizations. Direct calling is helpful for repeat follow-up calls to maintain an ongoing relationship with active prospects. For unanswered calls, leave a message; a follow-up email as a reminder is appropriate. The named person at least hears our voice and receives a friendly reminder email.

The above activities involve strategies to convert prospects into “active relationships,” including establishing business relationships and friendships. “Actives” consists of a group communicating with us and expressing interest in our products, goods, or services. Of course, “actives” can and should develop into business friends. Yes, friends do business with friends!

Developing an extensive network of “active leads” and personal relationships takes daily focused time and effort. Merely locating and purchasing a list has no value. A list is only the beginning. Initial introductions and subsequent follow-ups are necessary and will develop into success over time. An outsourcing vendor can verify whether the addresses and email addresses are correct. Active daily management of the list is essential to convert people from “cold” or “warm” into “active.” Import the list into a customer relations software system (CRM).

Here is a suggested action that we could take for someone who routinely or habitually does not respond to our request to communicate: send an email that states, “Fred, I have tried to contact you a few times without success. Would you prefer that I do not bother you?” If Fred wants to continue the relationship, he will respond. Fred may respond politely and say “no” or not respond. If Fred does not answer, you may demote him to “cold” and keep him in your database email marketing system. “Cold” leads get no personal follow-up other than marketing with a mass email distribution. If Fred is disrespectful or belligerent, delete his record entirely. Subject him to the big “Delete” in the sky.

A daily action habit is to spend a significant portion of your day calling or emailing “actives.” However, I call my friends more frequently than every 60 or 90 days. Repeated calls can be bothersome. Restart the process every 60 to 90 days.

People change jobs, and companies go out of business, show disinterest or disrespect, habitually fail to return phone calls or emails, retire, change names, change email addresses, change business locations, etc. Information contained in the prospect list requires constant updates and expansion. The “active” prospects in the network are the only ones we may reliably count in determining the size of our network or lead base. Also, even with a sizeable “active” lead base, we may lose 20% to 30% of them annually for all the reasons stated. “Warm” leads should become “actives.”

Replacing “dead leads” with “active leads” is necessary. We may drop the prospect from your “active” list and discontinue active follow-up over a reasonable time, such as 24 months of consistent follow-up. The other option is to email them occasionally using our standard email blast. Over time, they may again become “active leads.”

The quality of a prospect list may disintegrate overnight. In 2006, my company was primarily using direct mail. We mailed about 1,000,000 letter-form solicitations each month. Then, by September 2007, the market crashed, and the lead-based list quality disintegrated overnight. Thousands of institutional and private money lenders, real estate agents, loan agents, investors, and builders/developers left the industry. The quality of my lead list immediately went up in smoke. Poof!

Prepare for that event! You will need to reconstruct a new list starting from day one. If the quality of your lead base crashes, consolidate the list down to your “actives.” Email or call to verify that they are still there.

A poor strategy is repeatedly following up with the same prospects, even when they display disinterest or non-responsiveness. The quality of all lists is fluid and constantly changing.

All the above is a recurring process throughout one’s career. As the process becomes well-lubricated through practice and experience, you will expect increasing momentum in business until you have so much business that you need to stop marketing temporarily. Assimilate the new incoming business, then get back on track.

“You locate a buyer; you do not create a buyer.”

Thank you
Dan Harkey
Educator and Private Money Lending Consultant
949 533 8315 [email protected]
Visit www.danharkey.com