“In the end, there can be only one.”—RAMIREZ The word “priorities” rose from obscurity about 50 years ago, and by definition of the root word “priority” we are fooling ourselves to think that we can be focused on more than one important thing at a time. A true priority will consume 100% of our resources […]
Bad News Always communicate news that’s bad, slightly bad or even neutral by phone, if not in person. Never via email, let alone text. Clients are often quick to quit when problems arise. Talking problems through often leads to resolution. Rely on emails only when you’re relaying good news, but then again, when it is […]
Be Literate The written word is a Brokers primary form of communication. It’s excusable not to know how to use a semi-colon (I still don’t), but misspelling words chips away at your credibility. Although it doesn’t catch all errors, spell-checking your emails and other correspondence is a no-brainer. Brokering is a game of precision, precise […]
Document Your Plan I had specific goals in 2008; I officially began Brokering in June of that year, leaving me seven months with which to work. And work I did. My goal at that point was to average one completed file every second week and to intake at least one new application per week. Intake […]
Pen & Paper “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” A goal without a deadline is just a dream. Simply saying that you ‘want to be a Broker’ isn’t enough. It’s a dream, it’s vague, with little hope for success. Stating ‘I will be a licensed Broker by X’ now that’s a […]
Every interaction you have with an underwriter, a Business Development Manager, a team lead, a lender VP and so on during the processing of a file, or even just in a casual conversation at a trade show, is you either building or burning bridges. Your primary goal is to recognize that everyone involved in the […]
“Real estate is the last bastion of caveat emptor.”– anonymous I’ve used that quote twice—to hammer the point home. In real estate transactions, there is risk. The Broker’s role is to help mitigate that risk wherever you can. Caveat emptor is Latin for “let the buyer beware.” You do not want to let your clients […]
“You have to build the machine that will build the machine.” – pete koomen Rewarding a referral source is all about rewarding the behavior, not the result. We all “buy business” in one way or another; however, in this case I am saying that I did not pay any kind of significant kickback to a referral source—not […]
Always Do What You Say You Will Do Do not make excuses, and do not go out of your way to paint a picture of yourself as the hero fixing a problem that a client simply will not understand the nature of. An example is a mortgage commitment document from a lender that had an […]
It is Not About the Money Focusing on how much money you want to make is no guarantee for success. In fact, over the long term it may impede your success. You may be reading this and saying, “Hang on, I thought it was recommended to have a direct income-related goal?!” and you would be […]