The Power of Planned Presentations
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Last week I received a voicemail from my brother Lawrence. While listening to his message I could tell he was very excited and dying to tell me about a very successful day he had just concluded. However, before I continue, allow me to step back and set the story up.
Lawrence had re-entered the mortgage business about ten months ago (great timing wasn't it?). The key word in the previous sentence is "re-entered." He had previously worked in the mortgage industry for five years (1994 - 1999). Those reading this Blog know those years were not easy years in the mortgage business. Yet, Lawrence managed to become a good loan originator averaging five to ten closings a month. Notice I say he was a "good" originator, not great, not excellent nor a superstar, just good. The reason I know he was just ‘good" is my father and I where his sales managers.
Unlike myself, Lawrence has many God given and innate abilities that just came naturally to him and salesmanship is one them. Problem was he never fine-tuned his natural abilities. He was able to be a "good" loan originator without much effort and still fund more than the average loan officer. As his sales managers, we knew he had the ability to be a Superstar, he just didn't have the maturity, yet.
Lawrence married in 1998 and his life drastically changed (for the better). He married the perfect woman for him. Carrie is organized, structured, good with money and a bit of an over-achiever. She helped Lawrence bring focus into his life.
In 1999, Lawrence was presented an opportunity in another industry that was too good to pass up. So, he left the mortgage industry (not because he wasn't funding enough loans...he was) and over the next six years began to fine-tune his abilities and matured as a person.
Fast-forward to 2005 and you will find Lawrence and his family living in a beautiful gated community home in San Antonio, TX. He is the Texas sales manager for a small engine manufacturer and doing well for himself and family. Yet, he was missing his son (from a previous marriage) that lived in Colorado. His son had just begun High School and was also missing his Dad. Carrie and Lawrence decided this was a critical time in his son's life and they decided they would move back to Colorado.
Long story short, Lawrence re-entered the mortgage business in Colorado Springs, CO. Over the last year, we have been communicating, strategizing and fine tuning his sales delivery several times a week. One of the areas we spent quite a bit of time on is structuring his marketing activities. More specifically, over the last few months he has developed and implemented strategies and tools that consistently:
- Focus and direct his time/activities on efforts that are productive
- Identify niche market opportunities and develop planned sales presentations specific to referral partners
- Retain and track valuable prospects
- Provide better communication to clients and referral partners during the transaction
- Gain more consistent referrals
- Consistently stay in the forefront of clients and referral partners' minds
- Create a valuable, saleable business
- Becoming a marketing consultant to his referral partners
Lawrence has matured and even though we are in a market that has slowed relative to the first half of this decade, he has positioned himself to go from a "good" loan originator to a "superstar" originator over the next few years.
Getting back to the first paragraph and why Lawrence was so excited. He had made appointments with several prospective referral partners and they had gone incredibly well. For each appointment, he made a presentation package tailored to each individual that:
- Outlined their business and needs
- Provided valuable and saleable solutions to those needs
- Reviewed communication points and tools he had developed to provide better communication to both clients and referral partners during the transaction.
- Demonstrated how and why doing business with him enhanced both their revenue and reputation
Additionally, he practiced, rehearsed and developed a smooth presentation that flowed naturally and provided confidence to both to himself and the referral partner he made his presentation to.
When I returned his phone call, he reported the planned presentations went "smooth as butter" and that each of the referral partners was so impressed they promised him future business.
Since being successful is a process and not an event, Lawrence has implemented mechanisms to follow-up his successful sales presentations to position himself to stay in the forefront of his referral partners minds when they have business to refer.
Today, Lawrence just shakes his head and wonders why he never acted upon this advice before. Bottom line...he was not ready ten years ago, however NOW he is!
What about you, are you ready?
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