Another Day, Another Dollar...Another Person!

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to listen to Greg Swann of Bloodhound Realty.com, and Brian Brady of World Wide Wealth Advisors, deliver a short presentation last Friday for Mortgage Brokers and Bankers regarding Web 2.0 and Social Media Marketing. The event was hosted by Chicago Title through their Phoenix branch. I can tell you that I was intrigued by the ideas and held captive by their willingness to share what they have found to be successful in their business.

I learned many different tips, ideas, and techniques that I hope to use in my Social Media Marketing and Weblog. There was one part of Brian’s presentation that stuck with me and of course it had to do with numbers. (Since I am a numbers guy which further has to do with my organizational and pattern personality it naturally stuck) The final number was 1200. Based on a previous book he had read, “The Millionaire Real Estate Agent”, he gleaned the basic principle of the amount of people in your database directly reflects the amount of business you will do. This concept isn’t new to me but at this time I felt it stick, mostly due to the way it further broke down. As he was continuing his presentation we began talking about prospecting and finding new leads. The basic idea was that if you aren’t prospecting 2-3 hours a day and talking to at least 10 new people a day, then you aren’t really selling.

So I got to thinking and those numbers were dancing around in my head and the idea that if I wasn’t prospecting daily, conjuring up leads, and meeting new people, then I wasn’t selling (which means I am not doing my job) started to eat at me. A little background for you: I have always wanted to know as many people as possible. I love meeting new people, not sure why, but I feel they have interesting stories and each person has something to tell. People’s stories fascinate me and the way we think about situations, handle pressure, and deal with problems individually makes us all so unique. However, I do know that I have a draw back…call it past history, grade school insecurities, etc…I don’t know if people will enjoy meeting me. I am not sure if what I have to offer is really all that unique and so it binds me from starting conversations in person or on the phone. Truthfully, I get a bit tongue tied, don’t know what to ask, hate the introductory part, and when making cold calls generally feel like I am ruining the person on the other end of the phone’s day.

But that thinking isn’t conducive to helping me become a productive Loan Officer, which became even more clear when I read this blog from Jeff Brown, “#1 Myth in Real Estate: Agents Don’t Know Why They’re Failing”. I know it is directed towards Real estate agents but it really is for all people from Pharmaceutical Sales Reps to Loan Officers to Stock Brokers and everything in between. I know I want to be productive, I want to be the top producing loan officer in my office and I want to meet as many people as possible. I believe I can do that by meeting 10 new people a day and prospecting relentlessly.

The process can seem overwhelming if you look at the end result (having 1200 people in your database) but when broken down to meeting or talking with 10 new people a day it isn’t that daunting of a task. It is just determination, grit, and honestly looking at what we do daily that will take us to the end of the road.

Let me put it to you this way:

10 people /day x 5 days/week x 52 weeks/year = 2600 new contacts in 1 calendar year.

Those are huge numbers and not all will make it to your database but if you capture half of that then you will have affected more people through your work and personality than you could think possible in one year.

I have challenged myself to reaching this single goal. I don’t care about how many deals I close this month or next month. I just want to meet people to learn what they do and to hopefully have them know what I do so if we are ever in need in either direction (they need me or I need them) the connection will be there.

This will be my: 10-A-Day Campaign.

If you are in the sales profession in any line of work and are interested in joining this campaign, email me at emurrietta@silverstatebank.com and let’s get started.