How many times in 2008 did you mutter under your breath, ‘I really should clean up my database,’ ‘I’ve got to create a system for staying in touch with my past customers,’ or ‘I need to get out of my office and meet some new Realtors’?

Perhaps these weren’t just frustrated or wishful utterances in 2008, but have been demons that have plagued you for several years. First of all, you’re not alone. How do I know this for sure? Over 4200 hours of coaching Mortgage Professionals one-on-one, over the past three years, that’s how!

Getting one’s database updated, meeting new Realtors and creating & implementing a system for staying in touch with past customers were the top three activities that Mortgage Professionals whom I’ve coached, wanted to focus on in their business in 2008. What I found was that 80% of the reasons why these goals had not been met in the past were due to internal challenges (i.e. low self-esteem, fear, ego) with just 20% of the reasons being due to external factors (i.e. lack of assistance, not having the right tools or resources, poor budgeting).

Here are a few suggestions that can help you to finally conquer these particular “demons” once and for all in 2009!

I Really Should Clean-up My Database

This particular green goblin feeds off that fact that the mortgage industry is cyclical in nature. Just at the point when your business has slowed down enough to allow you the time to tackle this job, is precisely the time when your friends and family members notice your new-found freedom and become eager to help you fill up that time with favors and “honey-do” lists that their nine-to-five, corporate jobs simply cannot accommodate. Instead of taking 100% responsibility for yourself, the finger-pointing begins…and you know what they say about pointing the finger at someone or something else, right? It means that there’s that many more fingers pointing back at you.

Conquering it…

• Don’t wait for a slow-down in your pipeline. Tackle it in small bits NOW. Remember the old adage, “What’s the best way to eat an elephant?…One bite at a time!” And remember, time passing by never makes the elephant any smaller.
• Make a list of what you’d like to purge, clean-up or add to your existing database. Resolve to take it one step at a time and focus on just one aspect of this project until it is complete.
• Enter a 1hr “Database Clean-up” time-block into your calendar and set it to recur every week. Do not take appointments, questions from your team, phone calls or reply to emails during that one, sacred hour each week.
• Remember, your working hours are your working hours! If your sister calls you and asks you to watch your niece for an hour while she takes your nephew to the dentist, remember this oldie but goodie, “Just say no.” If you weren’t around, believe me, she’d find another solution.

I Need a System for Staying In-Touch with my Past Customers

For the majority of folks this critical task is not being implemented for the simple fact that they are unconsciously or consciously, treating their borrowers as one-time transactions, instead of life-long relationships. And, here’s another truism that for many can be hard to swallow…The manner in which one treats their past customers has a lot to do with how they think and feel about themselves. Taking an interest in the person(s) behind the transaction, having confidence in the value you provide, knowing your craft and gaining the courage to ask for the business are the secrets to enjoying a long, successful and satisfying career.

Conquering it…

• Keep your system simple-For example, look at the year ahead and choose 4 educational pieces that can be sent via email, choose 4 hard mail pieces, like postcards or a newsletter that you can send and decide on 2 instances in the year that you will pick up the phone and touch base with your customers for non-business related reasons (i.e. happy birthday call, Happy New Year call, invite call to a client appreciation event, contact info update call, etc.)
• Ensure consistency- Set up your calendar at the beginning of the year with reminders of what your customers will receive from you and when. Or, invest in a system, like Top of Mind or Constant Contact and let them do the work for you.
• Go Direct-Whatever you do, make sure that you reach out to all of your customers at least twice a year via a direct phone call. These are the opportunities to really cultivate those relationships, continue to build trust and solidify your place as their “Mortgage Professional for Life!” Personal and direct contact with your database will always lead to more referrals and opportunities than the best and most graphically appealing email, postcard or newsletter ever will!

I’ve got to get out of my office and meet some new Realtors

But then the next few thoughts that immediately follow are the excuses that provide you “the out” you were looking for…I don’t have time to build new Realtor relationships. They all already have a lender anyway, so what’s the point. All Realtors are ego-maniacs and hard to work with. Ok, that last one might seem over the top, but I bet more than 80% of all Mortgage Professionals have thought it at least once. Your good business sense knows that you can’t ignore your #1 source for purchase leads, so why aren’t you out there and meeting new Realtors every chance you can get? Hmmm, have you ever considered that it might just be your own ego that has something to do with it?

Conquering it…

• Play a little Leap-Frog-Start by getting back in touch with the Realtors who are already in your database. Ask them for warm introductions to their peers, Realtors who they respect and feel would appreciate your level of service and professionalism.
• Pop-by Open Houses-Did I hear a groan??? Keep the script simple. The easiest script in the world is called, “the truth” and it goes a little something like this…”Hi, I’m Victoria Del Frate and I’m a Mortgage Professional who has been working in the area for 10 years now. I’m just popping by open houses to see who is still out here, making it happen… hoping to meet some new folks and get the rust out of my handshake. Would you mind a few minutes of company? How’s traffic been for you today?” Get in, exchange business cards and get out. Follow-up with a personal note card and prepare to check-in, make calls, send emails, ask for coffee or breakfast meetings and patiently pursue the relationship. Oh, and if you don’t intend on consistently following up, don’t bother going out at all! Trust is not built over night.
• Show up-Attend Realtor Association meetings and events. Go to your local Chamber’s After-Hours Mixers. Attend Realtor Expos and sales events put on by the “big names” in the Real Estate industry, like Brian Buffini. Ask to go on caravan with the Realtors you already know. Pop-by your Realtors’ offices once a month for a coffee break. Facilitate a mastermind group once a quarter to brainstorm business growth strategies with your Realtors and have them bring a guest Realtor. Attend or host your own Meet-up group.
• Get Connected-Research the Realtors in your area who have profiles on LinkedIn, Active Rain, and Wanna Network. Subscribe to their blogs so that you can begin dialoguing with those Realtors who share your same values, work ethic and interests. Look for posts that you can reply to, sharing your opinions, advice, tips or encouragement so that they can start to get to know a bit about you. I’ve personally had clients who have had some amazing results in meeting new Realtors via various social networking sites. It works if you’re diligent, patient and willing to give.

As you begin to tackle these or other, over-due projects, remember that everything that you do or don’t do in the external world is a direct result of what is occurring in your internal world. Take care and be conscious of YOU first. Let the old tapes of self-doubt and uncertainty playing in your mind, be edited and erased by each small action you take towards conquering the “demons” for good!