... COVER CONTINUED to help these clients and save them from getting involved with unscrupulous people who are only trying to knock out a quota. There are four parts in a sale: traffic, relationship, call to action, and follow-up. Traffic refers to who and how many people you’re talking to about your business. Relationship focuses on how those people feel about you — you could have a decent amount of traffic coming your way, but if you’re insulting them, you’re not likely to get a sale. The call to action is one of the most critical parts of making a sale. You could be getting a lot of traffic, and everyone can absolutely love you, but if you don’t tell them how you can help them, no one’s going to come to you. Finally, follow-up is ensuring that you’re efficient in the second and third parts: relationship and call to action. All companies have bottlenecks in one of these four areas. Overall, about a quarter of any given business fits into each of these steps — 25 percent goes into traffic, 25 percent into relationship, and so forth. Any time someone comes to me with a problem about sales and they tell me they’re meeting with clients and agents but not asking for business, it’s good news. It means what they’re missing is a call to action, which is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest of the four to fix. It’s nothing more than asking for business. I believe the main reason no one likes to ask is the looming obstacle of fear in the form of rejection.When people say no to us in the sales world, they’re not saying, “I don’t like you,” even though that’s kind of what we hear sometimes. It’s a lie the little guy or girl on our shoulder tells us, and it’s 100 percent not true. The reason we’re told no is almost always because that individual doesn’t need what we’re currently offering. Here’s a good example: Not too long ago, I bought a new set of tires for my Jeep. I thoroughly enjoyed the business I purchased the tires from, the tires themselves are spectacular, and the salesman, Larry, was a great guy. Imagine if Larry were to call me up today and tell me, “Hey Carl, you know those big expensive tires you bought? I’ve got the deal of a lifetime. For $100, a fraction of the original price, I’ll sell you a whole new set. You just have to use them for yourself and not sell them.” Unfortunately, I’d have to tell him, “Larry, no thank you” — not because my experience was terrible, but because I don’t need another set of brand-new tires at the moment. If an agent tells us “no,” it just means they’re already working with an amazing loan officer and everything is working great. But you and I know things go wrong all the time, and when they do, we have an opportunity. If their loan officer isn’t asking for business and you are, eventually you’ll win out because you’re the one who’s doing all the asking. A gentleman I saw speak at a seminar once told me something
that has been invaluable to me. He said, “Carl, whoever makes the most offers wins. If you want to make more sales, make more offers. Ask for more business.” So, as you’re having a conversation with someone — I don’t care who you’re talking to, how the first part of that conversation started, or what script you’re using — one of the things you need to say last is, “Can I count on you to give me a call?” Asking this question ensures that you’ll close on time, secure ongoing updates, get follow-ups on your leads, and increase the number of referrals you receive going forward. The last part I want to go over with you is what happens if you haven’t presented a call to action before. A lot of people think that giving a call to action sounds weird and is “too salesy.” However, the first thing to keep in mind is that a call to action only seems weird to the person giving it. For example, if I were to ask you, “Hey, you’ve been receiving these newsletters and have been a member of our group for a while — has it been helping you?” I think most everyone would say, “Well, yes.” I would respond, “Could I ask you for a favor? If you know of another loan officer in your area who may not be part of our group, could I count on you to introduce us so that we can tell them what we do over here? I’d like to help them out, too.” When you hear that, or as you’re reading this, I doubt you’ll sit there thinking, “The nerve of Carl — I can’t believe he actually asked me that. Just a horrible thing for him to do.” In fact, you and many others wouldn’t find it odd at all. You might think, “Of course I’d like to help you out, Carl. You help me, and I’d like to do the same for you.” Even though I know I can help you and other loan officers and that my call to action is received positively, it feels weird every time I present that call to action live. However, for the person receiving that information, it doesn’t sound weird at all. Always remember that the call to action only sounds or feels weird to you, not the person receiving it. So, flick the little guy or girl off your shoulder who’s telling you it’s a bad idea and just do it. Personally, I have never seen any salesman literally beg for business, but I have seen great salespeople ask for it. Be one of the great people. Thank you for reading. I hope all of you have a great month.
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