I am really bad about putting off things that I do not want to do! I freely admit this weakness! Okay, enough honesty! The good news about this weakness is I have discovered the secret to overcoming it! I simply make it a part of my daily routine. I have a "start card." It is a 3x5 index card that has a list of six items that I must do first thing every day. I will not bore you with what is on the card, but it worked so well that I decided to try it in other areas! One of the areas I really wanted to apply the "daily start card" was in sales. My business is not different than any other; I depend on sales to stay in business. So, what is on my daily "sales card?"
Make three prospecting calls everyday- This is the one area most sales people hate! It is number one on my daily sales card because without new prospects, business dies! It is no different for a loan officer. If you follow-up on three referrals everyday, that is fifteen per week, sixty per month, and seven hundred and twenty a year!Call three current and past clients each day- The people who already know me and keep in contact with me are the ones most likely to think of me for their contacts and leads. Staying in contact with current and past clients is the same as watering a garden; you do not want the plants you have cultivated to die from neglect. Always water the garden! One of my client calls was really fun today. We only talked personal business, but the client truly appreciated my thoughtfulness.
Follow-up on all leads within one day! Leads go cold quickly or someone beats you to the punch! If you want to beat 90% of your competition, develop a sense of urgency, especially when it involves the potential for new business.
Make at least two formal sales calls a day, whether over the phone or in person. For me, most of these are over the phone since my clients and prospects are all over the nation. Contrary to popular belief, you can sell on the telephone, but it takes a great set of questioning skills!
Send thank you cards and follow-up letters the same day to everyone contacted. The little things you do in life carry great returns because so few sales professionals and people in general do the little things.
Review the results of each contact and how skillfully you handled each call. If you are going to improve, you must do self-evaluations. Just like great athletes, great sales professionals are always looking to improve.
Reward yourself when, not if, you have accomplished all of the above. You will beat out 98% of your competition if you practice everything on the "daily sales card."
The great football coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi said, "Success is not a sometimes thing, it is an all the time thing." In sales, this is especially true. Unfortunately, average sales people let everything else get in the way of sales success when just doing a few things everyday would turn them into a superstar! Charles Schwab, one of the early American millionaires said, "We are all salesmen every day of our lives. We are selling our ideas, our plans, our enthusiasm to those whom we come in contact." Start everyday with your sales start card and you cannot go wrong!
