In business one day my boss of yesteryear came to me and said we are going to take turns working a Saturday. WHAT? I was always off Saturday and Sunday at that time in the eighties. We were doing second trust deed loans and the title companies would list you as a source for lending on their hot sheets. But that didn't generate enough business. After much squawking and resistance, we all started doing 10-2 Saturday shifts
LAND-LINES
Now there was no internet, cell phones, email or texts but just land lines. If you are not in your office, then a message is taken either by an answering service or a recording device new back then.Many businesses just let the phone ring and ring until you hung up concluding..Oh, I guess no one is in. People who have needs don't take the weekends off is what we discovered. I was getting calls from people who qualified and wanted to borrow money right now and start the process and were amazed that we were reachable over the phone and even available to take an order in person so easily. They would come down and give a small fee for the appraisal and we would let them know in 1-2 days or less
IS THIS A RECORDING?
The public would tell us 35 years ago mind you that it was both shocking and refreshing to have someone not only answer the phone but available to meet up with and conduct business. Over and over all we would hear is this story and comments with different variations. Many would even repeat the number to make sure they dialed correctly stating..is this the loan place or do you do loans? They also paid what we asked for $$$
$$$ BOOM $$$
At some point it got so lucrative that two things happened right away. My boss gave us a percentage of what we were involved in so we would have more skin in the game and the second thing was we ran a BIG add to generate more business stating open Saturday to the public. Our competitors went nuts as they were 9-5 people. They would call and balk at our rates too. WHY? We were lower than any other interest rates being offered, moved and responded quicker, and being available when others were not plus we funded in record time...created a boom for us...$$$$$$ BOOM
STATISTICS
The answers to be successful were always there and available to anyone at anytime. Me and my colleague even balked, fought, complained and whined about the extra hours until we overcame our own considerations and comfort zones realizing that we were living in our own success. Statistically, why anyone would call on a Saturday, come down and transact should have been analyzed because it offered an incredible returns
777 PLAN STILL PAYS OFF
Ironically speaking, fast forward to this day and the different businesses. Being available to the public, to the potential customer and wanting to create business comes across as its own best marketing and testimony of just who you are, what you do and how you do it. Something as simple as being available..Imagine that? It was later on that I built a complete campaign on being available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 7 days a week aptly called the 7 7 7 plan. Sevens lining up means someone won something...All I know is it made my phone ring and my income soar
DOING WHAT IT TAKES AND BEING AVAILABLE STILL WORKS ITS OWN WONDERS
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