We learned very early in life.....be on time, make an impression. In fact, the first impression usually tells us most of what we need to know about someone, and is rarely wrong. So, if this is true, why are we late? Are our lives that full, that we cannot show up on time?
What do people think of us when we are NOT on time? Does it matter with technology today?
First things, first.....
We see as a basic human interaction that being on time implies that we care about and value the time of whomever we are meeting with. This establishes trust. Is there a more important trait to have when we are transacting in business? What about a Doctor, does it matter when they are on time? How about an ambulance?
Do we feel more valued when someone is on time? Certainly. Immediately we are in the belief that the person we are transacting with or meeting with values us. If this is someone we have never transacted with before, they have nothing to judge or assess us with, so the first meeting or first impression becomes perhaps more important than any other opportunity.
I was meeting with a realtor recently, who was very busy. I could tell she had plenty of business and transactions, and also plenty of responsibility. However, we were meeting to discuss a referral that I was bringing to her, and it was important to me to be able to competently hand off this client, with whom I had a long standing relationship with.
This realtor focused on a specific area that my client was interested in, and I was already anticipating talking to the realtor about ways to generate significantly more business for each other with some hyper local marketing.
This was no small opportunity for the realtor.
However, she was significantly late (15 minutes) and I was on a tight schedule. When we met, she was not present enough to understand what my concerns were, and had an approach that I was just handing off a client that she would be able to handle at some other time. Unfortunately, none of this was accurate.
My client was in need of immediate help, as they had already identified an area and several prospective properties to make an offer on.
I found myself in a high cost situation - should I just walk away and find another realtor, or do I specifically explain and teach this realtor about the value of both of our time?
I had anticipated her not only being on time and open to a bigger possibility of business, but was largely unimpressed.
What would you do?
The other side of the moon.....
The next week I met with a broker who was running a fairly large brokerage in San Jose. This broker has many high powered sales people, and a long standing of performance and high referral. I had to wait weeks to see him.
When I met with him, his desk was clean and tidy. His assistant was very friendly and helpful to me, offering water, coffee or tea. She was genuine and clear that I was a mortgage broker.
He was ready and prepared, and had a specific list of questions for me, how many sales had I closed in the past 12 months? How many of my clients were pre approved well in advance of any offer, how many lenders did I use, and why? There were many more, and needless to say he left an impression as someone that I wanted to transact and work together with.
He had many, many mortgage lenders knocking on his door, and a large assortment of lending agreement/incentives being offered.
What stunned me, was that he was so prepared to speak with me......I was representing a much smaller group and company than what was being pitched from others. His office had just terminated a long standing agreement with Wells Fargo (a Major bank).
What he most wanted to know was my specific skill set, i.e. how I originated clients, how I maintained my CRM, and most of all how I interfaced with clients and realtors.
This was a broker who clearly was organized, had time to recieve new offers and was going to be patient with whom he worked with.
Finally, it was my turn to ask questions, and I went through an extensive list of questions regarding how his realtors were working, where their weaknesses or needs were, ways to create synergy, and of course, marketing jointly.
He was a bit surprised by my list of questions, and how deep they were; meaning that I was focused on longer term concerns that could help his business and that I was just there for a few handouts or scraps.
When I asked the broker at the end of our meeting about our meeting and his interest in me, his answer was that he never stops receiving offers. He believes everyone has some unique skill set and value. It often takes a lot of work to uncover a diamond, but once you do it is invaluable.
He wanted to meet again and to speak much more intently about my skill set, and I was beginning to think I was being interviewed. He laughed out loud, and said "we are both being interviewed." He was right. I was attempting to determine if there was a way that I could generate high value for his organization, and a win win scenario. So was he!
In any industry, time is money.....
It struck me after meeting with both of these prospects that the initial meeting would likely be a reflection of our interactions, one would be helter skelter and the other would be professional. I considered what I would bring to the table and how I could generate trust, value and synergy. What impressions had I left for them?
I was clear that the first realtor would take considerable adjustment to make it a win win relationship. For the second broker, it was clear that he was going to be able to produce a sense of calm and high production and expectation. It would take much more to earn a real shot with him.
Where would you spend your resources? Would you attempt to make both situations work? Would you pass on the first one?
Summary
I chose to meet with both realtors a second time. With the first realtor, I thought to myself perhaps she was having a tough day and that it was unusual for her to be so harried. It turns out that she had a lender who was having issues on both of her transactions that were scheduled to close that week! She had been working with this person for some time, but was beginning to notice a trend of harder to meet closings and it was impacting her reputation. What a great opening for me. If I had not gone back for the second meeting, I would have missed this opportunity.
For the second broker, we had a discussion regarding a lending resource for his entire company; where I would train, recruit and develop a group of lenders who were capable of specific skill sets, one for first time homebuyers, another for second time and buy up candidates, and another for non confirming/luxury property. I would personally handle production while we were arranging the staffing. He had some candidates, and so did I. His focus was on longer term structure for his company, and had a target date for every detail.
It occured to me after meeting with both, that being on time was just part of the dynamic. They were assessing me in every way, and I was evaluating them as well. From the decor of the office, to the sense of calm or lack thereof we assess people. And they assess us.
What do you do for your vendors, potential clients, potential sources of new business?
Share your comments and experiences, how can you make them useful going forward? Did it help you when someone did the same for you?
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