Meaningful Meetings: How do you do it?

Meetings are the life blood of our industry. Whether it’s with clients, business partners, random people we meet while out and about every day, one meeting can lead to your next step or success in business. Meetings however take up significant amounts of time and often we don’t get what we want out of them. Here are some quick tips to make the most out of our meetings.

Plan Ahead. While we’ve all heard plan for things, it’s rare that most people actually do it. My goal with my meeting today was to determine the direction this realtor wanted to go with his business and where I would fit in helping him achieve his goals. My other goal was to determine if we were a good fit and shared similar ideals. He and his business partner both came for the same reasons! We both got on the same page and shared a common theme: it’s all about the relationship and how we can both benefit each other’s business.

Have Objectives. When I’m meeting with realtors, I have objectives: learn about them and their business, show them what I have that MATTERS most to them, and SHOW how I can be a beneficial business partner. Today I showed my realtors the home warranty my branch pays for out of pocket. I showed them the systems I use throughout the process to communicate transparently and openly with them and the borrower. I also showed them a system drip program to keep in touch and ask for referrals. The main objective: How can I be a resource to you? Do you see value in these things?

Look for commonalities and show your true self.

All relationships are defined on the first meeting. Show yourself to be who you truly are. The one thing I’m open and blunt about when I meet realtors, it’s all about YOU. If you’re successful I’m successful. I’m not going to hound you for business because I WANT you to WANT to do business with me for who I am. Your clients chose you as a realtor, so why shouldn’t you choose to work with me? While this approach may seem radical, we all work with people we like, trust, and believe. Look for those qualities in partners that make you want to work with them. In the long run, you will thank yourself for that many times over.