CREATING A BUSINESS PLAN LIKE THE "PROS"
A business plan is like a blue print. Without one, the structure of your business becomes unsound, without focus and a haphazard project. Every sales professional, no matter what the basis of his or her business is, must build a business plan for success, and think like the CEO of their company.
It's easy to brush aside the concept of a business plan. It is not enough to have an "idea" of how to do business rustling around inside your head. Instead, it is necessary to actually put it down on paper, something concrete that can be revisited, revised and rethought at regular intervals.
"PROS" is actually an acronym for a proven business planning system developed for mortgage professionals. Although this basic system will work equally well for any sales professional, it has been especially beneficial for mortgage and real estate professionals.
P stands for Perpetual. The definition of perpetual is lasting forever, constant, and without interruption. Creating a business that is continual regardless of the market conditions is the perpetual you are looking for.
R refers to Referrals. Every sales professional wants a steady stream of referrals to sustain their business.
O stands for your operation. Every business plans strives to improve systems and operations to the greatest extent possible.
S Saleable: The goal of any CEO is this-to create a business that runs so well that it perpetually produces referral-generated business to the point that someone would be willing to buy your business.
Building a business plan on these four principles will ensure that you have a steady business flow, leads and referrals, and become a leader in your industry. There are two components to building a business plan. The long term vision includes what your business and life will look like in two, three, five and ten years. Outline, on paper, what your expectations of your business will encompass in those time frames. Include what you want your hourly rate to be, yearly income, number of hours worked per week, number of transactions broken down into weeks, months and year. Take a look at your home or family life. How much time needs to be devoted to extracurricular activities, personal health, family activities, charitable activities and personal rejuvenation. Schedule time for reading pleasure and business books and magazines It may seem like mindless scheduling but ALL areas of your life need to be considered in order to build a viable business plan.
The short term vision of your business plan incorporates the major issues of sales and business building. Handling prospects, increasing leads, referrals and repeat clients, and scouting the opportunities to create business are the important building blocks of the plan.
Handling Prospects
For mortgage professionals there are two categories of prospects; the client who will be committing to a loan with you and the real estate agent who brings you the clients. In each case, there are three levels of attention. For each case, divide the prospects into A, B, and C clients. Real estate agents categorize home buying prospects and professionals who assist in the home buying process, i.e., loan officers, attorneys, etc.
"A" clients are your best customers. They are buyers, looking to purchase within the next 30 days, they are actively working with an agent and they are determined to become a homeowner. Your attention should be focused on this group. They require frequent phone calls, emails, and face to face contact in order to become the most visible and accessible loan officer. Your best real estate agents will appreciate the frequent contact, updates on the market and special programs your company may be offering. Keep everything on the level with honesty and integrity. This does not mean that you undercut the competition to get the business. Your goal is to make money, not give it away. Your dedication to true customer service will earn the business without gimmicks.
"B" clients are still in the looking stage and probably won't buy for another two to three months. They will require the phone calls, emails and personal contact but less often. Your agents will require the same amount of attention. When these clients are ready to buy they will already know and trust you and are willing to do business with you.
"C" clients are more suspects than prospects. They are sitting on the fence, haven't made a commitment of any sort and may or may not ever really buy. They deserve your attention, but not a time commitment. Offer them information, phone calls, email updates but on a quarterly basis. As soon as they indicate they are serious, move them into the "B" category.
The A, B, C process creates a net over your prospects. To close that net and create loyal clients it is necessary to be creative. As clients start the loan process ensure that they will have a great experience by being inventive. Offer cards of congratulations when their application is approved; when their contract is accepted and inspection completed send moving labels for their packing boxes. When their loan is approved, send balloons, nuts or chocolates with a "Congratulations, your loan is approved!" card.
Creating that net involves three important components: follow-up, follow-up, and follow-up. The best laid business plans and sales techniques will fall awry without the consistent and continual follow-up. Create an exit review with your clients, about five days after the closing, to ensure everything went well, their expectations were met and give the client the opportunity to offer you suggestions for creating a better experience. At this time, you have the privilege of asking for future business, referrals from their family and friends and insight into their sphere of influence.
Part of business planning is creating a perpetual stream of leads. Create a list of 250 possible suspects. Anyone who has planned a wedding knows how easily the guest list grows. How many of these people could be possible referral sources? Not only think of people who may need your services but consider professional referral sources such as CPA's, attorneys, Human Resources, Financial Planners and Builders. Any of these professionals could become invaluable resources for leads. Reciprocation is important, so they should be professionals you would be willing to give referrals to as well.
Finally, the last piece to a business plan is making it a viable practice that someone would want to willingly take over or pay to acquire. Work on operations within your command by incorporating other people to cover various aspects of the business. Keep your name out of the team name. To create and run a smooth running team you have to be able to delegate, giving your associates freedom within specific guideline. If you don't have an assistant you are an assistant! Build consistent habits of prospecting, follow-up, paperwork processing and appointments. Block out time for important activities by updating your time schedule on your voice mail. Outline specific times during the day when you return calls or emails. Be in control of your schedule rather than reactive to every call, email and personnel issue during the day.
You are in command of your business plan. Only you know the vision you have for the future. It is up to you to make your plan come to fruition. Build a team that will support you, insist on customer service that makes you shine as the leader. Write down your plan and revisit it often. The "PROS" keep focused, are diligent, invest time and money into a business that will be the building blocks of success for a very long time.
Tom Ninness is Vice President/Regional Production Manager for Cherry Creek Mortgage in Denver, CO. He is also the President of Summit Champions, Inc. and creator of the "The 90 Day Journey to Your Sales Success", a powerful 90 day action plan for the sales professional. Tom is also available for sales coaching and professional speaking. To learn more, visit Summit Champions at www.90dayjourney.com, www.summitchampions.com or contact Tom at information@summitchampions.com Office: 720-221-4396.
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