The mortgage motivator: What do you read?Ralph LoVuolo Sr., CMCreading, knowledge
"What are you doing?" I asked my wife.
"Don't rush me please," she countered.
"Well, why is it taking you so long to get through the door?" I
continued, growing a little impatient. "I don't see anyone in front
of you.
"I'm looking at the menu. And if you push me too hard, I'll
waste a lot of time with the waitress having her repeat everything.
Why do you think it's here, for their health or yours? Go a little
slower, please." She was nice about it. I was just a bit anxious
because I knew what was inside those doors.
"Well, after you read the menu, you can let me know what I'd
like," I said. "But after all the times we've been here, I can't
imagine there will be anything to pull me away from my favorite -
oysters."
I went in the door, through the entranceway and what wafted into
my whole being was the mellifluous odor of crabs boiling in a
special sauce, overdone with garlic. But my senses were delighted,
snapping just like a live crustacean. Sawdust on the floor and
tables covered with heavy paper - nothing fancy at all. Fancy is so
far from this place that the last fancy thing they did was allow a
prospective bridegroom to have his bachelor party here. Not in the
back room, but right out in front. The only attendees besides the
actual men were crabs, the kind that grow in the ocean and back
bays of the waters off the Atlantic coast. And oyster crackers, the
kind you can only get in the Philadelphia region. Hard crackers
about the size of a quarter, round like a ball and toasted. Oh my
God, with horseradish on them, they are heaven, or broken into an
oyster stew - wow!
It was a Friday night, and my wife and I were going out to
dinner. Nothing fancy, just a local place that serves great oysters
on the half shell. Maybe you don't like them - it is an acquired
taste, but smothered with cocktail and tartar sauces (a special
mixture of mine), I'm betting you might overcome your
reluctance.
The lady standing at the podium greeted me with an accustomed
grin, knowing what would follow.
"So how are you tonight?" she asked. A familiar greeting easily
made because of the time we've spent together over the years here
at my favorite restaurant. "I'm great, Sara, but what is important
to me is how you are," I replied. "It's not important how I am. I'm
hoping that you're great tonight, because I've had a fabulous week
and I'm looking to share it with you and your staff. Is Lisa here?
Can we sit at one of her tables?"
Kathy was reading the specials, just like every week.
"Is there anything special I should know about?" I asked. Almost
every word is repeated every time we go in that place. Familiarity
is not strong enough a word. But they always seem to enjoy it. "I'm
not sharing that with you, you'll have to ask your wife. What do
you think she's reading it for, her health?" was the reply.
After Kathy came through the door loaded with information, she
did what she is great at: letting me know what she had read. I
really could not do without all the banter; having her read the
specials is an unimpeachable way to be informed. She reads, I
listen. She reads more, I listen more. She is like a machine, able
to repeat exactly what she has read. What a talent. I struggle with
every word. Dyslexia has been my devil since I was a tot. It was
worse in college. But reading is a fundamental need that we too
often avoid like it was some plague, some way to contract a disease
that will destroy life as we know it. But reading is a must in this
fast-paced world, so here are a couple of questions for you -
serious questions. Questions that are meant to tax your mind, make
you think and hope that it will cause you to take some action that
you probably haven't made before. What do you read?
According to a recent study by the National Endowment for the Arts
called "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America,"
the answer is not much of anything. According to that study, for
people between the ages of 18-24, the rate of decline in reading
literature was 55 percent greater than that of the entire adult
population during the 20 years between 1982 and 2002. It makes me
wonder why Amazon.com is so
popular, but they've seen the statistics and that's driving them to
get into other businesses. So the question is asked again - what do
you read?
Why do we read? C.S. Lewis once asked this question to his
students in college. I found a blog that offered the following
response: "I read to gain knowledge."
According to a May 15, 1999 study conducted by Jerrold Jenkins,
chairman and CEO of Jenkins Group Inc., an independent publishing
services firm:
- 81 percent of the population feels they have a book inside
them
- 27 percent would write fiction
- 28 percent would write on personal development
- 27 percent would write history, biography, etc.
- 20 percent would do a picture book, cookbook, etc.
- Six million have written a manuscript
- Six million manuscripts are making the rounds
- Out of every 10,000 children's books, three get published
Who is reading books (and who is not):
- One-third of high school graduates never read another book for
the rest of their lives. Many students do not even graduate from
high school
- 58 percent of the U.S. adult population never read another book
after high school
- 42 percent of college graduates never read another book
- 80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last
year
- 70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the
last five years
- 57 percent of new books are not read to completion
Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have
purchased.
I really enjoy challenging you. It makes my creative juices
flow. I'm always finding things that should make you guys and gals
feel inadequate. So, how about it? Reading is what you need to do
to learn.
Many times I've told people that I have three sales
principles:
1. Give away information
2. Ask for business
3. Be persistent
Even with all of the things I've learned over my life, I still
hold these principles as absolute truths. All sales revolve around
these three principles. But how can you give away the right
information if you have no point of reference? How can you give
away what you don't have?
Knowledge is what I'm talking about. Knowledge of ways to help
those you seek to have business referred from: the real estate
agents, financial planners, builders, insurance brokers, attorneys
and certified public accountants. The help you need to offer people
is how to help them make more money, be more effective, make a
better impact into their market, advertise better, market better,
be more organized, understand the ways the computer can change
their lives, target market their services, etc.
But you can't give away what you don't know. And the only way
for you to learn what you need to know is by reading. I never want
you to sell rates, programs and points. That is a complete waste of
time. You need to convince people that you can be a valuable asset
to their sales effort, that you can help them generate more
business. But you can't give away what you don't have. Oh, wait a
minute, I already wrote that. Well, it was so good, I wrote it
again.
I'm in the middle of training a group of salespeople that have
never really had anyone like me in their lives. They're learning a
lot, but it is not without a little angst on both parts. My angst,
or in my native language: agita. (Agita means heartburn,
acid indigestion, an upset stomach or, by extension, a general
feeling of upset. The word is Italian-American slang derived from
the Italian "agitare," meaning "to agitate.") This week, we're
doing a book report on one of the first motivational books I ever
read. "The Greatest Salesman in the World," by Og Mandino. It was
one of the things that changed my life. It can change yours,
because in many cases, what you're doing isn't working. So what
should you do? Change! And the first thing you need to change is
yourself. And one of the first things to change about yourself is
to read!
When are you going to take what you do seriously enough to learn
every facet of the mortgage industry? What do you know about
secondary marketing, warehousing, funding, payoffs, private
mortgage insurance, etc.? And what do you know about generating
business other than what your first boss taught you? What magazines
do you read and what papers do you spend time perusing for hints to
make the life of your potential clients more pleasant? I've
assembled here on my desk the various publications available in the
mortgage business. Some of them are better than others, but all of
them should have a place in your life. For example, The
Mortgage Press - it is filled with useful information that
helps loan officers and managers improve their effectiveness.
Published monthly, it is sponsored by 37 state mortgage broker
organizations. Call your state mortgage broker organization to find
out how to become a member and get The Mortgage Press
delivered to your door. You'll find their number in the first
couple of pages of this issue. There are other periodicals covering
virtually every aspect of the mortgage industry that you can read
to get new ideas for improving your business.
Kathy and I often discuss my articles. But if you didn't read
this one, you'll have nothing to discuss with your co-workers,
spouse, significant other, child, parent or friend. So read; read
everything you can get your hands on. I do, and I'm really dyslexic
- seriously so.
Ralph LoVuolo Sr., CMC is president of Mortgage Motivator, a
mortgage industry training and coaching firm. He is a founder and
past president of the New York
Association of Mortgage Brokers, a teacher accredited by the
New York and New Jersey Real Estate Commission, a former associate
professor at Atlantic College and New York University and a
published author. He can be reached at (609) 652-6901, e-mail
[email protected]
or you can visit his blog at www.mortgagemotivator.blogspot.com.
