Resolutions to Increased Sales and Improved Customer Service

It’s the end of the year and time to reflect on your successes and failures in 2016. What lead to improved sales and customer satisfaction in your business, social media, and marketing plan? What did you do in 2016 that had little or negative effect on your business? Before you create your 2017 business plan, keep in mind your successes and failures during the past year. Your plan should include: previously successful and new routines, goals, weekly to do list, outline of a monthly and annual plan, and your desired income. A business plan is a plan of action created to ensure all avenues are being used for success. Many business plans start with the end goal. For instance, the goal may be $300,000 in sales revenue. When creating the business plan, you must carefully consider your strengths and weaknesses, time, and financial resources you have to achieve your goals. Building upon your last year’s sales and income, as well as understanding the current market situation, should play an important role in creating your business plan. Success in the mortgage industry will require hard work, dedication, perseverance, and the belief that you can positively affect your customers’ lives. Never lose sight of your value as a loan officer, and constantly work to improve your performance.

Below are some suggestions that you may want to incorporate in your 2017 business plan to improve your overall impact and success as a loan officer.

• Find a Mentor or Be a Mentor – Establishing the mentor relationship creates firsthand knowledge of what it takes to become successful. Instantly applying these traits and activities to your business plan will eliminate sales by trial and error and increased the odds of success. Newly licensed loan officers assisting their mentors with daily sales functions will increase their knowledge of the mortgage profession and teach the necessary information to become successful. Guidance and advice from the mentor is an invaluable commodity.

• Hard Work (Building Your Business, Taking Risks) – Determination, hard work, and perseverance are key to long-term success in the mortgage profession, but the profession may allow you to do more than most other occupations. Many loan professionals have a strong belief from their upbringing that hard work equals success. It is important to understand that sales is a numbers game; you have to follow a plan to reach so many potential clients to achieve your desired numbers.

• People-Friendly Personality – You need to like people. If you do not like people, then the mortgage industry is likely not the career for you. Have the attitude that your clients’ interests always come before yours. Your customers know if you are putting your interests before theirs.

• Education (Knowledge, Ethics) – The importance of education in the mortgage industry allows you to stand out from other loan officers. Knowledge will make you an expert and the go-to person for specific loans in your market.

• Balance – Managing your time effectively between your work and family (time management, own your schedule, stress management, empowering yourself). Mortgage loan officers are typically commission-based; therefore, their time is money. Developing a system that efficiently uses time will not only increase income, but will also relieve other pressures that accompany employment based on commission income. Effective time management will allow you to maximize your time and increase your accomplishments. Planning your day by creating a priority list of tasks that need to be completed will allow you to focus on activities that must be completed. Creating a list of other tasks that need to be completed by a certain date or that could be delegated will allow time to be focused on more important activities. Prioritizing your tasks will create focus and proficiently. Balance is the key to having a long-term successful career.

• Advertising/Marketing – Success as a commission-based loan officer requires a plan that uses your best characteristics and traits. Once you have decided how to market yourself based on your best qualities, developing a business plan and deciding how much you can financially devote to your business is your next step. As your business grows, you should increase your marketing budget accordingly. Your budget should include all your marketing activities, education, and other expenses, such as office assistants. The difference between success and failure may be as simple as following through on your plan. If your sales are less than expected or if you are busier than expected, pausing your investment in yourself and marketing efforts will only create ups and downs in your business. Ensuring a steady flow of business will require a continuous investment in yourself and your marketing plan. Commitment to a continuous marketing plan and personal investment is key to your business’s success.

• Customer Service – Great customer service involves being responsive to your real estate agents and customers and keeping them informed of their loan statuses. A happy customer is your best advocate and is the best source to new quality leads.

• Building a Referral System – Your past customers are the lifeblood of your business. It takes far more time and money to gain a new customer than to maintain a relationship with a past customer. Connecting with a past customer on a regular basis through phone calls, e-mails, and mailings is a great way to maintain a relationship. A follow-up call when his or her house transfers and a mailing just to say “thank you and congratulations on the purchase of your new home” will increase referrals from past clients and will let your customer know you will be around to help him or her after the transaction is completed. Building a file on each customer, such as: birthdays, the anniversary date of the purchase of the house, the number of houses that he or she owns, and his or her occupation may all be helpful in keeping communication open with your past customers. Maintaining a regular communication line with your past customers (for instance, once every four months), possibly calling them to see if they need your expertise or if a new program or a rate update for possible refinancing, is the foundation to a lead-generating system. Create a sense of loyalty with your past customers; it is the fastest and least expensive avenue to referral business.

Keep in mind that your business plan is a living document. An outline of action ensuring that all avenues of success are being utilized. Many business plans come with an end goal in mind, such as how much income you want to generate in a calendar year. Determining how many realtors you need to call, how many emails you need to send, and how many potential buyers you need to qualify will all affect the number of hours needed to meet your annual goal. To maximize opportunities, your business plan will need to adapt to market conditions and regulatory changes. Building your business requires hard work, perseverance, and a strong belief that what you are doing is worthwhile.

Source by Michael Zuren PhD.

Resolutions to Increased Sales and Improved Customer Service

How to Find Out the Owner of a Cell Phone Number - Reveal Their Name and Address

Getting the details of someone from their cell phone is one of the toughest tasks you can do. Because cell phone numbers are kept private, it’s hard for anyone to find out who owns one…. otherwise there’d be no point trying to chat up women – we could just get their numbers online! Luckily, there’s actually a way to get someone’s name and address from their cell phone number by using several Internet services.

The first thing you need to do to get someone’s details is to use the major search engines to see if they have had their phone number on the Internet anywhere. You just need to go to the likes of Google, Yahoo and Bing and type in their number in “quotation marks”. This will make the search engine scan for the number in a series of websites, allowing you to quickly see if anyone has posted it on there… and if so – what their details are. This method isn’t the most effective, but you can sometimes strike gold with it.

The second thing you need to do is to get someone’s details from their social networking page. The likes of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have exploded in popularity over the years, and the good news is that lots of people post their name and cell phone number on these sites. Luckily, you can just search these sites to find out exactly who called – you just need to type in the number on the likes of Facebook, Twitter or MySpace and then that will allow you to see if any of the members have that number listed.

If these two methods don’t work, then you’ll likely want to try and use a more reliable way to get the details. This method does cost a small fee, but it’s reliable and is effective. Basically, there are several websites which sell people’s details by allowing you to search for the cell phone number and then reveal the name, address and history of people. These sites are extremely popular and cover around 90% of cell numbers.

You need to go on one of these “Reverse Phone Lookup” sites, type in the number you have and then see the results that pop up. These sites work by purchasing information from the likes of banks, advertising agencies and even the government, allowing them to store the cell details and address information in one giant database, which you an search from the website.

Source by Greg Banks

How to Find Out the Owner of a Cell Phone Number - Reveal Their Name and Address

How to Write a Death Letter - Writing a Letter to Loved Ones in Case You Should Die

The topic of writing a letter in case you die is a sensitive one. The way you choose to address preparing for death is a personal choice, but one of the ones I would like to talk about is the death letter.

The term death letter is ascribed as writing a letter that contains all the important information that your family would need if you were to pass away tomorrow. Personally, I think there are two ways of considering this topic that may hopefully make it seem less daunting or morbid.

One way is to be completely logical, and approach it administratively- write out a letter and put in all the details that are not ordinarily discussed on a day to day basis. For example most people don’t go around telling their relatives that they wrote a will or where it can be found.

You may also choose to look at the letter as a personal journey of sorts, considering the ways to comfort your loved ones and also provide them with important information. It can be difficult to think of this in emotional terms- what meaningful things to say to loved ones, writing details for your personal history, and then having to jot down the information that your family may need to take care of things.

I tend to look at it in a combination of both ways. For a very long time I was a single mother and so it really weighed heavily on my mind that I needed to know that my kids could see my writing to them, hear the words that I had written in their mind, and find some assurance in my love for. But I also looked at it as something that was necessary.

The other consideration in thinking about this type of planning is that many families have interesting stories that can be passed to their other generations. In my own family my grandparents loved each other despite the wishes of their families, this story struck a cord within me. Knowing their story fostered a stronger connection to them even though they are no longer with me.

My ancestors in Scotland had their own clan tartan and pretty interesting stories as well. I want my children to feel that sense of connection to their history that I felt. It’s exciting to know where you come from and what your family’s heritage is.

If you considering tackling this topic, here is some information you may choose to include:

1. SSN, location of important papers, estate plan


2. Numbers and names of Contacts


3. Location if any of bank accts, safety deposit boxes


4. Passwords of email accounts


5. Newspaper clippings, documents, letters from your family’s heritage


6. Location of contact information regarding online accounts/friends

Whatever you consider I am sure your family will find comfort in the details you provide them.

Source by Alana M.

How to Write a Death Letter - Writing a Letter to Loved Ones in Case You Should Die

How To Write a Short Story: Seven Hints

There is no one formula for how to write a short story but there are several guidelines that will provide a solid structure to support your creative juices. Here are seven.

HINT ONE: Begin by ‘writing’ your story in one sentence of fewer than 30 words. The subject will usually suggest the main character(s). The predicate will give rise to the action – what will be going on. The object will dictate the story line. When you go back and add a few crucial adjectives and adverbs you see the story blossom before your eyes. Writing the short story is then mostly just a matter of expanding on what you have there.

HINT TWO: When asking any successful author how to write a short story he will very likely suggest that the number of characters be kept to a minimum. If a character isn’t absolutely necessary to the telling of the story, omit it.

HINT THREE: When writing the short story the author has little room for character development. One way to minimize the problem is to select a series of definitive adjectives. Example: “Although for decades Mildred had been a well known old lady in the small hill town of Jasper, she presented herself as an energetic, kind, and ever helpful, smiling presence when she moved into the retirement home.” Not much else will need to be said. In a book, the reader would learn those things by wading through many pages (or even chapters) of examples from which those traits would be extrapolated.

HINT FOUR: In writing the short story there is little room for building a character’s background. In the example above a suggestion about Mildred’s background was presented in the phrase, “Although for decades Mildred had been a well known old lady in the small hill town of Jasper…” Never provide more information than is needed to establish and move the story toward its conclusion.

HINT FIVE: Although not a hard and fast rule in writing the short story, it is generally best to use mostly short, simple sentences. They provide the illusion of more content and a faster pace. Sprinkling the piece with a few long or complex sentences adds variety and ‘texture’. Readers appreciate a bit of variety.

HINT SIX: When writing the short story develop a single point – move toward a single event or outcome. Limiting the number of characters helps accomplish this. There is no room for subplots (which may be considered necessary for providing flavor and maintaining interest in books).

HINT SEVEN: Most books about how to write the short story will suggest that the story should be tied up (the outcome revealed) within the last few sentences. So, when writing the short story don’t linger after the point of the story has been made and never repeat it in a different way thinking that will assure clarity. Make it clear the first time.

Source by Tom D Gnagey

How To Write a Short Story: Seven Hints

Letter Writing: Confrontational Letter Writing - 12 Tips

A confrontational letter is a letter that confronts a situation, a problem or dispute. It seeks a specific objective from the recipient that will not usually be granted without resistance.

The writer wants a certain objective and the recipient of the letter will not grant that objective unless convincingly persuaded that he should.

Here are some tips as to how to effectively structure a ‘confrontational letter:’

1. Appearance is very important. The letter must be a hard copy and appear impressive and professional. You must use good quality paper and have the letter printed using a good printer on a professional appearing letterhead.

Emails do not project the impressive image that is truly effective.

Emails are unimpressive and these days a hard copy is becoming more and more rare. For that reason the appearance of an impressive appearing hard copy letter signifies that the letter is a serious letter and written by a writer deserving serious consideration. An impressive hard copy letter stands out from the crowd.

Have you ever noticed how much more respect a man in a well-tailored suit receives? The same principle applies and the physical appearance of the letter is very important and must project the writer as a serious, refined, educated individual.

Behind that projected image is implied the fact that the writer has the ability and wherewithal to take the matter further – i.e. to superiors of the recipient and/or to authorities that oversees the conduct of the recipient and his organization.

The serious and impressive appearance of the letter projects the clear understanding that the writer is the type of individual who may subsequently refer the matter to a lawyer for further action if the request for relief is denied.

What must also be borne in mind is the mindset of the recipient of a confrontational letter. That is to say, the greatest fear of a recipient of a confrontational letter is that his decision not to grant your request may be overruled by his superiors.

Therefore, if the recipient has received an impressive looking letter that is persuasively written this basic fear of being overruled will weigh very heavily on his mind. He may grant the request out of fear that the letter looks like ‘trouble’ both in appearance and content. He may therefore decide to quickly grant the request and close the file. The recipient will save negative responses for letters who do not appear to be ‘trouble.’ I personally have experienced this situation many times and that is why I place particular emphasis upon the physical appearance of the letter.

A professionally appearing letterhead can be easily created by a word processor. I recommend a border around the page and that the paragraphs be justified on both sides to give the letter a distinctly professional appearance. If you have a degree or some sort of designation include it on your letterhead.

I am not suggesting that if you have a weak argument that an impressive looking letter will in itself be effective. However what I am suggesting is that an impressive letter, in every sense, shall likely ensure that the persuasive argument contained within that letter gets the serious attention and careful treatment it deserves. And that objective is more than half the battle!

2. The letter must be well-researched and well-organized. If there is background and supporting information that must be conveyed to the recipient then that information must be included, accurate and complete. In order to keep the letter itself to a minimum consideration should be given to putting supporting information in an attached appendix to the letter.

The package put in front of the recipient must be total so that the reader does not have to secure other records in order to confirm or understand the situation correctly. This too is the mark of a professional and will have a positive impact upon the recipient. The recipient will feel that he is dealing with a professional who has his act together and that feeling shall increase his concern.

3. The letter must be entirely professional in tone and content and must project a distinct tone of civility and respectfulness. To deviate from this standard gives the recipient an excuse to place the request into the category of an unreasonable request. After a request has been characterized as ‘unreasonable – whether justified or unjustified – it is very difficult to rehabilitate that request.

4. If there are facts that have to be stated make sure that they are stated clearly and in short paragraphs of one or two sentences at the beginning of the letter. Short sentences and paragraphs are easier to read and the information contained is easier to digest. You want to make your factual case very clear and consideration should be given to numbering these paragraphs so that the recipient may easily refer to them by number.

5. State the request as briefly as possible and give justification for why the recipient should grant the request. Make your argument as short and simple as possible. Your letter should be as brief as possible because if you digress and add more detail you may put something in that an unscrupulous recipient may seize upon to unfairly deny your request. The touchstone – make things as clear and simple as possible.

6. End the letter in an up-beat manner. Indicate that you hope that the reader recognizes the merits of your position and invite him to respond if anything is unclear. I find the following sentence particularly effective: ‘If you are unable to agree to my request or if I am in error on any of the facts or, on any other aspect of the case I have outlined, please specifically advise.’

If the recipient gives you a detailed explanation as to why he is refusing your request it shall be your road map to further attempts to persuade him that he should agree to your request. It may also put him on the spot in a close case when his response is inappropriate and may be reviewed by a superior.

If the recipient does not give you a detailed explanation as to why he is refusing your request then that fact can be seized upon to suggest in a subsequent letter that the recipient is not being reasonable in considering your request.

7. Never refer to your ‘request’ as a ‘demand’. It should be respectfully framed as a ‘request’.

8. Always end the letter with ‘Respectfully Yours’.

That ‘respectful’ ending further and emphatically confirms that the letter has been respectfully submitted which is crucial.

If the recipient responds in a disrespectful or less than respectful professional manner then the contrast between his approach and your approach stands in stark contrast. This fact will be to your advantage when the letter and the entire situation is reviewed by someone else… i.e. someone in authority to the first responder, a regulator, another interested third party, etc.

Many of these confrontational situations are won only narrowly and can easily go one way or the other. The fact that your letter(s) is reasonable and respectful may be the crucial difference. I have seldom seen a disrespectful, unreasonable letter secure its objective. It is much more difficult to deny a request in a polite, respectful well-written letter.

9. Do not end the letter with a ‘cc’ to the regulator or any other third party that may stand as an authority to the recipient. It is completely inappropriate, unprofessional and the mark of an amateur.

Reference to a third party may be appropriate at a later stage but the first letter should stand entirely on its own and the recipient should not be made to feel that he has a gun to his head.

The recipient well knows that you may appeal to a higher authority and does not have to be reminded. Most first responders are very sensitive to this issue and so why antagonize him by waving that threat in his face? Do you really want to antagonize the person whom you are trying to convince?

10. A demand in the letter that there be a response within a specific time frame is completely inappropriate and unnecessarily irritating to the recipient and should not be inserted within your first letter.

True professionals fully understood that a timely response should always be provided and some responders take the request for a quick response as an indication of desperation or impatience and a weakness to exploit. For that reason many first responders will purposely delay their response in order to exasperate the writer and perhaps provoke an intemperate letter which is usually always to the recipient’s advantage.

Forget about asking for a quick or timely response – you have no control over that fact so why mention it?

In fact a tardy response can be a plus in your favor at a subsequent stage. A slow response can look bad when reviewed later and will tend to indicate that perhaps the recipient to your letter is being unreasonable, unnecessarily dragging his feet and acting inappropriately.

11. Make sure that there is nothing in your letter that can be criticized. Do not allow your anger to show through. Remember at some point your this letter is very likely to be reviewed by others and it should be completely beyond reproach. An understandable temperate expression of exasperation may be in order to prove a point but not anything more.

12. If you have the luxury of time then sleep on the letter and come back to it when you are fresh.

It is amazing what a fresh set of eyes can see and it also amazing what other points may occur to you as you go about your regular schedule.

Review the letter critically and tweak it so that it is as concise as possible and flows smoothly. Remember the key to good writing is ‘re-writing’.

If possible get a friend who has good judgment and good writing skills to review it. A good second opinion together with constructive criticism can be invaluable.

Source by Richard F Vero

Letter Writing: Confrontational Letter Writing - 12 Tips

Cost Effective Advertising

When you are in business you know that cost effective advertising is crucial to the success of your product or service. If no-one recognizes that your products or services are available you won’t make any sales. Economic advertising is the key to raising sales and awareness while maintaining that harsh truth. For top cost effective advertising, you must whom you are targeting for sales and what you are selling.

A product versus something may have different types of marketing strategies. Once you have determined your marketplace you are able to really find economical advertising. Are you currently an online based product seller? Your most cost effective advertising will probably be an email campaign.

Email promotions are available through many internet companies that will send your advertisement in the market to their subscribers (not SPAM) for any very small fee. They can target any demographics which you choose enabling you to reach people your friends with will be interested. This generates a lot of visits to your site and resulting sales. Are you currently a property based supplier? If that’s the case, a printed flyer distribution might be your most economical advertising method. Many of the great for people offering cleaning and repair services.

Prospective customers might not respond immediately in your flyer, nevertheless, they help you to save the flyer when they are doing require the service. In contrast to general ads inside the paper that are often skimmed over, realizing that flyer is in their file once they need your service will generate long-term sales for the company. Cost effective advertising may be accomplished by your company through research. Whenever you take time to see who your marketplace is, you can get the most out of your advertising budget. Economic advertising is about reaching people who have an interestin your service not about reaching everyone.

Source by Michael Harrah

Cost Effective Advertising

Tips for Small Business Marketing

Most small business owners undermine their power when it comes to marketing since they believe that it takes a big amount of money to get more customers growing the business. However, there are simple ideas and tips which, when taken seriously and done in the right way with the right attitude can make a lot of difference. There is always something you can do to make a name for your business and maintain a large clientele.

Printing postcards

One of the simplest and cheapest tips of marketing your small business is the use of postcards. You can print a good precise message on a postcard after which you can mail it to your prospects. A postcard attracts attention and most people love small enticing messages so this idea will fetch great sales without spending too much.

Changing approaches

Since using one approach over and over can be boring to you and to your customers, it helps to change your approach every once in a while to keep it fun and effective. However, always ensure that you analyze each one of the approaches you intend to use to make sure that they will be advantageous to your business.

Buddy marketing

It does not help to be too selfish since one business can help another grow. In buddy marketing you can include another business’s leaflet together with your brochures or flyers based on a mutual agreement. The other business will also do the same for you meaning that you will manage to reach a large number of potential customers who can help you increase sales.

Phone marketing

Another way to market what you have to offer is by using your phone to put whatever message you have across. For instance, you can incorporate a special offer you could be running when answering the phone. By mentioning it briefly, you will compel the caller to ask more on the offer. This way, you will manage to spread the word to many people triggering interest hence the desire to check out your business and see what you have for them.

Other tips of great marketing include sending your customers a second offer soon after they have purchased from your business. This will make them come back and probably become loyal to you. You can also use newsletters and take advantage of seminars, but each one of these approaches should be analyzed beforehand to come up with the best strategy.

Source by Sanjay Soni

Tips for Small Business Marketing