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Aug 18 2010

This could be the jolt you need

Posted by Joel Pate in Banks, Business, Credit Repair, Mortgage Loans, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , ,

We’ve all heard this statement: If I just knew then what I know now…..blah, blah, blah.

How about this updated version? Just do it.

If you know you need take action then just do it. And if something is holding you back from taking action, such as not having enough information to act, then identify those hurdles and start addressing them. Don’t wait! Do it NOW!!!

If you KNOW you need to make a change, determine to make it now.

This is life and business transforming positional statement includes: Starting, Stopping, Adjusting, Hiring, Firing, EVERYTHING is covered.

Now, that doesn’t mean necessarily that you walk into you’re the bosses office and quit today. But, if know you need to find another place to work, start the process now.

  • If you know you need to separate yourself from bad actors, do it now.
  • If you know you need to start a marketing program, learn how and start now.
  • If you know you need to cut your spending-do it now.
  • If you know you need to call a customer or a referral partner-do it today.

Hey, I didn’t all this Joel’s Jolt for nothing!

Again: Just do it.

Hope you enjoy the article. By the way, are you using the services of a credit repair company? Is it working? If so, send me the name and contact information to joel@oxpublishing.com

Make it a better day by making it a better day.

All the best,

Joel

Joel Pate is an entrepreneur and founder of multiple successful companies in the mortgage, real estate, and marketing space.  For more information on Joel, contact him joel@oxpublishing.com

If you want to learn how Joel created over 5000 referral sources in eight years, click here: http://www.leadmachinesecrets.com/

Aug 12 2010

How do customers really see you? Be honest.

Posted by Joel Pate in Business, Credit Repair, Management, Sales, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , ,

Sometimes it’s easier to see how well your business is performing by looking at another industry.

I had the opportunity to do just that when I was out shopping for tires the other day.

“I’m looking for a smooth ride,” I told the tire salesman.

“Well that is exactly what you will have, these new tires are the best. I’ll have them install in one hour. You can wait in our coffee lounge if you like. And we also have someone there to do your nails.” (Yes! Even us good ol’ boys down south like to get a manicure from time to time!)

“Great!” I said. “I’ve wanted my nails done for a while and I’ll do just about anything to stay out of this heat and cool off in an air conditioned lounge.”

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there …

Off the tire salesman went to place my order to his mechanics. Sipping on an iced coffee while the young lady rubbed my hands and fingers really made an impression on me. “This place is great,” I said. “I’m going to tell all of my friends to come here to have their car repaired. This is just the best service I have ever had in my life.”

Not one hour but 45 minutes later, the salesman returned to let me know that the car was ready and ahead of schedule. They had even washed the car for me as a courteous.

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I could not believe it. The car was ready early, they had washed it, and while I waited, I was served a caramel latte’ extra strong with soymilk and well I can’t remember the rest of it and they provided a manicure for free. How much better can it be? I must tell everyone I know about this fantastic business.

As I drove off in my car, I noticed a shimmy. Well that’s I call it. The car just wasn’t riding correctly. At this point, since I was in a really big hurry, even with the 15 minutes that I had been saved back at the tire store, I was perturbed.

As I returned to the store, the tire salesman was on the phone. After about 10 minutes of waiting he asked if he could help. “Yes” I exclaimed. “I hope so. My car is not riding correct. Something is wrong.”

During the test drive, the tire salesmen agreed that there was a problem and that he would immediately work to correct the problem. I was grateful for that but becoming concerned that the company had placed me in danger by not completing the job correctly the first time and now I was late, and now I was less willing to refer the tire store.

They eventually did fix it but my point is that despite all of the company’s best efforts to create a great experience by providing a manicure, a comfortable lounge and fancy drinks they lost sight of the single biggest thing they could do to keep customers coming back: do the job right the first time!

Too often we go overboard to Wow! our customers that we ignore basic, good old-fashioned service that simply requires us to get the job done right – just as we promised, and just as a customer expects.

Lesson learned …

So the lesson from the story above is: How do your customers see you?

Do they see you as someone who gets the job done right? Or do they see you as someone who has lost sight of that basic mission? Be honest.

The answer may surprise you.

To your success,

Joel

Jul 29 2010

Now what? How to manage for the unexpected

Posted by Joel Pate in Banks, Business, Credit Repair, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , ,

If you’re like most in the credit business, the first-time home buyer tax credit was good for your bottom line.

Really good.

Now let me ask you: Was the boost to your business expected or unexpected?

Usually everyone says that they expect a good thing to happen to them so I’ll bet your answer is, “Oh yea, I expected that.”

But did you expect the drop-off in business when the tax credit expired?

Here’s the answer I usually get:  “I thought in the back of my mind that business could drop off but I never expected it to drop off this much.” Is that you?

Your business, your family, your life, is an organization. Organizations require management. There are a number of aspects of management that you need to address. One of them is what I call, “The Unexpected.”

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How to manage for “The Unexpected”

Unexpected events come in all sizes. Some are events that make you more money. Many cost you money. All of them are surprises that need to be examined and understood. In the example of the boon to your business created by this particular outside market driven condition, how did you respond?

If you’re like most, and I include myself in this category, we didn’t do anything. We patted ourselves on the back and marveled at how well we were doing while other companies were struggling. We were so smart – or so we thought! Worse yet, we began to think that the new flow of business was normal. It’s easy to think that you did something that caused an increase in business.

So, not only did the drop in business catch many of us unaware, but the lull in marketing during the boon caused business to be even worse when the tax credit expired. During the good times, many companies stopped marketing, quit growing their referral sources and didn’t expand their effort to attract new customers. Why? It’s hard to do what needs to be done all the time.

But it seems especially difficult to work on your organization when an outside influence is driving the business.

Proper management of your organization requires that you soberly recognize when an outside influence is driving your business and not be drunk on the wine of this success.

Proper management of your organization requires that you soberly recognize when an outside influence is driving your business and not be drunk on the wine of this success.

Rising star, falling star and the lesson learned

Let me give you another example. A real estate agent who came to work for me in 1986 went through a similar experience. The first three months she was in business, she sold five properties. That was unheard of in our market in 1986. She was a rock star. She won an award. She thought she was really great.

So, what was the problem? All five of the transactions were from a pent up demand from her family. A brother sold his house. A son purchased a home. A cousin listed his building with her, etc. All of her clients were created by an outside influence and not by her organization.

Since these transactions were not created by her organization, her marketing, her networking effort or here late nights of blood, sweat and tears but from an outside influence, she was lulled into thinking how easy it is to be in this business. Therefore, she established her perception of what it took to succeed in the business without understanding that the source of business had been from an outside influence.

She was of course disappointed when the evaporation of the outside influence suddenly ended her stardom and her business. She wasn’t prepared to adjust her thinking and as a result her sales career came to an end within one year.

While this is a true story, it is perhaps an over exaggeration of what you are facing. So, don’t overlook the important and fundamental principle.

The question remains for you and for me to consider:  Now that this particular outside influence has caused an unexpected drop in business, will we be more prepared next time to actually see the influence for what it is? The answer: Only if we increase our ability to manage our organization.

To your success,

Joel

Jul 15 2010

How to get your prospects to say, “Wow! Tell me more!”

Posted by Joel Pate in Business, Credit Repair, Leads, Management, Sales, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , ,

Just about everyone knows they should have an elevator pitch.

Along with a business card, a tag line for your company and a logo, everyone knows they should have a 30-second spiel they can rattle off that tells prospects what they do.

And most of them are terrible.

Really.

They’re horrible. It would be better if most people didn’t say anything at all than repeat their same old dry, boring elevator pitch.

Let me share with you the steps to creating a great elevator pitch that will make your prospects hungry for more.

I’ll also leave you with a few talking points for one of the best elevator pitches I’ve heard, just to give you an example.

Your elevator speech should have 3 goals:

  1. Explain very briefly what you do.
  2. Create interest with the person you’re talking with.
  3. Make someone want to find out more.

Put simply, you don’t want to begin and end your conversation with an elevator speech. The last thing you want someone to do is say, “Hmm. That’s interesting. Nice talking with you.” And then walk away. Rather, you want to use your elevator speech to start a conversation and get permission to continue it.

That last part is important … “get permission.” That means you’ve created enough interest with your prospects that they respond by saying, “Tell me more.” Or, “Really? Do you think something like that would help me with a problem I’m having?” In other words, the prospect is inviting you tell them more about what you do.

WARNING: Don’t make this mistake…

Don’t use your elevator pitch to try and tell someone everything you do. This isn’t a speech! There’s an art to this. Your immediate goal is to simply get the prospect interested enough to ask you questions and engage in a conversation. But first, you need to grab their attention.

Here’s a 4-step process to help you develop your elevator pitch. Grab a piece of paper and jot down your answers as you go through each of the 4 steps and you’ll have the nuggets you need for a truly great elevator pitch.

An easy-to follow 4-step process

Step 1: Write down what you do in a very short sentence that just about anyone can understand. Don’t over-think this. The following examples will work just fine. (Example: “I run a credit repair business.”)

Step 2: Elaborate briefly on the types of problems you solve. Every business solves a challenge or problem for its prospects. Simply explain the types of challenges you help your clients overcome. Again, don’t get too fancy. Explain it so a third grader can understand. (Example: “Specifically, we help families who want to try and improve their credit. It’s amazing, but about 75% of credit reports contain inaccuracies.”)

Step 3: In one or two sentences, explain what’s different about your business that would be an interesting to someone who isn’t familiar with it. (Example: “We work with the credit bureaus to address those types of negative issues. We have a motto that says, ‘If they can’t prove it, they must remove it’.”)

Step 4: Close with a short teaser telling the prospect what you can do for them. Let’s face it, most people aren’t really interested in you, but they are interested in what you can do for them. So tell them that you probably can help them or someone they know. (Example: “Our process has delivered amazing results. In fact, we’ve been able to help our clients remove or repair items on their credit report more than 70% of the time just by following the consumer protection laws. We could probably help you too. When was the last time you checked your credit report?”)

I like to end an elevator pitch with a question that can’t be answered with just a “yes” or “no.” Again, you want to start a conversation and engage the prospect.

Now my friend Joel Bauer has a great elevator speech that basically boils down to these three sentences that give him some very good talking points. Here they are:

  • Ever been unable to buy what you want due to poor credit?
  • Didn’t know it could be repaired quickly and legally?
  • I work with families just like yours and specialize in credit restoration using a process that’s fast and painless.

The 4 steps I outlined and Joel Bauer’s talking points should give you some good ideas to develop your own elevator pitch that will make your prospects say, “Wow! Tell me more!”

Be sure to practice your pitch. It should roll off the tongue effortlessly and come across as natural. In fact, you may not want try and memorize it. Just give yourself a couple talking points so you can customize it. But keep it brief! No more than 30 seconds!!

Keep in mind, you’ll want to develop a pitch for consumers, referral partners, affiliates and any other groups of people you do business. Use the same 4-step process and chances are you’ll start landing more deals as a result.

To your success,

Joel

Jul 08 2010

When is it going to change?

Posted by Joel Pate in Business, Credit Repair, Mortgage Loans, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , ,

Over the years, I have given advice to a number of friends and associates who have gone through some trying times. Everyone always asks, “When will this change?”

The word “this” has come to mean just about anything – a struggle to find a job … earn more money … better balance family and work … the list goes on. No matter what the circumstance may be, the refrain is always the same.

“When will this change?”

Always remember nothing will change until you change it! To me, this is the good news. At least it’s up to me and I won’t be waiting around for somebody else to find the time to help me. I can do it myself.

Of course, we are talking about issues like money, credit, lifestyle, people, etc. Some things you just have to accept and the acceptance of them will determine how you deal with them so then we are right back on topic. But, you can change so many things that at this moment are causing you a great deal of difficulty. Here’s how…

First, let me give you some background.

Several years ago, my first unofficial mentor gave me this advice when I was going through my first financial crisis. I say first because there have been a number of them over the years. Every time I go through a problem or have a crisis, I remember his words: “You are earning exactly what you are worth. If you want to earn more, become ‘worth’ more.”

For example, if you’re looking at the market and saying to yourself, “I should be able to close more deals because I have referral partners and marketing that I know works” then nothing will change.

“You are earning exactly what you are worth. If you want to earn more, become ‘worth’ more.”

You must change your “worth” in order to change the result. Worth consists of a number of things not the least of which is:

  • Effort
  • Energy
  • Knowledge
  • Time

So often when problems are “all around us,” it’s hard to define the truth.

The truth is that you are going through a problem and you will get through it. But that’s not the whole story. The rest is that you will have to change yourself, your actions, your thoughts and the amount of energy you apply to break free of the problem.

From my experience, I find that unwillingness to change is not only what prolongs a crisis but most often it’s what caused the crisis. Over the years, I can recall a number of crises that were self-inflicted. Nearly every one of them was caused by my unwillingness to change, accept the truth, and do something about it. How about you?

3 lessons learned

What change must I make? That is the question you need to ask.

The lessons learned:

  1. Embrace change before you are forced to.
  2. Unwillingness to change causes a crisis.
  3. A crisis causes a loss of control.

Admitting and embracing this truth will diminish the number of crisis and will help you stay in control. It really is a good thing that you have the power to change your circumstances and that you do not have to rely on anyone else.

To your success,

Joel

Joel S. Pate, Founder & Chairman

Ox Publishing

Jun 30 2010

6 things in just 60 minutes that can change everything

Posted by Joel Pate in Business, Credit Repair, Leads, Management, Sales, Uncategorized. Tagged: , ,

You are what you eat. Right?

If that is true, what are you? A cholesterol and grease saturated hamburger or a healthy reflection of food that you decided to eat?

As surely as you are what you eat, you are what you think. What you think is based on what you have accepted to this point. (Information does not have to be purposely accepted to affect you—osmosis does exist.) What you have learned, accepted and placed into action to this point is directly connected to who you have met, who has influenced you and what you have studied. Just reading is not enough. Simply meeting people is not enough.

For example, when you were first exposed to long division, did you get it? It took practice but it also required base element knowledge. It required building blocks. Remember, it required an understanding of multiplication. Learning both multiplication and long division took a lot of effort. Above all it took practice.

When you pass someone on the street, when you have been introduced to someone at a party, do they influence you immediately? Did you automatically become like them? No, it took time, concentration, and effort to become, to be influenced for good or bad, just like it took effort to become a person that benefited from long division.

With mathematical precision you have become who you have allowed yourself to become.

I know that this philosophy sometime seems unacceptable. But, the alternative is worse: You have become what you are through a force you can’t control. If you are what you eat then it is reasonable to conclude that you are the “spitting image” of yourself—what you decided to become on purpose or simply through long-term exposure. Either way, you decided to decide or you decided to accept. Good or bad.

No doubt exists that you are influenced by your heredity, your race, your upbringing and your environment. But also no doubt exists that you can become anything you to set your mind to. Does that mean you can become six inches taller? No. But it does mean that through effort you can lose six inches in your waist and if that is the case you can repetitiously change your action for your good or to further a bad trait. Remember that knowledge and then thought and then action is either helpful or hurtful. Thus, you must test information and decisions before they test you.

What if I am right?

If I am correct, the goal for the next hour and for the remainder of your life is to expose yourself to information and people that are positive and beneficial and continuously apply effort to a plan to learn to think because thinking is the business of life (Dr Venice J. Bloodworth, “Key To Yourself”). All applied knowledge causes an effect on your being and thus on your life. So, make it count.

Starting today:

  1. Turn off the TV
  2. Remove negatives from your life
  3. Purposely expose yourself to positive and beneficial knowledge
  4. Reflect on that knowledge during a time of silence each day
  5. Learn to think correctly
  6. Make a plan to implement positive change

Now is the time to choose a different result by choosing a different thought. Decide what is positive and commit to it.

To your success,

Joel

Jun 17 2010

Need a change?

Posted by Joel Pate in Uncategorized. Tagged: , ,

Seems like change should just be a click away like on your remote. Don’t like the sitcom you’re watching? Click. Tired of the same old news? Click.

I own an Apple TV. The settings allow you to do more than watch shows – you can view YOUR pictures and at that same time listen to your favorite playlist.

This is otherwise known as YOUR LIFE.

What pictures do you have?

Do you like to watch your life’s experience?

Do you wish it was different?

Whether the answer is “I really have great experiences” or “I need a new life” you are in control of your future and your future is actually just that — “YOURS” to control.

So, how do you control your future? Where do you start?

It’s may not be as simple as just clicking your remote but getting started is not complicated.

Start today. Make a list. What do you need to change? What should, no, MUST! be different?

It is really a short list. Just a few suggestions:

  • The only thing you can expect from people is what they have done in the last four years.
  • The only thing you can expect of yourself is what you plan to do.
  • The only way to change tomorrow is to think today.

Over the next few days, make a list:

What needs to be corrected?

What do I need to know that I do not know?

Who do I need to meet with that would change my life?

Change is just a thought away. So, start thinking today and tomorrow will be different. Will it be better? Don’t know. It depends on what you think.

Here’s to change,

Joel

Jun 02 2010

Here’s a way to put more money in your pocket

Posted by Joel Pate in Business, Credit Repair, Management, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , ,

This article is dedicated to educating those who are ready for a substantial change in their life.

Men and women have within themselves the need to gather, to accomplish, even to purchase. If you do not concentrate on purchasing assets, you will by default purchase doodads or worse liabilities.

The key is to focus on income producing investments and quit buying into Madison Avenue’s ideas that you really need all those liabilities and doodads you possess. I’ll show you how, but I have to warn you, nothing I’m about to tell you is easy.

Like I said in the opening, this article is for those who truly want to make a change for the better in their lives. If that sound like you, I invite you to read on …

So let’s get started:

• Assets produce income every month

• Liabilities take money from you every month

• Everything else is doodads

Doodads: golf clubs, ink pens, watches, ATV’s, albums, cookware, plasma TV’s, iPods, cloths, etc.

Liabilities: cars, your personal home (and your second home, as well), boats, motorcycles and investment property that is not set up properly.

Assets: appropriately purchased property (maybe with an actual down payment to lower the mortgage which lowers the monthly payments which causes the property to have a positive cash flow), stocks and bonds that are paying dividends, businesses that make money for you while you are at rest or play; of course there are a few more but you get the point.

Well, just to make sure you get the point, your house, everyone’s home, is not an asset.

I’ll prove it to you. If I purchase a $100,000 house, will it do everything a $500,000 home will do? Can I sleep there? Can I eat there? Can I raise my kids there? Sure I understand we all want a nicer house with a three or four car garage to put all of our doodads and other liabilities in. I get it.

Three years ago you could hear some say: “The value of a house in America will never go down.” I get it. A house should be your largest investment. Right?

ONLY THE POOR AND WORKING CLASS BELIEVE THIS B.S. THE RICH, THE ONES THAT LOAN YOU THE MONEY, PUT YOUR HOUSE/LOAN ON THEIR BALANCE SHEET AS AN ASSET. FOR YOU, IT’S A LIABILITY.

SORRY. THE BANKS HAVE BEEN LYING TO YOU. THEY LET YOU LIST YOUR HOUSE ON THE ASSET SIDE OF YOUR BALANCE SHEET JUST TO KEEP YOU FROM JUMPING OUT OF THE WINDOW. BUT, (AND I NEED LARGER ALL CAPS FOR THIS) YOUR HOUSE, CAR, BOAT, JET SKI AND YOUR FURNITURE ARE NOT ASSETS.

If what you own does not produce income, it is not an asset. I told you I would prove it to you. Yes, I understand that your house may be an asset if it goes up in value.

Question: Are any houses in your area NOT going up in value? Any houses in your area costing the owner more than he thought it would? Any owners in your area strategically defaulting from their assets? No, they are strategically defaulting from their liabilities. If the properties were producing income, would they walk away? I told you I would prove that not all houses are assets.

Homework:

1. List all of the assets that you own that are really liabilities and include the monthly cost for same.

2. List all of your real assets, the stuff that produces money each month

3. List all of your doodads, how much you have spent on them.

Then read the next statement:

What should you do differently, what do you need to learn, what do you need to change in order to stop purchasing liabilities that take money out of your pocket every month and just as important, what should you do today that will cause money to come to you each month?

To your success,

Joel

Joel S. Pate, Founder & Chairman

OxPublishing.com

P.S. For more about how to build an incoming-producing business that puts more money in your pocket grab your FREE copy of my brand new e-book, Secrets to Create Your Own Lead Machine, in which I reveal the same strategies I used to build a 5,000 person referral network generating $27 million. To get your copy, GO HERE.

May 11 2010

This may be a strange question…

Posted by Joel Pate in Credit Repair, Leads, Sales, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , ,

But I’ll ask it anyway:

Are you working with a spoon or bulldozer?

What do I mean?

Think of yourself as head of a building company for a moment. In order to get down to business you have to go through the pain-staking process of first preparing the ground before you can even think about building.

What would you rather use to do the job? A spoon or a bulldozer?

We both know the answer, but too many credit repair companies are using spoons instead of bull dozers as they try to build their business.

Trying to do too much? Or is it something else?

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Why? Is it a lack of commitment? For many business owners it’s like trying to do a lot while only investing a little in your business.

To really be successful, you’ve got to make a commitment. Recently a business associate said: “It’s slow, so I’m going to take off more.” That’s OK if you don’t want more. But, if you want more, and I hope you do, then this is the perfect time to invest in achieving more.

Are you ready for more?

Just the other day, I spoke to a credit repair business owner, who doesn’t seem to understand that in order to be successful, especially in this market, it takes a lot more effort that it did last year or much less the year before.

The complaint: “I don’t want to chase after consumers who aren’t motivated to improve their credit. If I try to stay in touch with every prospect that will be a full time job, and I don’t want to expend the energy. I just want to deal with customers that are committed to our program and want to make a change – and who will pay on time.”

Fine, I said. Who doesn’t want that?

But, as you probably already guessed she wanted more. She wasn’t satisfied with her business and her income and that is why we were talking.

I confronted her with the following analogy. I told her, “I have committed to getting in shape. I have hired a trainer. I go to the gym three days per week. But, as long as I continue to eat French fries, I will not get in shape. It is not possible.”

It’s the same with this business. If you don’t decide to go all in, to completely invest, to completely commit, to invest in a bulldozer instead of a spoon, you will not succeed. I don’t see another option.

So what’s the bulldozer I’m talking about? I’m talking about investing in building a referral strategy that will give you qualified leads that fit your business model. Without a referral strategy working with real estate agents, loan originators and mortgage you’re simply working with a spoon.

Here are 3 tips to help you build a referral strategy:

  1. Identify the top real estate agents in your market and ask them to give you the names and phone numbers of the loan originators they do business with.
  2. Call the loan originators and tell them that you would like to help their clients so they can close more loans.
  3. Prove how effective your service really is by offering to work with 2 or 3 customers at no charge.

Then, deliver on your promise. Do this several times and I can guarantee you’ll have highly qualified, motivated clients for years to come. For more about how to build your referral network and get more leads than you may be able to handle (seriously!), check out my new e-book.

Try it. Let me know how it goes.

To your success,

Joel

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