Podcast Shownotes

Episode 3

Welcome to the Arch MI Podcast, featuring our Senior Customer Trainer, Blaine Rada.

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00:35 - Welcome to the Arch MI Podcast! Our host, Blaine Rada, wants this podcast to be a way for him to share some useful lessons and perspective he’s gained through his 30 years of experience in the mortgage industry. His aim is to help you differentiate yourself from the competition when the market has so many varied choices for customers and clients to choose from. Blaine also describes himself as a “high content” presenter, which means there is a lot of information for you to digest and think on!

2:30 - As these podcasts tend to have a sales focus to them, Blaine likes to start off by sharing his world view on sales, which is: Selling is not about getting the sale. Rather, the focus of selling should be on establishing if you are the best fit for your customer’s needs.

3:30 - Today’s topic is on the sales process, or sales conversation, as Blaine likes to call it. This process has several sequential steps, although there is no exact formula to sales - it’s a highly personalized approach. The first step is building rapport between yourself and your potential client where a connection is established through similarities and shared experiences.

4:45 - The next logical step in the sales conversation is asking good questions and listening to your potential customer’s needs so you can figure out how you can offer them a solution that works. And there are so many other steps to take in this process, but today, Blaine is really going to focus on two techniques that appear at the end of the sales process. 

5:10 - “I honestly think that many salespeople are pathetic.” Man, that sounds mean - but why? Blaine says he feels pity for salespeople because sales is a difficult field and many people are inexperienced and undertrained. The skills he wants to share in this episode can lead to a change if you’re in sales; it just takes some practice until you can master the technique.

6:25 - These two critical skills are closing and follow-up. Let’s focus on closing first - what is it, really? The close is simply asking if someone is interested in doing business with you. If you’ve done all other parts of the sales conversation correctly, fully understand what your customer is looking for and needs, and you know you have a solution that fits them, why wouldn’t you ask to close the deal? The worst they might say is “No.” Don’t hesitate to close on the deal if you’ve done the work and the timing is appropriate.

8:18 - There are two ways that closing is misused and gets a bad rap. First, some salespeople never ask to do business with a potential customer; there is no invitation to take the next step. Closing can’t be done well if it’s not attempted in the first place! Fear of rejection can definitely hamper an ask, but it’s more a problem of timing. 

9:53 - The second problem is that closing is asked for too much. There’s an expression known in sales as ABC - Always Be Closing. Blaine’s view of this is that it’s generally an unwelcome and disliked sales tactic because it feels like pressure or coercion, and it doesn’t resonate with Blaine’s approach to sales as a whole.

10:50 - Blaine shares a personal experience with a salesperson who was constantly trying to close on a deal for a new construction house, where the pressure of making a sale created stress and an unpleasant experience for Blaine and his wife. The timing was absolutely not right to close on that sale.

14:46 - If it’s not the right time to close, what then? This leads us to the second skill of follow-up. Blaine explains that every interaction with a potential customer should lead to a next step, even when the sale is done and closed! Offering to follow up and check in with clients to see how they’re doing is a simple service to provide, but can keep that relationship alive, create expectations of what the next steps are, and leave a client with a good impression of you.

18:14 - The follow-up is really key and can often be challenging to adhere to. Blaine shares another personal experience of buying a car, where the lack of follow up from a salesperson made him choose a different dealership that provided more attentive communication and tailored service after their first interaction.

23:12 - Let’s recap on some key takeaways from today! If you want to be a top sales professional, then focus on the art of closing and follow-up, which happen towards the end of a sales conversation. Also, don’t hesitate to ask people for their business. If you’ve put in the work to show people you have a solution that meets their needs and you feel you can be of value to someone, go ahead and ask to do business with them! (Don’t follow the sales ABCs).

24:30 - Finally, make sure that every interaction ends with a next step. Follow up, follow through, and honor your commitments.

2444 - Call to action time! First, take a step. Try implementing one of these tips and techniques into your business practice. Second, tell a friend about this podcast. Knowledge is power, so let’s share it and grow our profession. Third, talk to us at Arch MI about how we can be of service to you, your needs and ideas, or any feedback you have about this podcast!

Podcast Shownotes

Episode 2

Welcome to the Arch MI Podcast, featuring our Senior Customer Trainer, Blaine Rada.

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00:36 - Welcome to the Arch MI Podcast! Our host, Blaine Rada, has over 30 years of experience in the mortgage industry and wants this podcast to be a useful resource of tips and lessons for those in the industry. His aim is to help you separate yourself from the competition when the market is already so flush with many different choices for customers and clients to choose from. Blaine also describes himself as a “high content presenter,” which means there is a lot of information for you to digest.

2:18 - Before diving into today’s podcast, it’s important to understand Blaine’s overall worldview when it comes to sales, which is “Selling is not about getting the sale.” What this really means is that your focus shouldn’t actually be on getting the sale, but rather on being of service and establishing that you are the best fit for your borrower, for your client. This type of attitude shift generally leads to more authentic business and more sales.

3:35 - Today’s topic is about communication and how to communicate with impact. Communication now is rather casual, which by no means is a bad thing, but this also means it is no longer intentional. What do we do in those moments that need to be significant, where our communication can make or break an important moment? Impactful and clear communication is a skill that needs to be practiced.

8:25 - “The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” - George Bernard Shaw. Blaine brings up this quote because we may think we’re communicating - we text, we speak, we write - but we really don’t know how our words are being received or understood. Blaine will share a few tips on how to have impactful communication that serves the purpose you intend for it to serve. 

9:00 - What would Blaine’s one piece of advice be to make communication more effective? He recommends to think before you communicate. If you want your communication to serve its purpose and be effective, you have to give it some thought. Maybe you don’t reply right away, take time to compose your thoughts, reassess the situation if it feels emotional; then come back to it and create a more constructive and productive response.

11:18 - There are three reasons why we don’t think before we communicate. First, we’re distracted! We have so much going on in our day, we’re surrounded by screens at work and home, we’ve almost always got something going on outside of just our thoughts. It’s hard to be intentional with communication if we’re so distracted all the time.

12:32 - The second reason we don’t think before we communicate is because we’re multitasking. Multitasking in humans is actually a myth anyway; it’s what computers do, but not the human brain! While we can think of many things at the same time, neuroscience shows us that our brains’ primary focus is really on one thing at a time.

15:17 - The third reason is because of something called “pre-crastination.” This is the idea that everything is urgent, everything has to be addressed right now. Technology, for all of its benefits, has exacerbated this problem by making communication so rapid-fire that we now expect (and find ourselves compelled to send) instant replies. Blaine calls this mental trap pre-crastination.

20:10 - If you want to be successful in sales, one of the things that our communication needs to accomplish is empathy. Empathy is expressed through the art of conversation. How do we achieve this, especially in a digital world?

22:00 - Empathy can demonstrated through shared experiences and relating with others through those connections. Expressing empathy in a conversation makes people feel heard, valued, and understood. Blaine recommends the book We Need to Talk by Celeste Headlee as a great resource about the art of conversation, filled with tips and tricks to have on hand.

23:23 - The other part of having good conversations is to ask good questions, which also needs practice. We should be more interested than interesting. You can truly stand out by asking questions and listening to others, demonstrating that you are sincerely interested in learning about the people around you. 

24:30 - Blaine has a tip for better listening. Most of the time, we are crafting our responses while someone is talking. Don’t listen to respond, listen to understand what that person is saying!

25:22 - Blaine wraps up with key takeaways from this episode. First, the importance of good communication, thinking about what you say and your responses to make your communication more impactful. Second, being aware of the reasons that we aren’t thinking before we communicate - distractions, multitasking, and pre-crastination. Sometimes, it’s okay to take a step back, think about what to say, and craft a better message. And third, expressing empathy through conversation to truly connect with people.

27:17 - Let’s end on a call to action! 1) Take a step today. Take this information and try it out in your own life and work. 2) Tell a friend! If you find these podcasts to be valuable, share it out with your friends, family, and even your competitors. 3) Talk to us! Your account manager at Arch MI is always available to chat about how to help your business. We also want to hear your feedback about this podcast - let us know what you want to hear and what you think of the content. 

Podcast Shownotes

Episode 1

Welcome to the Arch MI Podcast, featuring our Senior Customer Trainer, Blaine Rada.

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00:33 - Welcome to the Arch MI Podcast! Our host, Blaine Rada, tells us a little about himself and his professional background. He’s been in the mortgage industry for over 30 years, and his favorite part of his current job with Arch MI is that he gets to travel, speak at various events, and meet with lenders at every stage of their life. He also calls himself a thief… of time. Blaine wants to make sure that the time he is “stealing” from you is the most valuable and informative as it possibly can be.

1:35 - How do we separate ourselves from the competition when borrowers, buyers, clients, and customers have so much choice in options and services? Blaine is here to share some ideas that will be helpful in setting your services apart from the rest, but it’s on you, listener, to put these ideas into action! 

2:16 - A couple tips for listening and what to expect: This is an unscripted podcast. Blaine believes in professionalism, but also in creating an accessible conversation with listeners and time for all to reflect. Blaine also describes himself as a “high content presenter,” which means there is a lot of information being delivered and high audience engagement (at least in a live audience setting). 

3:46 - Blaine starts by telling us what he believes about sales and selling, since most of these episodes will deal with topics that involve or relate to sales processes. His contradictory stance is that selling isn’t about getting the sale. What he means by this is the focus of selling shouldn’t be about getting the sale, but rather about establishing if you, your product, or your service is the best fit for that customer. Shifting focus to fit should actually result in more sales, as your clients will be able to see that you are invested in their best interest.

5:40 - The discussion topic for the rest of today’s podcast is what Blaine calls the value trifecta, which is composed of three concepts that influence people to choose you over all other providers: convenience, value, and trust. This concept is rooted in research done by JD Power & Associates, who measure customer satisfaction and have spent millions on research to find out why people buy where they buy. 

7:02 - So, why convenience? People want to do business in a way that is convenient for them. Does this mean easy, quick, self-service, 24/7 accessibility, online service? This is a rather subjective term, so Blaine suggests some homework for you. Think about how you can answer the question “How does your business or service make life more convenient for me?” Perhaps dig a little deeper and come up with your own specific definition to stand out from the competition. Once you have this definition, start telling people how you can offer convenience before they even ask.

10:15 - How do we offer specifics on qualitative aspects of our competitive advantage, like reputation, company values or quality of service? Testimonials and reviews from happy customers, as well as stories of how you’ve gone above and beyond to help people are very compelling selling tools. Focus on the “customer experience” and learn how to quantify that.

14:00 - Now, to address the values part of the trifecta. Come up with your own value proposition and develop a meaning that goes deeper than the word in order to answer the question: What is the value in my doing business with you? Again, the focus is to approach defining your values from the customer’s perspective and psychographic.

18:27 - What are some specific ways that we can define value? Superficially, value is the problem that you solve; the need that you meet. The way to add value is to truly understand the problem or issue that you can help with, so you can figure out the most effective and unique solution. 

21:00 - Another idea is to consider the concept of pain and pleasure. Human beings are pretty straightforward in that we seek pleasure and avoid pain, but which of those drives is stronger? Studies show that avoiding pain is a greater motivator than pleasure and this is reflected in the marketing that we see everyday. If decreasing pain is more effective, then the ultimate question is “How are you the Tylenol for my mortgage headache?”

23:21 - “How do you relieve the discomfort; how do you make the pain less painful? If you can speak to that, it’s a really strong motivator for people. And again, you’re going to sound different because most people in sales don’t want to talk about anything negative. So, when you bring up the negative, it’s fine as long as you bring up your solution - that’s the key!”

29:00 - The final part of the value trifecta is trust. In business, people have to trust your capabilities to do what you said you were able to do. How do you demonstrate this to people you have no history with? Again, here you can use the strength of third party testimonials, customer examples, and stories of satisfied clients to vouch for your credibility and capability.

31:51 - What about the personal side of trust? Well, potential clients will have to trust your intent, which means they know you’re looking out for them and not just yourself. You should be driven by finding the best solution to fit the customer, not simply making a sale for you. 

34:46 - How do we communicate trust without actually using that word? Thankfully, Blaine did the legwork already. Think of authenticity and transparency, consistency and respect - all of these words convey trust in a more actionable way. Demonstrating these qualities in our actions and communication builds trust between us and our clients. 

41:04 - Let’s recap on the key takeaways from today’s episode. We talked about the value trifecta, how people are influenced to choose to work with you, and how to quantify and be specific with showing Convenience, Value, and Trust. 

42:28 - Blaine leaves listeners with a few asks. First, take a step with a lesson that you learned today, maybe change up your direction or approach using some of the ideas presented. Second, tell a friend about this podcast! The aim of this podcast is to share information with as many people as possible. Third, talk with us at Arch MI. Tell us how we can be of service and bring more value to you as a customer.