Twitter:  @ReneNME

There are few things in life that are as exciting as watching and idea take shape and become reality.  Recently, I found a piece of paper that reminded me  how I first got in sales training.  Below is a short version of the story.

*The names of the people and facility have been changed to keep anonymity.

In August of 2001, I became CEO for the first time in my career. At the time, we had 7 offices, 25 employees and 30 consultants running close to 50 workshops per month world wide, life was good…so it seemed. The following month, terrorists attacked the Twin Towers in New York City. I remember driving in to work listening to the news and being shocked that something like this could happen. As shocking as it was, there was still a sense of disconnection from what it really meant to me. Two days later, I received a call that would change my life and our business forever.

On Thursday September 13th, 2001, the site coordinator of a paper mill in North Carolina called canceling a facility-wide training that was scheduled to start the following week. I remember the call as it if was yesterday. “Rene, the is Mary from (paper mill). I am calling because we have to cancel indefinitely any and all trainings we have scheduled here at the facility. We are predicting the cost of oil to increase which has a dramatic affect on our operating costs thus forcing us to make some drastic changes. I am sorry.”  What was so memorable about the call was that Mary was one of our biggest advocates and it sounded like she was reading a script.  It was clear that this was not an easy call for her to make.

It didn’t hit me until I hung up the phone that his contract  to train approximately 1,600 people, was just shy of $1,000,000. That was all of our cash for the next 6 months. To make a very long story short, the following monday I had to let go of 20 people. These were close friends, colleagues and extremely talented individuals. Still to this day, one of the hardest days of my business life.

I share this story with you because as devastating as this event was to our company, if forced us to rethink who we were, how we did business and with whom we did business with. At the time we were solely focused on “Change Management” or “Employee Engagement” as it is called now.

After going through all the logistics and restructuring I decided to explore “sales training” as a new offering. I had been a sales person my entire career but had never been in front of a room to present or train.  The idea of combining the fundamentals of selling with what we knew about behavior change and how the brain worked excited me.   The first question I asked myself was, “what would I talk about?” So on March 29th, 02, I sat down and brainstormed the most important lessons I learned back in 1994 when I first entered the world of selling.

Well, as I was purging some old boxes, I found it! 35 of the simplest, most fundamental and still applicable sales lessons I had learned when I began my sales career at 18 years old.  I was excited to find this because all of my sales videos, podcasts, articles, classes, keynotes, consulting…everything, has stemmed from this list.  An entire division of our company was created from this simple list of ideas sitting in my head of what I had learned.

Side note:  A huge thank you my friend, mentor and role model, Mike Fusek.  He is responsible for turning me onto every single one of these lessons.  From the time you handed me Zig Ziglar’s Goal Setting Cassette tape to Jim Rohn’s Take Charge of Your Life (which I still listen to today).  You have changed my life forever my friend and words cannot express the gratitude.

I share this with you because at the time, I had no idea what this list would turn into.  I had hopes and dreams of course, but that is all they were at the time, hope and dreams.  Just to think how such a tragic event so far removed from my day to day life would  impact me forcing me to reinvent not only myself but our company in ways never imaginable.  I think the key point here is that I am writing this now almost 11 years later.  Not 6 months, or a year or 5 years later…11 years later!  When I’m asked “how did you get into this work?” I sometimes reply, “10 years of mistakes, failures and learnings.  If you love this enough to stay with it that long, then you’re on the right track.”    Those years following were tough which is why they call is “the grind”.  Making mistakes, falling on your face, discovering new ideas, achieving successes were all part of the process of refining the message, testing the ideas and building more confidence in what I believed to be true.

I hope that at some level this has inspired you to capture your ideas.  To look at adversity as opportunity to reinvent yourself.  You never know what a piece of paper , an idea combined with relentless passion will manifest into…but I’m sure it will be very cool.

I plan on continuing to create content around these lessons.  Content that is applicable to the aspiring sales professionals as well as the seasoned pro.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.  And please, by all means, share this is you enjoyed reading it.

Thanks for letting me share a piece of my story.

By. Rene F. Rodriguez, CEO
Volentum

The article below was published in the Niche Report – Real Estate Edition and is on one of my favorite topics to write and speak about – “Sales Professionalism”.  The Niche Report is great because they let me truly express myself in my writings and are okay if I’m a little “in your face”.  Below is a short excerpt followed by the full article as a PDF.  I hope you enjoy it and as always please comment and share it with your network if you find value in it.

If Justin Timberlake can “bring sexy back,” then I’m “BRINGING SALES BACK!” It’s time that we return to the roots of what we really are – salespeople.   That’s right, I said it, salespeople. Not Real Estate Agents, Real Estate Consultants, Account Supervisors, or Business Development Specialists. No matter what we call ourselves, no matter what our title says, at the end of the day we are salespeople. And it’s time that we bring the pride and professionalism back to the lost and ever-so- beautiful art of selling…

Click the arrow in the upper right hand corner of the box below to view the full article in full screen…

The Resurgence of the Sales Professional – Rene Rodriguez

Published in the Niche Report – April 2012

Click here for a FREE VIP Subscription: http://eepurl.com/f541P

Now let me challenge you. Who are you in the business world?…

Niche Report Feb.2012 – Who Are You

Published in the Niche Report – Feb 2012

Click here for a VIP Subscription: http://eepurl.com/f541P

Effective communication is critical in any business and it’s not always necessary to use words. Here are some body language techniques that work.

Industrial psychologists and others can give you statistics on verbal and non-verbal communication, but I have been led to believe that as much as 60% of communication is body language. That seems a little high but I can tell you from experience it’s pretty close to the mark.

In my experience body language can shift a conversation much more quickly than the spoken word. Here are some examples and how they might be used.

Symmetry

Symmetry is basically your position to the person you are communicating with. Let’s say you and the other person are sitting in chairs. They are facing toward you, but you are facing 45 degrees from them. Your symmetry is off. If your head is cocked to one side, or one side of your body does not match the other then the symmetry is off.

By shifting to face the other person and leaning forward with an open posture you can indicate acceptance and interest and encourage the other person to follow this line of conversation. By turning away and closing your posture you can get them to shift the focus and communicate your lack of interest in this line of communication.

Height

Some executives use height to demonstrate their dominant position buy raising their chair higher while making the chairs on the other side of the desk lower. This is wrong because during open communications you want to be at the same height as the person with whom you are communicating.

I frequently use height to politely end a conversation. We have all worked with someone who frequently interrupts and drones on. When they entered my office and sat down, I would stand up. This generally ended things pretty quickly so I could get on with my day.

Posture

Posture can convey interest or disinterest. You can slouch or sit up straight. Each of these actions conveys something to the other person.

Open and closed positions

If you fold your arms across your chest it is generally viewed as a closed posture. You are communicating that you are not listening. Arms at your sides communicate a willingness to listen.

Facial expression

I love this one. Many of you that are parents use this on a regular basis.  One of my children will ask a question or make a statement and they can read my face like a book. A scowl, squinting the eyes in an “I don’t understand” way or just shaking the head can convey much more than the spoken word.

I have heard people coach on body language. They say sit up straight to maintain an open position and use positive body language always. I think that’s like signalling a landing aircraft on a carrier with all positive signals. Bad idea. Sometime you need them to do something different. So the next time you speak with someone, use the information here and gauge the response. You might be surprised.

To learn more about how to improve your influence, check out this video http://www.followrene.us/solutions/professional-influence/

source:  Inc. Magazine http://www.ceo.com/flink/?lnk=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inc.com%2Fglen-blickenstaff%2Fget-your-message-across-with-body-language-5-tips.html&id=277521&ceoid=nldy168

Glen Blickenstaff is the CEO of The Iron Door company, which makes high-end doors and windows. Glen has a track record of turning around and managing retail, building and financial companies.

BY EXPERT BLOGGER ETHAN HALE | 03-28-2012 |

reposted from: http://www.fastcompany.com/1826497/strategic-thinking-why-most-small-business-owners-don-t-do-it-enough

As a business owner or manager, there are basically two ways in which you can spend your time. The first is working within the business. This includes every level of operations, from customer service to sales to production to accounting. The second option is strategic thinking–high level analysis, thought, and planning. Examples of strategic thinking include creating a business development plan or developing new systems of production and fulfillment.

Strategic thinking is working on your business–planning, strategizing, analyzing the market, adjusting course, etc. Working within your business is essentially keeping the systems running.

For a business to be successful, both levels of engagement are vital. Without a skilled team to operate the business, nothing happens. And without high-level planning, the business has no direction or strategic purpose.

Unfortunately, most small business owners spend virtually all of their time operating their business, and no time thinking strategically about it. It’s not hard to understand why–as a one-man shop (or even as the leader of a small team), there’s always something demanding attention. Upset customers, employees calling in sick, suppliers showing up late… it’s one thing after the next.

But the net result is a business that is floating aimlessly through the marketplace, going wherever the current may take it. In order to build an exceptional business, you must devote the necessary time to strategic planning. That can be a challenge–but here are three solutions that may help:

1) Prioritize your planning time as if it were a client. If a client or a customer needed to sit down with you for 30 minutes this week, I guarantee that you’d find a way to make it happen. Schedule time each week (30 minutes, an hour, whatever you think is necessary) for strategic planning and treat it like a client engagement.

2) Find an accountability partner. Ideally, this would be a fellow business owner–but a friend or family member can work. Tell the individual that you recognize the need for strategic planning, and ask them to check in on you each week to make sure that you’re spending the necessary time. Accountability can make all of the difference for an exercise like this!

3) End each strategic session with an action list. If you can’t translate your strategic thinking into action, there’s no point. Identify 1-3 action items that will help you accomplish your big-picture objectives. Get specific–include a timeline and identify which employees are responsible for each element. Creating an action list is the bridge between planning and operations–and it’s 100% necessary.

As a small business owner, it’s easy to overlook the importance of strategic thinking. But if you wish to create a healthy, sustainable business, it’s vital that you spend time planning on a regular basis. These tips will help you make time–so put them into effect starting today. You can’t afford not to!

The Mortgage Technology Conference, taking place November 14-16, 2011 at the Doral Golf Resort, Miami, FL, has assembled influential presenters in mortgage technology to empower lenders to make the most informed technology decisions. Learn how to use the newest technology solutions to address the most pressing issues lenders face in the current market.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Join hundreds of top MLOs—the best of the best—for Mastery Business Plan, LIVE in Las Vegas November 16-18, 2011.

Your future is now. Right here — right now. Now is your time. Step up!

The economy has changed. The housing market has changed. The mortgage industry has changed. But have YOU changed?

The transformation of true professionals in our industry is happening…and NOW is the time to take control of your own destiny and:

• Guarantee your success in 2012 with the all-new Business Planning Workshop
• Transform your business with powerful sessions on presentation & selling, social media, networking and more
• Reach new horizons and grab more opportunities with strategies and tips from an all star line-up of top industry speakers

Join us in Las Vegas for the most powerful, transformative live event the mortgage industry has ever seen.

Don’t miss the best live speakers, incredible sessions, panels, presentations and tools that deliver the real answers and practical strategies you need to grab a bigger piece of the pie than ever before.

We look forward to seeing you LIVE in Las Vegas!

4:40 pm – 6:00 pm

Faculty Mash Up!

Talk about your all-time great mash-ups! Part presentation, part panel discussion, and part faculty round up, this fast-paced and hard-charging session gets down to the nitty-gritty details about implementation, productivity, team building, and systems that real-world originators use to charge ahead in today’s market. And don’t think it’s just talk – take their actionable sheets, checklists, and hot tips and put them to work for you!Rene Rodriguez moderates MSS Faculty greats including Khai McBride, Ed Conarchy and David Kuiper.

8:45 am – 9:30 am

Move Beyond Motivation: How to Maximize Your Business Plan

What good is a rocket without the fuel necessary to reach its destination? The same should be asked about a plan without a clear purpose or “why”. As in any sales profession, it is easy to get distracted and lose sight of what we need to do to be successful. We’ve looked for motivation to keep us going through the tough times only to find that there is still something missing. In this powerful and thought provoking session, Rene Rodriguez will guide you through some of the latest research on motivation and goal setting to help you identify the “why” that will fuel your success, even through the toughest times.You will learn: How to stay motivated after the emotion wears off Proven strategies for achieving goals How to apply recent brain research to your daily routine How our values get lost during stressful times

The greatest orators, speakers and comics of our time, ALL TELL STORIES.   For years we have worked with our clients in helping them develop their stories and work on the skills on delivering them in an effective manner.  Here is an article that I found written by Doug Stevenson which I believe captures the elements necessary to make an impression on your audience through the art of signature stories.

Signature Stories

by Doug Stevenson 2004

“There are two ways to persuade people. The first is by using conventional rhetoric, which is what most executives are trained in. That’s not good enough, because people are not inspired to act by reason alone. The other way to persuade people – and ultimately a much more powerful way – is by uniting an idea with an emotion. The best way to do that is by telling a compelling story.”

-Bronwyn Fryer, Senior Editor at Harvard Business Review

SIGNATURE STORIES: Part One – Choosing Your Million-Dollar Story

My definition of a signature story is a story that you become known for, maybe even famous for. Over time, you become so good at performing this story that people ask for it again and again. I know speakers that have made over a million dollars with one good story. Check that…one great story. I am one of those speakers.

My Streaking Story is my million-dollar story. I’ve told it over 250 times and never tire of it. Would you like to have a million dollar story? This series is about how to do it.

Choosing the Right Story

In part one of this series, I want to focus on choosing the right story. In my book, Never Be Boring Again – Make Your Business Presentations Capture Attention, Inspire Action, and Produce Results, I have identified seven types of stories. They are:

Story Type #1: Vignettes

More often than not, when business speakers tell me they love to tell stories, they’re referring to a type of story called a vignette. A vignette is defined as a short illustration – a brief, descriptive incident or scene. In other words, it’s a mini story. It usually only takes a minute or so to tell, and it isn’t as crafted or developed as a full story. The vignette, also known as an anecdote, is the simplest and most common form of business story, however it has less impact on an audience than a carefully structured story.

Story Type #2: Crucible Stories

A crucible is defined as a severe test. Crucible stories are stories of great loss, hardship, or pain. Olympic athletes, cancer survivors, and people who have overcome incredible odds tell crucible stories. They are often survivor stories that tell of near misses, encountering danger or severe challenges, and coming out alive. They are powerful because these “tests of the human spirit” are real, and because they reveal our human frailty, resilience and strength.

Because crucible stories deal with “life-and-death” matters, they have the potential to move audience members to a deep level of vulnerability and take them on a roller-coaster ride of emotion from depression to joy. As a result, presenters who share these high-impact stories need to have courage, honesty and a willingness to be vulnerable. They must take responsibility for consciously crafting their story and delivering it with integrity. There can be no artifice or insincerity.

Do you have a crucible story that taught you a profound lesson? If so, you have a responsibility to share it. For those of you who cannot sing, crucible stories give you an extraordinary voice. They enable you to create a blanket of intimacy that warms and comforts other individuals. When presented with delicacy and grace, stories of overcoming adversity are like medicine for the soul. They heal invisible wounds with the gentleness of a caress. Like time-release medicine, they work slowly, over time. You may not be present when the final healing takes place, but you can play an integral part in its process by telling your crucible story.

Story Type #3: Imbroglio Stories

An imbroglio is defined as an acutely painful misunderstanding or embarrassing situation. Think of a time when you unwittingly found yourself in deep trouble, and you have the makings for an intriguing imbroglio story. Ironically, some of your funniest stories will come from your most humiliating moments.

Imbroglio stories allow us all to be comedians.

You probably don’t have to look too deep into your past to find a moment where you made a wrong turn, got in over your head, or rushed into a hasty decision that backfired. Perhaps you’re thinking of one right now. Did a family vacation turn into a fiasco? Did you ever try to impress a date and do just the opposite? Did a job interview turn into a comedy of errors? How about that home repair project that turned into a money pit? When we tell our imbroglio stories, people relate to us because they’ve had imbroglio moments, too. Identify the point that your “mortifying-at-the-time” experience could illustrate, and then plan it into your next presentation. You’ll show that you’re human and your audience will identify with you.

Story Type #4: Minerva Stories

Minerva was the Roman Goddess of wisdom. When you have a story or parable that draws upon ancient wisdom, whether from the Bible or a traditional American folk story, that is a Minerva story. Other resources for Minerva Stories include:

* Native American Indian stories

* Greek and Roman Mythology

* African-American folk stories

* Celtic folk stories

* Traditional American folk stories

* Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi and other religious stories

* Mythological stories and folk legends

Developing Minerva stories usually involves research and memorization because the stories themselves already exist in written, recorded, or visual form. Your goal is to interpret these legendary tales for modern day audiences so your listeners clearly “get” how the accompanying insight is timeless and universal.

Story Type #5: Credibility Stories

Credibility stories are any non-personal stories (meaning they didn’t happen directly to you) you find from outside sources such as books, articles, radio shows or TV broadcasts. They may relate to a current event, news story, or international incident that recently happened that “proves” a point you want to make in your presentation.

If you speak about management or leadership, all you have to do is look at the daily headlines to find plenty of “real-life” material. If your topic is Change, you could share a story pulled from the newspapers about an intrepid manager who was laid off only to rebound and use her severance package to start her own, now thriving, company.

Credibility stories do not make good signature stories, however, because they did not happen to you. Be sure to use stories from other experts sparingly. If other people’s insights form the bulk of your presentation, it’s in your best interest to stop speaking on that subject. Audiences want to hear what YOU have to say on your topic, not what everyone else under the sun has to say about that topic. You have no reason to be speaking on a subject unless you have some personal experience, insight, or recommendations to offer. Remember, credibility stories from other sources are there to add authority to your own insights, not replace them.

Story Type #6: Pattern Stories

When stories cover a period of time (from days to months or years) or when multiple stories share a common theme, they are called pattern stories. Though the circumstances may change from scene to scene or over the expanse of time, the plot structure builds on the use of a repetitive pattern, which gives the story a resonant structure.

This is a sophisticated technique that the best professional speakers use. They know that a well-crafted pattern can build suspense, anticipation, and a satisfying sense of full-circle completion in listeners. The first time you introduce a specific gesture or phrase, your audience will simply notice it. The second time, they will realize that a pattern is emerging. The third time they will “get wise” to the pattern and begin to anticipate and enjoy it. You may even see a few smiles of recognition or titters. By the fourth time, especially if you add a little attitude and exaggeration, the group will laugh out loud because by now they are “in” on the joke.

Pattern stories work well at the beginning of your talk because they engage and tickle the minds of participants. They can also be introduced towards the middle of the talk, but be sure to allow enough time to reiterate the pattern so it “matures” and the audience “gets’ the joke or receives the full value of the repetition. In some cases, your entire presentation may be one intricately crafted pattern story.

Story Type #7: Instructional Stories

Instructional stories rely heavily on narrative structure and often contain multiple points. While I teach that each story should only make one point, instructional stories break that rule. They must be crafted efficiently though so they don’t confuse the audience.

Instructional stories move back and forth from the story to the lesson. They look, sound, and feel different from other stories. First of all, they are more cerebral. The action in instructional stories is minimized and the narrative is maximized. In other words, there’s more TELL than SHOW. Instructional stories exist to teach rather than entertain, however they can have humor and entertainment. Because of my background in comedy, I’m convinced that almost any story can and should have humor, but in the case of the instructional story, the focus is on the clarity of the narrative.

You’ve probably heard the military advice about how to give a briefing: “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em; tell ’em; and then tell ’em what you told ’em.” I usually don’t suggest that much repetition, however that advice is wise when it comes to telling long instructional stories that cover multiple points. It’s our responsibility to make sure each point is illustrated logically, that it builds upon the preceding point, and that in the end, all three points form a contiguous body of knowledge. By following a clear, clean structure, participants will be able to concentrate on and follow what we’re saying instead of getting hopelessly lost.

Stick with Personal Stories

When choosing a story to develop into a “million dollar signature story,” stick with personal stories. Of the seven types of stories that I’ve just listed, Crucible, Imbroglio and Pattern Stories work best as a Signature Story. That’s because you lived them, you were there. You can recall details and provide insights that will make the story come alive.

Signature stories don’t have to be based on profound experiences. They become signature stories through development and performance. Ordinary experiences can become amazing stories if you understand how to develop them.

Pick Three Potential Stories

I’d like you to choose three stories that have the potential to become signature stories. Here are some criteria to follow:

* You learned a life lesson

* It was a memorable experience

* It was powerful and made a lasting impression on you

* It was a turning point for you

* There was a clear and present danger or obstacle

* You’ll enjoy telling the story for years to come

Part Two of this series will guide you through the Nine Steps of Story Structure. You’ll learn how to write and craft the narrative of the story so that it has all of the elements of a good story, including one clear and concise point.

Signature Stories part 2

by Doug Stevenson

This is the “Signature Stories” Issue – Part Two

“It is far better to cover three points that people remember and implement, than twenty- seven points that no one can remember. Speaking success is measured not by the volume of material disseminated, but rather by the velocity of change that results from the presentation.”

Signature Stories: Part Two – What’s the Point?

Last article I asked you to pick three stories that had the potential to become signature stories – stories that you wanted to develop and use time and again. The criteria for choosing your stories are as follows:

* You learned a life lesson

* It was a memorable experience

* It was powerful and made a lasting impression on you

* It was a turning point for you

* There was a clear and present danger or obstacle

* You’ll enjoy telling the story for years to come

This month, I’ll guide you through the Nine Steps of Story Structure. These steps will provide you with the architecture of your story. Using these steps, you’ll learn how to write and craft the narrative of the story so that it has all of the elements of a good story, including one clear and concise point.

Before we go into the nine steps, I want you to ask a question in regards to each story you are about to craft. What’s the point? If you don’t know what the point of the story is before you begin, you will most likely waste a lot of time. If your time is as valuable as mine, you cannot afford to make this common mistake.

I help a lot of salespeople develop the stories they use in their sales presentations. Salespeople, because they have limited time to make their presentations, understand that their stories must be strategic. Their stories are sales tools used for a specific and dynamic purpose.

I also do quite a few “train the trainer” workshops for corporate trainers. They need my help to make their content come alive, to enliven dull and technical information and to bring some entertainment and emotion to their presentations. I believe that trainers often think of stories as diversions – confections – that change the mood and shift the energy in the room. They sometimes think of them as entertainment, rather than as vehicles to teach or make a point. This was brought home to me recently, in a train the trainer session, when a trainer asked, “Do all stories have to have a point? Can’t some of them just be for fun?”

Please understand, I am an entertainer. My background is theater, musical comedy and rock ’n roll. I’m all for entertainment and fun…but in the business world, even the fun has to be strategic. Everything that I do in front of an audience is strategic. There is no fluff, no filler. I use my Streaking Story (an Imbroglio story) in the middle of a keynote or training to make a point about the liberating benefit of confronting fear and taking risks. Because it is a hilarious story, it also lifts the energy in the room and lightens the mood. I follow this hilarity and laughter with a powerful Minerva story that is much more somber and emotional. It makes the point that we often carry destructive burdens from the past into the present and that we must Put Them Down and move on.

These two stories are strategically chosen and sequenced to serve a purpose. The fact that one story entertains as it is making a point is a conscious choice. That it precedes a story that is much heavier is also strategic. They are part of the architecture of a keynote.

If you are speaking to a business audience, all of your stories must have one clear and concise point that serves the overall objective of the training session, sales presentation or keynote.

Therefore, as we move through the Nine Steps of Story Structure consider this…the point of the story is the destination. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll get lost along the way. Once you have chosen a story, jump immediately to Step Seven, Make the Point. Once you have defined the one point the story makes, you are ready to return to Step One and begin crafting your story.

Step One – Set the Scene

In step one; create the context for the story. Take your listener to a specific time and place. To do this, close your eyes and allow yourself to go back in time. Visualize the setting. What was the time of day or year? Use all five senses to recall specific details. Create a tapestry of images and sensations that your listener can relate to. What was going on emotionally, physically or spiritually? This step is the first step in weaving a magical spell that will compel your listener to leave their current reality and enter into your imaginary reality. Write down everything that comes to mind and then edit out that which is non-essential.

Step Two – Introduce the Characters

Help your listener see, feel and relate to the main characters in your story with visual descriptions. Think about height, weight, coloring, clothing and age. Mention pertinent details about your relationship. Consider their quirks, habits and behavior. You may wish to add a character voice when describing them or physically mimic their posture or physique. Do this with key characters only. Secondary characters do not require this level of attention. Introduce the characters when they appear in the story.

Step Three – Begin the Journey

What is the assignment, the goal, the journey? Where do you have to go? Who do you have to connect with? What is the challenge? Examples of journeys are: attending a business meeting inAustin,Texas; picking your daughter up after soccer practice; running in a 10K race for charity.

Step Four – Encounter the Obstacle

Without an obstacle, there is no story. The obstacle creates conflict, friction and drama. Someone or something must get in your way and make the journey interesting. The obstacle may be a person, a challenge to overcome or a self-limiting belief. It can be a flat tire on the way to an appointment or a supervisor that stands in the way of your success. If your story is an Imbroglio Story, exaggerate the obstacle to make it funny. If it is a Crucible Story, develop the drama and go deep to find real emotion.

Step Five – Overcome the Obstacle

How did you overcome the obstacle? What strength did you have to summon? Was there someone who helped you? Think the thoughts and feel the feeling of that moment in time. Be specific here. Break your solution down into logical steps in sequence. This is where the teaching and/or selling occurs. Go “in” and show how you overcame the obstacle. Re-live it. In Step Five you “seed” the story with the first mention of the point.

Step Six – Resolve the Story

Tie up any loose ends and make sure your audience knows how everything turned out. What happened to the other people, to your helper? Go back over your story for logic and hear it as the listener will hear it.

Step Seven – Make the Point

It is important that your story has one clear point. Too many points confuse the issue. One story, one point. Be concise. The fewer words you use to make the point, the better. The point must flow logically and effortlessly from the story. Write out the point and memorize it. Make it simple and easy to remember. This is where you insert your “Phrase That Pays.”

Step Eight – Ask the Question

Make your story their story by asking a question like: “How about you?” or “Has something like that ever happened to you?” Turn the point into a question. If the point was, “From that experience, I learned to take the initiative rather than waiting for permission,” you can ask the questions, “How about you? Do you take the initiative or wait for permission?” Follow that question with another that directly relates to the issue at hand. Push their buttons. This step makes your story pertinent to them and their issues. It adds power to your point.

Step Nine – Re-state the Point

Although I only recently named this step as the “ninth” step, I have been teaching it for years. In my book, Never Be Boring Again, I changed the Eight Steps of Story Structure to The Nine Steps, adding this step as the official ninth step. In Step Seven you make the point by stating what you learned from the experience. In Step Eight you bring your listener in by asking them if they, like you, have experienced similar challenges. As they are nodding their heads in affirmation, you conclude the story by re-stating your point. This time however, you state it as a call to action. It is more a command or forceful suggestion than a revelation. This is where you also re-introduce the Phrase That Pays.

Using The Nine Steps of Story Structure will make your story crafting easier and insure that you will develop a logically flowing story with a solid point.

“Extra! Extra! Read all about it, Mortgage Bank wins customer service award!”

Sadly, that is a headline we rarely see in the mortgage industry. Banks in general and the mortgage industry in particular have a questionable record when it comes to customer service.The ever present, antagonistic relationship between volume and service plagues organizations as they try to grow. It’s like clockwork, as volume increases, service decreases. It used to be the case that you could just throw money at service issues. Well, those days are gone…at least for now.

Back in the 90s, Harvard researchers James L. Heskett and Leonard Schlesinger did some work that ended up in a book entitled The Service Profit Chain – How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth To Loyalty, Satisfaction and Value.The initial intent of this research was to study the world’s most profitable companies and the strategies they used to be so successful. They quickly realized that none of the companies they researched had strategies around profitability. They did however uncover a chain of (what I call) “hidden drivers” that led to growth and profitability.

Here they are in simple form. The most profitable companies had a large number of loyal customers. Customer loyalty was a result of customer satisfaction which was derived primarily from the perceived value of the service they received from company employees. As it turns out, according to the research, the value that leads to customer satisfaction only comes from satisfied, loyal and productive employees.

A lot of companies miss the connection between “value” and “employee productivity.” You see, it’s not about employees being busy; it’s about employees being busy doing the right things that add “value.”

Finally, they found that employee satisfaction was driven by the internal quality (or culture) of the organization and that the internal quality/culture was ultimately driven by the internal leadership of the company. For years, I have told leaders that “people don’t quit companies, they quit their supervisors.”

Unfortunately, most financial executives believe that value is built into the products or services they sell causing them to jump from Jumbos to high-LTV to ALT-A to ARMs to Option ARMs…well, you know the story.

All attempts to build customer loyalty through loan product marketing have been dismal failures. All attempts to build employee loyalty through higher compensation have only created deeper levels of entitlement and caused companies to go out of business. This isn’t likely to change as long as originators are rewarded for closing deals instead of winning a customer and settlement services partners are scored on the speed with which they run borrowers through the overly complex process.

The federal government’s attempts to legislate some level of customer service into the mortgage business has only caused headaches for lenders and title companies and are not doing much at all to help borrowers shop for a good deal. The only way to foster anything close to customer loyalty in this business is to quit focusing on products and start focusing on our people and the processes in which they carry out.

Even if financial managers make the mistake of equating employee loyalty with higher pay, the new regulations will put even greater pressure on profit margins and they will be forced to look elsewhere to find efficiencies.

Banks will be in for an uphill battle when the industry turns back toward loan origination. Where will they find the money to outbid rivals for top originators that are used to earning $400,000 annually? In the short term they might be able to raise prices but competitive pressures will quickly put a stop to that. They won’t be able to squeeze the originator any further because they’ll just leave for another company. The only thing left is to look internally to improve the culture and operations.

Right or wrong, banks are going to have to find other ways of attracting, motivating and ultimately satisfying these players. Additionally, they are going to have to drastically improve their operations and streamline their workflows. That will require them to not only see their people in new ways but to also rethink how they work. The good news is, there’s a lot of room for improvement of the mortgage process and I can assure you that when you improve the process, you improve profits.

The successful companies will employ strong leadership, smart strategies and even smarter technologies. Leaders will need to realize and embrace the fact that their direct influence on customer satisfaction is minimal at best, but their influence on employee satisfaction can make all the difference. The best leaders have figured out that the way an employee treats a customer is a direct result of how the company and more specifically, their direct supervisor treats them.

In the end, the new attitude that sees people and efficient processes as the bank’s most valuable assets is likely to be the most positive change that comes out of this godforsaken mortgage meltdown. I truly hope it is welcomed as it carries the promise of success.

After years of struggling, frustration and experimentation  I realized that many of the most effective change methodologies are free. We can use them anytime – if we choose. The problem is that we may not recognize them, because they may be too far under our radar of what we believe triggers change.

Some examples of effective, free tools for change include: a handshake, a smile, a kind word, a diplomatic way of telling our truth, a sincere desire to listen (even when we do not like what we hear). These cost only good will, compassion and emotional maturity on our parts. Leaders in troubled groups have found that these and other simple behaviors can reach people who have been cynical for years and have rejected more expensive, “sophisticated” methods. Simple, sincere, genuine behavior without fancy declarations can build trust and work for peace (and profitability) in a community or a business.