Happy Sunday Everyone:
I’ve been trying to work with a new business partner for a few months. He’s a big producer, has always been on my radar, we know of each other, but I had never been too intentional about trying to meet with him. A few months back I had sent out a video, he asked to unsubscribe, I thought “hmmm”. Fast forward last month, I was talking at an event, I was introduced to him after by another great business partner, when it was just the two of us, I said, “you know you asked me to unsubscribe you”. His response “if we worked together, I’d still have asked to unsubscribe”, we laughed, and agreed to get together. Fast forward to two weeks ago, we had lunch, it went well, was fun, didn’t feel like work. As we’re finishing up, he said “alright, let’s role play”. I thought he meant here and now, which was fine with me. As I’m getting ready, he said “no, not now, go back to your office, reach out to me like I’m a lead, and we’ll go through the whole process from start to finish so i can see how your team operates”.
I’ve done a few loans in my 20 years of lending, I have never in my career had this request from a business partner. Yes-I’ve done many personal loans for my business partners, yes, I have a bulletproof mapped out documented process that I can share with anyone that wants it on how we operate, but I’m telling you, being asked to role play your process with a new business partner from start to finish is totally different and a complete eye opener. Friday, I had my initial call(zoom) with him, we’re literally role-playing questions and answers, we might go off track and laugh our asses off about something, but then we’d get back on track and keep going. We get done, I explain next steps to the process, and then we stop role playing and I get feedback. I didn’t ask specifically for a grade, but I’d say he’d give me an A-. From a process and purpose standpoint, my mind is blowing up with how much tighter I need to be. The process component of it is more simple, that’s the blueprint we’ve documented from lead intake to the funding of the loan. I’m talking about everything in between, it’s the messaging we’re conveying, it’s the impression we want to leave, it’s the questions we need answers to. Coaching for 12 years, we have all of this, ideal business partner, ideal client, ideal team member, mission statements, core values, mapped out calendars, call lists, daily tasks, daily team meetings, you name it, we have it, role playing your client experience with a new business partner is different and something I’d suggest every one of us who wants to improve, does. I can’t wait to continue with the process.
I was speaking with a group of business partners Wednesday, and I brought up the example of Kim and I sitting at a Mexican restaurant, it was the just two of us, 5 servers, and 2 bartenders, it took us 10 minutes to get chips/water, we walked out. It’s really easy when things get slow to get lazy, get sloppy, get worse. My personal opinion, this market is going to create some winners, and a lot of losers. The winners will recalibrate, retool, rework, and tighten up their processes from start to finish, the losers will hope that what got them some bigger checks in 2020-2022 will continue into the future, and my guess is they’d be wrong.
This isn’t for everyone, I get it, but spending time with my new friend, getting real feedback on messaging, thinking of going back to all our team members to hear what they’re saying how they’re saying it, being more intentional than ever before on the client experience in every category is something I’m fired up to do. There is a reason there is a show called “undercover boss”. This isn’t about me checking up on our team, it’s about our team getting better by intentionally testing the client experience. It’s not an original thought here, I get that, but I’d just ask when was the last time you tested your systems?