Whole Brain Thinking
by Sean Briscombe, Provident Mortgage Group, Georgetown, Texas
My parents just retired and have a sizeable retirement account that they are starting to withdrawal from. Their home is paid off, and I have been trying to convince them for the past five years or more that the equity isn’t doing anything for them. Their tax liability is actually going to kill the golden “nest egg” that they worked so hard to accumulate. I’ve used every different pie chart and graph I could use…I’ve shown them spreadsheet after spreadsheet until I’m blue in the face! Nothing I’ve done has convinced them to change or do something different or unique! No amount of number crunching, or analysis has helped.
They, like their parents before them, have been doing what they were told and sticking to their “plan” for retirement. They have encouraged me, unsuccessfully I might add, to do the same. In fact, when I was growing up, they told me to study hard in school so that I could get a good job and retire with a gold watch. They encouraged me to become a lawyer, doctor, accountant or software programmer, or learn a skill set where I’d work for another company (preferably one with a good 401K and benefits), so that I could be competitive in the job market. They wanted me to be proficient in math and science so that I could compete in the new “information age”…but…sadly…Mom and Dad were flat out wrong!
For the last 10 years (or more) we have been inundated with the phrases “information superhighway” or “information age.” Things are done faster, cheaper and with super efficiency! But is that the best way to approach and connect with your customers? Yes, it can make our lives easier…yes, technology and the internet can help us to communicate with our clients, help us run our businesses, and can even help us to get more business. But everywhere we turn we see that our jobs and other jobs are being outsourced and automated; done faster and more efficiently online or over seas. If you don’t have a “web page” now, you don’t exist. So we “follow the crowd” and do what everyone else is doing…we try to create efficiencies in our business by “helping” our clients get to the information they want (or think they want) on our new and improved websites and other “information driven” tools just like everyone else is doing.
Wait…didn’t mom and dad also say, “just because everyone else is doing something doesn’t mean that you should too?” Now I’m really confused! For example, if you Google (the simple fact that we’ve incorporated the verb, “to Google” into our vocabulary is evidence of what we’re talking about) “Mortgage Calculators,” you’ll find approximately 8,460,000 results or sites with mortgage calculators. Again, if computers can do it faster, or if your job can be outsourced to China or India, guess what? You’re in jeopardy of loosing your job! It’s that simple. The “hyper connectivity” of the internet, the ability to get information about anything we want, coupled with the fact that it’s cheaper to get the same skill sets over seas in China or India, has created a huge gap between what is truly needed (and wanted) by clients and what they are getting. If I’m Joe & Mary Lunchbucket, and I want to know what rates are doing, can’t I go online to Bankrate.com and see what rates are doing? Likewise, if I’m shopping for a home, I can go online and within the blink of an eye I can have the information I need on homes in my area at my finger tips. So why do I, as a client, need you as a Realtor? Why do I need you as a Loan Officer? The sad truth is that I don’t!
Instant feedback from clients and community is also becoming more and more important in today’s market place. It seems that everyone now has a “Blog.” Blogging is becoming a part of how we give and get feedback on products and services. If a client has a bad experience at a hotel, or with a business, you can now go online and instantly read about that experience! If someone is shopping around for the best products and services, they can get instant feedback and information about anything they want. So, again, why does someone need a Realtor or Loan Officer? Is it just to get the numbers and take care of the loan or the home purchase? If so, there’s little to no value in that! Anyone can do it, and guess what? They’re starting to outsource those positions as well!
So what should we expect from now on? There is a new era of thought out there, and those of us who embrace it will be rewarded. Those of you who don’t will be crushed like a bug! Due to many unforeseeable problems like the “sub-prime mortgage meltdown,” and the “credit market chaos,” and all the other “stories” the media is cramming down our clients’ throats, it’s critical that we take charge of our business future and the Mortgage Planning movement!
In Daniel Pink’s book, “A Whole New Mind,” he argues that “The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of "left brain" dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which "right brain" qualities-inventiveness, empathy, meaning-predominate.” Pink tells us that, “The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind – computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind – creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. These people – artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, big picture thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.”
So, how do we capitalize on this new era? How do we shift gears and change our business to deliver more “high touch/high concept” ideas? We are moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computer-like capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and a society built on the inventive, empathic, big picture capabilities of what’s rising in its place, the Conceptual Age. People are uneasy in their careers and dissatisfied with their lives. Entrepreneurs and business leaders are eager to stay ahead of the next wave. Why? Well, once peoples’ basic needs are met, they want more. We’re in an age of abundance unlike any time in our planet’s history! We have more access to more STUFF today, than ever before…people are searching for higher level needs. Like what, you ask? Well, to start out, they all understand that their basic human needs are being met (food, water, clothing, shelter). Professional success and personal satisfaction increasingly will depend on higher value needs like; design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning.
Dr. Edwards Demming, who was responsible for the rise of the Japanese auto manufacturing during the 80’s, created a system and a process so precise that he knew what the financial outcome would be before they completed the process. In fact, he said, “94% of all failures are due to a lack of process.” He also knew that almost all business is won in the first 15% of your process. What is your process? Do you even have one? Do you know how much money your process will make you next year? If not, get clear with your purpose!
You need to ask yourself questions such as what do I want to do for my clients? How do I clearly communicate that mission and purpose to my clients? How do I bridge the gap between my client’s current reality (financial/life imbalance) and the ideal (connecting all the dots in their life)?
More clients are looking for direction and meaning in their lives. They are feeling confused, isolated, and powerless! Again, with everything happening in today’s markets, it’s no wonder they feel that way. Between last decade’s “dot bomb,” corporate scandals like Enron, and, more recently, the mortgage meltdown, clients are looking fore guidance and assurance that you will be able to provide them with what they need. They want leadership in the confusion, relationship or confidence when they feel isolated, and creativity and capability when they feel powerless!
It becomes incumbent upon us to take that business relationship to the next level. We need to give more than just GFE’s, and numbers! It becomes our job – no, our vocation – to help our clients connect all the dots between what you do (managing and maximizing their home asset) and what they are searching for (meaning, purpose, family, relationships, legacy, knowledge, experience).
How do you connect a mortgage to your client’s life? Start by asking yourself (and your clients) these questions: “If we were to meet here three years from now, looking back on those three years, what has to have happened for you to feel good about your progress? What dangers do we need to minimize over the next few years for you to be ok? What opportunities do we need to capture? What strengths do we need to maximize in order to get the most out of your goals?”
You see, for the next 15 years, it doesn’t matter how many homes you’ve sold (as a Realtor), or how much volume you’ve done in loans! It doesn’t matter how much you’ve spent on your website (though that is important for you to run any successful business). It doesn’t matter if you were ranked number one in your area as a Realtor or Loan Officer! Other people don’t care about your accomplishments like you do. In fact, people don’t care at all how “interesting” you are until they feel that you are “interested” in them. Once you can prove to them that you’re interested in them and their goals, only then will you win their relationship.
The six skills that you must master in order to do this, according to Daniel Pink, are design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. If you can master these skills, then you will be highly successful in the coming years!
Design - Can you create something that is emotionally desirable? Take a look at the iPod for example. At first glance, it’s just another walkman, but looking further it’s basically your whole life…portable! Apple has created significance with the iPod. It’s your stuff! It’s your life, and it’s really cool!
Is your mortgage plan customized? If you’re a client, and you’re shopping around and you realize that you can go to some internet lender, or you can have my mortgage plan created and customized to fit your life…and then monitored on an ongoing basis…Which would you choose?
Story - Can you fashion a compelling narrative? Do you tell a story that others can relate to? Remember, they must be able to relate it to their world - not yours. Yours doesn’t matter to them. What was your first home purchase like? What mistakes did you make? What did you learn?
Symphony - This is not analysis, but synthesis! This is their vision plus their dreams to equal your strategy! Baby boomers make up 83 million people (that’s a pretty big market), and most of them are lacking a plan for their future. If you can create a game plan and design it to be customized to their world, imagine what you can accomplish for them! This is the one thing that cannot be outsourced or done on the internet. This is the “HOW TO”! The “how to” is the key to the future!
Empathy - What makes your fellow man tick? What drives their decisions? We need to be more transparent with ourselves. What are your fears? What do you not do well?? What are you NOT telling your customers? Start telling them what mistakes you’ve made in the past. This is what people are searching for…not just rates and fees!
Play - This is the most underutilized skill out there. This goes back to the higher needs. Once people’s basic needs are met, they want to play! We’re in an age of abundance. Everything that we “need” is already here. People want to have fun, so give it to them.
Meaning - People are looking for meaning in their lives now more than ever before. Don’t believe me? How many of you have seen the movie, “The Secret?” If you haven’t, find someone who has it, or go online and get it. People want meaning and purpose in their lives. No matter how small it is. Always go back to meaning and purpose with your clients. Remember Mr. & Mrs. Lunchbucket? You could tell them, “We’re refinancing your home to pull cash out to restructure your debt, so that you have more money to put into your retirement plan so that you can spend more time with your children whom you’ve lost touch with!” And their response, ”Oh yeah…that’s why we’re doing this refi…to reconnect with our family”.
My hope is that you make 2008 the year for change. Make it the year that you’re gonna do things differently… better…shake them up a bit…try something creative and unique! I’m going to, and I can promise you that if you’re not doing so as well, and we’re competing for a client…who’s going to win that client?