Book of Business – What’s The Point?

Session 2 this past week, where we review and rate our progress implementing each of the first three systems in the new Floyd Wickman Program (Book of Business, Referral Lead Generator and SMART Week) and where we as trainers ask the question, “What’s the point?”

Let me create a little context for this question.

This week, Melinda (one of my Chicago students) generated 12 referral leads the first day of calling her Book of Business. And then I’m thinking of Mark, one of our graduates and current coaching students, who reported 4 referral leads this week from his Book of Business, but they all called him. He concluded, “Imagine how many more leads I would have if I had called everyone in my Book of Business more often!”

And so we ask the question, “What’s the point?” What is the point of building a salable Book of Business? Or, more to the point, why does Floyd teach us to think Book of Business first? As he might ask it, “If you’re going to spend a nickel of your money, or a second of your time, or an ounce of your energy working a source of leads, why do I want you to narrow your focus to just building referral relationships with your best 200 referral sources?”

Because when you try to work everybody, what do you generally end up with? Nobody!

Now there are lots of additional reasons why – because it’s the SMART thing to do; because it’s your assignment; because your clients deserve to be taken care of after you’re gone; because you want to build a business worth buying; because it’s the path of least resistance; because cold calling is obsolete; because it’s the least painful method of lead generation ever . . . and on and on.

But the point is that Floyd understands the power of focused attention, and wants us to understand it and apply it to our business.

Jus this past week I asked my class in Chicago, “Describe the marketing strategy you have observed most agents using to build their business – has it been focused or all over the place?” You know the answer already, don’t you?

Let’s get even more basic. I’ve been told by the IT experts from company after company, that almost ALL real estate agents do not have a working database of prospects, clients, friends, family, sphere of influence, etc. in other words, a Book of Business.

Yikes!

Here is a wonderful, insightful quote from one of my newly discovered sources of inspiration, the 100 year old Master Key System, by Charles Haanel (from Ann Arbor!) about the power of focused attention:

“The cultivation of attention is the distinguishing characteristic of every successful man or woman, and is the very highest personal accomplishment. The power of attention can be readily understood by comparing it with a magnifying glass in which the rays of the sun are focused; they possess no particular strength as long as the glass is moved about and the rays directed from one place to another; but let the glass be held perfectly still and let the rays be focused on one spot for any length of time, the effect will become immediately apparent. So it is with the power of thought; let power be dissipated by scattering the thought from one object to another, and no result is apparent; but focus this power through attention on any single purpose for any length of time and nothing becomes impossible.”

I wish I could give you unlimited time, money and energy. Unfortunately, life and business don’t work that way. We have limited resources, which makes it all the more critical to choose wisely how to use those resources.

Take that magnifying glass Floyd gave you – and focus your attention on building AND maintaining your salable Book of Business – before you run out of money, time and energy.