My Banker's 3 Money Making Truths

Jeffrey was one of my first business bankers.

He looks cute in his new, black, shiny BMW convertible- but I don't bank there anymore because he was the reason why I came and why I stayed. He got a fat promotion and left my branch.

Nonetheless, what I learned from him is incredibly valuable and significant in business and certainly contributed to his promotion.

He told me:

(1) "Get Them to Like You." Jeffrey is a whiz at this. He is a good listener, passionate, enthusiastic, and most of all; sincere. He would find out about that person, as much information as he could, because he then would:

(2) "Find Out What They Need" After sincerely listening to the prospective customer or client, he'd start making a laundry list of things they might need.

Things such as: referrals. Which is a biggie. Who doesn't need word of mouth business?

Other things such as: Free advertising. Jeffrey would say, "Hey, do you have any business cards that I could put out here in my lobby so I can let our community know about you?"

Money: Who doesn't need operating capital? He'd talk money only after he talked about other needs first, I noticed. He'd often say,"If I can help you, I'll help you- if I can't help you; I have other avenues and access to other means that I'd be glad to open up for you."

(3) "Figure Out How To Fill Their Need" If I've said it once, I'll say it one thousand times, sales people need to SHUT UP AND LISTEN to the needs of their prospects. Figure out what the prospect needs by asking questions. Attentively listen to their answers. Inside each answer, is your potential sale!

Jeffrey once asked our Chamber of Commerce associates in a meeting of which, I'd say probably sixty or so people were in attendance:

"If you bank with me, could you please raise your hand?" Well over half the room banked with Jeffery!

The above three reasons is why.

Fantasy Football? Fantasy Business! Make Your Picks!

Each September, two weeks into the football season, I make my picks. I choose the five teams who, after diligently watching them play, I believe will make the playoffs. The first year I did this, all five of my teams went to the playoffs.

It might interest you to know, I'm usually more accurate than the "experts". Every weekend we print off the lineup where I select who will win. It seems obvious to me, because let's say you have a team like the Detroit Lions, and let's say they're set to play the Atlanta Falcons. You know the Lion's track record, (el stinko) you know the Falcons, (ain't too shabby) the Falcons are going to win. When it's a little closer match up, you have to take into account a few other factors. Are there any injuries of key players? Are they on the road? Things like that.

I could be a bookie- I'm really that good.

In business, assembling winners is same way. Here's what I do.

I build a winning team of advisers and people who are much more skilled than I am. Here's my team:

(1) My Accountant: Jeffery. Who's always giving example after example of how some poor slob out there almost was flushed down the drain irretrievably by the I.R.S. But Daaaa, Taaaa, Daaaaa! Super Jeffery AccountMan saved the day!

(2) My Attorney: Chuck. You don't ever want Chuck to be listed as opposing council. At three hundred dollars an hour and worth every penny (but sometimes I say, "Dude, talk fast.") he knows the score. He has a son, Chad. Chad's real smart too, but he kinda looks like Opie- so I always ask, "Could you go get your Dad?"

(3) My book keeper: Diana. Her tag line is: "I Do Book Keeping on Purpose". She's a no-nonsense, you better not play around and I'll be having none of that foolishness here- woman. She does all my invoicing, which I suck at and have no time for. We tease her privately, that she says to my clients and to us:
"Write a check- bitches."

(4) My bankers: Kenda and Tom. To look at Kenda, you'd think she's far too pretty to know much about banking, (Oooh, all those zeros!) but you'd be dead wrong. She might be a babe, but she's my banking babe. Last year, when Tom loaned me some money, he said, "On one condition."
"What's that?"
"That you teach me Michael Jackson's Thriller."

(5) My Staffing Company- Nate and Gayla. They send me qualified employees so I don't have to waste time running these type of people down. Speaking of a new hire they made for me last week: Nate said, "I had to take two aspirins after she left. I mean, she was so over the top, she wore me out! She''ll be perfect for you."

(6) Financial Advisor & Tax Guru: Ted. Ted's been with me the longest. Eight years ago, when I began business number one, he told me to: "Treat it like a 'hobby' for now." My husband took a lot of pride in pointing out to him: "That hobby of hers made more in one year than a lot of people's jobs!"

Now that my winning team is in place, get ready for kick off!

Create, Promote and Sell!

That's what I'm up to when my team is playing. More tomorrow about how I create, promote and sell!

Play ball!