How Can I Help You?
My mission is to create a community of emotionally connected leaders and inspire men to feel more, be more, and do more. I don’t know about you, but I get immense fulfillment from helping others achieve their dreams. I think we all like to help others get ahead. Have you ever noticed that most people […]
What Gets Measured Gets Managed
Peter Drucker is one of the most often quoted business management guru’s. He has been referred to as “The founder of modern management.” I have learned to appreciate his wisdom over the years and often look to his work in order to help me “Get things done”. This week I want to unpack the following […]
Everything is Sales: Simple sales tools for everybody, everywhere
Most people think sales is icky The truth is that sales is a part of everything we do. I love selling. I think it is one of the most underrated skills on the planet. Everything is sales and today I am going to tell you why you need to be a better salesperson. I’m also […]
My Favourite TED talks of all time
During the winter of 2012/2013 I spent a ridiculous amount of time in my basement either on the treadmill or on the bike trainer as I trained for triathlon that year. In preparation for the winter hours of indoor running and cycling I set up a 50″ SmartTV with a TED app on it directly […]
6 Practices to Becoming a Better Listener
So we all know, or should know, that one of the keys to a successful relationship on any level is to be a good listener. Whether we are talking about sales, family, spouse or friends our ability to truly hear what the other is saying is a critical component for a healthy relationship. For someone […]
Worried about your sales pipeline?
The other day someone asked the question in the Facebook group, I love Mortgage Brokering, “At what point do you start worrying about your pipeline. I happened to be the first reply. I talked about how unproductive it is to even fret about it at all. I don’t give any merit to paying attention to your […]
Expectations: The key to a stellar customer experience
This article will change your life. No seriously, I mean it. This article all by itself will in fact change your life. At this point in my career if I have to get involved in a file it’s likely because it has gone sideways. I can’t tell you how many files I have had to […]
Mortgage Forum 2015 Recap
Wow!! Where to start with Mortgage Forum 2015. This year for me was certainly a different experience than ever before. First off let, we have one of the most incredible industries on the planet. On the heels of the greatest tragedy I have ever experienced in my life, I knew Mortgage Forum 2015 was […]
Episode 37: Bob Burg – The Go-Giver; The 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success
Can a subtle shift in focus really make that big of a difference in your business and in your income? Our guest says, “Absolutely, yes!” Bob Burg is a sought-after speaker at company leadership and sales conferences. He regularly addresses audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000. He has shared the platform with notables […]
Episode 35: Richard Robbins – Delivering the Unexpected
Richard Robbins is Co-founder and CEO of Richard Robbins International, a global sales and business coaching organization that amassed over $50 million dollars in revenue worldwide in its first ten years alone. The organization’s explosive 3000% growth is attributed largely to the transformational impact Richard Robbins’ unique methodologies have had, and continue to have, on the […]
Episode 34: Peri Shawn – Profitable Conversations
Peri Shawn is an award winning author who specializes in working with leaders who want to get better results. She works on helping people think better so that they can do better. She is known as a profitable conversation expert and I think you will find this conversation will be extremely profitable. Sales is both […]
What if you were born with super powers but nobody showed you how to use them?
** Note: This article had the potential to go off on a number of different tangents. Rather than try and explore every concept in detail I have highlighted my takeaways and provided links to further information where appropriate. Listen to the podcast in it’s entirety ** Do you believe strongly in life long learning? Do […]
#26 Fred Sarkari: Adventures of a Pyscotherapist
In this episode I talk to Fred Sarkari who is a licensed Psychotherapist. We talk a lot about human behavior and how to shape the behaviors that we want. Fred takes a scientific approach to behavior patterns and looks at how we can understand why we do what we do. Whether we are talking about […]
Episode 23: Gloria Roheim McRae – Playing with the possibilities
I had the pleasure of meeting Gloria and her husband Ricardo at the Starting Point Entrepreneurship Conference at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax this February. Gloria is a remarkable young woman who has done all of the things that you are “supposed to” do to notch success in this life. Then finding that unfulfilling struck […]
Episode 18: Cold calling is dead, Long live the cold call
As we head into the new year and start thinking about the things that we want to accomplish in 2015, I thought I’d share an experience that presented it self to me all wrapped up with a pretty bow on it -yes, just like a Christmas present! You’ll have to stay tuned to my upcoming […]
Episode 11: Conversation with Dan Putnam
Dan Putnam is a true industry leader that has seen a variety of the different sides of the mortgage business. Dan has advanced through a number of different leadership roles and has experience ranging from brokering, to running a small independent brokerage, to heading up one of the largest national broker franchises, to senior executive […]
Episode 5: The power of the podcast
As I continue to share my podcast with the world I am realizing that I am in fact not the last person on the planet to discover them. I thought I would take the time to talk a little about the value that I see in podcasts in general, talk a little about the technical […]
Episode 4: Two words to avoid in your professional life at all costs
It happened. I caught myself doing it today, September 2, 2014 . I swore I would never do it and there I was doing exactly that. As I started hanging up the phone I knew exactly what I had done. And it pissed me off. But let’s back up. It’s 2006 and I’m travelling back […]
Episode 3: Take my money please!
One of the things that I look for on a daily basis when I interact with other businesses is how they run their sales process and how it makes me feel as a customer . I had an interesting experience this summer that really highlights the need for a “Connecting the Dots” approach to your sales […]
Episode 2: The Challenge/Support Balance
I believe that the path to growth is paved with the right balance of challenge and support. Whether we are talking about an organization or an individual this holds true. Challenge is the catalyst for change. Finding the right balance between challenge and support is critical. If there is too much challenge without enough support […]
Episode 1: Connecting the Dots
If you have followed me on social media at all you know that I love to share. I love to share my experiences and more importantly I love to share my learning moments. I find that sharing really helps me solidify the lesson in my own life and hopefully I can help make an impact […]
Four questions you should ask about your prospect
As sales professionals most of us are, or should be familiar with the term “qualify your prospect”. The question though is what does that really mean in today’s environment? There are a lot more things going on today then in the past when it comes to this concept and I thought we should talk about them. […]
Sell it with a story
Since most of us were small children we have been fascinated with stories. From Dr. Suess to the brothers Grimm, we have all been captivated at one point or another by a great story. We use stories on a daily basis. Whether we are telling tall tales about our weekend to co-workers on Monday or […]
You have to suck before you succeed
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/162010475″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]Many of the business lessons I’ve learned of late have come from my experience as an amateur triathlete. It is interesting having conversations with individuals who have watched my journey from the beginning up to my Ironman experience to date. For many who have an interest in fitness I […]
Imagination: How it helped me persuade
Many of us are familiar with visualization techniques in achieving goals. Many of these techniques were popularized by the book “The Secret” published in 2006. Dr. Maxwell Maltz wrote about the power of imagination in his book PsychoCybernetics first published in 1960. Dr. Maltz explores the science of self image and has set many of […]
Want better results? Ask better questions
In a world where we are constantly searching for answers, I was reminded last week at a conference I attended that often times the answer is to question. Huh?!? OK, I know It may sound like some goofy new age thought but often times you can get what you want by simply asking better questions. […]
Everybody do the hustle: new business today is easier than ever
If you want to be successful in any sales career there is simply no replacement for good old fashioned hard work. The bottom line is you will need to get up off your comfy chair and hit the streets making connections. It really isn’t rocket science but for some reason we tend to either forget that, […]
A Tale of Two Tailors: A lesson in sales
OK, well they’re not really tailors. More high end men’s clothing retailers but the alliteration in the title sounded better this way ;0). I really enjoy wearing a nice suit. As a businessman there is nothing more satisfying then getting all decked out in a new suit. This is a story contrasting two different shopping […]
Your most powerful sales tool
[display_podcast]It’s funny how we find that some of our most powerful learning moments don’t come from hearing something new, but usually from looking at something we already know from a new angle. Last week we had Genworth come out and do a training session for our team on Effective Networking and Selling Skills. The presentation […]
ISTAR: Changing lives through communication
Last Friday I had the privilege of being invited to a luncheon for one of the charities that our company supports through our affiliation with REALTORS® Community Foundation. I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but had been encouraged to attend. I was honestly expecting a fancy luncheon where they sold donors […]
Emotion: The key to inspiring action
If you want to inspire action, you’ve got to evoke emotion. This is an important thing to consider when we look to inspire others to action. Whether it be our children, our spouse or our consumers. If you think about anything in your life that has compelled you to act there is usually a strong […]
The Power of The Follow UP Call
A couple of weeks ago my car broke down and was going to be out of commission for at least a week (don’t ask. That’s another blog post). I found myself in a position where I needed to rent a vehicle for at least a week. Since I broke down in Red Deer and needed […]
For the love of reading; Passion is contagious!
Have you ever wondered why some people burn an indelible impression in your mind and others you forget the minute they walk out the door? Have you ever wondered why some conversations leave a lasting mark and make an impact on your life and others are gone with the wind? Why is it that our […]
Do you believe in the tooth fairy?
Well, this week my 9 year old decided to test the theory that the tooth fairy is real. Mikaela lost a tooth this week that has been hanging on and hanging on. It finally came out and she handed it to me and I left it on the kitchen counter on a kleenex. Well of […]
It’s not rocket science folks!
The following is an article I wrote back in 2007 and came across as we redefine our business processes. I thought it was worthy of republishing. You are well on your way to becoming a “successful” mortgage agent. You have worked hard, learned from your mistakes and believe in life long learning. Now your efforts […]
Why I drop kicked Mark Messier
Alright so I didn’t exactly drop kick Mark Messier but I did cross paths with him at an event in Las Vegas last week. It was the opening day of our very first corporate national conference. We held the event at the Venetian Hotel on the strip. The first event after the registration desk closed […]
Telus: Customer Service via Twitter?
So late last year my wife convinced me that we needed PVR anywhere. Yes, that is right, PVR Anywhere. Our Shaw system with one PVR just wasn’t cutting it. I mean really, what if we want to watch a show in the basement or up in our bedroom? Heaven forbid we be inconvenienced by not […]
Are you a salesperson?
Do you view yourself as a salesperson? I would suggest you probably should. Let’s start with the definition of sales. The exchange of a good or service for money; the action of selling something. If you earn a living in one way shape or form than whether you are self employed or employed by someone […]
Relationship Marketing Revisited
Recently, Chris Smith from Inman Next published a blog post entitled “Real Estate is no longer a Relationship Business“. While I agree with the sentiment, I completely disagree with the title and what it implies. First off understand I am not a Real Estate Agent, I am a mortgage broker and while our industries our […]
Providing “Value”, Part 3
In my last couple of posts I talked about some of the ways that I have observed people “provide value” in interesting or unique ways. In this post I wanted to share a story of one of the ways my team found to ‘provide value’ to a builder who is a valued referral source. One […]
“VALUE” COMES IN MANY SHAPES AND SIZES: PART 2
In my last post Part 1 of this topic I talked about the challenges of providing value via social media or otherwise to attract prospective clients or referral sources. In this post I am going to continue with that same line of thought and give you an example of how someone else found a unique […]
The HOME Program
The following is an article that was written and published in the Canadian Mortgage Professional magazine. You can view the HOME Program website here. The article below focuses on my participation but it is important to note that we have many fabulous people who make the program happen. Not the least of which is the […]
“Value” comes in many shapes and sizes: Part 1
One of the things you will often hear from the marketing gurus out there is the constant talk about ‘value’. The concept is that you can’t just be spewing product information and pushing your message out to the masses. People have become resistant to this kind of marketing. You need to provide ‘value’ is the […]
Some folks get it… and some they don’t
So since I started getting on this social media bandwagon, I’ve been really paying attention to how companies interact with the public. Especially on Twitter. I have run into a few different experiences that I thought I would document that really highlight the difference between those companies that ‘get it’ and those that don’t. It […]
The Power of Social Media
About a month ago I was asked to come do a presentation at a lunch and learn in a fairly casual setting. I discussed a few subjects with the organizer and we settled on what I would entitle “Relationship based selling in a digital world”. My thought was I would do a sales presentation that […]
Lessons from Twitter on Accountability and Transparency
You will hear all kinds of words used to describe how to interact on social media. You will hear about authenticity, you will hear about engagement. The two most powerful words when it comes to social media and especially Twitter are Accountability and Transparency. I had just recently started using Twitter and had talked to […]