COACHING Vs MENTORING – Which Is Right For You?

 

COACHING Vs MENTORING – Which Is Right For You?

 

As Zig Ziglar said, “A lot of people have gone further than they  thought they could because someone else thought they could.” 

(“What's the Difference Between a Coach and a Mentor? - Forbes”)

 

In today’s world, it may seem that there may be coaches for any and everything. When we originally used the word coach, it was used to reference those who coached sports teams – hockey coaches, football coaches, tennis coaches – you get the drift. Today we have life coaches, money coaches, marriage coaches, executive coaches, entrepreneurial coaches, and the list goes on.

Having a career coach can help you to become laser focused on your specific discipline and achieve success and growth faster. Coaches will help you to tap into your inner self and bring out character traits that sometimes the individual being coached may not even know they have. In the mortgage industry, coaching and mentorship is critical to succeeding in an industry that has an exceedingly high fail rate along with new entrants who never realize their full potential.

In most instances, coaches usually have some experience in the same field as the individuals they are coaching, but not necessarily. Some may just be able to inspire others to greatness and success by instilling in them certain habits and abilities which are critical to continuous growth. The relationship with the coach can be temporary or permanent. Meaning the coaching does not have to stop but it is dependent on what the individual wants out of the relationship and the process.

Mentoring is both similar and different from coaching. A mentor is usually someone who has experience and wisdom in a particular profession or discipline or on a specific subject and is able to share it to help others succeed. Mentoring can be quite informal and can take the form of conversations between two individuals where ideas are shared with the expectation of benefit to one or both parties. I have found mentorship to be more fulfilling when both the mentor and the mentee go away from the conversation with a feeling of fulfillment.

Many mentorships can last a lifetime and those are usually the ones with the more successful outcomes. Up to today I still reflect and implement many of the things I learned along the way from the many mentors I have had. The best mentors for me where those who did not even know they were mentoring me but much of who they were in their specific fields and accomplishments is what I wished to become and accomplish.

Before you decide whether you need a coach or a mentor, sit down and do some self-evaluation to determine what is the outcome you expect and what are the gaps that you wish to have filled so your professional and personal journey is smoother than most and does not include a series of avoidable mistakes.

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Digitizing Your Business As A Mortgage Professional

 

Being a mortgage broker today means succeeding online and having a digital brand that clients want to work with.
 
"Business strategist Michael Harrison of Strategies Plus Concepts asks: are you playing by the new rules of broking?" (“The five new rules of broking | Mortgage Professional Australia”)
 
The world has changed. The internet has had an enormous impact on the business of mortgage broking. It has changed the way we think and, more importantly, it has changed the way our clients think and act.
 
This change is accelerating for three main reasons. Firstly, the internet offers instant access. Snail mail has been replaced by email for 90% of transactions. Digital tools let us share videos, send claims updates by SMS and ‘auto-respond’ to inquiries. We do not want to wait anymore.
 
Secondly, the internet is interactive. Communication is more immediate and effective. A Skype video call lets you talk face-to-face with clients and share documents at the same time. Social media sites have become the new frontiers for prospecting, and QR codes instantly connect people to our websites.
 
Finally, this is all inexpensive. Once you have an internet connection, you are in touch with the entire world. This necessitates some new rules for mortgage brokers…
 
Out of sight is out of business
Where is the first place you go to look for information? Google. We are all the same. If you cannot find a person or company on Google you think they either do not exist or, if they do, they are not too relevant. A Google search proves that they exist and have some currency. When was the last time you used the Yellow Pages, except as a doorstop? Why would you? Everything you need to know, from contact details to a satellite view of a building, is on the internet, so make sure you are there too.
 
Being a supplier is no longer enough
If you are going to feature prominently, you must be an authority and not just a supplier. It is not enough anymore just to say, “Here I am – I am an mortgage broker.” You must be recognized for knowing something about mortgages. Seth Godin is a marketing authority. He is regarded as an expert, not just because he knows about marketing but because he speaks about it, blogs about it, makes videos about it and authors books about it. In fact, there are more online searches for Seth Godin than there are for ‘marketing.’ In the digital world you need a footprint in multiple channels.
 
You must give to get
Billboards, telemarketing, and the constant barrage of advertisements on television have made us cynical and suspicious. If all you see is someone’s website or Google advertisement on the internet, you lose interest. If, on the other hand, you offer something worthwhile up front, then the client is more likely to interact with you. It might be a free guide to investment properties or an e-book about buying your first home. Give something first to attract interest in what you have to say.

 
Deliver an experience
It is not enough anymore to say, “I sell this.” You must make people feel part of your community. Are they welcomed like friends? Do they have special status; an after-hours number to call in an emergency; an invitation to your mortgage brokering webinar; a seat at your private economic update briefing held in your boardroom each quarter (which of course you record and webcast for those who couldn’t make it)?
 
Think digital, act analogue
The internet is an enabler; it provides a plethora of digital tools. But relationships are analogue events and mortgage brokers are in the relationships business. The key to growth and credibility is to use the power of the digital world to enhance your client relationships. Salesforce.com allows you to track client contact details; shoeboxed.com allows you to photograph all those business cards you collected over the years for automatic inclusion in your newsletter list; simplebooklet.com lets you create compelling and engaging content on the web and across mobile devices to engage your clients and prospects; and newspaper websites let you email articles of specific interest to selected clients. All of these are accessible from your smartphone.
 
Polaroid cameras went out of business because they missed the digital photography revolution. Encyclopaedia Britannica missed the digital tsunami that created Wikipedia. Microsoft missed the tablet revolution started by Apple’s iPad and is left trying to catch up. The digital revolution for mortgage brokers is here now.

 

 

DO YOU MAKE RESOLUTIONS OR PLANS? LET US GET PREPARED FOR 2023

 

As we go from the old year to the new year many of us make resolutions or plans. Things we wish to achieve in the new year. The challenge with resolutions is that most of them are not worth the paper they are written on as we mostly fall short. While our plans are what we work on continually adjusting as the environment around us changes. Plans are usually what gets us to our goals and are usually over an extremely specific time period. Like planning to learn to ride a motorcycle by spring. Or learning to speak Spanish by August. Or buying a small multi family property by summer. These are predetermined goals that involve planning.

For many of us who are real estate investors or those planning to start investing in real estate this year, 2022 has been a year of highs and lows – higher interest rates and lower house prices. This has happened both in the US and Canada as both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada made upward rate adjustments to slow down a runaway real estate sector and inflation. Has it worked? The jury is still out. But what it has undoubtedly done is create opportunities in the real estate sector in many urban centres to purchase properties at prices today that are significantly lower than they were in spring 2022, but perhaps more importantly it has also removed the highly competitive buying environment where buyers were forced to remove conditions in order to even get a place at the vendors' table.

So, what are you going to do about it? Time to put your team of advisors together and start looking at opportunities to buy in those major urban centres and build your real estate portfolio one door at a time, There are several ways to do this. You can invest in single family residential homes, small multifamily homes or condominiums and townhomes across a variety of price ranges. Working the numbers is critical – down payment in relation to purchase price and rental income in relation to mortgage payments, property taxes and other expenses. Positive cashflow should always be the aim along with property appreciation either passively or forced by property upgrades or rezoning.

So let us not procrastinate but get the search engines revved up and start looking for opportunities that fit your short and long term real estate investment goals. Remember we are making plans not resolutions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND TO YOUR PURPOSE IN 2023

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Let Us Get Acquainted Since I Have A Few Things To Share With You

 

Welcome to my blog – The Beginner’s Playbook to Successful Real Estate Investing (One Door at A Time) This blog was birthed out of my experience or rather lack of experience as a novice real estate investor and the many mistakes I made and the losses I incurred as a result. Let me tell you a bit about myself. I graduated from university in 1989 with a degree in Geography and Economics with an emphasis on social and urban geography and demographics.

After graduating, I migrated from the Caribbean (Guyana to be exact) to Toronto, Canada. Quite a culture shock. High-rises, highways, and subways welcomed me to this busy, vibrant, and cosmopolitan city which moved at a pace I had never experienced before. I found me a job in retail and quickly got into management at the store level but was hungry for more. So, I got licensed as an insurance and investment advisor, joined an investment and insurance company got me two nice suits, some crisp white cotton shirts, a few paisley print silk ties, a pair of ox blood Cole Haans, a gold watch with a Cartier band and I was on my way to success. Alas if only it was that easy. I failed miserably, had my brand-new leased car voluntarily repossessed and had to go back to the drawing board.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, I had fallen in love with wearing nice suits, so going back to the drudgery of working retail definitely was not part of my master plan.  The McMillan Group was founded in 1995 by me as an investment, insurance, and financial planning consultancy. We had no clients and no revenue, so I opted for a job with one of Canada’s largest banks. Great move at the time. I spent two years there and it was time well spent. Why? They trained me very well. Not only by providing a thorough understanding of financial products and markets but by coaching me on how to deal with high net worth and high value clients and making me aware of the power of branding. 

In 1999, I left the bank got licensed as a mortgage broker and set up shop, focusing on real estate financing, working primarily with residential and small commercial property buyers. As the clients evolved, so did their need for professional advice. As they began investing in real estate, their service needs changed. To meet the needs of our changing client base, I began providing consultancy services in the residential and commercial real estate market. This involves helping clients convert single-family homes to multi-family homes, land development and purchasing properties for long term, short term and vacation rentals in Canada, parts of the U.S. and the Caribbean.

So now with all that I have learned over the almost three decades. And with the amount of insight, I have gleaned from the cross section of clients I have dealt with, I am thinking it is a good time to start blogging to share my journey – the good, the bad and the real bad of real estate investing and how as new investors, your journey can be easier and more enjoyable with guidance and mentorship. So come along for the ride as I share my journey with you.

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