Lykken on Lending

In our Hot Topic this week we have Dr. Cindy McGovern, CEO at Orange Leaf Consulting.

The discussion will focus on SALES and HOW SALES IS LIFE SKILL!!

Want to know more about Orange Leaf Consulting…..

Whether starting a new business or running a company that has been around for decades, helping it grow is like planting a tree.

Sometimes doing the things you need to do to RUN your business leaves precious little time to manage its growth. You’ve planted your tree….but is it growing to its full

To read more about today’s episode and guest click here!!

—

Every Job Is A Sales Job! With Dr. Cindy McGovern

It is Monday, July 12th, 2021. I am so glad to have you be a part of the show. This show was created by mortgage professionals. It is for mortgage professionals, although we welcome all the realtors, builders, and all the others who are part of the industry to be tuning in. We are so grateful to have you as our audience. We are committed to bringing you timely information that you can check out anytime and anywhere.

We have an exciting topic in the Hot Topic segment. We have Dr. Cindy McGovern joining us, the CEO of Orange Leaf Academy. We are going to talk to you about sales and how sales is a life skill. We are talking about her published book published by McGraw Hill, Every Job is a Sales Job. You are going to enjoy the Hot Topic for this episode.

I want to give a special shout-out to my daughter. She summited, and that means climbing, Mount Baker in Washington State. I’m looking at a picture she texted me. She did that. It is quite a feat to do that. She works at Willow Bend Mortgage. She and her team are avid readers of the show. Kudos to Laura Renee Lykken for summiting Mount Baker in Washington State. She did it. It was perfect weather and perfect skies. The pictures are amazing that she got. I am proud of her and her accomplishments. What have you accomplished? I can’t wait to hear from you all. Tell us about what your family is doing. I’d love to share all that out there. I’m sorry I couldn’t resist. Proud Daddy here.

A special thank you goes out to IndustrySyndicate.com. They do a great job of bringing you a host of podcasts. I encourage you to go out and look at that website, and look at all the other podcasts that are available out there. I also want to say a special thank you to our sponsors, The Mortgage Bankers Association of America. Be sure to sign up and be a part of The Mortgage Bankers of America.

Also, make sure you are using the Mortgage Action Alliance application to have your voice heard on the Hill. It’s a way our small organization, Mortgage Bankers, pale in comparison to the numbers and the size of NAR with the National Association of Realtors and the builders. We need to have our voices heard. The way to do it is to have ourselves armed with the Mortgage Alliance app, MAA app. You can get it and download it from your favorite Play Store. Download it. Use it. Have your voice heard.

Also, Finastra, the Mortgagebot solution, does a great job of empowering you, the mortgage lender. It is a fully integrated approach to mortgage lending that simplifies the borrower experience and streamlines the process for all mortgage lenders. We are so grateful to Finastra and their team. They are the third-largest FinTech company in the world. You got to check them out. They have some pretty cool stuff, especially in the banks and credit union space, but they are as powerful inside of the independent mortgage banking world.

Also, Lenders One, Justin Demola. We had him on June 28th, 2021. Check out that interview. It was very interesting. As well as The Mortgage Collaborative, Tom Gallucci. We are working on having another update with TMC. We are grateful for their sponsorship as well as the Community Mortgage Lenders of America and Insellerate. They are in the business of helping letters close more loans. They do so with their CRM and engagement platform built for the mortgage industry by mortgage professionals. It was Josh Friend. Go check out the interview we did with him on June 21st, 2021. It was a good one. It had great information. All those downloads are soaring on Josh’s stuff because there’s so much great practical information. He’s down in Southern California. I appreciate you, Josh.

Also, Knowledge Coop. Ken Perry and the group there do a great job of empowering you through a wonderful learning management system, LMS. I encourage you to check out KnowledgeCoop.com. Also, we had Ben Teerlink on with MobilityMMI, Mortgage Market Intelligence. Check out the latest way to recruit top LOs as well as connect with the realtors. We talked about how to connect with the realtors using MobilityMMI.

Also, one of their competitors is a sponsor of ours. I don’t see them as a competitor. It’s Modex. I’m talking about a unique organization and a unique technology that compliments MobilityMMI. We use both, to be honest with you. We think they are both powerful. They are both affordable. Check out Modex on our website as well. We are going to have Dale Larsson on the show soon. Also, a special thank you goes to Rob, Les, Alice, Allen, and Matt for their contributions every week.

—

Welcome to the Hot Topic segment of the show. We have Dr. Cindy McGovern, CEO of Orange Leaf Academy, joining us. She’s also known as the First Lady of Sales. She’s published a great book that I enjoy. It’s Every Job is a Sales Job. Here’s one of the reasons that caught my attention about this book. First of all, you are going to enjoy her personality. She never saw herself as a salesperson. I wondered how many operational people reading this go, “I hate sales. I don’t like salespeople.” We are all sales. That’s what her book is about. It’s a five-step formula to help you be successful. For those of you who don’t think you are in sales, the reality is you are all in sales. We are going to talk to her about that.

—

Welcome to the show, Dr. Cindy. It is good to have you here.

Thank you. I’m excited to be here. I appreciate you having me on. I never wanted to be in sales. Nobody ever believes that, but it’s true.

It’s hard to believe, especially when you are known as the First Lady of Sales. When they meet you, they find out, “You never thought you were in sales?” Listen to your personality. Go listen to yourself. You are bubbly and a natural communicator. It is interesting because you were also the professor of communications. You have a Doctorate in Organizational Communication. Where did you get your doctorate? I always want to honor the university.

I got it at Florida State University. I thought I was bound to be a college professor. That’s what I did before I went into consulting.

You are located in the Bay Area of San Francisco area, are you not? Is that correct?

I am. My husband’s job brought us out here a few years back and we are still here.

Florida to the Bay Area. Before we get into talking about your book, Orange Leaf Academy, and some of the things you are doing, tell us a little bit about yourself. We know that you got your degree. We knew you decided you move from there. Tell us a little bit more about yourself so people get to know you.

When I went to school, I thought I was bound to be a college professor. I love teaching. I always loved that. I then went into consulting full-time. I realized I preferred teaching adults. When I got into that job, I was pushed into a sales role not long after I had gotten there. I went kicking and screaming. I was like, “I can’t do sales. Those folks think fast on their feet. They are always on. That’s not me. I can’t do that. I’m a researcher. I’m a PhD.”

Once I got into that role, I realized I had been selling my entire life, but I didn’t call it sales. I called it convincing, persuading, or collaborating. The light bulb went off and I thought, “How the heck did I have three degrees, and I was never taught this?” That’s what led me to write the book. This is the book I wish somebody had given me when I was twenty. It’s not a business skill. It’s a life skill, sales is. We use it every day.

One of the people that’s in the front of your book that commented is Dianna Booher. She commented here. She says, “Even those readers who claim to be allergic to selling will adopt the I-can-do-this attitude after a plethora of examples and tips that Dr. Cindy gives in the book.” There are some great write-ups in the book. I have read the book. There are some great tools and tips for these things. I want to start with this question. Why do you think there are so many people that have a negative image of sales? It’s true. A lot of people think, “I don’t want to talk to a salesman. Can I talk to someone else, please?”

It’s true. That was my version of sales. I had an avatar in my mind. I call him Tommy Two Thumbs. He’s the used car sales guy in the plaid pants, coming across the line of, “What’s it going to take to get you in this car?” That’s the avatar we all have of salespeople for the most part. It’s reinforced in the media. It’s reinforced in movies and television shows. We think sales is this manipulative, pushy thing Tommy Two Thumbs does. We don’t think of sales being getting your kid to eat broccoli. That’s a sales conversation.

What about people saying, “I’m not a salesperson.” Touch on that.

I would understand where they are coming from because they don’t identify with Tommy Two Thumbs. Here’s the thing. If you have ever convinced your spouse to go for pizza instead of Chinese or you convinced your boss to give you an extra day on a deadline, or you convinced your doctor’s office to squeeze you in for an appointment, you are selling people. It’s not you are not calling it that sales piece.

People get a little bit sideways because they think, “Sales is a super formal and super on thing over here.” No. You are doing this on a daily basis. It’s embracing the fact that you are already doing it. You are doing it successfully. You have been doing it your entire life. If you have ever met a five-year-old, they are the best salespeople on the planet. We were all five at some point.

 

They do have a way of communicating and getting their way. From listening to you, you are chit-chatty, outgoing, and bubbly. You pick up that immediately. What about the people who are not naturally outgoing or talkative? Does everyone typically identify it with those of us who are more chatty?

A lot of people think salespeople have to be chatty. Most of the good salespeople that we come in contact with when we are consulting are more introverted. Introverts make better listeners. The extroverts want to talk. Introverts are inquisitive. They ask questions. They are curious. That’s one of the biggest skills in sales. It is listening. It doesn’t have to be that on persona. It is about being curious and understanding what the other person needs.

As I said at the beginning, I encouraged many of our audience to buy this book for your operational people. I’m thinking of my daughter who summited Mount Baker. She’s more of a quiet person. She would say, “I am not a salesperson. Please don’t identify me with that.” Alice, you have many people in your organization on the ops side whom you have been consulting for years who would identify the same. What questions might you have for Dr. Cindy?

It’s so great to have you on the program. I think the same way. People in any role, especially in mortgage banking, even if you are not necessarily selling something, even a processor or an underwriter, you are communicating with a loan officer who then has to go sell it to the borrower. Sometimes, it’s that in-between skill. Why do you believe that sales is a life skill?

It’s something that should be taught in high school because of exactly what you said. We are selling people on an idea every day. Even if you don’t come in contact directly with a consumer or “the customer”, your internal customer is, in fact, your customer. You are selling it to the underwriter. You are selling it to your colleague and you need five more minutes to figure this thing out. It truly is that skillset that we all use on a daily basis. We don’t even realize we are using it.

If you go back to school, we did the math. We use math every day. We learn to read. We use reading every day. We learn English classes, reading, writing, and all those things. Nobody ever taught you that the first thing you do when you graduate is go on a job interview. That is nothing more than a sales conversation. You will do this for the rest of your life, interviewing potential customers and getting that promotion. All of that is sales.

That is so true. Alice, I’m thinking about all the times of all the people that we have talked to over the years. Some of the ones that are the best are great listeners. Alice, you are an awesome listener as well as a communicator. What are the things that people can do to look for those opportunities to sell every day? You are sitting in an operational job, which is a task-oriented job. How can they look for every opportunity to sell?

Everything in sales begins with a good plan. What’s that operational person’s plan? Maybe it’s personal or professional advancement. Maybe it’s the fact that they want to be left alone to do their job in the timeframe that they want to do it in. You got to sell somebody on that. You have to sell somebody on not calling you every five minutes to check up and make sure you are doing your job. You got to sell somebody on not emailing you and then texting you, and then calling you and they didn’t get a response. You think about that plan as, “This is what I want to do.”

Everything in sales begins with a good plan. Share on X

Looking for those opportunities is how will you handle them when they come up. When that person, let’s say, does call you and say, “Where’s this?” You can either respond and say, “I’m working on it. Leave me alone,” or you can get that person bought into what your vision is, which is, “I’m trying to get this done for you. I’m going to do my very best. I’m working on the deadline. Please give me this time to work on this.” You are selling them on the idea to give you some space. That’s a sales conversation, but a lot of people don’t look at it as sales. They think of it as persuading them or convincing them. It’s the same thing.

It gets into a lot of influence. Allen, chew into this conversation. We watched your last company get sold. I’d love to hear all the steps that went into that. I will let you join in on this conversation.

One, it is fantastic to talk to you. Thanks for being here and sharing your insight. Everybody is a salesperson. No matter what department you are in, what type of company, or even what you do externally, you are all part of the process in general and what people’s expectations are. How do you find opportunities? What would you suggest maybe are things that people can do to look for opportunities to sell every day?

It depends on who your customer is or who you are defining as your customer. If it’s an internal colleague and you are trying to sell them on the fact that you can handle more responsibility or the fact that maybe with everything that’s going on, you can’t handle more responsibility in the timeframe that they are looking for. You look for that chance to plant the seed that gets you closer to your goal. It is planting that seed of saying, “I can,” or, “I can’t,” or, “Here’s why it’s not going to work for you,” or, “Here’s why this is going to be a better plan of attack.”

Look for that chance to plant a seed that gets you closer to your goal. Share on X

It’s interesting because it does go back to that planning phase. What’s the end goal in mind that you have? If you are looking for an opportunity on a daily basis, let’s go back to the true sales growth of your business. That’s the easiest thing. Look at that and say, “How many potential customers do I come in contact with every single day?” It’s not the person that’s going to get the mortgage. It’s everybody else that has influence.

Every single person you come in contact with is a walk-in commercial for you and your company. The interaction that you have with them writes the script for the commercial they are going to tell. You want to leave them with that lasting impression that this was a good thing. Think about how we even talk about what we do. Are people sitting around talking about their mortgages at a cocktail party? Probably not. How do you insert that into the conversation so that people know who you are, what you do, and why it matters? Those are the ways to look for those opportunities for looking to grow your business.

Another piece is in interacting with your new customer base. Often, we feel like if we do a good job, they will come back. If we do a good job, they will go tell people. We are giving people way too much credit if that’s what we are expecting. We are saying our service is going to speak for itself. In the book, I talk about the fact that I don’t like the word customer service because it’s this thing out in the ether that’s defined so differently by so many different people.

If I’m looking for an opportunity to make your day and I’m looking for an opportunity to give you a story to tell about your interaction with me or my company that’s going to shine us in a great light, that’s a different goal in mind. That’s how you take advantage of that opportunity. Instead of sending back the email saying, “I’m on it,” it’s, “I’m working on getting this done for you so that we can get this closed. I’m on it. I will get back to you before the end of the day.”

That’s so good. I want to give a shout-out to my assistant, Cherry Remolar. She does have an amazing job at selling every single email. If you ask her if she’s a salesperson, she goes, “No. Do not identify me as that.” When she responds, it is, “Dave is going to get back to you. Dave is going to do this.” It’s constantly selling. It’s such a powerful thing, which gets into some of the steps. In your five-step process, we have already talked about one of them, which is the plan. The other one is to look for an opportunity. You touched on them, but touch on the other 3, if you wouldn’t mind, of the 5 steps. Walk through those quickly.

It’s planning and looking for opportunities. Once you have that plan in place, you will start noticing opportunities are everywhere. I call it a psychological phenomenon. It’s called the Blue Car Syndrome. You buy a blue car. You start noticing them everywhere. The same thing happens when you have a more solid plan in place.

The third step is about listening and establishing trust with whoever it is you are interacting with. That’s the other thing that gives sales this icky connotation. Nobody likes to be sold. I don’t like to be sold. I don’t like to sell people. I don’t. What I do is I invite them to buy. If you change your mindset around that and listen to what the other person needs, if it is that person who needs you to respond to that email, Cherry hears that. She understands that. She reads that and says, “David has moved this to the top of his list. It is a priority. He will get back to you.” She’s managing that expectation.

We can’t manage expectations unless we solicit information and listen. That’s how you establish trust within that sales process too. That’s the crux of it. We want our clients to trust us. We want our colleagues to trust us and listen. That leads you to the fourth step, which is asking. This is the one that even the seasoned sales pros reading this, I know you guys think you do this, but this is the most often skipped. You know this.

This is the one where we think we are asking because we say things like, “Keep us in mind,” or, “We’d love to see you again. We’d love to work with you next time.” That’s not even a question. It’s not even an invitation. That’s a statement. How do we ask them and invite them to come back? If anybody takes one thing out of this book, that’s the piece that I’d like for them to take. It is remembering to ask.

You were talking about the Blue Car Syndrome, which is often referred to as the RAS, which is the Reticular Activating System part of our brain. I love brain science and how we start recognizing things. These are some basic skills that many of us have had throughout our lives. You are talking about the five-year-old convincing Mom or Dad to give him or her whatever they are looking for and things like that. What about those people who are not customer-facing? They work in the back office. They are like, “I work down on the stacks. I work in technology. I’m not in sales.” Are they?

They are. When the book came out and I was doing the book tour aspect, somebody asked me for a quiz. They said, “Tell me what each job is.” They threw jobs at me and one of them was a janitor. They are like, “How is a janitor selling?” I said, “This is a layup. Give me a better one than this.” The janitor is selling based on their interaction. When they see somebody walk past them in the hallway, even if they are not customer-facing, the work that they do is. The way that we see the impression of your office when a customer walks in is based on what that janitor did the day before and what they did overnight. It’s selling through action, not just selling through speech. We do it all day. We do it every day, but we don’t call it sales.

That’s what I wanted to draw out. You gave a great example in your book when you had your air conditioning breakdown. You were watching HVAC at the time and you had a guy come out. He is an experienced HVAC guy. Yet, you said in your book, “I’m chatty. I was talking and I happened to mention my furnace wasn’t working.” I can’t remember what it was. There was something else that malfunctioned about it.

You brought it up to him and he was saying, “Let me check that while I’m here. Let me take a look at that.” It’s that opportunity to show interest. You have a Doctorate in Communications. How much of what we are talking about is communications, which over half of that is listening? Talk about how that fits in. Maybe that doctorate degree is what the crux of what you are doing here.

Of all of those degrees that I got, sales were never mentioned. It truly is sales. It wasn’t until I got into a sales career that I realized, “This is how everything fits together.” In the book, I talked about Ben who was the HVAC guy. When I mentioned it to him, he wanted the help. He didn’t look at this as, “I’m going to sell her something else.” He said, “I’m here. Let me take a look at this.” When he did, he realized it needed to be repaired and then made a sale. That’s the piece where we leave so much business on the table because we are not as curious as we could be. That happens so often when we are super busy.

We leave so much business on the table when we're not as curious as we could be. And that happens so often when we're super busy. Share on X

The mortgage industry has been crazy busy. You talk in your book about give and take. First of all, and this is almost rhetorical, is this book for salespeople? Yes. It could help them, but it’s written to the non-sales person. Is that correct?

Yes. In my dedication, I dedicate the book to anyone who has ever said, “I’m not a salesperson.”

As a point of clarification, why do you say every job is a sales job?

You are not going to get the job without an interview, which is a sales job. Even working with your colleagues, working with one another, and teamwork, and even if you are in the back office and you think you work solo, you don’t. It’s because something that you do in that relay of what the organization does, whether it’s mortgage, real estate, building, or whatever, what you do affects a domino piece. You are selling to that next domino.

The misconception where we get the ick part, using your language in your book for the sales that are repulsive, is when the concept is trying to get you to do something you don’t want to do. In reality, if we are listening, which is the art of communication and is the most difficult part and the most unfocused part of selling, that comes into giving and taking. If we are getting into an effective job of listening, we are listening for opportunities. We are trying to listen for that place where we can go make a difference. Talk about how give and take goes into this. You touched on that in your book. Givers and takers, there are several books on that out there. Those are some of my favorite books.

I believe that sales is a true win-win. I know that term is thrown around, but I don’t ever want to sell you something you don’t need, and I’m not going to. In our consulting firm, we don’t do that. If we are not a fit for you, we will walk away. We will probably send you to somebody who can help you. It’s looking at the give and take, meaning both sides should be benefiting from this. If they are not, that’s when it’s manipulative. That’s when it’s the Tommy Two Thumbs type of sale. You feel it in your gut when you have been sold. You feel that feeling, and it’s not a good one. You never want someone else to have that feeling after an interaction with you.

What we do have to do is when you are looking for those opportunities and you are listening, it’s soliciting that information to figure out what it is they are trying to get at. Email is one of the most wonderful inventions in business and also one of the most evil because we all read it differently. Much of what we do in business is communication by email.

We have to remember that every interaction is a transaction. In every email you send, you are selling them something. You are selling them on the fact that you are working on this or you haven’t gotten what you needed back from the underwriter, or whatever it is you are selling that other person. Often, we don’t think of it as that.

 

From listening to you, are you almost redefining communications as the process of selling? Are you weaving those two together? When we are saying we are communicating, I’m trying to give an update. I’m not trying to sell you. Where is the opportunity in that? What are you helping people wake up to in sending that email, and what is the opportunity? I want people to get this.

The opportunity is to sell them on what it is you want them to know, to understand, or to do or not do. In that email, it is that transactional aspect. It’s a relationship business. A mortgage is a relationship. You are creating an opportunity to sell them on an idea. It is that email piece of, “I need five more minutes,” or, “This isn’t going to happen,” or whatever it is. You have to give that context of showing them how this is good for them.

Often, if it is that update email, it’s, “I just wanted to do this.” Ban the word just from your vocabulary, first of all. Be definitive. It could be like, “I want to give you an update that I’m still waiting on this. Here’s what I’m doing about it. I will get back to you at this time.” That reduces anxiety. That’s what you are selling.

That’s what you are providing. Allen, let’s get back to you with some questions that you might have.

It’s an interesting question. Many companies have so much friction with the technology group. There are a lot of nonbelievers. When you talk about selling internally, not always externally, do you maybe have some suggestions? I bring this up because as I’m listening to the conversation, you may be able to help. Everyone is a tech company. Everyone struggles with tech people. Tech people sometimes struggle with the rest of the organization. Maybe you have some great words of wisdom as far as selling and how to bridge those two big giant bodies of land.

The tech one is not dissimilar to when people say, “I’m not in sales.” They will say, “I’m not a techie. I can’t understand this stuff. This is a new fandangle thing.” I see it, too, in our industries as well. The challenge is you have to help them to see where they are already successful. The opportunity for you to sell them on the idea of tech is to show them what they are already doing.

I can’t name a single person that I know who doesn’t have a smartphone. Maybe they don’t use it as a smartphone, but they have one. They can turn it on. They can use the video chat. Especially over the last few years, everybody has been using video chatting. You remind them of how they are already doing this well. You start selling them on the idea that this is going to help them to reach whatever their goal is better, more effectively, more efficiently, and faster.

If you are trying to get people to adopt technology, part of it is getting them to recognize 1) The benefits for them or how it’s going to be good for them and 2) They are already successful at doing something similar. The third thing is to show them how to make it easy for them to be successful in doing this. That’s another piece with the sales piece. If you want your operational people to sell, whether it’s proactively customer-facing or even internally, you have to remind them that they are already good at this and this is going to benefit them.

 

If people don’t understand what’s in it for them, that’s why they don’t do it. They are like, “That’s the salespeople’s job,” or, “That’s the tech people’s job,” or,” That’s the younger generation’s job.” This helps all of us to get closer to the goal. This helps all of us to reach whatever goal we have put in place for the organization. This is going to make your life easier along the way.

Tech is something I could not agree with you more, Allen. Every company is a sales company and every company is a tech company. I wholeheartedly agree. The way technology is sold is more mandated. It’s, “We are going to do this now. This is the way it’s going to be,” versus getting buy-in from your team. You got to sell them on the idea first.

We have some questions here and, Alice, I want to head over to you. Are there any questions you have as we go along in this discussion?

Yeah. I have a quick question. Can you give us an example of what you mean by an unofficial sale?

Yeah. I call these the hey-by-the-way sales in my book. The unofficial sale is the one where there wasn’t a predicted outcome. It wasn’t a scheduled something that you were trying to do. It was an opportunity that arose. It’s the unofficial sale of making someone’s day so that you are leaving them with that walking away commercial or that lasting impression of something amazing.

We make unofficial sales all day every day. Like Ben in my book, he was checking out the furnace. He wasn’t trying to sell me something. We are constantly doing that. We have to remember that every interaction is an opportunity to leave them with a lasting impression. Those unofficial sales add up. We also have to remember that we are unofficially selling to our colleagues every day, too. We are creating our brand and our reputation at work. All of those emails and all of those chats on Slack or whatever it is you are using, all add up to their impression of you. You are selling them on who you are, what you do, and why you can or can’t be trusted. Those are unofficial sales all day, every day.

Do you suggest that people use something like Grammarly so that at least they use incorrect grammar in those quick Slack messages?

I can tell you a story. Thank God Alice is on this. I should send everything by Alice. She’s fully employed with this other company, so I can’t do that. She’s so good at catching things that I don’t see it because of dyslexia. I don’t see any air that’s there. It’s glaringly obvious to the world, but I don’t see it. That gets to a great point. How perfect does perfect have to be in your communication when you are selling? You talk about authenticity in your book and how important it is to be authentic. Does it have to be perfect? That’s why people get to the point where they get averse to selling.

This is where salespeople get sideways, too, because they sit there and say, “It’s not perfect. My pitch isn’t perfect,” or, “My email is not perfect,” or, “I don’t know what I’m going to say perfectly.” It’s never going to be perfect, and it shouldn’t be. It should be ever-evolving. In your communication, the basic grammar rules I do believe apply. We live in an emoji society, too. We have to remember, “Is that appropriate? Is it not? Is it appropriate to text?” There are a lot of rules around that and every company has its rules, but all of those things go to creating that brand. Those are all unofficial sales.

You bring up an important part of communications and that is the boundaries that are needed. It seems like we can send everybody with something that seems so innocent. It’s so easy to get there. One person wrote us. She said, “On her website, I want to buy her book.” That’s good. It says, “There is a discount code in there to buy Cindy’s book on her site.” Is that something that you can share with our audience?

If you will give me 30 minutes, we will put in LYKKEN as a discount code. We will send you a couple of bonus items if you buy the book on the Dr. Cindy website.

There you go. You do get that. Give it a few minutes here. She will go out there and put in the LYKKEN and put that on the website. You will get a discount and some bonus material. I love it. This is good. There are many themes in your book. They are themes that are relevant to the news and what’s going on generally in life. How can we use all these themes to live life more?

That’s part of the central theme of my book. I want people to be able to use these steps to win at work so that it fuels their lives. We all work. We go to work to fuel something outside of work. My goal is that people are able to do this more effectively since they recognize they are selling. A lot of people are selling the wrong thing. The problem is they don’t realize they are selling. Knowing the 5 steps, and 5th fifth step is following up and having that gratitude, you can do it on purpose and be more thoughtful about it.

I’m not saying everybody has to sit down and create some grandiose plan, but it’s giving it that five-second thought before you hit send on that email. It’s pausing before you even respond. Those kinds of things make a huge difference in getting you closer to your goal of being able to win at work and be able to do more of what you want to do in your life.

With that one little tip that I was reading through and then going, “Why don’t I say, “By the way.” It’s that, “By the way,” and throw in that one question. I’m like, “Have you thought about this? By the way, you are looking at that.” Whatever that service is or the business or industry you entered, you could say, “By the way, would you be interested in having another conversation? I enjoyed this conversation.” It is the way we are going to end this because “by the way” we’d love to have you back.

We are very grateful that you have taken the time to be with us. It is a real honor to get to know you. I love your book. I recommend it. It’s Every Job is a Sales Job. It’s written by McGraw Hill, which is a great publisher and well-known, so it’s well-written. It flows easily. It’s something you can pick up and share with your staff. It’s not salesy. I love it.

I wanted to throw out there, that I noticed on your website, that you are in Florida still.

I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I am in whatever airport I’m in that week.

Allen is in Florida, so he is thinking he is talking to another Floridian.

I am a Florida girl at heart. I was born and raised there.

Several people are saying, “I’m ready to buy. How long is it going to take to get that code put in there?”

They can go ahead and put in that code. We will follow up with it. Don’t you worry?

Put the code in, which is my last name, LYKKEN. You will get the discounted material and the additional material as well, so put that in there. I appreciate it so much. Thank you so much for being here. This was very informative and helpful. I hope a lot of our audience will share this interview with you and go out and buy your book. It’s a great book.

It has been an absolute pleasure to be here. I’m such a fan of the show, so I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I can’t wait to hear the success stories from your audience, too, as they start to apply those steps. That’s my favorite part. It is when people are like, “It worked.” I’m like, “That’s why I have a job.” Let me hear those success stories.

Several people are saying, “I want a call,” or, “I have a couple of questions.” How can they reach you? Do you prefer email? Do you have a phone number that you could put out?

They are welcome to email me at DrCindy@DrCindy.com. You can go on any of my social media sites. I’m on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I will get back to you within 24 hours. That is my promise to you. That’s the best way to catch me.

That’s pretty impressive. Thanks so much for being here. I appreciate it. Have a great rest of your week. I look forward to having you back. I have a feeling there’s so much here that we get to continue to talk about and we could not get to it. Thank you so much.

I would love that. Thank you so much for having me.

—

That wraps up the Hot Topic segment. Be sure to come back here next time. We got Will Robinson and Brandon Young of Encapture joining us. It will be a very interesting interview we are going to be having with them. This is something that you might say, “It captured my attention or Encapture my attention,” which is what we are going to be talking about. You will enjoy the interview that we are going to be doing.

I want to say special thank you to our sponsors, Finastra, CMLA, the Lenders One group as well as Insellerate, MobilityMMI, Modex as well as MBA, Knowledge Coop, and The Mortgage Collaborative folks. Thank you so much for being here. Share this show with others. By the way, have you thought of someone you could share this show with? Do so. See? We are an organizational learning show. We practice what we hear on the show. Have a great week, everybody. I look forward to having you back here.

 

Important Links

• Orange Leaf Academy
• Every Job is a Sales Job
• IndustrySyndicate.com
• The Mortgage Bankers Association of America
• Mortgage Action Alliance
• Finastra
• Lenders One
• The Mortgage Collaborative
• Community Mortgage Lenders of America
• Insellerate
• Knowledge Coop
• MobilityMMI
• Modex
• DrCindy@DrCindy.com
• Instagram – Dr. Cindy McGovern
• Twitter – Dr. Cindy
• Facebook – Orange Leaf Academy
• LinkedIn – Dr. Cindy McGovern
• Encapture