Two things have happened here recently that drives home the importance of having a back up plan in case of a business hiccup.
The first was an excellent audio by my Mentor and Coach, Sandi Krakowski where she gave examples of how to make sure you can do business under crazy circumstances like bad weather, power outages and dead phone lines.
The other is something I'm going through right now in my own business. I have a very sweet, very nervous first-time home buyer who is days away from closing on his home and because the mortgage company doesn't have their back up plan in place, the possibility exists that we'll miss our closing deadline losing him both his home AND his earnest deposit.
Here's what's going on.
The mortgage company we went with is well respected and the Loan Officer is someone I've worked with many times before.
She's good.
And if you know the Real Estate business, you know that a good loan officer is worth their weight in gold.
The issue isn't with my Loan Officer, who by the way just went on leave for a surgery.
The issue is with the company itself and the fact that with my trusted mortgage gal down for the count, the loan is being handled by some one else and a processor who never answers her phone. Aaaaack!!
OK, so we're three days away from our closing deadline. No loan documents at the title company. I'm calling the processor and leaving messages ALL day. The Listing agent is sending me emails in all caps (and we know what THAT means) and my buyer, God bless him, waited all day to call me before freaking out on the phone.
Can't blame him…I've been there.
When I finally get someone at the lender's to answer the phone I'm told by the other loan officer that she doesn't know what's going on with the file (but she'd find out) and that the processor had gone home early that day. Oh, and she hoped she'd be in the next day to take care of this.
She HOPED, that MAYBE she'd be in. Wrong answer…aaaaaa…you lose.
These guys have absolutely no back up plan for something critical like what's happening with my buyer. So, if one person goes home sick that entire block of business stops and no work gets done until they feel better? Nope, sorry, not buyin' it.
Maybe I'm just being a little sensitive, but when my buyer stands to lose a couple thousand dollars AND the contract on the house AFTER we had to do a 7 day extension for something that wasn't his fault, I get more than just a little miffed. And now because of poor planning on the lender's part, everyone has to jump through hoops to get this home closed.
That's just plain looney…and unacceptable.
The morale of the story. Plan for the unexpected…anticipate that things could go sideways for no good reason. Always make sure that someone can step in to take over in case of an emergency.
You may never need your back up plan, but won't it be nice to be ready if you do. I'll keep you posted on my Buyer. I'll be getting him a nice bottle of wine for a house warming gift. Think I'll get one for me, too.
After this I think I'll need it…
Ever had something unexpected happen and you were totally unprepared…or maybe the unexpected happened and you were ready and sailed through it. Please share in the comments below. You never know who it might save from pulling their hair out in a crazy situation.
Until then…
Sonrisas (smiles),
Beth
Beth Heilman is a 20 year Real Estate veteran and Owner/CEO of Red Leopard Marketing, a company specializing in using Social Media Marketing (and some other nifty cool things, too) to help Real Estate Professionals attract, engage and keep their ideal customers. After experiencing the devastating effects the housing market crash had on her and her fellow Real Estate peeps, she has made it her mission to get businesses back on track using innovative marketing strategies with an emphasis on Social Media. Business as usual just doesn't work anymore. Beth has lived in fabulous Las Vegas for 30 years. She's a mom of four great kiddos and a "gramita" to 10 amazing grandmunchkins. Her philosophy in business and in life is "when you do the right things for the right reasons, things will turn out just fine". Know what? She's right…
