20. Retro Strategies for Modern Business Success with Rosemarie Litoff

Episode Transcript
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Eric (00:09):
What makes follow-up so crucial in business? How can
relationship driven strategiesset you apart? In this episode,
we sit down with RosemaryLitoff, a reverse mortgage
expert and master of meaningfulconnections, to explore why
personalized follow-up can makeall the difference.

(00:30):
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Business Boost Hour
podcast. My name is Eric Beals,and I am the vice president of
BNI Escondido.

Crystal (00:39):
And my name is Crystal Privett, president of BNI
Escondido, and welcome to thesingle CEU podcast. Today, we
have Rosemarie Litoff. Thank youfor joining us, Rosemarie. It's
a pleasure to have you.

Rosemarie Litoff (00:51):
Well, thank you for this opportunity. This
is this is pretty special whatyou guys are doing. Thank you.

Eric (00:57):
Yeah. I'm so glad to have you, Rosemarie. And so I know
today before we get into ourtopic, can you just kind of
explain just, assuming theaudience doesn't know who who
you are, just tell us a little alittle bit about yourself.

Okay. Rosemary Litoff, c two Financial. I carry
around an old telephone receiverbecause these are the folks I'm
looking for. I do reversemortgages, and I absolutely love
what I do. I'm passionate aboutkeeping people in their homes,
showing them how to use theirhome equity.
I also volunteer at the SafariPark here in Escondido. And so I

(01:32):
work with my folks, 55 to ahundred and five, during the
week, and then I get to be withthe little children on the
weekends. Aw. That's

Crystal (01:40):
a little bit

Eric (01:41):
about me. The safari park. What do you like about working
at safari park?

Oh, because I get to talk to the children, and
I don't have to put braces ontheir teeth or send them to
college where I don't worryabout meltdowns. But I love
being around the littlechildren.

Eric (01:55):
That's awesome. Yeah. There's a lot a lot of kids at
the safari at the the safaripark. I've got I've got passes
for Safari Park, and it's rightaround the corner from me, like,
ten minutes away. So it's I'mvery blessed to have, such close
access to the safari park.
I think I've ran into

you if you've done.

Eric (02:11):
Like, at least at least at least once. At least once. I
think a few times,

actually. Times, you'll

Eric (02:15):
see me Yep.

My red shirt. Like, I love my other job.

Eric (02:19):
Yeah. Yep.

So

Eric (02:21):
so today, I know, we wanted to talk about the
importance of follow-up. So,Rosemary, tell me a little bit
about, like like, why did youpick that topic, and what's and
why why is it important?

I picked the topic because I am adamant about
doing it and presenting it. Istill operate in the world of
writing thank you notes aftersomeone calls me or does
something nice. Or I'll put adate on the calendar, and
they'll say, well, we're notready today. And I'll say, oh,
can we schedule this for March?Let let's both look at our

(02:54):
calendars, and we'll physicallyput a date on March 7 at 03:00.
Mhmm. And the client will committo that, and I'll commit to
that. So March 7, '3 o'clock,they're gonna get a phone call
from me. Mhmm. But it's a wayfor me to keep in touch, and it
just makes my time with thepeople that I talk with that it
had meaning for me.
It wasn't just a phone call or acoffee. It was I really learned

(03:19):
something from you, and I wannashare that in a written note.
Mhmm.

Crystal (03:23):
And it's so beautiful to receive those notes from
Rosemarie. When you go to yourmailbox, oftentimes we're
inundated with bills and thingswe have to follow-up with. But
then we get this, beautifullittle letter from someone that
cares about us and we get toopen it up. And every time I've
received one, Rosemarie, I'malways inspired and it touches
my heart to the the oldsomething's really great about

(03:47):
the old school. There are somethings that we kind of could
revert back to.
Like, I think that's why they dotraditions plus innovation
because some of those traditionsof sending someone a card that's
handwritten, that is priceless.

Eric (04:00):
Mhmm. Yeah. You know, it it I it's I we kind of are
living in this, like, weird,like, technical age with with
everything kinda being so so,rapid and but also as, like,
social, like, social media.Social is everything is. It's
also very impersonal.

Crystal (04:17):
Yeah. There's, like, hyper growth, So it's hard to
keep up with all of it. Yeah.

Eric (04:21):
Right. And so with those with handwritten notes like
that, though, that kind ofcreate that brings back that
personal touch. And I think Ifeel like nowadays, a personal
note is in a in a weird way moreeffective than it even was
before because so few people doit now. So when someone does
something less, it it it itbecomes more. So if you do if

(04:43):
you take the time to to do that,it really makes you stand out
much more so than than otherpeople.
That's my that's my opinion onthat anyway. I think it it's it
I think that makes sense anywaysthat it would be more effective
now. And, I mean, obviously, youshould do that from your heart.
Mhmm. Not right?
Not for Yeah. Not for, like, allwhat

Crystal (05:02):
I was just thinking. Rosemarie does it when you can
tell that what she's writing issome essentially, really what
her heart is wanting to say.

Yeah.

Crystal (05:10):
And it's not forced or contrived by any means. And
that's what makes it so specialbecause I I feel like there is
a, like, a lot of disconnecteven though there's this rapid
growth happening right now.We're so lucky to be alive, but
going back to the basics andjust caring for one another and
connecting, I love that aboutBNI. Once a week, we can count

(05:33):
on seeing each other's faces.And there's something about the
consistency we were talkingabout just before this about how
consistency is so important inour growth.
But, taking the time to to makepeople feel loved and special,
what do you think the best valueis of of doing that type of
follow-up for you, Rosemarie?

Well, I include a business card. Mhmm.
So they've got my phone numberand all my contact information.
And people have told me theycarry those notes around with
them. And maybe it was a badtime or maybe something was
going on, and they'll pull outthe note that I wrote six months
ago and say, see.
I still carry your note aroundwith me. But you can't carry a
text around with you or anemail, so it's something

(06:14):
tangible. Mhmm. And for me, thatmeans a lot. Mhmm.

Eric (06:18):
Yeah. The I you know, the I've, I, I I've kinda built a
habit too, though, on, like,taking that that card and kind
of, actually, if I didn't take apicture so there's two two
habits I've kinda built when Iwhen I receive a card from
person. If I remember to do so,to take a picture with the
person that gave it to me Mhmm.Like, with them, like like, with

(06:40):
me in it. And then, but if Iforget to do that, I take a
picture of the card, and then Iadd it into my phone and then
their profile picture for thatcontact.
I use that card there.

Crystal (06:52):
That's a great one. Yeah.

Eric (06:53):
And and that helps me because, oftentimes, someone has
their own picture on the cardtoo. So then that helps me,
like, remember who this personwho this person was. And then
that and that kinda gives me thebenefit of of of of both. And
maybe there's some contact infoor maybe I don't quite remember,
like, the name, but maybeimagery I remember the card.
Right?

Crystal (07:11):
Or you have 30 Jennies in your phone, and you're like,
oh, wait. Which one is it? I Iand

Eric (07:16):
I kick myself in the butt every time I, like, see a name
in my contact, and it's just afirst name. And I'm just like,
oh my gosh. Why did I do that?And so, you know, I use the
company set situate, section to,like, write, you know No. Person
from church or

or whatever, like, something. You know?

Eric (07:32):
I'm still saying it's not really a company, but, I find
that to be be be helpful. But,so so I've been meaning to so
one thing I wanna ask, and Ijust wanna kind of get to this.
I've always seen you with theyellow phone. And so if you guys
don't know, if you're listening,so Rosemary has this this yellow
old school telephone.

Crystal (07:54):
The old rotary.

Eric (07:55):
Yeah. And and, you know, think of, you know, that would
be attached to the wall with awith with wire and a cable and
everything. And so what made youkinda start? Because you've
kinda created this as, like,part of your brand image. Mhmm.
And I think it's a brilliantbrand image for you because I've
I've never seen anybody doanything like that. And it's

(08:16):
also this bright yellow phone,so it really stands out too.
Right? What made you get intodoing that?

I wanted a brand, and I wanted something
different. And this happened tobe in the garage, you know, with
attached to the phone that wason the wall. And I said, oh my
gosh. That's perfect. Becausewhen I walk around a meeting or
I'm holding it on a Zoom call orsomething, the people that
recognize this and use this asopposed to what we have today,

(08:44):
Those are my people.

Eric (08:45):
Mhmm. Ewell, what's interesting about you picking a
phone too is, like, the idea ofthe word follow-up is literally
picking up phone and callingthem. Right? So I feel like your
brand like, that's perfect foryour brand and perfect for this
this topic, actually, too.Because I didn't really kind of
put that together until justnow.
I was thinking, like, wow. Whenyou, you know, think of

(09:06):
follow-up, you think of atelephone. So I I think that's
that's a very interesting,branding aspect that I think
people do pick up on on asubconscious level. They might
not consciously recognize that.But I think they do on a
subconscious level, they'll seeyou and then subconsciously,
they'll believe that you willfollow-up with them, you know,

(09:29):
because after they see thephone.
Right? Because that just thosethings go

Crystal (09:32):
a phone call.

Eric (09:33):
Yeah. Exact or that. Yeah. They can expect a phone call
because her branding is having aphone, basically. And I you
know, it's just a I thinkthere's I think there's things
that any business we can kindatake away from that with, like,
certain imagery, certainassociations.
Yeah. I think it gets, you know,easier said than done, I think,

(09:55):
with coming up with that kind ofstuff. But I

Crystal (09:57):
think it's iconic what she picked because it ties so
well into because the rotaryphones, they've actually showed
them to these youngergenerations, and they don't even
know how to make it work. Soshe's really not only using this
as, like, a key elementvisually, but but also it goes a

(10:17):
little deeper to her people.That the people that remember
using those phones when we hadto go around the corner so our
parents couldn't hear the phonecalls or, there's just a
different it was a differenttime and it almost gives you a
little nostalgia of of a timewhere things were a little more
simple. And I think that tiesinto Rosemarie's brand too
because there even thoughreverse mortgages can be

(10:41):
complex, there's this simplicitythat she walks people through
just like she follows up. I Iknow that there's a process that
she makes it very easy forpeople.

Eric (10:52):
Mhmm. So, Rosemary, what do you do when you when you when
you do your follow-up? How whatdoes that look like? Because I
you know, if somebody is, you'retrying to follow-up with
somebody, but maybe they're notcalling calling you back. How do
you kinda keep track of of allthe follow-up that you have to
do?

Okay. Interesting question. I have a
CRM that I take my notes in, andI have you know, I spoke to Jim
on this date, and we agreed tocall back on that date. So then
all that date pops up, and I'llit so it's a trigger to call to
call people back like that.Mhmm.
So the the CRM guides all ofthat. And if I'm in the middle

(11:34):
of a loan with them, it's gotall the transaction information,
who who contacted me, who gaveme this referral. I'll keep
them. I'll follow-up with thatperson to say, gee, you know, a
year ago, you gave me MarySmith, and now we're moving
forward. So I'll follow-up withthat person.
Because someone gives me areferral, that's pretty

(11:56):
valuable. You thought enoughabout me thinking that this
person could use what I have. Iwant you to know now I won't
obviously, I don't share any ofthe details. I just share that
it did look good for thatperson. We sat in a table.
We had their financial plannerand their CPA and maybe their

(12:16):
children, and we explained thiswhole process. But it was
because of you that gave metheir name thinking this would
be an opportunity for

Eric (12:24):
me. So you're not only tracking, like like, when you
like like, obviously, the theperson that you need to
follow-up with, but you're alsotracking, like, the association,
like, who gave you that Yes.That referral as well. Like,
where that person can how youhow that person found you,
basically.

Person found me. Because to me, that's very
important. Mhmm. So I and thenif if, you know, they wanted
their parent to have a copy ofsome material, I'll put in that
I sent them that. So I'm justconstantly it's not just I'm not
transactional at all.
I'm very relationship, oriented.So that's all part of that.

(13:00):
Mhmm.

Crystal (13:01):
And then as far as the cards follow-up, is that
something you have structuredout as well, or is that just you
following your heart?

Both.

Eric (13:12):
So you're just kinda looking at, like, the person.
You you because you're buildingrelate so, yeah, you said
relation. So you're you'reyou're you're you you have the
CRM to to kind of trackeverything to kind of help, you
know, remind you of things aswell too. But simultaneously,
along with that, you're buildingrelationships with people. And
then you're you're kind oflooking at, okay, based off this

(13:34):
person, I should write I would II it'd be good if I write a card
about this.
Oh, this person's you know,they're you're with them for so
long, then maybe they're they'rehaving a baby soon or something
like that. You might mentionsomething about that. I see. So
you're kinda taking that intocontext on a per person basis.

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. The notes aren't,
you know, just standard writing.They're they tell me something
in the conversation.

Eric (13:56):
It's more than just writing this person wants x y z.
This person is looking for x yz. It's more about the person.

The person. I'm very relationship sometimes
to a fault, very relationshiporiented.

Eric (14:07):
Got it. So okay. So then can you give I wonder, can you
give some examples of some ofthe things, like make something
up or whatever, a fictitiousname on, like, some of the
things you might write in, youmight take notes on?

Dear John, it was great speaking with you
today. I sure hope it works outthat your son gets accepted to
the college that he's to thecolleges that he's looking at. I
I got more information for youwhen you're ready to learn more
about the, goal that you have,which is to take a trip to

(14:44):
Ireland to visit your relatives.

Eric (14:47):
I see. So you're keeping track of all, yeah, all those
those aspects. Yeah. I that's Ithink, yeah, that's such an
important aspect to kind ofbring up those things. One thing
I one thing I sometimes strugglewith, and I've gotten gotten a
lot better at my own follow-up.
And, and and but sometimes, ifyou're following up with

(15:08):
somebody sometimes I strugglewith, okay. How do I start this
I wanna start this conversation.How do I start this
conversation? Maybe I'm thinkingmaybe I think too much of it on,
like, you know, if it's like,oh, you know, you know, how are
you doing or whatever. Right?
It was like, how do you how doyou kinda start that that
conversation? Or is it a matterof is it you know I I find it's
easier if you follow-up morefrequently with with with with

(15:31):
with with somebody. We've takena while that it's it it's a
little bit more awkward tofollow-up with someone if it's
been a little bit too too long.Yes. Do you have do you have I
mean, maybe this isn't even aproblem for you if you if you
follow-up more more morefrequently with people.
But do you have, any kind of,like, go to go to questions when

(15:57):
you follow-up with somebody, goto statements to to or not
statements, but questions forpeople down to kind of, like,
like, icebreaker stuff almost.

Mhmm. Yeah. Well, we we chatted on March 15,
and your goal was to take a tripto Ireland. How are you doing on
planning that trip? You know?
And, do you still see a reversemortgage as potentially
something that will it be ableto fund that trip? And let's see
if we can get a date on thecalendar.

Crystal (16:26):
Ah. So when you're leading the with the
relationship, the transaction iskind of a bonus, but you really
are heavily invested in eachperson that you work with.
Definitely. So the why do youfeel like relational is more
beneficial to your spirit andhow you choose to operate versus
the transactional?

Oh, that would be terrible. I mean, just doing
the transactions, if I can'tremember who this person was and
this human being that I talkwith that gave me their biggest
asset to make valuable. I mean,people are sitting with so much
equity in their homes today, andthey'll walk into their

(17:07):
financial planner and say, yes,I've got $2,000,000 in my
investment portfolio. But tellgod it, I got this house. And
it's gone up in value.
I'm gonna stay here, and they'regonna take me out of here feet
first. That money that's in thewalls of that house, how can I
use that? And then the it'sgenerally a financial planner,

(17:27):
and they'll say, you need tocall this lady. Because people
today are wanting to age inplace, knowing that grandpa
could be falling down the stairsany day. Where's the money gonna
come from?
I wanna stay in this house. I'mnot going off to a community. I
wanna stay in this house. Iwanna bring care in. Where is

(17:48):
that gonna come from?
Oh, maybe this house can takecare of us.

Crystal (17:51):
And and if you were trying to operate
transactionally, it would misseverything that is so beautiful
about who you are and and howyou represent yourself to the
world. So the relational aspect,I can see how with BNI, how
relationships that's such a corepart of of who we are. What

(18:11):
other parts of BNI do you feellike really are in alignment
with how you operate?

Well, one thing about BNI is the people
that are in that group, if it'sa plumber or a roofer or
whatever the they've beenclearly vetted. Mhmm. And I know
when I re when I refer out,somebody says, oh my gosh, do
you know a good plumber? I'vegot somebody at my fingertips.

(18:39):
And I feel very good about beingable to do that.
So I love the way VNI teaches usto vet who's coming in our door.
Mhmm. That's really important.

Crystal (18:48):
Because you wanna have relationships Yes. With people
you know, try, like and trust.And it sounds like with your
follow-up, it's only adding toyour credibility of them knowing
you, liking you, and trustingyou. We've talked about this
before in some of the differentareas where, yeah, maybe if we
need, like, a, a plumber, thatthat's something that's a

(19:09):
necessity. We're probablyneeding it.
There's, like, an urgent needright then. But for a, like, a
reverse mortgage, you'reprobably not gonna take that
step unless you trust thatperson, unless you have some
sort of a relationship, kindalike qua with investments.
You're not gonna just hand yourmoney over to someone. And also
with you, when you build thatrelationship, if you're

(19:31):
genuinely caring about, if theymade it on that vacation or if
their baby was born or if theywon an award, knowing that
you're following through those,like, life moments

Mhmm.

Crystal (19:43):
Like, that you're still there with them, I think that
really does give you, like, adefining factor because not
everyone's doing that thesedays.

Eric (19:52):
Yeah. And and what I'm kinda getting at too is is
you're really focusing on, like,the the the the reason for
somebody to kind of really do doanything. Right? So and and it's
I mean, yeah, people will dothings because they wanna make
more money or whatever it is,but, like, you're kinda getting
more down to, like, a corereason why, like, taking the

(20:13):
vacation trip and and actually,you know, asking about that,
showing kind of interest in themor what interests them, whether
it's for their kid or whateverit might be. Right?
Whatever whatever the reasonwhatever the reason might might
be. And I think if for I thinkwe can apply that to any
business. If you can really getdown to the reason why for
somebody, I think that, youknow, it can you can that'll

(20:38):
that can really help build yourrelationship with, with your
prospects.

Mhmm.

Eric (20:45):
And not not not saying to do that maliciously or anything
like that, but but, you know, doyou have an honest heart that
should really show interest inin others? Right? That's that's
our motto, givers gain. Mhmm.And I think you can also, that
that can apply to, you know,showing interest as well.

Crystal (21:03):
Yeah. It's like she's supporting them to get the
results. Because, I mean, we wego to people to get results.
That's, you know, essentiallyher result driven basis. She's
gonna do it, but she's gonna doit with care and integrity and
in a way that, honestly, becauseher people are in an older age

(21:24):
bracket, that is even morereason for them to want to feel
comfortable with them.
Because as you, you know, as youget older, there's so many
things that change in life, thetechnology and all of these
things you gotta keep up with. Ican't even imagine, Rosemarie,
like, the amount of exponentialgrowth. I mean, we first had
computers in, like, middleschool, but the amount of stuff

(21:46):
that you've seen change

Eric (21:47):
Oh my goodness.

Crystal (21:47):
In your lifetime and your people too. So they've seen
all this exponential growth,but, like, seeing the tradition
aspect of what you do, itprobably is very grounding and
comforting to them on a deeperlevel knowing, hey, this person
actually cares. And I know foryou, it's not about the
transaction. If if it didn't gothrough, you would still care

(22:11):
about that person the same wayand still send them notes. Am I
wrong?

No. You're absolutely right. And then
there's the fear factor Mhmm. Ofthese folks. Many have not
adapted to the world of texting,cell phones, etcetera.
My college roommate lives inFresno. We've been talking about
our reverse mortgage for years.And she finally said, yes. She
says, but I'm scared to death.Because I do email sometimes.

(22:39):
I have no clue how to print, howto scan, how to do anything. She
said, I'll just send you stuff.I said, no. It's not gonna quite
work like that. So and she's upin Fresno.
I called the manager of theoffice depot in in Fresno. And
he became my good friend becauseI said, I've got a I've got a
client who's gonna walk in therewith a pile of papers, and I

(23:01):
need you to scan those and putthem in my secure inbox because
we don't do email and all the,you know, all the scam stuff
that's going on. So I becamevery good friends with the
manager of the Home Depot inFresno, and wrote him a note as
well because he was so helpfulbecause she would walk in with
her stuff, and he would, as shesaid, magically get it to me,

(23:25):
and then I could do the loan.And then think about that. She's
in her six bedroom house withher cat.
She's going to be there forever,and now she can afford to stay
there. So how rewarding.

Eric (23:35):
Mhmm.

And she said, oh my god. I don't wanna lose
our friendship over this. Isaid, no. We've been friends
since college. This is businessnow.
We will still have ourfriendship.

Eric (23:44):
Mhmm. Yep. Because maintaining maintaining that
that relationship with people isI think that that's the most
important

Yes.

Eric (23:50):
The most important thing.

Crystal (23:51):
Absolutely. Also going that extra mile to know that she
had the little bit of anobstacle, you found a solution.
I know you've said in the past,you've had other people that
have had, like, a little bit oftechnology issues. Are there any
other, like, kind of bizarrestories or, like, challenges
you've had to overcome?

Oh, most definitely. People wanna show up
on my doorstep. And I have a apostal annex box because I don't
want clients coming to my home.So they'll they'll deal with
dropping stuff off at the postalannex, which is near me and
picking up and those kinds ofthings. I also have you know, at
the end of the transaction, it'sso rewarding.
I always chat about my, myclient that was crying over her

(24:33):
gladiolas when I got to her homebecause she said, oh my gosh. I
don't have to leave mygladiolas. I said, no. You
don't. I said, you can stay inthat home forever.
And

Eric (24:45):
it's so rewarding. What is a gladiolo?

Oh, it's a flower. Okay. I'm sorry. I was
like, come on. I don't know whatthat is.

Eric (24:50):
I'm sure a lot of listeners have no clue

what they're talking about. Sorry.

Crystal (24:53):
I was

Eric (24:53):
like, is that a flower? I think that's probably a flower.
That was gonna be my guess,

but I wasn't sure. Garden. And, you know,
that was hard. Forget about thefact that they were having
trouble, you know, making theirproperty insurance bills. She
was concerned about having tomove and leave.
And I've got a client right nowin a five bedroom house, her and
her dog, Winston. And she'sgonna have to come in with some
cash to close the loan. And canthey come after me for more

(25:20):
money? No. The ones the loan'sdone.
It's this fear factor. It's kindof a big asset, your house. And
let's use it effectively. Andthat's how I slowly lead them
down this path. Mhmm.
Mhmm.

Eric (25:33):
So when one so I I'm hearing that you are kind of
building a relationship with alot you're building a
relationship with a lot ofpeople, and that's kind of a key
that's a key aspect for youryour your your follow-up.

Yes.

Eric (25:49):
And so when you when you are are are doing that, are you,
like, what kind of what what aresome of the things that you are
are listening for? How do youhow do you, like, ask these ask
questions ask these questions toto their people? How do you how

(26:10):
do what kind of what does thatlook like? What kind of
questions are you are you askingto kind of to Certainly. Build
this relationship?
And and you have certain like,do you have certain people that
you're like, I don't really wantto work with this person. Do you
have right? Like, what does thatlook like? And and do you and do
you have do you have any waysthat you kind of, like, almost
maybe not directed, but, like,vetting certain certain certain

(26:32):
certain customers that thisperson is gonna be a pain in the
butt. I I know.
I I don't wanna work with thisperson. And things like you
know, do you what's that looklike?

I'll get people calling me, and they'll
say, I know all about this. Myyeah. You know? So and I know
you don't need that.

Eric (26:47):
The know it all.

Yeah. The know it all. You don't need that. And
I said, no. I don't need that,but the lender does.
And I'll capture their birthdate because age is a key factor
of reverse mortgages. So nowI've got the birth date. So I'll
be sending a birthday card or atext or something to be able to
follow-up. And in that, I don'teven talk about loans. I just
say, what are you gonna do tocelebrate your birthday,

(27:08):
etcetera?
And I'll do I'll start workingwith a client, and then it's not
going well. And they're they'renot giving me but they wanna
close, you know, in thirty days.There's no way we're gonna close
in thirty days if I don't haveyour documentation, and I've
gotta get the appraiser outthere, etcetera. So you've got a
date of wanting to haveChristmas dinner at your house,

(27:29):
but I don't I can't even runyour credit yet. It's not gonna
happen.
And I'll just oh, you can makeit happen, or someone else will
make it happen. I said, well,maybe somebody else will because
that's not going to be me. Mhmm.Mhmm.

Crystal (27:40):
So setting proper expectations.

Eric (27:42):
Mhmm. Yeah. So setting so setting the right expectation,
like, be beforehand, and andthat will either I guess,
that'll, reveal people

kind of Yes.

Eric (27:54):
Right, who they are. If they're, like, you know, if
they're all, no. That's not fastenough or whatever it might be,
then that kind of access thenfor you, anyways, access a a, I
guess, a red flag for you, itsounds like then. Yeah.

Also, there's so much negative still out there
for so many years and so manymyths out there about reverse
mortgages. And my uncle had thisand my aunt had this. And I'll
say generally, are we well,let's put it this way.
Statistically, we havestatistics that show that ninety

(28:29):
eight percent of people thathave a reverse mortgage are
satisfied if it's been explainedcorrectly. So we also have the
the myths of the bank's gonnatake my house.
No. Bank's not gonna take yourhouse. You keep your property
taxes current. Keep yourproperty insurance up to date.
Keep your HOA up to date.
Bank will not take your house.No. You won't have to come in

(28:51):
with more money. I've donehundreds of these now. I've gone
back to school to get a anadvanced designation that only
2%, 2% of the population have.
But I was determined if I'mworking with somebody's most
likely biggest asset, I'm gonnaknow what I'm talking about, or
I'm gonna have sources to beable to go to. So you can have
confidence. And, oh, by the way,your banker is the one that told

(29:13):
you to call me. They hadconfidence in what I could do.
Oh, but, oh, but, oh, but.
And I'm thinking, this isn'tgoing well. And, you know, I'll
why don't you call me whenyou're ready?

Crystal (29:25):
So you're still kind of overcoming some stigmas that are
in your industry that maybe kindof negatively impact you a
little bit? And,

it's about trust. Mhmm.

Eric (29:38):
Mhmm. So I see. So you you you wanna so you really have to
build that trust up too so thatway to even overcome kind of the
some of those those thosenegative Objections. Those
negative objections. Yeah.
It it, and I think I think the,you know, I I've I've come
across some people even in inbeing, just out and about.

(29:59):
They're like, oh, you know, BNIdoesn't work. Whatever. I was
like, really? Why does why whydo you think BNI BNI, doesn't
work?
And they're I talked to oneperson. They they were they were
real estate agent actually too,which was kinda wild. Yeah. I
know. I was like I was like

I was

Crystal (30:13):
like golden goose.

Eric (30:15):
Yeah. And I was like I was like, wait. So you you joined
the BNI chapter and and, they'relike, yeah. No. It just didn't
it just didn't it didn't workfor me at all.
Like, it was I I think it itdoesn't work. I was like, you're
kinda like the main one of themain markets for in a BNI
chapter. And then, you know, youknow, I wasn't really equipped

(30:36):
to, like, really defend BNI inthat instance, but, you know, I
definitely encourage them. I waslike, you should join another
chapter because it's like, youknow, that person kinda find one
Sigma. Yeah.
And and because, you know, theexperience one person has with
something, is not necessarilythe experience that you'll have

(30:56):
with something. Right? That'swhy I think you kinda have to
take everybody's what whateverybody says with a certain
level of grain of salt. And thenif you have more trust, though,
now you take that with even moreyou know, you you you you you
trust that that person says moreso if you build that trust with
them.

Crystal (31:10):
And there's a lot of variables. Were they putting in
the effort? Were they showing upon time? Did they have a small
chapter that was, like,struggling? I know for us, we
have a thriving chapter, sothat's gonna be a little bit
different when someone comes inand hears all the hustle and
bustle and sees all the hugs andpeople building the
relationships, like Rosemarie.

(31:31):
Like, we have a whole group ofthat. And that power is so
bonding and unifying because alot of sol entrepreneurs are
solo. It's that solopreneurthing, and it can get a little
isolating. Yes. It can be alittle daunting.
So having your interactions withyour clients, like, those are

(31:51):
also an extension of yournetwork. But Absolutely. I would
ask you, Rosemarie, what aresome green flags? Because we've
talked about some red flags fromclients. What are green flags
that, you might look for in aclient?
Like, what are keywords that youmight pick up on or you're like,
oh, this is a this might be agood fit?

I have a very recent client who was a referral
from a BNI member, and she liveswith mom. Mhmm. Mom has
dementia. And they have twobathrooms in the home. One
bathroom is completely shutdown.
Okay? Cannot use it. And she'sliving with mom. She's caregiver
there as well. So that'sdefinitely and her home is worth

(32:32):
this.
She currently has a reverse onit, but I say, oh, let's look
and see if we can refinancethat. And sure enough, we can.
So I was on the phone with thebrother and the sister and this
and all the people. And sothat's a green flag to me to
say, Yes, I can help them andmake this house comfortable.

(32:53):
Mom's not moving, especiallywith her condition.
Let's make that housecomfortable.

Crystal (32:59):
That's the biggest thing I learned about, reverse
mortgages that from you and thecommercials that you've given,
is about how the family canstill take over the home and
not, it can still gogenerationally into the family.
I didn't know that about reversemortgages. I was like, what
happens to the property at theend? Do you wanna elaborate a

(33:22):
little on that? Because I don'tI think that could be one of
those misconceptions.

Of course. The property, the property stays the
title stays in the name ofwhomever it's on, it's on it's
in. If there's a if the personis incapacitated, there's power
of attorney. And then the who'sever on the power of attorney
will be signing the loandocuments, etcetera. So the so
when the home when the when theowner moves out for more than

(33:50):
twelve months, and it doesn'thave to be a consistent twelve
months, but say they're inskilled nursing, and the home is
still in the name of the of theowner, but they're in that
skilled nursing for more thantwelve months.
And somehow the lender will findout, and then the home is sold.
Or who's ever in the trust willsay, no. No. No. No.

(34:11):
We don't wanna sell this house.We're gonna refinance it and
purchase it, or we're going topurchase it. And when they
purchase it, if it'sgenerational, they can purchase
it at 90% of value. So the homewill stay in the family. But
someone could take a trip, gooff on a missionary trip for six
months.
That's fine as long as theprimary residence is still the

(34:32):
address on that. And then everyyear with the reverse, they get
a notice, an annual occupancycard they have to sign that that
is still their primary address.

Crystal (34:43):
And they they can add additional names to that, right,
if someone else is living withthem? Like, say, a granddaughter
is living with them and theywanna be on it, can they both
names be on it? Or

you don't want that because, again, age is a
huge factor in reverse. So yougot grandma at 80 and you've got
a granddaughter at 20. Thelender's gonna take grand
granddaughter's age to figureout how much money the is
entitled, obviously, we want thehigher age because it's all
based on that age factor.

Crystal (35:15):
That's why you're the expert. Yeah.

Eric (35:18):
You know, so I I was thinking about this. The the
other day, Crystal and I went toa, a a meeting, and the guy's
name is Bill Bill Walsh. BillWalsh. And, he mentions
something, and and I'm and I'mkinda kinda putting this
together. He mentioned somethingabout, like, to do volunteer

(35:38):
work, actually, because it andand the reason for that would is
just to kind of show that, youknow, that that you're you're
willing to give back, basically,for nothing, basically.
Right? And, you know, I I wasthinking you work at the Safari
Park as well. Right? It it'sit's revealing of of of what

(35:58):
kind of person you are when whenwhen you volunteer. And I see
that here.
You know, you you work at theSafari Park, but then you're
you're also truly focused on theperson. You're focused on on
developing a relationship withthem and what they are what
they're actually looking for.Right? What they actually want
to to gain out of the productthat you that you, can offer

(36:20):
them. And I think, you know,that that's kinda tying this
into to, b and I.
I mean, I think, you know, I'mwondering about if what would
happen if, like, b and I roleswere not volunteer?

Mhmm.

Eric (36:36):
What if they're all paid? Every single one of them. Right?
Would that be would that be apositive? Would that be a
negative in in in ways that wemaybe can't see?
I don't know. It's aninteresting question that just
kinda came to mind. If if if

Crystal (36:48):
If the intention behind it would change, like, the
motivation for the money versus,like, the motivation to just
help

Serve.

Crystal (36:56):
And serve and step up.

Eric (36:58):
Right. Because with that would would if if b and I roles
of of any of of of any level Imean, obviously, we have to make
money to make a living. Right?But, I'm wondering if, like, if
b and I roles were all paid,would that kind of would would
people be taking those roles forthe wrong reasons now?

Crystal (37:18):
More transactional versus relational. Yeah. It I
mean, there that's a greatpoint. I don't know if we've
ever really thought about it orbrought it up as much, but maybe
there is something to be saidabout by not paying someone,
having someone really stepforward that cares. Like
Rosemarie, she doesn't have togo to the safari park on the
weekends, but look at all thosesmiles and lives' faces, the

(37:41):
little, like, children's, like,happiness that can kind of
remotivate her by her givingback and, that reciprocation of
a care for one another.
It it's really a beautiful thingthat when done properly, it's
probably one of the mosteffective tools, as a as
marketing and branding is to thethe consistency of knowing that

(38:05):
someone cares about you. Yeah.

Eric (38:06):
It's definitely like a long like, a longer term Yeah.
Approach. Right?

Crystal (38:10):
Yeah. Long term game.

Eric (38:11):
Long term game. Way long term. Right? But, I I I think
it's, you know, I think the Ithink I I I a lot of people
listening would would love toget paid in volunteer roles, but
then I'm wondering if okay.Well, maybe what what are
students that would be good inthe short term for a lot of
people, but I'm wondering maybein the long term, it's not.

(38:33):
Right?

Crystal (38:34):
Yeah. Kinda like this podcast. I mean, this is a
volunteer, role that we'recreating, but we're creating
platforms for people that wecare about. Now Rosemarie, we
can share what a wonderfulperson that she is with the
world because if you've hadnever met Rosemarie, she will
light your heart up. It it's sowonderful, being part of her
world.

(38:55):
So yeah. But having this podcastis something that we kind of got
inspired to do or we're notgetting paid for it. But I would
highly recommend if you likethis podcast, if it's a platform
that is intriguing to you, reachout to Eric. I mean, the reason
we're doing this is for exposureand to support other people. But
like you said, deep down inside,I'm sure you'd love to get a

(39:16):
call from other people wantingto share

Mhmm.

Crystal (39:19):
Their voices with the world. So, I think it's great
when you do lead from your heartbecause then you always know
that you're operating fromintegrity.

Eric (39:28):
Yeah. Oh, %. And and, you know, it it's I think the people
want to work with trustworthypeople.

Yes. Right?

Eric (39:38):
And so I think but sometimes it it can be
challenging to find thosetrustworthy people because, you
know, some people are arereally, really good at their
job. Right? There may bephenomenal salespeople, but
then, you know, maybe as soon asyou dig dig down and deep into
them, you kind of learn, like,oh, this person just wants money
or whatever. Right? But maybeyou don't really initially
can't, see that.

(39:59):
But maybe the volunteerposition, like, okay. What does
that maybe that's a goodquestion to kind of ask ask
people. Like, oh, well, youknow, from maybe from a even a
customer standpoint too is is,you know, what kind of volunteer
stuff do you do? Mhmm. You know?
And then if they don't doanything, maybe not saying this
is, but maybe that could be aflag of some kind. They do

(40:20):
nothing. Okay. Maybe they're sofocused on money that anything
that comes up, they won't do.Right?
And so I yeah. I think that thatcould be a good way to even vet
people into your own chapterpotentially, you know, because
we we want we always want tohave people with really good

(40:41):
integrity. That's I know whenwe're vetting people, we wanna
make sure that they have goodintegrity. And

Crystal (40:47):
And like you said, sometimes people can seem like
they have good integrity, andit's a little bit hard to see
through. But when the when youare in a group like this, what's
neat is you can see multiplepeople interface with that
person, and then eventuallytheir character does shine
through.

Yes.

Crystal (41:04):
And that's why I think our chapter has a lot of people
that have longevity in thechapter. Yes. Because when you
do have that, it kind ofattracts more of it. And then if
someone comes in without thatsame integrity, it's like,
something's off here. Like youyou've done an only receiving
and you never gave back to asingle person in the group.

(41:25):
That's like a red flag. Becausein the group, you wanna be you
won't we wanna have givers. Wewanna have people that are gonna
take the initiative to send acard, not because they have to,
but because they genuinely careabout that person and they want
to see them. They you don't evenget to see the smile on their
faces when they open the card,but I'm sure that you know that

(41:46):
it makes them smile.

Oh, they'll call me, and it said it made my
day. Or, you know, I've got BNIpeople, special, that I wrote
them a card two years ago. See,I'm still carrying it around
with me, whatever you said. Soone thing about BNI that I was
attracted to many years ago nowwas the fact that it was
started, I'm gonna say, morethan thirty years ago. I think

(42:08):
we're at 40 now.
And when you look at the way BNIis run today, forget any about
that it's all technical. I mean,obviously, there was not that.
But the way the meetings open,the way that the words that are
said, all the the the structure,the testimonials, you know, all

(42:28):
of that, that structure haslasted that many years. What
does that say for BNI? One majorchange to me, it was major.
I was vice president years ago,and we got we didn't get
compensation, but we got I thinksix months of our membership was
paid for or something, and theypulled that. But it's

(42:49):
interesting to see people arestill stepping up to volunteer,
and it makes it for volunteeringto me is I wanna serve my
community in some kind ofcapacity.

Eric (42:58):
Well, that's kinda why I kind of, like, brought that up,
part of it because it's like,you know, yeah, it'd be great to
kinda have the membership, but,like, okay. I'm wondering if is
that I don't know. Maybe wemaybe at some point in the
future, we can we can have, we,you know, we have somebody like
Ed or Ray on. Maybe you cankinda chime in on chime in on

(43:20):
this because I know that there'sa lot of behind the behind the
scenes stuff. Mhmm.
And maybe they found that, hey.By by not having this, we
actually find that there'sbetter people Mhmm. For these
positions. Mhmm. And overall,everyone in the long term

Steps up.

Eric (43:35):
Yeah. Everyone, like, benefits from it more so Yes.
Than than than taking the, the,you know, six month Whatever it
is.

Whatever that

Eric (43:44):
was. Right. And so, you know, it's something I haven't I
hadn't I haven't thought of thatbefore, and so that's why I'm
kinda bringing that up. It's avery interesting thought. And so
I'd love to, at some point,maybe some maybe one of the
listeners, like, has someinsight on this.
And, maybe in the future, we canhave them on to kind of, like,
you know, expand on that. But, Ithink, you know, it's an

(44:04):
interesting concept, and, Ithink it it, overall, you're
gonna everyone will benefit fromthat.

Crystal (44:13):
Yeah. I'd I'd even love to get Ivan on here. I mean,
we'd I'd love to hear some ofhis feedback. I twice now, I
just met another person. Who wasit?
The other day that knew Ivan oh,at my at the, Bill Walsh dinner.
The lady I sat next to, MarieDiamond, she's great friends
with, Ivan Meiser. She wasactually going to dinner with

(44:34):
him, like, two days later.

Eric (44:36):
Oh, wow.

Crystal (44:37):
And that's happened to me twice now where it's like so
close, proximity to these peoplethat have, great influence and
power. But also what Rosariesaid, like, as that BNI has
scaled, they've done it in sucha way that they've held on to
the integrity.

Yes.

Crystal (44:55):
And the relationships are still a very key part of
BNI, which is is so beautiful.

Mhmm. Yes. But how many organizations have
survived forty years?

Crystal (45:07):
Yeah.

And using the same principles. Of course, like
I said, adjusted for all thetechnical stuff that wasn't
there, but managed to survive.

Crystal (45:17):
Yeah.

You there aren't many. Mhmm. So,
obviously, it works.

Crystal (45:21):
Yeah. And, obviously, we're thriving. I mean, they
even did the new thing if you'vebeen on the app lately where
they've got, groups. So ifyou're part of BNI listening to
this, there's a business boosthour group Mhmm. Where we
actually announced before youcame on that you, were going to
be on here.
So we're we're trying to exploresome of these new outlets that
we don't even know the,capability or capacity yet. So

(45:45):
it's kind of neat to get to growwith them Yes. As well.

Yeah. Very exciting. It's, I've dropped all
my other networking except this.Mhmm. And the folks that come
in, in our years ago, we calledthem the cowboys.
They'd come in, take a bunch ofbusiness cards, and, you know,
they're just in for thetransactions. Those are not the
people we want. Yeah. When youcome into our room once a month,

(46:10):
there's hugging. There'sfamilies.
There's people that take tripstogether. Right? Groups, people.
I mean, it's become family. Andthat's who the people when I
need something, that's who Iwanna trust.
Mhmm. Mhmm. So it's it's sopowerful what goes on in our in
our Zoom rooms and in our,actual physical rooms. Mhmm.

(46:31):
Very powerful.

Crystal (46:32):
I was in one of those networking groups with you that
Yes. We both kind of have kindof, a little bit, distanced
ourself with. I I just find thatthe structure of BNI actually is
more beneficial. One of thenetworking groups we were part
of is wonderful for, likefriendships, but I just was

(46:52):
never able to dive deep enough

to

Crystal (46:55):
where I really felt connected in that group. And I,
I, from day one, I felt totallydifferent in BNI because there,
there is a little bit of thestructure that makes it
repeatable, consistent. You youcan count on it. And and by
having the same amount of timeto present each week and knowing

(47:16):
that there'll be two differentpeople presenting, now we're
gonna change it up every Ofcourse. Course in a while.
We just did a speed networkingevent this last week, and it was
fun to change it up. But there'sa structure that allows us I
feel like do you think that'shelped us scale?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I think, the
whole COVID when we shut downand went to the Zoom thing and
whatever had an effect. Mhmm.
You know? But our numbers arecoming back. The in person now
when I think of how in the heckdid I get up every Wednesday
morning and get dressed and puton makeup and and get get, you

(47:52):
know, you kind of now and a lotof people that I talked to said
if it was in person every week,they wouldn't be a part

Crystal (47:59):
of it. Yeah.

Because I think that whole COVID changed.

Eric (48:03):
Yeah. Well, as you know, that that it's interesting
because it it it goes because Ifeel the same way too. It's like
it's like, oh, man. It's such arelief sometimes, you know,
where and I and I I live, like,five minutes from where where
where we meet, so I have nothingto complain about. I know some
people were driving forty fiveminutes and such too.
And and that was every day toowhen it was just in in in

(48:24):
person. So we're we're a hybridchapter. And, and but I I kinda
wonder too, though, is, like,you know, finding the people
that are willing to kind ofcommit. There's an overall more
commitment to going in person.And, you know, the I know I love
our in person meetings.

(48:45):
Like, they are a huge refresher.Mhmm. It's a weird kind of
almost like, I guess, a pros proand con aspect of of of, of the
in person for and the hybrid andthe online, I mean. Because,
like, when you're when you'reonline, I think that there's
just a natural less of aconnection you you have with

(49:06):
people. Yeah.
Right? That's one of the reasonsI I know when we when we were
starting this podcast, you know,I specialize in doing online
podcasting. Like, like, remotepodcast has its pros. Also has
its cons, though. It's harder tokinda connect with people.
It's harder to have the theambiance and and and vibe that
an in person

Crystal (49:25):
Yes.

Eric (49:26):
Anything will do. Mhmm. Right? That's one one of the
reasons we're doing, we're we'reactually doing this podcast in
person is just it helps with theconnection. It just creates a
vibe.
It it it has a different energy.Yes. And, you know, that that
energy is it it it's hard toit's hard to maintain that on,

(49:48):
online just purely online.

Crystal (49:50):
Yeah.

Eric (49:51):
Again, it has its benefits, and it's and, you
know, I feel like from whatbecause I when I first joined
our chapter, I it was about, Ijoined February. So just before
Mhmm. Just before COVID. Shutdown. So I was in we were so I
experienced a little bit of thein person.
Mhmm. And it I feel like thatsince we've gone to to hybrid,

(50:13):
the in persons are, like, extraspecial. Yeah. I think there's
more energy at that one inperson Mhmm. Than every single
week.

Crystal (50:20):
That's a great point.

Eric (50:21):
That's a good point. It's more special.

Yes.

Eric (50:24):
Right? We only do it once a month.

Crystal (50:25):
Looking forward to it.

Oh, yes. Yeah. I

Eric (50:27):
mean, that's why when we did the speed network, like like
like this year, January 1, we wenormally wouldn't have two weeks
off. Right. But we did thatbecause, you know, who wants to

go to a networking group on January 1? I
don't want to.

Eric (50:39):
I have to write a bunch of Yeah.

Crystal (50:40):
Money absences or whatever. Right?

I don't want you

Crystal (50:42):
to have to track

Eric (50:43):
all that. Be the bad guy with that. Exactly. And so so we
kind of it was, you know, afreak thing where we took two
weeks off. And, you know, that'swhy we did the speed networking
on January 8 because, you know,I was like, this will be
phenomenal energy.
And it was energy wasphenomenal.

It was.

Eric (50:59):
And, and so, you know, I don't know what's, like, the
best the best format. I thinkit's gonna depend on the person,
what they do

their team and the

Eric (51:10):
and the chapter and the community. Mhmm. So, you know,
there's a certain level of,like, you really have to make
sure that you can connect withjust the culture, I guess Yeah.
Of the chapter.

Well, and

Crystal (51:21):
if you have a 12 person chapter, there's a little less
logistics. When you have, likeThat's

Eric (51:25):
true.

Crystal (51:25):
45 plus people, it's different to manage it. And I
think there is a sense of, likeeasier to maintain, like you
said, the scalability. Whenyou're doing it once in person,
it's very special. But the otherthe other three weeks, it allows
you to still be able to do yourregular work, but still stay

(51:45):
connected.

And the same format and everything else. It
was interesting right after whenwe went back after COVID and we
opened up, my comment wasbecause we see you see people in
their little boxes on Zoom, andeverybody's the same height. And
all of a sudden, I walk into theroom, and there's people that
are this tall and this tall andthis and and you we didn't know

(52:07):
that because everybody said itwas in their little box. So it
was kind of interesting at thein person, you really saw that
person as opposed to in theirbox. Yeah.
So it was the the height thingwas was a big factor.

Crystal (52:20):
Oh. Yeah. Yeah. I know.

Eric (52:23):
I I I think when I it's like I after I kind of became
VP, I started kinda wearing,like, a suit just dressing up a
little bit more and, like, a fewpeople, like, didn't even
recognize me for, like, a splitsecond. Like, they they were,
like, about to shake my hand,like, to introduce themselves.
Mhmm. And, you know, if but ifonline, I've had the same setup
and stuff too. So there's athere's that that recognition

(52:44):
with that.
But, you know, I think, youknow, the in person, you have
that different you have thatthat different energy and kinda,
I guess, kind of circling backto the relational side, side of
things. It it, I think findingthe the the right chapter that

(53:07):
fits your culture is super superimportant. And I don't know how
we I don't know how we kinda goton that culture aspect, but I
guess just due to you, yourfault the way you've kinda
followed with the relationshipstuff.

Crystal (53:19):
But helps you create better relationships because
following up and followingthrough when you have a
relationship is, ultimately thefoundation, because that means
that person will know that theycan count on you, that you're
consistent and that you're doingit because you care, not because
of a transaction. So I think Ithink the relationship and the
follow-up kind of mergestogether because it helps

(53:43):
solidify the relationship and,proves your intention versus
saying, oh my gosh, this personjust wants my money or they they
want my house or, it's it's justa different like you said, the
in person meeting has adifferent vibe. When you can
tell where someone's operatingfrom their heart, you can feel
it.

Eric (54:02):
Oh, absolutely. Right. And that's not to say our the online
doesn't have have connectionactually too. There there's a
lot of very positive energy in,like, the chat, which for
example, like, we love the chat.If you guys if you're if you
have a chat and you're notutilizing the chat, you should
be Yes.
Within reason. There's there'sthere's there's sometimes it can
get out of hand. Duringpresentations,

Crystal (54:21):
you should be respectful. Yeah. Right. Right.

Eric (54:23):
It it can get out of hand. But but, you know, if you don't
have a chat, it it it reallyjust severs that relationship
aspect of it. Right? Or if it'sall business, like, only contact
info or whatever, like, thatwould be too it would just sever
it.

Crystal (54:36):
I can almost always count on Jason Kalinski making
me laugh every meeting in someway. Yeah. And I'm so proud of
Doug for being able to get ontothe Zooms. Yes. I mean, how old
is Doug?
Eighty. Eighty. So, we have an80 year old member in our
chapter who is able to managethe technology because he loves
our group so much Right. That hepushed himself to learn. I mean,

(55:00):
I don't know many 80 year oldsthat join Zoom.
Once a three times a month andthat can run their own
presentations. Like, I'm reallyimpressed

with him. It's very impressive. Very, very
impressive. So it's all the theidea of when we went on Zoom,
three weeks, one week in person,the idea was, well, now you're
not committed to driving to themeeting and, you know, driving
home or to your clients orwhatever. Maybe use that time
for an additional one to one andan in person one to one so you

(55:33):
can get that in person.
Because at the meeting and evenduring the eight minute
presentation, you don't reallyget to know that person. Yeah.
But you sit down for an hour. Isat down, yesterday with a with
one of our newer members, and itwas fabulous because I learned
so much. I can't learn that in aeight minute presentation or in
a thirty second commercial.

(55:54):
But when you really get to divedeep so have so the positive of
the having the Zoom is once aweek, take someone out and do
that face to face.

Crystal (56:05):
Yeah. Great. That's a huge, wonderful suggestion.

Yes. It works really well to get to know. So
when I refer that person, I'llalso get a call from clients
that say, oh, you were so goodwhen we did the loan. Do you
also know a good fill in theblank? So that constant, you
know, being used as a resourceto me is very important.
Yeah.

Eric (56:26):
It makes you a better referral partner.

Right.

Crystal (56:28):
It adds value to you and your clients as well.

Eric (56:32):
Mhmm. Mhmm.

So that's, that's all good. So I'm, you
know, I've been like I said, Imean, I'm sure it's more than
ten years, been involved in BNI.And just people say, you're
still doing networking at yourage? And this and that. And and
no.
Do I get a lot of business fromBNI? Absolutely no. Because I
always say I'm not like theperson that fixes cars.

(56:54):
Someone's always gonna needtheir brakes fixed. You don't
need a reverse mortgage everyday or know somebody that does.
So it's completely different.Yeah. But that part of it and
the relationship part of it ishuge. If you're the right person
for b and I, you've got you'vegot to commit. You've got to go
through our structure.

(57:14):
Maybe it works, maybe itdoesn't. But and the also, when
someone joins our chapter, Idon't even judge till about a
year because you see where theyare at a year. Were they in to
just be a cowboy and get allthe, you know, thinking it's
that's those we don't want thosepeople. Mhmm. That's not our our
chapter's culture.

(57:34):
Right. Mhmm. Yeah.

Eric (57:36):
No. I think that's yeah. You gotta you gotta have that
that that givers gain mentality,which is naturally gonna lead to
building building relation.Those things go they go hand in
hand. We don't say, like,building relation.
That's not our motto. Right?It's not building relationships.
But the the nature of giversgain has to involve building

(57:57):
relationships. Right?
You have to have that that thatdesire for that. And so I think,
you know, that's that's I thinkthat's one of the reasons BNI
has been successful for so forso long is is because it's it's
sourced from that.

Crystal (58:09):
Core values.

Eric (58:10):
Yeah. It's part of the core value. It's sourced from
that. If it was if it wassourced you know, if it was I
think if it was sourced from,like, the motto was something
along the lines of, like, youknow, building businesses for
the future, whatever. I don'tknow.
Some some something like that

where it

Eric (58:24):
was really focused from a from a transactional standpoint.
I don't think it would still bearound. Right. It wouldn't
survive.

Crystal (58:31):
And we track our our referrals, and we track our
money because it's helpful andbeneficial. But like Rosemarie
said, that's not what motivatesus.

Mhmm.

Crystal (58:41):
But it is helpful to look back and say, oh, I
referred this person or now thisperson worked with me, but I
think I could, like, maybe sendthem to another, person in the
in the chapter. And by buildingthose relationships, you can
learn like, okay, that personwas to Ireland. Like, do we have
do we know someone who's atravel agent? Exactly right.

(59:01):
Yep.
Yeah. So it keeping keep divinga little deeper as you go.

And you have confidence in the people you
refer. Because, you know, eveneven say we don't have a travel
agent in our group, but I can goon b and I connect, and I say,
oh, there's a travel agent here.I know they've been through the
vetting process. You'll havegood luck. I'll call that travel
agent in another chapter and,you know, sort of feel them out,
and then I'll make thatconnection.

(59:26):
Yeah.

Crystal (59:27):
That's a good reminder for people to make sure they
have their app up to date.Because when you are looking in
for different people fromdifferent chapters I know, Eric,
you've done this for familymembers, in different states. If
they have their informationfilled out, it's a little bit
more likely that you feel morecomfortable to refer them. So
just a little homeworkassignment. If you're watching,

(59:49):
make sure that your, app is upto date.

Eric (59:51):
Yep. And they made that easier now, actually, because
the new interface actuallyshows, like, a percentage and
such to how much you've gotdone. It kinda guides you and
and whatnot too.

They've

Eric (59:59):
Well, I'll I'll probably go over that in a in a in a tech
tip at some point. But, yeah.So, Rosemarie, so if somebody is
looking to get in contact withyou, like, they they are maybe
looking to do, like, a reversemortgage or something, how would
they best do that?

Rosemarie Litoff (01:00:17):
Okay. Well, I've got a a little phone over
here that I will. I'll pass onmy little phone to to others if
they wanna duplicate what Ihave. So I use it, to get to
give away my contactinformation. And when I when I
designed this, I said, well, I'mnot gonna put my cell phone on
there.
There were no cell phone numberson rotary telephones. So, my

(01:00:43):
phone number is (805) 657-0432.And that's a cell phone that I
can be text used used to texton. My website is
rosemaryreverse.com. And on thatwebsite, I've got about 15
different whiteboard videos thataddress different subjects of

(01:01:05):
reverse mortgage.
So it's got a lady runningaround with hair like mine, and
she's using a whiteboard, andthey're literally two minutes
long to explain some of thetenants of reverse mortgage. So
that's rosemaryreverse.com. Ormy email, which is a little more
complicated, is capital r andthen Litoff, my name,
rLitoff@c2financialcorp.com.Litoff is l I t o f f. So that's

(01:01:33):
me.

Crystal (01:01:33):
Reach out to Rosemarie. She's a delight.

Eric (01:01:36):
Awesome. So thank you guys so much for watching and
listening to this episode. Ifyou got value out of this
episode, share it with a friend.So that's one of the ways that
we grow this show. Andespecially if somebody, is
working on their follow-up,maybe even is, you know, maybe

(01:01:58):
doesn't even fully underunderstand, like, ways to kind
of, like, help with this.
And, you know, the theimportance of building that
relationship, really helps withthe follow-up. So if you know
somebody who maybe needs to workon building relationships and
getting to the core value of ofof of behind a person, of what

(01:02:18):
they're looking for, this couldbe a good episode for them. So
share it with that with, withthem, and I'm sure that they'll
be very grateful you did that.So thank you so much for
listening, and, we will see youin the next episode.

Crystal (01:02:31):
And don't forget to log your single CEU.

Eric (01:02:34):
Alright. Thanks, guys.

Crystal (01:02:36):
Thank you for joining us for the Business Boost Hour.
My name is Crystal Pravette, andthis is Eric Beals. Thank you
for joining us, and don't forgetto document your single CEU. See
you next time.

Eric (01:02:48):
See you in the next episode.

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