March 25, 2025 • 22 mins
WATCH
▶️ Watch this episode on YouTube
***
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
In this episode, Mike shares the next 3 fundamentals of "The 30 Steps of Success", a new series aimed at helping listeners in their own business journey. Drawing on over 30 years of his own experience, each episode will contain a deep dive on 2-3 topics that have led to the success Mike has today. He believes that by implementing some of these steps, listeners can revolutionize their career and build a sustainable, referral-based business.
Steps that are discussed:
→ The Value of Knowledge: The power of saying "I don't know", building client trust, and lifelong learning
→ Asking Effective Questions: Why 50/50 is a losing proposition, getting deeper with clients by asking "why" over "what" questions, and connecting clients through trusted partners.
→ Sell Yourself, Be Yourself: Embracing your authentic self, Gandhi's lesson in integrity, and work/life integration.
***
CONNECT WITH THE SHOW
🎙️ Old School, New World Podcast: Old School, New World: The Life of An Entrepreneur
📺 Old School, New World YouTube: @OldSchoolNewWorld
📸 Old School, New World Instagram: @OldSchoolNewWorld
***
CONNECT WITH MIKE
📸 Mike Dias' Instagram: @migueldias26
👥 Mike Dias' Facebook: @Mike.Dias.9231
***
CONNECT WITH DNA LENDING GROUP
🔗 DNA Lending Group Website: www.dnalendinggroup.com
📸 DNA Lending Group Instagram: @DNALendingGroup
📋 DNA Lending Group LinkedIn: @DNALendingGroup
👥 DNA Lending Group Facebook: @DNALendingGroup
⏰ DNA Lending Group TikTok: @DNALendingGroup
***
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Hi, and welcome to episode numbereight of Old School New World, The
Life of an Entrepreneur.
I'm your host and guest today,
Mike Diaz, as we continue to rollout the 30 steps of success in our
series.
Now, today's three steps that
we'll be discussing will beknowledge, sell yourself, be
yourself, and ask effectivequestions.
Now, as we go through these threesteps, these are just things that
(00:35):
I believe and have faith.
If you sort of listen to them,
apply them in your own way, theywill help your business.
Now, of course, I'm a mortgagebroker and founder of DNA Lending
Group, but I also believe thatthese steps are good for any sales
industry.
So if you're a young entrepreneur
looking to get into sales or arein sales.
And perhaps you're a little stuck.
These three steps, in addition to
(00:56):
the ones we've already discussedand the ones we will continue to
discuss moving forward, will helpyou in your journey and your
success to achieve the goals youhave set for yourself.
So let's dive right in.
Knowledge.
You know what they say, knowledgeis power.
And it's so true.
If you know the things that you're
discussing with your clients andfriends or your referral partners,
of course, there's a confidencethat comes in what the client gets
(01:18):
from you.
But you know what else is
powerful?Is acknowledging and realizing
that, hey, wait a minute, I don'tknow the answer to the question
they're asking.
And the best thing you can provide
your client or friend or yourreferral source is, hey, wait a
minute, I don't know.
I'll get back to you.
You know, when you do that, if youthink about it and ask yourself,
you know, if I've been in asituation where someone told me
(01:39):
they're not sure they'd get backto me, how did it make me feel?
I believe that you said, hey, thisperson is, you know, at least
taking ownership or isacknowledging, hey, they don't
know.
You know, and I've been in this
business 31 years and I got totell you, I'm a smart guy.
I'm not going to set that aside,but I'm smart enough to know that
I don't know it all.
You know, I don't find myself that
often anymore saying, hey.
You know, Sam or Sue or Joe or
(02:00):
John, I'm not 100 % sure.
And even if I'm only 99 .9999 %
sure, I will say that to them andsay, hey, I'm 99 .99 % sure that
this is how it should work.
But let me circle back with you
when I get 100 % confirmation onthat.
And that itself builds somethingwith the client or the friend or
your referral partner that you'rediscussing.
(02:20):
And it establishes trust andcredibility because they are
seeing you and hearing you andthey appreciate the fact that
you're not just flying off theseat of your pants.
You know, I'm sure we've all beenin situations where we're talking
to someone about whatever topic itmight be.
And they're like, oh, this is likeJoe know -it -all.
He thinks he knows it.
And, you know, I know I just read
(02:41):
something last week that goesagainst that.
So it's important to be mindful ofhow you are delivering the
knowledge you have and to becognizant of, am I 100 % sure?
Now, knowledge isn't just about...
The product or the features or the
benefits of whatever it is you'reselling in my business, of course,
is mortgages.
You could be selling dental
equipment.
You can be selling insurance.
You can be selling all sorts ofdifferent things.
(03:05):
So it's not just about theproduct.
It's about the value you'reproviding them, your clients or
friends, about what you're saying.
So sometimes knowledge comes from
strategies.
Sometimes knowledge comes from
different types of technologiesare available.
So I'll give you an example.
of strategies.
Like in my business, you'd besurprised how many Canadians don't
realize that if you simply makebiweekly accelerated payments,
that you're shaving off three anda half years of your amortization
(03:30):
within the first five years.
And they also don't realize.
So I'll give you an example.
If you start with a 25 -year
amortization and you make yourbiweekly accelerated payments
after five years, instead of beingdown to 20 years, you'll be down
to 17 years.
And then the following five years,
Upon the renewal, they'recontinuing that same strategy of
(03:50):
biweekly accelerated.
Now they're not only down to 12
years, now they're down to nineyears.
In reality, if you're making someadditional payments, someone who
started with a 25 -yearamortization can pay off their
mortgage in 15 years.
So that is absolutely possible.
Now, life happens, young families,especially first -time homebuyers,
have kids.
Kids, as we all know, can be
costly.
They, of course, have an amount of
(04:12):
love they bring into our lives.
But there is cost involved with
having a family.
And that's important.
So the knowledge you can provideis just strategies around that.
Lump sum payments is anotherexample.
You know, when we talk aboutproduct itself, variable first
fix, some people are on the fenceon what to choose.
But the value of the variableproduct, especially in a
decreasing rate cycle like we are,goes a long way.
(04:35):
And when it comes to knowledge,it's super important to remember
what our clients, friends andreferral partners are craving the
most.
And what they're craving the most
is counsel, advice and insight andsupport.
Because, you know, in this wildworld we're living in at the
moment, you know, there's so muchvalue.
You can provide with yourknowledge and it could just be
something where you have a mentoror you have a colleague, you're
(04:58):
within a team and you guys arehaving your team meeting.
You're talking about tariffs, youknow, knowledge around tariffs.
It's really important just to givesomeone a sense.
I'm not an economist, but I do myresearch.
I look into different things ofwhat's happening.
And here's what I can tell youabout tariffs.
You know, tariffs are twofold.
And I've talked about this before.
(05:19):
Tariffs are not going to be a goodthing for certain industries.
You know, the steel, aluminum,automotive, some farmers.
It's going to be difficult.
And it's creating a lot of
uncertainty.
And what tariffs are, are
inflationary.
So of course, Canada's inflation
rate is at their target and Bankof Canada wants to keep it in
around the 2%.
So we have some room there.
We're just below it.
Tariffs are also recessionary.
(05:39):
So whenever there's a recession orwhenever there's a slowdown in the
economy, the Bank of Canada'sresponsibility is to refuel the
economy.
How do they do that?
They drop the rates.
The tariffs for the overall cost
of borrowing is a benefit toconsumers, especially those in
variable products or looking toget into the market to try and
figure out, hey, what's thestrategy?
That's where counsel, advice,insight, support goes so much
(06:00):
wider in terms of what you provideyour clients and friend than, you
know, all the interest rate isthis.
Because anyone under the sun.
can go on the internet, the good
old internet and say, oh, here's abunch of stuff is what they're
saying.
But when you're talking about
counsel and advice and insight andstrategies, that's something that
(06:23):
you can't get from the internet.
Now, some might argue you might be
able to, but that person to personconnection is so, so important.
So yes, knowledge is power, butthe power part.
is what you do with the knowledge,what you do when you provide that
information to clients and notjust about the product, but
(06:44):
everything surrounding what it isthat they're getting themselves
into, because this way you'reproviding meaningful value.
Right.
So that's something to be very
mindful of when we're looking atknowledge.
So especially for the new brokersout there or new agents coming
into the business or even somethat are two years, three years,
even five years into the business.
Remember, I've been in 31 years
(07:04):
and continue to learn.
And I can tell you, if you tell
yourself, oh, I know it all.
Be careful with that because we
just don't know.
I have a saying.
If you ain't learning, you'reburning.
Meaning, you know, you're justgoing to stop.
There's going to be a plateau.
So always be open to learning,
learning from others, learningfrom things you read.
(07:26):
So that's a really, reallyimportant piece of what we do.
So do yourselves, but moreimportantly, do your clients, your
friends, your referral partners afavor and provide value with
respects to the knowledge youhave.
Because, you know, again, theycrave that counsel and advice.
That would be one of the othersteps embedded in the 30 steps of
success.
So let's move on to ask effective
questions.
You know, it's so interesting when
I think about the questions weask.
(07:47):
You know, we always think it's,you know, a 50 -50.
For 50, I want to win.
I want my client or friend to win.
We have to understand that it'snot 50 -50. 50 -50 is a losing
proposition.
And what we like to do is win.
So if you want to win.
You have to remember it's 100%,
but it's 100 % win for yourclient, friend, or referral
(08:11):
partner.
And so when you're asking
questions, it's not about you.
You know, at the end of the day,
yes.
We're here to support and guide
our clients and friends, but it'sall about them and the mortgage
business.
99 % of them is the biggest
investment they'll ever make intheir lifetime.
So, you know, it's super, super,super important to remember what
we're trying to do for them shouldbe about them.
(08:32):
The win is for them.
So 50 -50, throw it out the
window.
It's 100 % you should be aiming
for and 100 % win for your client.
So, you know, you might be
wondering, OK, Mike, what are, youknow, the effective questions I
should ask?And listen, I said this, you know,
(08:52):
just before and I'll continue tosay it.
I continue to learn.
So when I meet with my clients and
friends, you know, I have asuccessful referral based business
from clients and friends and evensome realtors out there, of
course.
But, you know, I've really
structured it a certain way.
And when they come to me, you
know, especially in the first halfof my career, I would ask what
(09:16):
questions, you know, what have youset aside for down payment?
You know, what area are youlooking for?
The problem with what questions isthat they're more superficial.
They don't get into the crux ofwho the person is.
And so instead of asking whatquestions, or you can combine it,
I'm not saying you abandon whatquestions, they are important,
like, you know, what income do youearn or, you know, what do you do
for a living?But add in a question like, you
(09:37):
know, why did you get into thisindustry that you're currently
working in?Why do you want to live in this
area?Or why are you currently living in
this area wanting to go to thisarea?
Those questions dive deeper.
Those questions will tell you
about the values of people.
So I'll give you an example.
I was recently discussing a clientwho was referred to me by my great
accountant, and he is an engineerfor Rogers.
(09:59):
Super successful and in thebusiness for 35 years.
So one of the questions I askedwas, you know, why did you get
into engineering?Like, why did you choose that
industry?And he was, you know, had a little
chuckle about it.
And he said, well, you know, when
I was 15, and this client of mineis in his late 50s, when I was 15,
I wanted to build stereos.
And so when I heard that, you
(10:19):
know, I thought to myself, wow,here's a young guy, 15.
And one of his, you know,ambitions when he was 50 was to
put together a stereo so he canbuild it.
And so you start to get to knowthem a bit.
And, you know, at the end of thatconversation, threw in a bit of
humor around when we were talkingabout the products and different
(10:41):
things.
And I said, hey, you know, just
like you're, you know, 15, you'rebuilding something, we're going to
help you build something now.
That's sort of paraphrased.
It wasn't exactly like that, butyou get the gist of the point
there.
You know, it's important to ask
those types of questions.
You know, why do you want to live
in this neighborhood?You might find out they have two
young kids, you know, where it'sreally important that we choose a
(11:01):
good school district for our kids.
You start to get to know them a
bit.
So those why questions go deeper
into the relationship, builds morerapport.
And the funny thing is, whenyou're asking these why questions,
clients, you know, subconsciouslywill start to feel that trust and
that rapport.
So they'll start opening up to you
a bit more.
So again, what questions are still
very good.
They're more about features, you
know, and the why questions aremore about the benefits of what we
do.
(11:21):
So when you're asking those
effective questions, just bemindful of that as well.
And so the value you can provideclients, so back to value, because
value in what we do, guys, I can'tstress enough how important it is
and meaningful value.
So as an example, when you ask the
question, you know, why are youchoosing this neighborhood?
And they tell you, you know, wewanted this neighborhood, we're
planning a family, we have kids.
So you might have some real estate
(11:42):
contacts and they haven't chosen arealtor yet, as an example.
So what do you do to help yourbusiness?
You might reach out to yourrealtor and say, hey, I have these
clients I just spoke to.
They don't have a realtor yet.
Can you give me some informationabout really good school
districts?Or you might do the research
(12:03):
yourself.
But if you involve your realtor,
you would then just send out anemail, a follow -up email.
I've talked about that in thefirst three that we discussed.
So you send out an email.
You're not trying to sell them
anything.
You're saying, hey, I was doing
some digging.
Here's three pockets that are
really good that my trusted realestate partner sent over to me
(12:26):
because I went to ask them.
And guess what that will do?
Client will say, wow, you know,they really listened.
God gave us two years, one mouthfor a reason.
And a client will say, they reallylistened.
And wow, I haven't chosen arealtor yet, but this realtor
seems to know where I want thekids to go or planning for our
future.
And you can create a referral to
your trusted real estate partner.
And that's how we've created a
referral based business.
We are the ones that are referring
(12:46):
out, you know, the law ofreceptivity.
I'm always open to accept all thegifts that come in, but I'm very,
very big in giving.
And that means giving to.
the partners that I have.
So, you know, it's definitely
something to be mindful of becausethen that will spur on the
relationship.
And now you've connected perhaps
your client to this realtor.
And what does that do to add
value?Now that you have your trusted
real estate partner connected withyour client and you're in the
(13:07):
middle and you're looking afterthings on that side, the process
now becomes seamless.
It becomes a client first.
approach.
So that is super, super important.
We're talking about asking theeffective questions.
You know, there's a slew of otherquestions.
Don't get me wrong, but try andstay away from the what questions
and focus on the why questions.
And why is that?
Because the what questionstypically only cover sort of the
superficial aspect of things.
(13:28):
The why questions dive in right in
here, the values.
who they are, what they represent.
So that is step number two.
So we've talked about knowledge.
We've talked about askingeffective questions.
Number three is my favorite, whichis sell yourself and be yourself.
So, you know, when you hear that,you might say to yourself, you
know, of course I'm going to sellmyself.
(13:50):
Yeah.
Selling yourself was who you are.
I'm a mortgage broker.
I've been in the business 31
years, or even if you juststarted.
And, you know, I had someone I wastalking to that was a pilot who's
now an agent.
That's a great opening elevator
pitch.
You know, I used to be a pilot.
I used to fly around the world.
(14:13):
I used to care for, you know, 200
people on a daily basis.
And when I asked them, hey, do you
tell your clients you're a pilot?They were like, no. I said, yes,
you should.
Yes, yes, yes.
You know, win, win, win.
Yes, yes, yes.
And so, you know, I just thoughtabout this sidetracked.
(14:34):
Yes is three words.
Yes is a positive word.
Win is three letters.
Yes, win.
It's important to sell yourself inthat respect, 100%.
You know, what you're really doingis selling who you are.
And when you're selling who youare, you know, there's nothing
better than you can sell is thatyourself, your authentic, genuine
(14:54):
self.
You know, authenticity, and I've
talked about this before a littlebit.
You know, some people say, well,how do I become authentic?
You don't become authentic.
You just be authentic or you just
be it.
Whichever personality type you
have, Be it.
Embrace it.
You know, throw a bit of love inthere for yourself.
You know, look in the mirror andsay, hey, Mike, I love you.
Talking to myself, of course,guys, I don't want you to love me.
You might.
But show yourself some love, okay?
(15:15):
Because it's so important becauseit helps you stay connected to
yourself.
There's something called work
-life balance.
We've all heard it for years and
years.
I've recently revisited and re
-look at this.
work -life balance motto.
And when I heard it resonated agreat deal, it's work -life
integration.
And so, you know, when you're an
authentic person, it's importantto be who you are at the core all
(15:36):
the time.
But when you're living a work
-life balance, you're working andthen you don't have to balance
family.
This idea of work -life
integration is that you have tomake compromises within yourself.
with your partner, with yourspouse, with your family.
And so you have to integrate them.
So perhaps, you know, if you have
kids, you bring them into the folda bit to let them know what you're
(16:01):
doing.
You know, don't shun them out.
Like, so if you were on that work-life balance model, you're
separating, you know, because I'vejust spent time with kids.
The integration part really,really talks to and centers
around, you know, being who youare.
And don't be afraid of who youare.
You know, you're an amazingindividual.
You know, you do great things tohelp and serve people.
(16:21):
And so it's important to make sureyou give yourself a big squeeze, a
big hug.
And remember that people will feel
your authenticity.
Sell yourself, be yourself.
How do you sell yourself?Is by being yourself.
You know, authenticity is tiedclosely into integrity.
You know, integrity comes from theLatin word in, not, tegr, meaning
(16:44):
pristine or whole.
If you do what you say and say
what you do, you're a man and awoman who sticks to their words.
So you are whole.
Because if you, for example, if
you lack an integrity, that means,well, I'm going to do this for you
and you don't do it.
(17:04):
Or you do this in the opposite of
what you said you're going to do.
People start to doubt your
integrity.
They start to doubt if you're
authentic.
So that's really, really
important.
So it's very tied together,
authenticity and integrity.
And, you know, I have a great
friend of mine, Salt of the Earth.
You've heard me speak about him
before.
He's been a guest on the podcast,
(17:24):
Roy Cocholo.
And he has a new page called RC
Truth.
And he talks a lot about integrity
and how important it is to be trueto yourself.
And I have a great story I cameacross that I want to share with
you guys.
When I heard it, it was like, oh,
That's amazing.
It's a story about Gandhi, a lady
(17:45):
who brought her son.
She traveled far.
They knew Gandhi, the influenceand the inspiration that he had
for so many.
So she brought her child.
Her child was eating sugar out ofcontrol.
And so she brought him therebecause she wanted Gandhi to tell
her son to stop eating sugar.
So she gets there, travels hours
(18:06):
and hours to get there.
And she says, can you please tell
my son to stop eating sugar?He sits there, turns to the mother
and says, Come back in two weeks.
The mother said, but we traveled
this time.
Just tell him to stop eating
sugar.
Come back in two weeks.
Two weeks later, traveled all theway back and Gandhi looked at the
(18:27):
child and said, stop eating sugar.
And lo and behold, the child
stopped eating sugar.
It was phenomenal.
And the mother says, you know, whydid we have to come back all this
way?His response was because I had to
stop eating sugar.
So think about that.
You know, in order for someone.
To be able to help someone else,
they have to be living it.
(18:49):
So Gandhi, he himself stopped in
order for the boy to feel what hewas asking because he entrenched
himself in not eating sugar.
You know, when I heard that story,
it just gives me goosebumps.
It's just tremendous because
there's so much in us that if wedecide we're going to do
something, and that's the powerthat we have.
You know, that's the power that wecan instill in the sales
(19:10):
industries that we're in.
But we have to be true to ourself.
We must be authentic.
We must live a life of integrity.
And, you know, magic starts tocome from that.
So guys, this episode, episodeeight was a bit short, but we
covered knowledge, ask effectivequestions, and of course, sell
yourself, be yourself.
If you haven't subscribed yet,
please subscribe.
If you have any questions, please
reach out to me.
(19:31):
You can reach me any place on
social, old school, new world.
Drop me a DM there.
Of course, as I said, I'm thefounder of DNA Lending Group.
Email me at mike atdnalendinggroup
com or even what I love the most.
Give me a call.
Let's talk.
It's 416 -357 -4003.
Guys.
Appreciate you stopping in and
listening.
I appreciate you guys a great deal
(19:51):
for the support and the love thatyou show what we're doing here.
And please, if I could ask afavor, and it's the only favor
I'll really ask here, spread theword, ask others to subscribe.
Let's build this and make itsomething great because the idea
here is not for my benefit.
It's to help and serve as many
(20:14):
people as we possibly can,especially as the podcast is
called.
old school, new world, the life of
an entrepreneur.
I want to help young
entrepreneurship.
I want to help the young people
getting into this, wanting tofigure it out.
We'll continue to do what we dobest.
Guys, again, thank you so much.
Appreciate you and have a great
(20:36):
day.
Hi, and welcome to episode numbereight of Old School New World, The
Life of an Entrepreneur.
I'm your host and guest today,
Mike Diaz, as we continue to rollout the 30 steps of success in our
series.
Now, today's three steps that
we'll be discussing will beknowledge, sell yourself, be
yourself, and ask effectivequestions.
Now, as we go through these threesteps, these are just things that
(00:35):
I believe and have faith.
If you sort of listen to them,
apply them in your own way, theywill help your business.
Now, of course, I'm a mortgagebroker and founder of DNA Lending
Group, but I also believe thatthese steps are good for any sales
industry.
So if you're a young entrepreneur
looking to get into sales or arein sales.
And perhaps you're a little stuck.
These three steps, in addition to
(00:56):
the ones we've already discussedand the ones we will continue to
discuss moving forward, will helpyou in your journey and your
success to achieve the goals youhave set for yourself.
So let's dive right in.
Knowledge.
You know what they say, knowledgeis power.
And it's so true.
If you know the things that you're
discussing with your clients andfriends or your referral partners,
of course, there's a confidencethat comes in what the client gets
(01:18):
from you.
But you know what else is
powerful?Is acknowledging and realizing
that, hey, wait a minute, I don'tknow the answer to the question
they're asking.
And the best thing you can provide
your client or friend or yourreferral source is, hey, wait a
minute, I don't know.
I'll get back to you.
You know, when you do that, if youthink about it and ask yourself,
you know, if I've been in asituation where someone told me
(01:39):
they're not sure they'd get backto me, how did it make me feel?
I believe that you said, hey, thisperson is, you know, at least
taking ownership or isacknowledging, hey, they don't
know.
You know, and I've been in this
business 31 years and I got totell you, I'm a smart guy.
I'm not going to set that aside,but I'm smart enough to know that
I don't know it all.
You know, I don't find myself that
often anymore saying, hey.
You know, Sam or Sue or Joe or
(02:00):
John, I'm not 100 % sure.
And even if I'm only 99 .9999 %
sure, I will say that to them andsay, hey, I'm 99 .99 % sure that
this is how it should work.
But let me circle back with you
when I get 100 % confirmation onthat.
And that itself builds somethingwith the client or the friend or
your referral partner that you'rediscussing.
(02:20):
And it establishes trust andcredibility because they are
seeing you and hearing you andthey appreciate the fact that
you're not just flying off theseat of your pants.
You know, I'm sure we've all beenin situations where we're talking
to someone about whatever topic itmight be.
And they're like, oh, this is likeJoe know -it -all.
He thinks he knows it.
And, you know, I know I just read
(02:41):
something last week that goesagainst that.
So it's important to be mindful ofhow you are delivering the
knowledge you have and to becognizant of, am I 100 % sure?
Now, knowledge isn't just about...
The product or the features or the
benefits of whatever it is you'reselling in my business, of course,
is mortgages.
You could be selling dental
equipment.
You can be selling insurance.
You can be selling all sorts ofdifferent things.
(03:05):
So it's not just about theproduct.
It's about the value you'reproviding them, your clients or
friends, about what you're saying.
So sometimes knowledge comes from
strategies.
Sometimes knowledge comes from
different types of technologiesare available.
So I'll give you an example.
of strategies.
Like in my business, you'd besurprised how many Canadians don't
realize that if you simply makebiweekly accelerated payments,
that you're shaving off three anda half years of your amortization
(03:30):
within the first five years.
And they also don't realize.
So I'll give you an example.
If you start with a 25 -year
amortization and you make yourbiweekly accelerated payments
after five years, instead of beingdown to 20 years, you'll be down
to 17 years.
And then the following five years,
Upon the renewal, they'recontinuing that same strategy of
(03:50):
biweekly accelerated.
Now they're not only down to 12
years, now they're down to nineyears.
In reality, if you're making someadditional payments, someone who
started with a 25 -yearamortization can pay off their
mortgage in 15 years.
So that is absolutely possible.
Now, life happens, young families,especially first -time homebuyers,
have kids.
Kids, as we all know, can be
costly.
They, of course, have an amount of
(04:12):
love they bring into our lives.
But there is cost involved with
having a family.
And that's important.
So the knowledge you can provideis just strategies around that.
Lump sum payments is anotherexample.
You know, when we talk aboutproduct itself, variable first
fix, some people are on the fenceon what to choose.
But the value of the variableproduct, especially in a
decreasing rate cycle like we are,goes a long way.
(04:35):
And when it comes to knowledge,it's super important to remember
what our clients, friends andreferral partners are craving the
most.
And what they're craving the most
is counsel, advice and insight andsupport.
Because, you know, in this wildworld we're living in at the
moment, you know, there's so muchvalue.
You can provide with yourknowledge and it could just be
something where you have a mentoror you have a colleague, you're
(04:58):
within a team and you guys arehaving your team meeting.
You're talking about tariffs, youknow, knowledge around tariffs.
It's really important just to givesomeone a sense.
I'm not an economist, but I do myresearch.
I look into different things ofwhat's happening.
And here's what I can tell youabout tariffs.
You know, tariffs are twofold.
And I've talked about this before.
(05:19):
Tariffs are not going to be a goodthing for certain industries.
You know, the steel, aluminum,automotive, some farmers.
It's going to be difficult.
And it's creating a lot of
uncertainty.
And what tariffs are, are
inflationary.
So of course, Canada's inflation
rate is at their target and Bankof Canada wants to keep it in
around the 2%.
So we have some room there.
We're just below it.
Tariffs are also recessionary.
(05:39):
So whenever there's a recession orwhenever there's a slowdown in the
economy, the Bank of Canada'sresponsibility is to refuel the
economy.
How do they do that?
They drop the rates.
The tariffs for the overall cost
of borrowing is a benefit toconsumers, especially those in
variable products or looking toget into the market to try and
figure out, hey, what's thestrategy?
That's where counsel, advice,insight, support goes so much
(06:00):
wider in terms of what you provideyour clients and friend than, you
know, all the interest rate isthis.
Because anyone under the sun.
can go on the internet, the good
old internet and say, oh, here's abunch of stuff is what they're
saying.
But when you're talking about
counsel and advice and insight andstrategies, that's something that
(06:23):
you can't get from the internet.
Now, some might argue you might be
able to, but that person to personconnection is so, so important.
So yes, knowledge is power, butthe power part.
is what you do with the knowledge,what you do when you provide that
information to clients and notjust about the product, but
(06:44):
everything surrounding what it isthat they're getting themselves
into, because this way you'reproviding meaningful value.
Right.
So that's something to be very
mindful of when we're looking atknowledge.
So especially for the new brokersout there or new agents coming
into the business or even somethat are two years, three years,
even five years into the business.
Remember, I've been in 31 years
(07:04):
and continue to learn.
And I can tell you, if you tell
yourself, oh, I know it all.
Be careful with that because we
just don't know.
I have a saying.
If you ain't learning, you'reburning.
Meaning, you know, you're justgoing to stop.
There's going to be a plateau.
So always be open to learning,
learning from others, learningfrom things you read.
(07:26):
So that's a really, reallyimportant piece of what we do.
So do yourselves, but moreimportantly, do your clients, your
friends, your referral partners afavor and provide value with
respects to the knowledge youhave.
Because, you know, again, theycrave that counsel and advice.
That would be one of the othersteps embedded in the 30 steps of
success.
So let's move on to ask effective
questions.
You know, it's so interesting when
I think about the questions weask.
(07:47):
You know, we always think it's,you know, a 50 -50.
For 50, I want to win.
I want my client or friend to win.
We have to understand that it'snot 50 -50. 50 -50 is a losing
proposition.
And what we like to do is win.
So if you want to win.
You have to remember it's 100%,
but it's 100 % win for yourclient, friend, or referral
(08:11):
partner.
And so when you're asking
questions, it's not about you.
You know, at the end of the day,
yes.
We're here to support and guide
our clients and friends, but it'sall about them and the mortgage
business.
99 % of them is the biggest
investment they'll ever make intheir lifetime.
So, you know, it's super, super,super important to remember what
we're trying to do for them shouldbe about them.
(08:32):
The win is for them.
So 50 -50, throw it out the
window.
It's 100 % you should be aiming
for and 100 % win for your client.
So, you know, you might be
wondering, OK, Mike, what are, youknow, the effective questions I
should ask?And listen, I said this, you know,
(08:52):
just before and I'll continue tosay it.
I continue to learn.
So when I meet with my clients and
friends, you know, I have asuccessful referral based business
from clients and friends and evensome realtors out there, of
course.
But, you know, I've really
structured it a certain way.
And when they come to me, you
know, especially in the first halfof my career, I would ask what
(09:16):
questions, you know, what have youset aside for down payment?
You know, what area are youlooking for?
The problem with what questions isthat they're more superficial.
They don't get into the crux ofwho the person is.
And so instead of asking whatquestions, or you can combine it,
I'm not saying you abandon whatquestions, they are important,
like, you know, what income do youearn or, you know, what do you do
for a living?But add in a question like, you
(09:37):
know, why did you get into thisindustry that you're currently
working in?Why do you want to live in this
area?Or why are you currently living in
this area wanting to go to thisarea?
Those questions dive deeper.
Those questions will tell you
about the values of people.
So I'll give you an example.
I was recently discussing a clientwho was referred to me by my great
accountant, and he is an engineerfor Rogers.
(09:59):
Super successful and in thebusiness for 35 years.
So one of the questions I askedwas, you know, why did you get
into engineering?Like, why did you choose that
industry?And he was, you know, had a little
chuckle about it.
And he said, well, you know, when
I was 15, and this client of mineis in his late 50s, when I was 15,
I wanted to build stereos.
And so when I heard that, you
(10:19):
know, I thought to myself, wow,here's a young guy, 15.
And one of his, you know,ambitions when he was 50 was to
put together a stereo so he canbuild it.
And so you start to get to knowthem a bit.
And, you know, at the end of thatconversation, threw in a bit of
humor around when we were talkingabout the products and different
(10:41):
things.
And I said, hey, you know, just
like you're, you know, 15, you'rebuilding something, we're going to
help you build something now.
That's sort of paraphrased.
It wasn't exactly like that, butyou get the gist of the point
there.
You know, it's important to ask
those types of questions.
You know, why do you want to live
in this neighborhood?You might find out they have two
young kids, you know, where it'sreally important that we choose a
(11:01):
good school district for our kids.
You start to get to know them a
bit.
So those why questions go deeper
into the relationship, builds morerapport.
And the funny thing is, whenyou're asking these why questions,
clients, you know, subconsciouslywill start to feel that trust and
that rapport.
So they'll start opening up to you
a bit more.
So again, what questions are still
very good.
They're more about features, you
know, and the why questions aremore about the benefits of what we
do.
(11:21):
So when you're asking those
effective questions, just bemindful of that as well.
And so the value you can provideclients, so back to value, because
value in what we do, guys, I can'tstress enough how important it is
and meaningful value.
So as an example, when you ask the
question, you know, why are youchoosing this neighborhood?
And they tell you, you know, wewanted this neighborhood, we're
planning a family, we have kids.
So you might have some real estate
(11:42):
contacts and they haven't chosen arealtor yet, as an example.
So what do you do to help yourbusiness?
You might reach out to yourrealtor and say, hey, I have these
clients I just spoke to.
They don't have a realtor yet.
Can you give me some informationabout really good school
districts?Or you might do the research
(12:03):
yourself.
But if you involve your realtor,
you would then just send out anemail, a follow -up email.
I've talked about that in thefirst three that we discussed.
So you send out an email.
You're not trying to sell them
anything.
You're saying, hey, I was doing
some digging.
Here's three pockets that are
really good that my trusted realestate partner sent over to me
(12:26):
because I went to ask them.
And guess what that will do?
Client will say, wow, you know,they really listened.
God gave us two years, one mouthfor a reason.
And a client will say, they reallylistened.
And wow, I haven't chosen arealtor yet, but this realtor
seems to know where I want thekids to go or planning for our
future.
And you can create a referral to
your trusted real estate partner.
And that's how we've created a
referral based business.
We are the ones that are referring
(12:46):
out, you know, the law ofreceptivity.
I'm always open to accept all thegifts that come in, but I'm very,
very big in giving.
And that means giving to.
the partners that I have.
So, you know, it's definitely
something to be mindful of becausethen that will spur on the
relationship.
And now you've connected perhaps
your client to this realtor.
And what does that do to add
value?Now that you have your trusted
real estate partner connected withyour client and you're in the
(13:07):
middle and you're looking afterthings on that side, the process
now becomes seamless.
It becomes a client first.
approach.
So that is super, super important.
We're talking about asking theeffective questions.
You know, there's a slew of otherquestions.
Don't get me wrong, but try andstay away from the what questions
and focus on the why questions.
And why is that?
Because the what questionstypically only cover sort of the
superficial aspect of things.
(13:28):
The why questions dive in right in
here, the values.
who they are, what they represent.
So that is step number two.
So we've talked about knowledge.
We've talked about askingeffective questions.
Number three is my favorite, whichis sell yourself and be yourself.
So, you know, when you hear that,you might say to yourself, you
know, of course I'm going to sellmyself.
(13:50):
Yeah.
Selling yourself was who you are.
I'm a mortgage broker.
I've been in the business 31
years, or even if you juststarted.
And, you know, I had someone I wastalking to that was a pilot who's
now an agent.
That's a great opening elevator
pitch.
You know, I used to be a pilot.
I used to fly around the world.
(14:13):
I used to care for, you know, 200
people on a daily basis.
And when I asked them, hey, do you
tell your clients you're a pilot?They were like, no. I said, yes,
you should.
Yes, yes, yes.
You know, win, win, win.
Yes, yes, yes.
And so, you know, I just thoughtabout this sidetracked.
(14:34):
Yes is three words.
Yes is a positive word.
Win is three letters.
Yes, win.
It's important to sell yourself inthat respect, 100%.
You know, what you're really doingis selling who you are.
And when you're selling who youare, you know, there's nothing
better than you can sell is thatyourself, your authentic, genuine
(14:54):
self.
You know, authenticity, and I've
talked about this before a littlebit.
You know, some people say, well,how do I become authentic?
You don't become authentic.
You just be authentic or you just
be it.
Whichever personality type you
have, Be it.
Embrace it.
You know, throw a bit of love inthere for yourself.
You know, look in the mirror andsay, hey, Mike, I love you.
Talking to myself, of course,guys, I don't want you to love me.
You might.
But show yourself some love, okay?
(15:15):
Because it's so important becauseit helps you stay connected to
yourself.
There's something called work
-life balance.
We've all heard it for years and
years.
I've recently revisited and re
-look at this.
work -life balance motto.
And when I heard it resonated agreat deal, it's work -life
integration.
And so, you know, when you're an
authentic person, it's importantto be who you are at the core all
(15:36):
the time.
But when you're living a work
-life balance, you're working andthen you don't have to balance
family.
This idea of work -life
integration is that you have tomake compromises within yourself.
with your partner, with yourspouse, with your family.
And so you have to integrate them.
So perhaps, you know, if you have
kids, you bring them into the folda bit to let them know what you're
(16:01):
doing.
You know, don't shun them out.
Like, so if you were on that work-life balance model, you're
separating, you know, because I'vejust spent time with kids.
The integration part really,really talks to and centers
around, you know, being who youare.
And don't be afraid of who youare.
You know, you're an amazingindividual.
You know, you do great things tohelp and serve people.
(16:21):
And so it's important to make sureyou give yourself a big squeeze, a
big hug.
And remember that people will feel
your authenticity.
Sell yourself, be yourself.
How do you sell yourself?Is by being yourself.
You know, authenticity is tiedclosely into integrity.
You know, integrity comes from theLatin word in, not, tegr, meaning
(16:44):
pristine or whole.
If you do what you say and say
what you do, you're a man and awoman who sticks to their words.
So you are whole.
Because if you, for example, if
you lack an integrity, that means,well, I'm going to do this for you
and you don't do it.
(17:04):
Or you do this in the opposite of
what you said you're going to do.
People start to doubt your
integrity.
They start to doubt if you're
authentic.
So that's really, really
important.
So it's very tied together,
authenticity and integrity.
And, you know, I have a great
friend of mine, Salt of the Earth.
You've heard me speak about him
before.
He's been a guest on the podcast,
(17:24):
Roy Cocholo.
And he has a new page called RC
Truth.
And he talks a lot about integrity
and how important it is to be trueto yourself.
And I have a great story I cameacross that I want to share with
you guys.
When I heard it, it was like, oh,
That's amazing.
It's a story about Gandhi, a lady
(17:45):
who brought her son.
She traveled far.
They knew Gandhi, the influenceand the inspiration that he had
for so many.
So she brought her child.
Her child was eating sugar out ofcontrol.
And so she brought him therebecause she wanted Gandhi to tell
her son to stop eating sugar.
So she gets there, travels hours
(18:06):
and hours to get there.
And she says, can you please tell
my son to stop eating sugar?He sits there, turns to the mother
and says, Come back in two weeks.
The mother said, but we traveled
this time.
Just tell him to stop eating
sugar.
Come back in two weeks.
Two weeks later, traveled all theway back and Gandhi looked at the
(18:27):
child and said, stop eating sugar.
And lo and behold, the child
stopped eating sugar.
It was phenomenal.
And the mother says, you know, whydid we have to come back all this
way?His response was because I had to
stop eating sugar.
So think about that.
You know, in order for someone.
To be able to help someone else,
they have to be living it.
(18:49):
So Gandhi, he himself stopped in
order for the boy to feel what hewas asking because he entrenched
himself in not eating sugar.
You know, when I heard that story,
it just gives me goosebumps.
It's just tremendous because
there's so much in us that if wedecide we're going to do
something, and that's the powerthat we have.
You know, that's the power that wecan instill in the sales
(19:10):
industries that we're in.
But we have to be true to ourself.
We must be authentic.
We must live a life of integrity.
And, you know, magic starts tocome from that.
So guys, this episode, episodeeight was a bit short, but we
covered knowledge, ask effectivequestions, and of course, sell
yourself, be yourself.
If you haven't subscribed yet,
please subscribe.
If you have any questions, please
reach out to me.
(19:31):
You can reach me any place on
social, old school, new world.
Drop me a DM there.
Of course, as I said, I'm thefounder of DNA Lending Group.
Email me at mike atdnalendinggroup
com or even what I love the most.
Give me a call.
Let's talk.
It's 416 -357 -4003.
Guys.
Appreciate you stopping in and
listening.
I appreciate you guys a great deal
(19:51):
for the support and the love thatyou show what we're doing here.
And please, if I could ask afavor, and it's the only favor
I'll really ask here, spread theword, ask others to subscribe.
Let's build this and make itsomething great because the idea
here is not for my benefit.
It's to help and serve as many
(20:14):
people as we possibly can,especially as the podcast is
called.
old school, new world, the life of
an entrepreneur.
I want to help young
entrepreneurship.
I want to help the young people
getting into this, wanting tofigure it out.
We'll continue to do what we dobest.
Guys, again, thank you so much.
Appreciate you and have a great
(20:36):
day.
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.