What can I say, this past week has been another grind. But holy crap, on the plus side, I am feeling the growth. I promised a recap of last Saturday, so first things first. Yeah, last Saturday was Easter weekend, and I started the day by tabling with a veteran (20+ years of experience) loan officer at BOA. I was awful at tabling. People would just kinda walk by as they headed to the teller line. Thankfully, my lender had a table full of swag and that brought some people over. I watched her engage them, asking questions about their current loan and rates and seeing if they were interested in refinancing. She was so great about introducing me as the branch realtor. I know, it’s strange to hear. Anyway, who the hell knew that bank branches could be so damn busy? I talked to the branch manager, and he gave me the lowdown: many of their clients are blue collar workers who don’t have direct deposit, so they come in with a pile of checks and then leave with cash, bc they are still cash-based in most of their transactions. The other interesting tidbit was that nearly everyone at the branch spoke Spanish, and it was cool to see a place providing customer service tailored to its clientele.

The branch manager was super friendly AND actually, he’s a warm lead: he’s moving to Texas in two months. It became super apparent that he was a researcher (he spent the last two years researching various cities throughout the country for his next stop), so we bonded over that. After I got home, I did all this research on good agents in San Antonio, reached out to one of them, and then made the intro. We’ll see if that pans out as a referral.

Later, my lender started working with a couple, and she brought me over and introduced me. The couple told stated that they are already working with an agent, but the lender continued to push me as a backup or in case if anything changes. I was super nervous though, bc I recently had a training at the realtors’ association and they always say it’s a huge no-no to engage with clients who are already taken. I mean, obviously, from the client’s perspective, if an agent can answer questions now, I suppose it’s helpful but you can’t be stealing clients. As a newb, I was especially uncomfortable about it and I think the awkwardness came across. Interestingly, I recently discovered that all lenders also have a real estate license, which is required as part of their lending license, so the lender helped me navigate some of the topics they were discussing. I was sooo nervous. Still, it was very helpful to see how the pros do things… you really can learn a ton just by watching.

In the afternoon, I had the open house at the swanky flip house in Almaden Valley. I got about 13 people through. I’m still nervous and uneasy when people ask me questions, so I need to work on that confidence… it’s ok if I don’t know the answer, but I just have to make sure I’m more assertive about finding the answer and getting back. J saw me interact with some of the people and said I’m getting more comfortable about it. For the most part, people are super cagey, but thank goodness for the ones who are open and friendly. It makes a world of difference. Shit man, sales is so fricking hard. This makes me re-think the next time I enter a retail store: I really should be nicer. Everyone’s trying to do a good job and earn a living, you know?