The Commission Code for Success

Turning Conversations Into Clients With A Simple MAP: Sarah Hubbard

• The Commission Code For Success from Sims Training and Consulting, LLC • Season 2

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If networking feels random or draining, it’s because most of us walk in without a plan and hope for magic. In this conversation with Sarah Hubbard, we map out a simple, repeatable framework that turns handshakes into second meetings and second meetings into real opportunities. You’ll hear how to set clear intentions before you ever step into the room, use authentic stories to build trust, and craft precise asks that people can actually act on.

We unpack the MAP method: Mindset and intention, Authenticity and curiosity, Precise messaging, and Purposeful follow-through. Sarah shows how AI can scan attendee lists, surface the top five people to meet, and even suggest icebreakers that don’t feel forced. We dig into practical tools like Blinq e-cards and lean CRMs so you can capture details on the spot, then dictate quick voice notes to generate tailored follow-ups. You’ll learn why “anybody” kills your pitch, how seasonal focus sharpens your ask, and how to tap second-degree networks when you keep seeing the same faces.

The payoff comes from consistency. We walk through a simple A/B/C system to organize your contacts and a one-hour weekly block to deliver personal touches that build trust. If you’ve ever struggled with follow-up, you’ll get templates, prompts, and a cadence you can actually sustain. Whether you’re an introvert who leads with questions or an extrovert who loves the room, this approach helps you show up as yourself and make your network work. Grab Sarah’s free AI prompts to jumpstart your prep, then hit play and build a system that fits your style. If this hits home, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more builders can find it.

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SPEAKER_00:

There are extroverts, there are introverts, there are amberts, there are people that could go work a room like myself and then get done and be like, hey, let's go out for a bite to eat and let's keep going and keep the party going. There are some people that are like dreading it. It's the only thing on their schedule the whole day. And they're like, oh my gosh, I've got to gear myself up. And then they're white standing in the corner, white knuckling and drink, going, what am I even doing here? This is so not aligning with me. And I think that there is a way where we can encompass all of the things and make it align with you because that's first and foremost what this is all about. Networking is a form of marketing for you to attract potential opportunities in your business. No matter you're doing a business to consumer type of business or a business-to-business type business, your network is your net worth and how you talk about it, how you show up, and what you are putting out there to everybody else is what is going to come back to you.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome again to the Commission Code Podcast. We appreciate you taking the time to listen and join us here today. We're here to help you increase your business revenue and have time to enjoy it. I'm your host, Morris Stephens. I've been consulting and training business people for, well, let's just say over 40 years. We're focused on increasing revenue and having time to enjoy it. After years as a professional salesperson, I spent 32 years in the corporate world. I retired as vice president and chief learning officer of the sales department of a large insurance company, where we designed and built and delivered training for over 12,000 professional salespeople. Now, I get to consult one-on-one helping people grow their business and organize themselves to make the most of the time they have. We also build online courses to support business owners in their work as they strive to build the business that they've always wanted. Our objective is really very simple. It's this. So, Sarah, welcome to the Commission Code.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'm just dying to get into some of her ideas and techniques about networking because it seems like Sarah, everybody I talk to has their own idea about networking. And I don't know. It's it's one one system or another. I don't know which is better than the other, but the fact is you you kind of have to know what you're gonna do and and what you're gonna say before you get there, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Have to. You are leaning into exactly what I preach here. So networking, I think, is um inherently different based off of people's personalities, first and foremost, right? There are extroverts, there are introverts, there are amberverts, there are people that could go work a room like myself and then get done and be like, hey, let's go out for a bite to eat and let's keep going and keep the party going. There are some people that are like dreading it, it's the only thing on their schedule the whole day. And they're like, oh my gosh, I've got to gear myself up. And then they're white standing in the corner, white knuckling and drink, going, what am I even doing here? This is so not aligning with me. And I think that there is a way where we can encompass all of the things and make it align with you because that's first and foremost what this is all about. Networking is a form of marketing for you to attract potential opportunities in your business. No matter you're doing a business-to-consumer type of business or a business-to-business type business, your network is your net worth and how you talk about it, how you show up and what you are putting out there to everybody else is what is going to come back to you. Sometimes not as quickly as we want, but it is really, really important for you to show up to events, whether it's a large one or even a one-on-one basis, and be prepared. So I teach a framework and within my networking, that if you can do these four things, you can have success within networking and actually see um ROI in your business. So the first and foremost is M, which is mindset and intention. You just said it yourself, my friend. If you're showing up to events with no preparation, you're kind of flying by the seat of your pants. And that unfortunately is not gonna fly. You're gonna take a whole lot longer to find what you need by just walking into a room with no plan or no idea. So, mindset is first and foremost, where are you at in the day? Where are you at in your business? I am not saying you've got to be 100% all the time, but you got to be self-aware of what's going on. And if that means taking a few minutes in your car, taking a few deep breaths before you walk in, please do. The intention piece of it comes from who's going to be there and how do I know who to talk to? And this goes into a little bit of what do you need in your business at this point in time? What are you looking for? And this could be you're just looking for more opportunities, you're looking for a new referral partner. I'm looking to meet three new people in the community. Whatever it may be, whatever your want is, you have to have that identified before you walk into the room. In my book, I do have some AI prompts and they're compatible with Chat GPT, Cloud, all of the social platforms. And you can actually tell it with this prompt to this is what my goal is for this networking event. You can throw in websites of wherever event you're going to be at. If there's a headshot list, you can drop that in ahead of time and let chat do the dirty work for you to say, pick out the top five people that I should connect with at this event, tell me why, a couple icebreakers. So it can do all this preparation work for you. And now all you have to do is review what the answers are. And now you can go in and say, okay, I want to talk to X, Y, and Z. And that's what that's all I need to do for this to be a successful event. And if you can talk to those three people, have great conversation, and then schedule a second meeting, because that's the goal when we're at these bigger events, is to schedule that next step. You have had a really successful first event, but it all leads to showing up of mindset and intention and being intentional with your time.

SPEAKER_01:

And digging down just a little bit on that, Sarah, that next step being, you know, the next thing that you want to do here, even if that next step is just, I need to get your contact information, isn't that better than nothing?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And I preface this with I absolutely get their contact information. I get the question a lot when I'm giving this conversation, what's better to have a physical business card or an electronic business card? My answer to that question is both. And when you ask that person, you have both, when you ask that person for their contact information, their card to connect further, even if it's not necessarily a one-to-one, you will necessarily add them to your database and maybe that you follow through with them a little bit differently in the future. How they give you that to you is a really important step of how they communicate. If they're giving you a physical business card, they're most likely a phone person. They're not necessarily a text and email person. No. Most of the time. If somebody's giving you their phone and their contact information is an e-card and it's going right into your phone, they most likely probably prefer text or email for a little bit of a quicker thing. Again, it is, I'm making a very generalized assumption. There are some people that are really environmentally friendly and don't want the physical cards anymore. Totally legit. But it gives you that first glimpse of how that person communicates and how they operate in their business by their business card itself.

SPEAKER_01:

Interesting. What do you recommend for the electronic business cards? How do you recommend people do that? Because I've got I'm building a training program for one of my clients, and that's something that's that's in there. And I got to thinking about it yesterday. What's the best way to do that now? I mean, used to be there were all sorts of apps and things that were absolutely paid for, but I bet you there's an easier way to do it. What do you recommend?

SPEAKER_00:

There is. I I use a free app called Blink, B-L-I-N-Q. And it is really, really simple. You can put basically build out what your physical business card would look like. But what's nice about it is that you can also fill out the notes section so that when it goes into somebody's phone, if they pull you up on their contacts, you can put a very precise blurb of what you do and who to think of when you are selling said product. So for me in my blurb for my mortgage business, I have networking badass in there. And then I also have first-time hobuyer, extraordinaire, self-employed business owners, um, and veterans. Those are the three sweet spots that I love to love to focus on. So when they go and pull up my name or they're scrolling through, they can see that little blurb about me. And they're like, oh, I remember her now. Like my picture's there, and now the blurb about what I want. And I don't want you guys to go into crazy detail on this. I want it to be short, specific, and memorable.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's great. That is cool. And then Blink tells us all about how to use that and how to make it work.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. It's super simple. Walks right through. And then you would just upload your photo, fill it all out, and then when you're ready to exchange, you just pull up the app on your phone. It's a QR code. Person scans it, goes right into their phone.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's cool. That is cool. And then how do how do I get their information however they want to give it to me?

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, however, they want to give it to you. Now I also, and I'm jumping a little bit here, but what I do is I I lean into AI pretty heavily in my day-to-day basis. I'm also a mom of a three-year-old. So my time of what used to look like prior to child to now is very condensed to what I can I have. And so when I am leaving a networking event and I've gotten people's converse uh information, I actually talk to my chat GPT. I open up voice mode and I just pretty much dump what I remember from that, right? Um, I met so-and-so, they're a mom of two looking for this. And so all the things that I can physically remember, I dump it into my chat and I tell it to organize it and type me up follow-up emails of what I promised I was going to do at that event. Now, whether that happens right away or whether that happens three days from now is totally based on me, but it allows me to take what's living here, take it out of my brain, put it down, categorize it out on every single person, on what I remember. And now that can also go into my CRM. And now I just have memory of what is going to happen next on next steps. But in regards to business stuff, if I exchange it, I will tell chat, hey, I got their business card electronically, it's in my phone, or I have a physical one, I can take a picture of it and upload it later for contact information.

SPEAKER_01:

That's so cool. Oh, I'm a I'm a I'm just absolutely a nud for systems. And that is a system that sounds like it is easy and workable and usable. And man, that's really cool. Uh I want to get to the next step in the map process, but before we do, just real quickly, what CRM, what CRM do you use? There's so dead gum many of us. Like when word processors came out, there were a zillion of them, and everybody thought whatever they were using was the best. What do you use?

SPEAKER_00:

So I mine is actually really simple. It's a Microsoft Dynamic 365. Okay, it is not overly complicated. It is it I have it linked so it can talk to my AI, and what I tell it to put in there, it can do that. There are so many, honestly. Even if you don't have the budget to invest into a CRM, make an Express Excel spreadsheet or an Airtable. These are both free to the world up to a certain extent. I don't think you can have like more than like a thousand contacts in Airtable before those start charging you. But you guys can create something or have AI create it for you. It doesn't have to be complicated, but it just has to work for you.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. And that's that's the whole key for a system is having one that that works for me that I will actually use. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

If I don't use it, it's it's a shame.

SPEAKER_01:

Sarah, I have created so many systems that were just absolutely beautiful, but never actually took the first step to uh really use them in my business. It's it's amazing. Anyway, well, it's our next step once we've been mindful and have intention.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh authenticity. And if I could add another word here that would flow in the uh acronym of map, it would also be curiosity. Um, authenticity is a very big buzzword right now. I hear it everywhere, even when I'm searching for podcasts. It's in like so many podcast names, um, not just episodes, but actually titles of actual podcasts today. I share a story in my book, and I'm going to share it with you here about authenticity. I am a mom of a now three-year-old, and he came into this world in a very difficult journey. I had multiple losses. We ended up having to do in vitro to get our little guy here. And for me, I was able to share that story because that's the type of person that I am. I'm a wear it on my sleeve kind of gal. That's the type of person that you're going to get when you're when you're interacting with me. I understand that that is a very touchy subject for a lot of people, but I continue to show up during my journey to my networking efforts consistently. And I would share with people, they asked me how I'm feeling. Sometimes it was great. Sometimes it was crummy. Sometimes I was sitting in the corner while I was actually pregnant, gray, wanting to get sick, but I was still showing up. And it wasn't that I was a Debbie Downer. I was just showing up as myself at that point in time in my life. And I was also still showing up because this is a part, a huge part of my business and how I how I am and how I operate. And some people would come up to me and be like, Aren't you afraid that people aren't going to send you business because you're talking about how crummy you feel? If they do, then they're probably not the right person for me, just a first and foremost.

SPEAKER_01:

Isn't that the same? I mean, if they can't, if they can't relate to the fact that what's going on in your life is what's going on in your life today, and it's not going to be that way forever. Oh wow. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't need them. And that's the beauty of being in business for yourself. You get to choose who you're going to work with.

SPEAKER_00:

Correct. And so I say this story because I had a very complicated delivery. Um, little guy ended up having to come early. I was in the hospital for almost six weeks prior to delivery. Um, and I had meals at my door for 42 nights from my community. Okay. And this is from other loan officers, non-real estate agent referral partners, all just because I showed up as myself and they liked me as a person first, professional second. Okay. Now, I am not saying to go air out all the dirty laundry, but you have to share a little bit of yourself in order for there to be some sort of connectivity with that person that you are trying to be, get business from, attract whatever it is. And I asked this question to a lot of entrepreneurs: what hobbies do you have outside of your business? And do you know how difficult that question is to answer for most people? Very difficult. I mean, I play softball. I, you know, I'm a foodie. I my life looks a lot different now because I have a toddler and I'm not networking until eight o'clock at night. All of these things are who makes up me. And you have to be able to share them because that's the magic that each of us have that's going to attract the ideal referral partners and the ideal clients. It may not be immediate that you get those ideal clients, but they will come with the more that you share a truly about yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

Incredible. And that's isn't that the truth, though? I mean, we we want to we find folks that we like through that conversation. And if that conversation is guarded or uh blocked in some way by my by me, then chances are we're not gonna wind up being very good friends.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and I think there's energy that can be felt by the other person when they know that that person's not being themselves, or they're not they're being guarded, right? So that that is felt, maybe not abruptly, but there's just something that they'll walk away and go, hmm, that just felt a little off for me. And it may take it may take four or five more times to now get over that weird little feeling that they had, right? So I hear this from introverts a lot where they're like, I just I'm not a good networker. It's too hard for me, and I don't know what questions to ask. Well, it turns out networkers are incredible active listeners. And this, because they don't over-talk a lot of people, they can learn a lot about people by asking certain questions and being curious. And if it makes them too uncomfortable to share about themselves, that's okay. Let the other person talk because I promise you they will. If you give them an opportunity to share about business, about themselves, people like to talk about themselves. And you know, that's a beautiful way for you to learn. Is this a right fit for me? Just because our industries say it's a right fit and compatible on working together doesn't mean that we are compatible for working together. Yeah, so that's a little bit on my high horse about authenticity.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I mean, and it's so true because you can see right through when somebody's up there putting on a uh a show, uh trying to be somebody they're not. Yeah, I don't know about you, but I can see right through it. Right through it. I have no time for that. It's like, have a great day, dude. I'm out of here.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, I say it's a no for me. Thank you so much. I know I'm gonna see you, but it's a no for me. Thank you, have a great day.

SPEAKER_01:

I like that. I like that. I can write that down. Um, but yeah, I mean that's that's that's just part of the deal. If you're not being authentic, don't go. I mean, it's just there's no reason for it because you're not gonna get anything good out of the deal.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, and it'll take you a little bit longer to overgo that hurdle of oh yeah, just being kind of a block.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and you're you're not gonna build that long-term relationship, which is what we're looking for here. It's not just a in most businesses at least. I'm not just into it for a transaction, I'm into it to build a clientele and a referral source for the future. I'm absolutely that if I go in there putting on airs and putting on a persona that is not mine, it just isn't gonna work. So, yeah, I I love it. I absolutely love it. That's super the best question I've ever heard, and that I use when I'm in a situation like that. Gee, Sarah, tell me how you got into this business. And people will be interested. Oh, yeah, I don't have to say another word. No, you don't.

SPEAKER_00:

And the AI prompt that I have in authenticity helps you create some of these kind of questions, much like we just suggested here, that you can use and that feel aligned for you, right? It's gonna give you five or ten questions. Pick what the one or two, use them in your back pocket and let it be what you learn about others.

SPEAKER_01:

That's for sure. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, what's the next step? P precise messaging. How many times have you sat in some sort of networking room or whatever, and you ask somebody what they do, and they stand up and they give their 30 second introduction or one minute elevator pitch, and you go, when they get done, you're like, I have no idea what they do. It happens all the time. And so I say this because while in my residential mortgage business, I can serve a lot of clients. There's so many loan products out there that I have at my fingertips. But that doesn't mean that I necessarily want them. I like them in my toolbox, but that's not necessarily what I'm looking to attract. Our business all has cycles. And so I get this question a lot of like, well, I can serve so many people. First and foremost, take the word anybody out of your pitch. It doesn't give us something tangible for somebody to grab onto and go, ooh, I have somebody to introduce Sarah to. Simple and specific is better. And you can interweave it in for a few weeks or a few months or a quarter or seasons in your business. Okay. Home buying season, for example, usually starts in like the springtime. So we're seeing it right as we're getting closer to schools ending here in New Jersey, where I grew up on the East Coast, they end uh, you know, in June. In Colorado, they end in May. So spring homebuying season usually starts in April because people want to try to move while their kids are out of school, just for a specific example.

SPEAKER_01:

So I am going to be unless you do what I did. And you take your son out of high school for his first year and your daughter out of her senior year and move her from where were we? We were in Texas, from Dallas to New York City. I that that just killed my family. But yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm like, that's a culture shock, my friend. That's a culture. Well, regardless. So during that time period in my business, I am going to be talking about first-time homebuyers. I'm going to be talking about the home buying season, and purchases are going to be my focus during that point in time. Okay. After spring home buying season is done, maybe I'm talking about refinances. Maybe I'm talking about tapping into your equity and doing cash out because the end of the year, people tend to use their credit cards for the holidays. So there's different trends that everybody has in their business. And so I encourage you on your precise messaging when you're standing up and talking about your business, pretend you're talking to a 10-year-old. Leave the jargon that you use every day in your business outside in the office doors. Do not bring it into the room because I will tell you, I think there was a point in time in networking where people thought that that would build them credibility if they sounded really like smart and kind of, you know, I know what I'm talking about. I don't know if there's a switch or maybe it's just me, but I don't feel like that that makes me feel like you are better or worse at your job because you're throwing around words that I have no idea what they mean. It just makes me go, I still don't understand what you do. And now I'm going another month without understanding how to better help you in your business. So leave the jargon out. If you like to talk with a little sarcasm, insert it here. If you like to talk with a little humor, insert it. This is you also showing up who as who you are. And we also all have one of these, a cell phone. You can record yourself on your phone and see how you talk and how you deliver your 30-second introduction. You'd be surprised how many times people say, um, like and so, how you're using your hands when you're talking, different things. You don't have to share the video to the whole world, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like when you stand up and what you are actually saying. I have done this for a lot of my community members where they'll be like, Sarah, tell me what you hear. And I go in as whether I know them or I don't, I will just tell them what I heard during that pitch. And I'll tell them and they're gonna be like, oh, that's exactly what I was going for. And they're gonna go like, no, that wasn't even close. I'm like, well, that is what I heard. So let's work on reframing some of these words when you're telling me you don't do human resources, but all you talked about in your pitch was HR. Right. So different that how you speak and how you deliver makes a difference. And don't be afraid to read it from your phone or say, I'm trying out something and in and read it, right? It doesn't mean any anything less in credibility-wise, but you're trying to really dial this in to make sure that it works. And so in that prompt, I get really specific about tell me all about your business, what you want to talk about, and then you know, it'll spit out what a good 30-second introduction based off of ever the information you gave it. Probably not going to like the first or five answers it's going to give you, just FYI, but work with it, dial it in. Say that's never something I would actually say in real life, or this one's great. I like this one sentence. Let's try adding this. But it gives you a starting point to start practicing because people want to help, but if you're making it too broad and not specific enough, they don't know how to go. Oh, this introduction would be great for Sarah, even if it's not necessarily like a direct referral for somebody to refinance. But I'm looking for bookkeepers, I'm looking for event planners right now so I can speak on stages and pub uh promote my book a little bit more. Those are all things that people wouldn't think a mortgage professional would be asking, but that is part of my ask right now, and it's been a great way to segue in to some different things that I didn't even know were opportunities yet.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. That is so cool. Sarah, tell me this. I I love the framework, by the way. That that map framework makes all sorts of perfect sense. When you're going to these networking things, Chamber of Commerce, maybe, or just a local community group or something that's into networking. It's the same folks most every time. Most everybody there is the same people. Um, how do you approach that kind of thing differently from where you're going in and you don't really know someone?

SPEAKER_00:

So one of the ways that I have done this is when you are seeing the same people, we know each other, it's kind of feeling a little bit like social hour. One of the things that I ask them is, hey, who is your go-to person for a coach? I would love an introduction to that person that you would just go to if you have any type of business struggle. Who do you pick up the phone and call? That's who I want an introduction to. While we're in a room where we see the same people, they all know other people outside of that room as well. So find a way to tap into their network outside of that room. You can ask them, do you have a bookkeeper, right? Or do you know of a bookkeeper? I have a client that called me, they're getting ready to file their taxes, their books are a nightmare and they want to buy a house. Would you mind introducing me to the top two or three bookkeepers that you use? And now you're out there working outside of the room. But that kind of question of like who is your go-to person when you're struggling in your business, 10 to 1, you're going to get somebody that's top tier and that they have put up onto a pedestal, have some sort of um, you know, mentorship happening. It's a beautiful way to keep expanding your network upward. Um, instead of just maybe in a very wide capacity, now we're getting a little bit deeper and putting people that are potentially are a little bit more experienced in your orbit.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, cool. I love it. I love it. That's absolutely perfect. I I can't tell you how good this is and how much it's going to help me.

SPEAKER_00:

I have one, I have one more P that we I want to talk about real quick. So it's M-A-P-P. So the last P is the part that's most important for everybody when you're trying to get ROI from networking and it's purposeful follow-through. This is the part where you've met the person, you've got the second meeting, you've learned about what their needs are, if you can help or not. And then I can't tell you how many times I have people like, I had this great conversation, it was so good, we left, and I haven't heard from them in months. Well, my friend, that also falls on you. Okay. So I say that as magic doesn't just happen over one or two meetings. Okay. You I make everybody, I mark everybody in my CRM system an A, B, C, or a nothing. A's are once I've met with them, energy is great, and there's a strong chance they can fuel my business quite consistently. I mark them as an A. And they're getting touched on personally by me every two to three weeks. And this is me setting them a podcast, a book I'm reading, whatever it is, a touch base. Hey, I saw on social media you had a softball tournament with your daughter. How did it go? This is a physical touch point that you're giving to somebody, not an automated email that's going to your entire database. This is you reaching out to them specifically. Those are A's. B's are, I like you. I think our businesses do have some sort of overlap, but maybe not as consistent as a real estate agent for a mortgage professional. So now you're going to be touched on maybe quarterly. Um, you'll get an actual reach out from Sarah quarterly. And then C's are we're totally great, but our businesses are not even closely aligned. Like you do commercial building, real estate commercial, and I'm doing residential. There's not that much overlap. But I'm going to see you in my network. I want you to be a part of it because I think you're great. Now I'm getting a physical touch with them every six months. And then a no, a nothing designation is it's a no for me. Um, they don't need to know it's a no for you. Still put them in your database, put them on your automatic email list, but they're they're not gonna get any extra attention from you. And just like you would do in your systems of following up with potential prospects, you need to designate time every week, every other week, or every month to reach out to your network. Because if you do not, it's going to take far longer for you to actually get referral business than it would if you're just seeing them once a month at a chamber networking event.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. So I I've gotten this stuff and I've gotten it into my CRM because I've now got a nice CRM that I can do that with. And I've put some names in there and I've coded them. What gets me to actually do that follow-up, Sarah? Because that's where I fall down personally, is I can get it all and I've got this great system on how I'm going to do this every so, but then I don't do it. It's not easy for me to do. I have to work at it. How do you how do you do that so it's easy and you don't have to think about it, it just happens.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, first, time block, an hour on your calendar. It's non-negotiable. You need to spend at least one hour to do this every week. I do mine on a Thursday or a Friday because those are the days that are better for me to do this, but I don't care what day of the week you do it. The second is use the great thing that I've talked about multiple times of AI, right? You can tell it that I need to send five emails to my top five A's on my thing. I'm just using an example. And I wanted to all talk about um 10x is better than 2x book that I just read. Can you draft me up two or three email ideas so that I could copy and paste them and send them out to my clients? So it's all just about efficiency of making it easier. It's still hard, right? It's a simple thing to think of. I got a call or text or email five people, and to do something else that a money-making activity comes up and you're like, oh, I'll just do this later, and then it compiles, it compiles, it compiles. But that simple task will differentiate you from everybody else because you're actually doing what you say you're going to do, which is touch base with them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I mean, that's that's always the case, I think, is when you when you have that integrity, when you do what you say you're gonna do, that sets you apart from 90% of everybody else out there that they're talking to, seems to me.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I remember going to a mortgage conference when I switched over to the sales side of this about 10 years ago in my business. I had been doing the back end for five years, switched over to the sales side. And at these types of conferences, they're coaches and all of them are trying to sell you all these different things. And I remember going up to a pretty seasoned loan officer who was selling a coaching program, and I was like, What's the one thing that you would tell me is the recipe for success in this business? And she said, Do what you say you're gonna do. And I came, I remember like flying home and going, There is no way it's that simple. And it turns out it actually is because there's so many people out there that don't actually follow through, that don't actually make a promise and then don't deliver, and they don't realize the capacity that even something as small as I'm gonna send you an introduction to so and so, I'll send it by Friday at 5 p.m. And when it's not done, that's a ding on the trust. And that's not doing what you say you're gonna do. You could do your job beautifully and deliver a beautiful product, but if you're not building trust before that, you're never gonna get a chance to deliver a said beautiful product because people aren't going to refer it over to you as readily as you may want it to be.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure, you obviously do podcasting, you you get us on podcasts, and you speak, I would bet, uh virtually or in person to groups. Is that correct? I do.

SPEAKER_00:

I do, I do all of those. I'm looking for people um in particular that are exceptional at their craft, but maybe feel like they're not exceptional at people. Those are some ideal people that I could go in, break things down even more into detail than what we talked about today, and actually have them try out a few things and say some things with me and and work through some of these um, you know, kind of tangible exercises in a really safe place where it's like, I don't care if you say something weird, if I'll I'll tell you if I like it. Because sometimes some somebody says something and they're like, oh, I don't know if I like it. And I'm like, tell me more. That was really good. Let's let's dive into this a little bit more. So I'm looking really to help inspire business owners, even seasoned ones that feel like networking fuels 90% of their business. We all have room for improvement, all of us. And if you could walk away from this podcast, a speaking event, my book, The Intentional Networker, and you gained two or three things that you tangibly could implement into your business, I have done my job.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. That is so cool. So tell us, Sarah, where do we get in touch with you? How do I find your book, number one?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, it's going to be on Amazon. Um, and it'll be you can get a physical copy or electronic copy. Everyone keeps asking me if it's on Audible yet. No, I have not read, I have not dictated my book yet, but I will because I listen to a lot. I don't get to read as much as I used to with the toddler. Um, I am on LinkedIn at Sarah Hubbard, and then in parentheses, uh, it'll say formally flannery, which is my maiden name. People are like, that seems weird. Well, I networked for like 10 years with my maiden name, and a lot of people know me as Flannery versus Hubbard. Um, and then I am on social media on Instagram at Sarah Ann Flan, F-L-A-N-N, and then Facebook at Sarah Hubbard. And then um, last but not least, I will send you over the prompts, my AI prompts. It's a freebie that I give to everybody that they can go ahead after they listen. They can go ahead and get a copy of those AI prompts to start improving their networking.

SPEAKER_01:

Is there a link to that that we should put somewhere?

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. I'll send you the link. Oh, I have to hold on one second. I can tell you in just a second.

SPEAKER_01:

If we can get it in the show, it'll it'll last forever if it remembers me remembering to do something, it might not.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, hold on one second and I will tell you what it is.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah, this is such a vital part of any business is getting out there and being a part of it. Because if you're just gonna sit around and wait for the phone to ring, I don't know. I can't I can't imagine running a business where all I do is sit and wait for somebody to come find me.

SPEAKER_00:

So I will I will share this with you, whether this makes it into the podcast or not is completely however you guys decide to edit it. But let me get this link real quick, get form link. Okay, it is h t t s colon backslash backslash my name, Sarah, s a r a h hubbard, h u B as and boy, d as and boy, ar d as and dog dot my flowdesk, f l o d e s k dot com backslash a i prompt. A I P R O M P T S and then I T N for intentional network. It's a long one. I should probably shorten that up. But I'll share this with you, Morris, because you do coaching and you can I'll watch your face as I share this story with you. The mortgage business that I'm in, I am the only female originator at my company. We have female staff, but I'm the only one in the sales role here. And there's 15 of us together. And the way that all of them have grown their business is to send direct mailers only and sit there and wait for their phone to ring. Oh my. And I tried it because they've had tremendous success doing this. I will tell you the letter itself is very well written. We also don't just like spray and pray. We are trying to target certain areas of average median income, certain appreciation values, different things. So it's not just like a randomness, but I tried it. And there's four months in, I was$60,000 in debt paying for these flyers and waiting for my phone to ring. And my phone would ring inconsistently, and somebody'd be like, What's the rate? And I'm like, What's your name? Who are you? I don't know what the rate is, man. Do you have an 800 credit score or a 600 credit score? Do you have equity in your home? Do you have cat? Like everybody's scenario is different. And I remember just going to this conference that I just told you about about, you know, the woman said, Do what you say you're going to do. And then that's when I originally learned that networking existed. That actually, this is how most loan officers actually get business is going out into their community and networking. And I remember coming back to the office, and everybody was like, I'd rather go flip burgers at McDonald's than ever go work a room. And still to this day, they do that. That's that's their form of marketing. It does not align with one iota of what I do. And I think that it is very outdated. I stand at my mailbox and literally chuck what I don't know immediately into the trash or shred it. I don't open mail. I don't know who it's from or not expecting. So, you know, it's different ways that people do business. But for me, in in this business, right, my coworkers would rather sit at their desks and mine their databases and wait for their phones to ring. Great. I mine my database, but I go out there and make some magic happen because for me, that one aligns better with who I am. And two, it gives me a little bit more predictability in what is coming down the pipeline. Those relationships and things are created because of the efforts that I'm physically putting in versus just paying and hoping that I get a phone call based off of 10,000 flyers I sent.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, hope is not a strategy. No, it's not. It doesn't work that way.

SPEAKER_00:

Not for me, right? But you know, everybody's got a different strategy. And I just encourage people that the magic that you have in you and whatever aligns with you, go with it. Don't do something different because I say this is what worked for me. If you feel like one iota of a fraction of what works for you could be networking, and you want to integrate that in some of your marketing plans, these are great ways to have success with it.

SPEAKER_01:

It certainly is. Sarah, thank you so much for being on the commission code today.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that does it for this episode of the Commission Code Podcast. This is the place where we want to help you find the Commission Code to success in your business. Remember, go to MorrisMs.com for more information, and in the meantime, Great week. Get out there and meet somebody new, and we'll see you again next time, right here on the Commission Code. Best wishes, I'm Morris Sims.