Blog Post #4 - My Loyal Realtor and the Creation of the 1st Core7 Mastermind Group

After the unfortunate efforts of trying to create a networking group and build a better foundation for my business and life, I tried to join a group in very well known networking organization. I thought the fact that it was a legitimate organization, that it would have more structure, predictability and a better culture then the group I had just tried to create.

The whole concept of this organization seemed awesome. Only one professional from each industry was allowed in each group, there were exclusive territories, structured accountability, and a format that created predictable, systematic referrals. It seemed like the solution!!!!!

When I joined, it was NOT THE CASE AT ALL!!!!

1) The territories were not exclusive. There were 3 or 4 different groups within each town.

2) The format was not very structured. It was stand up, tell us what you do, and give 2 referrals. Most of the time people were making up referrals, giving out friends names and asking them to just go along with it.

Many times I just couldn't figure out how a Mortgage Originator was supposed to generate consistent referrals to give to the Mary Kay Sales Rep. or the Pampered Chef Rep.? I wanted to focus on the Real Estate and Financial Sector.

The worst part of my experience in this networking group was when I had a meeting with the Real Estate and Financial members of the group. They all told me that they worked with a Mortgage Originator outside of the networking group. They were not willing to give me a chance either. Needless to say that networking group did not work out as planned.

At this point I was obviously not happy, however if you looked at my income, you would think I was doing very well. Most of my business was coming from my loyal database, but I felt like I was on a wheel, running as hard as I could all the time. I felt that if I ever stopped running on that wheel, all my incoming business would stop. Passive referrals in the Mortgage business were everything. I was getting burned out.

Feeling very stressed out, I decided to set a meeting with another Realtor I was doing business with. I knew his process, I liked him, he liked me, and I enjoyed working with him and his clients. We had the same values.

We decided that we would meet each week and brainstorm on how we could create a more successful business, add more value to the clients we were working with, and have a more quality life as our businesses grew.

During these meetings, we would review the clients we were working with, and discuss how we could do a better job to generate more business. We found out something very interesting. Our happiest clients were the ones that I was referring to a great Financial Advisor. An Advisor that I had met while doing the mortgage consultation.

We decided to invite this Financial Advisor to our next meeting. We figured while we were at it, let's invite the Real Estate Attorney that we were working with.

The meeting went great! At the meeting the Financial Advisor made an interesting suggestion. He worked with a Property & Casualty Insurance Agent, an Estate Planning Attorney, and an Accountant that he thought would enjoy the group. From there, The Core7 Mastermind Group was formed. We created the Mastermind Group Format, the Core7 Referral Methodology, and also generated tons of referrals and value for our clients. That one group ( With some members changing along the way) has averaged over $200,000 a year since 2006.