Chillin
I’ve got this one loan right now I am trying to close that has turned out to be quite difficult. The person is on assignment in a third world country, only responding to messages and emails sporadically due to his work schedule. It is a +9 hour time zone differential, so talking or communicating is usually at weird hours of the day and night. His daughter back here in Nashville, who is serving as an additional point of contact (and is doing a great job), can only do so much.
On top of all of this, my client has decided to represent himself and not have a buyer’s real estate agent represent him. So his communication with the seller’s agent is sporadic and difficult as well.
Since the time we get to talk on the phone is limited, the questions and information in the messages I send can sometimes be misconstrued. Or ignored.
A Real Christian Businessman knows that situations like this can test our limits of patience. Closing a loan is on a very tight timeline, and not getting documents back in a timely manner and not responding to messages requesting clarification can cause delays, extreme frustration and anxiety for all parties involved.
When the client won’t/can’t respond, and the seller’s agent is breathing down our neck for answers, how we handle ourselves during these situations is what people will remember most.
“Jesus gets into a boat with his disciples and says to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake’. As they sail, he falls asleep, and a windstorm comes down on the lake, filling the boat with water and putting them in danger. The disciples wake him up, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ . He then wakes up and rebukes the wind and waves, and the storm is calm.” Luke 8:22-25 (NIV)
Jesus was somehow chilled out – and was asleep! – while the storm raged around him. They had to go and wake him up… and then he calmed the storm! How can he be so chill when everything around him was going so crazy?!
I haven’t lost my cool (yet!) regarding this situation, but it would be easy to do.
I need to remember to try to be more like Jesus was and stay chilled out during the storm of this loan.
Chill like Jesus!