100 Conversations in One Day
Todd Bookspan breaks down his '100 conversations in one day' challenge — how he preps, scripts, and executes a blitz of referral-asking calls to his past client database. He also explains how to use the Modern Mortgage & Real Estate Summit (March 6) as a low-resistance reason to invite real estate agents to a co-hosted viewing event. Best for LOs who know they should be calling their database and agent list but keep finding reasons not to.
The activities that grew your business five years ago still work — you just stopped doing enough of them.
Takeaways you can run this week
- Run your own math before anything else: calculate your close rate, app-to-close rate, and lead-to-app rate, then reverse-engineer exactly how many conversations per day you need. Post that number somewhere visible and hit it daily.
- Text your past clients the day before a call blitz using this exact setup: 'Hey, it's Todd Bookspan — your favorite mortgage guy. Do you have 3 minutes for a market update tomorrow?' This pre-frames the call as short and valuable, so even non-responders recognize your name when you dial.
- Open the call with this script: 'I just want to take 3 minutes to update you on what's going on in the market. A lot of my clients are concerned about interest rates, housing, and the economy — what do you understand about what's going on?' Then deliver a brief update and transition to asking for referrals using the Phil Jones 'Could you do me a favor?' line.
- Ask for three things in every database call, not one: (1) a referral for a mortgage prospect, (2) a cross-referral to another professional in your network (insurance, financial advisor), and (3) a HELOC conversation or product awareness plant for when they hear of someone who needs it.
- Use the Modern Mortgage & Real Estate Summit (ModernMortgageSummit.com, March 6, $100–$150 virtual) as a call-reluctance cure: invite 5–10 agents you've gone quiet with, host a viewing party at a title company or your office, and let the event content do the value-add work while you get the relationship credit.
- After every call, text your contact card so clients can save you under 'Todd Mortgage Guy [Last Name]' — that way even a lapsed contact types 'mortgage' into their phone and you surface.
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GET FREE ACCESSThe playbook
- 1. PREP DAY BEFORE: Text every client on your list: 'Hey, it's [Name] — your favorite mortgage person. Do you have 3 minutes for a market update tomorrow?'
- 2. BUILD YOUR TRACKING SHEET: Create two columns — left for who you spoke with, right for referral given or received. Number rows 1–100.
- 3. PRIORITIZE YOUR CALL ORDER: Start with warm business calls (e.g., referral partners like insurance or agent lists) to build momentum before hitting cold database names.
- 4. OPEN EVERY CALL: 'I just want to take 3 minutes to update you on rates, housing, and the economy — a lot of my clients are asking. What do you understand about what's going on right now?'
- 5. DELIVER A BRIEF MARKET UPDATE: Keep it conversational, 2–3 minutes. Let them talk.
- 6. ASK FOR THREE THINGS: mortgage referral, cross-referral to another pro in your network, and a product plant (HELOC awareness, etc.).
- 7. CLOSE WITH CONTACT CARD: 'As soon as we hang up I'll text you my contact card — just open and save it. Next time you need someone, type mortgage and you'll find me.'
Worth quoting
“I find that for somebody who's not actually originating loans, I tend to be doing the things loan officers should be doing more than they're doing themselves.”
“You've got to put yourself in the path of opportunity.”
Best for
LOs who have a solid past-client database and a list of agents they've worked with but have gone quiet on — and need a concrete system and script to re-engage both groups fast.