Thanks for all the great feedback from the last blog on the topic of how often your Sphere of Influence (SOI) “needs” to be reminded that you sell real estate! I had my follow-up all ready to go in my head, but many of the comments made me back up a little bit and think some more. I like it when that happens.
(Before I continue, let me say that if something is working for you and you’re happy with your results, don’t change a thing. Even if what I 
say next is completely contrary to your way of doing things – if you’re happy, I’m happy. I’m mainly talking to agents who either haven’t yet figured out an appropriate SOI strategy or to those who have one in place but aren’t satisfied with the results.)
The truth is, there isn’t one truth. There’s no Right Answer that is perfect for everyone. Well, maybe there is, but if so, I don’t know what it is. Neither do you, probably. It’s a question you’ll ask yourself throughout your entire career and never be fully satisfied with the answer(s) you come up with.
That said, call me cynical, but I believe the advice to incessantly bombard your SOI with marketing materials is mainly propagated by the companies who stand to profit from said bombardment. The more agents who buy their postcards and newsletters and trinkets, and the more often they send them out, the more money flows INTO the company. So, it makes sense that they’d advise you to do it MORE, not less. And to back up that advice with official-sounding statistics.
As I said, call me cynical.
But let’s assume my cynicism has merit and that the statistics tossed out by these companies are, um, a bit inflated. Let’s pretend that we have no data or statistics to work with; we only have our own intelligence and experience to make the decision as to how often to communicate with our SOI’s.
Got it? Forget EVERYTHING you’ve ever heard about communicating with your SOI and ask yourself… if you were a member of your SOI, how often would you need to hear from you in order to remember that you sell real estate?
And what sorts of things would: 1) remind you of your existence, 2) inspire you to think of you fondly and 3) inspire you to call you if and when a real estate need arises?
And remember, we’re not talking about your geographic farm; we’re talking about people who know you and, presumably, like you, even just a little (if they don’t like you, it doesn’t matter how often you communicate with them).
Okay, that’s it for today. Give it some thought. And please share those thoughts!
Comments(42)