prospecting: Can I "SOI" if I'm New to Town?
- 03/26/09 01:40 AM
You may not have noticed, but I've been away from the Rain for about two weeks (except for a few little housekeeping blogs). Blog burnout - it happens and it's usually good for the soul... What have I been doing? WRITING MY NEXT BOOK! Outta nowhere, I was in the mood to create the next masterpiece (tee hee), so that's where all my creative energy went. And... voila! The first (very preliminary) draft is done!
So here I am.
Got a question this morning from a reader about SOI'ing* in a new town. And, whaddya' know, I'd just written about this topic … (16 comments)
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prospecting: SOI 104: "I Think I've Blown it with my Sphere of Influence. Can I Recover Their Support?"
- 02/09/09 11:35 PM
"Dear Jennifer,
I've been reading your blogs about SOI and my heart is sinking. I think I've blown it with my Sphere of Influence by constantly asking them for business and referrals. Is there a way I can redeem myself with my friends, or do I have to go make all new ones?
Bill"
I get this question a lot! Mostly from new or newer agents who have been brainwashed into believing that an SOI (Sphere of Influence) business model means that they're supposed to drive their friends nutso with constant reminders of their love for referrals. Most tell me that:
… (18 comments)
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prospecting: SOI 103 - "My Daughter's Best Friend's Parents Just hired Another Real Estate Agent! "
- 02/09/09 12:32 AM
"Dear Jennifer,
Got up this morning and saw that my daughter's best friend's parents listed with someone else! They've been on my mailing list and their daughter and my daughter have been best friends since grade school. I'm crushed. Should I continue to send them things or take them off my list?"
Jane"
I get these letters all the time - people who have embraced my Sphere of Influence (SOI) philosophy and then feel kicked in the teeth when someone in their SOI hires another real estate agent. They almost seem angry at me for leading them to believe that they … (108 comments)
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prospecting: SOI 102 - The SECRET to a Successful Real Estate Sphere of Influence Business Model
- 02/05/09 10:17 PM
Thanks for the Gold Star yesterday for my first SOI 101, AR Gods! So, to continue the message, here's SOI 101 Lesson #2 - The SECRET to running a successful SOI business model.
Sphere of Influence = The People Who Know You.
Here 't'is.
The secret to running a successful SOI-based business is to be a great real estate agent who loves her job and knows her market and stays in touch with the people she knows, without ever pestering them for business or referrals.
That's it! That's the secret! To be a great real estate agent who loves her job … (22 comments)
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prospecting: SOI 101 - What Exactly is an SOI (Sphere of Influence) Business Model?
- 02/04/09 11:30 PM
A Sphere of Influence business model is a strategy that focuses on attracting business to you from the people you know and the people you meet socially, as opposed to pursuing business from strangers. It's possible to run a 100% SOI business and never have to make one cold call, memorize a prospecting script or knock on a strangers' door!
There are three primary activities in an effective SOI business model.
Nurturing the personal relationships you already have within your social network (that is, your friends - I call this group my "Group One." Clever, eh?) Staying in touch with "everyone … (42 comments)
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prospecting: "Touching" versus "Impressing" for Real Estate Agents
- 01/29/09 10:32 PM
Several months ago (egads, in September) I wrote a blog with a teaser promise at the end to "stay tuned" for more... and that "more" never came. I sure hope too many of my readers didn't lose sleep wondering when I'd ever get back on topic. Here's the post... At the end of the post, I promised to discuss the difference between "touching" and "impressing."
To recap, in our business, we often talk about the need to "touch" as many people as possible with our message, whether those touch-ees are people we know (our Sphere of Influence) or strangers. We get all … (21 comments)
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prospecting: In Today's World... Sales Pitchee's Just Say No
- 01/20/09 01:00 AM
I read somewhere (I believe it may have been in the book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion") that human beings develop analytical short cuts in their brains in order to make judgments or decisions about new ideas or offerings that come their way. The example given was that of "You get what you pay for." Since we don't have the time or energy or even the desire to analyze every single product that is advertised to us, we make assumptions about the value or desirability of the product based on the price. Therefore, something that costs $9.99 (a too-good-to-be-true price) is not as good … (17 comments)
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prospecting: How Can a Lender Earn My Business?
- 01/15/09 01:07 AM
Because I teach real estate agents how build a business based on their Sphere of Influence (SOI = the people they know and the people they meet) as opposed to marketing-to-strangers, I'm often approached by new or newer lenders asking how they can successfully persuade US (the REALTOR community) to give them a shot.
Frankly, I'm always stumped by the question. Traditional lender prospecting techniques simply don't work - at least in my experience. Offering daily rate sheets or open house brochures won't do it. Nor will weekly newsletters - printed or emailed. Sure, I appreciate (and will use) the information, … (26 comments)
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prospecting: Phooey on Prospecting... I just wanna do my job!
- 12/01/08 12:00 AM
I'll be interested to see the responses to this forthcoming brain dump... some of you will totally relate, while others will think I'm just a weirdo.
I hate to prospect, in any way, shape or form. By "prospect" I'm not really referring to any particular method, strategy or activity, I just simply don't like drumming up business. I get no joy out of self-promotion, marketing or pursuing. I very much dislike the idea of spending any time at all worrying about where my next closing might come from.
But I LOVE LOVE LOVE selling real estate. Or, perhaps I should say that … (82 comments)
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prospecting: To Expand Your Sphere of Influence - Be in the Right Place at the Right Time ... More Frequently!
- 11/15/08 12:44 AM
Okay, so my last two postings have been a little grim, a little whiney, a little dark. BAH! Enough of that! Life is good, life is sweet, life is wonderful and it might do me good to remember that a little more often! Actually, this week has been pretty darn good to Jennifer... (‘cept for those pesky spammers on my SWS forum - my gosh, where did they come from all of a sudden? Anyone know how to get rid of ‘em?)
Anyway, let's lighten things up a bit!
A few months ago, I attended a Rick DeLuca seminar here in … (27 comments)
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prospecting: Yes, a Sphere of Influence Approach IS enough in today's market, if you...
- 10/21/08 04:53 AM
As promised, here's the follow up to my blog yesterday entitled "Is SOI Enough in Today's Market?"
Yes and No.
No, traditional "SOI" where you simply let all your friends know you sell real estate and then send them off into the world to be your marketing department is definitely not enough. Why? Because the volume of buyers and sellers is drastically reduced from days past when everyone and their uncle knew someone buying or selling. Now, it's not unrealistic that the people you know truly DON'T anyone who needs your services today or tomorrow!
But yes, if you redefine what … (19 comments)
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prospecting: Bringing in Business... One Warm Body at a Time
- 09/11/08 01:34 AM
Y'know what I love about this business? That every single thing I do, every day, has the potential to bring a client my way. Big things, small things, easy things, hard things... every action I take, whether intentional or not, might just result in a juicy paycheck for me - today... tomorrow... or six months from now.
My business comes in one client at a time. And, frankly, with the average price in my market being around $300,000, I could easily live on the business that passively floats by me. But my point is that I don't need five new prospects … (25 comments)
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prospecting: Marketing (myself) Doesn't Work (for me)
- 08/27/08 01:02 AM
Have you ever noticed (or is it just me) that the people you actually "market" to aren't the ones who actually respond? In my worlds (‘ritin' and real estate), I find that the bulk of my business comes from those who have not received any direct sales pitch from me. Either I'm a lousy sales-pitcher (very possible) or maybe (just maybe), people don't want to be sales pitched.
Here's an example. A few weeks ago I got a call from a lender with whom I've done a little business the past. Just your basic catching-up call, prospecting, I'm sure. Well, I … (24 comments)
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prospecting: There's No Harm in Asking, Right?
- 07/31/08 11:04 AM
Okay, okay, you are all tired of me ranting and raving about the sins of Referral-Begging and Referral-Bribing, which in my opinion, just annoys and irritates your friends. Oh, and a nice side-benefit; it advertises how desperate you are for business.
Of course, I hear all the time; "There's no harm in asking!" or "You gotta ask for what you want if you expect to get it!"
I disagree. I think there's all kinds of harm in asking, and no, I don't believe you always gotta ask for what you want. But I've written thousands of words on this topic already...
… (25 comments)
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prospecting: BE the Person Your Boyfriend Wouldn't Dream of Cheating on (yes, it's real estate-related).
- 07/01/08 12:05 AM
A long time ago, in my early 20's (egads, nearly 20 years ago), I was dating an equally young lad from Ireland. He was planning a "holiday" (as they say in Ireland) back home for three weeks. As an insecure young lass, I was terribly worried that he would meet back up with his high school sweetheart and, OMG, CHEAT on me.
So, I did what every other immature young woman with a boyfriend does... I whined, I pouted, I threatened, I begged him not to cheat on me while he was gone. Every day for a month, I "reminded" him … (25 comments)
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prospecting: BE YOURSELF... HAVE MORE FUN... SELL MORE REAL ESTATE
- 06/21/08 12:33 AM
"The more fun you have selling real estate, the more real estate you will sell!"
I believe this with all my heart. When I'm having fun and feeling good, my business explodes. Have you ever noticed that one great phone call begets another ... and another? When you're rolling in MoJo and you know you're hot stuff... the whole world seems to think so, too. And that phone RINGS!
So, how to keep the MoJo Risin'? By ramping up your cold-calling and door-knocking efforts? By committing to yet another expensive monthly postcard campaign?
Uh, no. Not for me at least.
If … (24 comments)
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prospecting: Some Compelling Numbers from the Sphere of Influence Number's Game...
- 06/20/08 02:12 AM
*SOI - Sphere of Influence = People Who Know You
I recently wrote about how the "numbers" of an SOI/Relationship Prospecting business model blows away the traditional concept of a "numbers game" in real estate sales. You can read about it here.
Not convinced? Here are some more numbers for you to ponder...
If you attend ONE social event (wedding, housewarming party, Sunday BBQ) or neighborhood activity (street fair, festival, block party) per week, in a year, that's 52 opportunities you created for yourself to meet people who will have a real estate need in the next six months. Of course, it's … (19 comments)
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prospecting: There's GOLD in Them Thar *SOI!
- 06/10/08 11:14 PM
*SOI = Sphere of Influence = People Who Know You
"How can I prospect to first time buyers?"
"How can I meet newly married people?"
"How can I get my name in front of divorcing couples?"
"How can I market to renters?"
And even...
"How can I meet newly dead people (or more specifically, their heirs)?"
These are questions I read every day here on Active Rain and on the other real estate agent forum I moderate (www.agentsonline.net).
Responses are fairly predictable - "Hold buyer seminars, mail to apartment complexes, write to attorneys, attend bridal fairs, … (21 comments)
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prospecting: You Wanna Play the Numbers Game? Okay, let's play.
- 06/05/08 03:11 AM
Most agent training programs insist that Selling Real Estate is a Numbers Game - that is, in order to bring in enough business to keep the home fires burning, you have to touch as many people as you can with your name & number. The more people you touch, the better your chances of procuring a buyer or a listing.
We've all heard the mass-marketer's philosophy - you have to contact X number of people to get a lead and you have to have Y number of leads to get a listing (or a buyer) and you have to have … (17 comments)
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prospecting: The BEST Way to Build a Strong Sphere of Influence...
- 05/29/08 12:35 AM
I've been writing for a few years now on tips, techniques and strategies to build and maintain a strong sphere of influence business model.
Marketing to Your SOI? Don't You Dare! The Seduction of Your SOI: How Trying to Get Business is Kinda Like Trying to Get... uh... Rely on my SOI? I don't know anyone who wants to buy or sell! But y'know what the all-time most powerful way to run a successful business based on the personal relationships in your life is?
Do a hell of a job for your clients.
Go above and beyond every chance you get. … (21 comments)
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You may not have noticed, but I've been away from the Rain for about two weeks (except for a few little housekeeping blogs). Blog burnout - it happens and it's usually good for the soul... What have I been doing? WRITING MY NEXT BOOK! Outta nowhere, I was in the mood to create the next masterpiece (tee hee), so that's where all my creative energy went. And... voila! The first (very preliminary) draft is done!
;)
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