Jennifer Allan's Selling to Your Sphere of Influence - No Sales Pitch Required!

Want to build a raving fan base that will support your business for years to come? It's SO easy - way easier than cold-calling, door-knocking or farming and a heck of a lot cheaper. All you gotta do is look for opportunities to impress the heck out of those who have the potential to be your future past clients and stop worrying so much about whether you're wasting your time!

On Friday morning, I got a referral from an agent on Active Rain (Thanks Miranda!). The buyers live in the mountains, want to buy a home in Denver... this week? Nah, they have a house to sell first, so maybe sometime in the summer. That's cool - I like a full pipeline.

Around 2:00 on Friday afternoon, the buyer calls me and wants to know if I can show her and her husband houses on Saturday. Yep, with a little re-arranging, I can do that. So, we did. Went well. Nice, nice couple with two adorable little girls. Found a neighborhood they love, so I promised to keep them updated on the market activity in there. They headed back up the hill to their mountain home.

7:30 this morning, my cell phone rings. The buyers are so excited about what we saw yesterday that they want to make another road trip to Denver today to look at all the other houses for sale in the neighborhood, as well as the ones we saw yesterday. Well, I have an open house at 1pm, three offers to present at 4:30 and dinner plans tonight, so if I'm going to accommodate them, it will have to be this morning and I do have a lot of things to do between now and my 1pm Open House.

Did I rearrange my schedule for them? Oh, yeah. We're meeting at 11:00. Are they going to buy a house today? Not a chance. Are they pre-approved? I'm not sure, I think so, but I haven't asked.

So, why am I "wasting my time?"

1.        My past clients are an enormous source of business for me. Because I put them on a five-year drip campaign and hound them for referrals? Uh, no. I think it has more to do with working my backside off for them and making their needs a priority over my paycheck. Even if (egads!) I'm inconvenienced.

2.       The agent who referred them to me could also be a sweet source of future business for me - she works in a resort market just an hour away, so if I impress her clients, in turn I impress her.

Here's the thing... meeting them as requested will take maybe two hours out of my day. Big deal. I think that's a very good use of two hours that I'd otherwise probably be surfing Active Rain or even whining to myself that I wish I had a few buyers. To me, taking advantage of the opportunity to impress someone who has the power to bless me with a $10,000 + paycheck is an excellent way to spend a Sunday morning.

 www.sellwithsoul.com

Geographic farming is a popular prospecting method where real estate agents choose a particular neighborhood in which to, shall we say, make their presence known. Typical farming activities include the mailing of postcards, the walking of streets and the painting of bus benches. The goal is to become a household name in the farm area, so that when anyone thinks of selling real estate, they race to their refrigerator, find the farmer's phone number from his fancy refrigerator magnet, and make the call.

Fair enough.

For years, I've advised new agents not to farm unless they're weighted down with way too much money and need to get rid of it efficiently. In my opinion, the only way farming is going to be effective is if you already HAVE a presence in the neighborhood - that is - you have For Sale signs around with your name on them! But that's just my opinion; I could be wrong.

And anyway, that's not the point of this blog, which I'll get to now.

In conjunction with my jump back into full time real estate sales, I've decided to FARM! But not with postcards, door hangers or advertising... No, I'm going to have way more fun (and spend way less money).

I specialize in Central Denver, specifically an area known as Northwest Denver. It's a trendy little spot near Downtown with parks and lakes and coffee shops and yoga studios. Lots of young singles & families, most with dogs.

That's where I live and, being a bit lazy, would really like to do all my business close to home!

The good news for me is that I have a lot of friends who live here, too.

So I'm planning to make my presence known in my favored ‘hood. I'll get my facials, my manicures, my haircuts and my massages here. I'll find a few nearby restaurants and make them my Cheers. My lawn service, my plumber and my dog-groomer will be my neighbors. If I advertise, it will be only in the local rags. If I'm invited to a social event in the ‘hood, I'll be sure to go. I'll show up at the First Friday Art Walk on Tennyson Street and the Highland Square Street Fair in June.

Will I show up with my salesman hat and I Love Referrals button? Uh, no. I'll show up as a local, a neighbor, as a generally nice gal... who happens to sell real estate for a living.

 www.sellwithsoul.com