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

Thanks for joining me for this little series on what you can do TODAY to ensure a Happy Next Year! The final installment is my favorite one - The Very BEST Way to Fill Up Your Pipeline.

Any guesses as to what it might be?

Below is a blog I wrote on the subject sometime last year, so in the interest of getting to my vacation (woo hoo!) I'm re-posting it here. However, first, a word from our sponsor.

The Pipeline 2010 series was included in the 2009 Summer of Soul teleseminar program which just finished up at the end of August. The whole program is now offered as an 11-session, 800-minute downloadable set for $49. Next week, that price will go up to $99. More information 'bout it here.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

The BEST Way to Build a Strong Sphere of Influence...  (originally posted May 2008)

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. Don't ask what your client can do for you, ask what you can do for your client. DO that open house, even if you don't want to. Attend your buyer's inspection even if inspections bore you to tears. Call your seller every single week, even if you have nothing much to report. Cheerfully take your buyer back to the house for the 3^rd time so he can measure the windows before writing an offer. Follow up with your buyer a few days after closing to see if any problems arose during move-in that you can help with.

And then, stay in touch with them on a personal basis forever and ever.

Did you notice that there's nothing in the above paragraph about buying them a fabulous closing gift or putting them on a canned drip campaign? Nothing about mailing them recipe cards or pestering them for the names of three friends you could contact with your sales pitch?

Nope. Gifts and drips won't change anyone's opinion of whether or not you are refer-worthy. If you did a lousy job for your client, but buy them a Rolex at closing, you just threw your money away on the watch. Following up with consistent sales pitches will only alienate someone who could otherwise be a huge source of business for you.

Especially if you're in your first year, please take this advice to heart. If you go all out for the clients you have today, they will enthusiastically support your business for years to come. After 3-4 years, if you've done a reasonably good job staying in touch, your phone will start to ring without any effort on your part.

It's a beautiful way to make a living.

You didn't think I'd forget about your Sphere of Influence (SOI) in my Pipeline 2010 series didja'? Of course not...

If you've followed my blog at all, you might have noticed that I'm a big fan of an SOI business model, as long as it doesn't include any begging, bribing or pestering those Very Important People Who Know You. At last count, I've written over 200 blogs & articles on the subject and there are three whole chapters in my upcoming book on it. It's my thang.

So, what can you do with your Sphere of Influence TODAY to fill your pipeline for 2010?

Well, just about anything, really. Except begging, bribing or pestering. If, today, you begin making a concerted effort to reconnect with the people you know, by the end of the year, you'll have made a real impression on a lot of people. And I'll bet you'll have met a lot MORE people to include in your sphere to make a real impression on.

What do I mean by reconnect? Well, it depends on how formal you want to get with it. If you've been hankering to change up your business model away from traditional prospecting and into something a little more fun, then you might want to explore the various programs available to walk you thru doing just that (and yeah, I have one of those).

Or, just set some easy goals to have a couple lunch dates every week, to pick up the phone and call a friend if you have a bona-fide reason to. Accept invitations to parties you might normally decline. Have your own casual dinner party or afternoon BBQ. Organize a girls night or boys night out. Go through your email inbox and look for old conversations you can pick back up. Oh, heavens, there are a gazillion things you can do to get back in touch with the people you know and increase the likelihood of making new friends.

Just promise me you won't beg, bribe or pester anyone for business during your reconnection efforts. Or, ever. If you do, your friends and acquaintances won't appreciate being reconnected with and not only will your Sphere of Influence business model fail, you'll likely lose some friendships over it.

And that's bad.

Next up: The Very BEST Way to Fill Up Your Pipeline