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

It was such a hit last year that we thought we'd do it again... A show about selling real estate without selling your soul!

This Thursday morning, I'll have two SellWithSoul-minded real estate agents who follow SWS principles and are - gasp - SUCCESSFUL! Even though they aren't selling their souls to make it happen!

My guests will join me in the SWS Virtual Studio and tell you how they run their businesses without resorting to icky, cheesy, intelligence-insulting tactics. How they've done it their way, using techniques and strategies that feel right to them, that don't make their skin crawl or reduce them to smiley-faced, cheesy real estate hucksters. How they've resisted the pressure of their brokers, trainers and associates to Suck it Up and Just Do It in the interest of generating business... if that "it" is something they don't feel comfortable doing.

Here are some of the topics my guests will address:

• Is it possible to be "soulful" from Day One, or is a certain level of Old School practice a necessary part of getting started?
• What prospecting activities have you been encouraged to do, but refused?
• Did you ever consider doing and/or implement any prospecting strategies that conflicted with your gut? If so, what was the outcome?
• Have you ever gotten flack from your broker for not being willing to implement prospecting techniques you were uncomfortable with?
• When things aren’t going well, do you ever question yourself as to whether or not you should continue doing things your way, or if maybe your gut instincts are leading you wrong?

Be assured, this is not a sales-pitch for any SWS program or product. Just an hour or so of intelligent, common sense discussion on ways to succeed selling real estate without becoming someone you don't recognize... or even much like.

Join us?

The DETAILS
Date: Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Time: 8am Pacific / 9am Mountain / 10am Central / 11am Eastern
Duration: 60-90 minutes
Equipment Needed: Computer with high-speed Internet access or a telephone.
Cost: Free to attend live, but you must register below:

REGISTER FOR THE SHOW HERE

I believe that every real estate agent who wants to be the best thing to happen to their clients (thus generating a steady supply of new clients throughout their careers) should invest in and commit to a real estate-specific contact management system. No, not to send out cheesy drip-mails to their nearest and dearest every two weeks, but to maximize the likelihood that everyone they know thinks of them fondly when the subject of real estate comes up in their day-to-day wanderings.

On Tuesday, October 18th, I did a teleseminar show in the SWS Virtual Studio on the subject, and discussed several ways contact management can be used to help a real estate agent enjoy the success they dream of. At the end of the show, I asked attendees to send me at least one thing they learned that would help them achieve that - and below are the results of that poll!

Favorit-est Tip #1
Create checklist (or Action Plan) templates for your transactions, specifically, your Active Listings, your Buyers-Under-Contract and your Listings-Under-Contract. Every time you enter into a transaction, apply the appropriate template and voila! Your transaction-specific to-do list auto-populates into your daily task list so nothing slips through the cracks! (you can see samples of mine in my VIP Lounge here.)

Favorit-est Tip #2
Print out a list of your "Group One's" (your social network) every quarter and work your way through the list, making personal contact with a few each week. Each week, different names will "call out" to you from the list, depending on your mood, and by the end of the quarter, you'll have at least attempted to talk to or meet up with everyone on the list. Once you're through the list, print out a new one and start over.

Favorit-est Tip #3
Use your contact management system to REMIND you to do things, not to do them for you! Don't ask your contact management system to DO your staying-in-touch, particularly with your Group One's and your clients. Just set up tasks that will remind you it's time to send a birthday card or a how-ya-doing email or a market status report - then send the greeting card, write up the email or send the report personally.

Favorit-est Tip #4
Every time you have an encounter with someone you know, think of something from your conversation you can follow-up on, and create a task for yourself to do it. For example, if your friend tells you they're job-hunting, set a reminder to call them in a week or two to see how it's going.

If you'd like to read more of my ramblings on Contact Management (exciting stuff, I know), just go here: www.SellwithSoul.com/contact-management.

Thanks to everyone who attended the show and provided their feedback!   

So... whatcha' thinking I might be thinking here? More lunch dates? More blogs? More Facebook, Twittering or Linking In? Or, egads, more cold-calling, door-knocking or referral-begging?

Nope.

Here's a reeeeal easy way to double your business every single year.

EARN one referral from every single client.

If every buyer and seller you serve, every year, were to send just one buyer or seller your way in the twelve months following your time together, you'd double your business, wouldn't you? And of course, if your buyer or seller is that tickled with you that they'll send one person your way, I'm guessing they might do it again... and again... and maybe even again!

So, how do you go about inspiring your buyers and sellers to refer business to you?

Expensive closing gifts?
Nope.

Incessant reminders of your affection for referrals?
Nope.

Monthly newsletters and postcards showcasing your listings?
Nope.

Boilerplate greeting cards on the one month, three month, six month and one year anniversaries of their closing?
No again.

A contract signed at closing where your buyer or seller commits to sending you at least three referrals?
OMG, no.

Gifts, drips, cards or contracts won't inspire anyone to send you business. Oh, they might remind someone that you exist and how to find you, but unless they already think highly of you as a real estate agent, ain't no business coming your way as a result of said gifts, drips, cards or contracts.

It's so, so, so simple. Just be great at what you do. Take care of your current clients as your very first priority. Go the extra mile (where, to paraphrase Roger Staubach, there's not much traffic). And then stay in touch just enough to remind without becoming a nuisance.

And watch your business grow...

RELATED BLOGS:
Y'think Your Clients Are Talking About Their Real Estate Agent?
If a Tree Falls in the Forest and Nobody Hears it, Is Your Realtor Doing His Job?
Okay, So the Sign's in the Yard, What Next?
Ten Ways to Show Your Seller You Don't Care
I'm the Best Listing Agent I know