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

Hopefully I'll think of a better title for this blog, but I probably won't. It's not going to be one of my best anyway. Just a little tidbit for my 99th post!

Found an article today on iSucceed.com about Calling your Sphere of Influence. Here's the link.

It's the typical "call up your friends and remind 'em you're in real estate" stuff that I often advise against. This particular article provides ten opening lines to help you make those calls ranging from: "I'm doing an open house in your area today; can I send you a brochure?" to "I was driving through your neighborhood today and thought of you; howzit going?"

But as I read through the opening lines, something struck me. Here are a few of the scripts, verbatim:

"Good Afternoon client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how are you? Hey I drove through your neighborhood yesterday showing another property and I just wanted to call and check in with you guys - how's the house been treating you?"

"Good Morning client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how is it going? Hey I'm working on a couple of new marketing ideas newsletter, postcards, personal brochures, flyers, I wondered if you could give me your thoughts on what you think of them. Could I send them over to you?"

Hmmmm. Wanna take a guess at what bugs me about them?

http://www.sellwithsoul.com/

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Tips & Inspirations to Generate Business from the Very Important People Who Know You!

copyright Jennifer Allan 2007

We've all heard from the guru's how we should prospect two to three hours a day. Uninterrupted. No distractions. After all, we are self-employed and need to ensure ourselves a steady stream of business in order to stay IN business.

Fair enough.

But for those of you who shudder at the thought of pestering strangers every day, here's a new approach, compliments of Loreena Yeo.

Loreena is my consulting client. She hired me to help her succeed in her real estate business. Per our agreement, I get paid for my efforts. But, with her insight and wisdom, she's helped me every bit as much as I've helped her.

Here's what I learned from her this week.

To give myself credit, I introduced Loreena to the concept of an SOI business model. And she's run with it. She is now the poster child for how to succeed in real estate sales by being a good friend.

How does Loreena prospect to her SOI? Well, you can check out her blog for lots of ideas. But the one that struck me this week was this...

Loreena spends her "mandatory" two to three hours a day prospecting time writing personal emails. Not calling FSBO's. Not pestering expired listings. Not cold calling her farm area.

She spends that time catching up with her friends. Via email, because she's a little shy, it's easier that way. Does she ask her friends for real estate referrals? NO WAY. Does she share her latest success story? I doubt it. She just does what we woman creatures do naturally. Communicate, nurture, offer compassion when needed.

Is it working? Oh yeah. Just ask her. She's crazy busy and her phone is indeed ringing. With business and referrals from her SOI.

Here's the best part. She estimates a 90% success rate. As in, 90% of the people she writes to write back. Do they have a real estate need or referral today? Probably not. But when they do, you can be sure they'll think of Loreena.

How does a 90% response rate compare with YOUR prospecting efforts?

www.sellwithsoul.com

copyright Jennifer Allan 2007

Okay, so I'm reading my latest edition of the Broker/Agent News.

Came upon an article by Dirk Zeller entitled "The Four Pillars of Prospecting." Well, I never prospected much (Thank you, SOI!), but now that I'm a writer and consultant, I figure it's good to learn how the other half works. 

Tip 1:  "Set a daily time and place for prospecting." Got it.

Tip 2:  "Fight off distractions." Fair enough... oh, wait... what's this?
"The truth is most agents welcome distractions taking them away from prospecting obligations. An inbound phone call, a problem transaction, a home inspection question, an incoming e-mail or a broken fingernail, anything will do. It's called creative avoidance and agents generally excel at the art."

Now he has my attention... continuing...

"What do you do when distractions hit? Do you postpone prospecting while you put out a fire? Do you make just a few calls to settle the pending issue....? To fight off distractions, you have to bar their access...."

You may recall that on the home page of the Selling Soulfully group I make the statement that soulful agents "care as much about the clients they have today as the clients they hope to have tomorrow." I take that philosophy VERY seriously.

"So," Dirk asks, "Do you postpone prospecting while you put out a fire?" Uh, YEAH. My current clients pay me darn good money to care about them and their fires. One silly cold call, even two, will never be more important to me than the good will and appreciation of my current client.

Which, I dare to say, is why I never HAD to prospect.

www.sellwithsoul.com

copyright Jennifer Allan 2007