Learn how top producing Realtors create a real estate sphere of influence list by growing and contacting the people in their book of business over time.
Today we are going to talk about how to create a real estate sphere of influence list. Yes, bigger is better. The more people in your sphere of influence (SOI) database, the more listings you can expect this year. Before we talk about building and growing your SOI database, let’s talk about what it is, exactly.
VIDEO: How to Create a Real Estate Sphere of Influence List
Who belongs on your SOI list?
I get this question all the time. Who belongs on your real estate sphere of influence list? The answer is simple. Anyone you know by name who would recognize your and know you by name. This is the threshold. It’s a simple test. If you were to send a person a Facebook friend request or a mailer, you wouldn’t be seen as “spam” if the person recognizes your name. All you need to do is be one level above spam. That’s the goal!
This is a huge mistake that many Realtors make. A Realtor might host an Open House and automatically add each person who attended to their SOI database. Don’t do it! These people don’t know who you are! They don’t remember you! You have not established a relationship with these random people.
Don’t waste money on strangers
You don’t want to have a bunch of people you don’t know in your SOI for many reasons. One reason is that you wouldn’t want to send out high-quality mailers to strangers. That is a waste of money because these people don’t know you.
Your marketing mailer is spam to strangers and will most go directly into their trash. Random mailing to people you don’t know won’t get the same high return as targeted mailing to people you know.
Don’t water down your SOI. If you add people who shouldn’t be in your SOI to your real estate sphere of influence list, you are watering it down. It takes time to correct this problem. This common issue can ruin your career. It is tedious to go through your watered down database and weed out the people that don’t belong.
A great excuse to reach out
As you go through your watered down list and you find someone you’re not sure of, reach out! This is a great excuse to make contact. Give them a call and use this script.
Hey this is NAME, how have you been? Great. So, I’m trying to do a much better job of staying in contact with people I know. I’d like to be able to send you a holiday card over the holidays so I wanted to check in and make sure I have the correct mailing address for you.
At that point, they’ll give you their address because everyone loves holiday cards. After they give you that info, you can ask about their email address. Through this conversation, you can reinvigorate your relationship with them. You don’t necessarily even need to bring up the fact that you can’t remember how you know them.
If you are too anxious to call this person on the phone because you really can’t remember how you might (or might not) know them, delete them.
Get a workable SOI database running as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you will be paralyzed with a watered down SOI database. It is imperative that you create a quality real estate sphere of influence list ASAP.
Use an Annual Contact Plan with your real estate sphere of influence list
Now that you’ve ensured that your SOI database is not watered down, we can talk about an Annual Contact Plan. This is the reason you want to have a high quality real estate sphere of influence list.
The Annual Contact Plan is built around consistent, varied contact over the course of a year to create mindshare with your SOI members. When your SOI members think of real estate, you want them to think of you.
Through effective use of the Annual Contact Plan, you are staying in front of your SOI members subtly throughout the year. You use different methods of outreach: phone calls, text messages, mailers, social media direct messages, targeted ads, client events, etc.
FREE DOWNLOAD: 2-Week Assault Plan
Before you can add a new lead to your SOI database, first you need to qualify them by getting in contact with them. Many times, you won’t reach the lead on your first try. Download our 2-Week Assault Plan. Follow this plan to ensure that you’re following up consistently with new leads and increase your chances of connecting and converting leads to clients.
SOI contact done right
If you are worried about bothering your friends and acquaintances by reaching out throughout the year, then you aren’t doing it right. Your outreach, if done properly, is never:
- offensive
- controversial
- in-your-face
- pushy or salesy
If you do it right, your outreach is valuable to your SOI members. How do you do this? Come from contribution. Add value.
How much time does it take to keep in touch with your real estate sphere of influence list?
You should dedicate 2 hours per day to working your Annual Contact Plan. That’s 10 hours per week dedicated to getting new business. Showing property to an existing buyer is not “new business,” FYI. That is servicing current customers. There is a big difference between customer service and income-producing activities.
Keep your “marketing department” open
Your marketing department must stay open no matter how “busy” you feel. If you sacrifice your lead generation time each day, you will come to a point when your have a gap in production.
If you work an average of 40 hours a week, 25% (minimum) of your time should be spent on income-producing activities. That leaves you with more than enough time to service your current clients.
Take our Sphere of Influence online course
If you want to learn more about how to utilize (and grow) your real estate sphere of influence list, take our online course.
Get out of your own way
If you have a hard time creating and growing your real estate sphere of influence list, it is likely a motivation issue. Many agents fail because they rely on natural motivation. You need to manufacture motivation in order to succeed. If you don’t like doing uncomfortable things, this is not the industry for you.
In many cases, the key is to get a coach or mentor to help you get systems in place and provide that extra push. If you think a coach could help, reach out to us here at ICC for a free consultation. We’ll help you get out of your own way and build your business with systems that will set you up for success.
Want to learn more?
- Read The High-Performing Real Estate Team. You can buy Brian Icenhower’s best-selling book on Amazon.
- Subscribe to The Real Estate Trainer Podcast. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.
- Join the Real Estate Agent Round Table. We are always posting fresh content, including market updates, free templates, and host dynamic discussions with the industry’s top producers.
- Subscribe to our newsletter. In the sidebar of this blog, you’ll see a form to fill out to subscribe. You’ll be the first to find out about our new resources, free downloads, premium online courses, as well as promotions.
- Reach out and talk to an ICC coach. Not sure which of our coaching programs is right for you? Let us help you.
