Call Your Sphere of Influence

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10 really good opening lines
By Jim Remley

RISMEDIA, July 27 ? ?I?m going home to do my marketing.? Have you ever heard an agent say this while walking out the office doors?

It?s easy to get caught up in the passive marketing side of the real estate business. What is passive marketing? Passive marketing includes any activity or advertising not directly connected to actually making personal contact with your clients. This can be a dangerous and expensive path for many agents and this is especially true when we are talking about your sphere of influence.

Things like bulk mailings, e-mails, advertising campaigns, and thank you cards are a perfect example of passive marketing, and many times these are used as the sole source of contact with an agent?s sphere of influence. While all of these marketing pieces are an important and essential part of any successful agents marketing mix, they can never replace the most important ingredient ? you.

You are the most powerful marketing tool you own. Your clients don?t send referrals to postcards, or e-mails, they send their friends and neighbors to you. Why? Because they think you have something special to offer – and you do. You are a terrific agent, you work hard, and you do a fantastic job.

My point is this – Even though contacting each of your sphere of influence members will take time and no small amount of effort there will be nothing more powerful than you actually reconnecting with your past clients, friends, and neighbors. All of the mailings and passive contact in the world won?t be as powerful or memorable as a two minute conversation with one of your sphere members.

There is another side benefit to active contact with your sphere of influence, one that I really like. It?s free. Talking to people on the phone or in person costs you absolutely nothing. We spend too much money in real estate as it is, I always love to find something that is free.

Remember this key to becoming a marketing expert:

Active Marketing is the most effective least expensive type of marketing.

Passive Marketing is the most expensive least effective type of marketing.

One of the reasons agents don?t make active sphere of influence contacts is because they feel somehow embarrassed. Often agents just plain don?t know how to open up a conversation. They feel lost without a clear reason to make the phone call or knock on the door. So to eliminate this challenge let?s review ten simple reason to contact your sphere of influence.

Different Topics and Opening Lines:

1) Open House

?Good Morning client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how are you? Great! Listen the reason for my call is that I?m doing an Open House at house I just wondered if I could send you a copy of the flyer in case you hear of anyone thinking of moving?

2) New Listing

?Good Morning client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how are you? Listen, I just listed a couple of really hot buys and I?m contacting everyone on my list, I just wondered if I could send you over a copy of the flyer in case you hear of anyone thinking of moving??

3) Anniversary House Closing

?Good Morning client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how are you? Listen I just wanted to wish you and your wife a happy house anniversary! Can you believe you?ve owned that house a year already! How has it been working out for you??

4) Invitation to Event

?Good Morning client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how are you? Listen I just wanted to personally invite you to women?s club luncheon, trade show booth, office open house..

5) Just Driving Through

?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?

6) Selling a House Nearby

?Good Morning client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how is it going? Listen, I?m working on selling a home not to far away from yours at 123 Main I?m just doing a little research on the neighborhood can I ask you a couple of quick questions??

7) Just wanted to Say Hi

?Good Morning Client this is Jim over at ABC Realty. I was thinking about you guys the other day and I just thought I?d give you a call and see how everything is going….?

8) Critique

?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??

9) The Ambassador

?Good Morning Client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how is it going? Hey can you do me a huge favor I?m really trying build my listing inventory this month. If you see any FSBO signs in your neighborhood would you write the number down for me??

10) Great Expectations

?Good Morning Client this is Jim over at ABC Realty how are you? Listen I just wanted to let you know I put something in the mail to you today that I thought you might really enjoy….. Newsletter, neighborhood report, new listing, open house flyer, CMA Update?

Think back for a moment where did your last three real estate closings come from? If your answer was that at least one of those sales came from your sphere of influence doesn?t it make sense to focus some of your time and energy on developing this valuable resource?

Set a goal to make at least five calls to your sphere of influence daily. This should become as habitual as picking up your morning coffee. Many agents use this method to build their business profitability, without adding cost, and they find it is a much more enjoyable form of prospecting.

About the Author

Jim Remley is a speaker, author and active real estate broker with eight offices. He is also the owner of Pro Performer, the RealtyU? Affiliate in Southern Oregon. Jim won the RealtyU Rookie Instructor of the Year award in 2001 and the Pacesetter Award in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The RealtyU? network has 200 real estate school locations across the Northern America. RealtyU educated 305,000 real estate professionals in 2005, making it the largest real estate training network in the industry. For online real estate courses visit http://www.realtyuonline.com

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