referrals: An Easy Way to Double Your Real Estate Business Every Year
- 10/10/11 01:13 AM
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 … (23 comments)
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referrals: You Gotta Ask for What You Want, Right? Eh... not always
- 09/08/10 12:22 AM
On one of my recent (featured - thank you!) blogs about referral-begging, the comment was made "If you don't ask, you don't get" in relation to calling up your sphere of influence (or even strangers) and asking if they know anyone to refer to you. In case you don't already know my opinion on the matter, I think that's a really stupid way to prospect.
As Dave Ramsey sez, "Hope I wasn't unclear."
Of course it's true that in many situations, you must ask for what you want to have any chance of getting what you want. If you would … (19 comments)
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referrals: Prospecting - If it Feels Wrong, DON'T Do it! (The Go-Giver Chronicles continue)
- 09/02/10 05:01 AM
Quoted with permission from Go-Givers Sell More by Bob Burg and John David Mann:
"You may have been taught that to be successful in sales, you need to "step outside of your comfort zone." Let's reexamine that idea. If you push yourself to a place that makes you uncomfortable, chances are pretty good you'll end up making the other person uncomfortable, too. Consciously or not, they'll sense your discomfort - and attitudes are contageous.
We human beings tend to resist discomfort; in fact, we'll typically do anything to avoid putting outselves in uncomfortable situations. Why base your entire career on … (54 comments)
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referrals: Why Begging for Real Estate Business Is Wrong and What to Do Instead...
- 01/10/10 11:44 PM
If you've been around my blog for more than five minutes, you probably know how I feel about Begging for Business or Referrals. I don't like it. I don't think you should do it. I don't think you need to do it. I think it makes you look unprofessional, needy and, well, I'll say it again, unprofessional.
Was I clear?
Actually, probably not. When I use the word "beg" I'm not just talking about the literal definition of the word where you accost everyone you know and meet, and sob on their shoulder about your lack of business and beg … (18 comments)
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referrals: A New "Game" Plan for 2010
- 12/27/09 11:34 PM
As it happens every year ‘round this time, New Year's resolutions are being made with a vengeance.
In our world of real estate sales, these resolutions tend to focus on revving up one's prospecting efforts in hopes of having a Great New Year. Promises to more fully commit to a cold-calling or door-knocking campaign, to more aggressively pursue expired listings and FSBO's, to formally choose a farm area or finally figure out what SEO really means.
All well and good. I wish you luck with that!
But in addition to all these Numbers Games, I submit the following plan for … (96 comments)
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referrals: "Jennifer, What Do You Think of Client Appreciation Parties?"
- 10/23/09 11:19 PM
Earlier this week, I spoke on the subject of Selling to Your Sphere of Influence - No Sales Pitch Required! at the Colorado REALTOR Convention.
As I usually do, I did my best to debunk many of the sacred cows of the SOI- business model training industry, such as how important it is to ask for referrals, why it's a great idea to categorize your friends based on their history of referring to you - stuff like that.
The crowd seemed to accept my protestations that this behavior is not only obnoxious, but that it's not terribly effective. Cool.
I closed my presentation by encouraging the … (83 comments)
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referrals: Ten Tips to Being a Good Refer-ee (that is - one who receives referrals from other real estate agents)
- 09/04/09 01:10 AM
I've been doing a lot of referring these days. Both of my own leads to other Denver-area agents, and also coordinating agent-to-agent referrals around the country (see below if you wanna play, too!).
I'm seeing some distinct differences in how my referrals are handled by the refer-ee, and I tell ya, the ones who handle them better are far more likely to see more from me than those who don't!
Remember that the refering agent probably has some concerns about you. He's worried that you'll forget you owe him a referral fee. That you'll make him look bad by treating the client … (15 comments)
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referrals: Which is More Important to You - Serving Your Current Clients or Pursuing Your Future Ones?
- 04/06/09 12:22 AM
(My opinion will be glaringly apparent in about 10 seconds).
I'm horrified on a daily basis by the emphasis in our industry on PROSPECTING PROSPECTING PROSPECTING! Anyone who reads my blog already knows that, but here I am again with my jaw dropped to the floor at some recent comments on another blogger's post. I won't repeat them here because I have no desire to publicly criticize anyone (must be feeling abnormally sweet today) and besides, it's only my opinion, but JEEZ! To imply, heck to outright state that our most important duty as LICENSED real estate agents is to focus on … (41 comments)
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referrals: SOI 103 - "My Daughter's Best Friend's Parents Just hired Another Real Estate Agent! "
- 02/09/09 12:32 AM
"Dear Jennifer,
Got up this morning and saw that my daughter's best friend's parents listed with someone else! They've been on my mailing list and their daughter and my daughter have been best friends since grade school. I'm crushed. Should I continue to send them things or take them off my list?"
Jane"
I get these letters all the time - people who have embraced my Sphere of Influence (SOI) philosophy and then feel kicked in the teeth when someone in their SOI hires another real estate agent. They almost seem angry at me for leading them to believe that they … (108 comments)
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referrals: SOI 102 - The SECRET to a Successful Real Estate Sphere of Influence Business Model
- 02/05/09 10:17 PM
Thanks for the Gold Star yesterday for my first SOI 101, AR Gods! So, to continue the message, here's SOI 101 Lesson #2 - The SECRET to running a successful SOI business model.
Sphere of Influence = The People Who Know You.
Here 't'is.
The secret to running a successful SOI-based business is to be a great real estate agent who loves her job and knows her market and stays in touch with the people she knows, without ever pestering them for business or referrals.
That's it! That's the secret! To be a great real estate agent who loves her job … (22 comments)
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referrals: SOI 101 - What Exactly is an SOI (Sphere of Influence) Business Model?
- 02/04/09 11:30 PM
A Sphere of Influence business model is a strategy that focuses on attracting business to you from the people you know and the people you meet socially, as opposed to pursuing business from strangers. It's possible to run a 100% SOI business and never have to make one cold call, memorize a prospecting script or knock on a strangers' door!
There are three primary activities in an effective SOI business model.
Nurturing the personal relationships you already have within your social network (that is, your friends - I call this group my "Group One." Clever, eh?) Staying in touch with "everyone … (42 comments)
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referrals: "Touching" versus "Impressing" for Real Estate Agents
- 01/29/09 10:32 PM
Several months ago (egads, in September) I wrote a blog with a teaser promise at the end to "stay tuned" for more... and that "more" never came. I sure hope too many of my readers didn't lose sleep wondering when I'd ever get back on topic. Here's the post... At the end of the post, I promised to discuss the difference between "touching" and "impressing."
To recap, in our business, we often talk about the need to "touch" as many people as possible with our message, whether those touch-ees are people we know (our Sphere of Influence) or strangers. We get all … (21 comments)
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referrals: WE want to be WOW'ed by our lenders... and that's exactly what OUR customers want, too!
- 01/18/09 10:51 PM
There was a great discussion started by Janet Guilbault... (which she credited me with inspiring) about what Realtors want from their lenders - or better said - what it takes for a Realtor to give a new-to-them lender a shot. Janet was surprised by my assertion that lender marketing krap ain't gonna get ya no-wheres with me.
We don't want to be marketed to... we don't need to be schmoozed... we don't need to be fed. We do want our lenders to keep us in the loop. We want our lenders to make us look good in front of our buyers … (13 comments)
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referrals: Phooey on Prospecting... I just wanna do my job!
- 12/01/08 12:00 AM
I'll be interested to see the responses to this forthcoming brain dump... some of you will totally relate, while others will think I'm just a weirdo.
I hate to prospect, in any way, shape or form. By "prospect" I'm not really referring to any particular method, strategy or activity, I just simply don't like drumming up business. I get no joy out of self-promotion, marketing or pursuing. I very much dislike the idea of spending any time at all worrying about where my next closing might come from.
But I LOVE LOVE LOVE selling real estate. Or, perhaps I should say that … (82 comments)
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referrals: To Expand Your Sphere of Influence - Be in the Right Place at the Right Time ... More Frequently!
- 11/15/08 12:44 AM
Okay, so my last two postings have been a little grim, a little whiney, a little dark. BAH! Enough of that! Life is good, life is sweet, life is wonderful and it might do me good to remember that a little more often! Actually, this week has been pretty darn good to Jennifer... (‘cept for those pesky spammers on my SWS forum - my gosh, where did they come from all of a sudden? Anyone know how to get rid of ‘em?)
Anyway, let's lighten things up a bit!
A few months ago, I attended a Rick DeLuca seminar here in … (27 comments)
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referrals: Yes, a Sphere of Influence Approach IS enough in today's market, if you...
- 10/21/08 04:53 AM
As promised, here's the follow up to my blog yesterday entitled "Is SOI Enough in Today's Market?"
Yes and No.
No, traditional "SOI" where you simply let all your friends know you sell real estate and then send them off into the world to be your marketing department is definitely not enough. Why? Because the volume of buyers and sellers is drastically reduced from days past when everyone and their uncle knew someone buying or selling. Now, it's not unrealistic that the people you know truly DON'T anyone who needs your services today or tomorrow!
But yes, if you redefine what … (19 comments)
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referrals: Is a Sphere of Influence Approach Enough in Today's Market?
- 10/19/08 11:59 PM
First, allow me to apologize for using that tired phrase "Today's Market." Real estate is most certainly local, so "Today's Market" in Denver is much different from Today's Market in Detroit, Dallas or Des Moines. I get that. But, for the sake of argument (or discussion), let's just assume that in most US real estate markets, "Today's" is not as much as fun as "a Few Years Ago's." Deal?
I'm just wrapping up the Savvy Prospector 12-week course, which was a live online program that helped real estate agents (and a few loan officers) create, maintain and nurture an effective prospecting … (27 comments)
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referrals: Bringing in Business... One Warm Body at a Time
- 09/11/08 01:34 AM
Y'know what I love about this business? That every single thing I do, every day, has the potential to bring a client my way. Big things, small things, easy things, hard things... every action I take, whether intentional or not, might just result in a juicy paycheck for me - today... tomorrow... or six months from now.
My business comes in one client at a time. And, frankly, with the average price in my market being around $300,000, I could easily live on the business that passively floats by me. But my point is that I don't need five new prospects … (25 comments)
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referrals: Are You in this for the Long Haul? (Or are you planning to quit in six months?)
- 09/08/08 06:39 AM
Last week, Janie Coffey hosted a teleconference for the participants of my Savvy Prospector program about the magic of niche marketing. I was spellbound by the material and it really made me think about how this business works...
Back to Janie in a sec.
We're all looking for a magic bullet, myself included. While I know I'll have a mortgage payment due NEXT October, I'm far more concerned with the one due in 25 days, the one due in 55 days and the one due in 85 days.
But you know what? Next October will be here before you know it, and … (68 comments)
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referrals: There's No Harm in Asking, Right?
- 07/31/08 11:04 AM
Okay, okay, you are all tired of me ranting and raving about the sins of Referral-Begging and Referral-Bribing, which in my opinion, just annoys and irritates your friends. Oh, and a nice side-benefit; it advertises how desperate you are for business.
Of course, I hear all the time; "There's no harm in asking!" or "You gotta ask for what you want if you expect to get it!"
I disagree. I think there's all kinds of harm in asking, and no, I don't believe you always gotta ask for what you want. But I've written thousands of words on this topic already...
… (25 comments)
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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?
;)
;)
;)
