Getting Started As A New Agent - Your Circle Of Influence
This is the third post in a series of five describing things you should start doing if you are just starting your real estate career. In part one I talked about sitting open houses for other agents.That post can be found here. In part two, I gave some ideas for working with FSBO’s. You can find that one here. In this post, I will talk about marketing to your circle of influence. Future posts in this series will include farming and working with a more experienced mentor. One thing you absolutely must do to jumpstart your career is to contact everyone within your circle of influence. This means everyone. Sit down and make a list of all the people you know. This list will eventually become your contact list. Make sure to include everyone, especially people that you don’t know well like the person that cuts your hair or the teller you just say hello to at the bank.Once you begin writing down names, you will be amazed at how fast the list grows. All of us have an amazing number of people we know, even if we don’t realize it and you’ll want to contact every one of them. Remember, you will not only be asking them if they need an agent, but also asking them to recommend you to their friends and associates. You never know who will need your services.
You will want to use different forms of contact for the different types of people on your list. For example, all of the people on the list that you are close to should get a personal visit so you can talk to them about your new career and give them a supply of cards to pass out to anyone they think might need your services. You will want to tell them right up front that you intend to check back with them every once in a while to find out if they know of any persons looking for an agent. This gives you a way to gauge an appropriate interval between visits. Making yourself a pest will not help you, and remember, most people will want to help you, especially people you know.
For those people that are not quite as close, you should send a short letter announcing your new career.This letter, ideally, would also be followed up with a personal visit or a phone call. If that’s not possible, you’ll want to keep these names close by until you work your way through them, In fact, one habit you will want to get into is setting aside some time everyday to call a few people on your contact list. Even a half hour would make a difference. You will also want to vary the time of day you call since everyone always seems to be on a different schedule.
In order to get anything accomplished, you will need a plan. You’ll also need to make your plan as precise and complete as you possibly can. One way to work your way through your list would be to sit down on Saturday or Sunday and plan out your calling schedule for the next week. Combine a half hour block of time each day with names from your list that would most likely be available at that time. Go ahead and list more names than you can probably reach for each slot since you’ll never catch everyone in on your list. Don’t forget to check your names against the National Do Not Call Registry.
I should mention here that it’s a good idea for you to get in the habit of following up all your correspondence with a call or personal visit. I know this will not be possible all the time, or even most of the time, once you start regular mailings to your farm and your list of contacts but you should always make the effort to contact as many as possible. If you called just twenty-five people from a mailing of five hundred, you could an idea of what everyone thought of what you sent. In fact, one good way to approach the people you call is with the questions, “Did you receive my latest mailing?” and “What did you think of it?” Instead of “bothering” these people, you are asking for their opinion, and who doesn’t like to give that?
One final thought about soliciting business from your circle of influence has to do with dependability. I already stated that people want to help you, and it’s true, they do want to. The only thing is they will expect you to hold up your end of the bargain. If they are going to recommend you to their family, friends, or business associates, they have to know you will do right for them. Once again, put yourself in their place. Would you ever recommend someone that you didn’t have confidence in? Of course not, and why would you expect anyone else to?
I am of the opinion that most people want to hear you say that you’ll take care of their friends or family. Put it in the letter you send and tell them the same when you talk to them. Don’t just imply that you’ll do a good job, say it. This has a way of committing you to it that will reassure the person. And, of course, it goes without saying you should then do exactly what you promised.
