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 else" (that is, the people you know who aren't your friends - I call them my Group Two)
- Meeting new people.
Before you panic and say that you don't have the time, money or energy to do all this socializing, don't! Running an SOI business is much less time-consuming and less expensive than just about any other systematized prospecting method, and can be far more effective, more quickly. In fact, if you spend a few years creating your personal cheering section, you can pretty much coast through the rest of your real estate career. That's what I did and in my last five years I rarely worked more than 30 hours a week and my marketing budget was practically zero. My phone rang, I answered it, and whaddya' know? I had a new client.
Nurturing the personal relationships you already have
From a philosophical perspective, this means to ensure that the people in your social network (AKA Group One) know that you care about them. In a practical sense, it means that you strive to have a personal conversation with everyone in your social network as often as you can, at least once a quarter. A personal conversation can be a face to face lunch or coffee date, a phone call or even an email exchange. What it's not is a concerted effort to abuse your friends with a sales pitch. Always approach your social network as a friend first, and a real estate agent second, or third, or fourth. Not the other way around.
Staying in touch with Everyone Else
Staying in touch with your "everyone else" group (AKA Group Two) just means that you keep your name in front of this crowd with periodic interesting, relevant, non-salesy written communications, delivered both through snail-mail and email. As long as your mailings are consistent and intelligent, you'll see a significant number of sales from even this minimal effort.
Meeting new people
An important part of an effective SOI model is to add to your Groups One and Two, especially in today's market where there is admittedly less business to go around. The more people you know, who know you, and think you're a generally cool person, the more that telephone will ring.
Running an effective SOI business model isn't nearly as complicated as some would have you believe. Yes, it takes some organization and commitment upfront, and an ongoing effort to stay in touch with the people you know and the people you meet, but once it's rolling and you're in the SOI habit, it won't feel like work at all! In fact, it might even feel suspiciously like FUN! And "the more fun you have selling real estate, the more real estate you will sell!"
Stay tuned for more SOI 101 coming to a Selling Soulfully blog near you...
How Much Do You Know about SOI? Take the Quiz!
The SOI Starter Kit
Everything you need to get your own SOI business model up & running!
www.SellwithSoul.com
Jennifer. This is very good. Working a sphere is important for long term relationships. I encourage all of my network partners to stay in touch with folks to whom they've sold homes. Some do, some do not. The ones who do get referrals.
I generate the new business from the Internet because that's my job. However, I am always available for past buyers and have one under contract now.
Great well written post.
Great post. Sounds like the Keller Williams way.
I agree this is my year to reconnect with people make sure I do stay in touch with past clients that they dont forget me and hopefully this yar the first client appreciation party.
Oops - I took the password off - in case it asks again, though - it's "soulful"
Lenn - thank you! I do so much writing on SOI, I forget that sometimes it's nice to hear the basics....
Wendy - I'm not intimately familiar with the KW SOI way, but I believe it's similar, although there are some significant distinctions... But it's not like MY system or philosophy is the ONLY one that's right!
Thanks, Jennifer!
Jennifer, you are so right about the SOI. Extremely valuable and too often underworked for fear of crossing that sales pitch line with your friends. But dome carefully and effectively, I think yeild good results. Thanks agaain. kevincavanaughonline.com
The most successful agents work from their data base.
Hi Jennifer, excellent post. When I first started in real estate, it took me a few years to realize how important soi is, even though I was told about it, now it is a major part of my business. I enjoy reading your SOI posts
Mike - once you see SOI in action, you won't want to do anything else! As long as it's done right - if it'd done wrong, you'll be toast!
Gaye - That's cause if you're really good at what you do, your SPC's (satisfied past clients) will be happy to refer to you... if they can find your number!
Kevin - Yep - although I think far too many agents DON'T have the fear of overstepping that line and they do it on a regular basis... and call it SOI. Blech!
I must say that my business models have included a few new strategies. But one thing I can count on is my SOI. When I went back to evaluate my business sources, SOI was the biggest chunk, though lesser number in transactions. It still proves to be heading that way at least when I closed out January.
Loreena - I know you get a lot of business from your blog, so I'm not specifically speaking to you when I say this... your SOI isn't just your friends and family, it's every single warm body who knows who you are, so if you apply SOI principles to every segment of your business, I think most agents who practice SOI will find the vast majority of their business comes from it.
Morning Jennifer, Just starting a program to better communicate with past customers. Your post helps me rev it up !
A lot of business comes from staying in touch with old clients
Staying in touch with friends and past clients should be in everybody's business plan. Still many of us falter on this or completely fail to do it. It's good to be reminded once and awhile on what you should be doing.
Jennifer Allen~
Indeed the more contact that we make and continue the more we are apt to be on peoples minds. Social Networks are bringing people together more and more. Staying in touch with people that matter should be more commonplace!
Mott Marvin Kornicki // Real Estate In Miami // Associate | Broker • 30 Years
Aventura // The Waterways // Bal Harbour // Sunny Isles Beach • Florida
Good post, and I do believe if you want to survive in any business, you must communicate with past clients, as well as go out and meet new ones.
Very helpful. As a relatively new agent, I find a lot of my SOI don't know about me, yet my
style is not to be pushy, so it is good to hear reinforcement that always selling and
asking for the business isn't always best. I will try to just relax and enjoy more!
Melissa - BINGO! Lots of new agents are given terrible advice on how to approach their SOI, and when they feel weird doing it, they assume that "SOI won't work for me!" Your SOI can be an enormous source of business for you if you approach them right. Approach them wrong... and you'll risk your friendships. TRUST YOUR GUT!
Very good advice - I sent your quiz on to my manager.
The Real Estate biz and the Mortgage Biz are both very similar here.. We need to be out there to remind people what we do, it takes some time, but not a lot of money!
Great reminder of what we should already know... consistently connecting with people = future business!
Hi Jennifer,
Like the saying goes...nobody cares what you know until they know that you care. Ours is a relationship business. Your posts are always right on the money. Keep 'em coming!
it seems this is the only way to build a long lasting business that you dont have to try and find new clients each and every month
James - but y'know what? some agents LOVE to prospect and wouldn't be happy if they didn't have to do it the rest of their careers!
Jennifer -- really great post. As an extravert -- I love socializing and meeting new people, staying in touch and building realtionships. As you can guess, I love the SOI model of doing business. Was just out of town for a while, and am reconnecting with a few special folks by taking them tea and treats, saying hi and setting up time to hang out. It's fun, and it's a great source of business too.
Great Post! Working your sphere is a great way to get business, it allows the majority of your business to be referrals and that is great!
Thank you
Its these reminders of what works so easily that makes this post so valuable. Great Post!
Hi Jennifer !
I have often wondered why more articles arent written on this subject ... I LOVE your post !
I subscribe to your theory here 100%, and it shows as 80% of my business is referral of some sort.
Fabulous !
Sheldon
Jennifer, great blog!!!
Some times we are so focused on trying to get new clients, that we forget the gold mine that we have in our existing clients.
Jennifer, I love you blog post and acknowledge that my contacts with my SOI need significant improvement.
Jennifer: You are really an inspiration to me. The concept of working less and enjoying it more has been somewhat lost in the grand scheme of things. The concept of marketing to who you know gets lost in the rush to find brand new people via Internet social networking etc.
I sent out a silly New Year's card only to my SOI and immediately had business from it. Snail mail, old school, but it was if my SOI was actually hungary for their mortgage broker to connect with them!
Yes, we often forgot who we want singing our praises. Thanks for reminding me that my SOI will be the ones sending clients my way. For each person I contact, they know 200 more people and those people know . . . .
There you go, JA.
Nice positive post. Love your teaching.
I think it is spot on.
Thanks for writing,
Ken
Simple. And fabulous. Without consciously trying, this is essentially what I do. Now to see how more effective I can be by being a bit more systematic about it. Thank you!
Jenny Jenny Bo Benny - you keep sharing the keys to the kingdom. i am surprised more folks are not coming on board.
I will not sully up the proceedings with self indulgent prattle. I will only share that this post is the delightful aroma that wafts through the air outside a meat lovers favorite steak house.
jmac
JMac - you're too sweeeeeeet! And actually, lots of people are coming on board! It's a revolution! Well, okay, maybe that's a little melodramatic...
Tim - Cool! Just make sure not to let your systems do your SOI'ing for you - YOU do that -the systems just remind you to do it...
Janet - A 100% SOI model is a wonderful thing. And in my experience, the most important part of it is having SPC's (satisfied past clients). During my full-time career, I had more business than I could handle (ahhhhh, the good old days) and did zero prospecting... just showed up, worked hard and kept smiling (most of the time).
Interesting stats on the SOI Quiz - the women seem to be scoring much higher than the guys...
Hi Jennifer,
I have been a subsciber to your blog and newsletter for some time now just for this reason! I so agree with you, and am counting on the fact that your ideas will work!
Jennifer, good post and I really enjoyed your tele-seminar on CMA's last week!
Join my new AR group and post your blog at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice
Regina P. Brown
Great post and good advice. Time spent cultivating relationships (existing, new and on the horizon relationships) is time well spent. People listen to people they know, like and respect much more frequently then they listen to third party advice, advertising etc., so it makes sense to cultivate relationships in an effort to be top-of-mind when real estate is the topic of conversation.