We talk a lot about nurturing in the real estate industry. Typically, we use the word when referring to past clients. And, nurturing these warm and fuzzy leads is critical if you’re seeking referrals and repeat business.
We also talk a lot about nurturing leads to ease them through the real estate sales pipeline. Again, another worthy endeavor.
What we don’t often discuss, or hear others discuss, is nurturing a sphere of influence (SOI). There they sit in your CRM, mostly neglected, except perhaps for being relentlessly dripped on in their email inbox with information of utterly no value to them.
Let’s remedy that right now by discussing sphere of influence marketing.
It’s called sphere of INFLUENCE marketing for a reason
Many agents we’ve spoken with were told in their rookie days that sphere of influence marketing includes everyone they know. This includes not only friends and family, but everyone from their kids’ teachers to the barista at Starbucks to the dry cleaner.
And the internet is of no help with this misconception:
“Sphere of influence (SOI) is a group of people upon which you have some influence just because they know you.”
“… if you’ve ever interacted with another human being, you HAVE a sphere of influence.”
Your SOI includes “… people that know you, and just because of that, you have some influence on them.”
They’re missing something quite important here. The odds are pretty good that not everyone who knows you or all of those you’ve “interacted” with likes you.
Some may think you’re an insufferable bore or blowhard. How much influence do you have over these people?
None.
In reality, a real estate sphere of influence is not a “sphere of acquaintance.” It’s a far narrower group of people. It includes people with whom you have a congenial relationship. People who “know, like and trust” you.
Make a list of people you want to include in your sphere of influence marketing. Include:
- Your family – aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
- Friends – both those you interact with daily and friendships you’ve let slip a bit
- Former colleagues
- Neighbors and former neighbors
- Friends of friends – If you’ve socialized with them, their names belong on the list
- People you know from your volunteer efforts
- Service people – your hair stylist, mechanic, plumber
- Your children’s teachers
- Your children’s friends’ parents
- Former clients
Don’t edit yourself when making the list (that happens in the next step). Include everyone you can think of.
Narrow down your sphere of influence marketing even more
There is a maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship,” British anthropologist Robin Dunbar explains in his book “Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language.”
That number, now known as the “Dunbar Number,” is 150 people.
Think of it as “the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a drink if you happened to bump into them in a bar,” according to Dunbar.
Unless you have a staff, it’s even more important to whittle down the SOI list you’ve created. Make it manageable for your particular circumstances. Be realistic. Otherwise, there’s too big of a chance you’ll avoid the list instead of nurturing those on it.
Keep the old adage that “people do business with people they know, like and trust” front and center as you go down the list. Keep those who know like and trust you and save the others for another campaign.
It’s time to put that CRM to work
Finally, get this list into your CRM so you can start scheduling your contacts with the people on it.
As you enter each person’s information, make notes of how you met the person, how warm the relationship is and anything of a personal nature that might be useful, such as:
- Spouse’s name
- Children’s names
- Pet’s names
- Birthday, wedding anniversary
- Where they work or what they do for a living
- Hobbies and interests
- Favorite sports teams
Make note as well of which people are your friends or followers on social media, and which platforms. In fact, you may want to create a searchable category within the SOI section for this topic.
Yeah, we know – this is a lot of work. But, it’s a one-and-done task and once it’s done you can move on to the reach-out phase. Something for which we have some tips that we’ll share with you next time.
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