Real estate career » center of influence

Regular contact with your center of influence can serve as a gentle reminder that you are still in the real estate business

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:59:49 +0000

Regular contact with your center of influence can serve as a gentle reminder that you are still in the real estate business. Calling on a regular basis to say hi and touch base keeps you fresh in the minds of your past customers, friends and acquaintances. What do you call about? Here are a few suggestions and topics you can use in order to maintain contact with your center of influence.

Your family/Their family
Ask them if they have questions or comments about the topic of your latest newsletter, blog post or direct mail piece
Let them know what is going on in the market that is influencing their home’s value
Talk about community event, the success of the local sports team, an upcoming charity event
Recent headlines relating to real estate, the economy, current events

These are people you know and trust and they know and trust you. It should be easy to find topics and reasons to call to say hello. You will find the hardest part is taking the time consistently to make the call. Once you get into the habit of calling on a regular basis, the conversation will be easy and enjoyable.

Your center of influence may need your help.

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:29:05 +0000

If you have not stayed in contact with your center of influence, you should strongly consider establishing contact with them now given the current state of the economy. Your center of influence are most likely not immune to the stresses that many in our area are experiencing. Those in your COI are no doubt concerned about their property values. Perhaps they have fallen behind on mortgage payments and are unsure of their course or options. It may just be that they are on the brink of falling behind and are not aware of help that may be available.

As the real estate professional they know and trust, it is imperative that you offer them the help and direction they need. This is not about getting with them in hopes of selling them a home; this is about helping them save their homes. This is about pointing them to and explaining the government solutions being offered or helping them find other options available to them.

Take the time to reconnect to your center of influence. If you are able to help one person avoid losing a home or provide them with a solution to help them ease their stress, they will thank you and you will be better for it.

Staying in contact with your COI

admin — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:48:40 +0000

Real estate agents should understand that staying in contact with their center of influence or COI is imperative if their goal is to receive referrals and repeat business. Most agents system for staying in contact with their COI include:

Newsletters
Birthday or Holiday cards
Monthly bulk mail
Occasional phone calls

All of these methods when used consistently are tried and true ways for real estate agents to stay in contact with your friends, acquaintances and past customers.

With more and more people beoming active online, real estate agents might want to add to their system of staying in contact with their business sphere by:

Following their COI on twitter
Networking with their customer base on Linkedin
Becoming a friend on Facebook
Subscribing to their youtube channel
Bookmarking and commenting on blogs belonging to your COI

Staying connected and in contact with your COI is an important ingredient of a successful real estate career. Make sure you are using all the avenues available to keep in contact.

Don’t forget your center of influence!

admin — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:04:29 +0000

As real estate agents we need to be mindful of how important it is for us to stay in contact with, or to get back in contact with our center of influence.

Our desire to reach out to new buyers and seller have gotten us into the habit of spending a majority of our time looking for this new business, that we tend to overlook the people that already know and trust us. Those that we have helped buy or sell a home in the past; customers, friends, and family members, could move up to a much larger home in today’s market at a savings or buy a home and take advantage of the numerous incentives available.

Pursue your center of influence just as you would pursue new business and you will increase your sales volume.