Real estate as a career requires various skills. Networking is a significant aspect of building yourself as a real estate agent and business. Form long-lasting relations with fellow agents, locals, and other clients help you form a circle of trusted people that help you grow. This is referred to as the sphere of influence, also SOI in real estate.
You need a group of people who value your work and trust you enough to recommend you and generate more leads. The most common problem real estate comes across after a few steady years in the business is a need for leads. There are only so many leads that you can get through the internet or going around. Most of the leads that can be potential clients are obtained by referrals and word of mouth. Here the SOI plays a significant role in building and maintaining a business of clients and being able to create more leads. Here are ways to develop your SOI-
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Who falls under this list:
It is essential to understand who is a part of this list and what can benefit you the most. For example, you can’t add, or it is not wise to add, old contacts that you have not been in touch or contact with for over a year, as the gap can result in poor communication, which is not beneficial for the business. Adding clients you have previously worked with is something to think about; friends, family, and other agents you have worked with that understand the value of helping one another are some things to think of.
Size:
You might think of this as a small circle for your business, but that is only sometimes the case. The SOI is about maintaining excellent and long-lasting relations with people you know and creating an opportunity for yourself to grow from the same. The size of this sphere needs to be a little bigger. More than 100 people in your sphere are always ideal as it gives space for more lead generation. With lesser contacts, the scope for lead generation also reduces.
Digital presence:
Marketing plays a key role when you talk about SOI as it helps your contacts be aware that you are constantly improving, which adds value to your business and you as an agent. With the world going digital, it is essential to take these steps and create a social media presence, having websites where people can easily access your work and understand you better.
Ask Questions:
Before making someone a part of your contacts or sphere, it is important to ask several questions that can allow you to be sure of this decision. Questions like, do you want to do business with this contact, can you maintain a long-term relationship with the contact, etc. the whole idea of the sphere is to influence your contacts into giving you opportunities like leads. And if you can’t communicate enough with the contacts, the chances are they’ll forget about you, which will not help in your growth.
Final Thoughts:
The sphere of influence is as fundamental as any other aspect of real estate. This sphere adds more to your business and career than you can imagine and is easier to build with the right amount of skills.