One of the reasons agents don't make active sphere of influence contacts is because they feel somehow embarrassed. Often agents just plain don't know how to open up a conversation. They feel lost without a clear reason to make the phone call or knock on the door. So to eliminate this challenge let's review ten simple ways to contact your sphere of influence.

1. Open house

   "Good morning, , this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how are you? Great! Listen, the reason for my call is that I'm doing an open house at . I just wondered if I could send you a copy of the flyer in case you hear of anyone thinking of moving?

2. New listing

   "Good morning , this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how are you? Listen, I just listed a couple of really hot buys and I'm contacting everyone on my list. I just wondered if I could send you over a copy of the flyer in case you hear of anyone thinking of moving?"

3. Anniversary house-closing

   "Good morning , this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how are you? Listen, I just wanted to wish you and your wife a happy house anniversary! Can you believe you've owned that house a year already? How has it been working out for you?"

4. Invitation to an event

   "Good morning , this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how are you? Listen I just wanted to personally invite you to .

5. Just driving through...

   "Good afternoon , this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how are you? Hey, I drove through your neighborhood yesterday showing another property, and I just wanted to call and check in with you guys - how's the house been treating you?

6. Selling a house nearby

   "Good morning , this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how is it going? Listen, I'm working on selling a home not to far away from yours at . I'm just doing a little research on the neighborhood - can I ask you a couple of quick questions?"

7. Just wanted to say "Hi!"

   "Good morning , this is Jim over at ABC Realty. I was thinking about you guys the other day and I just thought I'd give you a call and see how everything is going."

8. Critique

   "Good morning , this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how's it going? Hey, I'm working on a couple of new marketing ideas I wondered if you could give me your thoughts on what you think of them. Could I send them over to you?"

9. The ambassador

   "Good morning < client>, this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how's it going? Hey, can you do me a huge favor? I'm really trying build my listing inventory this month. If you see any FSBO signs in your neighborhood would you write the number down for me?"

10. Great expectations

    "Good morning , this is Jim over at ABC Realty, how are you? Listen, I just wanted to let you know I put something in the mail to you today that I thought you might really enjoy."

Think back for a moment where did your last three real estate closings come from? If your answer was that at least one of those sales came from your sphere of influence doesn't it make sense to focus some of your time and energy on developing this valuable resource?

Set a goal to make at least five calls to your sphere of influence daily! This should become as habitual as picking up your morning coffee. Many agents use this method to build their business profitability, without adding cost, and they find it is a much more enjoyable form of prospecting.

Published: September 3, 2004

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Jim Remley is a speaker, author, and consultant. He is also an active real estate broker in Southern Oregon where he owns a network of six offices. Jim won the Rookie Instructor of the Year award in 2001 from Realty-U, the largest network of real estate educators in the nation. He was the winner of the 2002 Pacesetter Award, and nominated for the Real Estate Instructor of the Year Award during the first quarter of 2003. To learn more about Jim, please visit ProPerformer.com or e-mail him at .