Why do most agents miss opportunities with their SOI, and how do we prevent it?
We’ve all heard it before. The best, easiest, most reliable, and probably the most fun clients are people that we already know. It’s true. It is really fun working with friends, family, coworkers, and parents you know from your kids’ school.
We also have all likely heard this from someone that we’ve had in our database and we thought we were marketing to them properly. “Are you still doing real estate?” or “Oh, we’re working with Steve as our buyer agent, found him on Zillow.”
I had a listing appointment today with people in that exact category. Was I at work? Yes. Was I on my game? Yes. Was it fun and largely felt like I was hanging out with friends? Definitely.
Why do most agents miss the opportunity to work with their own SOIs?
The main reason is that as real estate agents, we often forget to remind people that we’re real estate agents. Agents need to be consistent and persistent with keeping people informed that they are, in fact, real estate agents. I’m not talking about going around and asking everyone in your orbit “Do you know anyone who’s buying or selling in the next six months.” That’s too much, too salesy, and no one really is going to do that anyway.
If they don’t work with you, it doesn’t mean that they’re not going to buy or sell. It just means they’re not working with you. You’re not convincing people to move. At least, I hope you’re not doing that. You’re working so that if they are going to move, they’re at least going to remember that you’re a real estate agent. More than that, of the several real estate agents that they know, that they’re going to work with you.
You have to find some ways that are relatively natural to you, and relatively comfortable for you. I highly recommend using a variety of contact methods to provide variability and also so that you can give a more complete picture of what you do.
Here’s something that’s fun. Pick a number of times that you want to contact the people in your SOI. Different experts will give different recommendations for this. Maybe there’s a magic number, but I’m skeptical. For me, 10 isn’t enough, and 40 is too many contacts in a year.
I aim for 30, which sounds like a lot. It’s not easy. But it’s part of my job, so I have to put the time in my calendar.
Missed Opportunity 1: Email
First, many of these contacts can be done with email. That’s basically free, and it’s easy. You do need to have your contacts’ email addresses in your database. If your brokerage has marketing capacity that can send relevant emails to your database, that’s a good start. Email can take care of at least 12 touches. Probably 18.
What you send in those emails is also up to you. Personally, I prefer real estate related content. The point of making the contacts is to remind people that I’m a real estate agent. I’m not convinced that sending brownie recipes or reminders to set clocks ahead remind people of my professional expertise. But if that’s what you want to do, go for it. Something is better than nothing!
Quarterly market reports are good options. So are periodic reports about their local area. Houses that have sold in their neighborhoods, or sales of properties that are somehow similar to theirs. Make the reports as glossy and as polished as you want. Or not at all. You don’t need new software or complicated things. People love listings and sales data, and we have that at our fingertips all day long.
These can be as simple as “Hey, I was working with a client whose house reminded me a little of yours. Here are the comparable sales I worked with while working on their valuation.”
Missed Opportunity 2: Social Media
Social media can do some of the heavy lifting too, especially for contacts who are active on social media platforms. If you aren't regularly updating your social media business pages, and sharing to your personal profiles and groups you are missing out on serious stage time. Sharing your posts and commenting, liking, and sharing your SOI posts is a great way for them to remember you when it's time to buy, sell or refer someone.
Missed Opportunity 3: Direct Mail
It may be old school, but I’m a fan of direct mail. Even just three or four times a year, something that sits on the countertop for a couple days is good. Holiday cards, invitations to appreciation events, local market data and even just a thank you postcard are great ways to use direct mail in your SOI strategy.
Missed Opportunity 4: Personal Contact
The hardest and by far the most beneficial is the personal contact. You introverts out there aren’t going to like this, but unless you can figure a way to have personal, one on one communication with lots of people in your SOI, without calls or texts, then put your helmet on.
Call or text people. All you have to do is say hi. Give them a little bit of info about the market, or some details about an event you’re part of. Just something that’s personal and one on one. Having an open house in the area? Give them a personal phone call invitation or a personal text invitation. One of your colleagues closed on a somewhat similar property? Let them know!
Coming up with the ideas isn’t hard. The hard part is doing the work.
How Often Should You Contact Your SOI?
If you have 200 people in your SOI, and you’re contacting them 30 times a year, that’s a lot of contacts! But if 18 of them are email, then you’re left with only 12 contacts. Say 3 of them are direct mail, which brings you down to 9. It shouldn’t be too hard to message them or interact with them on social media a few times (more than just “like”…make it personal). Now you’re down to 5. Gear yourself up and make quick phone calls or texts, and you’re just about there.
And, for easy math, if you have 200 people in your SOI, and you’re committing to making 3 personal contacts to them each year, that’s 600 contacts. Divide that by 48 weeks, is 13 per week. Divide that by 5 workdays (although sometimes Saturday and Sunday are the best times to fire off those messages) and it’s only 2-3 per day.
Now you know what you need to do to get the most benefit from your SOI. And you know how often you need to make those contacts.
How Do You Actually Make The Contacts?
There’s nothing magical about the answer…you just have to buckle down and do the work. Part of each day should be dedicated to making those contacts. You have to put in the hours and effort so that people remember that you’re a real estate agent.
There is a payoff. In addition to it feeling really good to maintain relationships, a certain number of people are always moving or would refer you to people. Is that 1 out of 10? Probably. Even if it’s 1 out of 20, that’s 10 happy clients each year just from your sphere of influence and your deliberate contact plan.
Schedule regular time to make these contacts, and then just make them. It’s not hard, it just takes hours and dedication, and a rock solid belief that business will come. Not today, not this week, but it will come, and it will continue to come.
Agents miss the opportunity to get the most from their SOIs because they don’t have contact information, they don’t send relevant information, they don’t do it often enough, and they don’t do it on different platforms. If you have any of those gaps, you’re missing out. Your circle is slowly forgetting that you’re a real estate agent.