Growing Your Sphere of Influence

Do you know someone whose real estate business has seemingly plateaued? Maybe it has happened to you. It's not unusual. We often see agents take off in the business only to stop growing their business around year 3. Why? It is often because they have exhausted the resources available to them from their sphere of influence and past clients. You can work them all you want, but at some point, the milk from that cow will slow down.

As such, we need to always be looking for ways to grow our sphere of influence.

The good news is that it is super easy to do and there is a never a shortage of opportunities. The challenge for you will be finding the time and staying involved because it isn't an overnight process. Sit down and ask yourself what you like to do. What are you willing to do that you will actually stick with and how much time are you willing to devote to that? It could be a fitness club or an organization based around what your kids do. Maybe it's a group that is associated with a hobby you are a fan of or maybe it is just something new that you've always wanted to try. Whatever it is, make the commitment to add it to your agenda.

I will share with you a few things from past experience to avoid. In my experience, groups of other Realtors are not a good place to find business. That doesn't mean you shouldn't serve in your association, but don't use that as part of your business development plan. Also, we have never had good luck in groups that typically have a high number of Realtor members or embedded real estate people in leadership positions. Examples of this are BNI, Rotary Club and other civic clubs, Chambers of Commerce, etc.

Here are some examples of things that have worked with our agents: PTO/PTA at a kid's school, fitness clubs or classes (especially smaller groups that meet consistently like Boot Camps, CrossFit, yoga, running, etc.), organizations that are broken into teams or committees, groups that have enough downtime to chat with fellow members, etc. If you are fortunate to live/work in The Great State of Texas, one of the best organizations we have found for this is your local rodeo. They are filled with teams of people working towards a civic goal, they usually have a strong social element, and they also tend to have enough downtime to get to build rapport with your fellow members.

Never stop growing your sphere and you will never stop growing your business.