Leveraging Your Sphere
Call them and chat – you already know these people, so start back catching up and asking how they’ve been. The key to this call is being VULNERABLE.
“My plan this year is to grow in my business and I can’t do that without the people in my sphere – can you send me one person this year that is looking to buy or sell Real Estate this year?”
Vulnerability means that people are CLEAR that you need their help. 9 times out of 10 they will say yes, and be excited to help you – your next step is to tell them HOW
Tell them HOW:
“Thank you so much, it really means a lot. Usually if you’ll talk about it out loud with your sphere, that’s the best way to find people. It’s usually not a topic that randomly comes up, but you can always tell people that you know a guy in mortgage (me)! This is how I can generate business instead of just waiting for someone to come to me.”
*this is where most people stop, but the smart people don’t” You also want to ask them for referral sources – this is how you can start compounding your contacts.
“Do you know any Realtors, Builders, Financial Planners, CPAs, Family Law Attorneys, Business Owners, or High Level Ranking/Influential people within companies or businesses?”
Pick 4 or 5 of those that you feel the most comfortable calling on, and really focus on those. Typically those will be Realtors, Builders, and influential people. CPA & Financial planners are a little harder to land – you have to be a little bit more savvy the help them/be able to refer them.
Ask these ONE at a time, pause, and wait for them to respond. “Do you know any Realtors?” PAUSE. If they say no, then you can move on “Do you know any Builders?” etc. When they do know someone to refer – work through the different ways you should contact the referral:
- Can you introduce me (converts the highest, because of the relationship )
- Can you at least call them and let them know who I am, give me a great testimonial, and let them know that I will be calling (always ask for number 1, but if they don’t have that relationship with that person – then they will go to this one)
- May I let them know that you gave me their contact information and told me to call (they probably don’t know them that well at all, but they’re fine making the connection)
They convert lower at each level because it’s about the relationship that the person referring them has with the referral.
These conversations could be long, but that’s ok because it’s people in your sphere already. Longer conversations potentially mean more referrals and/or referral partners – that’s your goal.
Sigman - Script Building Recipe
- Honor, Honor, Honor
- Triangle of trust
- Build Rapport
- Close
- Overcome Objections
- Close again
Monday
Real Estate Agent:
Hello_______, this is Josh Sigman from Legacy Mutual. I just wanted to check to see how your weekend went. Did you have any fun time with your family? What did you guys do? Awesome. I got a chance to take my daughter fishing this weekend and that was a blast. Other than that, it was a normal weekend with a little bit of work involved. Did you have a chance to get out with any clients and sell some houses?
No- Well it is about time that you took a little break for yourself. I wanted to check to see if there was anything that I could do to help you this week. Also, I was going to be in your area on Wednesday, do you have time to join me for lunch or coffee? (set the appt)
Yes- Awesome!! You seem to be killing it this year. Do you feel like business is starting to pick up again? Does your buyer need any help with financing? (ask for the business)
By the way, I am going to be in your area this Wednesday and Thursday. Do you have time to grab lunch or coffee with me? (set the appt) Is there anything else I can help you with? Alright, keep in touch!
Tuesday
Introduction Call to Listing Agent
Hi, my name is Jim Reed with Summit Funding, the loan officer for the transaction. I’m looking forward to the transaction on 123 Maple Street. I’m calling to introduce myself and get some information.
Pause…Ask to gather their information and give your information.
How would you like to be updated? I update every single week on Tuesdays. I can update by call, text, or email? Also who else should I be updating on your team about what’s going on with the transaction, and how would like they be updated?
Anything special with the sellers that I need to know about? Are they going out of town? Do they have Travel plans? Power of attorney? We want to make sure we have a smooth closing.
Anything about the property I should know about? Anything we need to wait on? We are planning on ordering the appraisal today. Ask anything that will let them know you care.
Three promises:
I get all my business by referral and it’s a real big deal to me to be in a transaction with you, where I get to know you better.
I promise three things…I promise to close on time, I promise that there will be no surprises to the buyer in terms of the loan, and I promise to update you every Tuesday during the transaction.
If I keep my three promises, will you agree to meet with me after it’s all done and talk about doing business together? If they agree…Ok great I’m going to hold you to that.
Friday
Cold Call to Real Estate Agent
Hey Dixie! This is Josh Sigman from Legacy Mutual. How are you? You probably don’t know who I am, but I’ve heard your name 10 times in the past couple weeks. Every time I’ve heard your name, I’ve heard nothing but good things. I told myself I gotta give you a call because I’ve got to meet you. Can I meet you for a cup of coffee tomorrow?
I can’t do tomorrow
I figured as such because you’re such a busy person… How about the next day?
I have a conference, etc… why don’t you just send me some information?
You know, I figured you would say something like that. I’ve heard so many good things about you, so I knew you would be a very busy person. Let me ask you a question: What are your typical office hours?
About 9:30/10:00
All right 9:30/10:00… Let me tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to bring you your favorite Starbucks tomorrow around 9:30. All I want to do is introduce myself. Like I said, I’ve heard so many great things about you, I just want to meet you and figure out who you are. Just 15 minutes.
Realtor Prospect 15 Minute Meeting
All or nothing meeting-close! Do not talk about yourself! You told them you want to get to know THEM!
So nice to meet you. I know you are busy-we’ll keep it to 15 min. I just got to figure out why you are so famous-why do you think people talk about you so much? Tell me about yourself…
Tell me – if a client comes to you, what is the process? What else? You must take really good care of them? Any extras?
What lender are you sending them to? Someone of your stature has to have a go to person-who is your go to person? What do they do great? Who is your second person? Do you love them? Ask questions…
If you could be a lender for a day, what would you change? Tell me about your goals for the year…. more questions.
Is there anything you want to know about me? 30 second synopsis of me-What we specialize in is we make three bold promises: close on time every time, communicate every Tuesday and guarantee our good faiths. …. anything else you want to know about me?
I didn’t know what I was expecting to get out of this meeting. I know you’re busy and 10-15 minutes is all we had, but I’ve got a really good feeling about you. You have a plan, you’re a professional…I gotta tell you, I really want to work with you. I don’t want to be presumptuous or say I deserve all your business-I know we only met for 10 minutes, but I want a shot. Next time you can’t get a hold of your number one guy, give me a chance-would you be willing to do that?
Also, I want to get together again, spend a little more time together, to know you a little better-can I follow up with you in a week and get together again? Same time same place?
Law of Magnification and Diminishing Obscurity
If you have lots of activity with not enough leads for the activity, there’s something you’re not saying or not saying well enough or not in the right format that will generate the leads. I would tell you 80-85% of the time when I leave a meeting, I know for sure whether someone is going to work with me or not. I don’t guess and hope that they will send me a lead, I know. And I know because of the drill down with this formula of magnification and diminishing obscurity.
Any business partner meeting is the same for lenders and agents. Using magnification, make sure that they clearly understand what’s in it for them. Make it a really big deal mathematically, so it is unavoidable that they have to consider working with you. And then ask for something in return that you marginalize or minimalize by diminishing it to obscurity and so they inevitably ask themselves, “why wouldn’t I try this little thing out to get this big return?”.
So, you’ve established with the prospect that are an A+ businessperson, you can help them network with the right people, increase their lead conversion, make more money and help them grow a team. This is where you are magnifying how you can help mathematically and diminishing the risk on their end:
And listen, before you go any farther, I know that you do believe that I can do these three things for you and I love the fact that you are super loyal to your current business partner. I’ve heard great things about them, and I do think he/she is a great competitor, every once and a while I see them at a Rotary meeting and say hello. I just want you to know that you have another good option. If I can help you convert one more lead a month, that would be an extra $60,000 a year! For just five leads a month, your current business partner wouldn’t even know, and we can make more money together. Isn’t it a good business move to give me an opportunity?
Josh Sigman