We get this question a lot: What are the best lead generation strategies that don’t involve cold calling?
From where we sit, there are three primary ways to get leads:
- By referral
- Marketing/advertising
- Prospecting
They all work, but the least costly and most consistent pipeline comes from building a steady stream of referral business.
What a lot of real estate agents (most) think of when they think of referrals is their SOI – Sphere of influence. This consists of people they know (friends, family, acquaintances) or have done business with (past customers and clients).
When you specialize (a.k.a. focus on a niche market), there is an entirely new and unlimited SOI to grow and nurture. We call this your professional platform and it is made up of the business-to-business connections you make with those serving a mutual target audience.
The benefit to creating referral relationships within your professional platform is that these usually result in multiple and ongoing leads, whereas your personal SOI is likely to refer only occasional business opportunities.