Since our past clients and the people we know best, (otherwise known as our spheres of influence) will refer us the majority of our business for the rest of our careers, it makes all the sense in the world to stay in touch with them properly.
But no matter how wonderful your postcard, newsletter or email marketing may be, they cannot speak to people for you any better than they already do because there is simply no substitute for person to person contact and that part is up to you.
The importance of your sphere of influence on your business is obvious, what is less obvious is that you have several different spheres to consider. People’s degree of influence depends entirely upon how close you are to them and naturally what kind of an impression you make. It is for that reason that we need to concentrate our efforts on those closest to us first.
Which is why the following exercise is so effective…
We all have different spheres and for most of us it looks something like this…close friends, other friends, business friends, and acquaintances. Our total number of friends and acquaintances are all different but it is safe to say that we all have at least 100. So spend some time soon making your top 100 list and try to do it in order of the person’s closeness to you. As you look at your list it will be obvious where to draw the lines of one sphere to the next. And it will also be very apparent who you need to be in touch the most frequently.
After you have completed your list make it a point to stay in touch with those people weekly, monthly or annually depending upon which sphere in which they reside or maybe more importantly, where you would like them to reside.
NOTHING NEW, JUST SOMETHING GREAT
Our business is all about relationships and helping others.
In order to build those relationships and help more people it is imperative that we take the lead by being proactive and simply calling our past clients and spheres. Making contact with your customers and others who can refer you business is still and always will be the number one way to generate more business. The fact is that there isn’t enough money on the planet to advertise better than a person to person conversation!
So make it a point to block at least two hours this week to do nothing but call your past clients and spheres. You have much to offer because you know things that they care about and don’t know. Since you do, that long lost past client that you call will almost certainly be happy to hear from you, so just get over the call reluctance now because its not applicable.
Setting aside the uninterrupted time to do this is 99% of the battle. Because once you realize how enjoyable and profitable our most important task is, you won’t ever look back!
One way to force yourself into this incredibly effective discipline is a simple reward system. For example, maybe you have wanted a certain pair of shoes for a long time but for whatever reason, you haven’t made the decision to buy them yet. Reward yourself with those shoes once you complete your invaluable two hours and if you keep it up you will have more than enough money for a warehouse full of shoes!