Keeping in Touch By Email With Your Sphere of Influence – Part 1

Email is a great tool for keeping touch with your sphere of influence especially if you are using branded email stationery from inboxFX Communications (but you already knew I would recommend sending attractive emails instead of boring, plain text.)

But email does not replace phone calls, hand-written notes, letters, informative post cards and personal contact. Email should supplement these contacts and fill in the gaps. Often you can use email to tell a prospect your are mailing or faxing them additional information which reinforces your image even more.

Here are a few ideas for keeping in touch via email:

1) Recommending a Book or Magazine You Read (business, recipe, motivational, historical novel)

Dear Mike:

I just finished reading _______ and I thought this might be of interest to you. I know you are always looking for information on _______ and I found a couple of really great ________(ideas, recipes, quotes etc) in this book.

One of the (ideas, recipes, quotes etc) I really liked was ________ .

Closing 1 – Stop by the office and I’ll give you my copy to read.
Closing 2 – If you would like I can drop it off for you to borrow.
Closing 3 (for an excellent referral source) – I am mailing you a gift certificate for ______ so you can pick up this or a book of your choice.

2) Recommending a Useful Web Site

Dear Mike:

When I am not ________ (fixing bikes, selling real estate, recommending investments etc) I like to look for interesting web sites. I just found this great web site that _________ and I thought of you. Click the following URL to get to it ___________ (www.mikeblaney.com)

Closing 1 -If you get a minute phone or email me and tell me what you think of the site.
Closing 2 – We should get together for a cup of coffee sometime soon.
Closing 3 (for an excellent referral source) – I will call you next week to set up a lunch date.

3) Recommending an Interesting Article

Dear Mike:

I was reading the ______ (newspaper, magazine, web site) and found this interesting article about _______ (mortgage rates, life insurance, vacation property, TVs etc) and thought you might be interested.

Closing 1 -I have attached a copy as a pdf for you to read.
Closing 2 – I will fax you a copy later.
Closing 3 (for an excellent referral source) – I drop off a copy for you to read.

If you get a minute phone or email me and tell me what you think of the information.

4) Referring Someone to Them (Almost everyone in your sphere of influence can use your referrals too)

Dear Mike:

I have some clients looking for a ___________ and the first person who came to mind was you. They need ____________ and I told them you would be the person to call.

Please give ________ (name, phone number etc) a call as they are expecting to hear from you.

Let me know how it works out. By the way if you hear of anyone looking for ______ (a realtor, a plumber, an insurance person etc) please don’t hesitate to send them my way!

Have a great week!

Keep in mind that email is not as reliable as the other forms of communication and should only be used to supplement your other touches. What you really need is calendar where you schedule in advance how and when you are going to contact your database.

Stay tuned for the next installment of email ideas for keeping touch with your sphere of influence or contact me for a sneak preview.