So, you imported your list of contacts to CircleCloser; you’re done, right? No! In fact, one can argue that now is when the work begins. What work is that? It’s ranking your contacts. This is where you go through your list of contacts and assign them a ranking. Our ranking system uses the five-star system to help you Define your relationships. Contacts with five stars are your top people. Those with one star are those who you should never contact. Contacts with stars in between will designate how often you will contact them. Sounds easy? Here’s how to do it.

Why You Should Rank

One of the biggest questions we get is why should I rank my contacts. That has to do with time. We want you to contact everyone in your network. However, not everyone needs to be contacted all the time. The most productive way to ensure that you reach out to everyone in your network is to rank them based on how often you would like to contact them. In some ways, you’re ranking them based on your relationship. 

Often, those whom you want to contact more often are those whom you have the best relationships with. However, this five-star ranking also includes those who send you referrals. Although ideally, you would have a great relationship with the clients who refer you, the people who refer you may be acquaintances. For example, you may have an acquaintance who sends you referrals all the time, but you’re not that close to them.

Ranking allows you to ensure that you are connecting with everyone in your network throughout the year. It’s so easy to forget to do so. You get busy listing homes, closing deals, and connecting with current clients that you may forget to reach out to others in your network whom you may not have an active transaction with. These folks are important too. Even if they’re not currently in the market to buy or list their home they may know people who are. By staying in touch with them on a consistent basis you helped to ensure that you stay top of mind. Ranking is easy to do then shouldn’t take long.

How Ranking Works

When you rank someone, especially the first time, go with your gut instinct. Your contacts with five stars are the people whom you will be contacting most often, that is every 30 days. Who do you want to talk to every month? This may sound easy, and it may be. However, you may have people in your network who send you a ton of referrals but you may not want to talk to them every month. Perhaps you want to talk to them every 2 months or once a quarter. Don’t feel compelled to give them five stars if you don’t want to talk to them every month, or you don’t need to talk to them every month. Save your five-star ranking for those contacts who you are excited to talk to on a monthly basis.

How often to connect

Rankings are based on how often you want to connect with someone. Your five-star relationships are your best relationships and you’ll reconnect with them every 30 days. Four-star rankings are for warm relationships and you’ll contact them every 60 days. Three-star rankings are for people you’d like to contact every 90 days. When you import your database, all of your contacts will start with a three-star ranking by default, and you will adjust it accordingly. The vast majority, about 80%, of your list will fall under the three-star ranking.

Two-star rankings are for people who you will contact every 120 days. Contacts you give one star are people who you will never contact for one reason or another. Perhaps you had a falling out or you’ve worked with them before and they were a nightmare and you don’t want to work for them again. These folks would be given one star.

How often do they want to hear from you?

It’s also important to keep in mind while you’re ranking your contacts how often you think they want to hear from you. Although it’s important to consider how often you want to talk to them, you have to ensure that they want to talk to you as often as you do. Be honest with yourself and keep the relationship in mind as you are ranking your contacts.

If you really hit it off with someone and you know that they want to hear from you monthly and you’re excited to talk to them monthly then give them five stars. However, if they are a new acquaintance and you get along well enough but you think that they prefer to hear from you every other month or once every 3 months, then give them three or four stars. Once you develop the relationship more and you work with them longer, you may increase this ranking.

Assess the rankings during the year

Another thing to keep in mind is that these rankings won’t stay static forever. As your relationship evolves with your contacts, you may want to change their ranking. It’s smart to go through your contacts a few times a year to make sure everyone’s ranking is accurate.

Ranking helps the populate your daily Power Hour. This is how you always know who to reach out to that day. With CircleCloser, your list is dependent on the date of last contact and their ranking; your list isn’t reset each month. Therefore, it stays dynamic. The more accurate your rankings, the more productive your list will be.

Tips for Ranking Your Network 

Here are some tips to help you rank your network.

Don’t overthink it. It’s as easy as you’re ranking to get stuck in analysis paralysis; that is, assessing every interaction and comment made for each person to assess how to rank them. Although some thought should be given in the process, Do not overthink it. Instead, go with your gut. If you’re unsure, keep them at a three until you’re comfortable increasing their star ranking.

Be realistic. Rank your contacts based on how often you want to contact them as well as how often you think they want to hear from you. You may want to talk to a contact all the time. Perhaps monthly is too long in your mind to wait to reconnect with someone. The thing is, do they feel the same? Thirty days is the optimal time to connect with someone unless you’re involved in an active transaction with them. If you’re currently involved in the transaction with them you’ll likely be contacting them more often. As you’re reviewing your list, keep in mind how often you want to contact them and how often they want to hear from you. Again, if you’re not sure, there’s nothing wrong with keeping them at three stars until you have more clarity.

Update it. Relationships evolve and change. Someone who you ranked three stars may move up to five stars over the course of the year as you connect with them. Don’t be afraid to change a contact’s ranking. You don’t have to do this all the time. However, it often helps to set a time, perhaps 6 months out, to review your rankings and adjust as needed. That’s not to say that everyone’s star rating will get adjusted; it just means that you will go through your list and adjust the ranking for those who need it. Remember, the more up-to-date and accurate your rankings are, the better the list on your dashboard will be. CircleCloser uses your rankings to populate your daily list. Make sure it’s full of people that you are excited to contact at the right time.

CircleCloser Helps You Maintain Consistent Contact with Your Network

CircleCloser was created to make building your real estate business easier and more fun by helping you focus on building your relationships. More than a real estate CRM, CircleCloser gives you the tools you need to build the foundation for a strong real estate business, no matter the state of the market, one closed circle at a time. Click here to learn more.