Cultivating a successful career as a real estate agent requires more than the ability to list properties and complete deed transfers. In order to make a name for yourself as a professional realtor, building long-lasting relationships with each of your clients is a must.
When a client has a friend who is interested in selling or buying a home, they are much more likely to refer a real estate agent with whom they trust and can rely on after establishing a long-term and ongoing professional relationship.
Knowing how to build long-lasting relationships with your real estate clients can help you to outshine your local competition while also helping you maximize your reach when it comes to finding and receiving new clientele.
Stay Connected via Social Media
One of the easiest and most affordable marketing methods for realtors to utilize is social media, especially when it comes to making and maintaining connections with clients. Using social media to stay connected with your clients is a great way to keep in touch with those who are in the market or those who may be in the market in the near future.
Sending a friend request to your current and past satisfied clients can help to build your professional network while also providing you with a platform to remain connected with one another at all times. In order to remain relevant to past clients, participate in their posts and updates on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram or Pinterest.
Simply “liking” or commenting a positive response to an update or post that a previous client has made can help to keep your name in their mind for future use or even for a referral for their family member or friend.
If your clients are also involved with small businesses or other areas of the community, you can also help them to gain more traction online by sharing the post. Establishing and cultivating an ongoing relationship with your clients using social media is easy and effective, regardless of the type of homes or properties you represent.
You can also join local groups within the neighborhoods, towns, and cities you represent. Joining local groups provides an overview of what others are talking about and discussing as well as the overall feel of the current real estate market in the area. Once you have been accepted in a variety of online local groups, you can then begin to provide resources, tips, and even free advice as a real estate agent to help with establishing professional and trustworthy connections with those in your community.
Invite Them to Events
Another way to connect with your current and past clients is to invite them to client events. Client events can help them to share their own awesome experiences with other prospective clients in the market when discussing the time you were their real estate agent.
You can also help to garner new potential clients by attending additional real estate-centric events and conferences that are most relevant to your specific industry and the local area.
Consider the type of clientele you are interested in attracting and whether you are focusing on residential or commercial clients before hosting or attending events. Having a strategy in mind can help to guide you along the way in determining which locations and events are likely to result in the outcome you desire.
Send Direct Mail Postcards
Building long-lasting relationships with real estate clients require a bit more work than a simple reminder once every decade, especially with the bombardment of advertisements and promotions we see on a daily basis with the use of the internet and smartphones today. One traditional route to consider when reaching your current and previous clients is to use direct mail for real estate agents.
Direct mail for real estate agents provides you with the opportunity to connect with current clients as well as clients you have represented and helped in the past through the use of traditional mail. Traditional mail is often inspected more thoroughly, especially by residents of homes that receive the mail themselves.
Using direct mail is not only a way to send reminders of your services to those you have already represented, but you can also remind previously satisfied clients of the level and quality of service they received when working with you, which may ultimately lead to future referrals.
In addition to putting the traditional route of sending postcards to use, you can also mail postcards each time you successfully sell a house on the open market, helping to further promote and boost your professional reputation. Using a specifically targeted audience or demographic of your choice, target those in your local area who are most likely to have a genuine interest or need in seeing a direct mailer from you, depending on the subject matter you are covering and promoting.
Become a Valuable Resource to Locals
Being a valuable resource to locals as well as past and current clients comes in handy when you are establishing yourself as a professional in a new city or region. Providing assistance with referrals as well as guidance towards new vendors and other local services or businesses you support can help to gain the trust necessary to garner new clientele for the future.
The more helpful, honest, and transparent you appear, the easier it will become to appeal to prospective buyers and sellers who are seeking representation in the market. You can also utilize the online groups and communities you have joined to reach out to others and to assist those who require guidance or resources near you.
By providing tips and services for free, individuals are much more likely to learn more about the real estate services you provide while also becoming more likely to choose you as their own realtor for future sales or purchases.
Summary
Having the ability to build long-lasting relationships with real estate clients goes a long way, whether you are new to an area or if you have been helping to sell homes for years. With open communication, ongoing dialogue, and steady marketing strategies and campaigns, maximize your reach and ability to remain as the go-to realtor in just about any location.