Matthew Collis
Other
Real estate is all about relationships. How well you build, grow and maintain them greatly impacts your success in the industry, particularly as it pertains to referrals and repeat business. Using your real estate contact management software, here are four creative ways to keep in touch with past clients that supplement conventional forms of staying in contact such as face-to-face meetings, phone calls, email and direct mail.
I recommend you take a multi-channel approach to communications and make sure you’re reaching out in various ways. Morris Real Estate Marketing Group of Toronto recommends you stay in contact with the homeowners in your community 17 times per year, so try to “touch” those people using a variety of methods.
1. Leverage the power of events: Events such as home expert seminars, client appreciation parties, pumpkin giveaways, Christmas wine and cheese parties and Victoria Day fireworks parties (I’m sure you can think of some more), are all great ways to keep in touch. You can also sponsor a community event, which is fantastic for networking with those in your community and getting your name out there.
Home expert seminars can be tremendously effective for keeping in touch and getting new real estate leads. This is an event where you invite another professional, such as an interior designer, to come and speak to your clients and provide them with tips and advice. Most professionals will agree to do this because it’s a great opportunity for them to get new leads. And you’ll likely get some new clients through the friends and family members your clients will bring to the event with them.
Hosting these events doesn’t take too much time and effort. You can plan, schedule and send out invitations easily with good real estate contact management software.
2. Send cards at unexpected times: A happy birthday or happy home purchase anniversary card is usually unexpected; much appreciated and is something you can do to stay “top of mind” and memorable with your past clients. Just remember to ask your clients for their birth date at some point and record it in your system, which will then automatically remind you when the time comes.
It’s also a good idea to send a card on smaller holidays, such as Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving, when your clients aren’t getting bombarded with cards from every other business and professional they’ve dealt with (think Christmas).
Cards are great because they’re often pinned to a fridge or bulletin board, which means that every time your clients walk into their kitchen or office, they’ll think of you.
3. Treat your A-List for lunch: Treat your best clients (your A-List) for lunch every now and then. Although this may seem costly, think about the value of doing this from a relationship-building standpoint. People will remember you, use your services time and again and refer you to their friends and family. This will more than pay for all the lunches you’ve treated your A-list to over the years – it’s well worth it.
4. Get personal: Be sure to record interests, hobbies and life events of your clients in your system. So when Bobby’s hockey tournament is over, you can fire off an email to your client asking how it went. Or when your client’s father goes for his surgery, you can send flowers afterwards. This type of relationship-building is so important because it shows you care about your clients, above and beyond simply caring for their real estate needs. It’s a great way to connect with people on a personal level and leave a lasting impression.
It’s not hard to get this type of personal information from your clients. Many times all it takes is a “How was your weekend?” or “Anything exciting planned for this week?”
These ideas will help you stay in touch with past clients and build that coveted, referrals-based business. Staying in touch doesn’t have to be hard and the benefits you’ll reap are tremendous.