Don’t lose touch with your clients after the deal closes ever. They will buy and sell a few more properties, plus they have the ability to send you a handful of clients who will do the same. Part of being successful in real estate involves knowing how to stay in touch with past clients impactfully.
In this blog, I’m not going to be showing you how to send market updates or turn back the clock emails, but communicate more impactfully so that when they hear the term real estate, or lending, or whatever business you’re in, they think of you. Here’s the good news…
You Don’t Need To Talk About Real Estate, You Need To Remind Them You’re in Real Estate!
Inman News published an article that states only 17% of homeowners actually use the same agent again. The reason given is because real estate agents don’t know how to stay in touch with their past clients and they forget what their previous agent’s name is!
Can any referral based business succeed without name brand recognition? NO!
What’s even more interesting is that at the same time repeat business accounts for roughly 21-23% of all agent sourced business!
So even though only 17% of people use the same agent, it still accounts for roughly 21-23% of all agent business! What if instead of running around trying to find a bunch of new clients to work with you just nurtured all the relationships you had instead?
Repeat business is a HUGE source of business! Are you positioning your brand to get some of it? Do you know how to effectively communicate with clients after they close?
But, Referral Business is a larger source than repeat business because everyone you’ve worked with in the past has the ability to refer you at least one client.
Staying In Touch With Past Clients = Largest Source Of Business
You need to know how to effectively communicate with clients after the transaction closes for two reasons;
- They are one of your biggest referral sources
- They will buy and sell again eventually
When you don’t know how to stay in touch with past clients post transaction, you are more likely to be forgotten. People don’t refer or return to you for business when they forget your name. It’s really that simple.
Knowing how to effectively communicate with clients post closing closes in a way that is not self serving is the key. How do you keep a presence, but not be annoying or appear to be begging for business?
We are going to share the 3 ways you can be communicating with your clients post closing so you can nurture a profitable relationship with them!
Set Up A Relationship Marketing System.
If I didn’t continue to create content and podcasts like I do, I would eventually lose touch with my audience. My content is what keeps me on top of mind with them. What can you do to keep you on top of mind with your audience?
The largest problem most Realtors have to staying in touch with past clients is that they overthink their communication strategy.
“What should I send?
“How often should I send it?
“My past clients remember me so I don’t have to communicate with them”
THE KEY TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH PAST CLIENTS EFFECTIVELY IS TO NOT ALWAYS BE TALKING ABOUT REAL ESTATE!
As a matter of fact you shouldn’t. Instead take on a sell without selling type of approach and make your focus on branding, humanization, and personalization instead of selling. The goal of running this type of marketing system is to stay relevant and on top of mind. You never know when your past clients may come across another referral situation for you.
To know more about this kind of strategy check out some of these articles. You will learn about a 3 prong approach using social, email, and direct mail that works very well!
TO learn more about this strategy read this article or explore our strategy here.
The Referral Marketing Strategy That Keeps You Top Of Mind
Host Client Parties
Client parties are a great way to stay in touch with clients. The problem many Realtors have is that they do not see instant gratification from hosting client parties. You might not get a direct referral but you should count on some further down the line. I had a buyer contact me 3 years after a client party once. They came to one of my events with a friend and remembered me from it 3 years later!
You have to play the long game in this business. Hosting a client party is an easy way to stay on top of mind while showing your appreciation and reinforcing you run a referral based business. Remember the stats!
15% of the people you know this year are moving, but 100% of them know someone who is moving. Every person you know, has the potential to introduce your services to someone in need. Will they?
You might invite 100 people to your client party, but that doesn’t mean they are all going to show up. Regardless if they show up or not, you still went out of your way to invite them to a party you are throwing for them.
Each time you have a client event, you can invite your clients via direct mail, email, and even through social media. However the most important would be to physically call them and invite them yourself.
The client party shares as an excuse to touch base in many ways and you can repurpose video and pictures of the client party to brand your business again afterwards.
Make Annual/Bi-Annual Calls
If you want to know how to stay in touch with past clients after the transaction closes use common sense and pick up the phone. There are multiple dates you can use as excuses to touch base with a client.
Don’t underestimate the power of a good old phone call. People want to feel appreciated and just like you, never forgotten. It’s not our clients job to know you appreciate them, it’s your job to make them feel appreciated. Here are a few easy excuses to touch base.
- House sale/purchase anniversary– Why not check up on them and see how they are doing? It’s an easy excuse to touch base and reconnect.
- Holidays– Holidays are an easy excuse to call your clients and wish them the best. It shows you care. Even if you get their voice mail, it’s still an amazing thing to do.
- Birthdays– You should always try to wish your clients a happy birthday if possible. Make sure you friend request all of your clients on Facebook and it will trigger you to wish a birthday greetings. The first thing I do every morning is wish all my friends happy b-days!
The overall concept here is reconnecting. Sit back and think of someone who provided a past service for you did something like this. How would you feel? Would you appreciate it?
Real estate is a people business. If you want to be successful at it, you must know how to stay in touch with past clients and your entire sphere of influence.