Please don’t lose touch with your clients after the deal closes. Part of being successful in real estate involves knowing how to effectively communicate with clients post closing.
Inman News published an article that states only 17% of homeowners actually use the same agent again. The reason given is because they forgot what their previous agent’s name is.
That’s CRAZY! Can a 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!
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?
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 (roughly 38% of all business each and every year)
- They will buy and sell again eventually (23 % of agent business)
When you don’t know how to effectively communicate with 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 publish blog posts 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 front of their database 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 DOING THIS 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!
The Most Profitable Referral Marketing Strategy For Realtors
The Secret To Creating Emails Your Database Wants To Read
Have You Ever lost A Deal Because They Forgot You Were in Real Estate?
The 3 Channels Every Agent Should Use For Referral Marketing
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.
If you want to get some ideas on different types of client events, you should check out this post below. It’s the most visited post on my site for a reason and these agents are ROCKSTARS.
7 Amazing Client Appreciation Event Ideas For Realtors
Make Annual/Bi-Annual Calls
If you want to know how to effectively communicate with 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. Your past clients are one of the most important aspects of your business so make sure you let them know how valuable they are.
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?
When you put yourself in the shoes of others, it’s much easier to measure it’s effectiveness.
Real estate is a people business. If you want to be successful at it, you must be good with people. The best way to effectively communicate with clients, is no different than how you communicate with your friends.
The one thing for certain is that when you are out of sight, you are out of mind. People don’t give referrals or repeat business to Realtors they don’t remember. They give them to Realtors they have a relationship with.