To be the reference real estate agent of your contact base, it is necessary that you generate a strong bond with them, especially that they trust you and your work. For that we must show them that we are reliable and that our services are the most effective. There are countless techniques to achieve this, but the main one is to
maintain frequent and quality contact with your links.
This contact must be real and disinterested, it must not be a constant publicity of our work. This means that the relationship we maintain with other people should not be based on constantly announcing through social networks that we are real estate brokers and that if they want to buy or sell a property they should contact us. It is true that we have to let it know, but the right way is to
be interested in the life of your contacts, their concerns, their family, their occupations and generate a link from that side.
We have repeatedly discussed the importance of contacts and social relationships in the real estate world, but we believe that it is necessary to strongly emphasize this idea since business will arise mainly from these links. Both attracting clients and prospecting real estate require that we are in constant interaction with different people.
In this article we will develop the idea that
tries to earn the loyalty of a contact to take you as a reference agent. Then we will see the 2 main ways to achieve it and we will review the idea of the 155 contact base and the systematic plan of contacts with clients. Finally, we'll show you 10 ways to meet new people in case you need to expand your contact base.
Retaining and leveraging real estate clients: Why is it important?
As we saw at the beginning of this article,
real estate deals are generated through contacts. What we are constantly looking for is to link ourselves both with people who can sell a property, as well as those who want to buy a property or who know people who might want it.
But it is not enough to reach only contacts who have these intentions, but we
must get them to choose us as brokers so that we assist them in these tasks of buying or selling. For this it may seem enough to announce that we work in a real estate, but sometimes it will take a little more than that. That's why, next, we want to introduce the
idea of retaining and leveraging customers.
1. Retain real estate clients: It is the first stage and is based on publicizing our services as real estate brokers to retain a client interested in us. This can happen casually in a daily conversation for example at a party, it can occur in a fully business contact as when someone calls our real estate or it can be given with an active action on our part as when we approach a potential client through an e-mail marketing campaign. The point is that in all these situations we
show our
value proposition, what our service is and we will tell you why they should choose us.
2. Leverage real estate clients: When we talk about leveraging a client we are thinking beyond a casual contact or a one-time business. It is about
loyalty to the person so that not only resort to our services whenever they need it, but also recommend us to their environment so that our possibilities of generating captures and prospections multiply. The only way to leverage a client is to demonstrate the quality of our service, not only with words but with deeds. This can
be reflected in our efficiency (for example how long it takes to sell a property) and also in
our human treatment, since the emotional side has an important weight when working with people.
2 ways to leverage your real estate clients
Now that you know a little bit about the idea of leveraging your customers, let's look at the two main ways to achieve it. One of them is to retain a contact through our value proposition, showing how our work differs so that they choose us. The other way is to focus on generating a human bond and awakening trust in our client. The
first mode deals with something more related to reason and the second to the emotional andboth are necessary to finish convincing a client.
These are the
2 ways to leverage your real estate clients:
1. Add value: The value we bring to our client ranges from the service we provide to the daily contacts we have with him. From our services we must guarantee excellence, starting with a
quality standard in our published properties (professional photography, highlighted in the portals, virtual tour, plans with drones, etc.) and well-made guided tours, for the latter youcan learn how to correctly sample a property by clicking here . To close we must think about sales techniques and statistics that demonstrate our effectiveness, for that
you can learn to interpret real estate indicators and communicate them. In addition, from the daily we can have contacts with our customers
providing value from other aspects,
sharing newsletters or
posts with information that may interest them or data and tips that they may not know, among other things.
2. Build trust: To achieve this effect we must focus on
how we treat people, on being friendly and professional and, above all, on keeping up appearances. For that we recommend this guide that aims to cover the issues that can unconsciously make a client trust us. To improve the impression we make on the client, in addition to
respecting the forms, such as punctuality and cordiality, it is essential to think about how we dress. Our attire instantly generates a judgment of other people about us. Learn how to dress to work in real estate here. Finally, keep in mind the daily contacts, being interested in the other person, remembering their name and things in their life, asking questions and so on, can be enough to start trusting you.
2 strategies to work with your contact base
Now that you know the importance of leveraging your real estate clients and the two main ways to achieve it, we want to move forward with
2 ways to systematize your efforts to maintain frequent contact with your links.
The 2 strategies are the 155 contact base and the 40-5-5-1 contact plan that arise from the Real Estate Networking way of working, which is based on strategically linking with people to obtain better results.
1. Contact base 155: It is based on having a network of relationships that is neither too large that you can not handle it, nor so small that it does not produce results. To conform it you must have
100 people that you contact monthly, 50 with whom you talk weekly and 5 of daily contact. This model is sustainable and gives you a margin to see if you should expand your number of links or on the contrary cut it.
2. Systematic contact plan 40-5-5-1: This plan serves to organize the wayyou have to relate to your link base, and to always consider you as a reference broker. To carry it out you must make
40 personalized interactions weekly (send a whatsapp message for example), add value to 5
clients individually (send a letter, share a video or make them a small present), have 5 relaxed face-to-face
meetings and send
1 mass message to all your contacts trying to bring them some value.
These two techniques can and should be complemented by other methods of contact and property capture. One method to contact more people can be through marketing.
10 ideas to expand your real estate contacts
To close this article where we learned the importance of leveraging your real estate clients, how to achieve it and 2 ways to keep your contact base active, we want to suggest
10 ways to meet new people.
We know that sometimes it seems difficult to expand your ties and that can be stressful when your business opportunities depend on it, so here are some ways to expand your real estate contacts:
1, Do some sport: Whenever there is one that you genuinely enjoy, it can be a space that allows you to link naturally with new acquaintances.
2. Join online groups: If you have a particular hobby, such as cinema or cooking, a group of people with the same interests would be an ideal place to generate talks and debates and get new connections.
3.
Participate in neighborhood activities: Knowing your neighbors and selflessly adding value to them from your knowledge as a runner is a good way to be a reference.
4.
Link with merchants: Just as you can recommend your hairdresser, if he knows that you are a real estate broker he will surely discuss it with his clients. Take advantage of your links with those traders who talk to many people daily.
5.
Partner with other
sellers: Recommending each other with sellers for example insurance, will generate new contacts for both and reach people with similar interests and purchasing powers.
6. Give courses or workshops: Generating a space where you can transmit your knowledge and contact people selflessly will be an excellent source of contacts.
7.
Generate content on networks: Sharing your knowledge about real estate on the net will bring you closer to people interested in the same thing. If you are interested in this point we recommend this article to know the ideal networks for the real estate public.
8.
Take courses: The complicity and mutual interest you may have with a classmate will give you an opportunity to meet new people.
9.
Organize an open event: Inviting your contacts to a meeting and proposing that they bring friends with them, provides the possibility of generating a space full of new people to meet.
10.
Go to new
spaces: Accepting invitations that take you to places where you don't know anyone requires a quota of courage, but this will undoubtedly give you the opportunity to generate new bonds.