As a real estate agent, your business wouldn’t exist without your clients. However, the current real estate market has difficult clients who are getting harder to impress. In order to boost your real estate agent career and take it to the next level, you need to not only identify qualified leads but “woo” them as well. Impressing your clients and creating a great experience will make them happy. In turn, happy real estate clients mean you will get repeat and referral business.
All too often, real estate agents try to impress their clients by using fancy terms or information which can end up making their clients feel uncomfortable. While it’s important to show that you’re knowledgeable and an expert in the real estate market, this alone is not enough. There are tons of other agents out there, so why should they pick you? The key to succeeding as an agent is to stand out by getting clients’ trust and satisfaction. Here are the best practices that will leave a strong impression on your real estate clients.
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1) Incorporate Video Content
In digital real estate marketing, content is king. Content marketing has been (and will stick) around simply because people love a good story. You can use sites like venngage.com to make infographics, reports, and presentations that add visual interest to your content. But, today’s digital marketing is all about videos! Sending videos to your client is an easy and fun way to connect with them. For example, you can host a live video session on Facebook, post an Instagram story answering FAQs you get from clients, or take a video tour of a property where you’re having an open house. You can also incorporate videos in your email marketing strategy as Brandon Marianne Lee, a Triplemint real estate agent in New York City, does.
After an introductory call, I send a video in the body of an email. If I haven’t heard from a client in a while, I send a video in the body of the email. Videos are personal, fun, and show that you go above and beyond. Incorporating personalized videos has completely changed my business.
Related: 5 Things You Need to Boost Your Real Estate Agent Career
2) Help Them Network
The nature of your job as a real estate agent lets you meet lots of people that you can work with and add to your network. Some of them may have traditional occupations that are still related to real estate. To create a sense of loyalty and impress your clients, why not connect people together? Both buyers and sellers are pleased by agents who understand their needs and take action to help them. Real estate clients who are moving to a new area will especially appreciate this. If a specific need comes up during conversations, take the opportunity to offer to connect your client with the right person.
For example, clients need to move their belongings after buying and selling a house, so connect them with a moving company. Not only will your client benefit from such services, but the movers will too. Another example is that if you work with real estate investor clients, you can connect them with contractors, appraisers, and other professionals working in the real estate market whom they may need. In the end, it’s a win-win scenario for all parties!
Related: How to Turn Your Home into a Corporate Rental
3) Spend Time with Your Real Estate Clients
One of the best ways to impress your clients is by simply showing interest in getting to know them. When you first meet up with them, take the conversation beyond business matters and keep it going. If you live near your real estate clients, instead of having a phone call with them, invite them for a cup of coffee, brunch, or an event and chat casually. Both sellers and buyers appreciate agents who are easy to talk to and whom they feel safe to ask any question at any time. In turn, this makes them feel valued and more comfortable with the real estate sales process. Here’s an example from Luis Torres, a Triplemint agent, who told Mashvisor how this has helped him in his real estate agent career:
As a fitness enthusiast, I love to invite my clients to take a class at Barry’s Bootcamp or SoulCycle before our appointment. This instantly breaks the ice and creates a strong connection with the client because those who sweat together, stay together.
4) Show Up on Moving Day
With all the commotion that occurs on moving day, the last thing new homeowners think about is dinner as they’re trying to make their new home livable. If the real estate agent showed up on moving day with pizza, Chinese food, or another meal, this would be above and beyond the call of duty. This is something that clients don’t expect from a professional real estate agent and will most certainly appreciate. If you can’t be there, you can also consider leaving them a welcome basket with a bottle of champagne and a gift card to a local restaurant. Simply help them out by giving a helping hand to make them feel right at home on their first day. This is one of the easiest things you can do to woo your real estate clients and it’ll lead to more referrals.
Related: 5 Great Ways to Get More Real Estate Referrals
5) Send Clients Personal Gifts
One of the most common tips to impress real estate clients is to send personalized gifts and letters. But almost all agents in the business do this, so how can you woo clients this way? What you need to do is go beyond the obvious birthday gift and holiday cards. Send them something unique and follow up with a call to let them know you appreciated their business and hope they’re doing well. This is a prime way to say “thank you” and leave a good impression. They’ll certainly remember you the next time they’re looking for a real estate agent to buy or sell. Here’s an example from Elliott Sudwarts, an agent with Triplemint, to consider:
I’m a Brit living in New York, so everything I do has to incorporate a tinge of my culture. I literally message every past client of mine at least every few weeks, but what really gets them is when they receive my “British Infused Gifts” every quarter. Last quarter was a British Beer mug with beer candy. This quarter? You will have to wait and see. My clients love it, and the referral business I have obtained from simply staying in touch is both a privilege and a blessing.
6) Build Relationships, Not Transactions
One of the best tips for real estate agents is to move away from the transaction model and, instead, focus on delivering empathy and care to create a genuine relationship with your real estate clients. People don’t like to feel like real estate leads or a source of profit. Therefore, demonstrating an interest in creating a relationship with them as long-term clients will make a personal yet endearing impact on them. Brigitte Pays, a New York real estate agent with Triplemint, shared with us that “the more clients feel they can relate to you, the more likely they are to not only complete the current transaction but also be a continuing source of future and referral business because people remember the way you make them feel.” She also said:
Sharing is caring; that’s the motto! I find that sometimes the smallest gestures are the ones that go a long way and can really “woo” the clients. Moving is an emotionally taxing process so something as simple as making the client feel comfortable and at ease can really resonate and ensure they remember you. During the summer, I always bring water bottles when meeting clients for a tour, especially if it is our first time going out together. It’s so simple but not that many agents think to do it, and it’s always immensely appreciated.
Related: 7 Characteristics of the Most Successful Real Estate Agents
The Bottom Line
These are just a few ideas for real estate agents in 2019 to successfully woo and leave a strong impression on their real estate clients. Making a habit of following these practices will not only lead to happy clients but to repeat business and referrals as well. Most of them won’t even cost you a thing! Got other ideas which have helped you woo your clients? Share them in the comments below.
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