As a real estate agent, your business solely depends on your relationship with your clients. According to NAR statistics, nearly half of all potential buyers rely on recommendations from friends, neighbours, or relatives when choosing their realtor. This imposes the question, what can you do to wow your customers to get referrals?
The secret ingredient is to create an extraordinary experience that will give you an assured referral the next time around. Likewise, customers also expect and demand that their real estate agents deliver personable, responsive and tech-savvy experiences with complete expertise in their market.
Here’s how to execute compelling client experiences before, during and long after the deal has closed.
- Get To Know Your Customers Personally
After informing your clients about the home buying process and reviewing all their checklists, it is imperative to become properly acquainted with them. This will save you a lot of time and effort as the better you know them, the easier it will be to show them properties that they will like. Getting to know your buyers should go beyond identifying appropriate listings for your clients, or it comes off as a superficial attempt to close the sale.
“In my opinion, real estate agents need to remember that their clients are people and not a transaction,” says Lorraine Beato, a licensed REALTOR® with Palmer House Properties. “I treat all of my buyers as if they are family members. I build a relationship with them, and I would say that about 90% of my past buyers are now friends.”
- Help Them Network
As a real estate agent, you have an extensive network of known people in the locality and from previous connections, leverage this to your advantage. As a person moving to a new locality, they will need to find a new gardener, the right plumber, a repair person; the list is endless. Helping a client in this situation will put you in a good light, thereby strengthening your client-realtor relationship.
“Use your knowledge to make yourself the go-to expert. Tell your real estate clients about gyms, country clubs, social groups, Facebook groups they should be a part of, and more. Even better: Introduce them to people you know in the community,” said Johnny Isakson, a senator from Georgia with a 40-year career in real estate. This will help you bond with them and create a meaningful relationship that will go beyond the average realtor experience.
- Create Personalized Buyer-Friendly Guides
Customers will appreciate the extra effort taken to personalize their listings with their checklists ticked off along with the property you listed that matched their criteria. Creating additional informational material for your customers to review back at home will also help eliminate anxiety, as it will give them reading material to go through whenever doubts or queries arise. Your detailed explanations of each property will reinforce that you have the skills and knowledge required to help them through their significant milestone.
“Agents can break down the process for their clients in ways they’ll understand,” says Ashley Oshinsky, Founder of Higher Living Real Estate LLC. “That’s why I’ve created buyer guides that are specific to my customers’ needs, as well as checklists, so they have something they can always refer back to.”
- Keep In Touch After The Deal Closes
After the sale goes through, maintain your relationship with the client by sending a thank-you note for their closings and check-ins for home anniversaries, birthdays and special occasions. Several apps can integrate this information and send out wishes, such as APINation that automatically sync contacts with specified MailChimp audiences to initiate email campaigns, such as an agent’s monthly newsletter, holiday greetings or home anniversary celebration notes.
“I write cards to my buyers after our first consultation. And once they’re in their new home, I write them a congratulatory card as well,” says Andrew Sanchez, REALTOR® for Wardley Real Estate. “This lets my buyers know I truly care about them.”
In Conclusion:
As Anthony Hitt, CEO of Engel & Völkers said, “To be successful in real estate, you must always and consistently put your clients’ best interests first. When you do, your personal needs will be realized beyond your greatest expectations.”
