You know that past clients are one of the most important real estate lead generation channels. Yet agents often approach past clients as an afterthought rather than a priority and focus more on generating new leads. Both activities are crucial but you should put in place a good system to interact with your clients after closing the deal.
According to the 2016 NAR Home Buyer and Seller Report, 64% of sellers worked with agents recommended by a friend. If you aspire to get more business through referrals, try upgrading your follow-up strategy.
Real estate lead generation basics: working with past clients
1. Follow up automatically
Once the deal is closed, schedule two follow-up emails or calls, the first one in a week and another one in a month. Ask whether there are any issues that you can help with. This should be your standard approach to all past clients.
If you keep all of your clients’ records in a CRM, following up will be easy. Organizing your records also means no client will be missed out – and it’s crazy to hope that an agent can remember about these dates with no records.
2. Host a client appreciation event
A common enough practice for realtors is to invite past clients to a party or evening out. The setting is up to you and some popular ideas include local community events, fundraisers, etc.
A client appreciation event is not a must-do real estate lead generation activity. Still, you can imagine the benefits of organizing it. From building personal relationships to enhancing your brand, they can do a lot of good for your business.
To host a client appreciation event, you need a budget so that might not be the option when starting out.
P.S. Do not sell/talk about listings while hosting this event.
3. Remember about birthdays and move-in anniversaries
Again, use your CRM to set up follow-up reminders on clients’ special dates like birthdays and move-in anniversaries. Many agents prefer to send hand-written notes as that feels especially nice.
One way or another, remember to set up all the alerts you need which is super simple if you keep your real estate CRM records.
4. Keep showing your expertise
Another great real estate lead generation idea is to keep sending your past clients newsletters with locally relevant info. They’re naturally interested in what’s going on in the local area so you might as well be a go-to resource.
Remember to segment your database so past clients are grouped in a separate list. Then, keep sending them your blog posts that clients can share with their friends and family.
5. Recommend other local businesses
People are always on the lookout for a good builder, restaurant, decorator and about a dozen other local businesses. You can do them a favor by recommending some hard-working teams you know.
Here’s another related post on how to work with local businesses the right way: 3 Ways to Create a Real Estate Referral Program with Local Businesses.
What’s next?
Real estate lead generation is challenging and takes lots of effort. On the contrary, doing a couple of simple things will help you stay top-of-mind with your past clients and generate more business through referrals. Over to you now!
