Unfortunately, past clients are untapped and go neglected in the untapped by many real estate agents. Many of your former clients will need a real estate agent anywhere from two to five more times during their lives, depending upon where your former clients are during their current stage in life. Those figures may even be more conservative than normal if those clients are renting for the first time or they are investors.
Potential clients may go online to check out your profile. They will look for all the information they can find, such as reviews and statistics. You should be a shoe-in with your former customers because they already know you and how you work. If you provided them with a positive experience, it won’t be too difficult to reel them in as clients again.
The better agents will establish strong relationships with their clients and hold on to those relationships for the long-term. Keeping contact with your former clients should be included in your yearly marketing plan. We emphasise ‘marketing plan’ so you don’t just send them spammy emails or useless flyers, but information that will be of value.
Make any contact valuable and meaningful. Here are four ways to keep in touch that add value when sending them information or marketing emails.
Use referrals to touch base with them
Getting a referral from a former client gives you the great opportunity to reach out. As soon as your former client is mentioned by a referral, you need to send a thank you message or call to them for sending you more business.
When you send that message or make that call, you should give your former client valuable information. Also gather some information from your client to see if there is reason for future contact. If they are interested in their home’s value, you can give them updates about properties that have sold recently in their area. Ask some open-ended questions regarding their property, job or family. If they indicate that they may be renovating or expanding, take the time to refer them to a contractor.
If the new referral does use you for services, such as buying or selling, you should send a small thank you gift to the former client such as a flowers or a bottle of wine. Seeing your appreciativeness and professionalism may encourage them to send more referrals your way.
Check out our blog article on How to Ask a Real Estate Client for a Great Testimonial for more information.
Updates with new listings and just sold properties
Send out postcards or emails with new listings or just sold properties to your former clients. Those who had a pleasant experience with you and your services will be glad to see you are still active, successful and busy in the real estate industry. Keep up with addresses so you can include former clients who have mailed to new neighbourhoods. They may want to move back to your area or have someone to refer to you.
Newsletters
Emailing newsletters can be a great marketing tool. You need to consider a couple of things when including your former client list:
- Consider the frequency. Don’t send it out too often.
- Make sure there are things of value in there for former clients.
You want to have an even balance between sending out quality content and making sure it arrives at the right time. Don’t send out the newsletters more than once a month, but you should send it out at least once each quarter. Consider what you can manage and what is realistic.
Don’t brag about your sales or focus on self-promotion. Include about four informative articles that provide the readers with value. Before sending an email, put yourself in your former client’s situation and ask yourself if you would find it helpful. If it is not helpful, don’t send it.
Have a quarterly market update that includes data and property stats for your area, including bargain buys and record sales. People love finding out how much their neighbour got for their property and how property prices have changed during the last three months.
Be Thoughtful with Gifts
You can never go wrong when you send a card or a small a gift on the anniversary of a home purchase or their move-in date. When you are feeling generous, many of your former clients would appreciate the generosity of a gift being hand-delivered to their home, but remember there are those who do not appreciate an unannounced visit at home. Sending holiday cards is a great tool as well.
Not all of your former clients want to stay in contact and that is understandable. You will determine throughout time which clients enjoy the contact and what strategies work best. By keeping some former clients in your loop can help you as build your referral business and increase your odds of long-term success.