Real Estate Sales- Real Estate Sales- Reaping benefits of Customer Retention
It’s no rocket science that with rising competition, real estate sales is becoming hard with every passing day. The new real estate agents are feeling the heat. With the skyrocketing acquisition costs for the high ticket real estate customers, the agents are required to focus on retaining old customers.
It is not just giving your existing customers the best mileage for every dollar spent but also making them realise the same.
This way, they can expect some credible references and high converting clients from their extended networks.
Famous economist Theodore Levitt pointed to the same saying, “The purpose of any business should be to get and keep the customer.”
Though both sides of the coin are equally accountable, the biggest mistake that agents commit in sales of real estate is extensively focusing on getting new clients whilst ignoring the old ones.
A study concluded that just a little over 15% businesses seriously think of customer retention- that’s what the human nature is- forgetting your old connections and finding exciting new connects.
Putting all your efforts in new acquisition however is quite unproductive as it causes wastage of resources- mainly money and time while trying to acquiring new customers.
The customer onboarding cost in real estate sales is figuratively gauged to be five times as expensive as retention.
A recent study also indicates that just a mere rise of 5% in upselling to existing clients out-yields a 25% higher margin.
Think about it- how significant it is for realtors to wisely save their money and rather use their human skills.
They should not obviously be parting ways from finding new prospects.
The close relationship between client happiness, word of mouth publicity and loyalty indicate that it’s all worth the efforts.
Here are some recommended ways for nurturing a great list of clientele that promote you everywhere.
1. Keep them involved
The most fundamental way of client retention is ensuring that you consistently keep them engaged. If you touch base with them continually say through simple messages.
For example, here are some examples of how some seasonal messages can rebuild the connects without having to do much.
Agent: “Hey Rony, if you need any support for settling down in your new home, just let me know!”
Client: Sure, thanks for asking. I have my cousin looking for a detached home near my locality. Hope you can help him too.
Agent: “Hi James, your real estate investments in Brampton are doing very well. If you are interested in any potential selling opportunity, let’s get on a call soon.”
Client: That’s great. I would like to invest more. Let’s speak tomorrow at noon.
Such messages can do wonders as you aren’t essentially promoting anything specific but just telling the customer that you care.
Interestingly, with Agent360 CRM, you can automate such followups with your clients. We have done some hard work, creating templates for you to choose from.
You may additionally keep your clients posted about the new property launches, relevant real estate events with phone calls, emails and sms.
Social media can also help your clients be updated with your latest developments- given they are following you and you are updating your social handles.
2. Recognise and honour Your “Whales”:
Whales are your most valued and high ticket clients. They have the multifold spending capacity than your usual clients.
Every business has such clients- who keep an eye on your new products or keep asking you the same.
It is crucial for realtors to recognise who their whales are coz they are the real spenders who would get them the most commission- every single time. So it makes sense to target them as part of of your sales strategy.
If you honour them and go an extra mile to show that they matter a lot to you, you will reap the benefits. You may get them some unique discounts, early access or extra perks.
Your loyalists will go out of the way incredibly to build strong social signals for you through their recommendations and personalised marketing to their connects leading you to bag more sales.
3. Get a sense of what your clients appreciate
Once you get a deep knowledge of your client persona, you must gauge what attraction do they find in working with you.
Is it your unique experience to get them the estate they want?
Is it your quick understanding of their requirements?
Is it the comfort you build with your clients in the first meeting itself?
Is it a special deal on a property that only you can get them?
Metaphorically, it may be anything from a personal touch to the trust they are able to establish. Any realtor can milk the opportunity on understanding what her clients appreciate and modify her pitch to best suit the wants of her clientele.
It also builds a sense of reassurance amongst the customers that they are with the right agent.
4. Show them that you exist in real
While more people are interested in the tools and bots powered by artificial intelligence, they must not forget that importance of humanly interactions.
The humans want humans to understand their needs and suggest them which road to take. Automation in communication and relationship management is needed to an extent but it should not replace your personal touch.
If you want your clients to help you in real, pick the phone, call them, fix short meetings and tell them what you are upto.
If you can take the “Give first” approach for solving their problems, they will be generous in helping you connect with the right next customers.
Bottomline
For any business, the top priority initially is finding new clients, but the road less traveled is the retention of the customers. Real estate agents must nurture customers’ loyalty with extra concern for them and fitting in their shoes. If you do this, you can never run out of business.
