Last time, we discussed some of the technology challenges that agents often face. There are ways to use ever-present technology tools as mechanisms to nurture client relationships.
The relationships we have with our clients should always be the top priority above any other asset that we have or use; this is true in my business … and in any business. It should be the very nature of all business to interact with people, to study people, to understand people. After all, without our clients, we don’t have business.
But how do we nurture each and every client we have and still make time in our busy days to complete all the tasks on our calendar? We do it by association. We form relationships with and earn the trust of our clients by associating what we need to know about them with what they appreciate us knowing about them.
One of my clients is an agent who is well-known and has had repeat customers for years because he is great at nurturing his client relationships. Each time he has an interaction with a new prospect, he adds her to his customer relationship management (CRM) platform and includes the important information that will help him find her perfect home.
But the most crucial thing he does is to take the time to add one personal note on each and every prospect. No matter how many to-dos his platform’s calendar has lined up for him each day, he always adds this note. Because personal connection is most important to him, it is marked as a “sticky” note and placed at the top of all other notes relevant to his prospect.
As my client’s CRM platform producer, I have the ability to see his approach from a different perspective. Through the back end of his platform, I see a sticky note for his prospect, Justin, who attends college at night. When Justin graduates in two months, there is a reminder on my client’s calendar to send a card of congratulations. I also see a sticky note for Meagan, whose spouse is in the military now but will return home at the end of summer. Of course, my client has set his platform to remind him of this date, too.
Essentially, what he has done is to use his technology system to make his business personal by understanding what is currently relevant to his prospects. From there, he can associate their buying time frame with a significant personal event. He knows how important it is to develop a connection and sense of trust with his prospects, and being trustworthy is one of the traits that makes him so successful.
My client also uses his virtual office website (VOW) to stay versed on properties in his market that have been sold, pending, withdrawn or expired. This gives him an extra reason to follow up with prospects who may be interested in a particular neighborhood, and he can reach out to provide them with current (to the hour) information.
Likewise, his prospects appreciate having VOW privileges on his website because becoming more informed about the buying and selling process empowers them as consumers. If he knows a prospect has viewed a specific property multiple times, he sets his platform up to send out notifications on that MLS (multiple listing service) listing, and the prospect is notified in real time when there is an update to that property. He also uses the “full contact” feature as a means to stay informed via social media, then he sends a quick email when it turns out Mary Ann is expecting not one little bundle of joy, but three! (As you know, Mary Ann’s surprise may very well change her family’s idea of a perfect home.)
Businesses are built by forming and maintaining real relationships with happy customers. Business, be it real estate or any other industry, is about interacting with people and providing them with the services and products that they need. This is the information age, and consumers are well aware that if their needs aren’t being met, then other options are just a click away.
A healthy combination of individual and powerful features in a real estate technology platform can make it feasible to nurture prospects in the way that they expect and deserve. Use your technology platform to move your relationships from leads to prospects to clients to lifelong clients.
Candi Looney is a marketing research analyst for Quantum Leads.