5 awesome customer retention strategies
to set you apart and help build relationships
Customer retention strategies pose some considerable challenges for real estate agents. When the average homebuyer stays in their home 13 years, it sometimes is difficult to know where to start a relationship with someone who may not be buying or selling a home for another decade.
However, any veteran real estate agent who is an expert resource in their community can tell you there are multiple benefits to building those very relationships. Their success lies in their credibility, reputation and being a trusted, go-to agent with a booming referral lead base.
There’s also a lot of untapped opportunity. Recent data indicates that 72% of buyers and 67% of sellers say they would use the same real estate agent in the future, and yet only 24% of people have used the same agent more than once. Rather than getting discouraged by this low rate of retention, fine-tune your approach and strengthen your retention game.
Once you’ve read about the best strategies for retention, schedule a sales demo of our lead management software to help you maximize your customer engagement for success.
Here are 5 awesome customer retention strategies to set you apart and establish you as a real estate leader in your community!
1. Identify target audiences
Too often, real estate agents think of their target market as “everyone” and try to appeal to many different demographics at once. While it’s important to remain open-minded and cast a wide net, it also helps to focus your efforts to communicate and connect with targets in mind.
Every agent might have a different set of target audiences. Some exciting markets are young parents who might need to upgrade to a larger space in a few years, aging retirees who may be looking for a vacation property, and local commercial real estate spaces in developing areas where a commercial lease turns over every 3 – 5 years!
Find out what people want to do when they buy property in your community, then demonstrate that you are the resource they need. Take a look at your community to identify the local trends. Is there a lot of new development or mostly older homes and resales? Are they mostly single-family homes or townhomes, condos, and apartments? Are most people looking for their primary residence or a vacation property? Are you located in an excellent school district?
Once you map out what the customers are looking for in your community and how to solve their problems, you’ll have your target audience and can build a marketing plan around that.
2. Check in with expectations
The number one reason customers in any business don’t stick around is unmet expectations. If you’ve ever had a misunderstanding with a client or just drifted and wondered if something went wrong, there is a simple fix for this. Check in with your customers early on during the process to bridge this expectation gap.
Clearly communicate your business processes to establish trust and ensure you are on the same page as your clients. Ask them to discuss their expectations and concerns up front to show them that you have their best interests at heart. Check in with the very first email by asking what they’re looking for and outline some of the ways they can expect a great experience with you as their agent!
3. Maximize every opportunity for follow up
You know follow-up is vital and powerful. As part of your customer retention strategy, jump on the numerous opportunities you have to connect.
Take any opportunity to say “thank you.” Acknowledge a referral, thank people for attending an open house, or recognize the trust in connecting you to a new vendor or business contact. Keep track of important dates. A card marking a milestone date, like the actual move-in date or their one year anniversary in their new home, can establish a personal connection that shows you care about finding them the right home for their needs. Set up an app to send reminders for maintenance or homeowner tips to establish your credibility as a valuable resource.
4. Connect locally in person and online!
Be an active business leader in your community. That’s a fantastic way to maintain relationships and put your name on the radar of newcomers as “someone to know” for real estate. The important part is to do this authentically, connecting in a genuine way where your values overlap with the values of your target customers.
You may already be involved in local charities, coach little league or enjoy going to the farmer’s market every weekend. Why not do those things with your real estate business as well? Sponsor local sports, share a booth at the market with the Chamber of Commerce, or open up your office space for community events.
5. Perfect the art of asking for referrals
Don’t forget that your friends, neighbors and family members are potential leads, too. Several enthusiastic, satisfied customers living in the same region are way more likely to call again, even years later, if they hear about your recent activities. People talk and will often respond warmly if you ask them to put a good word in for you, especially if you follow up and thank them!
Ready to put a little structure into your daily routine? Schedule a sales demo today to see how easy organization can be.
What is your best tried and true customer retention strategy? Leave your awesome pro tips in the comments!