Real estate agents are different from just about every other sales professional.
For example, if you buy an air fryer in person, there isn’t much motivation for the sales clerk to keep in touch once you leave the store. Most people who work in sales don’t need to contact former clients once the sale closes.
Needless to say, home purchases are different from small appliance sales — it’s safe to say it’s a significantly more sophisticated process.
Considering the competitive nature of today’s housing market, you’ll need every tool in their tool kit to keep your edge over the competition and your profits up.
Keeping the lines of communication open with clients after the sale can offer real estate agents multiple advantages.
Let’s explore why you should stay in contact with former clients and dig into five of the best ways to achieve that goal. Plus, we’ve got a bonus tip for you as well!
Why Stay In Contact With Former Clients?
Once the deal is done, and the ink is dry (so to speak), why would a real estate agent want to maintain contact with their former clients?
Despite being generally viewed as a positive event, buying a home can often be one of the most stressful endeavors in anyone’s life. However, by providing your professional experience and expertise, you can successfully help your clients navigate these tumultuous waters — with minimal crises and maximum benefit.
Keeping in touch with clients following the completion of a sale can build enduring relationships helping generate repeat business while cultivating referral possibilities.
Helping clients through the real estate transaction process can even result in genuine friendships that you want to nurture for years into the future.
Furthermore, it’s easy to see how a client might need a real estate agent in the future. Returning to work with an agent that someone already feels comfortable with can make all the difference. Especially when considering going through the entire home-buying process again.
A reliable real estate agent, someone who has provided value and remained invested in a client’s interests, can be an enormous relief for any potential home seller.
While not every client wants to stay in touch, many clients are open to keeping in contact.
The following are our top five tips (plus two bonus tips) to help you contact former clients and keep those real estate relationships going.
1. Acknowledge Referrals
There may be no greater honor to a real estate agent than a referral from a previous client.
Not only are referrals potential business leads, but they are also an ideal opportunity to re-establish contact.
Immediately after receiving a referral, make sure to acknowledge the endorsement with a thank-you to your former client. A hand-written note or personalized email is both classy and professional.
If the referral results in a sale, consider sending an additional thank-you message —this time with a small gift and preferably delivered in person.
2. Neighborhood Awareness
Keep your past clients aware of the housing market along with notable sales and developments in their area.
A condensed comparative market analysis (CMA) sent once or twice a year has a dual benefit.
- It can keep your former client appraised of the value of their home as a financial investment.
- Clients will keep you in mind as you keep them up to date on developments in their neighborhood. It helps them to see you as a successful professional.
Mailing out professionally designed ‘Just Sold’ and ‘Just Listed’ cards can also help keep clients aware of neighborhood developments.
3. Send A Newsletter
Newsletters are great ways to contact former clients while reminding them that you’re available if they are considering making a move.
Additionally, if your current client knows of someone looking for an agent, they can easily forward your newsletter, and you might just score a referral as a result.
Don’t publish your newsletters too often. Once every quarter is generally considered the minimum frequency, with a maximum of once a month. The ideal time frame is one newsletter roughly every six weeks.
Make your content friendly and ensure it adheres to branding, is professional, and includes market-centric materials.
4. Use A CRM Tool
A client relationship management (CRM) tool is one of the best ways to contact former clients.
CRMs are software programs that compile all your client information — prospective, current, and past — into a single, easily accessible, streamlined system.
With a CRM software program, you can easily track past clients and set reminders to contact them on important dates, such as birthdays or the anniversary of the date on which they purchased their home.
5. Be A Good Resource
Letting clients know you are available if they have questions or difficulties extending beyond the sale is another excellent way to contact former clients.
Once a client has moved into their home, be sure to let them know they can reach out to you for names of tradespeople, such as plumbers, landscapers, electricians, and so on.
Renovations have been growing in popularity.
If you can help your clients find successful resolutions to their difficulties, they will associate you with problem-solving. That positive association will go a long way to cultivating relationships that last and extend their overall lifetime value as a client.
Contact Former Clients — Bonus Tips
Successfully contacting former clients doesn’t just stop at those five tips. We’ve included some bonus tips to remember the next time you reach out to former clients.
Bonus Tip #1: Remember To Be Nice
Politeness is a no- brainer. But regardless of how you choose to contact former clients, ensuring you aren’t overbearing is crucial. A “hard sell” or “pushy” approach is more likely to alienate your former clients instead of keeping you in their good books.
Bonus Tip #2: It’s Okay To Promote Your Successes
If you sell a home in the area or have a significant personal milestone you feel like telling current or past clients, go ahead and share it.
But it’s important to remember, even though you are sharing your news, reaching out isn’t just about you. Clients have their own priorities and need to see the value in continuing contact with you.
So before contacting a client, ask yourself if you were receiving this, would you find this interaction helpful? If your answer is yes, you can trust your decision. If it isn’t, then reconsider reaching out or adjust your message to be more relevant.
Contact Former Clients — Conclusion
River City Mortgage maintains its commitment to making the home buying process as smooth as possible for everyone, real estate agents included. We hope real estate agents find these tips helpful and insightful.
A River City Mortgage pre-approval letter can make the difference between your clients making the sale and being passed over for another buyer.
Our River City Seal Of Approval might be the edge your clients need in today’s highly competitive, demanding real estate market.
Want to learn more about River City Mortgage’s real estate agent partnering program?
We partner with real estate agents to offer support and create the most efficient strategy to land offers close deals!
Reach out and contact one of our specialists today!
