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25 Tips, Tricks and Resources for Keeping Past Clients
You've likely heard that old bit of business wisdom: it's more costly to find a new customer than to keep an existing one. Acquiring new real estate clients typically means spending on marketing and advertising — and it also requires a whole lot of hustle. Your existing clients, however, already know you and trust you, and with a bit of effort to stay in touch, they're likely to hire you again. But what are the best ways to stay top-of-mind and what tools can help? Those are the questions we've been tackling this month. During the month of October, RE Technology has been running a series of articles every Tuesday aimed at helping you retain more clients. It's part of our "Tips and Tricks Tuesday" series. This month, our theme has been "Never Lose Another Client." Below is an overview of the topics we covered, compiled in one convenient place: 6 Ways Digital Home Management Platforms Help Agents Keep Clients Forever 3 Ways to Create Forever Clients Using Your Real Estate CRM 4 Tips to Ensure You Never Lose Another Client How to Attract Customers... and Keep Them: Think Like a Healthcare Network Unlock the Secret to Keeping Clients We hope these articles were helpful to our readers. However, you should know that great advice about keeping clients isn't something we share just one month per year — we do it year-round! To help round out our client retention-focused month, today we want to share more resources that we've published over the years. Let's dive in… First things first Before you can lay out your approach to client retention, you need to understand why clients forget their agents and what they want from you after the sale. According to What Do Past Real Estate Clients Want?, they want to know that they can approach you in the future if they have questions or need contractor recommendations — basically, by being a reliable source of homeownership information, you inspire long-term loyalty in your clients. That helpful approach can start immediately with something as simple as sharing a New Home Checklist for Your Clients: 11 Things to Do After Unpacking. Tools and strategies for client retention There are plenty of tools out there that can help you maintain client relationships. Before you look to plunk down serious cash, however, don't forget to look to your MLS. Here's a simple way you can use your MLS to stay in touch. One emerging client retention strategy is called "homeowners under management," which leverages home management platforms. These platforms support homeowners throughout the homeownership lifecycle by providing a single place for them to track their home's equity, store important documents like mortgage docs and insurance policies, learn about maintaining a home, and much more. These platforms are typically branded to the agent's or brokerage's business, which puts your real estate business front and center whenever the client accesses the platform. HomeZada and Milestones are two major players in this space. Another way to stay-top-of-mind with past clients is by tapping into their innate curiosity about their home and neighborhood. CoreLogic's ePropertyWatch automates this process for you by sending out periodic neighborhood and property reports to your contacts. For a more personal touch, we've always been partial to the annual equity update. You can use RPR or your MLS's public records tool to create a home equity report, and then reach out to homeowners on their home purchase anniversary to share that report. It's a great reminder to past clients of the value you provide and of your market knowledge. Of course, keeping track of that anniversary date means relying on perhaps the most important tool in your client retention arsenal: the CRM. But we think that deserves a section of its own… Working your database Your real estate CRM is a veritable goldmine. If you're not taking advantage of it to stay in touch with past clients, check out the following articles to learn how to: Build a healthy repeat and referral business Create a follow-up process Use your CRM like a top-producing agent Email is one of the easiest ways to keep in touch with former clients, especially when automated, and most CRMs offer email functionality. Here are some email campaign ideas you can try to retain existing clients: Example of a Homebuyer Follow-Up Campaign 6 Emails You Can Use to Stay in Touch with Past Clients Communication is key We've talked a lot about keeping in touch with past clients, but if that's something you've let fall by the wayside, never fear! It's never too late to reach out. In fact, one agent didn't reach out to a client in 12 years, but when she did, she earned $10,000 from a personal note! If you need a little help in reaching out to contacts you've fallen out of touch with, see: The Ultimate Script for Reconnecting with Past Real Estate Clients. For more strategies for staying in touch, see: 6 scripts to keep in touch and get more business The 8-step outreach plan to use with buyers during their first year of homeownership Finally, what you don't say is sometimes just as important as what you do say. Learn how to avoid a communication faux pas in 5 Things an Agent Should Never Say to Leads and Past Clients. More tips and tricks for your real estate business Catch up on our previous Tips and Tricks Tuesday series: 52 Resources for Making Money with Your Phone 40 Tools, Tips and Scripts for Finding More

4 Interesting Ways Top Producers Use Their CRMS (That You Might Not Be Doing)
Most agents use some kind of a CRM, whether that's a spreadsheet where they keep a contact list and track activity, or a sophisticated platform built specifically for real estate agents. And even though agents know that they should be leveraging these tools to help them generate more business (and more income), many of them seem to be doing so … somewhat halfheartedly. That's what new WAV Group research indicates, at any rate. The group surveyed agents, split responses according to production level, and then analyzed the big differences separating top-producing agents, who close more than 30 deals every year, with agents who close fewer deals than that. The big takeaways? Agents who produce more are using their CRMs a little bit differently than agents who produce less. Here are some ways you might consider tweaking your own CRM use in order to join that top echelon of sellers. 1. Choose Something and Stick With It Everyone in real estate has heard of "shiny object syndrome." While it's a good thing to be on the lookout for potential improvements in the products you're using, that's not a great philosophy to have when it comes to working with a CRM. One big thing that sets top producers aside from agents who don't close as many deals is that they have been using their CRMs, on average, for longer. This indicates that they are switching platforms less frequently than lower-producing agents. If you use something for a long time, you get to know its quirks and abilities much better than if you're constantly swapping it out for something new. Of course, it makes sense to look for a new CRM if yours can't do what you need it to, but oftentimes that's a user issue, not a software issue. 2. Take Some Classes (Preferably Time-Bound) A real estate CRM is a notoriously complicated piece of software, and for every feature it adds, the users will need a bit of training around how to best deploy the feature. If you never took the opportunity to take an in-person or live online training around how to use your CRM and everything it can do to bring in more business, there is no time like the present! Top-producing agents are significantly more likely to say that they invested time and energy in learning how to use their CRM, either at a live in-person training, or through online training that is time-bound. On-demand videos can also be good options, but don't forget: You'll need to actually watch them and pay attention to them in order to get anything out of them! 3. Use Your CRM Every Day When asked how often they use their CRM, the top producers in the survey were significantly more likely to use their CRM multiple times a day, or at least once every day. And when markets start to shift and tighten, they are more likely to report investing even more time into their CRM activities. Some CRMs offer lists of priority activities and potential clients to tackle or reach out to every day. Whether or not you need that feature, it can be a good jumping-off point for training yourself to use the platform every day, no matter what. 4. Focus on One-On-One Conversations Instead of Blasts Another interesting and significant way in which top producers differ from lower-producing agents in their CRM usage is the specific activities they focus on when they are using their CRM. Agents who aren't closing as many deals tend to be somewhat all over the place when it comes to their CRM usage: In other words, they're trying a little bit of everything, and they might not be entirely sure about what's really working and what's not. By contrast, top producers are more likely to use their CRM to facilitate and track one-to-one text message or phone conversations with their prospects. They're doing this more than email blasts or other marketing tactics that a CRM supports. (Top producers are still using email blast features, to be clear, but they're also focusing more relentlessly on those individual outreach opportunities.) Don't know what to share in those private conversations? Consider using RPR to generate a CMA for any homeowners in your network, or for buyers who might be interested in a specific property. The platform has almost endless opportunities for generating specific market data for the people in your sphere. If you don't have a CRM, it's time to get one. And if you do, and you're not using it like a top producer, then maybe some of these tips will help generate more leads (and more business) for you, which is exactly what a CRM should be doing. Happy prospecting! Next Steps Read more articles about CRMs Explore CRM solutions in our Product

3 Ways to Create Forever Clients Using Your Real Estate CRM
Welcome back to our "Tips and Tricks Tuesday" series, which highlights articles around a monthly theme. October's theme is "Never Lose Another Client." Read on for tips and tricks on maintaining long-term relationships with your clients: Can you name your friends and family in your database without looking in your real estate CRM? What about past clients? If you can't, expecting your sphere (friends, family, past clients) to automatically think of you when it comes time to make a move is a huge misconception. Countless real estate agents lose business because people in their sphere 1) assumed the agent was too busy because they never reached out, or 2) didn't think of the agent first because they didn't communicate as consistently as the agent who reached out regularly and provided valuable information. To build a robust database that supports your business for years to come, here are three ways to strategically strengthen client relationships. 1. Tag everyone in your sphere The first step is to organize your CRM by tagging everyone in your sphere. Typically, this means tagging that person with the word sphere or SOI (sphere of influence). Organizing everyone (forever clients, family, friends, business associates, vendors) in your sphere is also a prime opportunity to verify their contact information (phone, email, address) is up-to-date. Brivity encourages customers to organize their sphere with the following categories: A+ sphere: They consistently send you three or more referral transactions a year. (Think of this group as your database royalty. They must receive every mailer, Christmas card, and event invitations. You also show appreciation in thoughtful ways by sending them a birthday gift or taking them to dinner a couple of times a year.) A sphere: They send you one to two referrals a year. B sphere: They send you one or two referrals every couple of years. C sphere: These are people who know your name, but you can't recall them referring anyone to your business. Once every contact is tagged, you'll have a clear picture of the opportunities in your database. Aim to move each person up the category ladder by delivering value and communicating consistently. You'll know you are progressing when you move a C sphere to a B sphere, a B sphere to an A sphere, and an A sphere to an A+ sphere. 2. Send high-value information There's no question about the value Market Reports provide homeowners, homebuyers, and anyone looking to stay on top of the pulse of the local real estate market. Sending this high-valued item, packed with insights about local real estate market trends, is one of the best ways to nurture, engage, and keep in touch with your database. To begin this process, Brivity suggests using Market Reports for: Your entire sphere All of your clients that still live in your market Any seller prospects in your database Sending a Market Report requires an email address. If you find this critical piece of information missing from a contact's profile, see it as an opportunity to reach out. If you have a cell number but not a physical address for a prospective seller and are unsure of what to say, here's a sample text script: Hey [name], We've got this great new tool that keeps you updated on what's selling around your house, so you always know how your home's value is changing. Shoot me back your email address, and I'll set you up with this tool. [Your name] Don't forget to leverage the behavioral insights from the Market Reports, such as the types of properties being viewed, and use that data as talking points to have meaningful conversations and close the loyalty gap. 3. Communicate Consistently Communicating with your sphere is simple, but it can be time-consuming. To conquer this task efficiently, you'll need to use a real estate CRM whose tech and systems nurture relationships seamlessly and intelligently. Without smart automation working for you, communicating is hard to keep track of, and as your sphere and database continue to grow, communication becomes increasingly more difficult. Brivity is a great example, as this all-in-one solution allows agents to tap into smart auto plans, proven scripts, design tools, and more to send the right message to the right client at the right time. We suggest making at least 33 touches per year using the following strategies: Send clients Market Reports once or twice a month (based on their preference) Email clients twice a month (one of these can be the Market Report) Send a direct mail postcard once a month Call once a month or at least four times a year Comment on a social media post once a month Talk face-to-face at a hosted event three times a year To get the full details, download “3 Powerful Steps to Get More Business From Your Sphere” here. To learn more about maximizing consistent communication with your database, visit