Real estate agents work hard to earn clients’ trust and real estate business. However, transforming them into forever clients goes beyond closing the deal. Client loyalty is driven by fostering ongoing communication and genuine engagement that builds a solid foundation to keep your name top of mind.
To help you close the loyalty gap, here are some tips for building trust with clients and establishing long-term relationships that keep your pipeline full of repeat business and client referrals.
How successful real estate agents build trust with clients
Building a loyal client base is one of the biggest challenges real estate businesses face. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 89% of homebuyers claim they would use their real estate agent again or recommend their agent to others. However, NAR also reports that, in actuality, the typical Realtor® earned merely 16% of business from repeat clients and 20% through referrals from past customers.
One of the steps to overcome this challenge is to build trust intentionally and understand that this happens over time. Clients want to know you value their personal and financial goals and are committed to helping them achieve them. Building trust starts in the first conversation and continues through every communication touch point afterward. Demonstrate you can be relied upon.
Emotional intelligence plays a key role as there is more at play for clients than the real estate transaction itself. They may need emotional support as they deal with the stressors of processing one of the most significant financial decisions they’ll ever make. Or, they may need your expertise in explaining the inspection process or envisioning how to utilize a space in a home.
Building rapport in this way brings you into your clients’ trusted sphere. In return, they’ll call you back, attend community events you host, and refer business.
How to win more repeat real estate business
When you lack referrals and repeat clients, it is typically because of a misalignment with your systems, communication (automated and non-automated), or value proposition. We’ve outlined expert tips below to help you build lasting relationships and turn satisfied clients into repeat business and glowing referrals.
Use proven scripts and communicate consistently
Lead generation is a multifaceted endeavor for any real estate business. Generating and nurturing new leads is a significant daily task, but focusing on turnover can lead to superficial, short-term client relationships. This is where purposefully nurturing your sphere can generate consistent repeat and referral business.
Unfortunately, many agents neglect this segment in their database, as they assume their sphere will reach out to them when they are ready to buy or sell. However, when you lose touch with your sphere, they lose touch with you or think you are too busy to help them. This is where having a real estate CRM like Brivity, with its proven scripts and automation, enables you to communicate consistently and stay top of mind with everyone in your database.
Building a real estate business with consistent referrals and repeat clients is a long-term endeavor, so take the time to review your CRMs scripts and auto plans. Are you able to streamline your communications consistently using automated nurturing tools? Can you set tasks for yourself to call clients on birthdays and holidays? Can you customize your auto plans and scripts to build more authentic relationships? Review your systems and outline what is working, where you can improve, and make adjustments.
Understand your value proposition
If you are not communicating consistently or suffer from call reluctance, you may underestimate the value you bring to your clients and community. Nowadays, it’s easy for people to find real estate information online, but that information may not be accurate. Ultimately, they want the trusted opinion and expertise of an accessible real estate professional. As your local real estate agent, you have industry insights and advice beyond the latest inventory stats. Sharing this information brings value to people’s lives and helps them make the best decision for their goals.
One effective approach to becoming a reliable resource for your real estate clients is to keep them regularly informed about their community. Along with local real estate market insights, sharing information about festival schedules, popular hiking routes, recommended dining options, and other local activities can positively impact the area’s economy and enhance your reputation as a knowledgeable authority. By increasing your familiarity with all that is happening in your community, clients are more likely to have confidence in your expertise.
Ask clients more questions
Connecting with compassion, and sharing personalized knowledge increases the level of trust. One of the ways to nurture trust-building over time is to listen and ask thoughtful and open-ended questions. Showing kindness and genuine interest in learning more about your clients will make a lasting impression that can have a massive impact on your real estate business.
What you learn about your clients puts you in a better position to serve them. You may discover that a former client is trying to extend their home’s life with maintenance, invest for retirement, or expand their equity by refinancing. Determine what they need to know and personalize the information to their needs. With each conversation, they’ll share more openly about their home and goals. In time, they’ll increasingly rely on you to answer their real estate questions because you continue to show up, empathize, and guide them.
Add personalized touchpoints
Communication doesn’t stop after the transaction ends; it continues after the buyer settles into their dream home or a seller is off on their next adventure. Once the transaction is complete, go the extra mile to keep them raving about you long after the sale by adding personal touches to your interactions.
First, we recommend adding important details to their profile in your real estate CRM, like their home anniversary date, names and ages of their children, names of their pets and breeds, their favorite places to eat or drink, favorite flowers, and any other details that make maintaining a relationship with them over the years easy.
With those details in mind, review and set your CRMs automation plans. Set dates to call them on holidays and birthdays. Put them on call lists to invite them to community events you host. Knowing their preferences, like their favorite coffee shop or restaurant, allows you to give loyal clients who send you referral business a more personalized gift card or gift.
Explore how a PLACE Partnership expands your real estate business
Want to explore how PLACE’s proven systems and models give real estate agents the tools to scale and grow their businesses successfully? Fill out this form to tell us a little about yourself and your business. Then, take a few minutes to watch our partners discuss their success with PLACE here.
