You got a lead, turned them into a hot prospect, and then into a client. You’ve executed the buying or selling of their home flawlessly. All the hard work is done – but now what? Don’t let all that hard work go to waste now. That client could easily come back to you down the road if you do a few simple things. And wouldn’t you rather not have to work as hard to gain their business the second time around?
1. Provide Help After the Transaction
You are a pro at navigating listings and closing, getting your clients the best deals and making the whole process go smoothly. But you probably also have some knowledge that many of your past clients could find helpful – the people you know.
You know contractors and designers, caterers and photographers – whatever need a client might have in fixing up their new home or preparing for big a housewarming party you can probably help them with. Using a tool such as the Business Directory in IXACT Contact, you can easily call up the appropriate person on your client’s behalf. And since you only work with the best, your clients will experience the same and be grateful for your assistance. All it takes is making a connection and you’ll be improving your chances of client retention.
2. Keep in Touch Consistently
You know you can’t just forget about your past clients, especially if you want them to refer anyone to you or come back to you in the future. Instead of letting this be random outreach when you happen to think about it, make it consistent. This is simple with IXACT Contact’s automated recurring keep in touch reminders and monthly done-for-you e-Newsletters. You can set the Keep in Touch Reminders to recur at any time interval, and set them for entire groups of contacts if you like. The e-Newsletter provides three fresh articles each month and you can simply set the day, time, and contacts you want to receive it and you are done!
Want to go a step further? Set up Birthday and Move-In Anniversary reminders using IXACT Contact. Simply set how far in advance you would like to be reminded! From there, you can choose to send one our built-in eGreeting cards, or to send a gift or make a call. You’ll be keeping in touch consistently, and helping your past clients remember you.
3. Leverage Your Online Presence
If you’ve got a website (which you should!), make use of it to do more than just entice new leads. Get your website to help you retain past clients! With IXACT Contact’s agent websites, you can easily make one page a directory of home services. This ties back to the first point, providing value for your clients even after your transactions have closed. You can also write original blog posts, or make use of the bi-weekly pre-written posts IXACT Contact provides. This helps you to gain the interest of new leads, yes, but also to maintain the interest of past clients.
Social media is another area where you can maintain a connection to past clients. Posting interesting, relevant content on a regular basis keeps them connected to you with very little effort on their part. This CAN be a lot of extra work for you though, unless you use a system like IXACT Contact’s Social Stream. Social Stream allows you to choose the topics and top-tier publications that you feel suit your audience. Then you can schedule those posts to go out automatically up to 3 times a day 7 days a week! The posts even contain your branding. So even if a past client just wants to read your interesting article, you are remaining in their minds.
The retention of past client is extremely important to any real estate business. Not only will they be sources of referrals, but it is also likely that some time in the future they will require your services again. It’s vital to maintain these relationships, but it doesn’t have to be a difficult task. Use the ideas above and see your client retention improve. Make it even easier by using IXACT Contact! Start your FREE 5 week trial of IXACT Contact now.
