Four ways to communicate with your sphere and cultivate your client relationships
Technology has improved the way real estate agents manage their business and stay connected with their sphere, now more than ever. The ability to connect with clients remotely has allowed real estate agents to manage business and implement flexible work schedules. On the other side of that coin, technology has allowed home buyers and sellers to accommodate the trusted guidance of a real estate agent into their own busy lives and helped to facilitate the relocation process for many people.
Useful in this time of social distancing, and beyond, here are four ways that real estate agents can stay connected with their clients from afar:
The Ancient Art of Phone Calls
Cell phones are the mighty tool for managing business! With other communications tools like texting, emails and social media, real estate agents may not turn to calls as often but should never fall out of the habit of making check-in calls to their sphere. It’s a way to be personal and strengthen relationships, but from afar – it also allows agents to gain meaningful and personalized feedback, questions and concerns. It’s one of the best ways to understand how clients may be feeling or remind past clients that their agents care to connect with them, directly.
“Communication during these uncertain times is key. Of course, social media is always at the top of my list for staying in touch, but that isn’t as personal as picking up the phone. Personally, I am using this time to stay in touch with clients and my sphere of influence by sending personal messages and making phone calls to see how they’re doing and if they need anything, especially my elderly clients.” – Rachel Crowl, Coldwell Banker Preferred, Blue Bell Office
Get Creative on Social Media
Very likely, the most dominant tool used for personal and business purposes is social media. Beyond its advertising capacity, it allows real estate agents to promote their businesses, market their listings, and serve as sources of information by quickly providing updates to their audiences. At its core, it’s a great way to interact with the world in versatile and creative ways, from hosting live Q&As to sending direct message. It’s also a great way for agents to increase and capitalize on the reach of their message.
“We enjoy doing Neighborhood Spotlights to get to know business owners and strengthen our community relationships. Whether we are doing real estate updates, buyer/seller tips, or just highlighting things we love about Houston, we are able to connect with hundreds of people quickly and easily! We also gain new clients — people will follow us, see our content and the information we’re providing, and eventually connect with us to buy or sell their home.” – Katie Day of The Move Me To Tx Team, Coldwell Banker Realty in Texas
Check out a variety of great social content on Move Me to TX’s Instagram
Be A Guiding Light Via Blogging
One of the wonders to come from the digital age is blogging! Blogs have become an easy and accessible outlet from which to share one’s voice, interests and information – with full control. Blogs can cover a vast variety of topics or serve just one niche. They can be geared to large audiences or cover a specific community. For these reasons, blogs have become an ideal communication tool for industries, businesses… and real estate agents! As a real estate agent, using a blog to connect with your sphere is a great way to serve as a resource, engage your audience and create shareable content.
“Posting regularly on my blog about community events and Canyon Creek real estate with monthly, quarterly and yearly market reports has been beneficial to keeping my name top of mind with the residents.” Dorie Dillard, Coldwell Banker Realty in Texas, Northwest Austin office.
Check out Dorie’s Canyon Creek News Blog.
Maximize the Use of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tool
CRM tools for real estate agents can serve as a great instrument to increase productivity and improve services in a variety of ways. It’s certainly an essential tool to manage one’s contacts and communications. The ability for a real estate agent to integrate their contacts with scheduling and email alert systems provides an effective way to track and connect with one’s sphere. Real estate agents should maximize the use of their CRM to send important real estate news and market updates to their clients, helping to keep them informed and engaged, regularly.
The relationship between real estate agents and their clients is a valuable one that transcends contract periods and closings – it can be, if well-nurtured, a life-long relationship. Staying connected to clients is crucial, whether you’re checking in on them with a market update or guiding them through an unexpected situation.
Comment below and share how you are choosing to connect with those in your sphere!
