Real Estate And Marketing; Part 1
There are two aspects of real estate and marketing that are
paramount to your success as a real estate professional; the
acquisition of new customers and the retention of old ones.
As is the case in other industries the cost of acquiring new
customers is escalating. So, it becomes more prudent to continue
marketing to past customers. It's less expensive and can be
equally profitable.
However, many real estate agents, to their financial detriment,
often fail to maintain relationships with clients they have
"closed" deals on.
Take you for example. If you're like the majority of agents you
probably spend a lot of time, money and effort acquiring new
customers; and heaven knows it's anything but easy. But how
effective are you at retaining past ones?
You probably feel, real or imagined, pressure to make the next
"close", but in doing so you are leaving a lot of money on the
table. Actually, it's more like you're putting money into a
competitor's pocket.
Marketing to past clients can be especially rewarding. You
probably shared a genuine care for each other, and if they were
satisfied with you and your services in the past, there is a
greater chance than not that they will come back to you for
future transactions. Also, they are likely to refer friends,
family and colleagues in the interim.
Savvy real estate and marketing pros immediately shift their
strategy to building long term relationships once they "close"
buyers." You should, too! Rather than simply abandoning a client
after a sale continue nurturing the relationship, but in a
different way.
Savvy real estate and marketing pros also, maintain continuous,
routine and ongoing contact and relations with past clients.
This helps to you protect your customers/business from
competitive encroachments.
For example; put them on an every other month "post sale
marketing campaign", whether it's via post cards, letters or
flyers.
Something is better than nothing, and it doesn't have to cost a
lot of time or money. The alternative is to do nothing and let a
competitive agent convert them to their client! If you snooze
you'll lose!
An old friend once said. "Sometimes it's better to keep what you
got than to replace it with something new." Avoid the pain of
seeing a recent past client transact a real estate deal with
another agent. Don't let them get away - you spent too much time
and energy converting them into a customer.