Advice

5 Easy Ways to Get More Referrals

Every real estate agent knows that referrals are the best lead channel. But how may referrals are you getting? Check out these 5 easy steps for getting more referrals

Every real estate agent knows that referrals are the best lead channel. But how may referrals are you getting?

The truth is, if you want to start working by referral – then you need a strategy. A few simple habits can go a long way when it comes to increasing referrals from people you know.

Offer Incredible Service

First things first, if you want to increase your referral business you’ll need to be memorable. Think about your specialty, and how you’re unique. What takes your service from good to great?

Develop Regular Touch Points with Past Clients

After closing, make sure you’re staying top of mind with past clients. If you have a newsletter for potential buyers, you should have a newsletter for past clients. And make sure the content is relevant for them (ie – don’t just promote your listings). These touch points can include:

  • Social media content
  • Client appreciation events
  • Newsletters

Check In

There’s nothing like a personal phone call to check in with past clients. It shows you value their business, and that you’re a trusted source of real estate knowledge. If clients were planning on doing renos after moving in – this is an easy talking point. Other great ideas for check in calls are:

  • When mortgage rate changes
  • The anniversary of the sale
  • If new construction is planned in their area
  • Industry news that may affect them
  • Seasonal home maintenance tips

Ask

If you deliver excellent service, stay connected with past clients, and act as a trusted real estate expert – then asking for referrals won’t feel gimmicky. For example, you could say  – “I really enjoyed helping you find your first home, and if you know anyone who may be interested in entering the real estate market – I’d love to help them out.” A simple statement like this tells past clients the type of referrals you’re interested in, and makes it clear that you’re looking for referrals.

Say Thank You

Whether a referral turns into new business or not – always say thank you and show your gratitude. And better yet – if the person has their own business, send a referral back their way!

5 Things Every REALTOR Should Do After Closing

Your Post Close To-Do ListFor any real estate agent, getting to the closing table means we’ve done our job. We’ve guided our clients through the real estate process, helped them find perfect home, negotiated the best deal and ensured all the T’s are crossed so everything goes off without a hitch. The truth is though, getting to the closing table doesn’t mean our job is over. Real estate is about relationships. And if we want to drive repeat business and referrals, the relationships we build with clients can’t end when the deal is signed.

 

So, how do you foster client relationships after you close? Here’s our list of the top 5 things you should do with every client.

 

1.Say Thank You

Thank you is one of the most powerful phrases in the English language. For sales professionals – it should be a regular part of your day. After you’ve finished working with a client, send a personal thank-you note or drop off a closing gift. It shows you’re sincere and care about more than your commission.

2.Connect Clients with Your Trusted Service Pros

Buying a home is just the first step. New owners need a long list of home service pros and local businesses make their house a home and help them get settled in their neighborhood. Share with clients your list of trusted vendors – like movers, landscapers and painters – and your favorite local restaurants, hang outs and attractions.

3. Ask for a Review or Testimonial

Honest feedback from recent clients is the best way to understand why clients love working with you, and what improvements will take your business to the next level. Send clients a short feedback survey after you close and ask if they’d be willing to provide a testimonial or write a review.

4. Let Clients know you Love Referrals

As a real estate agent, referrals from past clients can provide a steady stream of  highly-qualified leads. Referrals decrease your marketing costs, minimize prospecting time and improve your time to close. But don’t assume that referrals will just come your way – you should be actively engaging with your referral network. Let past clients know referrals are the backbone of your business, highlight the type of client you like working with and ask if they know anyone looking to buy or sell that fits this profile. For example, during a check-in call with a past client, you could say “I’m really glad to hear you’re enjoying your new home. I love to helpling first-time home buyers find the perfect property, and I was wondering if you have any friends or family looking at buying their first home that I could contact?” If you’ve done your job – you don’t need to be afraid of asking for referrals.

5. Plan to Stay in Touch

If you want to increase repeat clients and referrals, you’ll need to stay in touch with clients after you close. Create a communications roadmap to stay top of mind – this could include a follow up call 1 month after move-in date, monthly email newsletter to past clients with market updates, and holiday cards.

 

How do you stay relevant and top of mind with past clients?

 

With ClientLinkt  real estate agents & offices can share their list of trusted home service providers and local businesses with clients via their own custom-branded mobile app – helping them to increase client value, stay top of mind & drive referrals. 

 

Reciprocity, Referrals & Real Estate

Referrals, Reciprocity & Real EstateThe Theory of Reciprocity states that as humans, we naturally want to return a favor. Simply put – when someone does something that benefits us, we feel obligated to do something in return.

 

While the theory is simple to understand – it has powerful implications for real estate agents. As a Realtor, your work is based on relationships with clients, professional contacts & your network of trusted service providers – like mortgage brokers, lawyers, contractors & home service professionals. And if you foster these relationships – you can grow our business exponentially through reciprocity.

 

Think about it. Buying or selling a property is the biggest financial decision most people will ever make. So if you build meaningful relationships with your clients, really help them through the process and offer exceptional service – they’ll want to reciprocate the hard work you’ve done by sending referrals your way.

 

Where reciprocity gets even more powerful though is when it comes to your network of trusted service providers. As a Realtor, your clients are constantly asking you for the name of a mortgage broker, real estate lawyer, contractor, home decorator or moving company. You regularly refer clients to these vendors – and these vendors depend on referrals from real estate agents to grow their business.

 

By formalizing your referral process with mortgage brokers, lawyers, home service pros & other professionals – you can therefore drive leads through reciprocity. First, have your list of recommended service providers easily accessible to your clients. With ClientLinkt – you can share your list of via your own custom-branded smartphone app so its always accessible to your clients. Then – contact each of these service providers to let them know you’ve included them in your list of recommendations. Plan follow-up calls with vendors to check-in about clients you’ve referred to them, and thank them when they deliver great service to your clients. They’ll be thankful for the clients you’ve referred to them – and return the favor by sending referrals your way.

 

Using Community Sites to Farm Your Neighborhood

Use these steps to use sites like Nextdoor and connect with people in your community!Online community forums, neighborhood Facebook groups, and sites like Nextdoor are a great way to connect with people in your area, let them know you’re a REALTOR®, and position yourself as the neighborhood’s go-to agent. The challenge? Before you can ask if anyone’s ready to sell – you need to earn their trust. Think of it as farming your neighborhood, but virtually.

A really effective way to do this is to curate a list of recommended businesses in the area, and share it with your neighbors through these sites. Not only does it show your expertise as a local expert, but it also gets the word out about you being a REALTOR® in a way that isn’t pushy. Plus – it gives you a reason to start collecting contact details!

With the Connector smartphone app by ClientLinkt you can easily create & share your list of recommended businesses & service providers – and promote the list through your community site. Here’s how to do it!

1. Create a Connector Account & Start Building Your List

  • Visit www.clientlinkt.com/connector and sign up (it’s free to try).
  • Add your existing list of services providers that you use on a regular basis, or use some of the service providers who are in the “recommended” section of your Nextdoor Community site.

2. Socialize the Idea by Posting a Message in your Community’s Site

  • Let neighbours know you’re a REALTOR® and are setting up a smartphone app business directory for everyone in your area
  • Ask if anyone owns a business they’d like to include in the app or if they know of a business they think should be added – this is great for growing the list organically & getting feedback!

3. Add Discounts to your List

  • When neighbours respond that they want their business added, make sure to write back and ask if they can provide an “exclusive discount” on their services for community members…. If so, they’ll be highlighted in a Discount section of the app.

4. Maintain Momentum

  • Complete your list in a 7-14 day time frame and write an update post on your community site announcing it’s ready
  • Thank your community for offering their input and time.  
  • In the body of the post include the link to download the Connector app and the Invite Code to the list you created.

5. Reach Out

  • Spend 15 minutes each day on your community forum/Nextdoor site looking posts asking for recommendations on plumbers, movers, painters, etc
  • Reply  with a helpful message suggesting they download your Connector app to find a list of recommendations in the neighborhood.
  • This activity will boost your app downloads and increase your activity on the site. Each time someone downloads Connector & accesses your list – you’ll be notified & have access to their contact details!

By following these five steps, you can effectively market yourself in your community’s online forum, Facebook group or Nextdoor without being pushy. You can “virtually” farm your local market while providing a valuable service to your community.

To get started, visit www.clientlinkt.com/connector & create your account!

Get Your Referral Playbook for 2016

Referrals are the highest converting lead source for any real estate agent. But if you don’t have a plan for discovering referral partners & building your referral pipeline – you’re losing out.

On Thursday, December 17th we’ll be hosting a free webinar to give you a step-by-step guide on driving referrals for your real estate business. Learn how to organize your database, follow up with past clients & turn professional contacts into referral partners that send you high-converting leads.

Join esteemed real estate coach & technology expert Dan Wood with ClientLinkt for a free 30 minute webinar on  Your Referral Playbook for 2016. In this webinar we’ll cover:

  • Identifying referral partners that give you a competitive edge
  • Scripts for generating referrals from your sphere of influence
  • Using technology to stay connected & maximize your efforts

Don’t miss out on this exclusive webinar – register HERE to reserve your spot!

Capturing Your Real Estate Niche

Capturing Your Real Estate NicheFor any real estate agent, a clearly defined niche strengthens your market position, creates efficiencies and establishes you as an expert. Whether you specialize in a property type, client demographic, or neighborhood – adopting a niche strategy has obvious benefits. So how do you go about discovering, defining & developing your niche?

1.Study Your Past Clients

In order to adopt a niche strategy, first look at your past clients. What patterns do you see? Study client profiles, property types, neighborhoods & home prices. Are most of your clients buying heritage properties? Or maybe there’s lots of millennials shopping in urban areas, or retirees selling their family home to downsize?

2.Decide if It’s for You

After looking at your past clients and the trends that emerge, which were the most lucrative? Examine your commission, expenses and time spent to secure and close each deal. If you have more than one niche that appears, which did you enjoy working with more? And most importantly – will this be a lucrative niche moving forward? Research future market trends and see what opportunities there are. Are the demographics of your city changing? How does this affect your niche strategy? A lot of this info can be found through your local real estate association and municipal government.

3.Define Your Niche

After analyzing your past clients and deciding what niche is for you, it’s time to define it. You should be able to succinctly describe your niche in one sentence. It should give direction to your marketing & prospecting, and let potential clients know exactly who you work with. For example, “I help young couples and families find their first home” or “I specialize downtown condos for an urban lifestyle.”

4.Get Prepared

If you’re going to adopt a niche strategy – you’ll need to be an expert. Brush up your skills by registering for a course, reading up on emerging trends and practicing your scripts. Honing in on a geographic area? Study up on past sales and visit open houses in the area to see what’s selling, what key features the area boasts, and how properties are marketed. Looking to work with retirees downsizing? What about becoming a NAR Senior Real Estate Specialist®?

5.Execute

How will you capture your niche? Even with all the planning & studying, execution is where you’ll sink or swim. Focus your efforts on your niche: target your website to these home buyers or sellers, network with service providers and local businesses that also work with this demographic; talk to your sphere of influence about the type of clients you work with and properties you sell so they know what referrals to send your way; and regularly re-evaluate your efforts to see what’s successful and where improvements can be made.

Net Promoter Score, Your Clients & You

Net Promoter Score
Any real estate agent knows their business is based on referrals. Success is built on relationships – and our ability to make lasting ones is what creates a steady stream of referrals from past clients, business partners and our network of professional contacts.

But how do you actually measure the power of your sphere of influence?

One of the most recognized metrics is the Net Promoter Score developed by Satmetrix and published in Harvard Business Review  in 2004. Simply put – a company’s Net Promoter score sets out to measure how likely its clients are to refer them, and uses this score to determine future success. While customer feedback surveys can be lengthy and cumbersome, the Net Promoter Score only asks one question:

How likely are you to recommend me to your friends & colleagues?

Simple, easy to understand, and extremely powerful. Clients are asked to answer the question using a 0 -10 rating scale, with 10 being extremely likely to recommend and 0 being not likely to recommend. Everyone answering between 0-6 is classified as a Detractor, 7-8s are Passives, and 9-10s are Promoters.

Detractors are people that are unhappy with your business. Not only will they be unlikely to return or send you referrals, but they can also harm your reputation by writing bad reviews on Zillow or Yelp.

While Passives are happy with the service you provide – they’re unlikely to promote you or send you referrals. They’d be willing to switch to one of your competitors, and while satisfied with you as a real estate agent – they aren’t overly loyal and they aren’t helping your business grow.

And finally – your Promoters. These are clients that rate you as a 9 or 10. They’re repeat clients, they tell others about how great you are, and they actively send referrals your way.

Net Promoter Score Your Net Promoter score is the percentage of your clients that are Promoters minus the percentage of Detractors. So the number could range from -100 if all of your clients were Detractors to +100 if all of your clients answered 9 or 10.

What’s key here is that to grow your business – you need Promoters.

Imagine you have 2 clients: John & Jane. You helped John find his first home. He thought you did a great job, and loved that you found him the perfect bachelor pad with a great yard for entertaining. Then there’s Jane – a recent retiree looking to downsize. You help sell her family home at a price that gives her lots of flexibility for retirement.  

John posts an album of his new home on Facebook – tagging you as his REALTOR® and thanking you for doing such an awesome job. Turns out he has a lot of friends who are also looking to buy their first home, and he refers them your way.  While Jane felt you did a good job – she’s moving cities and quickly gets caught up in packing and finding her new home. She doesn’t bother leaving you an online review or sending any referrals – she knows there’s lots of great agents out there. 

Moral of the story? John is a Promoter – he’s championing your business and helping you grow by sending referrals your way. While Jane was happy with your work as her seller’s agent, her value as a client was singular whereas John’s value snowballed with each referral he sent. 
Whether or not you calculate your Net Promoter Score, it’s an important concept for understanding the power of referrals and how you create create your own self-perpetuating sales funnel. How do you ensure clients become your Promoters??

Building Referrals from Your Professional Network

Building Your Referral NetworkDo you have a vendor network? A list of business professionals that you refer clients to and that send referrals your way?

For most top producing agents, their professional network of trusted service providers is the most lucrative referral source. So, if you aren’t actively growing & strengthening your professional network – here’s how to do it.

Why Does it Matter?

Business owners understand the importance of referrals. They know referrals are the backbone of any successful business,  and they’re willing AND wanting to find referral partners. Better still, they understand the difference between a qualified and unqualified lead – and will send you  more profitable, easy-to-close referrals than referrals from past clients.

How to Get Started

To get referrals from professional service providers, start by making a list of industries. Don’t limit yourself to ones you already have contacts in – think outside of who you already know and do business with.  And don’t just stick to industries that are directly involved in the real estate transaction. Plumbers, contractors, florists, car dealers, even local restaurants can all be great partners. Remember – the point is to expand your network to find potential clients that you otherwise wouldn’t meet.

Find Partners

Now, in each industry – list a potential business owner/contact that could be your referral partner. Don’t know anyone in the industry? Ask clients who they currently use and trust, ask over social media, or do a quick search on Yelp for a highly rated business in the category.

Make Contact

Call up these potential partners and introduce yourself (if you don’t already know them). Explain that as a real estate agent, you’re often asked by clients for referrals for great businesses and that your building out your list of recommendations. Ask if you can meet to discuss potential opportunities and learn more about their business.

Build Rapport, Build Relationships

Remember, real estate is about relationship. Build rapport with these service providers & business owners – learn about what they do, their business history, who they work with. By understanding their business, you can send better referrals their way and they’ll send better referrals to you. If you want to build a lasting relationship where they’re actively referring their clients t0 you – it isn’t just about exchanging a business card.

Track

Just like all of your leads, you should track your referrals. Keep a tally of the referrals you receive, who sent them, time to close, and the purchase price. This way you can evaluate who your best referral sources are, and how you can better foster these relationships.

Don’t Let it Slide

Building and fostering relationships with trusted service providers & local businesses is not a one time thing. Follow up with your contacts on the referrals you’ve exchanged, invite them to your client appreciation events, send a holiday card, go for lunch. Looking to find new referral partners?? Call up the landscaper your last client was raving about or the new florist that opened down the street.

Have you built out your network of service providers? Who are your most trusted referral partners? 

How to Ask for Referrals

The Best Way to Ask for ReferralsAs a real estate agent, our success is driven by our ability to create the most value for clients in their buying or selling journey. We spend countless hours ensuring that our clients are happy – and when we’ve done our job we pat ourselves on the back and wait for the referrals to flow in.

 

But despite the thank yous – unsolicited referrals don’t just happen. While it’s been found that the vast majority of clients are willing to make a referral, less than 30% will actually follow through.

 

So how do we ask for referrals without feeling pushy? Here’s our top 3 ways.

 

1.Use a Client Survey

Does your office send satisfaction surveys to past clients? If so, this is a great opportunity to ask for referrals from happy clients. Include a question at the end of your survey for clients to provide the name & contact info for anyone they know looking to buy or sell – it’s a simple way to ask for a referral when your client is already reflecting on the service you provide.

2. Ask During a Follow Up Call

Follow up calls to clients after they buy or sell is a great way of showing you’re truly interested in helping them, and not just collecting your commission. After checking in with how they’re doing, be specific when you ask. Outline the type of client you like working with and be genuine with why you’re asking for the referral. For example, you could say

“I’m really glad we were able to work together to find your new home. I always enjoy helping first-time buyers explore their real estate options, and I was wondering if you know anyone in a similar position looking to buy their first home?”

3. Be a Resource

Whenever you ask for a referral, you should always be providing value at the same time. Being a resource to clients after you close is a perfect way to ask for  a referral and stay top of mind. Share with clients a list of recommended home service providers to help them with their home, offer negotiated discounts from local businesses, or share updates on local events in their new community.

 

When it comes to referrals, always remember that a referral is the ultimate compliment from your clients. Provide clients with great service, provide value after you close, and then watch the referrals come your way!

With ClientLinkt by QuickLinkt real estate agents & offices can share their list of trusted home service providers and local businesses with clients via their own custom-branded mobile app – helping them to increase client value, stay top of mind & drive referrals. 

How to Evaluate Real Estate Technology

the best tech products

Today, as real estate agents we have an almost unlimited number of technology tools at our disposal. With products ranging from social media management to accounting software to e-signatures, it can be a complicated process to figure out what actually helps grow your business. But how do you evaluate new products and decide if the investment is worth it???

 

Unless you’re especially tech savvy – or want to spend days reading through product reviews – deciding on new technology can be a daunting process. Turning to your colleagues, broker or local association for advice is always a good idea, but how can you decide what’s actually the best option for you?  You only need to ask one question:

How will this create a better buying or selling experience for my Clients?

The fact is, as a real estate agent our job is about creating client value. We’re in the service industry, and therefore our decisions need to be based on what’s best for our clients and not which solutions have the most bells and whistles. At the end of the day, if a product doesn’t help our clients – it’s not worth the investment.

 

When evaluating tech, there’s 2 categories that products fit into: Client-Facing Products that our clients interact with and Internal-Facing Products that help us increase productivity so we can better serve our clients.

 

Client-Facing Products are solutions that our clients see. These tools help with buying or selling, and include virtual tour software, automated listing updates or live chat on your website. When evaluating these solutions, you should assess the technology based on how they help your clients in their real estate experience.

 

Internal-Facing Products increase productivity, allowing you to spend more time building relationships. These solutions include CRMs, accounting software or marketing automation tools. While your clients may not see these products, you should evaluate them based on the time you’ll save and how you can allocate this time to clients. If you can’t quantify your increase in productivity, then investing in these solutions isn’t worth it.

 

At the end of the day, any tech solution should help leverage our current strengths. We should be able to articulate how the product helps us build relationships, and not just provide a laundry list of features. As a real estate agent, what products do you find the most beneficial?

 

ClientLinkt by QuickLinkt enables real estate agents & offices to share their list of trusted service providers and local businesses with clients via their own custom-branded Smartphone App, allowing agents to add new client value while growing their brand. Learn more at www.clientlinkt.com