Did You Lose a Customer Today?

RISMEDIA, Oct. 29, 2007-As you read this, you are losing a customer. We all have the best of intentions, and we all want to maintain our sphere of influence. We even fool ourselves into thinking that we do this all the time. We spend a lot of time on a sale, and in the hearty “thank you” afterwards. But take out a pen and paper and do the following: write down the names of your last five sales, and then write down when you last had contact with each person. Has more than 30 days passed since you last spoke? Now think of your customers from three years ago and do the same. People regularly retain facts, but without repeated contact, they forget the source*.

This is bad news for an agent who doesn’t keep in regular contact with their clients. With both a highly mobile population (NAR tells us, on average, people moving every three to five years), and multiple media channels, deciding where your tight marketing dollars will be most effective and profitable is tough. A sign in a neighborhood is a great way to publicize your services, but isn’t the more personal touch you need to stay top-of-mind to those you have previously represented in a transaction.

A home sale is one of the most stressful events in a person’s life, and real estate agents are unfortunately caught in that fray. With a hard real estate market like ours, things can get especially tense. A home is more than a place to live, but also a financial investment: 72% of homeowners feel that their home is their most important asset. Today’s credit crunch means that a real estate agent has an even tougher job of managing relationships, as they are compounded by pressures of listings being on longer, not selling at all, or selling for less than your clients’ expectations.

What does this doom-and-gloom outlook mean for a real estate agent? The need to get more leads than ever before, to ensure you get referrals, and to be an expert at managing your sphere of influence by communicating regularly with relevant and timely information. Knowledge is power, and you can demonstrate your commitment by providing your customers with market know-how. Joining a Web community can certainly help you to keep in touch. Many real estate agents are using tools like MySpace, Facebook, Craigslist and LinkedIn to publicize listings and update their colleagues, customers, friends and family about what’s going on in the market. The Web can be a powerful tool for any agent to use.

Here are some key ways to be effective in your selling:

-Only have a Web site that augments listing information by giving tax information, area background, and lots of property pictures.

-Use a regular customer communication tool that hits your sphere of influence, at least once-a-month. Direct mail is your best chance of being heard. A newsletter product can work wonders. Another bonus to a newsletter is that it is easily recognizable from month-to-month. Make sure you choose a product that is full-color and offers personalization-the brand called “you!”

-E-mail as a communication channel is experiencing fatigue. Unless your client specifically asks you for e-mail, don’t send it. Spam filters are very sophisticated, and your message will likely end up in the trash.

-Make sure the marketing tool you use can be automated-nothing is a bigger waste-of-time than trying to do all of your marketing yourself.

*(Ashcraft, Mark H. Human Memory and Cognition (Addison-Wesley Pub Co., 1994)

For more information, visit www.marketconnections.com.

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