As the lead of a highly competitive real estate team, I recently asked my top-producing agents what they feel sets us apart from the competition. Here are their five most important strategies for gaining a competitive advantage.
1. Your Database
Every email our team collects goes into a database. You never know who will eventually need to buy or sell a house, so we carefully craft drip emails, real estate updates and special event invitations to send to this database. While we’ve collected over 11,000 names, a database of 100 – 300 names can bring you a lot of business when you follow up consistently and regularly.
2. Marketing Assistance
We gain a huge advantage by tapping into our brokerage’s marketing expertise and initiatives, optimizing the ads, newsletters and events for our client base. We use the power of our logo, our team branding and a call to action on everything we put out. We put marketing front and center in our minds and actions.
3. Client Retention and Referrals
Our team makes an effort to call, email, text and snail mail our past clients regularly. We use these “high-touch” tactics to go the extra mile. And once we close, the fun begins. Our clients stay connected to us long after the sale, which results in repeat business and referrals.
4. Top 50 and VIP Programs
Our Top 50—the 50 people most likely to refer us when someone they know is looking for an agent—gets our special attention weekly. By developing and nurturing relationships with these 50 people, we’ve set ourselves up to run a successful business. When they become past clients, they go into a VIP program for giveaways, parties and other special attention.
5. Team Collaboration
From buyer’s agents to admin, our team members excel at their individual responsibilities to create a highly efficient team. Working together and seeking guidance from each other puts us ahead of the pack in the competitive arena. Our clients know that we have a team of highly skilled agents who have a spirit of cooperation, and that sets us apart.
Look at your own business. Are you taking advantage of the relationships in your Top 50 or past client pools? What about the relationships on your team? Find the areas where you can go above and beyond, and work the strategies in this list as part of your daily routine. Commit to a higher level of engagement with your clients, day in and day out—and in no time at all, you’ll find your own competitive advantage and be on your way to owning your piece of the market.
Sarah Bernard is a Workman Success Systems senior coach. She helps her clients build top-producing teams while sharing tactics and systems for greater success in the real estate industry. You can reach her at sarahbernard@workmansuccesssystems.com or on LinkedIn.
