Maintain a specific client list and manage regular communications

Contacting hundreds of past clients may not be the most efficient way to build your business, according to Bernice Ross, owner of RealEstateCoach.com.

“Research shows that you can most effectively manage a contact list of 150 people,” Ross said. “You need to evaluate your list and make sure you’re communicating with the most important people.”

With a list of 150 people, Realtors® should be contacting seven to eight people per day, five days a week. The goal is to have four face-to-face meetings a year.

“I suggest that you end every day calling a past client who loves you,” Ross said. “Keep the conversation casual, asking what’s going on with them, how the kids are — being interested in them as a person. It ends your day on a positive note and you get to catch up with the changes in their lives.”

You can contact them through a variety of methods – Facebook, Pinterest, phone calls, postcards. “Facebook is the best way to manage things because most of our clients have pages. You can easily respond to something they’ve posted on their profile page,” she said. “What you send should be useful to them. Your online communications should help you get a face-to-face meeting with that person.

“For clients who purchased a home through you, send them an update on the anniversary of their date of sale. Include a comparative market analysis (CMA) and show how their property has increased in value,” Ross said.

You could also invite them to attend an open house. “When you invite them to an open house, always add that you’ll be serving refreshments,” she added. “People like to receive something for their time and who turns down refreshments?”

She said if you’re sending a postcard or making calls about a listing, make the message personal. “It shouldn’t be about you selling a house. For example, ‘Thought you might like this listing because it has a similar floor plan to your home and you can see what they’ve done’,” she explains.

“Your contacts with clients should be helpful to them,” Ross continued. “Help them with their business, give tips for hiring a babysitter, highlight great shopping in the area. It helps to have fun and show something you’re passionate about. I might not be able to buy a high-end client a expensive bottle of wine, but I could give him an autographed book about something he’s interested in.”

Once you’ve been sending mail pieces out monthly, research suggests you can reduce the number to four to six a year because they will remember hearing from you, according to Ross.

“You attract people who are like you,” she added. “You do that by building a connection based upon your similarities and genuinely caring about them.”