‘Stop sending generic information,’ expert says

Follow-up is the foundation for finding new clients and retaining former ones, according to Denise Lones, president of The Lones Group, a real estate consulting company that specializes in systems and marketing.

“Consumers expect service. They’re expecting someone to return a call within four hours. If they’ve already done business with you, you have 24 hours to respond. Many new customers will continue to call different offices until they get someone,” Lones said. “REALTORS® need to be mindful about what’s on their voice mail so consumers know that the REALTOR® will return their call.”

As REALTORS® respond to their clients, they should provide information that clearly shows they are the expert. Lones said REALTORS® should give information according to the clients’ needs.

For example, Lones said buyers want up-to-the-minute listings through both a phone call highlighting the new listings and a follow-up e-mail. “They want REALTORS® to research the listings and provide their thoughts on the properties,” she said.

Sellers want REALTORS® to explain what’s happening in their market, what other new listings are in the area and what listings are pending. They want to know what the REALTOR® thinks about what’s happening in the local real estate market.

“Closing clients are the most important to maintain a high level of communication with,” Lones said. She suggests sending a pending or closing calendar with every event listed and calling them with an update and an explanation of what’s happening.

Lones said communicating throughout the transaction, especially closing, is imperative to keeping that client and getting referrals. “This is when buyers and sellers are talking about their sale more than any other time. If you keep them informed, they’ll tell their friends and family how great you were,” she said.

Creating a system to maintain contact with past clients is how to get repeat business. “About 97.5 percent of all agents lost contact with their past clients within three years,” Lones said. “You should have a system so those clients continue to bring you business.”

Lones suggests sending something to past clients once a month: six articles a year telling them important real estate information and a quarterly report that shows a snapshot of the market, comparing it to last year. In December, she recommends sending a recap of the past year and what the market’s like. In January, she said it’s a good time to send a list of every sale in their neighborhood, pendings, listings and other activities.

“It’s important that everything you send to them is very specific about the local market,” Lones said. Her research shows that generic mailers have a one- to two-percent response rate while mailings with specific neighborhood information have a five- to six-percent response rate.

“Stop sending out generic information and start showing them what you know. It takes more research and time but the response rate is greater,” she added. “Even if you don’t have a dime to spend, you have the time to find this information. This type of message tells your clients, ‘I’m in real estate, I’m the one to call and I’m consistent.’”