Relationships in real estate are your biggest source of wealth. They drive more business to you. They also can make your job easier. How do we go about creating and maintaining relationships with our real estate leads?
The Guide to Cultivating Relationships in Real Estate
1. Understand the Lifecycle
The majority of the home buying cycle is over before a real estate prospect speaks to you about your business. The majority of their time is spent online researching. Understand that they will spend a few months investigating the local market before they even talk to you. This knowledge will allow you to get the upperhand against your competition.
2. Provide a Good Experience
The primary reason a buyer or seller will choose a real estate agent over their competitor because of the EXPERIENCE. This applies to both other agents and big "1% commission" companies. Remember the lifecylce? Successful agents know that they need to nurture the lead before they are ready to transact, before they are ready to even speak. Agents that think online leads stink will try to push a buyer into a decision when they are not yet ready, which directs them to their competition.
3. Demonstrate Your Expertise
"Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends" - Walt Disney
The experience starts when they first land on your website, which is where many agents struggle. Where they shine is after they get the client face-to-face. Do your job so well that your clients will want to use you again, and recommend their friends to use you too.
4. The Community
Working a system of referrals requires a community. You can either build this community yourself, or use your existing network. If you are an introvert, that is quite alright because you can still learn excellent networking skills. By being the person that brings everybody together by connecting individuals, even if it means no benefit to you, you can be the cornerstone in the community that people flock to when they are in need of something.
By building strong relationships in the community, you will no longer need to tell people you are the neighborhood expert because they will already know.
Not enough time to build relationships like you should? Find out how Zurple does that for you.
