What You Can Do to Connect with Clients

If you’re interested in becoming a real estate agent, you’ve probably pondered this question before. After all, an agent’s bread and butter will come from connecting with people, mainly people they know they will be representing one day.

So to help you out, we’ll provide a list of ideas that you can use to start meeting prospects and growing your business.

Ideas to Connect with Clients

Family and Friends

When starting as a real estate agent, you will depend greatly on your current sphere of influence. As such, don’t be afraid to mention that you have your real estate license at family parties or events. You might be the only one in your circle that is an active agent, which could interest your family members if they need to hire a professional.

Present yourself as a source of real estate knowledge. Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts if anyone has questions about the market, a home, or real estate. After all, you are the subject matter expert!

Helping people is a big part of being a real estate agent. When you assist, you’ll seem approachable and trustworthy.

Social Media

Social media is becoming the go-to method of reaching out and letting people know the business you’re in.

On social platforms, you can share information about real estate. Many agents use it as a platform to promote their listings, talk about their closings, or simply share news about the real estate world. And all of that is good!

The more people associate you with the phrase “real estate” or known as that “person on Facebook whose a Realtor®,” the better for your top-of-mind awareness.

Also, engage as many people as you can on social media. For example, if someone comments on your posts, follow up with that person with a direct message or short video.

These tactics will go a long way to building your reputation, trust, and credibility in the field.

Join a Brokerage

You will need to join a brokerage to legally practice real estate. The state licenses brokers to oversee real estate transactions and ensure you adhere to ethical standards and legal requirements. So, consider joining a brokerage with a mentorship program, training, and resources to help you succeed.

Being part of a mentorship program will help you get some “on-site” training and put the skills you learned at real estate school to good use. 

The best part is if you make a mistake, your mentor will correct you. Not to mention, your mentor will help you in your mission to grow your sphere of connections. 

Meeting New People Daily

It’s often the objective of a real estate agent to meet at least one new person a day, as the more people they know, the more connections they form and the more leads they may nurture. 

Meeting new people can help improve your social skills, sales skills, and relationship building.

Not every person you meet will work with you, but the important part is that they recognize you as “that helpful real estate guy or gal.”

The best outcome is getting a referral from the people you meet. 

Maximize Reviews From Clients 

When you start getting clients, ask them to leave you Google reviews. After all, when you start reaching out to prospects or meeting new people, they’ll want to know what your past clients have said about you. 

So, they’ll look at your social media, Google Business Profile, and online search. 

The magic number on Google is 10 reviews.

And the more reviews you have under your belt, the more likely you’ll be able to send trust signals to relevant people on their real estate journey. 

Events, Networking, and Tour Listings

A large part of being a real estate agent is networking and meeting people in your industry. So, when your brokerage is hosting events, don’t hesitate to go out of your way and chat with your colleagues.

When there’s a networking event in the area, try to attend and meet like-minded people. Since you’re new to the real estate industry, you’ll most likely get tons of advice from other agents who were once in your shoes.

Tour other agents’ listings during an open house, especially if it’s an agent you already know. They’ll appreciate you helping them by bringing in more foot traffic. Not to mention, it’s a great way of meeting new people. 

Traits To Have To Be Your Own Boss

Being your own boss and growing a business can be rewarding on many levels. To succeed at this goal, you must work hard and be dedicated, understanding that you are responsible for everything, including connecting with clients.

Success will require you to be patient, self-disciplined, empathetic, focused, and driven.

For example, your social media posts might be doing very well. You have people commenting on your posts and messaging you, but they might not be getting appointments.

As the real estate agent in the conversation, it’s up to you to set those appointments and meetings with prospects. 

If a conversation with a prospect is going very well, perhaps you might want to offer them a chance to sit down with you at a cafe to talk more about their real estate goals and how you can help. 

Or if they simply want to learn when they could start looking for a home, offer a consultation appointment. They’ll keep you in mind by staying focused on the client’s wants and needs when searching for a house.

Nurture Your Existing Clients

Every experienced real estate agent will tell you the secret to being a successful agent is taking care of the clients that you already have. In short, your services don’t stop at the real estate closing.

Always keep in touch with the clients that you have. Social media is an excellent way of doing this. 

There’s also the clever use of postcards. Not every postcard or email you send their way involves real estate. Your past clients might not even look at them if they were about real estate. Instead, send postcards that evoke positive feelings.

There’s a brilliant method used by Bob Wolff in which he sends postcards to all of his clients every 14 days with nothing but an inspirational quote and, on the back of his card, his contact info. 

For example, if your client has recently bought a home with you, send them a note on what they could do with that spare room. This personal touch will be relevant to their new home and make it memorable.

Of course, when you’re doing a real estate transaction, treat your clients like they are family. When they have a positive experience, they’ll want to share it with the world. Happy clients are a great referral source.

Eric Crawford, president of the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors®, explains. 

“Everyone has billboards. Everyone has social media. But not everyone has clients willing to give them referrals.”

To put it in perspective, 82% of all real estate transactions come from referrals and repeat businesses. The average agent earns 42% of their income from either repeat clients or referrals. 

Disclaimer

You can not claim to be a Realtor® or real estate professional unless licensed in the state(s) you intend to practice.

To become a real estate agent, you must take a pre-license course, take the state(s) real estate licensing exam, activate your real estate license, and join a brokerage.

To become a full-fledged Realtor®, you need to be a member of the National Association of Realtors®.