Good customer service is imperative for real estate agents, but being polite and knowledgeable about listings is not usually enough to retain clients over the long haul. So, how do you make an impression among buyers and sellers that makes them think of you whenever someone mentions “real estate?”
Here are 10 ways to wow your clients and set yourself apart from the competition.
1. Build Genuine Relationships
Real estate is a business, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave your relationship with your clients strictly in the professional zone. Make an effort to get to know your buyers and sellers on a personal level. Ask them about their family, work, and hobbies. If you have common interests, don’t hesitate to suggest getting together outside of listing appointments and home showings.
2. Hire a Cleaning Crew
Do your sellers need to spruce up their homes? Hire a crew to give the interior a deep clean or to tidy up the outside. Homeowners will likely be surprised and grateful you took some of the pre-listing load off their backs. Equally impressive, give the gift of house cleaning or gardening to buyers moving into a new home.
3. Connect Them to Trustworthy Businesses
Successful real estate agents should have a database of trustworthy professionals to refer clients. Save contact information for best-in-class inspectors, handymen, electricians, plumbers, general contractors, gardeners, and local service providers who can assist buyers and sellers as they navigate the home sale process.
4. Help Clients Pack
Depending on your relationship with your clients, you can help them pack their personal items before moving or send a team to wrap and box their belongings for them. Delivering packing materials, tape, and boxes is also a thoughtful touch.
5. Share Your Social Scene
Use your local area knowledge to refer buyers to the best businesses near their new home, such as noteworthy cafes, restaurants, country clubs, gyms, bookstores, and specialty grocery stores. Additionally, make sure your clients know about any local social groups online that can be a source of information and offer a warm welcome.
6. Use Their Business or Refer Others
Whether your clients own their own companies or work somewhere you can frequent as a patron, pay their businesses a little love if possible. Let your buyers and sellers know that you want to support them in more ways than simply showing homes or assisting with document preparation. Consider giving their businesses a shout on your social networks too like Facebook, Google, Yelp, or LinkedIn.
7. Buy Them a Cool Smart Home Product
Wow your buyer and seller clients with a cool smart home product for their new abode. There are many fun features to play around with on the latest smart technology devices, so consider gifting your clients a new toy for their home, such as a camera-enabled doorbell or exterior lighting set, an Apple HomePod or Amazon Echo, smart lightbulbs, or a Wi-Fi-enabled sprinkler controller or water monitor.
8. Get Buyers a Gift Certificate or Membership
Discovering the best places to eat or enjoy entertainment in a new city can be challenging. Help your buyers find what’s amazing in their new surroundings by giving them a gift certificate or membership to somewhere that you love. Is there a produce box delivery you can sign them up for? Do you have a museum nearby that offers annual memberships? Your clients with kids might appreciate a gift certificate or membership to a play place or children’s gym.
9. Send Dinner on Moving Day
Your buyer and seller clients will probably be pretty busy on moving day. Make things easier for them by delivering dinner, wine, and dessert. Choose your favorite restaurant and order family-sized portions of the most popular dishes. Or, casually inquire about your clients’ food faves and surprise them.
10. Give a Best of Basket
Curate a basket with some of the best products in various categories, such as a top wine, bag of whole bean coffee, local honey, or Italian pasta. You might also include coupons and gift cards for the most popular places to eat and drink, listen to live music, get a car wash, or spend a Sunday.
The key to wowing your clients is to get personal and let them know in a unique way that you value them as more than a transaction, but rather as a member of your family.
Looking for more ways to impress clients? Read our article on how to become the best agent in the neighborhood and browse other marketing tips in our Be Better Blog.
