People looking to buy or sell a home are increasingly relying on the internet as a resource. While the internet can offer valuable advice and information, real estate professionals are still necessary for guiding buyers and sellers through the process.
If you’re in the real estate industry, you may be wondering how to better reach and connect with potential customers. To help, the members of Forbes Real Estate Council share 15 actionable steps you can take to improve your current processes and increase customer engagement.
Members of Forbes Real Estate Council offer suggestions for enhancing processes and engagement with customers.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Share Properties Before They Hit The Market
Because of the lack of inventory in thriving markets, a seasoned, connected and experienced agent is essential to finding available properties before they hit the open market. In addition, when it comes to negotiating a contract, a known agent with a great reputation has a huge advantage over an internet-generated agent. – Laura Gottesman, Gottesman Residential Real Estate
2. Streamline Communication With Prospects And Clients
To improve current processes, agents must streamline communication with prospects and established clients. In today’s fast-paced environment, timeliness is everything. Whether it’s by text, email or a simple phone call, understanding the method the client wants to use for communication is critical. The agent must be proactive in responding quickly. Social media is also a critical platform to use. – Blake Montgomery, Chinowth & Cohen Realtors
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3. Establish A Process For Obtaining Reviews
One thing real estate professionals can do to improve their current processes and increase consumer engagement is to construct and ruthlessly implement a process for obtaining quality customer reviews. This should be done both online and in-person using videos showing themselves with their happy clients. – Daniel Breslin, Diamond Equity Investments
4. Seek To Educate Your Clients
While buyers may not need us to find properties as much as they did 20 years ago, they still need our advice and guidance. Educate your clients. Create FAQs and template emails to guide them along the way for every step of the process. We do this every day but a consumer normally only buys or sells a home every five to seven years. Education is the key to keeping clients engaged and proving your value. – Erica Ramus, RAMUS Realty Group
5. Embrace Technology
Agents have to embrace technology and find companies that can do the heavy lifting for them. Companies can make the “first touch” on the agent’s behalf when they are matched with a home seller in real-time via group SMS message and email. We’ve seen our agents’ contact rates improve by 70% with this simple tech automation! – Graham Gochneaur, GVG Capital LLC
6. Prioritize Your Customer’s Needs
Almost everything that is sold on the internet these days is set up to make things more efficient and less costly for the company. This sets it up so that what is best for the company is most important. To counter this trend, real estate professionals working on leads from the internet need to get it across from the beginning that the customer and what they want is the No. 1 priority. Then create that experience for them. – Terry Painter, Apartment Loan Store
7. Don’t Create Panic For Your Clients
On the commercial side of the real estate market, I see far too many brokers representing themselves, creating need or even panic with their clients. We represent clients, not transactions. Be more representative of the needs of investors that may not match market conditions. Though values may be shifting, your client may not benefit from it. – Neil Cadman, Cadman Group
8. Offer Critical And Emotional Thinking
While the internet is great for information, having a professional help you navigate and cut through the clutter is more important now than ever. A real estate professional can check data from multiple sources, help conduct due diligence and provide support in timely and efficient negotiations—the real critical and emotional thinking you can’t get from a smartphone. – Jason Duff, Small Nation
9. Continuously Build Your Online Presence
The one thing real estate professionals can do to improve their current processes is to become a recognized authority on the internet. This means actively and continuously engaging with prospects through social media outlets and online marketing campaigns. – Steve Alkandros, New England Management Group/AR Property Services, LLC
10. Take Advantage Of Social Media
Real estate professionals must embrace social media. An agent should be posting on their social platforms multiple times a week. The major thing is not to only post business-related content but to also post about your personal lives. Allow people to connect with you. – Cyrus Mohseni, The Keystone Team
11. Make Sellers Your Target Market
The sellers’ agents will remain necessary. It is buyers’ agents who need to be careful. Much of the searching and scheduling is now automated in many geographies. Brokerage agents (versus buyer agents) are offering much less commission, so we will continue to see changes. – Ashutosh Saxena, Caspar.AI
12. Invest In Marketing Automation
Once you’ve nailed down your consumer avatar, you need to set up a drip campaign that continues to add value to your consumer. This is easily accomplished through marketing automation. Create a lead magnet that attracts your consumer and set up an automated drip campaign that follows the initial interaction. This leads to building long-lasting trust and more conversions. – Raj Tekchandani, Smart Capital
13. Incorporate Digital Marketing Strategies
Become more tech-savvy to better incorporate digital marketing strategies into your company. For older agents, get a “reverse mentor”—a younger broker who is more tech-adept. Learn from them how they engage electronically while helping them embrace when and how to engage live and by voice. – Gabriel Silverstein, SVN|Angelic
14. Serve As A Resource To Clients
Keep an open dialogue. Ask questions, serve as a resource and make sure you encourage clients to reach out with any questions they may have throughout the process. Everyone has their own unique goals, wants and needs. Real estate professionals who genuinely care about and take the time to understand each clients’ unique preferences make the transaction easier and process more efficient. – Catherine Kuo, Elite Homes | Christie’s International Real Estate
15. Look At Your Existing Client List First
Look at what you have in your book of business. It’s great to push for growth. Perhaps growth is not what you need, so look at your client list. Engage and prune this list, and then proceed with outreach for new customers. The clients you have should be kept up-to-date about you and your company. You are the informant for the client. Inform them of the conditions as you see them and listen. – Michael J. Polk, Polk Properties / Matrix Properties