One of the joys of being a real estate agent is helping your clients get ready to sell their homes. However, there can be a few hurdles in the process. For example, managing curb appeal issues - cracked pavement, stained window frames, lawn maintenance issues and so on.
As real estate agents, your clients respect your knowledge and turn to you for guidance in matters of their home selling or buying needs. So, help them get ready to present themselves to an eager market.
Bring the verbiage from "real estate agent" to "real estate client"
Sometimes, "curb appeal" and "open houses" leave bad impressions on clients in real estate. But in the real estate business, you need to use these terms to explain the various pieces of the selling process.
Here's the trick:
Find words that encompass the overall feeling you're trying to convey. If you want to gently ask your client to spruce up their yard, explain how it enhances the "atmosphere" over focusing heavily on the curb appeal.
Teaching Moment: Try using words that you'd use on your real estate website to sell your client's home to potential buyers. Integrate atmospheric and stunning power words into your conversations with your clients to help get them in the right mindset.
Go through the physical process & your digital marketing strategy
It's said successful real estate agents understand every inch about their transactional strategies. And it's true. Many successful agents have an intensely firm grasp on the process of selling a property, from listing to post-close celebration. Your clients expect that out of you.
But there's something else you can add to your unique real estate niche. Lay out your digital marketing skills for your clients to see.
Ask if you can take pictures of something in their yard, garden, on the front of the house or even inside. Next, show them the key facets that may be trending right now, even if they're just design-related pieces.
Explain where these features would perform well across your social media platforms. Show relevant examples from similar homes on the market that may have sold quickly. And connect your highlights and keywords wherever you can to build a fully formed image for them.
Use your past clients' experiences - with their permission
Repeat business is referral business. Even if you've closed the sale, stayed in touch and your happy clients aren't searching for a new home, their testimonials will go a long way.
Ask them to craft a few to post on your social platforms and website. If you've got a direct mailing service, you may even want to try adding a few quick happy statements. This shows you're not only invested in making the sale, but you kept your clients' success a priority.
Find examples from other real estate professionals
If you happen to be a new real estate agent, you may not have had many clients that you can lean on. However, if you have other agents in your office, or even connected on LinkedIn, ask if they have any examples of successful sales, open houses and home presentations to show your clients.
If you're seasoned in your real estate career, you may just need a few different ideas and a fresh approach. Collaborating with others in your industry not only builds a strong support network of talented individuals, but offers your clients a fully formed cache of resources that come with your services.
Integrate outside influences in your real estate marketing plan
Now, here comes the fun part: trends. From TikTok dances to sharing common interests in a spirited way, showing your client that you're in sync with trends and getting in front of audiences can have a lasting effect.
You can also use funky design trends if your clients are searching for a more niche buyer, too. For agents working with vintage-lovers, keep track of the returning trends from decades past to give them more comfortable options when it's time to stage their home.
Above all, Be Human
From past real estate clients to new leads, there's one thing they all have in common. They are all human beings, and so are you. Patience, open communication and gentle reminders go a long way. Be sure to have conversations instead of just explaining things to them.
Being a real estate professional is taxing, but it doesn't have to be stringent and unwavering all the time. In fact, many buyers and sellers find agents with genuine interest in their well-being and a balanced sense of business and fun more relatable, which means more business for you.
