What if we told you that looking after your vendors is one of the most important things you should do to secure future real estate success? Sounds simple, but unfortunately for many agents closing the loop between when a vendor chooses them to sell a property, throughout the sales process until the time it takes for them to buy or sell again, most people are likely to choose a different agent. 

90% of people say they would use an agent again but only 12% actually do. Such a large disparity in these figures shows there is room for improvement when it comes to maintaining a relationship with clients. Actually, it comes down to getting a vendor the results they expect then maintaining a long-term relationship with them. 

Not only will nurturing the relationship you have with a vendor help secure their future business with you.  It is one of the best ways to ensure referrals with 41% of people choosing an agent based on a family or friend’s feedback.

Here are 3 steps to looking after your vendor to secure future success:

1. First impressions count so impress them from the beginning

According to realestate.com 41% of people find it hard to choose an agent. Once a seller has decided to meet with you, your first impression means everything. While it is important to be natural in conversation and not get too technical. Demonstrating you know the local area, have buyers readily available and ultimately knowing you can sell their property is what will win you the listing. Here are just 2 tips to impress them from the start. 

a. Immediate buyer interest – There is significant value in demonstrating potential buyer interest even before they make the decision to choose you as an agent. This not only helps instill confidence for the vendor it helps reassure a positive turn out for the first open home. Luckily, proptech solutions like iRealty include prediction tools and marketing automation options. iRealty’s property prediction tool enables agents to display matched buyers with specific property interest. Select a price range, suburb and property features and iRealty will find subscribers in your database that have shown interest in that criteria. Once you have secured the listing, utilise the iRealty smart filters to automatically send the 1st open home invite to those engaged in your marketing.  

b. Make their property shine – It goes without say that real estate is all about image.  Buyers use the images and description you advertise to qualify homes of interest. If you do a poor job at either it is likely they will navigate to others properties fitting their dream home criteria. In fact, it takes only 26 seconds for your audience to make their mind up about a property. Ensuring the listing shines is just more positive reinforcement for the vendor at this stage.

2. Use digital marketing to sell their home faster

It is standard procedure these days to upload a property to all of the common real estate portals. Vendors are becoming increasingly involved in the sales process and want to know you have the means to sell their property for the right price and quickly. 

With calls for agents to upskill vendors in sales technology, real estate professionals should expect a higher demand in alternative marketing methods from vendors. Here are two ways digital marketing can assist in the quick sale of properties. 

a. Paid property campaigns – 70% of Australians have facebook and over 60% of them check their account daily (on average they spend about 12 hours per week). While most agents and real estate offices use social media as a branding tool, less use it as a platform to gain significant buyer interest. Increase your vendor’s property exposure and generate leads with social media campaigns. By presenting a branded social media marketing campaign to your vendor, you are highlighting alternative avenues for their home to be sold quicker and at the highest price. iRealty’s digital marketing team have created effective campaigns designed to generate more buyer interest and ultimately sell faster, the best part is their ads are run by industry specialised marketing experts. 

b. Targeted email marketing –. 77% of people prefer to receive real estate advertisement by email than any other method. Having an email marketing strategy that is aimed at showcasing listings, and gaining buyer interest will put you ahead of other agents. As email marketing specialists we suggest a combination of property newsletters to highlight specific listings (Tell you vendor when their property will be the feature listing). Combined with automated alerts like open homes, new listings and price adjustments to targeted buyers.

3. Transparently Communicate

According to realestate.com communicating with your vendor is one of the most desirable attributes for a vendor. In fact, some of the leading real estate coaches across the country suggest agents update their vendors daily. There are different types of communication relevant when looking after your vendor. 

a. No news is not good news – On days there is little to update the vendor on i.e no open homes, enquiries, offers or campaign results. Send them a quick text just to reassure them. Give them a call post open home and on days marketing campaigns are finished. 

b. Be transparent with campaign reports. Whether your vendor has opted for extra vendor paid campaigns or their property features in your other digital marketing efforts (emails newsletters, alerts or social media). It is important to be transparent with the engagement and interest their property has gained. 

c. Stay in touch with your vendors post sale. Once a property is sold, your communication should not stop. Imagine is 90% of your past clients committed to sell again with you in the future?  The final step in ensuring you look after your vendor is to stay in contact with them. We suggest adding them to your content newsletter list to keep them informed once a month. This is a soft approach to maintaining your brand awareness with them. Secondly, celebrate milestones and anniversaries. This can be easily done when you have a CRM that helps facilitate these events easily, such as ReNet. ReNet’s Tasks and Trails feature allows you to set reminders or follow ups within your CRM. Set a yearly anniversary reminder on the day they sold their property and send them a congratulations card, email or even give them a call. Go one step further and set birthday reminders for all of your vendors as a reminder to greet them. This extra personal touch will keep the relationship strong and keep you front of mind.

Takeaways: The reality is only around 12% of people use the same agent twice. By looking after your vendor throughout the sales process and beyond you are ensuring your future real estate success. Both by securing their future business and their referrals.