Many Agents define the value of a client in terms of the transaction. You sell your clients’ house. You buy them into a new home. You collect the commission.
But the true value of a client goes well beyond that first deal. If you do the right things, it can, in fact, extend throughout your entire real estate sales career.
Consider the facts.
According to statistics, your clients will likely move again – within the next ten years. If you can sell their home and buy them into a new one, that’s two more transactions.
Then, of course, there are the referrals. According to research from the National Association of Agents, the average client knows 3 to 5 people who will move each year. Over a ten year period, that’s 30 to 50 people!
Assuming you receive just 10% of these referrals, that’s another 3 to 5 transactions.
Now let’s do the math.
• The original deal. 2 transactions
• The second move within ten years. 2 transactions
• The referrals. At least 3 to 5 transactions
That’s a total of 7 to 9 transactions originating from just one client. If the commission on each transaction is $5,000, that’s $35,000 to $45,000.
Think about it. You can potentially make four times the money you earned on the original transaction by building a relationship with your client.
Why is this so important to understand? Because it illustrates just how powerful referral and repeat marketing is, and how essential a CRM for real estate, such as IXACT Contact is. By using IXACT Contact’s Activity Plans and other keeping in touch functionality, and by making the appropriate investment in building relationships with past clients and your sphere of influence, your income is certain to grow.
But if you neglect your past clients and fail to keep in touch with them, and they don’t hire or refer you again, you are flushing tens of thousands of dollars down the drain. Something to think about.
If you don’t already have a real estate contact management system you’re happy with, it’s essential that adopt one in to your business as soon as possible to ensure you’re maximizing the value of each and every client. Sign up for a free 5-week trial of IXACT Contact at www.ixactcontact.com.
As a real estate sales professional, have you thought about the value of a client and if you’re doing all you can to ensure you are their Agent of choice for future transactions?