Lee Iacocca once said “Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.” This is true in many businesses but especially true in real estate. Real estate is personal and because of that you can sell a house one time to anyone but if you want to have clients that call you every time and refer you to every friend, coworker and family member, you must build lifelong relationships and stay in touch with your clients.

Relationships are about connections and how do you connect with those you may not know all that well yet. Here are four easy ways to connect on a personal level to turn your acquaintance into a raving fan of your business.

4 Easy Ways to Connect on a Personal Level to Turn an Acquaintance into a Raving Fan

1. Start on Facebook. Go through your list of friends and make a list of birthdays you don’t want to forget. Then make yourself a list, find their mailing addresses, purchase cards and sit down once a month and prepare them to mail out. Any Facebook user knows they will be bombarded with birthday messages on their birthday but how many cards will they receive in the mail? Be the person that stands out from the crowd.
2. While you are on Facebook or Instagram, dig a little deeper. How many times do you scroll through Facebook and offer casual comments but not go beyond the surface. Don’t worry, I am not suggesting you get super personal on Facebook but use the knowledge you gain there to go a little further. Did someone share they were sick or had surgery? Follow up in a few days to check on them or send a card. Did someone post pictures of an awesome vacation you have always wanted to take? Call them the week after they return and ask to meet for lunch so they can tell you all about it. New pet post? Drop off a bag of treats to the newest member of the family. Proud parent post? Send the child a card congratulating them on their accomplishment. Reaching out to people in small ways will make you stand out and allow your relationship to grow to the next level.
3. Have you ever hosted an event for your past clients? Small events are a great way to visit with your clients and do something nice for them? Events don’t have to be fancy or complicated. Invite everyone to join you for a local baseball game, meet at the coffee shop or ice cream store or even host a food drive and invite your clients to drop food off at a certain time. After the event, follow up with those that came to share a photo and thank them for coming.
4. Do something with a group regularly. Are you part of a book club, workout group, bible study or any other small group activity? Many times we get so busy these items become nothing more than another item on our to-do list. Stop that mindset and focus on your time there. Don’t overcommit yourself and these will feel less like chores. Whatever group you are a part of, be all in and truly engage with those in your group. Don’t just show up to each meeting and then dash out the door when it’s over. Take time to talk to those involved and ask what they have going on. The same way you follow up from social media posts, apply that here too. When you talk about something that is going on, follow up later to see the outcome. If you aren’t currently a part of a group like this, find one that applies to your interests and fully participate.

As you complete all of these activities, you don’t have to constantly talk about real estate but as your relationships strengthen, your connections will think of you when real estate comes up. None of these activities should take you days and weeks to implement. They are about being fully engaged on a daily basis and nurturing the relationships you already have so that those relationships become stronger and last longer. These are the keys to your long term success.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Have you heard? The Ultimate Expired Listing System has been a huge success for so many agents around the country.  Check it out to see if it is for you.   https://www.kimhughes.com/the-ultimate-expired-listing-system/

What is The Ultimate Expired Listing System?  It’s everything wrapped up in a nice little package for you.  Videos, Postcards, Email Scripts, Phone Scripts, Worksheets and so much more.

I would also like to invite you to join my exclusive Facebook Group – Real Estate Success Tools is very unique as we share tips, strategies and more on how YOU can run a more streamlined business by implementing the tips and tools we discuss here. Join us today it will only take a couple of minutes but will change the course of your business. Go ahead…join us now.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/realestatesuccesstools/

Ready to take business to a new level?  Here are some great videos to help you get started:

5 Bookkeeping Tips to Finish Out Your Year
https://www.kimhughes.com/5-bookkeeping-tips-to-finish-out-your-year/

What Does Your Real Estate Listing Checklist Look Like?
https://www.kimhughes.com/what-does-your-real-estate-listing-checklist-look-like/

Is It Time to Bring on an Assistant?
https://www.kimhughes.com/is-it-time-you-bring-on-an-assistant/

Does Your Website Need a Face Lift?
https://www.kimhughes.com/does-your-website-need-a-face-lift/

7 Tips to Have an Amazing Newsletter
https://www.kimhughes.com/7-great-tips-for-your-newsletter/

How organized are you with your day?  Maybe you need to hold yourself accountable for your time?  I have created a 90 Day Real Estate Planner for you.  Check it out.

https://www.kimhughes.com/90-day-real-estate-planner/

 

 

When you are working with buyers and sellers, it is easy to forget about them after closing. While a client is buying or selling a house, you may speak with them daily or even multiple times a day. After you no longer need to talk to them as frequently, you may get busy with other clients and forget to follow up with them and see how they are doing. Keeping in touch with your past buyers and sellers is important if you want to do repeat business as well as earn their referral business.

How do you keep in touch with past clients while staying on top of your current clients and everything else you need to do? It can be really tough to find the perfect balance. The first step to staying in touch with them is having a plan. Without a plan, even good intentions often fail as you get pulled between many different tasks.

5 Steps to Build a Solid Relationship After The Closing

Once you close on a property, what are the first steps to long term success and ensuring you have a client for life? Start with these five steps to build a solid foundation for your future success.

1. Write thank-you notes. First and foremost, start with your client but take the time to go beyond that. Did someone refer that client to you, whether it was another agent or a past client? Take the time to thank them. While it would be time-consuming to thank every lender, inspector, and agent involved in each of your closings, think through each transaction and thank those that went above and beyond. It could be the agent on the other side, a lender that made sure the loan was processed on time for a tight closing or an inspector that squeezed your client in around your client’s work schedule. A house doesn’t close itself. Taking the time to thank those involved will build the kind of relationships that ensure your success for many years.
2. Add your client to your database with all of their contact information. Add all phone numbers, email addresses and don’t forget to include their new address. Make sure you put this information in all of your systems. This should include your CRM, email database and cell phone. If you haven’t already connected with this client on social media, go search for them on each platform and make that connection.
3. Ask for a review. If you don’t have an email template ready to send out after each closing, take a few minutes to write an email that you can use after each closing. There are many different websites you can use to collect reviews and you can use more than one if you choose. Some sites like Realtor.com and your website will allow you to post reviews there yourself so if you get a review on another platform like Facebook, Zillow or Google, copy it to the other sites so you have as many reviews as you can on each site.
4. Make sure you add your clients to your list to send out birthday and home anniversary cards. If you don’t have their birthdays, check Facebook or ask your clients. This is a great way to stay in touch after closing.
5. Assign your client to your call list. If you don’t have a call list, you need to figure out a way to organize your past clients, sphere of influence and others that you should call so you can keep in touch with them. As you do other marketing down the road, you will want to include your past clients but there are few things that will make as much of an impression as a personal phone call. At a minimum, try to call your clients twice a year. You may do this by calling all past clients at the same time or dividing them into a certain number each week or month but whatever your approach is, it won’t happen if you don’t plan for it.

Relationships take work and putting these steps in place at the beginning will ensure a happy and lengthy relationship between you and your clients.

Jump over to my website www.kimhughes.com to read more about how we recommend reviewing your systems and programs.   Schedule your 20-minute Strategy Call… https://go.oncehub.com/KimHughes

ANNOUNCEMENT: Have you heard?
The Ultimate Expired Listing System has been a huge success for so many agents around the country.
Check it out to see if it is for you.   https://www.kimhughes.com/the-ultimate-expired-listing-system/

What is The Ultimate Expired Listing System?  It’s everything wrapped up in a nice little package for you.  Videos, Postcards, Email Scripts, Phone Scripts, Worksheets and so much more.

I would also like to invite you to join my exclusive Facebook Group – Real Estate Success Tools is very unique as we share tips, strategies and more on how YOU can run a more streamlined business by implementing the tips and tools we discuss here. Join us today it will only take a couple of minutes but will change the course of your business. Go ahead…join us now.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/realestatesuccesstools/

Ready to take your business to a new level?  Here are some great videos to help you get started:

5 Bookkeeping Tips to Finish Out Your Year
https://www.kimhughes.com/5-bookkeeping-tips-to-finish-out-your-year/

What Does Your Real Estate Listing Checklist Look Like?
https://www.kimhughes.com/what-does-your-real-estate-listing-checklist-look-like/

Is It Time to Bring on an Assistant?
https://www.kimhughes.com/is-it-time-you-bring-on-an-assistant/

Does Your Website Need a Face Lift?
https://www.kimhughes.com/does-your-website-need-a-face-lift/

7 Tips to Have an Amazing Newsletter
https://www.kimhughes.com/7-great-tips-for-your-newsletter/

How organized are you with your day?  Maybe you need to hold yourself accountable for your time?  I have created a 90 Day Real Estate Planner for you.  Check it out.
https://www.kimhughes.com/90-day-real-estate-planner/

Connect with ME:

Website: https://www.KimHughes.com
Blog: https://www.kimhughes.com/resources/real-estate-blog/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes
LinkedIn: http://www.Linkedin.com/in/kimhughesrevirtualassistant
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimhughescoaching/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/
YouTube:  Kim Hughes Real Estate Business Strategies

Email Me:  Kim@KimHughes.com

Do you love the photo-focused platform Instagram offers but are frustrated with swapping out links in your Profile constantly so you can direct your audience where you want them to go? We love Instagram too, but seriously the link swapping has to go. If you are ready to get more out of your Instagram marketing, then you need to check out a program we are loving called Link in Profile. Not to be confused with LinkedIn the business to business social network.  Link In Profile is a dedicated landing page for anything you want to link on Instagram, and it only costs $9.99 a month. Think about skipping that morning coffee a couple of times a month, and it will be paid for and the return of investment will be better than you can imagine.

Take Your Instagram Marketing to the Next Level

How Does it Work?

Set up your IG Profile by signing into your Instagram account, then the Link In Profile will create a dedicated landing page for all of your current Instagram posts. You can manually link websites to past posts or automatically link to sites by placing a link in your photo description when you post to Instagram. Link in Profile will provide you with your landing page link, which once added to your Instagram biography, enables your followers to view all of you linked content and access it through one click.

How Does This Benefit Your Business?

Instagram requires you to have 10,000 followers to post direct clickable links or “swipe up” links on your Profile. With this program, you can post direct website links to new listings, blogs, events, services and more. Most people have their personal website link in their Instagram biography which means if you are placing a call to action to your followers such as “read this blog,” you have to either tell them to click on your website link to find your blog or change out the link in your Profile to direct them there. With Link In Profile, all your followers have to do is click the website link and then click the Instagram photo you posted. Followers will be automatically directed to the corresponding link.

If you are looking for more exposure and better engagement with your Instagram followers Link In Profile offers you a more straightforward, faster process to provide added exposure to your listings and other posts.

I would love to know if you are currently using it and your thoughts.

Ready to take your business to a new level?  Here are some great videos to help you get started:

5 Bookkeeping Tips to Finish Out Your Year
https://www.kimhughes.com/5-bookkeeping-tips-to-finish-out-your-year/

What Does Your Real Estate Listing Checklist Look Like?
https://www.kimhughes.com/what-does-your-real-estate-listing-checklist-look-like

Is It Time to Bring on an Assistant?

https://www.kimhughes.com/is-it-time-you-bring-on-an-assistant/

Does Your Website Need a Face Lift?
https://www.kimhughes.com/does-your-website-need-a-face-lift/

7 Tips to Have an Amazing Newsletter
https://www.kimhughes.com/7-great-tips-for-your-newsletter/

How organized are you with your day?  Maybe you need to hold yourself accountable with your time?  I have created a 90 Day Real Estate Planner for you.  Check it out.
https://www.kimhughes.com/90-day-real-estate-planner/

Connect with ME:

Website: https://www.KimHughes.com
Blog: https://www.kimhughes.com/resources/real-estate-blog/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes
LinkedIn: http://www.Linkedin.com/in/kimhughesrevirtualassistant
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimhughescoaching/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/
YouTube:  Kim Hughes Real Estate Business Strategies

Email Me:  Kim@KimHughes.com

Another year (and decade) has come and gone. With the start of 2020, it is a great time to reflect on your past successes and failures and prepare yourself and your business for the new year. How many times have you been guilty of continuing to do the same thing over and over just because it’s what you have been doing and you don’t want to think about changing it? There is no better time than the present to review all of your systems and eliminate any that don’t work or aren’t productive. You may then update systems that need changes or implement something new to fill in any holes in your business.

Start by taking a look at your expenses from 2019 to see what you spent money on. Are you paying for subscriptions that you no longer use or don’t deliver the results you expect? Break this habit today. Total what you spent on each item in your budget then evaluate the results that you received from them to determine if you should continue.

Let’s Do a Review and Discuss How The New Year Will Treat You

If you are paying Zillow $500 a month to get leads but don’t have the time to follow up with the leads you get, is that a good use of your marketing budget? Evaluate each item you pay for and determine if you got the results you expected. Your return should be greater then what you spent on each item if you plan to continue with that service. Once you determine what is working and what is not, take a morning and cancel the services you don’t plan to use anymore.

Some systems may need to be replaced and that’s ok. If your CRM just isn’t for you but you have to have one, find a new one that you like and set aside an hour a week to learn the system so you will start using it. If Zillow doesn’t give you the leads you want, consider another option like an expired listing system that will allow you to connect with active sellers that need an agent to meet their needs.

While you are looking at what didn’t work, don’t forget to think about what did work too. If all of your listings in 2019 came from the neighborhood you farm, make sure you keep doing what you have been doing to ensure that continues. Did your open houses generate new buyers for you to work with? Plan more of them in 2020 if you want to increase your buyers.

If you have a few systems that you really want to use but just can’t find the time or don’t know how to implement them, find someone that can help. There may be another agent in your office that is using something that would sit down and show you how it works. Another option is to try YouTube. There are videos for almost everything where someone else will tell you how to use something. If it is an issue of time, hire an assistant that can help you with the tasks that you can’t get to so you can spend more time on income generating activities. Kim Hughes and Company works with agents across the country implementing solutions that meet their needs. From social media to listings, transactions, website maintenance and anything else you can think of, we help agents daily by providing as much or as little help as you need to reach your goals and stop putting more things on your task list than you can accomplish.

Hey… are you a member of the FREE community REAL ESTATE SUCCESS TOOLS?  If not then you need to jump over and join today.  This is a community of real estate agents who are making a difference.  Come see what we are all about and all the free templates, social media posts, Facebook Live Events once you are approved.  I post daily on strategies, tips and tools that you can use in your business as well as some bonus items such as blog articles, social media posts, checklists, templates and more.  And, it is all FREE!

If you enjoyed this video, please share it to your fellow agents or to your social media networks.

Are we connected?

Instagram: @KimHughesCoaching | #KimHughesCoaching
YouTube: Kim Hughes Real Estate Business Strategies
http://www.Facebook.com/KimHughes
http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimhughescoaching
https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/pins/

 

Have you ever Googled yourself to see what you can find? While you may have done this early in your career, it is easy to get busy and not think about it again. You may have put a lot of time into your Internet image early in your career but things change as time passes and the longer it goes, the more may have changed. If you are going to take the time to review your online image, what should you be looking for.

Start by reviewing all of your online profiles. This includes your website, social media accounts, brokerage website, email accounts, Zillow, Realtor.com and anywhere else you have an online profile. Google yourself too. Are there results that come up with information you aren’t aware of? Make sure you check those out too.

How Do You Look Online 

When you review the different accounts, take a look at the information provided. Is it still current? Does the picture look like you or is it time for a new head shot? Is the contact information in your profiles still correct? Do you have accomplishments that aren’t represented? Have you changed companies? Do your listings display accurately on the sites that should show them? Are people able to figure out how to connect with you quickly from these accounts and websites?

That was a lot of questions so there is a lot to consider and you may potentially have a lot to update. Keeping your online image current is important to improving your business and growing your reach. These accounts will be accessed by clients who have worked with you already, potential clients that may want to work with you, strangers that are comparing you to other agents, real estate agents in other markets that may have a referral and other brokers that may want to recruit you to work for their company or team.

The most important thing you should ensure is that your accounts are accurate. Spend some time to craft a description of yourself that shares your successes, accurately describes your experience and allows others to see who you really are while not sounding boastful or unprofessional. When you are trying to decide what you should post, review other agents profiles and find some you like to use as examples. After you make changes, ask a coworker or friend to review them and share their opinion. Pick someone that will be honest while giving you constructive feedback that will improve your image.

After you get your profiles updated with fresh information, keep them that way. You don’t have to review them monthly but at a minimum once a year, spend a day to make sure they are still accurate and reflect the most current and appealing information about you and your business.

The Ultimate Expired Listing System 

Are you ready to get serious about working the Expired’s in your market? Are you ready to start building your inventory and put more money in the bank? I bet you are!  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by visiting The Ultimate Expired Listing System to see what this program has to offer and is fast becoming the #1 Expired Listing System today.

Ready to tighten up your business strategies? Here at Kim Hughes & Company we are the experts when it comes to working real estate agents with start-ups, re-organizing, marketing, transaction management, social media marketing and so much more. Visit us at Kim Hughes and Company to download our free Real Estate Checklist. We will show you how to become a powerhouse agent so schedule a 20 minute complimentary call with Kim today and let’s get you organized and create some amazing strategies for your business.

Are you a member of the FREE community REAL ESTATE SUCCESS TOOLS?  If not then you need to jump over and join today.  This is a community of real estate agents who are making a difference.  Come see what we are all about and pick up your Holiday Card Checklist once you are approved.  I post daily on strategies, tips and tools that you can use in your business as well as some bonus items such as blog articles, social media posts, checklists, templates and more.  And, it is all FREE!

Are we connected?

Instagram: @KimHughesCoaching | #KimHughesCoaching
YouTube: Kim Hughes Real Estate Business Strategies
http://www.Facebook.com/KimHughes
http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimhughescoaching
https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/pins/