When your real estate services are free..

it's very easy for a buyer to take your efforts as a realtor for granted & not value your time or efforts.  But I guarantee you that if the industry started charging by the hour for their services if a buyer abandoned ship attitudes would change drastically.  In this day and age with all of the internet shopping it's easy for someone to drop you if something interesting comes along.  So, how do you keep those you are working with loyal?  Not as easy as it used to be for certain, but I have found that if you provide them with good, caring service & stay communicative at all times you have a better shot. 

I am feeling the pinch as much as anyone else when it comes to this, but four years plus into this recession and I'm still in the office plugging away and on the street conducting open houses.  You cannot lose interest or the will to move on to new things.  The industry has changed so much since I entered in 1997 that whatever methods I was using just five years ago are now out the window.  The world of real estate has become very impersonal and almost soley reliant on the web that buyers have come to the conclusion that maybe they don't need us any more.  Why not use the social media to your advantage by embracing the new era of social media and topping it off with a heaping tablespoon of first class service? 

I like to tell my customers that you can always go to Home Depot for a special screw that might fit your hurricane shutters because it is supposedly cheaper, but in the end you spend an hour looking for it , finding a parking space, waiting in line to pay for it, and probably coming back because you got the wrong one.  Or, you can go to the local Ace hardware store, pay a little more, but get out of there from park to finish in minutes because a helpful and informative salesman guided you from the instant you walked through the door.  I am the Ace guy and that is what you all have to be.  Volume sales worked in the heydey.  Who cared if the customer came back or not.  There was always another waiting around the corner.  If that is your attitude today you are in for a rude awakening.  Gain your customer loyalty by being a caring friend and going the extra mile and your chances of keeping them will improve, sending them an email with a listing attached and your're probably going to lose them.