For almost twelve years, I've run a nearly 100% SOI business - that is - most of my clients have come from the people I know, the people they know, or the people I meet. In other words, I've done very little formal lead 
generation with the goal of attracting the attention of strangers. It's worked for me.
As many of you know, I have a somewhat organized, yet unconventional approach to keeping my name in front of my SOI. I don't bombard them with cheesy mailers; I don't pester them on a monthly basis for referrals; I don't sort them according to whether or not they will commit to sending business my way. Nah, I just stay in touch, as a real person who happens to sell real estate for a living. Oh, and I take great care of my clients... as my first priority - not as an afterthought once my prospecting activities are done (that's straight from my profile - kinda catchy, eh?).
And... business floods in. My phone rings (or email jangles), I answer it, and voila! I have a great new client.
But what has pleasantly surprised me since my recent return to real estate after two years away is how many of my past clients, some of whom I haven't spoken with in years, still consider me their Realtor-of-Choice. Just in the last week, I've been contacted by four past clients - all of whom bought or sold over five years ago - wanting to talk real estate. Three out of four of the calls came from people I didn't think really liked me much since they'd never responded to my stay-in-touch efforts. I figured I'd done something to make them mad and many times considered striking them from my database.
Nope. Not the case at all. They had lives to live and didn't need a real estate agent that day. But when they did... they knew who to call. (That would be ME.)
So, why do they remember me? I ask myself the same question. I really don't have a personal relationship with them, obviously, since we haven't actually spoken since the closing in many cases. Yes, I have included them in my postal mailings and emailings , but I'm sure they've met other agents through the years and probably get bombarded with Just Listed! and Just Sold! postcards on a regular basis. What's so special about me?
In the interest of research, I got up the nerve to ask a few of them. And the answers warmed my heart.
They called me because I did a good job for them and they knew how reach me when the time came. Simple as that. Now, if I had done a lousy or even mediocre job for them, but stayed in touch, I doubt they would have kept my card around, but since they were happy, they did. Oh, I'm sure that I've lost people thru the years who did happen to meet other real estate agents who befriended them more than I did, but overall, I have to say that I'm tickled with my retention rate.
Do a good job. Stay in touch. Pretty easy stuff, huh?
Coming Soon! SWS2 - the second edition... email me to reserve one of the first 1,000 copies printed!
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