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Adopt a Client???!...................

Armed with the utmost enthusiasm, a craving for learning and hunger to be taught, I have been on a mission to learn all things REAL ESTATE! Yeah baby! LOL. Focusing on surviving in a SHIFTING MARKET, and joining all groups / calls / coaching / meetings / classes / tours etc.

Last night I was listening to a coaching call from my archives, thank Heaven's for all things mp3... love the iPhone... Anyway, my coach on the call said that most clients would prefer to do business with the REALTOR that sold them into the house. However, he mentioned that 4 out of the 5 clients will not be kept in touch with by that REALTOR, the one who they worked with to get their home???

I know we are all great REALTORS and that this doesn't apply to us, Right! We all do our absolute best to stay in touch with all of our BUYERS. BUT think about it... you maybe the one in five that does!

So let me ask, because this is completely new to me, have you ever thought of 'ADOPTING A CLIENT'!?

I can think of may a time I've been there to hand over the keys and the BUYER's REALTOR hasn't been able or bothered to show up...

Should you include that buyer in your database, include them in your marketing, and mass mailouts? What about specific mailouts, your direct marketing? Possibly not if the agent was from your office, that's not cool. What if they are on of the 4 out of 5 people that fell through their Realtor's cracks?

It's about creating top of mind awareness, right?

My coach went on to say that, when you sell a listing, and the BUYER is represented by another REALTOR you should then include that buyer, after the closing, into your database... thus beginning to market to them. He referred to it as 'ADOPT A CLIENT'!?

However this is for you to decide. At the moment, I'm on the fence.

Posted by Katie Van Nes ~ Real Estate Consultant ~ Keller Williams Elite Realty on 01/14/2009 12:09 AM

Comments (13)

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13 Comments on Adopt a Client???!...................

JAN

I think it's a great idea. You could send them a Thank You, or a Welcome to the neighborhood. It makes you look professional and caring at the same time.

I love the plans but what is actually do-able for me?

+Christmas Cards for my buyers.

+The occasional "How's It Going?" call.

Wish I could do much more, I love my past clients but I have to keep truckin'

Peter: Great ideas, and more pointedly can I ask ~ would you add the other agent's buyers to your Christmas Card list! as well?

Susan: Thanks for the comments! I love the welcome to the neighbourhood idea. That's a good one, I'm guessing we wouldn't do this to someone in our own office... Or would we??

Hi Katie! I might consider a very professional and "soft sell" as Suzanne mentions - a welcome to the neighbourhood (oops - neighborhood) might be appropriate. I think we have to at all times remember to "treat others (and their clients) as we would wish to be (and have our clients be) treated." The real estate community in every place I know (even a city of several million people with over 25,000 Realtors) is awfully small. I don't think I would think favourably of any agent who would approach my client in any way. You might lose much more than you could possibly gain,

Rick: Thanks for being candid. Your thought process is much the same as other senior agents in my office. I will heed your advice.

I have seen it work very very effectively. I believe stats say that more then 50% of first time homebuyers cannot name their representative in their purchase after only 12 months. An amazing but true fact.

Robert: Wow that stat is shocking to me, time to call all my past buyers again! Thanks for the comment.

It might be an idea to keep tabs on who the selling agent was. If they were to leave the business, I would have no second thoughts about marketing to them then. They wouldn't be adoptees - they'd be orphans! I would also be less concerned if the selling agent were from WAY out of the area, but I would want to consider their relationship first (eg. a freind or family member as opposed to an agent who picked a buyer up on an open house in a distant part of the city and they ended up over in my area.) I would error on the side of caution with this though.

Hmmm... "other senior agents" I think I like being called "more experienced" personally. I hit the big 5 - 0 this year, but I don't think I'm ready to be "senior" yet. = )

Could that kind of thought process possibly be the reason that we are "more experienced" agents? It's hard to survive in this business for long if you're looking over your shoulder all the time!

JAN

hmm now isn't that an interesting idea! I wonder how happy the other realtor would be? But its after the transaction......you now have a relationship with them.........so hmmm why not? :-)

Rick: I didn't mean senior as in age LOL Never! I meant it as an experience thing :) You might have something there, which is why I wrote this post. We have more strict ethics and business practices here in Canada, and my coach is American. And we all want to be selling real estate as a career, so our reputation means a lot. I'm still on the fence with this one.

Liz: I'm not sure how happy the other Realtor would be, so possibly a case by case basis, but surely it is different here than in the US.

Perhaps a good way to put that would be, "We tend to be more conservative than our American cousins."

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