In the real estate business, relationships are everything. Relationships are recession-proof. Why? Because without relationships, you have no business! But as an agent, do you know how to create lasting relationships in your real estate business? Let’s take a look.

For starters, you want to provide value. A couple of ways to provide value can be with references or market stats. The goal is to be the expert for all things real estate. Host client events and give back, or even do Pop By’s with a small gift. Along the way, ask great questions to seek the needs of people, or just to engage in great conversation to learn more about them, their families, and their dreams. It might seem like a small action, but it will go a long way.

Another great way to create a better client relationship is to get personal. Find out when their birthday is, or if they have pets or children.  It’s a great way to build rapport and connection. It’s also a way to tie the information you learn into your follow-up. Once ya good relationship has been established, it’s important to know how to maintain them.

Below are some examples of how maintaining strong client relationships will benefit you and your business:

• It keeps you connected with past clients.
• They might be able to provide resources to other people and could also put you in touch with other people in the business that can help grow your network. Your netWORK becomes your netWORTH.
• By staying top of mind and sharing your brand/branding, people will want to promote you. What people say about you when you’re not there and how they talk about you are very important in growing your business.
• If you want to retire, just staying in touch with everyone that you’ve ever done business with as an agent will build a nice retirement fund. Over time, by staying in touch with them, you can refer them out if anyone is ever looking for real estate assistance and get the referral fee.
• It gives you a lot of power because YOU get to choose who you work with. You control it so what you put into it is what you’ll get out of it.

Strong relationships don’t stop at your clients. Focus on relationships with your vendor partners, as well as other agents and business owners of the places that you support and do business at. You never know when someone will come across someone in need of real estate services, and the goal is to always be top of mind.

Here are some ways to help level up your personal service:

• Tell clients to reach out anytime if they have questions that come up. This is a way of not only welcoming them to reach out, but also a way to set boundaries. By giving them permission to reach out anytime, they still get to ask their question but you can respond on your own time. They know they aren’t disturbing you because you’ve given them the ‘go ahead’ to initiate the conversation.
• Have a consistent process in place that sets expectations, and then always follow up.
• Find something that is either unique, special or deeply personal to someone and lean into that to connect with them…customize things!

As a real estate agent, you are in the people business but you just so happen to sell homes. Relationships in this business will not go away just because the market changes. Relationships in this career are recession-proof. They will single-handedly outlast any shift in the market and have an amazing ROI. And it’s cheaper than any other lead generation source, like buying leads.