In our latest real estate careers article we cover the basics of growing and nurturing your database, or "sphere of influence". Growing and nurturing your database is the single most important thing you can do to guarantee a rewarding and long-lasting career in real estate. Many agents are intimidated by this task, but the good news is our team offers a ton of support in this area. You can also make the "nurturing" part of your database a lot of fun - by staying in touch with your database in ways that are authentic to your personality.
What is a real estate database?
Your real estate database is your network of friends, family, clients, and other people in the community that you stay in touch with. Ultimately these are the people who come to know you as a stand-up person and trusted agent. Your referrals will grow exponentially when you consistently serve and nurture your database.
How should you build your database?
Think of all the positive relationships you have with people from these walks of life:
- past clients
- current clients
- neighbors
- business associates
- family
- friends
- groups and associations that you belong to
- former co-workers or classmates
- friends through your significant other or spouse
- friends through your child's school or sports teams
- friends through social media
- friends at church
For each person, collect their name, phone number, email address, and mailing address. If you don't have a complete set of information, that's OK. Just start with what you have.
What if you're new to Madison or to the field? How do you build your database?
Make a goal of adding at least one new person to your database each day. Your database will grow quickly if you stick with this simple plan. Then make a list of all the types of people and organizations that you would like to know, and start building those relationships. Some examples include:
- your neighbors
- hobby groups, volunteer groups, business organizations, or service organizations that you join
- people you meet by hosting open houses
- local lenders
- insurance agents
- financial planners
- accountants
- attorneys
- landscapers
- people in the trades (carpenters, electricians, plumbers, painters, etc...)
- other local business owners
A short meeting over coffee is a great way to get to know people and start building relationships.
How should you organize your database?
Our real estate team will load all of your contact information into our customer relationship management software. Then we'll teach you how to use the system so you can add new people to your database each week. We'll also help you categorize each contact according to the strength of the relationship. We'll assign an A+, A, B or C category to each contact. Over time you'll work to increase the number of A+ and A relationships in your database.
How should you nurture your database?
Our team provides a ton of support in this area. For example, we send out monthly newsletters and e-newsletters that offer a lot of great content and value. We host quarterly client appreciation events. These touches are effective because they go to your contacts and are branded to you, the agent. As an example, every e-newsletter is sent from your email address to your group of contacts. In addition, every newsletter that we drop in the mail is branded with your name, your picture, and your contact information. All of our marketing positions you as the productive and professional real estate agent that you are.
Beyond what the team does for you, you'll also nurture your database in ways that are a good fit for your personality. All of these can be great ways to stay in touch with your contacts:
- coffees or lunches with some of your closer relationships
- parties and gatherings that you host for your friends
- getting involved with your church and attending church weekly
- personal, hand-written notes and holiday cards
- phone calls and text messages just to stay in touch
- staying in touch via social media
- staying "top of mind" professionally through blogging, video blogging, or being active on LinkedIn
- visiting or "popping-by" to stay in touch with some of your closest clients
- giving your friends and clients quick updates on the market in their neighborhood
- connecting your friends and clients with reputable contractors
- offering your friends "home improvement consultations" that will help them increase their home's value
- donating your time to local service organizations
- or any other activities that you enjoy while connecting with other people
We recommend choosing at least 3 of the activities from above. The key is to choose the activities that you enjoy and then be consistent with your nurturing. As an example, one agent on our team genuinely loves staying in touch with her contacts on Facebook. We call her our "Facebook Cheerleader". Chris doesn't post to Facebook a lot, but she's active every day offering her support and encouragement to her Facebook friends. She genuinely enjoys staying connected with her friends in this way, and her friends genuinely appreciate her support.
Another agent on our team enjoys thinking of creative gift ideas and then popping by her clients' new home with a thoughtful gift. These small acts of generosity endear her to her clients and deepen her relationships. Shelley's clients appreciate her generosity because they know it's sincere and from the heart.
Another example is Ann. Ann is someone who feels most fulfilled when she's serving others and serving a higher purpose. She's become a leader in several local service organizations, and as a result she's earned the respect of many people in our community who have no hesitation referring her to friends and family.
Yet another agent on the team enjoys writing. By blogging and posting his content online, Dan helps the team stay top of mind with friends and clients. He also enjoys sending hand-written notes to his contacts.
How can you take your relationships to the next level?
One great way to deepen your relationships is to always have a contribution mindset. As a real estate agent and owner of your own personal brand, what can you do to consistently add value to the people you know? Think of the service you provide and how you stay in touch with your sphere. There are many ways to "plus one" your relationships.
Your relationships are the key to your business
Your referrals will grow quickly when you intentionally grow and nurture your database. Nurturing your database doesn't need to feel scripted or contrived. Just the opposite, you should do it in ways that are true to yourself as you leverage the support and structure of the team. When you embrace this relational approach, you establish yourself as a trusted professional, all-the-while building your foundation for a long and successful career.
