10 Tips to Help Potential Clients Choose You As Their Real Estate Agent

As a real estate agent, you live and breathe the real estate market. You automatically receive information about updates in your local market and about changes in real estate law. You really understand how mortgages, trust deeds, and foreclosure work.

Your customers, on the other hand, haven’t a real clue. It’s not that they’re stupid, far from it. It’s just that they are experts in something else other than real estate.

Their sense of the market comes from whatever news source they pay attention to, and from their family, neighbors and friends.  They rarely understand how interest works, let alone the real implications of mortgages and trust deeds.

They need a real estate pro but…

The need a professional like you to guide them through the purchase or sale of their property. But few of them really understand what they need. Which means they generally don’t have a strategy for finding a suitable agent despite all the lists of how to find an agent you can google up in a heart beat.

Generally it works more or less like this: Someone decides to buy or sell a home or other property.

They become more alert to real estate in general. They pay closer attention to ads, may ask for referrals from friends, family and coworkers, watch for real estate signs in the area they’re interested in and begin attending open houses. The also search for agents online with searches for real estate in the area where they want to buy or sell.

After some time and acting mostly on gut feelings, they call an agent or a real estate office. They decide to work with an agent they’ve contacted based on nothing much more than intuition and gut feeling.

In other words, they won’t choose you out of logic.

What this means to you

What this means to you is you’ve got to get your name out there so the potential client has a chance of finding you.

1. Make sure your website is working well

Spend some time making sure your iHOUSE website is up to date and working well. It works for you 24/7 and will do a great job of introducing you to potential new clients.

2. Make sure your about page gives a prospective buyer a sense of who you are

Your about you page on your iHOUSE website should have at least one good photo of you, perhaps two or three more. Write it in the third person – that is “Anne Wayman has worked in real estate…” Include some personal details, like the number of kids you have or the fact you like cats.

3 . Customer testimonials help prospective clients trust you

Ask a few past customers to write short testimonials you can post to your website – these really help prospective clients feel they can trust you.

4. Leave your business card at every opportunity

Leave your business card often when you shop and dine in the area where you want clients. You’re building name recognition.

5. Your name should be on all the real estate signs marking your listings

Since potential clients are looking at those signs, you want your name to be right there where they can see it easily.

6. When your listings are advertised, your name should also be listed

When your name appears regularly on advertisements potential clients begin to associate you with the kind of real estate you’re working with.

7. You should sit open houses regularly

Open houses are far from the most entertaining way to spend an afternoon, but they put you in the position of meeting lots of potential clients. Your name and face will stick in their minds.

8. Send a press release monthly

Send a press release with a picture of yourself at to your local newspaper least once a month. While most papers won’t treat listings as news, selling a big property can be. So can your efforts at a local PTA meeting, etc.

9. Attend mixers and other events

Mixers, charity functions, church socials, farmers markets, school carnivals are all places the people in the community you serve show up. You want to be there too.

10. Free gifts with your name help too

Advertising specialties that are useful, like calendars, shopping lists, envelope openers and the like put your name in front of your client base.

Each of these actions will build your name recognition, making it much more likely they will think to call you when it’s time for them to sell their property. And, as you become known as a go to real estate agent in your neighborhood you’ll find referrals come your way too.

How do you promote yourself? Share your tips in comments.