One of your most important audiences is the one you most likely take for granted. Past clients make up a huge portion of your business, but without the right messaging, they can slip out of the conversion funnel like the coldest of leads…
If you talk to past clients like they aren’t clients, pretty soon…they won’t be.
According to a recent NAR report, a typical REALTOR® earns 12% of their business from repeat clients, and 17% from referrals. Most of the agents we know say it’s even higher. Regardless, a lot of real estate agents barely market to past clients specifically, and if they do, they use the same strategies they would with a new lead.
Question Your Emails
To help keep the fire burning, there are five questions you need to consider before emailing past clients. They’re simple questions, but adjusting how you answer them will facilitate messages that resonate with the reader, rather than the writer.
1. What Do They Need To Know?
You probably think you’re already answering this question, intuitively. With something like: “oh, they need to know that I’m having an open house,” or, “I have a new video series to check out.”
Not to sound harsh, but nobody needs to know what you’ve got going on. Even if your past clients love you, they don’t think about what they need in terms of you. Dig deeper, and find a reason they need to know what you want them to know. If you can’t think of something, then you may need to adjust what you’re trying to tell them.
2. Why do you want them to know it?
Again, you probably answer this question already when writing emails, but based on what you want from them, rather than what they need.
Think about the cost of failure from your client’s perspective. Your clients need to understand that failing to act will have consequences based on what you are presenting them. Think personally, not practically. What will they miss out on?
By first recognizing what’s at stake for your clients, you reaffirm that, even after closing a deal, you still serve their interest.
3. What do you want them to do?
Remember what you thought was the answer to question one? This is where that comes in. Only now, you’re advocating for specific solution to a problem. Rather than asking for something, you’re offering help.
When you understand the problems your clients face before they do, you showcase your value, you reaffirm their trust, and you brand yourself as a leader.
4. What do They Need To Do?
This is the nugget. This is where your expertise shines through. Here is the practical, data driven solution. Question 2 is about soliciting an emotional reaction. This is about outlining the logical solution. Explain the benefit of what you’re asking them to do in clear, no frills language, and prove yourself the expert they can trust.
5. How can you help them remember it?
A wedding speech needs a joke. A marketing email needs a punch. In every email you send, find a way to sum up the previous four questions into one solid knockout punch.
