Follow up After The Closing
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A lot of it comes down to intuitively judging what your clients want in a relationship with you after a transaction. For example, is your relationship more of a friendship or strictly professional? How do they prefer to be contacted—which of them are phone persons and which are e-mail types?
Something else to keep in mind: They probably want you to stay connected. The odds appear in your favor that past clients will use you again. Eighty-four percent of sellers say they are likely to use the same agent again or recommend that agent to others, according to the 2010 National Association of Realtors®Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. But if you disappear into the shadows following a transaction, will they really call when they — or their family and friends — need you?
Keeping In Touch
Deliver Some News They Can Use
Clients will appreiciate it when you provide them with useful information, such as the latest news of the community and the local housing market.
Pay for Their Home Warranty for One Year
Home warranties are a popular closing gift and the first time the client has to use the warranty, they will no doubt be thanking their lucky stars that you were their agent. The cost of this gift can range from $ 350-500.This gift also provides the perfect opportunity for follow-up down the line. Call the client six months after closing to find out if they used the warranty and what type of service they received. This call reminds them that you gave them a gift and it puts your name in their brain again. Don’t forget to ask for a referral before ending the call, even if it’s the standard: “By the way, do you know anyone who is thinking of buying or selling a home?
Send Personalized Cards
Remembering important events in your clients’ lives and sending a card in the mail or a simple e-mail message can go a long way in building memorable relationships.
Give Them a Call
Phone calls for past clients’ birthdays or special days also can make a great personal touch. But how about if your client isn’t really a phone person, but you still want that personal touch a voice offers? Phone services such as SlyDial allow you to connect directly to someone’s mobile voice mail to leave them a message without disrupting them with your call. You simply call the SlyDial number (267-759-3425) and then at the voice prompt, enter the mobile phone number you want to reach. You’ll be directly connected to that person’s voice mail to leave a message.
Follow Up With a Survey
Hanna always uses customer feedback surveys following a transaction. It’s a way to not only make contact with your past clients but also show them you care about finding ways to better serve them in the future.
Experts recommend sending customer-satisfaction surveys two to three weeks after closing. Keep the surveys brief, asking your customers what services they liked and what needs improvement, Hanna suggests. You can easily build customer feedback surveys online, such as through SurveyMonkey.com, KeySurvey, FreeOnlineSurveys.com, or Zoomerang.
Make a Social Networking Connection
Social networking sites online can make it easy to keep in touch with past clients on an informal and more friend-type basis. Make sure to connect with all of your past clients on Facebook. You can use it for everything, from knowing when a past client is having a baby to reminding folks to check basements during the first heavy rain of the year.
Tip: You can use Facebook’s friend lists feature to group your friends into customized lists (e.g. “first-time home buyers,” “past clients,” “industry contacts,” etc.) to better manage all your contacts on Facebook. (You can put friends into multiple lists.) By categorizing your friends on Facebook, you’ll then easily be able to view news feeds based on your contact lists or send messages to certain lists of contacts. Just be careful what you call your lists — some friend lists can be made public and even notify your contacts about it. Check your privacy settings.
Also, to stay on top of what your clients are doing online and find excuses to connect again, you can use plug-ins to your e-mail systems to reveal what your contacts are doing online. For example, services such as Xobni and Rapportive create an address book of all your e-mail contacts and show you profiles of each contact, including their latest status updates on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Follow Up After Closing
178 Answer questions about filing claims with Home Owner Warranty company if requested
179 Attempt to clarify and resolve any conflicts about repairs if buyer is not satisfied
180 Respond to any follow-on calls and provide any additional information required from office files.
Follow-Up Methods
Client follow-up methods range from the simple to the elaborate, with costs from free, to the-sky-is-the-limit. It’s all about making it personal, making it magic, and making the experience unforgettable so that two or 10 years down the road they’ll remember to call you.
There are plenty of ways to keep in touch such as through memorable gifts and personalized cards, or clever ways to get connected to their voice mail without risking interrupting them with a phone call.
Watch the Tutorial Video
Closing Gift Ideas - Viewing Time is 2 minutes.
