The housing market is always in demand, but with so many real estate agents competing for attention in a crowded marketplace, how do you stand out and secure a steady stream of business? These days, real estate agents have to be brand builders with the right strategies to promote your real estate business, build a strong reputation, attract more customers, and grow their agency.
There are some low-hanging fruits such as online reviews, prompt customer response, effective text campaigns, and other experience marketing tips to help you get ahead of the competition. Whether you’re a seasoned agent looking to revamp your agency or just starting, these strategies can help you reach new heights.
Online Reviews are key to your local business growth
When people are looking for a real estate agent to help them buy or sell a property, they will generally choose one with a high number of good reviews because positive reviews make potential clients feel comfortable that they will be dealing with a trustworthy business. Online reviews also influence local search engine rankings helping potential customers to find you, i.e., the more positive reviews you gather the more credibility you have as a business and the higher you appear on search results, therefore increasing the odds that the customer will visit your business first.
Benefits of online reviews
Build trust
Never underestimate the influence reviews have on a prospective client’s decision to do business with you. The experiences of previous clients offer insights into your strengths and weaknesses, how you communicate, how you treat your clients, etc. Positive reviews can help establish trust and credibility with a prospective client before they’ve even spoken to you.
Improve your online presence
Providing excellent customer service and collecting positive reviews will boost your online reputation and can significantly impact your search engine rankings for local results, which improves your visibility to potential clients looking for estate agencies in your area.
Opportunity for improvement
Just like no person is perfect, no business is ever perfect. There is always room for improvement, and online reviews offer businesses a chance to reflect and improve. While an unfavourable review can knock your confidence, it can genuinely highlight areas where you are not delivering and allow you to thank the reviewer for bringing it to your attention and then making the necessary changes to provide a better service.
How to ask for reviews
Just ask
If you have clients who have been happy with your services, don’t be afraid to ask them to leave a review for your business. However, make sure to get the timing right. Wait until they’ve completed their journey with you, i.e., bought or sold their property, everything has gone smoothly, and they have had a positive experience.
Make it easy
No one likes having to click here, there, and everywhere to get where they need to go. So make it easy for your clients to leave reviews by providing clear instructions and a direct link to your review page, whether it’s Google, Facebook, Yelp, TrustPilot, or another platform. With customizable templates, Magic Reviews makes it easy for you to automatically send out review requests through email or SMS, which has a 98% open rate.
Personalise your request
As part of your excellent customer service, always include a thank you note and a reminder of the specific services you provided. Personalising your request this way will make the process more meaningful and increase the probability of a favourable review.
Respond to reviews
Responding to all your reviews, positive and not-so-positive, is another plus point for excellent customer service. It shows you appreciate your client taking the time to write their review and demonstrate your commitment to continually improving your services.
Master the art of communication
A well-crafted customer engagement strategy will help you connect with potential clients and secure their business. You can create a truly exceptional customer experience and establish yourself as a trusted and reliable estate agency by ensuring every customer enquiry is dealt with quickly and that every response is personalised and answers the query in detail, providing additional information where necessary.
Prompt, personal replies
Your potential client is looking for an estate agency that values their concerns and time. Delaying responding to an enquiry or even sending a standard reply can be perceived as impersonal and send the wrong signal. Whereas a quick, personal reply establishes in the customer’s mind that you care about them and put in the effort to ensure their satisfaction. With Magic Inbox, you can streamline all your communication channels, including SMS, Facebook, Instagram, and Gmail, into one convenient location to manage customer interactions easily and provide fast responses. And with Inbox’s customizable message templates you can create quick, standardised responses to ensure every customer interaction is handled with the same level of professionalism
Imagine, how and when you reply could be the difference between securing business or losing out to a competitor!
Make it easy to contact you
There are many ways to communicate with businesses today, including phone (yes, people still use a phone), email, social media, text, instant messaging and web chat. Being available on multiple channels provides you with an opportunity to connect, engage and respond to potential clients, and reach a wider audience.
Over-deliver with information
Replying to customer queries is more than just acknowledgement. It’s about giving them more, to help them choose your estate agency above your competitor.
While a quick response is valued, taking a little extra time to answer their questions fully and offer insights, recommendations, or additional resources that may be of interest, demonstrates that you are knowledgeable and committed to helping them find the best solution for their needs. This also helps you build more trust and credibility with potential clients, which can lead to more business.
The power of text
Text marketing has become a popular tool for estate agencies to reach potential clients, keep current ones engaged, and promote their properties. With a high open rate and a personal touch, texts allow estate agents to target the right audience and craft compelling messages that connect with their audience and drive results.
Advantages of SMS Marketing
With a 98% open rate and its immediate impact, text is one of the most effective marketing channels a business can use. Text messages allow for a more personalised approach to communication to help build stronger client relationships, and you can send messages to your entire customer base or specific segments based on certain criteria.
How to Craft Effective Text Campaigns
Text messages have a character limit, so keep messages clear, short and to the point, and use keywords that make it easy to identify your company.
Whether you’re listing a new property, hosting an open house event, or want to run a special promotion, it’s important to encourage your clients to take action, such as visiting your website or scheduling a viewing. With Magic Text Marketing, you can create campaigns in minutes with customizable templates specifically created for real estate businesses.
Measuring success
A marketing tool that offers Text Marketing Campaigns, such as Magic, will help you analyse the success of your messages, such as tracking the number of clients who take a specific action, e.g., scheduling a viewing, visiting your website, etc.
Another way to measure success is to ask clients for feedback on what they liked and what could be improved in your campaigns.
Other experience marketing tips
Experience marketing focuses on creating positive experiences for customers, and can be a powerful tool for promoting your agency and attracting new business. Strategies you can use to create a unique brand experience include offering value-added services to clients and using technology to streamline the property search and buying process.
Branding
What makes you different?
Your approach to customer service, the services you offer, or your expertise in a specific type of property or market? Defining your mission, values, and what sets you apart, will help you create a brand that accurately reflects your agency and appeals to your target audience.
Create a brand personality
These are the traits and characteristics you want to be associated with your brand. As a starting point, think about what qualities your ideal clients are looking for in an estate agent. For example, if your target audience values honesty and transparency, create a brand personality that reflects this including your tone of voice, values, and overall personality.
Consistent experience across all touchpoints
Consistency is key when it comes to creating a memorable brand experience. Every interaction your client has with your agency, whether in person, over the phone, or online, should reflect your brand personality and deliver exceptional customer service.
Showcase your brand
A virtual tour of your office can be a great way to showcase your space and give clients a sense of what it’s like to work with your agency. Remember, your physical space is an extension of your brand and should be well-designed, welcoming and also reflect your values and personality.
Add value
The personal touch
One of the best ways to stand out from competitors is to take time to really get to know your clients, understand their specific needs and requirements, and work closely with them to achieve their goals. This personalised approach can help establish a strong, long-lasting relationship with your clients.
Offer a little extra
Moving house is considered one of the most stressful things in life, so why not offer additional services that can help make your clients’ lives easier, such as offering home staging services to help clients prepare their homes for sale or providing mortgage advice for those clients who need help navigating the financing process.
Build mutually beneficial local partnerships
Building partnerships with local businesses helps you create a network of trusted professionals who can provide additional services and support to your clients, such as home inspection reports, conveyancing, or moving companies. You may even be able to negotiate a discount.
Make use of technology
Update your website
Your website is often the first point of contact potential clients have with your agency and should be user-friendly and easy for clients to search for properties, learn more about your agency, and get in touch with you. It should be mobile-friendly and optimised for search engines to reach a wide audience.
Virtual tours and consultations
Potential clients are looking for a convenient and efficient way to explore properties from the comfort of their own homes. Implementing virtual property tours and consultations can help you reach a wider audience and provide a more comprehensive property viewing experience.
Streamline communication and paperwork
Online tools and apps remove all that paper from the office and are kinder to the environment. It also makes the process smoother, more efficient and less stressful for your clients as they can sign documents electronically, track the progress of their transactions, and receive updates from your team.
Take advantage of social media
Social media is great for promoting your business and connecting with potential clients. You can showcase properties and share industry news and insights to build your brand and engage with your audience, connect with potential clients, respond to questions, and build relationships with the local community. All this can make the property search and buying process easier, more convenient, and more enjoyable for your clients.
Key takeaway
Attracting and retaining customers is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and attention. Strategies to promote your estate agency include getting more online reviews, improving customer communication, and offering added value.
Using the latest technology available to streamline processes and execute strategies will help you stay ahead of the competition and build a successful and sustainable business that is well-regarded by clients and respected in the industry.
About Magic
Magic helps local businesses grow. Thousands of local businesses use Magic to get more online reviews, win new customers, easily manage customer conversations and grow sales. Magic offers these features:
- Reviews: Get more reviews with easy review requests for popular review sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp, TrustPilot, and more. Rank high on local search and enhance your visibility on Google.
- Inbox: Keep track of customer conversations across channels in one inbox, including SMS, Facebook, Instagram, and Gmail. Manage conversations better as a team and do more with industry specific templates.
- Text Marketing: Drive more sales with instant text campaigns and reach your customers at the right moment with automation. Use prebuilt templates to send out text campaigns in minutes.
- Webchat: Turn website visitors into customers with SMS powered Webchat. Chat to website visitors directly through SMS so you won’t miss a lead, even when they leave your website.
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