Spring-clean your database to optimize your time and resources
Spring is the time of year when real estate coaches will advise you to do a little cleaning—of your database, that is! Taking time twice a year to sort and qualify your database is one of the most valuable things you can do for your business. So, what does this mean, and how do we do it?
Sorting and qualifying
When you sort and qualify your database, you take your list of contacts and narrow it down to your best people. As real estate agents, we make a lot of connections each day that end up in our database. However, those names add up, filling your real estate CRM with people you don’t actually know. By rolling up your sleeves and weeding out the folks who aren’t a good fit, you will maximize your time, effort and money, and work with people you actually enjoy.
Getting started
No matter how large or small your database may be, real estate coaches walk agents through these three steps when narrowing it down to the best of the best.
- Reach Out. Run through your contact list and call each person. Check in and see if you are still the agent they would refer to friends and family. If they have someone else, by all means you can keep the friendship, but you’ll know to channel your marketing efforts elsewhere. Oh, by the way, if you see a name on the list that you absolutely dread calling, remove them! The goal of this process is to only keep people you enjoy being around. If you had a difficult or disrespectful client, you can decide to stop working with them—it’s the beauty of working by referral!
- Sort and Qualify. Once you’ve checked in with everyone, it’s time to rank the relationships. This process helps you streamline your marketing efforts to see which relationships require the most attention and care. Buffini & Company real estate coaches recommend ranking A+ through D: A+ people are those who have sent you multiple referrals and will continue to do so, while D clients have sent none and do not plan on it. The D’s should be deleted to save you time and energy.
- Provide Value. This is how you engage the folks in your database. Provide items of value to your relationships, starting from the top. The A+ clients will get the most love, while the C’s will get the least. You can deliver pop-by gifts, send handwritten notes, mail informative monthly marketing pieces or even throw a party for your best people to give thanks for their referrals! All of these acts demonstrate your care for these individuals while keeping you top of mind for all their real estate needs.
As you begin sorting and qualifying your own people, consider getting a real estate coach by your side. They will walk you through the process step by step, providing clarity, encouragement and accountability.
Get a free business consultation and see how Buffini & Company real estate coaches will boost your business this year. Buffini & Company tools include the Referral Maker CRM—a robust real estate CRM for generating high-quality leads. For more information, visit buffiniandcompany.com.
