In the real estate industry, staying ahead demands a fresh outlook on your business strategies. Whether you’re a real estate agent seeking new business perspectives or a seasoned broker searching for enriching training content, your quest ends here. Welcome to the first article in a series of real estate trainings designed to guide agents through their customer journey.
Why Bother with Customer Journeys?
The central goal for agents should be building a business that passively generates enough referrals to support you or your team. By establishing a strong foundation of referrals, you ensure a reliable source of income during challenging market conditions and unlock even greater earnings during favorable market periods. This is why you need to take the time to evaluate your customer journey strategies.
The most challenging time in your real estate career should be the first few years. You have completed the fewest transactions and have had very little client communication. If you are a real estate agent who has been in the business longer than a few years and you’re still in challenging times, we need to rethink your customer journey. If you are an experienced realtor who has completed many transactions and you worry about where the next deal will come from. We need to rethink your customer journey strategy. Even the best agents need to take time to remap their strategy every once in a while.
The ideas I’m sharing aren’t new, and they’ve helped successful real estate pros since the dawn of the industry. But I think most trainings on the topic lack the clarity and detail agents need to get started. Particularly for agents who don’t come from a sales or marketing background. My goal with these articles is to give you specific tips and detailed instructions to guide your business.
Introducing the Customer Journey: For Real Estate Agents
Your customer journey represents the key moments customers interact with you and your business. The five stages are listed below.
Discovery: This is the first step where potential customers become aware of your real estate services. During this phase, they are looking for information and exploring their options.
Consideration: Here, customers are actively evaluating your real estate services. They will compare you with other agents or other market opportunities. Clients may not spend much time in this phase, so your strategy here is crucial.
Transaction: The transaction phase marks the point where the customer decides to buy or sell their home. It involves the actual transaction process, which should be smooth and hassle-free. This is where your formal training and expertise must shine.
Loyalty: After the transaction, the focus shifts to building a lasting relationship. This phase involves delivering exceptional customer service and providing ongoing support. Happy clients are more likely to be repeat clients.
Referral: Satisfied customers may become advocates for your brand by referring friends, family, or colleagues. This word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable and is the end goal. The referral phase capitalizes on the success of previous stages to expand your customer base further.
Reading the map
While the customer journey is often likened to a funnel that narrows with each phase, I propose a distinctive perspective for real estate agents. Unlike many industries where loyal, returning customers are scarce, the relationship between an agent and their client stands apart.
The traditional funnel analogy doesn’t capture the intricate essence of an agent’s customer journey. This distinction arises from the unique nature of real estate transactions, set apart by distinct transaction processes and the low frequency at which Americans relocate. As such, the likelihood that every client transforms into a devoted and referring customer is very likely.
So, for the accomplished agent who excels at optimizing every stage, the goal isn’t merely a journey through a funnel – it’s a transformation into a flourishing cycle of loyal homeowners and frequent referrals.
How does an agent get started?
For a successful real estate business, identify the following at each stage…
Customer Motivations: Understand your customer’s motivations and hesitations to create tactics that move individuals into the subsequent phase of the journey.
Strategic Messaging: Implement your devised strategies with compelling and resonant messaging.
Effective Touchpoints: Pinpoint opportunities to deliver your messages, amplifying their impact.
Don’t worry if this seems overwhelming. We will comprehensively examine these three aspects across your entire customer journey.