Real Estate Marketing: Building Trust Has Never Been More Important

Over the past couple of months, the media has been reporting that popular retailers, such as Walmart and Costco, have been booming. The same is true of online shopping and Amazon.

No surprise there.

But what has received less coverage is that many lesser-known companies, some of them small and local, have also been doing a healthy business — despite the challenges.

Why is that?

According to economists, what’s happening is that people are flocking to businesses they know and trust. These businesses have, in many deliberate ways, built solid relationships and loyalty amongst their customers. And now, in trying times, those customers are reluctant to shop anywhere else.

What does this have to do with real estate marketing? Just about everything!

As a real estate professional, it’s always been important to be the agent that clients and prospects know and trust — or, at least, are coming to know and trust. That’s long been the key to generating a more predictable flow of real estate agent leads and real estate referrals.

What we’re seeing these days, however, is that the loyalty you build with prospects and clients pays off during tougher periods. Those people stay with you. They call you when they need an agent. Clients recommend you to others.

So, building trust and loyalty is like an insurance policy for your business. You’re continually building a contact database of people who think of you as the best agent — and, for some, the only agent — for them.

Consider this example…

Say you’re targeting a real estate geographic farm. Every month you’re touching base with those residents with a high-value real estate newsletter and staying in contact in other ways. More and more you’re becoming top-of-mind as the agent-of-choice for those people.

If there were a downturn in the housing market, many agents would all be competing for fewer leads. You, however, would be getting real estate leads from people who have little interest in talking to any other agent but you.

And if that’s the way it can be in a soft market, just imagine the real estate leads and referrals you could be getting when the market recovers!

So, how do you make this happen?

You need real estate marketing systems that focus on building trust and loyalty, specifically with your past clients, the geographic farm you target, and with prospects you’re nurturing. With the right system, you can stay in touch with these contacts each month in a way that builds those relationships.

When is the best time to invest in a good real estate marketing system like that? Six months ago. The second best time is… today.