Only 12% of Clients Use Their Agent Again! How To Stem the Loss

By Jay Voorhees

September 27, 2019 3 min read

Only 12% of Clients Use Their Agent Again! How To Stem the Loss first.io

I recently sat on a tech panel where some fascinating survey results were shared.

88% of all homeowners surveyed said they would use their real estate agent again if they bought or sold a home.

AND…..

Only 12% of homeowners actually did.

In other words, most agents are not tapping into their most valuable resource (their database), and they are losing most of their past clients.

I realize that these statistics are thrown around often, but I found them particularly interesting because they hit home (we too lose far too many past clients), and because the problem is so easily addressed in this day and age.

More importantly – because so many tech-based firms are now so adept at using technology to garner leads, the competition for our databases is more intense than ever.

If we don’t stay in front of our databases, we will eventually lose everyone to the likes of Zillow, Opendoor, Redfin, Offerpad, Quicken, Bankrate, etc.

Those firms may not close the deal, but they will sell the leads they steal from our databases to other agents or lenders, as that is really what so much of the tech game is all about (as I mentioned in this blog).

iBuyers, for example, convert less than 2% of their offers, but they do a brilliant job of garnering listing leads.

TWO THINGS TO DO TO NOT LOSE PAST CLIENTS

Stay in front of your database with VALUABLE INFO. I address this often, but there are many effective ways to stay in front of your database with info your clients will want to see.
- Old school – postcards, mailers, and magazines. Many agents still swear by this, but it is expensive and less effective nowadays.
- Automated client touches with valuable info/Homebot. I have blogged about Homebot a few times, as it is an excellent example of a straightforward, inexpensive and automated way to stay in front of past clients with the info they love. Homebot shares relevant info (value, equity, interest rates, amortization, etc.) with homeowners monthly.
- Individual client touches. This can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and difficult to scale, but it works. As one example, many agents we frequently work with share my blogs with their clients.
- Retargeting Ads. These are digital ads that everyone who has worked with you or visited your website will see all over the web. They too are very effective, easy to set up, and inexpensive. We recommend Reach 150 for retargeting ads.
Monitor your database with Predictive Analytics. I beat this dead horse too often, but it is so valuable and easy that I am amazed that everyone does not do it.
- Revaluate. Revaluate uses artificial intelligence to find leads in your database that are likely to move in the next 6 months. You can this data to improve marketing efficiencies, target prospects and substantially increase ROI from old dead leads and portfolio customers. Revaluate’s patented software can be used just as effectively to target a geographic farm list as your own database.