Real Estate and gardening have more in common than you might think. Savvy real estate agents have figured this out.

Think about planting a garden. You make sure the soil is good quality, you decide what you want to plant, you plant your seeds, and then you water the seeds and tend to that garden on a regular basis.

The key word here is REGULAR. You wouldn’t even dream of expecting your garden to grow if you failed to tend to it or water it. 

I remember a number of years ago when I had this brilliant idea to plant a garden in my yard. I was so excited thinking about being able to watch my garden grow.  I made sure that the preparation of my garden was perfect.   I bought the best soil, built the cutest garden box and even put in a half dozen tomato cages to top it off.

During the first few weeks I was the perfect gardener.  I went out every day and tended to my garden. I watered it when it was needed, pulled the weeds, and waited patiently for my seeds to grow.  But then life got in the way and I stopped thinking about my garden. I stopped tending to my garden and eventually I resigned myself to the fact that my garden was probably not going to produce what I had dreamed because of the way I had neglected it.

Fast forward 60 days. I was shocked when I made it out to see my garden expecting to see withered plants and weeds running rampant. Surprisingly, I found that the zucchini were thriving.  They were the hearty vegetables but were the only ones that survived my neglect.

I was thinking about how agents treat their databases and was reminded of my garden.  Agents who don’t cultivate their database gardens on a regular basis by taking care of it and helping those relationships grow can’t expect their gardens to produce. If you don’t water it and feed it, you risk losing even the heartiest of clients. If you don’t cultivate it, you may be lucky to have a handful of clients who will refer you and do business with you despite your neglect, but if you want to thrive, your clients need to be nurtured and taken care of.

If you have been in the business a long time and you find yourself asking yourself why you don’t have more business, I would tell you to ALWAYS start with a visit to your garden (database).  Tend to your database, nurture it, have regular contact with it and it is sure to grow into a strong healthy repeat business or referral source, producing for years to come.

To thrive in the real estate industry, you need to be a Master Gardener and tend to your PRICELESS DATABASE GARDEN!