It doesn’t seem like a week goes by without a new model of real estate company popping up threatening to undermine your business. These models are offering creative incentives and discounts to potential sellers and they are making real estate selling look very easy.  Of course, there will always be competition in the real estate marketplace, but agents today need to take steps now to ensure their real estate clients are not lured by these offers.

The key to safeguarding your business against this is by working with your database to transform them into Velcro Clients.  A Velcro Client is a client who will stay loyal to you despite the offers they are bombarded with.  They value your advice and expertise and wouldn’t think about buying or selling real estate without you in their corner.  You are their real estate expert and they know they already have the best deal in town with you because you are looking out for their best interest and will yield them a greater return in the long run.

Creating the Velcro Client relationship requires more than just a generic monthly mailer or an invite to an annual event you may be having.   The Velcro Client wants to know that you are there for them when they need you and feel comfortable reaching out when they have a question.  They easily refer you to their friends and family because they know you will take great care of them as well. But if you want your clients to turn into Velcro Clients, you need to work on taking a good hard look at your database and figure out what each individual member may want or need from you.

First, you need to consider who the Velcro Client is and their personality type. Yes, it is essential to know their personality type because that will give you great insight into how you can best stay connected with them without offending them in any way.

For example, perhaps you like to pick up the phone and touch base with your database but your individual analytical client doesn’t like it when you call them. Perhaps they are a personality type who prefers to receive information by mail or email.

There are four personality types:

• Promoter – enjoys personal interaction, thinks quickly, and likes to be wowed.
• Supporter – enjoys personal interaction and really values the one-on-one relationship
• Analytical – enjoys data and analysis and prefers content over connecting
• Controller – very protective of their time, they look for competency and information

And you have every one of them in your database. In fact, you may have husband and wife past clients who are different personality types.  It is critical that you build a relationship with each one of them and by knowing their personality type it will help to deliver great post-closing care in a manner that each of them prefers.  For example, if the husband is a controller and the wife is a supporter then you need to follow up with them differently.  In this example, you may decide that you want to send them a very detailed report on the real estate market in their area.  If you just mail it out, the controller may love it but the supporter isn’t getting that personal connection.  But what if you mailed it out and then called the supporter client just to say “hi” and to let them know the report was on the way?  This will earn you huge Velcro points with that client and both the Controller husband and the Supporter wife are happy.  This is how you improve the way you communicate and connect with your clients.

When you take the time to invest in your database and to cultivate those relationships, real estate becomes easier because you have created a steady stream of incoming leads because Velcro Clients will keep you busy with referrals.  But you can’t get there until you invest the time and energy to come up with a customized plan for turning your database into your Velcro Client Vault.  Yes it is your vault, your goldmine, your future income and your security. But you have to work it!

If you would like to take our free personality analysis, click here: http://www.thelonesgroup.com/products.asp?a=20110404113458