Strategies for Building a Thriving Real Estate Database

Call it your Rolodex, your Black Book, or, in these modern times, just simply, your database. Whatever you call it, a contact database is the backbone of any successful real estate business. Containing contact information (along with other pertinent details), a well-built database provides incredible benefits. It can save you up to 5 times the marketing dollars, entice past customers to use you again, and making selling to an existing customer, that much easier.

Here are 5 strategies to make your database thrive.

Use a CRM or Customer Relationship Manager

Sure, your smartphone’s contact app will help you log names, numbers, emails, and even offer a section for notes, but a true CRM will do much more than that. Helping to cultivate relationships and offer data-driven decisions, CRM’s like Top Producer, Lasso, or Asana help salespeople optimize their efficiency. From helping you to remember special dates to prompting you to make calls every so often, a CRM is crucial to the consistent and regular follow up of leads.

Ensure Everyone You Know Is Logged in Your Database

The database is really meant to contain everyone you know. So, friends, family and neighbours are important, but so are those you might overlook. Consider adding people like your child’s teacher, your accountant and lawyer, along with other business professionals.

Pay Attention and Log the Details

There’s a glut of information beyond a person’s basic contact information that should be logged in your database. Crucial details to note include a person’s lead source (how they found you), their contact type (like buyer, seller, past client, or referral), and their property type (what they own or what they’re looking to buy). Adding these extra details will help you to source valuable insights, ultimately generating your future business.

Communicate Regularly

Keeping yourself top of mind is the ultimate objective when working your database. Calling regularly, sending market updates or newsletters, and scheduling coffee and lunch meetings will help you to keep in touch and remain top of mind.

Utilize Buffini’s Mayor Campaign

Buffini, a real estate coaching and training company, suggests using the Mayor Campaign when building your database. The Mayor Campaign ultimately helps you establish whether someone you meet would consider working with you in the future and if so, then adding that person to your database.

The Mayor Script Looks Like This:

When meeting someone new, ask, “If you were buying or selling a home, or had a friend or family member who was, do you have an agent you would refer them to?”  

If, they respond yes, you’d say, “That’s great, it’s important that you have a qualified person to work with.” 

If they respond “no”, you’d say, “Well, I’d like to be that person…And from time to time I come across valuable real estate information that everyone finds helpful. Would you like to receive that?”

If they say, “Sure”, you’d say, “Ok, great. Where’s the best place to send it?”

The Bottom Line

Keeping the 80/20 rule in mind, it’s likely that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your database. Rather than perpetually seeking new clients, working past clients and those who already know you will generate a healthy amount of business with the least amount of resources.

Looking to start a career in real estate, or ready for a change in your real estate career – book an appointment now to learn more about Westmar.