Real Estate is the Business of Building Relationships

The real estate industry isn’t about how well you can buy or sell houses, it’s about how well you can form and maintain relationships. The most successful agents will tell you that their greatest tool is their relationships with their clients and local businesses.

Connecting with your clients

First and foremost, the key to success as a real estate professional is forming a relationship and establishing a sense of trust with prospects. The most effective way is through quality interactions that provide value for your clients. Buying a house is a long and overwhelming process, it’s best for both the agent and the client if they are compatible and have some sort of rapport established. 

A house is a large investment for most people, it’s important that your clients can trust you to keep their best interests in mind. Comfort is key. The best agents put their clients at ease and empower their buying decisions.

Forming mutually beneficial relationships with local businesses

Real estate is truly a business of relationships, way beyond your connection with your prospects, that includes networking and forming relationships with companies offering services that are helpful when clients are closing on a house. As you recommend ancillary companies to your clients, they’re doing the same for you. You’re being introduced to their customers, who may not be within your reach, as a reliable agent. 

As mentioned above, in order to offer excellent service, agents will want to provide value to their clients. The closing process is full of challenges and legalities, all of which you can assuage when you present your client with a network of trusted professionals (inspectors, appraisers, mortgage professionals, etc.) to help them review contracts and closing contingencies. 

Reaching a broader audience through your professional network

When you form a professional network with local businesses, you are reaching a larger audience. Think of it as a heightened form of word of mouth marketing -- your partner companies are putting your business and your services in front of their own customers. This is a great opportunity for people to get familiar with your services so that you can stay top of mind when they are ready to make a buy, rent, or sell a house. 

This is also a great way to widen your area of interest. As you establish connections with the companies in your community, you are able to service more areas and steadily address a larger audience. When you’re reaching people outside your sphere of influence, you’ll find plenty of opportunities for growth, both in your scope of clients and in your business. 

At the end of the day, real estate is a game of relationships, not numbers. It’s not necessary to focus on reaching a large number of people, when all that matters is the quality of your connections to the people in your roster.