Ep. 30: The Value in Relationship Marketing

We all know that it’s far too easy to get wrapped up in our products and services and lose sight of human connections. However, the key to sales is that your clients have to know you, they have to like you, and they have to trust you. But, how can this happen? Enter relationship marketing.

Key Points

  • Relationship marketing is an untapped resource
  • The next deal is there if you focus on the relationship
  • There are multiple ways you can manage relationships

What is relationship marketing?   

Here at ReminderMedia, relationship marketing is our backbone. It’s our bread and butter and what we’ve spent the past 14 years passionately perfecting. But, oftentimes defining relationship marketing to others can be confusing.

In simple terms, relationship marketing has nothing to do with your business, and everything to do with your clientele. You’re not promoting your services, but rather promoting that you’re there for them, that you care for them, and that this is who you are as a person. For a real estate agent, it’s the ability to build relationships with everyone in your community, so that when they think of real estate they think of you.

Why is it important?

How does closing more deals sound? Yes, relationship marketing translates into the ability to close more deals. But, it’s not that simple. Building relationships takes time. You have to be in it for the long haul. However, if done correctly, connecting on a human level with your clients will help them develop a sense of trust for you, and build the reciprocity effect. And this can lead to more repeat and referral business.

Future business lies within your past business. Don’t believe us? Use this equation to calculate the ROI of what relationship marketing can generate for you.

  • (New repeat and referrals / existing relationships) x years remaining x average commission = lifetime value.
  • (Lifetime value x average number of contacts) x .7 = cost of not using relationship marketing.
  • (Lifetime value – Lifetime cost of relationship marketing) / (Lifetime cost of relationship marketing) x 100 = ROI percentage for every relationship saved.

For example, if you have 50 contacts, and sell 10 houses a year, 60% of those houses sold came from referral and repeat business (NAR). This means that each relationship brings you .12 transactions per year. If you have 15 years left in your career 15 x .12 = 1.8 transactions from that relationship. Multiply that by your average commission and the years remaining and your value is $16,200 per relationship.

Utilize a CRM or database to manage your relationship

Whether you take advantage of a CRM or database, it’s crucial that you have a way to manage your relationships. This will help you keep track of the pertinent details, or data points, that you collect from every day conversations to help you nurture the relationship. When determining what to keep track of, utilize the FORD (family, occupation, recreation, and dreams) method. This will help you develop talking points and tailor future content around their interests.

Build a communication plan

We can’t stress enough the importance of following up after you send content. In fact, following up is the epitome of relationship marketing. You must leverage the content and be proactive. You won’t be able to build longstanding relationships only using social media. Consider sending emails, text messages, and following up face-to-face.

But, how much should you be following up? We like to say that there’s no such thing as following up too much. However, you have to make it about the client, and not you. Simply checking in to see how they’re doing will go a long way.

Action Items

Following the podcast, our goal is to provide you with as many actionable tips as possible. For this episode, they include…

  • Lay out 50 of your relationships, and make sure you have their data relating to the FORD method.
  • Put this info into a CRM or database, and use it to guide your next conversation and marketing pieces that you send them.

As always, take action on these tips!

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