Real estate agents work with people to help them buy, sell or rent their properties and therefore each day is spent on meeting with clients, scheduling appraisals, researching, marketing, staging and showing homes and on the administrative paperwork. In other words, for real estate agents, each day is different as they have to meet new people, see new houses and respond to the constantly-changing needs and wants of buyers and sellers. Even if they were trained and licensed for such active work, it could be really challenging to always work long hours, including weekends and evenings. In addition, since they work on commission and always have to “please” their clients, things can be pretty unexpected – which often means shifting gears at the last minute. This is why real estate agents are often considered as some of the most hardworking and dedicated people in the industry.
Many agents work every day and its’s rare for them to take an entire day off and not do something related to real estate. However, after a long, busy and tiring year, the Christmas holidays provide them an opportunity to relax and forget all about house inspections and accompanying clients to property closings. During this time of the year, many professionals would go on holidays, throw BBQ parties, enjoy long drives and spend lots of quality time with their family and friends. While it’s certainly nice to scale back a bit and enjoy the festive season, many believe they can’t afford to sit back and forget their work.
Real estate agents are not on payroll, they are self-employed and they usually reap the reward for the hard work they put in. So, if you want to start the upcoming year with qualified leads, I suggest using the festive season to get buyers and sellers excited about your services.
Send Christmas Cards to Past Clients
Cold prospects are some of the hardest to handle, require a lot of time and energy, and have very poor returns. This is why it is important, as a real estate agent, to have referrals and repeat customers. It is much better, and easier, to get repeat business from satisfied customers and clients, than to have to acquire new clients from the get-go.
Most real estate agents think that once their clients buy or sell a property, they won’t have any more need for their services. Wrong!
Productive networking and referrals are two important factors that have played a huge role in driving many realtors to success. So, if you want to reconnect with your past clients, the best way would be to send them Christmas cards. And, instead of sending them store-bought cards, invest in handwritten ones.
Hand-Deliver Pies, Turkeys or Hams
You know what they say – “food is the way to the heart.”
Usually, during Christmas, people would give out turkeys, hams and pies with gift cards to their family and friends. However, gifting them to your clients would be a strategic move. For past clients, it would mean reconnecting with them and conveying your appreciation to them while for new clients, it would give them something that would make their holidays better and make them think about your services.
If you really want to jump-start your business in 2023, I suggest adding some extra effort and hand-delivering them to the clients. But, there’s nothing wrong either with having the gifts delivered to them.
Host a Charity Fundraising Event
Christmas is also the beginning season of festive fundraising events. If you want to attract new clients, a creative idea would be to host a fundraising event.
You can, of course, let your festive creativity flow by incorporating Christmas-themed decorations and offering delicacies like muffins, cupcakes, cookies, candies and other festive desserts.
