Your happy clients are some of your most valuable brand ambassadors. By following up with your clients after a successful close, you can make the experience especially memorable. This will increase the chances that your clients will recommend you when their friends and family are looking for a Realtor. We wrote the Realtor’s post-close follow-up checklist to make it easy to stay on top of this process and at the top of your happy clients’ minds.
Realtor’s Post-Close Follow-Up Checklist
The Realtor’s post-close follow-up checklist is designed to increase recommendations among happy clients, but also to help you get more value from a successful close. When a client closes on a home, it’s a great time to show how your hard work paid off and how happy your client is. This is likely to resonate with other potential clients that are ready to look for homes or sell their homes as well.
1. Ask for a Review
About 88% of customers say they trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family. As online reviews have become a bigger part of the purchasing process, it’s more important than ever to have a wide range of quality, detailed, positive reviews. After your client closes, send them an email or text message about providing a review.
Consider where a brief review will help your reputation most; on a realty-specific site like Zillow, general business reviews on Google, on your own website, or somewhere else? Make this process as easy as possible, and provide a link right to the page your client should submit their review.
2. Get a Video Testimonial
A review on Zilllow, Google, or your own website can be impactful, but more details are better. If you particularly enjoyed working with a client or they had an especially smooth close, reach out to get a more detailed video testimonial. Ask the right questions to make an impactful testimonial and show potential clients what they can expect. Display this testimonial on your website, on Facebook and other social media platforms (with your client’s permission) to make the biggest impact.
Get the tools you need to wow clients, gather praise, and generate leads. Download the Realtor’s Referral Marketing Playbook
3. Post on Social Media
When your client completes a sale, ask if they’ll be posting their new home to their social media profiles. If they say yes, they may be comfortable with you posting it to your business profiles as well. It’s a good idea to leave the street address and other identifying information out of the photo, especially if you have a large following, but this can help to show other potential clients what they can expect.
First and most importantly, get your client’s permission before posting any pictures of them or their new home. With their permission, consider the following post types, depending on the platforms you use:
- Facebook: Post a picture of your happy client in front of their new home, and provide details in the text about any challenges you helped your client overcome, or highlights that stand out about the purchase.
- Instagram: Focus more on pictures here, starting with an impactful picture of your happy client taking down a For Sale sign, or a similar photo. In the text, give a brief description of the sale and any highlights. Tag your client so they can share the post if they choose.
- Twitter: Your post length is limited here, so post a photo, a brief caption with a highlight, and link to the customer’s review or testimonial.
4. Send a House-Warming Gift
The Realtor’s post-close follow-up checklist doesn’t end after the client moves in. A house-warming gift can help to strengthen your relationship and make the experience more memorable. This doesn’t have to be a huge gift. A hand towel, bottle of wine, bouquet of flowers, a decoration or similar item will work. Include a card with your contact information, and encourage your client to contact you if they have questions about home repairs, home insurance, or similar issues. This will help to keep your name at the top of their mind.
5. NPS® Survey
After your client gets settled into their new home and some time has passed, follow up with an NPS survey. This is a simple one- or two-question survey that asks your client if they would recommend you or not, and why. Gathering this type of quantitative data can help you compare your customer’s happiness year over year, and make sure you’re staying on track. You can also use this as a selling point on your website if your clients repeatedly give you high marks.
