Customer Lifecycle Analysis in Real Estate-What Companies Are Doing This Right?

 Customer Lifecycle Analysis in Real Estate-What Companies Are Doing This Right?

Author:  Carrie Bey-Little  January 27, 2015

The Customer lifecycle in Real Estate is much different than the retail industry.  When working with Buyers and Sellers an agent will have a similar lifecycle with the potential of a new lifecycle after the home is purchased or sold.  When working with a new buyer the lifecycle is as follows:

1. Works with a Real Estate agent to
   1. Purchase a home
   2. The agent negotiates the deal for the buyer
   3. Once a deal is agreed upon the buyer’s agent maintains a relationship with the buyer
   4. Assists with the inspector, appraiser and attorney depending on the market. (all markets don’t always work with attorneys)
2. The Real Estate agent follows up on contingency dates and buyer updates
3. Follows up until the home is closed (in many cases the Buyer Lifecycle Analysis ends)
4. Good agents stay in contact with the buyer to retain that customer and ask for new client leads from that buyer.

The seller lifecycle is slightly different and is as follows:

1. Works with a Real Estate Agent to:
   1. Determine Value of their home
   2. Prepare the home for the real estate market place
2. The Real Estate Agent Markets the home using multiple platforms
3. Once an offer is received the agent assists in negotiations to procure a contract
4. The Real Estate Agent assists with inspections, meeting appraisers, scheduling village inspections, purchasing transfer stamps and other pre-closing items.
5. The agent often attends the closing
6. Post-closing the agent might follow up with the seller
7. Good agents stay in contact with past clients

The KPI’s for a real estate agent include:

• The number of actual listings and active buyers. These numbers should indicate how well your marketing campaigns or referrals are working for you.
• Actual Cost per lead – When generating a lead what is it actually costing to gain a lead?
• Customer Lifetime Value – What’s the value of retaining a real estate client?  Are you past clients helping you generate leads?
• Appointment to conversation. How many appointments lead to new buyers and sellers?  Agents can track this information in a good Client Relationship Management tool.
• Email Marketing– Are your email marketing campaigns effective? Is your Sphere of Influence opening the emails? What is your click thru rate (CTR)
• Social Media Marketing – Are you actively using social media in your digital marketing? Facebook, Twitter, Linked in, Pinterest and Instagram to name a few.   Are you generating leads from this tools and do you have a social presence.  Check out Klout.com to learn if you have a social presence and track your social media leads in your CRM
• Website – In addition to Social Media and Email Marketing your website is the top way potential buyers and sellers learn more about you and your market. Are you redirecting potential client to the site? Are your past clients visiting your site to check out the market and your listings?  Does your website enter new signup into your CRM.  Make sure you understand your top searched pages and use the site to redirect clients to your interactive social sites.

If your leads aren’t increasing then consider re-defining your audience.   Business that provide Client Relationship Management tools to assist their agents with the ability to track their customers have figured out that cultivating the buyer and seller relationship after the sale build a strong referral business.  If you need a CRM tool check with your Multiple Listing Service first.  You may already have the ability to sort, track and determine where your leads are coming from inside your MLS.

When it applies to lead generation companies like Keeping Current Matters and Brian Buffini have a good grasp on KPI’s, Lead Generation and the Customer Lifecycle.   Building a business on referrals is one of the best ways to build a business.  Every real estate agent has the opportunity to build a successful business by tracking what works and what doesn’t work.  If you know your KPI’s you’ll understand where to make adjustments.