Five years ago, if you were to ask Jeff where his and his team's business came from, he’d tell you advertising, buying leads and prospecting expireds and FSBOs. At that time, Jeff was 15 years in the business and his team had existed for nearly 10 of those but why was database business not mentioned? Because Jeff and his team didn’t have a plan to grow the size of that group and to add value to that group, outside of the normal holiday cards and the occasional calls & pop-bys. Fast forward to today and their database business is the largest (and most profitable) source of business, accounting for a whopping 400+ transactions per year from this one source. So what changed? Jeff and his team made a decision to really "work" their database.
So what does “working a database” actually mean?
Here’s the Glover U three-part formula for working a database:
Add people to your database
Adding value to the people in your database
Do A + B simultaneously
The above formula, although simple, is critical to not just having life-long success in real estate but also to having a profitable real estate business that gives you balance and time back in your life.
One of the ways to do more business from your database is to simply play the numbers game and add more people to it; that's what we're focusing on in this article. Regardless of your database value proposition, you will close more transactions from your database simply because your database keeps growing. The larger your database, the more business. Period. So how do we add to it regularly?
The full list of 21 ways to grow your real estate database can be found in SalesRocket Virtual.
Below are the 9 best ways to grow your real estate database
Grow the size of your database and close more database transactions.
1. Make it part of your daily routine
We all have conversations daily. If you add just one person to your database every day, and there are 250 working days a year (taking Saturdays and Sundays off), then in one year you will have added 250 people to your database. In one year, that’s 1,000 people added to your database.
2. Appointments gone on, no contracts signed
If you go on an appt and don’t get the contract signed, still add that contact to your database. You now have face-to-face rapport with this person. If you stay in contact, they won't forget about you.
3. Open house attendees
Add every single person. Why? You’ve met them face to face! If you stay in front of them they will remember you.
4. Circle prospecting / door knocking / hybrid farming / CMA requests
If you’re calling around a new listing or sale, people want to know what their home is worth. Even if you never meet with them, that is someone who qualifies to be added to your database.
5. Call ins
Here are the ways we increased the number of people calling us:
Mass advertising (TV, radio, billboard)
Zillow reviews (here's how you can get more reviews)
Social media marketing (paid and organic)
Opt-in advertising
Bold leads
Offers.com
People that reach out to us on CMAs
UPRAZE (our team's iBuyer)
6. Build an ISA team
Hire and train an inside sales team to make outbound prospecting calls to set appointments and add people to your database. If you don't know where to start with this, you might think about taking a course like Prospecting Bootcamp or Team Building.
7. Double down on invites to client events
When you host client events, allow your database to invite guests and capture their info either at the event or upon RSVP/registration. This is a quick way to double the size of your database!
8. Host community-based events to meet new people
Here's an example: Jeff's team in Michigan hosts an Easter Egg Hunt every year downtown Plymouth, the location of their flagship office. The entire community is invited - not just their database - and everyone must RSVP ahead of time.
9. Facebook Groups
There are two ways to work Facebook Groups for building your database:
Join existing community Facebook Groups (i.e. your own neighborhood, [specialty] car enthusiasts, cat lovers of [city], etc.). Make sure they're full of people in YOUR local market.
Start your own community Facebook Group
Make sure your profile and feeds are up to date and clearly state that you are a local real estate agent! Never outwardly sell or ask for business in these groups. Use these as a way to network, build relationships, and get to know people in your area.
Adding Value To Your Database
After following these 10 best ways to grow your real estate database, the next step, of course, is to add more value to your database. Adding more value to your database is another proven way to get more business from it.
For the full list of 21 ways to grow your database and the plan for adding value to your database, get SalesRocket Virtual. It's 31 recorded sessions of everything you need to know and do to accelerate your production.