Success as a real estate agent depends on relationships with clients and potential clients. Successful relationships and the trust that they engender make real estate transactions flow more smoothly, generate more referrals, and increase the likelihood that clients will come back to you the next time they are in the market.

Critical elements to a successful relationship include understanding your customers, meeting their needs, and exceeding their expectations with your services.

Identify client categories

Because there is not enough time in the day to cater to every customer individually, the next best thing is to group clients into several broad categories, and then shape a separate approach to marketing communications for each category.

For example, you can create a set of newsletters, one for each major category. Templates for real estate newsletters can help you to easily customize your marketing materials to suit each segment of your audience. Outlined below is a four-step process that helps you to:

1. Better understand client needs.
2. Adapt your services to meet those needs.
3. Make the best use of powerful marketing tools to support your approach.
4. Evaluate your success.

Talk to your clients (past, present, and future)

Trying to guess what your clients expect from the real estate process and from you as an agent has little real value, especially when you can just ask them!

You can gather information from clients casually, as you work with them. You can host an informal focus group over lunch or dinner. Or you can conduct a more objective e-mail or Web-based survey for a larger group of contacts.

To get a wide range of input, talk to past, present, and even potential future clients. The most valuable feedback might come from clients that were disappointed with your services and, possibly, transferred to another agent.

When gathering feedback, you might want to probe some of the following topics:

• Which of your services do clients value most?  Do they appreciate your mentoring style, no-nonsense negotiating skills, or years of local experience?
• Which services do clients merely tolerate?  Perhaps they would rather not receive your newsletter or your daily listing of new properties when most properties are outside their interest area or price range.
• What other values and interests are important to your clients?  Are they looking for a home to renovate? Would they pay a premium for a home offering more privacy? Are they active outdoors enthusiasts looking for a quick escape route to the wilderness?

Although this will not be a scientific study, the data you gather is invaluable. The data can help you improve your service offerings, eliminate wasted effort, distance yourself from competitors, and carve out a profitable business niche.

Tailor your plan to your clients

Talking to your clients can unearth opportunities to refine your services and develop stronger connections. To the greatest extent possible, divide your audience into groups and develop customized approaches and materials for each. For example, you might determine that most of your clientele fall into one or more of these three categories:

• First-time buyers  First timers often need more home-buying support, education, and resources.
• Seasoned home buyers  Old pros that have purchased at least one home in the past have a good idea of what they want. They might already have many of the necessary connections to other resources, such as lenders and inspectors.
• Foreign workers/students  If your territory includes a major university or international corporations, many of your clients might come from overseas and have a need for special services such as translation, relocation services, or more complex financing.

In the end, it doesn't matter what your categories are, as long as you can describe your clients' special needs and are able to adapt your methods and materials to better meet these needs.

Get the word out

As soon as you understand the groups you are targeting, you need to develop an approach to telling your story to each group. This means creating a mini-marketing plan, complete with supporting materials, for each group.

Using the foreign workers/students category from earlier in this article as an example, you might choose to use one or several of the following approaches:

• Quarterly newsletters  Develop a foreign-language newsletter describing your services and the special value you offer to those who are new to the area. You might highlight your experience with similar clients, list some valuable local resources, and showcase homes available near the university or a particular company. You can distribute the newsletter in person, through the mail, or by e-mail, depending on your clients' needs.
• Targeted e-mail  E-mail is a great way to maintain contact with current and past clients and connect with new referrals before they arrive in the area. Develop a collection of e-mail messages that helps clients through different stages of the real estate process and that offers timely tips on such topics as effective house hunting, simple financing rules, or cost-effective renovation.
• Presentations and seminars  Create a brief presentation or seminar that offers advice to help foreign workers and foreign students purchase their new homes and that highlights your services. Talk to local community groups, university housing officials, and human resources staff to see whether they would be interested in sponsoring your talk. Face-to-face contact with your target market can garner many referrals while also giving you an opportunity to learn more about their needs and interests.

Information technology allows you to easily create several versions of your marketing materials, each of them customized for a given group. Take full advantage of these useful tools by taking the time to learn how to use them to support your efforts.

Evaluate your success

Identifying target groups and tailoring your services to them is a never-ending cycle of innovation. In order to keep improving your approach, you need to continually evaluate how you are doing.

From the beginning, identify indicators and goals that define success for you. For example, you might want to grow transaction value by 15% per year and bring in eight new clients per quarter. As you implement your strategy, keep an eye on these metrics to measure your progress. Some of the other key indicators you might want to track include:

• Number of transactions you generate in a given period
• Value of commissions in a given period
• Duration and cost of each transaction
• Number of referrals from existing clients or your network
• Percentage of repeat clients
• Client satisfaction with your services

More than likely, your evaluation will reveal both progress and opportunity for improvement.

Plan for the long term

Relationships take time to build, and so the payoff might not be immediate. But with persistence, focus, and an eye for detail, you will gradually gain a better understanding of your customers, refine your approach, and see your real estate business take off.