A TV commercial in the UK is currently generating a lot of conversation and having watched it, I found myself thinking about real estate, specifically the relationship between a Realtor and their clients. Here’s the commercial:

The video shows the stages of a woman’s life and has generated some emotional commentary about how positive for some, negative for others, the underlying message is (some naysayers take issue with the suggestion that there is an expected path for women). For me, looking at this from a purely marketing perspective, the final message; “Our lifelong commitment to you”, is the most powerful and makes me wonder what lifetime commitment a Realtor has to their clients.

This also ties into comments made by Allan Dalton at last week’s Westchester Real Estate Professionals meeting. In part, Allan highlighted ‘transactional relationships’ which I understood to mean that a Realtor will be part of my life only when I am buying or selling a house. Essentially there is no ongoing relationship.

I expect people to disagree but know that along with Allan (and increasingly many others), I don’t think sending a calendar or fridge magnet each year counts for anything. Trash giveaways like that, under the guise of ‘drip marketing’, do more harm than good to the real estate industry. They certainly do nothing to continue, let alone build upon, any type of relationship.

I’ve lived in my home for almost seven years and so I am about to hit that sweet spot when data says I am considering a move. If I was contemplating that and I had a note of the name and number of the Realtor I previously used, I would call them. But there’s a problem; I do have that information but it’s out of date. I know that because, just for the hell of it, I called her office to say ‘hi’ and was given her new contact information.

Yeah right! They explained she was no longer with the company, they didn’t know if she was still in real estate but someone else in their office could help! Please don’t tell me you are surprised; Realtors guard leads from the people sitting next to them so giving up even the potential of a lead to another company is never going to happen.

My call highlights a really important problem in real estate and relates to my main question; how can a Realtor keep a real and longterm relationship going with their clients?.

Colleagues, past or present, are highly unlikely to help. Google was actually my solution. It helped me find my Realtor and she is still in business locally. But I only know that because I put the effort in to find her. I don’t know how many people would do that but I would guess not many. As a result, if I was really looking to sell my home the commissions would end up in another Realtors pockets.

Allan suggest’s Realtors embrace social media to create and continue real and long term relationships. I roar my approval. Facebook provides a mechanism to do that by allowing Realtors to regularly connect with and be involved in the life of their client. That’s how relationships work in real life – you have to connect with a person on a relatively regular basis and put some effort in.

You could, of course, just stick with annual gifts. Allan was pretty blunt about one he received from a Realtor; a ‘welcome home’ mat with her name on it ended up in front of his dog’s kennel. Am I missing something? Is there a better way to keep in contact with your clients than social media?