Practical follow-up tools can help agents earn repeat business

Although 88% of home buyers say they would reuse or refer their real estate agent, only 41% do so. This demonstrates the difficulty agents face in maintaining relationships after closing.

Traditional retention efforts such as closing gifts, automated email campaigns, holiday cards, and generic market updates often provide little lasting value to homeowners. In fact, these kinds of closing gifts are a "transactional thank you," not a retention strategy, according to experts.

Even newsletters with recipes or spring gardening tips are more for an agent's convenience than for the benefit of the customer. Post-purchase home management platforms, on the other hand, can provide customer practical tools for maintaining and protecting their homes.

These platforms can track appliance and system lifespans, send maintenance reminders, organize warranties and documents, monitor improvement projects, and connect homeowners with local contractors.

Some also use inspection reports and property-specific information to create individualized maintenance plans. Automating these services allows agents to remain connected without manually managing years of follow-up communication.

Providing useful support throughout the average seven-year period of homeownership can help agents remain top of mind when clients are ready to sell, refinance, make improvements, or refer someone else.

Source: RISMedia (07/09/26) Stewart, Alex

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