Collin McDowell directly addresses camera:  Technology is great. It allows us to find unique ways to serve clients and be more efficient. But it doesn't replace the human touch.

I'm Collin McDowell, vice president of Garett Realty Partners in Newport News, Virginia and a member of the Forbes Real Estate Council. Let's take five minutes to talk about how you can offer your value to your customers without making it all about technology.

After four and a half years in the business, I was selling a lot of homes and successful by all measures. Except I wasn't getting a lot of referral business. I started asking myself why. Then, I went out to my past customers to find out from them. They gave me some great feedback, and it caused me to have an AHA moment. They were opening up to me and giving me feedback after the fact, but not before. I realized that it was my job to research what my friends my family, they wanted and what they were looking for in a relationship with me. Our business is a business based on people, not product. We can't sell anything unless we can sell ourselves first. Real estate is a talking point, but isn't the core of any relationship. 

Technology is important as a tool to facilitate relationships, but it is not the end all be all. You must have a system that keeps track of your relationships. 

Here are some suggestions for connecting.

Have a routine where you check in with your prospects in your database multiple time each month. We want an average of at least three connections each month. It could be a call, a text and a visit. What do you say when you call them? No one wants to get three calls from an agent asking how they are doing. Nor do they want you to ask them for business. It's not organic and it's pushy. So, you must figure out the wants, likes and needs of each person and tap into that in every single connection and conversation. Is their kid adjusting to a new school? Did they go on an interesting trip? Help them out. Be the solution finder. 

Offer more value than just real estate advice. If you can connect them with a cleaning person, tell them about a new restaurant or introduce them to the president of the local MOMS club, you are establishing yourself as the trusted source in the community. 

Also, share your appreciation but never ask them for anything in return. For example, if they refer a potential buyer to you, but that person doesn't end up using you, make sure you thank them and tell them how much you appreciate the fact that they trusted you.

However, just building the relationships can only go so far. It must translate into production. And the biggest hindrance to production is that agents don't know how to prioritize their time. They don't know how to distinguish between the important and the urgent. Categorize your activities to keep relationships and the tasked associate with the into building them into a priority.

This is especially true for new agents. You need four hours per day blocked off to developing new business and creating new relationships. Then, you need two hours each day to follow up with those relationships and nurture them. So, you've got six hours of your day that you're blocking out to manage and create relationships with people. During those hours, you could be meeting with people face-to-face, calling them, text messaging them in some way, meeting with them.

Rather than sending out a marketing piece and moving on to the next, think about ways you can enrich the lives of prospective buyers and sellers. Be the connector and problem solver for them, and you'll find that you develop more meaningful relationships that translate to more business.