As an agent, your main focus is customer service. Whether you work for a brokerage or own your own real estate business, your reputation and interpersonal skills are the things that help you acquire and retain clients that keep your business alive. Social media tools play a major role in building your real estate brand and generating new customers, but you also want to adopt some best practices for all your interactions with prospects and clients.

What kind of mindset should you adopt as a business owner when interacting with prospects and clients? The main goal is fairly simple: to understand what home buyers and sellers are looking for in an agent and using your customer service skills to try and meet those expectations. Here are a few things we've noticed that resonate with real estate clients:

1. Understanding

Clients appreciate when a Realtor® understands their home buying or selling situation, especially if the sale is due to some stressful or sensitive matter.

2. Knowledge

Clients appreciate having an agent who knows the process and can anticipate all the bumps along the road, whether that be dealing with financing, inspections, or what have you.

3. Connections

Clients appreciate when their real estate agent is connected to the community and is able to share knowledge of local schools, businesses and services. They like their agent to not only "represent" the home sale but also the neighborhood where the client is relocating to.

4. Communication

Clients appreciate being able to reach their real estate agent fairly easily, through phone, e-mail, text, what have you. Agents will need to adjust based on the needs of the customer here. In addition, they appreciate their needs and wishes being "heard" by their agent. Social media is an ideal way to stay connected throughout the home transaction process.

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