When we begin our careers as commercial real estate agents we normally don't have any clients or prospects at that time. So we begin prospecting to locate people we can begin working with. Then we work on closing transactions with these people. But oftentimes we drop out our communications with these people after we've closed these transactions.

If we don't think the people we've just closed transactions with have any additional real estate needs in the near future, we can end up forgetting about them, continuing to look for new people we've never worked with before to close transactions with.

If you plan on being in this business for 10, 20, or 30 years or more, you're going to close a lot of transactions with a lot of people. But if you don't pay close attention to your follow-up with these people in the months and years after you've closed a deal with them, you'll just be fighting with your competitors to represent them the next time they need to do a real estate transaction.

In effect even though they've already become clients of yours, it's as if there's no ongoing broker-client relationship being maintained. And as a result this can feel to them like you're no different than all the other brokers years down the road when it's time for them to choose an agent they'll begin working with.

Now once you've been in our business for 10 to 20 years or more, the total number of transactions you've closed will probably be in the hundreds. And if you maintain great ongoing relationships with these people, the amount of repeat business you'll obtain from them can be immeasurable. And if you don't maintain great relationships with these people, you can always feel that you're kicking, scratching, and clawing to represent every prospect, much like the way you felt when you were new in the business.

But if over the course of your career you close transactions with hundreds of people, and you keep one hundred of them loyal to you, if these one hundred people average only one transaction every five years, that's twenty transactions you can count on every year just from these people alone. And when you add to this the number of additional transactions you're closing with new clients every year, this can add up to some very serious commission dollars!

So stay in contact with everyone you've closed transactions with.

Call them throughout the year just as you would new people you've never worked with. These warm calls with your past clients are normally much more enjoyable. You're more likely to get through to the decision maker, and the phone call is more likely to lead to new business and new referrals for you, too.

Include your past clients in receiving all of your mailers. This will keep them thinking of you even if it's been awhile since you've seen them or talked with them. And if they're thinking they may have an upcoming real estate need right around the time they receive one of your mailers, this increases the probability that they'll pick up the phone and call you immediately.

Tell them you want to have a long-term relationship with them for many years to come, and ask them what they'd like you to do for them over the years so they feel they want to continue this long-term relationship with you also. Just the fact that you've mentioned this will make it more difficult for them to not be loyal to you, provided of course that you follow through and do what they've asked you to do for them.

If you set the tone for this kind of relationship from the very beginning with your clients, follow-up with them throughout the year, ask them if there's anything you can do for them, mail them information on what's going on in the market and keep them informed, and ask them to call you whenever they have any commercial real estate needs, you'll be well on your way to building relationships that will lead to many more transactions, and many more commission dollars, throughout your commercial real estate career.