367: How to Mine Your Real Estate Database

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How to Mine Your Real Estate Database

This week marks seven years of Hustle Humbly, and in seven years we still have not found a better way to grow a real estate business than the one we started with: the database. So today we are showing you how to mine your real estate database for the business that is already sitting right in front of you.

If you are brand new here and do not have a database yet, go listen to Episode 9, our original database episode, and grab our free database template at hustlehumblypodcast.com/starthere. But if you already have one, this episode is not about building it. It is about digging into what you already have and finding the gold.

You Can Never Be Done With Your Database

It is easy to assume that once someone is in your database, your job is finished. It is not. We have to keep coming back, keep paying attention, and keep asking ourselves a simple question: when is the last time you actually opened your database and read through it? Not contacted anyone. Just looked. If it has been a while, you are probably sitting on names you have forgotten mean something.

Part of learning how to mine your real estate database means going back through your phone contacts and our “who do you know” list to refresh who belongs there. Past clients, people you met at an open house, your hairstylist, your college roommate. If someone’s name makes you dread reaching out, they should not be on the list at all.

Ask Yourself Two Questions

The first question is when you last told your database you are open for business. We shared a story about an email sent to 390 contacts that simply said “I remember you and I am here for you and your referrals first.” No call to action. It still got 20 responses.

The second question is when you last told your database you can refer them to an agent in another city. People do not sit around thinking about your business. If you do not remind them, they will not know to ask.

Go Down the List, Person by Person

Once you have refreshed who is on your list, the real mining starts. Add a referral column so you can track who has sent you more than one person. Think about whether each contact is likely a buyer, a seller, or neither right now. Use closed dates and social media check-ins to figure out who is warming up. Someone seven years past their purchase with a new job or a growing family might be closer to moving than you think.

Track Where Your Business Comes From

If you are not tracking your referral sources, you cannot double down on what is working. We walk through exactly how we log referrals from first contact through closing, and why saying thank you matters more than you think.

Do the Math on Your Own Database

Before recording, we each went through our own databases and calculated our repeat referrer percentage. One of us landed at 6.5%, the other at 4.7%. Neither of us knew that number before doing the exercise, and now we both have a goal to grow it.

If you are ready to go even deeper on sorting, growing, and using your database, join us live for Build Your Own Business starting September 8th.

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

Why you can never truly be “done” with your database
The “who do you know” list and how it helps you refresh who belongs on there
Why someone who makes you dread seeing their name shouldn’t be on your list
The two check-in messages to send: “I’m open for business” and “I can refer you to another city”
A real story about an email that went out to 390 contacts and got 20 responses, no call to action needed
Why “everybody already knows a Realtor” is a story you’re telling yourself
Adding a referral column to track who sends you repeat business
How to use closed dates to figure out who’s warming up to move again
Moving people up the “thermometer” from cold to warm to hot
How to track and thank your referral sources so they keep sending more
The exercise we did before recording: going through our own databases and finding our repeat referrer percentage
Action steps to open your database this week and start sorting

Key Quotes & Takeaways:

“You can never be done with your database.”
“If there is someone in your database that makes you go, oh, I don’t want to get to this name, they shouldn’t be there.”
“When your business is struggling, database is the answer.”
“You have to be better than the machine.”

Products, People & Previous Episodes Mentioned: