What’s a Good Closing Gift for a Real Estate Client?

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Since I’m now a partner in our brokerage I’ve taken on a lot of new roles… manager, recruiter, garbage can empty-er, trainer, bottle-washer… I think you get the picture! It’s been an exciting year so far, and I think that the questions my newer agents are bringing to me might be some that you have too, so I’m going to take some of my writing ideas from them!

Today I want to talk about closing gifts. Recently one of our agents asked me about what’s a good closing gift to give to a client. I gave him a quick answer on the spot, but I’ve really been thinking about this a lot since then because this might be a deeper topic than it first seems!

At a time when so many agents are struggling financially, you’ve really got to weigh the options for whether you even WILL give a closing gift! So let’s look at why you might want to:
Pro: You want to build long-term rapport with them and be seen as a “friend” that gave them a housewarming gift… just like their parents and friends will at the housewarming party. This is great for relationship building. (and referrals!)

Con: They were the type of clients you DON’T WANT to build a long term relationship with! (come on… we’ve all had one or two of those! I seem to have had a lot lately!) Save your money!

Seriously though, I’m a big believer in “it’s the thought that counts” especially in a time where so many agents are watching their pennies very closely. Here’s what I mean:

If you get them a $50 or $25 or even $100 gift certificate to a hardware store or a restaurant, they are able to put an exact dollar value on your gift (”they made $3,000 commission off me and all they gave me was a lousy $50 gift card!).

If you buy them a THING then you are risking that they won’t even like it. Quick story, when Tim & I bought our first house our agent gave us a THING to hang on our wall… it was some kind of grape-vine wreath with feathers sticking out of it, basically it was not at ALL our style. In this case a gift actually served a negative purpose because I wondered if she had gotten to know us at all during this time. (no, I never hung itup!)

But if you LISTEN to your clients during the time you spend with them, you might just hear them mention something that they might LOVE!!! Here’s 2 recent examples:

I found a young couple a beautiful house that had been nicely remodeled, was in a gated community, and had an amazing pool in the back yard. They fell in love with it right away. During the home inspection they wandered around deciding what furniture would go where and they mentioned that there were no garage door remotes and kind of sighed that they would have to figure out what kind to buy. Guess what their closing gift was? Exactly! Two garage door remotes. You should have seen her face… I don’t think that I could have picked a better gift! (by the way, she had no idea what I spent and I bet she didn’t even care!)

Another buyer that I’m working with right now has mentioned a few times that he wants an herb garden when he gets into the new house. BINGO! I’m going to get him a gardening kit with some tools, pots, and seeds to start his new garden. This will probably cost under $30 but will make an impression worth many times more than that!

Now do you understand what I meant by “it’s the thought that counts?” When you give your client a gift that is exactly what they wanted and didn’t even know that’s what they wanted… you’ve done a great job that they’ll remember you for.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on client gifts and share your stories of a great gift that you got for a client.

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