How to Plan a Successful Realtor Client Appreciation Event

When I began The Creative Home Studio, I was also a marketing assistant to a local realtor. Over the two years working with her, I was able to plan client appreciation events. AND I’ve also been on the other side as a client of the realtor who sold us our first home. Now let’s get down to what I have learned along the way!

Tip 01. Think of Your Clients. What does their lifestyle look like? Young couples, families with little ones, retired couples, pet lovers? Based on your clients, you will want to plan an event that will fit the lifestyle of the majority of your clients. This will help your turn out. For instance, our realtor had always hosted their client appreciation event during the evening in a nice restaurant during the month of December. We have young kids. It was always difficult to align a sitter especially near the holidays. So we never attended. Then, one year they hosted a family movie in the summer. You better believe that I rsvp’ed immediately as I was able to bring the kids. We had a great time as well as the kids. Some examples for clients without young kids can  be a dance lesson. For pet lovers, a photo shoot with their furbabies. Families, an ice cream social or movie. A good one for everyone can be lunch/dinner at a casual food truck park. This way your guests can choose what they like and it's more flexible on time. Several of these types of establishments have a casual feel making it easy to bring kids. Here are two of our local favorites to visit: Boxi Park and A La Cart.

Tip 02. Staggered Time Slots. At our last client appreciation event space was limited so we had to have our guests come by in smaller groups. It turned out to be such a great move as my principal agent was able to actually catch up with her clients one-on-one. I was able to schedule the event by 30 minute slots using Eventbrite. If your event would allow for this, I highly recommend it! Your clients will be sure to feel welcomed and appreciated that you took the time to chat with them one-on-one.

Tip 03. Gift Cards Were there some of your VIP’s that couldn’t make it? Make sure to grab them each a gift card when you check out at the end of your event. This can work as a great pop by or even drop it in the mail with a note telling them that they were missed. We did this for our last event, an ice cream social. Unfortunately, that weekend we experienced a tropical storm come in and our numbers dropped last minute. We grabbed some gift cards at the end and made sure to show love to those who couldn’t join us. 

Tip 04. Signage When your guests arrive make sure to have some signage so they know where to go. I designed a set of tent signs for our events. They’ve been used for our client appreciation events and even seller/buyer classes too! They will definitely come in handy. 

Bonus tip: Create a fun photo opportunity. Not necessary but who doesn’t love a fun photo? In turn, your clients will tag you and you will get some more exposure. 

Hope these tips can help you the next time you are planning a client appreciation event.