Before working your luxury database, take the time to get everything organized for easier planning. First, “purge” the list as much as possible. Remember, you want your luxury database to consist of people who actually may want to work with you at some point in the future. If any of your contacts don’t fit this description, it’s likely a good idea to remove them from your luxury database.

Next, consider utilizing the following steps to maximize the value you’ll be able to obtain from your luxury database:

• Clean up contact information so that it’s uniform for all unique entries — this will make it easier to effectively sort through existing entries and properly add new ones;

• Divide your luxury database entries into four different groups — categories AAA, A, B, and C;

• Potential clients in Category AAA are those whom you’ll want to give special attention to. This extra attention can take the form of more frequent phone calls (i.e. every 45 days or so), meeting up with them in-person (i.e. 1-2 meetings per year), and/or doing something special for them around the holidays (i.e. a personalized gift or greeting of some kind);

• Those listed in Category A should at least receive a quarterly phone call from you;

• Potential clients in Category B should at least receive one or two annual phone calls from you;

• Category C entries should be part of an email drip campaign only. Entries in this category of your luxury database should consist of anyone and everyone you collect marketable email addresses from, yet you don’t necessarily have enough of a personal relationship with or even a strong connection to in order to bump them up the list;

• Additionally, potential clients in Categories AAA, A, and B should receive monthly mail from you, budget permitting. If budget is an issue, these categories should receive mail from you on a quarterly basis, at the very minimum.

Personalized Touches Make Your Luxury Database Even More Valuable

Collect birthdays of your luxury database members in order to build a better rapport with them. This way, you’ll be able to send them a birthday card and/or call them on the phone to wish them well. Think about it, how many “happy birthday” calls do you get from people other than family and very close friends? A birthday phone call will not only be appreciated, but memorable as well. To take it a step further, you may even want to organize home-purchase anniversary dates, and send luxury database members a “Happy Home-Purchase Anniversary” card to remind them that you’re still invested in them even after the sale.

Stay in Touch with Your Luxury Database on a Scheduled Basis

Email drip campaigns are a great way to stay in touch with your luxury database members. First of all, you’ll want to make sure that you’re sending information they’ll find valuable. Otherwise, they may start ignoring your emails, and that will likely impact whether or not they’ll want to work with you in the future. In terms of how often you should be sending emails, most luxury real estate professionals find that 1–2 emails per month is effective.

By scheduling emails ahead of time by using a CRM platform, you’re able to not only specify exactly when those emails go out, but you’re also able to access open rate and other metrics that you can use to fine tune your process and more effectively reach your luxury database members.

Don’t Disregard Traditional Mail Options When it Comes to Communicating with Your Luxury Database

It’s important to remember that not everyone opens up every email they receive. A lot of times, people simply hit “delete” and move onto the next email. That’s why “snail mail” is still a valuable tool luxury real estate professionals can use to keep in touch with their luxury database. Since more and more companies are relying on email blasts over traditional mail items, mailboxes these days are a bit emptier than they used to be. Make sure you take advantage of this. If you want to really cover all your bases and reach your luxury database in every way that you can, consider sending postcards, letters, and even personal notes in addition to automated email campaigns.

In-Person Events Help Get Your Luxury Database Members Talking

Some luxury real estate professionals host annual client appreciation events that are often co-sponsored by their vendors. If you decide an in-person event is a good option for staying in touch with your luxury database, make sure to start planning the event at least six months in advance. About 90 days before the event is set to take place, send a save-the-date announcement in the mail. Then, start heavily promoting the event about 45–60 days prior to the event date. Remember, most people need to be reminded several times before they commit to an RSVP, so be persistent and make sure you confirm all attendees so that you can properly plan for the event.

While at the event, take plenty of high-quality photos that you’ll be able to use to market future events. Post these images on Facebook, Instagram, and even in an email blast so that people can get a glimpse into what it was like to attend.

Additionally, encourage your guests to interact with your social media profiles and tag you in their own social media posts. The best thing about an event like this is that it will get people talking about what it was all about. As a result, more people will be made aware of your position as a luxury real estate professional, and you may even pick up a few more potential clients to add to your luxury database. Often, if you obtain enough referrals via one of these events, those referrals will potentially pay dividends down the line — and more than make up for the cost of putting on the event in the first place.