Client Appreciation Event Ideas for Realtors

Past clients and your sphere are where repeat business and referrals come from. Most agents know that and still go a year without seeing those people in person. A text on their home anniversary and a holiday card are nice. A room full of people you've helped, eating and talking with each other, is something they remember.

Client appreciation events don't have to be big or expensive. Ten people in a room counts. What matters is doing them on a schedule, inviting people personally, and following up afterward.

Why events work

An event gives you a rare reason to call every person on your list without asking them for anything. Most of your calls to past clients carry a quiet ask. An invitation doesn't. "We're having a little get-together at the brewery on the 14th, and I'd love to see you there" is an easy call to make and an easy call to take.

It also changes how people talk about you. At an event, your past clients meet each other and hear each other's stories. You become the agent with a community around them, which is a much easier person to refer.

Plan at least two in-person events a year. Quarterly is better once you have the list and the partners to support it.

Client appreciation event ideas

Pick events that match your clients and your market. A few that work in most places:

1. The two-hour happy hour

A stand-up event at a local bar, brewery or restaurant, from 6 to 8 on a weekday. It's easier to attend than a sit-down dinner because guests can come late and leave early, and it costs less per person. Ask the venue about a private room or a reserved section.

2. Pie or turkey pickup

In November, pre-order pies from a local bakery and invite clients to pick one up at your office or a partner's space over a Saturday afternoon. People come because there's something to take home, and you get ten minutes with each family.

3. Family movie day

Rent a small theater screen for a Saturday morning showing of a family movie. Clients bring their kids or grandkids, everyone gets popcorn, and you get a lobby full of people who live in your area.

4. Shred day or document day

Partner with a mobile shredding company and invite clients to bring old documents. Add coffee and donuts. Practical events draw people who skip parties.

5. Seasonal photo session

Book a local photographer for a fall or holiday mini-session in a park. Clients sign up for a 15-minute slot and leave with photos they'll actually use, and they'll remember who arranged it.

6. Builder or developer preview

If a builder in your area is finishing a project, co-host an evening walkthrough. Your clients get to see something new, and the builder gets in front of qualified people. These events also put you in front of investors.

7. Local business night

Partner with a wine shop, a boutique or a restaurant for a private tasting. Frame it as a private invitation. People say yes to "you're invited" more readily than to anything that sounds like a sales event.

8. Summer block party or picnic

A park pavilion, a food truck and lawn games. It works well for neighborhood farming, since you can invite owners in your farm area as well as past clients.

9. Charity drive

Toys for a local holiday drive, school supplies in August, coats in winter. Guests bring a donation, you provide the food and drinks. People like attending something that gives back.

10. Small dinner for top referrers

Once a year, take the past clients and friends who send you the most business out to dinner. Six to eight people is plenty. Many states limit gifts or anything of value tied to referrals from unlicensed people, and RESPA bars it for settlement providers like lenders and title reps. Ask your broker before giving anything tied to a referral.

Split the cost with partners

You don't have to pay for all of this yourself. Bring in a mortgage lender, a title rep and a home inspector as co-hosts. Each partner invites their top clients and a few people they'd like to meet, and everyone shares the room. You meet their clients, they meet yours, and a small shared budget covers an event none of you would throw alone.

One rule makes these partnerships last: don't poach. If a lender brings their clients to your event and one of them later buys a house with you, don't pitch that buyer on switching lenders. The buyer still picks their own lender, and a partner who feels poached stops co-hosting.

Check RESPA before you split costs with a lender or title company

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act bans giving or accepting a "thing of value" for referrals of settlement business, and the definition is broad. It includes "trips and payment of another person's expenses" (Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.14). A lender paying for your event while you send them clients can cross that line. The safer setup is for each co-host to pay its fair share for the exposure it actually gets, with the arrangement in writing and approved by your broker.

Not legal advice. Check your state rules and your broker.

How to invite people

Personal beats mass. Send a short email announcement to your whole list (text only the people who agreed to hear from you by text), then call your top people.

"Hi Karen, it's Sam. I'm hosting a small thank-you happy hour for clients on Thursday the 14th at Harbor Brewing, 6 to 8. I'd love to see you and Mike there. Can I put you down?"

A few tips:

• Send invitations three to four weeks out, with a reminder a week before and a text the day of.
• Let guests bring a friend. Every plus-one is someone new who meets you in a good setting.
• Invite the people who know everyone. Bartenders, restaurant managers and baristas you've gotten to know will often come, and they'll introduce you to people you'd never reach by calling.
• Track RSVPs. You'll need the list for follow-up anyway.

At the event

• Greet everyone at the door. You're the host, so learn names before you need them.
• Introduce people to each other: "Karen, you have to meet Tom. He just bought two streets over from you."
• Keep the business talk to a two-minute welcome and a thank-you to partners. No presentation.
• Take photos, with permission. They're the easiest social posts you'll make all quarter.
• Write down what you hear. Someone mentions a new baby, a parent moving in or a job change, and that's a reason to call later.

Follow up within 48 hours

1. Add every new person to your CRM with notes on how you met, who they came with and what they do.
2. Send a thank-you to everyone who came, with a photo if you have one.
3. Call the people who shared news, like a move or a new job, and ask how it's going.
4. Send no-shows a "we missed you" note with the date of the next event, which means putting that date on the calendar now.

How AVEX RE helps

AVEX RE keeps your sphere and past clients in one CRM with tags and notes. Build a list or segment of everyone you want to invite, then send the announcement as an email campaign to that list. Text campaigns are available after a one-time texting registration. Tag new contacts from the event, and the Sphere and Past Client Nurture action plan keeps them warm with one email a month and a call task each quarter. See the sphere of influence touch plan for the full year.