Stop chasing leads: How buyer’s agents can drive repeat business and referral success

He told REB that currently, his buyer’s agency has around 30 to 40 per cent of its business coming from returning or referred clients, driven by a clear, tailored strategy, personalised communication, transparency, and results.

“We usually do not ask for clients to refer us; they do it naturally and often come back for their next property because they were satisfied with the service.”

“It’s all about putting the investor and their goals at the centre of the business rather than being only a transactional process,” Voegt told REB.

He said that buyer’s agents who focus on understanding investors’ goals, personalise communication, leverage technology, deliver results, and maintain post-settlement relationships will be the most successful.

Here are Voegt's top tips to get repeat business:

1. Start with the investor, not the property

Voegt said that building repeated business starts with a focus on the investors rather than on the property itself.

He said that understanding the investor’s journey, borrowing capacity, risk appetite, goals, and decision style remained essential before discussing any opportunities.

“We don't do any suburb recommendations or any sort of property type before we understand who the investor is first, because it will dictate what market we go into and what the best strategy is.”

Voegt said his process typically involves three structured conversations: a brief initial check-in, a deeper discussion of long-term goals, and a final session to map out strategy and a detailed buying brief.

He noted that the approach builds trust, ensures investors feel understood, and creates a strong foundation for clients to return for future purchases and recommend his services to others.

“When we really understand our clients and what they want from a property, they feel listened to and part of the process."

“Once that trust is there, it becomes the foundation for them to come back again and again, buying property two, three, four, and more."

2. Use systems to stay relevant

Voegt said that delivering a personalised strategy and communication requires remembering a large number of details about each client.

To ensure clear communication, he invested in an in-house client portal to track the investor’s plan, strategy, timelines, and progress.

“We've actually built an in-house client portal, where we can see the plan, the strategy, the timelines, all those sorts of things we have talked about. This is updated live through the journey and through the buying process.”

Additionally, Voegt said that personalised communication, including remembering clients’ family details, life events, and milestones, helped deepen relationships and is tracked carefully through their customer relationship management (CRM) system.

3. Building trust with investors

Voegt said that in addition to providing tailored services, buyer’s agents should focus on building trust with their clients.

He highlighted that full transparency in due diligence, honest communication about risks, and walking away from deals when necessary all reinforce credibility.

He said that being fully transparent during due diligence helped nervous clients feel comfortable and trust the process.

“When we are sourcing a property for a client, and we show them full transparency on our due diligence process, which is extremely detailed.”

“I've had a client very nervous about buying, and as soon as they see the level of detail, they relax and become more comfortable, which allows us to get the job done.”

Voegt also emphasised pointing out any risks, even minor ones, which earns the clients’ respect and confidence.

“No property is perfect, no area is perfect.”

“There's always something that you need to be aware of. And for us, calling out the risks and being transparent with clients makes us earn their respect and trust.”

Finally, Voegt said that walking away from a deal when necessary reinforces credibility and strengthens the client relationship for future opportunities.

“I guess from a client perspective, seeing their buyer’s agent pull out of a deal after having done a lot of work and then start fresh with another property further develops trust as they know you want the best results, not just a deal.”

4. Deliver tangible results

According to Voegt, while communication is key for buyer’s agents, investors return due to the strategy delivering measurable outcomes, including potential property growth to fund future purchases.

“You've got the relationship side, the transparency through our process, but above all, you've got to deliver a result.

“That's the main reason why they're trusting and use our service.”

Voegt said the effort his team put into finding the right area and property often shows through, allowing clients to quickly see growth they can use toward their next purchase, which keeps them coming back.

“Now we don't have a crystal ball. We can't see what is going to happen in the market and we do call that out, we avoid overpromising.”

“It's more so we pride ourselves on making sure that we can deliver that and all of the things that we do work towards, ideally buying in a market that you're going to see some growth.

“As we all know in the last few years, anything can change at any time, and the market can shift quite fast.”

5. Maintain contact post-settlement

According to Voegt, one of the key aspects of securing repeat and referral business is maintaining communication after settlement to keep clients engaged.

He said that clients are checked in with at three, six, and nine months, depending on their situation

“We sort of check in every three months after settlement on how the property's going, any issues, how's the property manager, rental increases and updated property valuation.”

Voegt said their CRM tracks property performance, rent, and valuations post-settlement, keeping clients informed with regular updates even if they aren’t ready to buy again.

He said that, combined with their client portal, the follow-up approach ensures investors have full visibility throughout the process and feel supported long-term.

6. Avoid these common mistakes

Voegt said that to ensure organic business growth, buyer’s agents should avoid treating transactions as one-offs, failing to check in after settlement, or going quiet after contracts become unconditional.

“There have been quite a few investors who have come to us for a second or third property and told us they had never heard from their previous buyer’s agents after the sale was done.”

“It's like the transaction was done and they were gone.”

Similarly, he said that buyer’s agents should not go quiet after the contract goes unconditional.

“This is typically where things can go pear-shaped with a deal, or things can get quite stressful.”

“So you kind of want to be there for the client the whole way through the journey and really just hold their hand, which a lot of people do appreciate, particularly if you're a first timer as well.”

He said that another mistake buyer’s agents often made was not tailoring their offering to the investors' favouring the areas or property types they believed in.

“While believing in certain areas is great, it might not be right for every single investor. So not having that tailor-made plan and strategy upfront, I think, is another big mistake.

7. Be patient

Voegt said that building organic repeat and referral business takes time, as most referrals come from satisfied clients, with strong performance and trust naturally driving returns.

“We very rarely have actually asked for the business. It's more so the results have been delivered, and then they're kind of happy to refer or return from there.”

He said that to ensure ongoing loyalty is rewarded, offering a small gesture or a token of appreciation is always appreciated.

“We definitely look after repeat investors with our pricing sort of structure. If they are purchasing multiple dwellings with us, we offer a discount on multi-property purchases.”

“For the ones that refer, typically, we'll discount on their next purchase, or we send them a gift card type of thing just to say thank you for recommending our business,” Voegt concluded.