One of the keys to building a successful Real Estate practice is having a continuous supply of new customers and inventory suppliers. New clients replace one off customers and add to your portfolio of steady investors. New inventory suppliers, on the other hand, refill our listing of properties for sale or rent. Without either, our practice will soon come to a halt.

If you listen to some fellow agents or read the advertising online or in industry publications you may come to the belief that successful agents are those that generate the most leads through canvassing or use lead generators. This could not be further from the truth. The reality is that most successful agents use a combination of both push and pull techniques.

Push and Pull techniques is marketing language for canvassing (push) and attracting (pull) methods of acquiring new customers and suppliers. Some canvassing methods include direct mail outs, advertising, websites, telemarketing. While attracting (pull) methods include testimonials, word of mouth, advocacy by existing clients.

In fact each particular method should predominate depending upon the stage of your practice. New recruits should use mainly push methods as they advertise their business. Established practices should be able to rely on only pull methods as their positive referrals keep up a steady supply of new customers and suppliers. To achieve this comfortable state we rely on exemplary customer service.

We can gauge the maturity of our practice by the ratio of push and pull methods of acquiring new customers and suppliers. An established practice that still has to invest heavily in push methods to acquire new customers and suppliers should have a look at the quality of their customer service.