Do you want to know what’s better than real estate agent testimonials?
Real estate case studies.
Real estate case studies are a powerful form of testimonial because they SHOW your potential clients exactly how you can change their lives.
In The Listings Lab, members have used our winning case study template to get clients on demand.
Ready to learn more so you can boost your social proof and become a sought-after expert in your niche?
Let’s get into it.
What Is A Real Estate Case Study?
A case study studies your niche deeply and thoroughly.
Two important characteristics of case studies are:
- They are qualitative as well as quantitative.
- They cover a sufficient cycle of time
In your case as an agent, this period is going to be your entire relationship with your client during a single life transition or a single move.
Essentially, you’re going through a before, during, and after the walkthrough.
Why Are Case Studies Important In Your Real Estate Business?
Part of why case studies are so important for your business is that they provide social proof with story and value.
Stories are 22 times more powerful than facts.
You can give someone all the facts in the world…but if you don’t tell them a story, they’re not going to remember it.
Stories stick and allow potential clients to emotionally connect with your business.
Why do you think Superbowl commercials make us cry?
Humans are emotional creatures. We use emotion first, and logic second when we’re looking to make any purchase.
One of the most effective ways to elicit emotions in your potential clients is to illustrate their current situation and their desired situation.
In simple terms – where are they now? And where do they want to be?
The goal is to share case studies so that our potential clients can easily visualize themselves embarking on the transformation we provide.
Because it’s one thing to run around telling people you’re the best of the best.
It’s another thing to tell a story and to highlight how you’ve helped someone who’s in exactly the same situation that they are.
What Clients Should You Highlight In Your Real Estate Agent Testimonials And Case Studies?
You don’t want to do a case study on just anybody.
There are a few important criteria when choosing who to highlight in your case studies.
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- Clients that fit your niche perfectly. The last thing you want to do is confuse your audience. If your primary niche is upsizers, don’t start telling stories about clients purchasing their first homes.
- Clients that are very happy with your services. This might seem obvious, but don’t highlight a client who just thought your services were so-so.
- Clients who underwent big life transitions or had stronger pain points to begin with. The emotion will come through in these client stories, and will powerfully pull in potential leads.
Most importantly, you always want to make sure you have permission from any client to write a case study on them (especially if you’re using their name/address!)
You can even get permission right off the bat when you begin working with a client, by including a clause in your client contract.
How To Uplevel Your Real Estate Agent Testimonials Into Case Studies
Here’s what most agents will do after working on a deal.
They’ll send their client something like, “I’ve loved working with you, [NAME]. Is there any way you’d be able to write a testimonial for my services?”
Usually, you’ll get a vague and generic paragraph back about how you were “great to work with”.
While this technically is social-proof content, it doesn’t speak to the specific transformation you help your clients achieve.
Here’s what to do instead.
Document The Process
After any transaction is complete, open up a note on your computer or phone and start jotting down bullet points for three sections.
- Before: where were they before?
- After: where were they after?
- During: what was the process to get them there?
I’m not just talking about one or two points per section. I want you to go DEEP.
Here is an example from a friend of mine (not real-estate related).
This is the level of detail you should be striving for.
Get Clear On The “Before”
Jot down the answers to the following questions to get clear on where your client was before they used your services.
- Who are they?
- What do they do?
- What neighborhood are they in?
- Describe their family. Are they single? Are they married? Are they a family with two kids?
- What is their current situation? What is the primary pain point? What is driving their move? Was there a specific instance that made it clear to them that they needed to move? For example: maybe it was an elderly couple and the husband had a fall, and they realized they wanted to move into a bungalow.
- What are they worried about? What are their concerns? What are their objections to the actual move? For example: maybe they’ve been in their home for 30 years and they’re afraid of change. Or maybe they only bought their house a year ago and they’re worried they’re not even going to break even.
Paint the picture of the current situation.
Get Clear On The After
Then you want to break down the after. What results did you get them?
First, you want to tally up numerical results.
- Number of ad impressions
- Showings
- Days on the market
- Offers
These are quantitative results, and they’re important. But perhaps what’s even more important are the qualitative results.
You want to be able to answer questions like:
- What did they get out of it?
- What does their life look like now?
- What are the emotional reasons that this was a win for them?
- Is it a new school? Are they in a new home? Do they have more space for family?
- Do they have an income property now?
You want anyone who’s reading this real estate testimonial to immediately be able to visualize themselves in your past client’s shoes.
Break Down How You Got Them There
After you’ve broken down the before, and you’ve painted a picture of the ‘after’, the question becomes:
How did you get them there?
You want to show potential clients how you did it and give them a behind-the-scenes look into the process.
The goal of this section is to highlight the steps in your signature system.
Don’t have a signature system? That’s your starting point.
Break down the most important things you did to get your client their results. List no more than 3-5 steps.
Answer the questions:
- How did you achieve these results?
- What did you do that others didn’t?
- What is your UVP (Unique Value Proposition)?
The goal isn’t to say “look at how amazing I am!”. It’s to show potential clients your systematic approach to making sure these results are achieved consistently.
You want to clearly show each step you took, and why that step was so important.
Putting It All Together
Here’s what the FULL process of elevating your real estate testimonials into real estate case studies looks like.
We put ALL of these steps together to create a compelling client story.
Stories are 22x more memorable than facts, which is why a post like this is going to resonate with your clients so much more than some real estate infographic.
The basic template goes like this:
- Where was your client and what was driving their move?
- Where are they now? Not just a location, but actually paint a picture of their current situation and why it’s so much better than their previous situation.
- What was the process like to get them there?
- And then CELEBRATE the client! Talk about how amazing it is that they’ve been able to make this transformative change in their life.
You can also focus on what I like to call the COI (the cost of inaction).
Where would your client be if they hadn’t taken action with your services?
If they had stayed in the same place and hadn’t made the move, where would they be?
- Maybe they’d be in a cramped space with a growing family, and they’d start resenting the people they cherish the most
- Maybe they’d be in a space that isn’t pet-friendly, and the health of their furry friends would be suffering
- Maybe they’d be in a property with far too much maintenance, feeling overwhelmed by their massive to-do list instead of enjoying the simplicity of condo living
Whatever it is, paint a picture of what would have happened if your client DIDN’T take action!
Practice Makes Perfect
Now that you’ve got the basic format down pat, it’s time to practice, practice, practice!
The more you do case studies, the easier they’ll become.
You could even practice this compelling form of real estate testimonial by writing a mock case study for your own life. Think of a transformation you experienced in your own life and make a case study around it!
Remember, to get results from case studies you need:
- Clarity on your niche and ideal clients
- Consistency in your marketing
- A solid signature system that gets client results
If you need support with those things, The Listings Lab is our signature program where we help agents build a marketing machine so they can scale to multi-6 or 7-figures.
