Running a real estate business without a proper database system is like having a leaky bucket—no matter how much water you pour in, you’re always starting from empty.

Here’s the brutal truth: your business is probably leaking the same amount of commission you’re currently writing. That’s not a typo. The same amount.

Picture this scenario. You’re celebrating a solid year—maybe you’ve written $2-3 million in commission. Feels good, right? But here’s what most principals don’t realise: while you’re patting yourself on the back, you’re simultaneously watching the same amount walk out the door to your competitors.

Here’s the test every real estate principal should do right now:

1. Calculate your total commission written in the past 12 months
2. Count all the contacts in your CRM system
3. Check realestate.com for all listings in your area from the past month
4. Cross-reference those listings against your database contacts
5. Multiply that leakage by 12

The result? Most businesses discover they’re losing millions in opportunities simply because they lack a systematic approach to database communication.

Take our recent client at Ray White Mill Park. When we ran this exercise, we uncovered $2-3 million in leakage. That’s not pocket change—that’s life-changing money walking straight to the competition.

Client connections isn’t just another fancy term for “stay in touch with people.” It’s a systematic approach to managing your database across a 12-month period.

Think about it from your client’s perspective: if I’m a homeowner in your suburb and I’m not currently thinking of selling, what experience will I have with your business over the next 12 months?

Most agents answer: “Nothing.”

And that’s exactly why their competitors are stealing their listings.

The client connections system operates on three critical levels:

Layer One: Understanding Database Value First, we calculate the pain. We show you exactly how much commission is walking out the door. This isn’t theoretical—it’s cold, hard numbers that make every principal sit up and pay attention.

Layer Two: Building Communication Capacity Most businesses operate at three or four different levels of database management capability. We don’t throw them into the deep end. We start small and build systematically. You need to match your communication plan to your team’s actual capacity.

Layer Three: Team Accountability and Implementation This is where the rubber meets the road. How do we hold the team accountable for getting on the phones? How do we communicate effectively over 12 months? How do we measure success?

Without all three layers working together, you’re just hoping for the best.

Dan Schubert from JKL Property in New South Wales exemplifies what happens when you get this right. He communicates real-time database performance data to his team every week. His agents know exactly what percentage of contact they’ve had in the previous 90 days, what opportunities they’ve missed, and crucially—what percentage of the business’s listings are coming from the client connections system.

The result? Around 50% of their overall listings now originate from their database. That’s not luck—that’s systematic implementation creating predictable results.

Here’s what surprises most principals: teams embrace this system once they understand it.

When I was running my day-to-day business, we never lost a single staff member to a competitor. Not one. They knew they couldn’t get this level of systematic support anywhere else.

The businesses that implement client connections properly create something competitors can’t match—predictability and control for their agents.

Client connections is always the first thing that gets dropped when markets heat up. Teams get busy with current transactions and abandon the long-term pipeline work.

This is backwards thinking.

The businesses that succeed long-term understand this principle: we need to be someone’s real estate agent before they need a real estate agent.

That’s what client connections delivers—it positions you as the obvious choice before the decision needs to be made.

Client connections forms one of our eight core drivers we assess when working with real estate principals. It connects directly to pipeline management, listings, sales, after-sales, and team accountability.

Many principals come to us wanting the perfect listing presentation script. Scripts might help in the moment, but they won’t change your agents’ careers. A systematic approach to client connections will.

When your team comes to work on January 1st knowing exactly what percentage of listings will come from the database, they’re motivated to do the work. They have control over their future success.

Stop hoping your database will magically start producing listings. Start with the audit I described earlier. Calculate your leakage. Understand what systematic database management could mean for your business.

The numbers don’t lie—and neither do the results.

Your competitors are already implementing systems for real estate database management. The question isn’t whether you need this system. The question is: how much longer can you afford to operate without it?

Ready to stop the commission leakage and build predictable listing flow from your database? Book a strategy session to discover how the client connections system can transform your business results.

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