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December 16, 2025 16 mins

Your 2025 client list told a story. Some clients lit you up. Others drained you.

In this episode, we’re doing a full Aligned Client Audit to help you:

  • Reflect on the clients you actually loved working with
  • Spot the red flags you’ll never ignore again
  • Build your 2026 "People Pillars" for focused marketing
  • Create a simple intake process to protect your energy
  • Attract more of the right people — and kindly repel the wrong ones

This is how you build a business that supports your life, not just your pipeline.

Let’s make 2026 the year your client roster finally feels aligned, energizing, and referral-worthy.

*****************************************************

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
Hello friends! I am so excited to dive into this
episode.
Continuing our closing out 2025season, we are going to talk
today about how to attract moreof the clients you loved in
2025.
This is about alignedclients-only vibes.
Now, this is so importantbecause some of your clients in

(01:33):
2025 were absolute gems, peopleyou would bend over backwards
for.
And others, let's just say thatyou survived them barely.
So here's my question.
What if 2026 was the year thatyou only worked with the clients
that you loved?
And I know for some of you thatis a privilege, but having that

(01:55):
intention and putting that outcan be very powerful.
And that is what we are talkingabout today.
We are going to walk through afull aligned client audit so you
can attract more of the rightpeople, repel the wrong ones,
and build a business thatactually supports your energy,
your boundaries, and ultimatelyyour bottom line.

(02:19):
So why does a client alignmentmatter so much?
I'm going to tell you alignedclients change everything.
So let's run through it.
When you are working with theright people, you are happier,
you are more profitable, you aremore referred, which is honestly
one of the biggest reasons.
You're also more confident andyou just feel more supported by

(02:42):
your client.
Like you feel like you are onthe same team, which honestly,
don't we all just want to be onthe same team together?
Like getting them to closing.
You also get to be moreauthentically you, which is
great.
Like you're not shape shiftingto make someone like you.
You're not managing expectationsthat were totally unrealistic to
begin with.

(03:02):
And you're not dreading everytime that person pops up on your
phone or in your inbox.
On the flip side of theequation, misalignment,
misaligned clients, they costyou your time, your energy, your
boundaries, honestly, yourprofit, like usually lose money
on these people.
And I think most importantly,your mental health.

(03:25):
Like they are not good for you.
They cause anxiety, they causedepression, like they make you
doubt yourself.
So I hope that in 2026 you arechoosing alignment over
obligation because we are donetaking on any warm body with a
pre-approval and a pulse.
And just, I know, like you arehere to close deals, but you are

(03:48):
also here to build a businessthat fits you and how you want
to operate.
So the first step is we need tospot who your aligned clients
are.
Like what are the patterns?
So we need to get clear on wholit you up this year.
So I want you to pull out yourclient list, write down all the
names if you don't have ithandy, but circle your absolute

(04:11):
favorite people to work with.
And if you don't have a ton ofclients in 2025, go back to 2024
and 2023.
This is about spotting patterns.
So I want you to ask yourselffor those circled clients who
you absolutely loved, what madethem amazing?
How did they communicate?
What price point were they in?
How fast did they makedecisions?

(04:33):
And what did they value?
And also ultimately, did theytrust your advice?
Like that was a big one for meis I want to feel like you trust
me because I'm giving you goodadvice.
And lastly, how did they findyou?
That is another really importantpiece.
And honestly, that is the goldennugget.
Because when you find thepatterns and how your aligned

(04:54):
clients find you, that is thebreadcrumb trail that you need
to follow.
And those people or thosesources, that is how you build
your people pillars.
That's the foundation for yourfuture marketing, any messaging,
any systems, any referrals.
It's literally everything.
This is how you focus and getintentional on your lead

(05:17):
generation and marketingefforts.
Now we can't just look at thebright side of the moon.
We need to look at the dark sideof the moon.
And so this is spotting yourmisaligned client patterns.
So let's flip the script.
Who of this list of clientsdrained you?
And again, this isn't about likegoing back and beating yourself

(05:39):
up, but it's about reallyfiguring out who were the
clients that you couldn't waitto be done with and why?
Where did they come from?
Was there a common thread there?
Was there a particular referralperson who is sending all these
people your way?
Also, what red flags did youignore early on?
I know we all have these likegut instincts when we start
working with somebody and we'relike, oh, this is gonna be a

(06:00):
nightmare.
I should say no, but you don't,and you regret it instantly.
What boundary did you not set?
So, did you not do a buyerpresentation and discuss how do
you work?
What's your availability?
How do you tour properties?
What's a buyer agency agreement?
And how do you prevent this nextyear, which we will get into in
the last step.

(06:21):
But thinking about it like, ooh,what mistake did I make with
this person?
That is such good information.
This is going to help you revealwhat your filters are and also
what your boundaries need to beand where they weren't strong
enough.
And honestly, that's a fixableproblem.
So now that we have who you wantto work with and who you don't,

(06:44):
it is time to start marketinglike it.
I want you to stop trying tospeak to every single person out
there and really start speakingdirectly to your aligned client.
And we are talking about theirfears, their goals, their
personality.
And this includes a lot ofdifferent stuff.
So it includes storytelling,store telling the stories of the

(07:07):
people that are like them,showing who you helped, not just
necessarily what you areselling.
Now, niching is a big thing.
So you might have like adownsizer niche or first-time
buyer niche, but we're going toget rid of anyone who's just
looking to buy or sell becausethat is just invisible and it
blends in with everything thatother real estate agents are

(07:29):
doing.
You really want to get specificon the target markets you are
targeting.
And this is where people pillarscome in.
I really like having a pillarfor each target demographic that
I am targeting.
So, for example, first-timebuyers in Peterborough, New
Hampshire.
I want to really hone in onmarketing to those people.
And then I'm going to come upwith my strategies on how I am

(07:52):
going to hit that.
Could be referrals from your VIPclients.
You are going to get superspecific on how you are going to
build relationships, stay infront of these people, and
ultimately hopefully get repeatbusiness or referrals from them.
So niching down and coming upwith what those people pillars
are is super crucial.

(08:14):
And honestly, you just developthose people, those people
pillars from the research thatyou do on which clients you
loved working with.
Now, clients love hearing aboutstories like themselves.
So I mentioned storytelling, butusing specific client examples
and case studies can also bereally powerful.
I like to call case studiessuccess stories, but you can put

(08:38):
those on anything.
Oh my gosh, they're sorepurposable.
You can use them for blogs, youcan use them for emails, social,
postcards.
Like, don't reinvent the wheel.
If you're creating a piece ofcontent, make sure that you are
repurposing.
Repurposing is so powerful.
The other piece is lifestylecontent.
Maybe you realize everyone'smoving to your particular area

(09:00):
for schools or for access to theoutdoors.
Really leaning into what type oflifestyle your ideal client is
attracted to is a really awesomestrategy for any marketing
you're doing.
So this is aligned clients, likethey want to live like you do.
So putting out that you'reliving that type of life can be

(09:22):
really magnetic.
And it doesn't matter whatchannels you're using, you're
just getting the message outthere to those people.
Um, again, this could be socialmedia, this can be direct mail,
this can be email, this can bein person.
It doesn't matter what themedium is, it is all about a
marketing campaign.
It is about targeting a specificdemographic, your ideal clients.

(09:45):
And it does not matter what youuse, it's that you are getting
yourself and your message infront of them.
Now I could probably do anentire episode, and I probably
will at one point on developingyour people pillars.
But I am sure you are smartenough to put one of your
pillars on the top of a page,let's just say downsizers, and

(10:06):
come up with five specificstrategies or tactics that you
are going to use to stay infront of this, these people
consistently in 2026.
That is as simple as it is.
It could be I'm sending amonthly farm postcard, I am
hosting workshops.
Whatever you want to do, it isup to you.

(10:27):
Whatever you think is going tobe the most fun, whatever you
think you are actually going toexecute, that is the most
important because doingsomething is better than doing
nothing.
So we have figured out who ouraligned clients are.
We have figured out who ourmisaligned clients are.
We have talked about marketingdirectly to your aligned clients
through targeted people pillarswith tactics.

(10:51):
Now, what is the filter?
How do we prevent unaligned,misaligned clients from getting
into your ecosystem?
This is where we build ourintake system.
So I want to give you somethingtactical that you can use when
you get a call that says, hey,interested in working with you.

(11:13):
Because we're going to beattracting people, right?
And we just need to make surethat we have a filter that we
can really put three peoplethrough to make sure that they
are going to be in alignment.
So I want you to take a look atyour misaligned client list from
earlier.
And I want you to start askingyour question.
What did I miss or ignore earlyon when I started working with

(11:36):
this person?
Was it that they showed up lateto everything?
Did were they disorganized?
Did they not respect myboundaries?
Whatever it is, what did youmiss or ignore?
And what question or observationcould have revealed that before
you went too far down the roadwith them?

(11:56):
And then also potentially whatsystem or what boundary could
have prevented you from takingthem on as a client?
And we're going to turn thosered flags into filters.
This isn't just a like gutcheck.
This is actually going to bebaked into your process.
So I want you to create, andthis is step two, a values-based

(12:19):
intake form.
And this is every buyer, everyseller completes this before you
work together.
I want you to keep it supersimple, but you can ask things
like, and this is you're notgonna like give them a form.
This is part of your interview,but it's like, what's your ideal
timeline?
Why do you have to move?
How do you prefer tocommunicate?

(12:41):
I'm only available on these daysfor showings.
Does that work for you?
I turn my phone off at 7 p.m.
Unless we're in activenegotiations.
Is that going to be a problemfor you?
What's most important to you inthis process and in my job as a
real estate agent?
Have you ever bought or soldbefore?
And how was that experience?

(13:01):
Are you open to guidance andclear timelines?
And just these questions, theycan be based on anything that
has been a red flag for you inthe past.
And their information, theiranswers, it's going to give you
so much more than you had beforebecause it's going to show you
how they think about things.

(13:21):
Um, if they're going to be likereally, really picky, or if
they're in a situation wherethey're kind of like stuck, they
actually can't make a move.
Um, that's going to be superinteresting information to have.
Now, I'm not saying like ifsomebody's like, I'm I'm moving
when that right house comesalong, like I'm not saying you
shouldn't necessarily take thatperson, but it's like, all

(13:44):
right, so if the right housedoes come along, are you ready?
And if they're like, well, Iwould need to like sell my
house, I would need it to be afull moon, I would need um my
firstborn to be seven years old,whatever.
You're like, okay, well, Iprobably am not the right agent
for you.
Another part of this is justsharing how you work.

(14:04):
And this should be a part ofevery single buyer presentation,
which is here's how Icommunicate, here's when I am
available, here's what happenswhen we find a house that you
like, here's what I expectbefore we start touring
property.
It is all about setting thoseexpectations and seeing do they
push back?
Do they interrupt you?
Do they fight you?

(14:24):
Do they light up when youexplain your process?
And that is honestly youranswer.
Because if they are not alignedwith you at this point, there is
going to be misalignment downthe road.
I can absolutely guarantee it.
So I know this is not whateveryone wants to hear, but not
every single person who wants tobuy or sell real estate needs to

(14:45):
become your client.
And I like to just kind of putpeople in buckets after our
first meeting.
Yet, is it a yes?
Great, they're going through myonboarding process.
Is it a maybe?
I'm gonna pause and then likereally check in with my gut and
really check in with myself andbe like, all right, is this
person someone I really want towork with?
And there might be a follow-upconversation with that person,

(15:07):
and that is totally okay.
Is it a no?
Then you might just refer itout.
And I, this is totally fine, butthis is how people build
businesses that really feelgood.
This is how you get a clientroster of people that you just
love working with and lovespending time with.
And this really isn't about justyou.
This is about your clients.
They're going to get a betterexperience when they're aligned.

(15:30):
They're going to appreciate yoursystems and they're ultimately
going to send you morereferrals, which is what this is
ultimately about, which is doingsuch a great job for this
person, making them so happythat they're going to send more
aligned clients your way.
The most successfultop-producing real estate agents

(15:52):
have built referral-basedbusinesses.
And the ones that have thealigned referrals coming in are
the happiest.
I am telling you.
It's like best friends justbeing introduced to you nonstop.
So I hope this episode washelpful in opening your mind on
how you can start attracting andfiltering for more aligned

(16:13):
clients in 2026.
Because when your business feelsgood, it is actually something
you want to keep showing up for.
And that is really just thegoal.
Like, don't we want to love ourbusinesses?
So go get it and stay happy.
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