Picture a past client mentioning your name at a dinner in West Kelowna. Their friend is thinking about selling. That friend may not call right away. They may pick up a phone and search for you first.
If part of your business comes from referrals, each one starts with a moment like that. The question this article answers is what happens in the minutes after someone hears your name. Can they find you, reach you easily, and stay in touch if they are not ready yet?
This suggested audit is designed to take about 30 minutes, an estimate that will vary with how much you find along the way. You need a phone, a laptop and a notepad. You will check five things, score each one honestly, and finish with a single priority for this week.
Why audit a business that includes referrals
Before a builder adds a second storey, someone checks the foundation. If referrals and past clients are part of your foundation, the audit looks at everything built around them: how people find you, how they get in touch, and where their details are kept.
If those pieces work, each referral has an easy path from "I heard about you" to "let's talk." If they do not, a warm introduction can cool off between the dinner and the search results.
Check 1: Search your name like a referred stranger (5 minutes)
Open a private browser window on your phone. Search your full name, then your name plus "real estate agent Kelowna" (or Vernon, Penticton, West Kelowna, wherever you work). Look only at the first page.
- What is the first result you control? A website, a social profile, a brokerage page?
- Does the first result say who you help and where?
- Is anything out of date, such as an old brokerage, a retired phone number or a listing you no longer represent?
Score it: 2 points if the top result is something you own and it is current. 1 point if you appear but the page belongs to someone else. 0 if you struggle to find yourself.
Check 2: Find what you own versus what you rent (5 minutes)
A brokerage profile and a social account are useful. They also sit on someone else's platform, with someone else's layout and rules. Write down each place a prospect can learn about you, and mark each as owned or borrowed.
- Owned: your own domain name, your own website, your own email address on that domain, and a contact list you keep in line with privacy law and your brokerage's rules.
- Borrowed: brokerage profile pages, social accounts, portal listings, and any list of followers you cannot export.
Also check your Google Business Profile. Is the name, phone number, service area and website correct? A profile that points to the right place gives a searcher a direct route to you.
Score it: 2 points if you own a domain and a site that explains your work. 1 point if you own a domain but the site is thin or unfinished. 0 if everything you have is borrowed.
Check 3: Walk the path from interest to contact (8 minutes)
Pretend you are a homeowner who is curious but not ready to call. Start on your homepage on your phone and try to leave your details. Time yourself.
- How many taps does it take to find a way to contact you?
- Is there a step for people who are not ready to book a call, such as a short guide, a home-value request or a neighbourhood update?
- When you submit, does anything tell you what happens next?
Consider whether your site offers only one door: "Contact me." A buyer or seller who is two months from a decision may not be ready to walk through it. A second, lighter step could give them somewhere to go. If you want a deeper look at the seller side, our guide to website elements that start listing conversations covers the page elements in detail.
Score it: 2 points if you reached a clear contact step in under 30 seconds and a lighter option exists. 1 point if only one option exists. 0 if you could not complete it on a phone.
Check 4: Locate your contacts (6 minutes)
Ask yourself where the details of the last ten people who showed interest in working with you are stored right now. Phone contacts, a notebook, direct messages, a brokerage system, an email inbox?
Spread across five places, those details are hard to keep track of. People who gave you permission to contact them can be offered a consistent next conversation, and it helps to have one place to see who they are. A CRM and a permission-based contact list can serve as that place. Follow applicable privacy law and your brokerage's rules on client data, including what you may store, where, and how you may contact people. Then ask: do I know where my permitted contacts are recorded, and could I reach them appropriately tomorrow?
Score it: 2 points if your contacts live in one organized place that follows your brokerage's rules and your permissions. 1 point if they are in two or three places. 0 if the honest answer is "scattered."
Check 5: Trace what happens in the week after (6 minutes)
Think of the last person who showed interest and did not become a client right away. What did you send them in the following seven days? What about after 30 days?
If your honest answer is "I meant to follow up," you have found a gap in your process. A short, planned email sequence and a weekly routine can make follow-up more consistent. A five-email nurture does not need to be clever. It can be useful, clearly from you, and sent on a schedule you do not have to remember, to people who have agreed to hear from you.
Score it: 2 points if follow-up happens on a rhythm. 1 point if you follow up when you remember. 0 if there is no follow-up beyond the first reply.
Read your score
- 8 to 10: Your online presence is well set up to support the people who hear about you. Pick the check where you scored lowest and tighten it.
- 4 to 7: Some checks have room to improve. Choose the lowest score and work on only that this week.
- 0 to 3: Start with Check 2. Owning a domain and a simple site gives the other four checks a place to live.
Pick one fix, not five. A claimed and corrected Google Business Profile, a single capture form or a consolidated contact list is a good week of work.
Turn the audit into a plan
The five checks above map to the five-part method in Own Your Pipeline, our course for Okanagan real estate agents: Found, Capture, Own, Win and Automate. The course shares that practical idea: get the foundation right, then build in order. It is taught by Darren Dyck, founder of Ascend Advantage Studio, who has more than 18 years of experience leading Rutland Contracting and building luxury custom homes.
Modules 0 to 2 are free and arrive by email. Module 0 includes the Online Presence Report Card, a scorecard that helps you choose your first priority. Module 1 covers local discovery and comes with a workbook and a 30-Day Google Post Calendar. Module 2 focuses on giving visitors a clear next step.
Paid Modules 3 to 6 cover your brand and list, local authority, follow-up systems and a 30-day action plan. They are a one-time purchase at CAD $97 for the first 10 paid buyers, then CAD $197 regular. Current enrollment details are on the course page.
Get the free lessons and see the full course outline.
Prefer to talk through your results? Take the free growth quiz for personalized advice, or review our transparent pricing if a website build is the right next step.
