The typical real estate sales funnel begins with leads that filter down into appointments, appointments filter into signed business, which ultimately become closed deals. But what happens to those clients once their transaction closes?

Ask most agents and they will tell you that 95 percent of their business comes from past clients or referrals.

However, NAR's 2013 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers confirms that the industry is continuing to fall short in the area of retaining past clients: "Forty-two percent of buyers found their agent through a referral from a friend or family member, and 12 percent used an agent they had used before to buy or sell a home."

"In other words, 59% of the industry's past sellers ultimately list their home with a different agent even though they would have hired the agent who represented them on their previous sale."

Here are some ways the you can keep in touch with past clients and stay "top of mind."

1. Call through your database

Work both on both ends of your sales funnel: first by prospecting for new business, as well as focusing on client retention and generating referrals from them. The goal is to have your top 50 to 100 clients in a list that you use to contact regularly.