The Art Of Attracting Real Estate Referrals
By Paul Esajian on October 30, 2015
Have you mastered the art of attracting real estate leads?
Attracting referrals not only feels good, but is vital in the real estate industry. Today, the best and most profitable businesses out there can get 70% or more of their business from referrals. That provides a competitive advantage for any business. Incoming referrals mean better profit margins, easier deals, increase business continuity, and compound gains. However, referrals don’t just happen by themselves. There can be a lot of pain that comes with bad incoming referrals too. So how do real estate industry pros and businesses attract more good referral leads?
Master the art of giving real estate referrals by:
- Sending the right referrals to the right vendors and service providers
- Using the appropriate referral channels
- Ensuring the referral is serving both parties
- Accurately setting expectations
- Giving lead recipients a heads up in advance
- Following up
- Knowing when to get out of the way
- Say thank you
Ask for Referrals
Aside from just being the best in the industry, the best way to generate real estate referral leads is to ask. Don’t expect people to assume you want and need them. They might think you are already too busy and successful to have time for them, or that your leads aren’t up to par. So ask for referrals, let people know that you love them. Does all of your marketing and branding collateral highlight that you are actively inviting referrals? Are you directly asking everyone you are in contact with for referrals on a regular basis? You might be surprised at the results!
Be Clear
Some real estate business owners are just happy with sucking in all of the possible leads they can get into the top of their funnel, and then thinning them out. This doesn’t work as well for referrals as it does for other types of real estate leads. Referrers are going to get frustrated if the time and effort they put into making referrals is wasted, or they are bad to look bad for making the referral to you. If you are a mortgage broker or business loan lender, it’s okay to say you only want leads that have been in business for two years, and have a good track record. Otherwise, everyone’s time is being wasted.
Tell Them How to Send You Referrals
If you never check in on Facebook or Twitter, or never open emails from people you don’t know, or answer calls from people you don’t recognize, let referrers know. Tell them the best channel to send referrals, and the information that should be provided. Otherwise leads will be lost, and both referrer and lead are going to be bashing your real estate brand.
Be Easy to Give Referrals to
You still have to be easy to send referrals too. People are busy enough without having to worry about such things. They are already going out of their way, and maybe taking money out of their own pockets to send you a referral. If you make it difficult, they won’t do it. Are you really going to fill out a two page application form with someone you know in order to send that lead to someone so they can make a profit? No. Think about how easy it is to send you referrals.
Highlight the Benefits for the Referrer
Be clear about the advantages of sending you referrals.
- Are there monetary advantages?
- Have you put extra effort into security and sustainability?
- How will it help their business be more profitable and efficient?
- What will it do for their brand?
The Art of Receiving Real Estate Referrals
Those that keep on attracting real estate referrals with exponential growth don’t win by accident. They are purposeful in their actions and systems. When you receive real estate referral leads; thank them, act fast in responding, give leads great deals, treat them VERY well, provide updates to all parties without being asked, and send some leads back.
Consistently attracting an abundance of highly profitable incoming real estate leads requires far more than just handing out business cards and sitting there with your hands open. Learn the art of giving referrals, asking for them, and how to handle them when they come in.