Several agents around the country joke and call me the “Referral Queen.” I don’t mind at all. I take it as a compliment because I have always enjoyed creating and maintaining relationships with others. I have placed importance on relationship building since I was a young student in high school. Even at that age, I convinced my parents that I knew everyone in my current high school and wanted to switch to the neighboring school district to meet everyone at that high school. I had no idea at the time how much this would lend to my career in the real estate industry. Relationship building, with clients and colleagues alike, is key to success as an agent.
Obviously, I do not need to tell you that relationships take time to build. They do not happen overnight. So please, do not let this be your next shiny object to chase until you find or hear of something better. You need to invest time and put your heart into it. Let’s review some of the ways I have worked to grow these relationships.
First, I attend conferences. I love to mastermind and share with others, and in turn, I learn from others as well. Prior to attending conferences, I ask for an attendee list. If I can, I will send out personalized (not mass email) messages to attendees as an introduction to me and my team. I have set up several one-on-one and/or group meet-ups at conferences just with this one pre-conference email. While at the conference, I also bring a bit of swag to hand out to agents to help stay top-of-mind with them.
Second, I stay in touch and nurture the relationship. After I meet someone, I like to send them a notecard, befriend them on social media, etc. Here’s a pro tip: put agents you would like as referral partners in your phone and enter not only their company info but also what city/state they cover so you can quickly do a phone search when looking to refer clients.
Third, I leverage the amazing culture of reciprocity that already exists in this business. If I am sending you referrals, you probably would love to reciprocate and send some to me. What can I do if I don’t have referrals to send to you? I can just keep my eye out for requests for referrals in those areas, whether it be in my brokerage office, for/within my team, on social media posts, etc.
It helps you stay top-of-mind for those relationships too. One of the best ideas I have seen is from Chris Donahue, a RE/MAX agent in San Antonio, Texas. He sent me a referral of one of his great friends and clients. We happily served the family, and they bought a beautiful new house. Chris and I formed a great working relationship over that time while he listed and sold their house in San Antonio, and we got them transferred to Charlotte. Whenever I see or hear of a request for an agent in San Antonio, I know Chris will do a great job for them and I mention his name. Now, the unreal part of this is, not only does Chris “reward” his agent referral partners for doing a fantastic job for the referral and closing that transaction, but he also keeps track of who the actual referring source was. Every time he closes a transaction with someone I referred to him, he sends me a nice thank-you gift. It blows me away every time!
Lastly, I use videos as a powerful tool to put myself out there and earn business. Why not make a referral video to tell agents what it would be like working with you? Let them see your personality, tell them about your skills, what you do for your clients, and more. I will share the video I have created as an example, and I encourage you to do your own. This is super simple to send to agents any time you are asking them for an interview, and it shows you will work hard for their client.
Those are just a few of my favorite ways to show other agents around the country that I care. There are many more ideas you can use as well. The sky is the limit! Set your sights on creating more relationships, make it a goal, and make it happen. If your team focuses on growing and nurturing relationships with other agents in your sphere, it can bring huge dividends. My team paid over $167,000 in referral commissions out to other REALTORS® in 2022 who referred us their clients. You can too!
Brooke A. Sines is a Workman Success Systems coach and full-time REALTOR® with RE/MAX in West Michigan and Charlotte, N.C., running Grand Home Allure Group, who has been in the business of working with people all her life. She is a mom, wife, real estate coach, team leader and broker. Contact her at Brooke@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com. For more information, please visit www.WorkmanSuccess.com.
