Residential Real EstateNew Agents: Generate More Referrals
A lot of times people will ask what they can do to generate more referral based business, since as everyone knows, referrals is the lifeblood of any successful Realtor.
And as New Agents, that question can be especially tricky since by definition you"re just starting out, and might not have a base of existing clients to fall back on -- especially in a market as tough as this.
So the question is what can you do to generate more referrals in today"s tough market, even when you"re just starting out?
Easy. By educating people on the symptoms of what makes a good referral for you.
Allow me to explain.
If you went to the doctor"s office and told him that you had a sore throat, a killer headache and you were sneezing all the time, he"d probably ask you if you went outside a lot.
And depending on your answer, he might prescribe an anti allergen medicine since based on your symptoms it sounds like you"re suffering from allergies like Hay Fever or something like that.
Now notice what happened. You didn"t walk into the doctor"s office telling him that you had allergies and you needed some relief. You told him your symptoms and he translated that into a prescription.
What if the same thing could happen in real estate?
What if you decided that one of your target markets would be 1st time homebuyers, since regardless of the market we"re in, there"s always going to be qualified people living in apartments looking to get into their first home.
And what if you knew that one of the common complaints from those individuals -- before they were actively in the market for buying a home -- was not feeling like they had enough room in their current apartment.
And now that you"re thinking about it, it"s also occurred to you that people getting married often a buy a home together as well.
So using this example, wouldn"t two "symptoms" of a potential homebuyer be:
1. Individuals who are in the process of getting married or are recently engaged, and 2. People who feel like they"re running out of room in their current apartment?
Absolutely.
Then why couldn"t you mention that while you"re networking or trying to generate more referrals? You could say you specialize in helping 1st time homebuyers find the home of their dreams, and that if they know of someone who was getting married, recently engaged or maybe just felt like they"re running out of room in their current apartment -- that would be a great referral for you.
You see how easy that was?
And as someone hearing that, how easy is it for me to think about people who are getting married, recently engaged, or maybe I"ve heard complain about their current apartment?
You see, whether you"re a New Agent or a seasoned pro, one of the keys for generating more referrals is providing your Referral Partners with the tools they need for helping you get more business.
Or to put it another way, you need to enable them to recognize what a good referral is for you, outside of someone saying, "Hey, I"m looking to buy a home, do you know of a good agent?"
Because that rarely happens.
And to be honest with you, even when it does you"ve got so many other agents clamoring for that business, it"s almost more trouble than it"s worth.
So if you"d like more ideas on how to get more business in today"s tough market, just email info@agitoconsulting.com (Subject: More Buyers in Today"s Tough Market) and we"ll shoot you a copy of our free report.
And in the meantime, remember that when it comes to generating more referrals in a market as tough as this, one of the keys is letting people know exactly who you work with, and what some of the "symptoms" are of people getting ready to fall into that category.
Then and only then will you start getting more referrals from people before they"re actively engaged in the home buying process.
Which needless to say will put you on the fast track to more business – even in a market as tough as this.