Building Your Own Agent Referral Network
Building a network of agents across the country involves what we call “active networking”. It’s not just a matter of putting your name in front of other real estate agents, although that is a good start. There are thousands of agents out there, and in any given community there may be as many as 1 agent for every 250 residents. So if you work in an area of, say, 300,000 people, you will be going head to head with up to 1200 other agents.
Active agent referral networking involves selectively choosing networking partners, communicating with them on a regular basis, getting to know them, and eventually sharing referrals with them.
If you really want to take this referral networking thing seriously, then you will build as large a network as you can. The more agents in your network, the more likely you are to get results.
Recent studies have shown that for most cities, inquiries about home purchases come almost equally from regional and out-of-region locations. So that means there is lots of potential to pick up referrals from agents outside of your region.
For example, if you specialize in niche markets such as vacation properties or military relocations, you especially want to find reliable partners in relevant cities and areas. So be sure to find network partners in vacation areas or military towns, depending on your specialty.
Another thing you really need to have a productive referral network is a well-designed “system” for staying in touch with your partners. This could be an email system, or a traditional mail system, or you might prefer an occasional telephone call. By far the easiest is an email system. Although email has its problems, it is hard to beat the price (virtually free), the convenience, and the speed of email.
This last point about staying in touch with your partners may sound obvious, but the truth is, most of us simply do not make this a priority. Instead we rely on a hit and miss method of keeping in touch. That’s a big mistake. Force yourself to make your network contact system a priority.
Finally, don’t expect instant results. Generating referrals is a long term project. Be concerned with building your profile as a “relocation expert”, and work at sending your partners referrals first. The rest will take care of itself in good time.
