You’re pouring so much time, effort, and money into finding new leads. You probably have ad campaigns running, both online and traditionally.
You’re always on the hunt for new clients and you’re trying everything that you can think of to get them.
However, you’re forgetting one of the best sources of new leads that you have available – your current clients.
The people you’re working with in your real estate business could provide you with so many referrals. However, you need to nurture them correctly before they’ll do it.
This means that you need to create a framework around referrals.
And this framework has to allow you to link your fingers with your new clients so that you make a commitment to each other from day one.
You’re going to get them the results they want for their property.
And in return, they’re going to give you access to more leads at some point in the future.
That’s the main idea behind referrals and it all sounds so easy. Unfortunately, many real estate business owners run into problems when they’re trying to get referrals.

The Problems

The biggest problem for most real estate business owners is that asking for referrals feels awkward.
You’ve probably felt this before. You’re at the back-end of a transaction and you feel like you’ve given the client a good experience.
But you feel awkward about introducing the idea of a referral because you’ve left it until the end. The client’s ready to move on and you don’t want to interrupt that with your request.
The second problem is that you’re not getting referrals from your happy clients. This links right into the first problem in that you know you have clients who loved your service.
They got everything that they needed from you, which means they’re in the perfect position to give you referrals.…They’re just not doing it.
You’re not asking them and they’re not going out of their way to send prospects to you.

The Opportunity

So, why do you want to build a framework around referrals in your real estate business?
The simple answer is that you create a process that you can follow with every client. And the most important thing about this process is that it prepares the client for your referral request.
In fact, they expect to refer people to you after you’ve concluded work on their specific transaction. It becomes a process that they want to undertake!
But to achieve this, you’ve got to start working on getting that referral from the start of the relationship.
And to help you, I have five key principles that you need to put into practice that our clients use inside our training program we call the ‘Referral Promise’™

Principle #1 – Pre-Frame Your Performance

You must do this whenever you get a new listing inside your business.
Before that listing even goes live, you need to set it up with your vendors. You’re going to tell them that you’re expecting to get a great result on their property.
The goal here is to drop the seed early.
You’re going to talk about the result you’re going to get and let the client know that you’ll ask for referrals later. That means you’re taking away the hidden surprises.
The client knows that the request will come, which means you don’t have to feel awkward about making it.

Principle #2 – Watch for the Win

This is a self-explanatory thing in the sales world.
Watching for the win is all about having a process in place to know when a client’s on a high. This is usually at the point where they’ve sold or where they’ve settled with a buyer.
At this stage, they’re delighted with what you’ve achieved for them. They’ve got the win that they’re looking for, which means that you have an opportunity.
Now is the right time to ask them to participate in your referral program.

Principle #3 – Congratulate and Calibrate

Think back to when you were a kid.
You’ve seen something in the shops that you want to get your hands on. But of course, you don’t have the money to buy it yourself so you need to ask your parents.
What did you do?
You’d wait until mom or dad was in a good mood before you asked them, right? You knew that you wouldn’t get what you wanted if they weren’t happy.
That’s what you’re doing here.
You’re waiting for the win so that you can naturally come in and congratulate the vendor. And while they’re on their high, you can move them into your referral program.

Principle #4 – Invite and Equip Them

This is the key part of this referral process.
Again, this starts with the client having a good experience. From there, you’re going to invite them to your referral program.
But the key here is that you’re going to equip them with a gift that they can give to a prospect. 

Principle #5 – Close the Loop

This last principle ties into the idea of inviting and equipping the client.
You’ve given the client this gift that they can pass onto another prospect. Now, you’re going to close the loop on them.
You’re going to set a deadline on the gift so they have a limited time to pass it on to someone.
For example, you could give them a month to refer three clients to you with the gift you gave them.
This creates a sense of urgency because the gift will run out if the client doesn’t act fast enough.

It’s Time to Land Some Referrals

The key to all of this is that you’re not springing the idea of a referral onto the client at the last minute.
You’re making it clear from the start that you’re going to ask for the referral.
Furthermore, you’re making it as easy as possible for your happy clients to give you what you’re looking for.
And because you have a process in place, you no longer have to feel awkward about asking.

Jess Densley
Process & Structure Coach
For Real Estate Professionals

PLUS… Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you grow your real estate business in 2020:

1. Grab a copy of our new 2020 ebook – ‘Sales Activation™’
   Get a simple plan to take control of your business in 2020. Download it here. 
2. Join the ‘Agent Hub’ group and connect with real estate people who are scaling too
   It’s our amazing Facebook community where 2000 other smart real estate people hang out and share ideas. – Click Here. 
3. Join our next upcoming 6 week course’ Crisis Proofing Your Real Estate Business in 2020′
   Get the plan to lead, survive and thrive through COVID19. Just reply back with ‘6 weeks’ and I’ll get you all the details to take control of your business right now.
4. Join me this week for our online master class on ‘Crisis proofing your real estate business in 2020’
   Learn the key steps to take control of your business this year. We have limited places join here