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Steps to Building a Productive Agent Referral Network
If you are a real estate agent and you want to get regular referrals from real estate agents across the country, then the best thing to do is to build a large and productive agent referral network. Here are some things to consider, and some techniques for building a strong and profitable network.
First, some agents care about agent-to-agent referrals and some don't. Sure, everybody talks about it, but only a select few actually are prepared to do any serious active networking. Look for agents who care about referrals. A website where real estate agents can display their interest in referral networking is a good place to start.
Second, some agents in your network will "take" much more than they "give". This is a common complaint about professional networks - some members just sit back and take, take, take, without every contributing anything. They are happy to take your referrals, but never give any in return.
This is not nearly as great an issue in an agent-to-agent network as it is in, say, a local network of different types of professionals. If a fellow member of your agent-to-agent network just "takes" your referrals and never returns any, that is still OK. You still get the referral commission. But obviously that is not as good as having your network partners send you referrals in return.
You can head off most of these problems by picking and choosing your preferred partners carefully. Members are encouraged to promote themselves as "relocation experts" and focus on generating outbound referrals rather than inbound ones. If you start actively sending referrals, you can be sure you will receive more than your share.
So that is a good place to start. Look for other agents who emphasize their eagerness to send their relocating clients your way. That is one way to be sure they will not just be "takers".
Third, build as large a network as you can. The more agents in your network, the more likely you are to get results. Look for network partners in regional cities that are relatively close by. That is probably where most of your referral business will come from. But don't leave it at that. Develop partners in cities across the country and the continent. Recent studies have shown that for most cities inquiries about home purchases come almost equally from regional and out-of-region locations.
Another important point: 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.
Fourth, set up a "system" for staying in touch with your partners. This sounds obvious, but most of us simply do not make this a priority and we rely on a "hit and miss" method of keeping in touch. Don't be hit and miss. Force yourself to make your network contact system a priority.
By far the easiest is an email system. Create an email list and send an update to your partners at least once a month - every two weeks is probably better. This should be right up there in importance with sending regular emails or newsletters to your client and contact base.
Finally, don't expect instant results. Generating referrals is a long term project. Be concerned with building your profile as a "relocation expert", not with generating immediate results.
About the Author Rick Hendershot specializes in web marketing for real estate agents and is one of the founders of AgentMapIt.com a real estate agent referral network across North America.
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