Salespeople who actively seek out referrals earn four to five times as much revenue as those who never ask.
Despite this, only 11 percent of salespeople ask for referrals.
Why is that?
After coaching hundreds of real estate agents, I’ve identified three main reasons. As well as examining these reasons, I’m going to show you how you can change your own approach.
The main reason why agents don’t reach out for referrals is that they feel like they’re bothering their contacts. This is exactly how I felt when I started reaching out to my sphere, but that was because I learned that I needed to call my contacts. I personally hate receiving phone calls, and I believed that the people I was calling felt the same.
This led me to do some research. I found out that — at best — only two out of 10 people answer their phones. This meant I was ignoring the preferences of 80 percent of my contacts. I found out that the top option is text; the second is email. Either are better than a phone call, no matter if you’re reaching out to an individual or a business.
After making this discovery, I started creating personalized videos for my sphere of influence. I would send a new video by text or email at least once per quarter. This completely eliminates the risk of bothering people, as they can watch the video whenever it’s convenient for them.
You can use this strategy, too. Instead of relying on outdated tactics like phone calls, start using personalized videos.
This was another problem I used to have. I felt that reaching out to my sphere for referrals was unnatural — but it was all because I was told to use a generic script. It went something like, “Hey (name), do you know anyone who’s buying or selling?” I had the hardest time delivering it, as I felt it was all about me. This led me to lose confidence and, as a result, I found that I was being inconsistent with contacting my sphere.
The solution was simply to flip the script around. I needed to start coming from a place of value. My new script went more like this:
“Hey, Sarah, it’s Amber joy with influential agent and listen, I need your help…
We only have two months of inventory right now in Collin County.
So what does that mean? And why do you even care? Right.
Well, it means if no other homes come on the market after today with the current number of buyers that we have closing in the MLS, it would only take two months for everything to sell. And there would be zero homes for sale in the whole County.
Can you believe that?
So this has really created a clear advantage for sellers and we’re often seeing multiple offers even above asking price. So here’s where you come in, who do you know that could benefit from listing their home when they have hardly any competition?
Thanks for taking the time to think about it. Sarah and I look forward to hearing from you soon.”
You can see that this script is straight up asking for a referral, but it comes from a place of contribution. I’m educating my contact and demonstrating a clear benefit for whoever the person ends up referring.
From now on, stop using a standard script when you want a referral. Look at your scripts in a new way — and just wait for the magic to happen.
It’s no good doing the above if you lack a system to track your referrals. Setting up a formalized system is crucial to maintain consistency — and, ultimately, see success from your referral strategy.
To make this clear, here’s another statistic (I love statistics): companies with formalized referral programs experienced 86 percent more revenue growth over the past two years than those who lacked a program. That’s right — 86 percent!
Creating models and systems around referrals is my passion. It’s something I help my coaching clients with at Influential Agent. We only use the latest technology and digital media in our systems because we know that outdated techniques will not cut it anymore. Plus, what got you from point A to point B is not usually what will get you from point B to point C.
Now you know why you’ve been failing to ask for referrals and how to fix that. All that’s left is to start reaching out to your sphere and your past clients. Ask for more referrals and you’ll get more sales — it’s as simple as that. And who wouldn’t want to make four to five times as much revenue?
You need to make asking referrals a mandatory part of your ongoing marketing and lead generation strategy. Even though everyone in your sphere likely knows more than one realtor (perhaps some people even know a handful), only about 11 percent of those agents are likely asking for referrals. This means your chances are pretty good.
If you need some help with this, send me a message. We’ll do our best to get you 90 percent of the way there — the last 10 percent is on you! I’m sure you’ll see just the same success as I, and so many of our coaching clients, already have.