Referrals - There are More Ways of Drawing a Cat out of a Well than Using a Bucket!

Referrals - There are More Ways of Drawing a Cat out of a Well than Using a Bucket!

This evening I was on ActiveRain and noticed a pop-up in my ‘notification’ flag and it was a nice referral notice that fit me to a ’t.’ I don’t typically use that service here as I prefer to do my own THOROUGH research for my referral clients. 

However, I decided to respond and within 3 minutes of the referral being posted by an out-of-state lender, I had responded. Less than 2 minutes later, I received an email from the lender with the so-called referral stating, “I already referred this one out but would love to chat and see if maybe we can work on another sometime.”

I’m sorry but, 5 minutes of investigating ANY agent is not doing right by your valued clients!

Here’s my strategy:

The absolute best referral partners are those we have met (and loved!) or those to whom we have previously sent referrals. That said, this doesn’t happen very often but, I do have referral partners in 3 cities in the nation that I have referred more than 3 clients to over the years. Those are the easy ones.

Checking all of the boxes

Other easy choices are those who we have connected with here in the Rain. I will still reach out to them, discussing the areas that the clients are interested in moving to be SURE they cover the areas. If the relocating family has children, I want to be certain that they have a strong knowledge of the local schools. I will vet them by phone, typically. If they prefer to send me a ‘resume,’ that is fine but, I can get more out of a phone interview than word on paper.

For areas that there is no ‘real’ connection, I start with CRS & AR - the two combined is ALWAYS ‘perfection’ in my experience! I had one referral in Florida of a dear friend who needed an agent who was quite knowledgeable of the schools. I interviewed several agents and sure enough, found the perfect fit - she knew about the schools, was an AR member and is a CRS agent. My friends still rave about her! 

I have found that sister-brokerage referrals are not always the best fit. Our particular franchise hires only agents who produce > $5M/year. All franchises do not have that same requirement so, finding someone with the level of expertise within my own company is not as easy as one would think. In my opinion, finding the perfect professional for our valued clients is the most important part of the selection process, not finding someone within our company, just to build our brand.

“There are more ways of drawing a cat out of a well than by the bucket!"

© Debe Maxwell | The Maxwell House Group | CharlotteBroker@icloud.com | Referrals - There are More Ways of Drawing a Cat out of a Well than by using a Bucket!