Referral partners are more likely to single you out if you send business their way as well
I have a few real estate agents who give out my name with two other loan officers, but I never seem to get the deal. When I do speak to the prospect, I usually have a chance, but I rarely hear from them.
--Richard from Michigan
I have been dealing with advice on the "recommend three loan officers" rule for three decades. There is no law that requires an agent to recommend three, but many real estate schools teach this practice in the "ethics" segments of their classes. I am often tempted to have the loan officer go back to the agent and ask them if they have a client who needs a real estate agent, should you recommend three agents? I would love to hear the answer to that question. Though I don't recommend you ask that question, because it borders on being argumentative and sarcastic.
Of course, it does bring up a point. How many referrals do you give to these agents? I would venture to guess that if you had given the agent referrals on a regular basis, you would be getting a better response from them. We have talked about your sphere previously, and using it not only to generate referrals for you, but for your referral sources as well. Since we have covered this topic previously, we will not delve into this area, except to note that if we are not helping these agents increase their business in some way, it is less likely we are going to "single them out" among the three loan officers they recommend or abandon this strategy to make you their sole referral. What do we mean by singling you out? We will go into this concept in more detail next week.
--Dave Hershman
Dave Hershman has been the leading author and a top speaker for the industry for decades with six books authored and hundreds of articles published. His website is www.originationpro.com. If you have a reaction to this commentary or another question you would like answered in this column? Email Dave directly at [email protected].
