Stop Asking For Referrals!

"A referral is the greatest compliment you can give me!"

STOP!

If you are constantly asking for referrals, have tag lines in your email signature, on your business card and everywhere else, you're doing something wrong. One of the biggest issues I have with the "give me referrals" mindset is that most real estate agents think they deserve every referral that the people they know can give. For no other reason than they are connected. This has got to stop.

If you are asking for referrals, particularly right when you close a transaction, you are basically confirming what everyone has been thinking; that you are all about the transaction and your commission check. This may not be your intention, but that is the message you are sending.

Think about why you would refer someone to a service or business. When is the last time you recommended a restaurant? Why did you do it? Did you refer someone to something simply because you had a connection or because you knew that person would have a great experience? When a person you refer has an experience that exceeds expectations, it makes you look good and that's a primary motivator for people to recommend anything to anyone. If you think someone will have a mediocre experience with a service provider, you're probably not going make that referral.

Are you providing an experience for your clients that is so incredible that they cannot wait to refer you? Are you sharing a level of energy with your network that has them connecting you with other people even if they haven't done business with you because they KNOW that you will exceed expectations?

You may be a great real estate agent and you probably have happy clients who will return to do business with you again, but if you are not adding that extra bit of value, that extra bit of care, you are missing out on some great referral opportunities. This is why so many agents default to simply asking for referrals. As mentioned in the video, there is only one time in your customer relationships that you should even think about bringing up the topic of referrals. This would be at the very beginning of the relationship. You can bring it up by saying something like this:

During the time that we are working together you are going to come across people in the same exact situation as you. My goal is to provide a level of service and professionalism that will make you feel comfortable connecting me with those people. Would that be okay with you?

Simple and effective. You don't even have to say the word "referral." Here you are setting the expectation for a high level of service that you need to meet or exceed in order to EARN their recommendation. No one deserves a referral just because, it needs to be earned.

Help your clients look good. Provide them with an experience that has them singing your praises so that they KNOW when they send someone your way, that person will have the same incredible experience.