Too often, after much time, effort, energy, and money is invested in generating referrals, many agents drop the ball with a referral and/or the person who sent it.

    There are 10 things you ABSOLUTELY must do each and every time you receive a referral, to ensure you get more and more referrals each and every year, month, week, and even day.

Here’s what you do each time someone sends you a referral:

1. Call the referring person immediately to say Thank You for the new referral.  Ask if there is anything special you need to know about the referral.

2. Call the newly referred person the moment (or at least within five minutes) you hang up the phone with the person who sent the referral. Set an appointment immediately. Do something to make sure you are connecting with your new contact. Whether it be face-to-face or not, show initiative.

3. Add your new referral to your CRM system and your Client Appreciation Program (If you don’t already have a client event program, check out our blog post, Client Appreciation Event Marketing). Make sure to tag or note the person who referred them.

4. Set up a follow-up call with your new referral. It never hurts to check in with them to see how things are going. Use the following script: “I just want to make sure I’m not dropping the ball on my end!”

5. Send a video text message! Limit it to 10-15 seconds in length. You should make two videos:

   1. 1. “Thank You” to the referral
      2. “Thank You” to the referral

6. Send a personal, handwritten note to the referrer. Include a client appreciation gift such as a $5-10 Starbucks gift card or a gift card of your choosing. You want to make sure you reward the act of sending the referral. 

    Whether the referred person ever does business with you or not is irrelevant at this point because it is not their job to make sure that the person does business with you. You want them to simply send you the referral, and you should be able to take care of the rest.

1. Send a personal handwritten note to the person being referred. You will want to thank them, introduce yourself again, and make sure they know how to contact you.

    

2. Create a Facebook video and tag the person who sent the referral. Thank them for referring their friends and family. Do not tag the person referred unless you have permission to do so.

3. Send professionally made gourmet cookies (or something similar) to the office of the referrer. You want to make a big deal about it. Make it a day they’ll never forget! Go big with balloons! Coach Michael Hellickson suggests CookiesByDesign.com

4. In your “Friends Referring Friends” section of your newsletter, (if you don’t already have a newsletter, you MUST read our blog on “Real Estate Client Newsletter“) include both names, giving credit, and thanks to the person who sent you the referral.

  After much time, effort, energy, and money is invested in generating referrals, many agents drop the ball with a referral and the person who sent it. Don’t be that agent! Follow this list closely to ensure the best possible chance of doing business with the referral, and to cultivate additional referrals from the referring party.

Bonus – Contact the person who sent you the referral upon closing, to thank them once again! A phone call actually works best here!