Every real estate agent I’ve ever asked has always said referrals are the backbone of their business.
Which should come as no surprise to you.
Anytime you’re faced with entering a partnership with someone to assist with a large financial decision you want to choose someone you trust. And when people are unsure about who to go with, they look to those they already trust like their friends and family for recommendations.
That’s why it’s so important to provide clients with an experience that they’ll be ecstatic about so when they get called upon for a recommendation, they think of you.
But other than providing a remarkable experience, what are some ways you can get your clients not just give others your name when asked, but to take the next step and voluntarily participate in your marketing and actively send you more referrals?
Give your clients shareable tools that make them feel special
People love to feel special.
In his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini explains that compliments, or the information that someone likes us, can be extremely effective for producing a return liking and willing compliance. Cialdini provides the example of Joe Girard, the world’s “greatest car salesman” from Detroit who said the secret to his success was getting customers to like him. And his main strategy for getting this to happen was to send all 13,000 of his customers a greeting card every month that said in one form or another “I like you.”
His main point being, we’re phenomenal suckers for flattery. Even when we know it comes from someone with an agenda.
Real Estate tools to that flatter your clients
An obvious tool here is a single property website. One of the main reasons for creating a single property website for one of your listings is that it appeals to your sellers ego. It sends the signal to them that you are dedicated to selling their home, gets them excited and it makes them feel special. This usually leads to them sharing the link with their friends and family which puts you on everyone’s radar.
Want another example? Shannon King is doing something really cool. In the video below she’s interviewed by Michael Krisa and shares a pretty neat marketing tool she’s using to get more referrals.
Giving away a video camera to each of your home buyers might seem like too much of an expense at first. But when you consider that if it were to produce one referral it would more than pay for itself, it starts to seem like a smart investment in your business.
A new referral resource
John Jantsch (@ducttape) is smart guy who’s been giving out great small business marketing advice over on his blog for years now. He’s got a new book out today called the Referral Engine.
So far I’ve only read the sample chapter but it was enough to convince me to grab a copy on Amazon. If you’re looking for a resource to help you start getting more referrals, than it might be worth checking out.
I suggesting checking out the website for more information.
What kind of strategies are you using to get more referrals for your business? I’d love to hear some ideas in the comments.
