With a new year comes a fresh schedule of real estate events – a chance for us to meet new people, catch up with old friends and connect with the talented agents in our network all over the country. Check out this full list of major industry events from Inman News.

If you’re attending any of the below conferences, drop us a line at marketing@referralexchange.com. We’d love to connect!

January: Inman Connect – New York, NY

February: CRS Sell-a-bration – Las Vegas, NV

February: RE/MAX R4 – Las Vegas, NV

July: Inman Connect – Las Vegas, NV

August: Florida Assoc. Realtors – Orlando, FL

September: Texas Assoc. Realtors – Ft. Worth, TX

September: California Assoc. Realtors – Los Angeles, CA

October: NAGLREP – Palm Springs, CA

October: California Realtors WomanUp! – San Diego, CA

November: NAR Annual – San Francisco, CA

December: Triple Play – Atlantic City, NJ

Want more time to build relationships that grow your business? ReferralExchange verifies your leads and referrals, nurtures and gives them back to you when they’re ready to transact, and matches those clients outside of your area, price point or property type with three great agents.

Written by Lisa Fettner

For the last 6 years, my March has been filled with sparkles, sequins and smiles. Every spring, teens from all over the Bay Area come to the San Francisco Princess Project to get a free prom dress and accessory. Unfortunately, just like real estate in much of the country, prom has become unaffordable to many since the average teen spends over $1000. Last year, we helped over 2,500 teens!

My experience – as a volunteer and Co-President – has helped me become a better leader, mentor, and person.  Below are some of the lessons I’ve learned that apply to the real estate industry.

BE FEARLESS – You don’t get to “yes” without asking the question.

During my first year as Co-President, we needed to find new space for our pop-up boutique. Finding 10,000 square feet of donated space for a month in San Francisco was challenging and we had contacted nearly every property management company with no success.

Finally, I called Boston Properties who managed the Embarcadero Center. Not only did they give us a prime location, but they’ve become an amazing partner – promoting our organization to their tenants, organizing dress drives, and even donating the janitorial and utility costs.

In real estate, you absolutely must ask for the business. The worst thing that can happen is that someone says no – but they won’t say “yes” if you don’t ask. 

BE GRATEFUL – Someone else always has a higher hill to climb.

During one of our giveaway seasons, I was facing some personal challenges and felt a bit sorry for myself until a teen came in whose mother had recently passed away.  Her chaperone was helping her apply to college, get a part-time job and find a place to live.  I helped her find a great dress and the chaperone told me it was the first time she’d seen the girl smile since her mother had died.

Being an agent is tough. You’re at the mercy of clients – and your pipeline. Deals fall through or don’t go the way you hope. The good news, is that if you stay focused and keep trying, eventually things get better.

BE MINDFUL – Your moment is someone else’s milestone.

One evening, we had a special needs teen come to the boutique.  While we were having fun making her look fabulous, I realized that her mother was crying. She had never anticipated having that “prom dress shopping” milestone with her daughter, and it was tremendously emotional for her.

Real estate agents help people with the largest purchase of their lives. And it’s sometimes hard when you’re crazy busy and handling multiple transactions to remember and appreciate that. Even if the clients are difficult, you get to be the person who makes it happen — and that’s one of the biggest rewards of being an agent.

BE JOYFUL – Happiness yields positivity.

Every year Job Corps brings a huge group of teens to get dresses. They give them a place to stay, food to eat, clothing, healthcare, and job training. While their lives are challenging, the shopping experiences enables them to have fun and celebrate – and that’s okay.

Buying or selling a home is stressful, but it can – and should be fun. By bringing a sense of excitement and “fun” into a transaction, you’ll have happier and more grateful clients in the long run because you helped make their experience a positive one.

BE PASSIONATE – Let your passion drive your legacy.

I was on the train coming home from work several months ago, when a young woman came over and said, “You’re the prom dress lady.” She had found her prom dress through the Princess Project and wanted me to know how grateful she was for our program.  She also wanted to help volunteer during our next giveaway. I felt like a proud parent.

Real Estate can be a passion and mission vs. simply a profession.  You are the subject matter expert of your business, and people will respect you for it.  Your passion can drive your legacy – for both your team and the clients you’ve helped – you just need to channel your energy and drive to make it so.

A video about the Princess Project can be found here.

About The Princess Project

The Princess Project promotes self-confidence and individual beauty by providing free prom dresses and accessories to high school teens who cannot otherwise afford them.  Our effort is made possible entirely through invaluable volunteer, donor and community support. For more information, please visit www.princessproject.org or email info@princessproject.org.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.” – Wayne Dyer

Whether you’re a new or experienced agent, having strong leadership skills and practices will help you save time and increase your bottom line.

Bestselling author and speaker Coni Meyers, recently joined our VP of Marketing Lisa Fettner for a second webinar on becoming a more effective leader. Watch the first webinar here.

During the webinar, Coni shared how you can define your purpose and design your vision both personally and professionally, build your team with intention and how vision affects happiness, success, emotional intelligence and self-management.

What is Kickbutt Leadership? Kickbutt leadership with VISION means you are a visionary, impactful, strategic, inspirational, organized and a navigator. It’s going to attract your tribe – i.e., the clients you want, the people on your team, the people around you and give you more time.

What is your “WHY”? Coni stresses that it’s very imperative that we figure out our purpose and our why. When you have your why (e.g., helping others, being a great parent, to serve others in real estate), it makes making decisions must easier. A WHY statement is a simple statement about why you are on this earth. Your why can change through different stages and ages in your life – but ultimately it is the core of who you are. For example, Coni’s WHY is “To support people who are stepping into the vision for their life personally and professionally.”

Ask yourself these questions to determine your why:

• What do you love?
• Who are you?
• Why do you do what you do?
• How do you want to be remembered?

Creating the vision. In order to have a clear vision, you must come from it and in order to come from it, you have to become it. Coni shared the four aspects of our lives: health, relationships, career/creative expression and time/money freedom. Put pen to paper and write down what you envision for each of these categories if you had no limitations.

Define and design your perfect business. Regardless of your type of business, you need to look at your vision from a leadership, team and client point of view. Ask yourself:

• What is working for you that you LOVE?
• What demographics do you LOVE working with?
• How much sales volume in units/clients would you LOVE?
• What is the median price point you would LOVE to sell?
• What niches or emerging markets would you LOVE to work with?
• What would you LOVE that you have not done yet?

Happiness vs. Success. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” –Albert Schweitzer. 10% of your happiness comes from external influences, while 90% of your happiness is predicted by the way your brain processes the world – your mindset.

If you have a visioning mindset, your happiness is going to come from that vision. You are also 31% more productive and 37% better at sales when you come from happiness.

Mindfulness thinking creates emotional intelligence. Mindfulness thinking is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. If we have a clear vision, we will be more focused and helps us stay in the present moment.

Coni suggests doing five mindfulness practices throughout the day:

1. 10 minutes in the morning
2. Every 1-2 hours take 1-2 minutes
3. Before meeting or phone call take 1-2 minutes
4. Start meetings with something personal
5. 5 minutes at the end of day

Learn more at conimeyers.com and watch the full webinar recording here.

In real estate – referrals are the name of the game. Sometimes, however, determining the best way to market to your personal sphere can be challenging.

Our VP of Marketing Lisa Fettner recently hosted a webinar with social media strategist and author, Katie Lance to discuss tips, tools and strategies for how to effectively leverage your personal sphere of influence to increase your referral business.

Here are some key takeaways from the webinar.

Do’s and Don’ts of working with your sphere. DO: be helpful, thoughtful, and treat your sphere how you would like to be treated. DON’T: send canned marketing, be a spammer, or be a nuisance.

Get creative with these top ways to market and expand your sphere:

1. Use social media – post about a property on your old street or let your former colleagues know you’re an agent now.
2. Holiday messages – send holiday messages from your work email with your business signature and information.
3. Sponsor events – consider sponsoring friend/family events or activities (e.g., baseball game, charity run).
4. Network – use family events and community activities to let your sphere of influence know you can be their real estate resource. Ask them what their real estate goals are for 2019.
5. Lead a project that requires engagement from others (e.g., a family tree, have family members share their holiday decorations).
6. Be the GO-TO real estate advisor for you sphere. Offer a 5-minute favor such as recommending a good landscaper or pulling some market data about their area.
7. Be the hero of your sphere – have a network in place to help anyone, anywhere. We live in a global, extended market place – consumers expect you to give them information no matter where they live.

You don’t always have to say yes. Although you may want to work every referral that comes your way, it may not always make sense to. Lisa emphasizes that it’s critical to be consistent with who you do and don’t work with – doing so will save on “hurt feelings” or confusion in the future. Below are some scripts Lisa shared to help you navigate the situation.

• I’d be happy to tour/look at/do an analysis of your property at any time. We can either work together, or I can find you someone who would be a perfect fit.
• I’d love to help you, but I’m not an expert in your area/price point/property type. I’m a member of a network that works with agents who specialize in [xyz] and can help find the best fit for you.
• I actually make it a policy not to work directly with friends or family members, but I’m part of a nationwide network of top agents, and I can find the perfect one for you.

The power of staying in touch with your sphere. Staying in touch with your network could be the difference between them calling you or someone else when they have a real estate need or question. Stay top-of-mind by choosing your social channels based on what your clients and future clients are using. Katie emphasized the importance of creating content that attracts who you want to work with (e.g., video, Facebook Live). You only have so many hours in a day, so focusing on quality over quantity is key – remember, you don’t have to be all things to all people.

Use LinkedIn and Facebook to stay in touch with your sphere. Lisa shared a few easy tips on how to make the most of LinkedIn: update your bio, let people know that you’re in real estate, publish and share new content and reach out to 5-10 people in your sphere once a month on the platform.

On Facebook, Katie suggests creating different lists to organize your sphere and interactions (e.g., friend/connect with them, interact with them, add them to your “see first” notifications). Use Facebook messenger to start a private conversation or use the FB voice feature to send them a personal message.  If you’re creating one piece of content, make sure you distribute it in multiple ways, on multiple channels (e.g., videos, social media posts, blogs, newsletters).

Are you making the most out of your personal sphere of influence? Watch the full webinar recording here.

Q4 tends to be the the quietest season of the year business-wise, but it’s probably the most important one when it comes to relationships – because you have the opportunity to finish the year strong and to fill your pipeline for the upcoming year.

Our VP of Marketing Lisa Fettner recently held a webinar with Dan Smith, a former top-producing agent and now a coach, consultant and speaker. They discussed how to make the most of your Q4 to ensure that you hit the ground running in Q1.

PROSPECTING

Q4 is filled with both industry and community events – all of which represent great referral opportunities. Dan encourages agents to use these events to prospect for 2019, “Plant those seeds today and harvest them in the next year.”

The key is to act strategically and have a plan. While you might simply want to go to an event to learn and/or mingle with your friends – you can’t afford to NOT take advantage of making new connections.  Be sure to think about who you want to meet and what you want to get out of every event and conference that you attend.

Real Estate Events:

• Introduce yourself to new people and make referral connections – everyone is there to do the same thing, so they’ll be relieved when you make the first move.
• Try to sit with people you don’t know and strike up a conversation.
• Email people you want to meet prior to the show – if you know someone who’s coming from a different market, make plans to meet up – and bring a friend along with.

Community Events:

• Set yourself a goal of speaking with a specific number of people during each event.
• Always wear a piece of logo-wear that immediately identifies you as an agent. Bonus points for creating an “ugly-logo-wear sweater!” during the holidays.
• Once people know you’re an agent or a broker, they’ll naturally ask you about the state of the real estate market because people love to talk about real estate! Dan suggests asking them what their real estate plans are for the coming year – it’s less salesy than simply asking if they’re planning to buy or sell property.
• Try to provide a 5-minute favor (providing someone with a small item of value that only takes 5 minutes). Offer to send recent sales prices in a specific neighborhood or the name of a good mortgage consultant.

RECONNECTING

Q4 provides agents with great opportunities to reach out to past clients in a “non salesy” way.  Think about different and fun ways to expand your personal professional sphere.

• Identify your raving fans – Dan reminded us that 90% of an agent’s referrals come from 10% of their friends/family members/past clients, etc. Agents absolutely MUST follow-up with those folks the most frequently and not take them for granted.
• Consider creating Facebook Lists of people you know. Bonus points for creating different lists for different types of contacts.
• Use the information you learn on social media to a make a personal connection with people when you see them at events.
• Dan emphasizes effective social media usage is about engaging with other people’s posts – by “inserting” yourself into the sphere of other’s lives, you make a more authentic connection.
• If you are going to post – make it engaging. Consider holding a holiday decorating or fun family photo contest.
• Don’t forget the holiday cards – which can be sent any time in Q4. Try to make them as customized as possible – either with an insert, short note, or unique image.
• Don’t hesitate to ask for testimonials during this time as well. People aren’t as busy, and they have time to write or record (video!) a short testimonial for you.

HOUSEKEEPING

Q4 is also a great time to update your photos, online information/profiles and marketing materials.

• Create a Google doc containing all sites and locations where you have a profile or listing. Make sure that all posted information is current and consistent.
• Create a document of client testimonials and stories – and add to them throughout the year.
• Take a new professional headshot. You want to be sure that if someone is meeting you at a coffee shop, they will recognize you based on your photo.
• Update your lists and feeds – add new clients and prospects as needed.
• Dan suggests sending yourself a calendar invite for the first Monday of the month. Take some time to update your information on a regular basis. Doing so makes the process much less time consuming and overwhelming.

Trying to prepare for the coming year can be overwhelming, but Dan suggests doing at least the following 3 activities during Q4:

• Identify your raving fans and make contact.
• Organize your database.
• Engage with people on Facebook or Instagram on a regular basis – but limit yourself to a short amount of time. At the end of the day – and especially in Q4 – being a successful agent is about taking advantage of those in-person connections!

Watch the full webinar recording here and learn more at bydansmith.com.

“Kickbutt leadership is when mindfulness meets vision, opportunity and engagement.”

Having strong leadership skills can make all the difference when growing and cultivating your team. During our latest webinar, Author, coach and speaker Coni Meyers joined our VP of Marketing Lisa Fettner to share how agents can become more resilient, identify new ways to collaborate, improve problem solving, decision-making and managing stress.

Whether you’re a new or experienced agent, these leadership practices will help you become a better, more empathetic, and effective leader.

Using mindfulness as a leader will help you attract your tribe. Mindfulness can help you build your team and increase your bottom line, so you have more time to focus on the things you want to do. Coni explained that great leadership is about supporting others, so they go beyond ourselves.

Happiness vs. Success. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” –Albert Schweitzer. The first tool you need to have as a leader is to come from a place of happiness and passion. This will determine the type of people and team members you attract. Scientific studies have shown that people who come from a true place of happiness are 31% more productive and 37% better at sales. Additionally, 10% of our happiness comes from external influences and 90% is caused by your mindset – meaning YOU can change your own reality and mindfulness.

Coni shared five exercises you can do to increase your positivity:

1. Showing gratitude
2. Journaling
3. Exercising
4. Meditating
5. Performing “Acts of kindness”

Emotional Intelligence (EQ). The first step to achieving emotional intelligence is self-awareness. It’s the ability to understand our own emotions and understand the emotions of others and manage it. Emotional Intelligence author Daniel Goleman found that EQ accounts for 67% of the skills we need to be a top leader. Once we become aware of our emotions, we must learn to manage them and our team accordingly.

Empathy (cognitive and emotional) and engagement are another crucial piece of emotional intelligence. Cognitive empathy is when we can see the world through others’ eyes. As an agent, that might be seeing your client’s dream home through their own eyes and understanding what they want it to look like. Emotional empathy includes understanding and empathizing how emotional (both happy or sad) the purchase or sale of a home could be for your clients. Having both cognitive and emotional empathy will impact the engagement and communication you will have when working with them.

Having emotional intelligence will allow you to attain a higher level of financial success, develop a better organization culture and create a more productive workforce. Emotional intelligence distinguishes great leaders from average ones. It is learned, versus IQ which is genetic.

Self-management. There are five different areas of self-management:

1. Stress – Using mindfulness practices to reduce your stress can make a big difference.
2. Organization – The more organized we are, the better off we will be in managing ourselves.
3. Decision making – Reduced stress and increased organization will help you make better decisions and allow you to help others (e.g., your clients and team members) do the same.
4. Problem solving – A key component of problem solving is having a key vision of our desired outcome.
5. Time management – When it comes to time management, it’s about how to incorporate the things we need to do into the time we have, that will help us move forward. Another key component of self-management is listening.

Coni shared five simple mindfulness practices which included:

• Taking 10 minutes to yourself in the morning.
• Every 1-2 hours take 1-2 minutes to breathe.
• Before a meeting or taking a phone call, take a few minutes to prepare.
• Start meetings discussing something personal to help clear everyone’s minds.
• Take five minutes to yourself to breath and reflect at the end of the day before racing out of the office.

By improving your mindfulness, you will become a more effective leader, improve your bottom line and save time for you and your team.

Watch the full webinar here and download Coni’s workbook to improve your leadership skills.

We’re in the throes of prime networking season. Summer parties and industry events all provide real estate agents with opportunities to make connections and generate more business. Just like anything else, networking is a skill — one that many of us are uncomfortable practicing.

Below are 10 tips to help you network and garner more referral business like a pro.

1. Have a plan. Whether it’s committing to make three new connections or to meet one specific person, it’s important to decide what you want to get out of each event you attend. If you can get a list of attendees in advance, identify who you want to connect with and if you know someone who can introduce you (and of course, vice versa).
2. Figure out your icebreaker/elevator pitch in advance. Think of a way to introduce yourself or your company in a fun, interesting way. Develop a few-sentence description that describes you or your company. Rather than simply saying you’re an agent or broker, include something that sets you apart. Perhaps you focus on a specific neighborhood or type of buyer/seller, or you sold a unique property that everyone knows about. A description that receives a smile or positive reaction makes people more receptive to starting a conversation.

Be sure to tailor your pitch to your audience. If you’re meeting with other agents, you might want to emphasize your market knowledge and area expertise. If you’re meeting with prospective homebuyers or sellers, your pitch should reflect that.

3. Make your name memorable. Remembering who you met after an event can be challenging, even if you collect a business card. Try to come up with a way to make your name memorable. Consider if your name is often misspelled or mispronounced and offer clarification. Does your company name have a fun or interesting meaning or story behind it that you can share?
4. Make yourself memorable. While you want to be dressed appropriately for any event, try to wear something that can help start a conversation. Logo-wear is a great way to immediately identify yourself as an agent or broker and orchestrate a dialogue about your company or business. Or, wear a fun accent piece (bonus points if it ties in with your company’s colors) like jewelry, socks, shoes or a tie that are easy for someone to comment on as a way to break the ice.
5. Divide and conquer. If you attend an event with a group or another person, try to split up — at least for part of the time. Try not to sit together, or at least leave an open chair between you. That way, if the table or row fills up, you’ll have the opportunity to make a new connection.

If you’ve reviewed the attendees in advance, divide up the list of people with whom you want to connect. At a large event, you’ll have a better chance of speaking with more people. It’s okay to reconnect with your partner if you both need to speak with someone. Send each other a text or let the person you’re speaking with know you’ll find your colleague and circle back at some point during the event.

6. Listen and learn. Interactions at networking events can sometimes last only a few minutes, so it’s important to listen intently and ask open-ended questions to make them as productive as possible. Try to identify an opportunity where you have common ground, can solve a problem or can fulfill a direct need. Mention if you’ve handled a referral from their area or have sold/found buyers for properties in a specific area. Do you have friends, colleagues or experiences in common that can help you make a deeper connection?
7. Follow up and be a giver. Look for ways to provide a “five-minute favor” — e.g., finding a small way to add value to someone’s life in a few minutes. Think of a question you can ask to spark a conversation. Ask about a current market or neighborhood, or if there’s a question/information that you could provide help with. Sending an article, making an introduction or providing information is an easy way to follow up and keep a dialogue going.
8. Keep your body language open and welcoming. You’re at an event to mingle, so you want people to feel comfortable approaching you as well. Smiling, nodding and making eye contact shows that you’re engaged and interested. Include a new person who joins the conversation with an introduction — both of yourself and who you’re speaking with. Doing so will also help you remember names.
9. Say goodbye graciously. Determining how to end a conversation can sometimes be challenging, but it’s expected at a networking event. Some ways to “extricate” yourself from a conversation include:

• Tell the person you’re speaking with that you enjoyed your conversation, but you need to “keep mingling.”
• Let them know that you’re getting a drink/something to eat and offer to get them one.
• Thank them for chatting with you and let them know you’ll be following up with the information you offered during your conversation.
• Invite them to lunch or coffee, or to visit your office the next time they are in your city.

10. Don’t be afraid to ask for the business, if it’s appropriate. Sometimes it does make sense to ask for a referral/business opportunity — if the person you’re speaking with specifically asks. When that does occur, it’s critical to follow up as quickly as possible. Send an email or call within 24 hours, offering to set up an appointment. Provide some options that work for your schedule. Find out if anyone else needs to be included in the conversation or appointment and get contact information for everyone who needs to be involved.

Your real estate business is bigger than you think. ReferralExchange matches your clients with 3 great agents and pays you a 25% referral fee at closing.

Re-posted from Giveback Homes

ReferralExchange brought out 80 employees to volunteer over the span of four days to help transform the home of a local Veteran and his wife.

Glenn is a navy veteran who fought in Vietnam, and Joanne is a retired nurse practitioner who is gearing up for her 23rd surgery, this time to replace her knee. The couple has lived in this house (that Joanne’s grandfather built) for 5 generations. Joanne grew up next door and would tell us stories of when she was a kid living on the property. From square dancing, to Christmas pageants, it all went down here for their family. The Claghorn’s are getting a new roof and a fresh paint job on the home that’s housed so many memories for them.

The volunteers helped tear off the old roof, and repair dry rot before replacing the shingles and giving the home some fresh paint. These repairs will allow Glenn and Joanne to stay in their home and solve their leaking roof problem, so they can focus on their health.

Both Fox40 and Good Day Sacramento stopped by the build site to check on the progess.

Thanks to ReferralExchange’s generous donation and army of volunteers, the Claghorn’s are ready for the rain with their new and improved roof.

Want to support impactful projects like this? Check out the Giveback Homes build page to donate to an affordable housing project benefiting families in need both here in the U.S. and around the world.

As a top performing agent, you don’t need to be convinced that relationships are your most important asset. Yet, creating a day-to-day strategy to develop and maintain those relationships can be a real challenge.

Zvi Band, CEO/founder of the intelligent customer relationship management (CRM) platform, Contactually, recently joined us for a webinar to share the key steps of the CAPITAL strategy for relationship building, unique ways to add value and gain intelligence, and how to effectively leverage a database as your launchpad for growing and nurturing your sphere of influence.

Relationships still rule, but much has changed. Relationships in real estate have always been important. But information and local expertise used to be a competitive advantage; today buyers and sellers have more access to information than ever before.

Technology and data has also changed the way agents and consumers communicate and do business. Additional tech tools, gadgets, and data learnings are available, yet nothing can replace the human side of the business – that’s YOU. From Contactually’s perspective, technology is helping to increase productivity and production – helping the best agents be even better.

The relationships we are building are actively decaying. Between emails, newsletters, push notifications and marketing drip campaigns, we have created a world of information overload. If you can’t remember what you had for breakfast two weeks ago, how would someone remember the details from meeting you weeks, months or years later?

If you want to stay top-of-mind or be the first person a potential client thinks of, you must have a strategic plan. Zvi explains that it’s about having a clear goal, building a process and strategy to execute your goal and then executing it repeatedly.

Key steps of the CAPITAL strategy include:

• Consistency – one of the most important things you can practice. Consistency is all about building and maintaining a habit. Zvi shared the habit loop which includes the cue (what kicks the brain into automatic mode and tells it which habit to use), routine (your physical, mental or emotional response) and reward (the prize telling your brain “this loop is worth remembering in the future”).
• Aggregate – many people struggle to build and maintain a database, but every professional needs to have one. Start simple with a stack of business cards or excel spreadsheet. Collect your contacts into one centralized location where your entire network can be accessed.
• Prioritize – the people in your database matter in different ways, which is why you need to prioritize the relationships that are most important. Consider grouping your database based on the type of relationship (i.e. past clients or new leads) or tiering your database based on known level of priority (i.e. high v. low) so you can focus your time efficiently.
• Intelligence – what do you know about the people in your database? Intelligence is about collecting and capturing useful data. Do this by writing everything down, looking for social objects (i.e., shared resources or experiences) and embracing small talk. Often remembering the smallest detail can make the biggest impact. Zvi suggests including a few points for each contact such as the state of your relationship/their business, notes and next steps from the interaction, and any personal details you remember.
• Timely engagement – so when do you reach out? There isn’t a correct answer for how often you reach out, but what matters is that you are completing consistent points of communication. Set reminder timers that are frequent enough to stay top of mind, while keeping the number of reminders to a manageable amount.
• Adding value – even saying hello is adding value. Every interaction should be meaningful, relevant or valuable in some way. You can deliver value by acknowledging someone with a thoughtful message, solving their problems, making connections and creating experiences.
• Leverage – make your routine as seamless as possible. This could be programming email templates in your CRM or hiring a virtual assistant to outsource mundane, time-consuming tasks. Use automation where appropriate, so you can spend time being authentic with the people who matter most.

Apply these key steps to your marketing efforts and remember these takeaways: our relationships are our most important asset, preach to your own choir, build a strategy and execute consistently.

Watch the full webinar here and learn more at contactually.com.

As an agent, referrals you receive are a key barometer of your success, and the number of referrals you send and receive can turn a good year into a great year. Unfortunately, many agents don’t track their referral sources — nor do they actively include generating more referrals into their regular business and marketing planning.

Based on our proven track record at ReferralExchange, below are five ways to identify and grow your referral business.

1. Identify three to five friends or family members who know a lot of people. We all have friends, family members or current/past clients who seem to have a huge social network, and these individuals can be a great source of referral business for you. I was recently invited to a “shopping party” at one such friend’s house, and I always try to do some “gentle networking” at these types of events. By the end of the afternoon, I’d made several great connections to follow up with.

How to get business: If they’re a past or current client, ask for a testimonial. If they’re a friend or family member, let them know that you can help them — or their friends — with any of their real estate needs. Make sure they’re on your holiday card/email list so your real estate expertise stays top of mind.

2. Take advantage of not-so-chance encounters. People you meet seemingly at random can be a great source of business as well, but it’s important to plan for them in advance. One agent in our network commits to handing out five business cards per day. She won’t allow herself to come home until she’s handed out those business cards.

How to get business: Have your ice-breaking opening lines ready to go to initiate a conversation. At that recent shopping party, I made my connections by simply saying, “I can be casually dressed at work, but when I speak or attend conferences, I have to dress up.” This prompted people ask what I did for a living. Make sure you wear a logo-branded item when you’re out and about, so that someone can see it and ask, “Are you in real estate?” Offer them your business card if they have questions or want to keep in touch.

3. Maximize your professional, business or service contacts. These types of contacts are indispensable to our work and personal lives — and they can all significantly help your business, as they have a good read on the community and know just about everyone. When we moved to our first home in Northern California with our newborn daughter, our agent gave us a list of local pediatricians, dentists, kid-friendly restaurants, etc. That list stayed on our refrigerator for the entire year, until she sent us an updated version with her holiday card.

How to get business: Ask these contacts for coupons or discount opportunities to distribute with your listing or buyer presentations, client gifts or open houses. Regularly ask them for business, and be sure to refer back in kind. Consider placing a candy jar in their offices, and then periodically drop in to refill it and stay top of mind.

4. Get more involved with the associations, groups or organizations that you are a member of. People like to work with people like themselves, and will always try to find common ground. Garnering referral business from associations or groups that you’re a member of provides you with a “warm entry.” I once coached an agent who loved to surf, and we made that the core of his local business development efforts. He placed ads in his club’s newsletter, sponsored surf events and gave away free surf wax branded with his contact information.

How to get business: Find relevant ways to get involved that showcase your expertise. Host real estate seminars targeted to your group’s interest. For example, if you’re a member of a wine group, host a tasting alongside a seminar on the value of remodeling a kitchen. Or if there are vineyards located nearby, host a seminar on second homes/vacation properties. You can even consider making a donation to your preferred charity/organization for every closed transaction.

5. Identify three friends/family members/former colleagues who live in different cities or states. Your sphere of influence is a great source of referral business, but consider expanding it to cover outside of your market or beyond your immediate contacts. Most referral networks, mine included, provide you with a pool of colleagues and connections in different areas so that you can help anyone anywhere. We have an agent who gets referrals from friends of friends and family members simply because she let them know she’s part of a nationwide referral network and can help them find an agent no matter where they’re located

How to get business: Make sure everyone in your sphere — and expanded sphere — knows what you do. Post fun real estate stories on your social channels. If you have to send an extended family email (perhaps you’re coordinating a family reunion), be sure to do it from your work email, with your work signature. Make sure you include what your occupation is in your social profiles. And, be sure to let them know that you’re part of a nationwide network and can help them even if they aren’t local.

Making a commitment to grow your referral business doesn’t have to be hard or overwhelming. You simply need to look to your extended life and activities and then take action. Be sure to track any of the activities that you do so that you can determine which ones are the most effective. Start with one or two to see how they work and add more as time and resources permit.

Your real estate business is bigger than you think. ReferralExchange matches your clients with 3 great agents and pays you a 25% referral fee at closing.