You give a referral. It closes. You get a 25% referral fee. Then what? Do you get a referral back from the real estate referral gods? Not likely. Would you like to get a referral in exchange for the one you gave?
Most agents certainly would.
Giving an agent in another market leads to one thing, a paycheck. But what if you could also get a new inbound client?
How Do Real Estate Agents Get More Referrals?
The mechanism of getting an inbound referral for the one you gave didn’t exist prior to ReferralCloud. Franchise networks are too small and don’t cover the entire US. Even large real estate companies like Keller Williams and eXp don’t cover even 50% of the agent population. What this means is that without a central referral clearinghouse, the network effect of being able to get new business each time you give out a referral doesn’t exist.
Real estate referrals are highly coveted among real estate agents. Referrals have a much higher closing percentage compared to “leads” that come from the hundreds of online companies selling the same leads to dozens of different agents. Most of those leads only have a 2-3% closing percentage, which means you have to get 50 of them to have a closing, plus you have to work like crazy with follow-up phone calls, emails etc to convert them.
Most referrals have about a 40% closing chance. This is a much higher percentage than a lead. But what more referrals don’t lead to is more referrals. With ReferralCloud, referrals lead to a new client and more referrals.
What Exactly Does ReferralCloud do?
ReferralCloud acts as a central coordinator. An agent places an outbound referral in their platform and the team evaluates the referral and finds the agent that is next in line in that market. Usually it is the agent that first placed an outbound referral in the platform. Here is an example: If an agent needs a referral person for San Antonio, a ReferralCloud agent success coordinator will look at who has placed referrals in San Antonio to other agents. If only one has placed an outbound referral then that agent is automatically selected. If two agents have placed outbound referrals, then the agent that first placed their referral is given the inbound. If an agent has placed more than 1 then usually they get the next referrals.
What Order Does ReferralCloud Assign Referrals to Agents?
The general order for assigning referrals to agents in a market is as such:
Has placed numerous outbound referrals
Has placed one outbound referral
Has successfully closed an inbound referral
Has a complete profile
Covers the area that the referral needs help in
Created an account but hasn’t completed the account.
Currently most referrals are placed with agents who have not yet placed a referrals. What this means is that there is no downside to creating a free account. There is a high likelyhood at some point in the future you will get a referral. As the network grows, there will be more importance on placing outbound referrals or making sure your inbound referrals close.
How are Real Estate Agents Finding Agents for Referrals?
The most common way agents are finding referral partners is through their own network of agents. They will send an email, text, call, post on social media, etc until they find someone they can trust. Usually as a last resort they will go onto a Facebook referral group for real estate agents and post something like “I’m looking for an agent in Las Vegas to help with a seller”. Since every real estate agent knows somebody in Vegas, this usually ends with 200+ comments and hundreds of likes as well. The net result is dozens of real estate agents all sliding into the DMs of the original poster whether or not the agent has found somebody already.
How to Get Started with ReferralCloud?
The new way to find a referral fast is by creating a ReferralCloud account here.
Once you have created an account enter all your information such as Brokerage name, Service Areas, Languages spoken and and specialties. Also be sure to upload a photo and create a catchy Bio.
Once your profile is done on of our Agent Success Advisors will check the account to make sure you are eligible to receive referrals. If there are any problems they will email you letting you know.
The most important thing to remember is that the best way to get a referral is to use the platform to send an outbound referral.
If you have any questions about how ReferralCloud works you can email support@referralcloud.co and someone on the team will be happy to help you out!