I want to talk to you about the idea of how to re-engage a REALTOR relationship after you have drifted apart.
It is a really big deal right now, and there’s a lot of pain in the marketplace because loan officers got distracted over the last two years with super low-interest rate and a boat ton of refinances, and they’re having trouble today reengaging relationships with real estate agents because they didn’t stay in touch. In this video and blog post, I’m going to tell you three things you can do right now to reestablish, reconnect, and reignite the partnerships that you have let drift. Okay? Let’s do it!
Three Tips to Re-Establish, Reconnect, and Reignite Partnerships
So the first thing I want to say about this is the idea that this is as predictable as the sun coming up and going down. That is, we get distracted in low-interest-rate markets and we move from a purchase-centric mindset to a refinance-centric mindset. And at the end of the day, it takes us away from what matters most. So what has to happen is, in a very simple way, you’ve got to own the responsibility of having drifted apart. And so the best way to reengage is to own the problem.
1. Own the Problem
So let’s talk about what it might sound like. I’m going to call whoever, let’s say I called David Johnson on the phone. David and I have done business together for four years. We’ve drifted apart. Alright. Here’s the first thing I want to do. It’s called I goofed. Okay? So I get David on the phone and say, “Hey, David. It’s Todd at ABC Financial. Man, I just want to take a moment to apologize. I really messed up. I kind of goofed and I got so distracted that I did not pay attention to our relationship over the last 12 months to 15 months like I should have. I want to ask you to forgive me, and I want to offer an apology.” Right? So you’re not trying to do anything fancy. The first rule of connection is empathy and humanity. I want to speak to the issue, “I blew it, man. I have not been vigilant in taking advantage of our relationship and helping you grow. So I want to offer that apology.”
2. Offer Them Something
The second thing I want to say is something like this, “I’ve got a very unique business plan right now that I’m rolling out with a few key real estate agents, and I want you to be one of them. What I know about this plan is it can generate between three and five referrals for you right now per month that I would like to make sure I help activate for you in the marketplace. Are you open to that idea?” And David’s going to go, “Are you kidding? You bet.” And then what I’m going to do is I’m going to introduce them to the circle of cash flow.
I’m going to tell them from this moment on every buyer that I work with, we’re going to activate a referral universe around somewhere between two and eight of the connections they have in the marketplace. Those connections could be, and I just wrote down a bunch. Those connections could be financial advisors. Those connections could be CPAs. Those connections could be entrepreneurs and business owners. Those connections could be property and casualty insurance agents, life insurance agents. It could be attorneys. It could be any of that. It could be their place of employment. And I’m going to tell you right now that it doesn’t matter what the market’s doing. The circle of cashflow works all the time. It is the most ignored intentional referral strategy on the planet, and it’s simply based on the idea that people that already know, love, and trust you, are going to do a better job helping you find people that they want you to know, love, and trust and vice versa than any other marketing effort you put out there. Okay?
3. Follow Up with Strategic Partnership Planning
So those are the three things you have to do. And then what you can begin to do is go back to the idea of, “Now that I’ve reconnected with David, what are we going to do every week?” Well, we’re going to have partnership planning every week. We’re going to stay in touch with each other once a week, 15 to 20 minutes. We’re going to talk about the referrals that came in this week. We’re going to talk about the circle of cash flow and conversations that maybe I had with somebody’s broker or somebody’s insurance agent or this, that, or the other. Maybe it could be another friend of theirs that owns a business or something like that. To the loan officer world right now, I’m telling you you need to continue to diversify into the new world of referral aggregation, which is simply the people you already know that know the people you want to know.
The Importance of Referrals
I was having a conversation with my son, Matt, yesterday, and he’s an artist. Matt has produced about 130 pieces of art. Every single piece of art is 100% unique. There’s not another one like it in the world, and every piece of art is built on reclaimed metals. So there’s a real beautiful social cause, and even to the extent that I don’t like to use these words, even a green mentality around what he’s trying to do. Right? And so I asked him. I said, “So how many of the 100 plus people have you asked for a referral?” And he looked at me, he’s 24 years old, he’s a new business guy. Right? And he said, “None.”
And so what I said to him, and listen to this because this got activated from the time I asked to the time he did something about it, it was two and a half hours and he already got a referral. So all I asked him, “Who are two clients right now that you think you have maybe the deepest relationship with? Or maybe it’s the piece of art that you built that you didn’t even think you could build and the client is just like doing back flips over it. Who would those people be?” And he mentioned two names. So I’m in Costa Mesa, California by John Wayne Airport and my home is in Laguna, which is about 20 minutes away. And after we met, I said, “By the time I get home, I would like to see two videos that you’re proud of, one to each of those people. And then I’m going to call you, critique it, and then if we get it right, you’re going to send those.”
So what I’m saying to you as a loan officer is the same thing I’m saying to my son, that when somebody says, “Wow, this piece of art rocks.” What is that code for? It’s code for, “If you think my art rocks, please help me find somebody that you know that I could do something similar for.” Or if an agent says, “Man, this experience has been fantastic.” I’m going to look at them and say, “Great. How can we have more of those? Who do you know that isn’t having this kind of experience that I could contact using your name?” And so by the time I get home, 20 minutes has gone by, and then I get situated and everything. I checked my phone, I have two videos from Matt. The first one, he had seven attempts and he just said they were just off, off, off, off, off. I looked at the last one that he did for the first client and I started to cry because his humility and his empathy and the way that he was transparent and connected and the gratitude he showed was off the grid.
I’m on an Elite call today with 36 of our top producers that this year are slated to earn $100 million in commissions. They were all brand new loan officers at some point in their career, just like you were, just like I was. Right? And it’s so interesting because one of them said today in the chat, “I got a beautiful video from your son Matt last night.” He does not know I saw the video. And he said, “I can’t wait to talk to you about it Friday when we meet.” These guys are activating exactly what we’re talking about right now.
In fact, one of the conversations today involved one of our Elite members who referred in the month of May this year 147 buyers and sellers to his key real estate agents. I’m going to look you in the eyes and say he started with one five years ago. We’ve been building, we’ve been building, we’ve been building. He went from a database of five agents and about 2,000 people to now he’s got 45 referral partners. They’re not just agents and builders, they’re other business professionals and his database is over 25,000, 26,000 people. What they’re doing is they’re making about 200 phone calls a day to stay in touch and nurture that database, and so I’m just going to tell you nothing has changed.
Every Person You Work With is an Asset
When I was a loan originator, I averaged per year per agent about $130,000 in commissions per agent. And I had probably on average about seven or eight of them, right? And word got out that, “If you work with Todd, you’re going to get income.” I’m saying today to you that the greatest value proposition you can offer is in the economies, “I can help you build your business. I can help you make more money. If you’re a borrower, I can help you select the right mortgage strategy. I can help you manage that strategy. I’ll activate AMRs, which stands for annual mortgage reviews.” And I’ll talk about that, maybe on another video I do later on. But the bottom line is if I’m not in touch with you and you’re not in touch with me and I need you to help me, you’re not going to help me because we’re not in touch. It’s that simple. Right?
So I need you to understand that every person you have a chance to work with is an asset for you. Imagine this guy who last year earned, I don’t know, close to $4 million in commissions helping people buy real estate, imagine what it’s like when you can refer 147 buyers and sellers in a month. Imagine if 25 of those go to contract and the average contract is $0.5 million. You can start to see $12 million in referrals, $13 million in referrals. It’s off the grid. So listen, listen, listen. This is all about how do I call you back and reconnect with you? “I goofed, I’m sorry. Here’s my new commitment.”
The High Trust Sales Academy Follow Up Script
In our High Trust Sales Academy we actually have a script and it sounds like this, “Hey David, it’s Todd. I just spent four intense days going through a 400 page playbook on how to add value to my REALTORs. I got to tell you, we’ve been doing business five years. I’m fairly embarrassed because I’m not doing much of that even though we get deals done together. Can I come by your office in the next two or three days? Can I sit down with you and show you what I learned, ask you some questions that I’ve never asked you, and see what we could do to reengage our business partnership and crush it together for the rest of this year and next year?” What’s that person going to say? They’re going to say yes. Okay?
So listen, this is on you. I’m a business owner and I got to tell you, follow up is as important to me as it is to you. You’re a business owner. You may be a loan officer with one person on your team or you may be me with several companies and a lot of people on your team, it doesn’t matter. The art of follow up is one of the most simple disciplines that is ignored, and all I’m going to tell you to do is if you follow up, they’re going to follow through.
What Next? Start Today
What would happen if every loan you do this year became another extra loan next year or an extra two loans next year because you understand what we just talked about on this video and blog post? Go for it. The time is now. Right? Do it before you have to do it. Do it now. Make a call a day for 20 days and re-engage every partnership that you have not added value to, that you have, for whatever reason, not paid attention to. Get them going right now, because as soon as you get them going one or two new buyers a week are going to be coming to you. And then the rest, as they say, is history.
Talk soon. If you need us to help you, sign up for a free coaching call so we can help you create and stick to your goals. The call to see if coaching is a fit for you is free. You can sign up here. We’d love for you to join us on that. Okay? Take care.
