Creating an efficient referral system in commercial real estate

An efficient referrals system is the smartest way to accumulate more commercial real estate clients.

However, bad referrals are no better than no referrals at all.

In fact, they might even be worse…

If you don’t pursue a bad referral, this creates the dilemma of being seen as ungrateful to the person who referred them to you (and thought they were doing you a favour!).

If your best contacts are willing to send you referrals, it’s up to you to make sure they have what they need to send attractive ones your way.

To make this happen, spend a moment to define what an ideal future customer looks like to you and then ask to be sent these types of opportunities.

You’ll then be grateful for, and motivated to serve, every referral that comes your way.

In turn, your best contacts will feel appreciated, and then they’ll be happy to send even more of them in your direction.

If you want client accumulation to gather real momentum, do yourself a favour by checking out episode 80 of CRE Success: The Podcast!

Episode transcript:

Would you like to know the easiest way to get more clients in commercial real estate?

If you do, then you're in the right place. It's episode 80 of CRE Success: The Podcast.

Hello, my name is Darren Krakowiak. And I'm doing this program to help you.

If you work in commercial real estate, I want to help you save time, earn more, and be a top performer in your market.

I hope you're enjoying this special series of episodes that we're doing on the top performer program.

Six modules, each module contains five parts. Each of the parts contains one section.

And we're just going through one of those sections from one of the parts from each of the modules in each of these six episodes.

And today is the last episode in this series where we're talking about client accumulation.

If what we're talking about is of interest to you, and you'd like to equip yourself with the abilities, habits and tools required to be a top performer in your market, then please go to cresuccess.co/topperformer

Because next week, we're going to be inviting people to join our new program, top performer.

It's only been around for about six months; we launched it in September of 2021.

We've taken a few cohorts through it. And this is now the second time that we're opening it up to the general public.

There are a limited number of spots, and we'd love for you to be part of it.

So, what's the easiest way to get more clients in commercial real estate?

Before I tell you the exact thing, I just want to share with you a few principles of ways that you can be sure to create the environment where your clients want to do more business with you and where they will bring you more business from them, but also from people they know, and from people that they don't know.

I'll tell you how that works in a moment. The three things that I think you want to do is deliver work to the best of your ability.

So, bring your A-game every day. Deliver outcomes which are measurably superior to alternatives and be able to communicate that value with your clients, so they understand the value that you bring.

We want to be the type of person that people want to do business with, and that they want to see succeed.

The best way I know how to do that is to really think long term with our relationships with our clients.

And the third thing that we want to do is create systems that make it easy for the right clients to find you and for your existing clients to fill your pipeline.

And I think if you're seen as a trusted adviser, then that will definitely follow.

Now one of the best ways to keep your pipeline full with new business opportunities, is through testimonials.

That’s the evidence and stories that you can share with new prospects.

So that's how your existing clients can help you get clients that they don't even know through giving you great stories and case studies and testimonials, and also through referrals.

And referrals are fantastic because they're warm leads. And referrals is where I want to focus our attention on in today's episode.

So, referrals, if you can get a system in place where you're getting a regular stream of referrals coming into the business, that means you're going to be less reliant on outbound prospecting.

And there is a way that you can actually make the referrals that you're receiving pre-qualified.

That is, sometimes you receive referrals, and you may notice, this is not actually the type of person who is my ideal future customer and you've received a referral, but you can't do anything with it.

And the problem with that is, when someone sends you a referral, and you can't do business with them, the person who sent you the referral still kind of feels like they have done you a favor, right?

And there's only so many times that people will do your favor. And if you don't actually take what is being given to you, that they will continue to do that, because they'll feel that what they're doing for you is perhaps not appreciated.

So, there's a way that we can actually make sure that the referrals were being sent, a pre-qualified, and other type of referrals that you want to receive.

Now, I think often the types of referrals that you receive from your existing clients are already in some way qualified because birds of a feather flock together.

And if you enjoy doing business with your existing clients, then it stands to reason that the type of prospective clients that they'll send you will also be good clients.

But there's a way that you can actually tighten the description even further. And that's what I want to get into today.

So, the way to get more referrals is quite simple. You just ask for them.

People don't know to send you referrals unless you let them know that you're open to receiving them.

But there is a right way to ask and a wrong way to ask.

I saw a great video last year by Simon Sinek. And he makes the point that we don't want to ask for referrals in a way that appears transactional.

So, if after you complete a project, you call a client, and you say, "Just wanted to say thanks for your business, or I just wanted to check how everything's going."

And you know, they tell you, "Yep, it's all great." And you say, "Fantastic. By the way, can you send me a referral, if you see any, that are appropriate?"

That is not the right way to go. Because from the perception of the person who you've called, they might feel that, "It felt like at first they were calling me to check in or to see how everything was, but really, they were just calling me for the referral."

So, we want to make sure that we're looking for the signals, the implicit invitations that sometimes clients give us that indicate they're open to sending us referrals, rather than us just proactively asking for them.

So where are they signals, you can look for them, I want to give you three that you can see.

One is when a client proactively thanks you. So, if you're speaking with a client, and they're telling you, "So happy with the work that you've done, I really enjoy working with you, this has been a fantastic result."

You can say, "Thank you very much. I'm really glad that you feel that way. Given that you're so happy with the result, I'm wondering, would you be open to referring some work to us?"

So, they have initiated the positive conversation, and you've responded with something in kind.

Another time that you can ask is when the work is complete.

But to make sure that the work is complete, but also that the client is satisfied, and that they've given you some indication that they are satisfied.

Now, if you're sending out client satisfaction surveys, or net promoter score surveys to your clients, and you get a fantastic score, that would be a right time to actually contact the client.

Say, "I'm so happy that you're really pleased with the work that we've done. Thank you so much. You're exactly the type of client that we like to work with. I'm wondering if you'd be open to referring me more business."

So, that is when. Now let's quickly talk about how and we go into a lot more detail on the what, when and how inside top performer.

But I do want to give you as a special bonus for listening to the episode, some information about how to get the right referrals.

Because if you say to someone, "I'd love to receive more referrals", they don't know what to send you.

And they'll just send you what they think is right, which might not necessarily be what you think is right.

So, the best way that I know, that I've been taught to receive the right clients is to describe the clients that you want to do business with.

And there's a method called the Five Star client method.

And that means that you need to know five attributes, which anyone can recognize in a prospective client, and communicate what those five attributes are to the person who you're asking for referrals from, and then they can recognize and send you those referrals.

So don't just ask for general referrals, describe the attributes that you're looking for, and then you'll get more of the referrals that you want.

I hope that today's episode really helps you think about attracting the right referrals by being proactive but being proactive at the right time, so you don't come across as being too transactional.

These are the types of things that we're talking about inside top performer.

Go to cresuccess.co/topperformer to get on the waitlist and you'll be the first to be informed next week.

If you're listening to this in real time, our next cohort will be invited to join next week.

You'll be the first to know about how you can become part of this very small exclusive cohort of top performer students working directly with me over eight weeks to equip yourself with the abilities, habits and tools required to be a top performer.

As always, really appreciate you being there. Thanks so much for listening, and I will speak to you soon.