Being in the mortgage business is tough!  I thought the real estate industry was hard, but I have to give it to the mortgage brokers out there because it’s a grind. You are constantly looking for your next deal and it’s never ending.

Finding business for Realtors is easier because, EVERYONE is a potential client! We all live somewhere don’t we?  Realtors are able to cater to both buyers and sellers, while loan officers are limited to purchase business and refinances.  But when rates are up, there’s not many refi’s out there.

In this post I want to share with you the two MOST IMPORTANT skills I think you may want to consider getting loan officer training in.  This is coming from a Realtor’s perspective so I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments!

So what’s the best kind of loan officer training to take?

Let’s reverse engineer this and see where a loan officer’s clients ultimately come from. Loan officers get business primarily from two sources.  Their own marketing efforts or Realtors.  I’m not a loan officer, so I cannot tell you firsthand, but I do know the guys and gals I refer business to heavily rely on Realtor referrals for business.

On this post, I wanted to share what I believe are the 2 more important skills to master in whatever loan officer training you may be taking that are necessary to build a pipeline of Realtor referrals.

(If you are looking on ways to market your business for your own development explore the rest of this site because the marketing plan of a Realtor and loan officer are pretty much the same, but with different messaging)

Loan Officer Training Skill #1

The first skill is in customer service.  I know this sounds obvious, but I want to expand a little on this because it’s extremely important. I’ve been in selling houses for over 13 years and have gone through my share of lenders.  One of the largest frustrations I have as an agent is when my lender does a crappy job from a customer service perspective.

Earlier this year I stopped referring one of my lenders business because it seemed like every client I referred would always end up shooting me a message 1-2 weeks later telling me my guy sucked.  Apparently, he never followed up or when he did, he didn’t keep his word on what he said he was going to do.  This was very embarrassing for me so I had no choice, but to stop sending referrals.

When we refer lenders, we expect the greatest service for our clients, friends, and family because we view you as an extension of our brand.  I want to surround myself with the best in the industry, not get complaints about you! That means if I refer you someone, I expect that referral to go out of their way to call me thanking me for introducing them to you.

It was only until recently that I finally found a lender with the best service I ever seen.  It amazes me that over my 13 years I never worked with a lender that paid attention to the smallest details on every transaction.  I was super impressed because no lender I worked with has ever done this before.  She follows up once a week with all parties involved to keep them informed of where the file is.

Realtors and our clients notice what you may think are little things.

It’s not about your rate!  It’s about the level of service you provide. I would rather have unbelievable service vs. the lowest rate any day and so would many of my clients.  Remember, that it’s the small things you do that make a big difference.  My new lender has a higher chance of retaining my referral business just because of how good she is with her follow up and education based approach to my clients.

Customer service is the most important form of marketing you can ever do because we survive in a referral dominated business.

Check out Why Zappos Makes Customer Service #1

Customer service often does not get talked about as much as it should, but it’s the most important component of our business!

Let’s look at the restaurant business.  The formula is pretty simple. If you have good food people will come back. You need good service as well, but the taste of their food is what ultimately creates repeat customers.

Look at your barber. People frequent their barber, not because of price, but because of the service and relationship they built.

The loan officer who creates the best client experience has a better chance of retaining their existing Realtor referral base and creating a referral business from the clients we send you!

Get extensive loan officer training in customer service and implement systems in your practice that will create an unmatched client experience.

Loan Officer Training Skill #2

The 2nd most important skill to develop in whatever loan officer training you take is in Relationship Building. If a large part of your business is generated from Realtors who refer you business, then the goal should be to develop as many Realtor relationships as possible.  Realtors do not send you business because of some shiny loan product your bank may have, they do it because they have a relationship with you. They trust you will do a good job with their client.

I wanted to share a simple formula that is used by businesses all over the world that works in creating new referring Realtor relationships. It’s based around the concept of taking a content marketing approach to the way you approach Realtors.

This formula is no different than the way any business approaches their marketing.

1. Identify a Problem
2. Create A Solution
3. Own The Solution

 When agents first meet you, they don’t want to know about you, your awards, or your programs.  They want to know how you can help them. The first step towards “attracting” more Realtors to work with is to recognize their largest problem so you can create a solution for them. This has a much better chance of getting our attention vs. the same old, “I want to take you out for coffee” approach.

1.) Identifying A Realtor’s #1 Problem

(Taken from the Attract & Retain Agent Formula)

The #1 problem all Realtors have is in marketing.  Over the last 10 years the Internet has changed everything and the old school marketing tactics that used to work well are now being surpassed by online marketing, Facebook ads, video, and many other technological advancements.

The truth is that the real estate industry has not yet adapted to the digital age as a whole and consumers are beginning to realize that technology today has created a way to buy or sell property without the services of a Realtor.  Realtors today need more than just a license to create value for their clients.  Sharpening their marketing skills and adapting new processes to their level of service is what the market is asking of them.

There is where your BIG opportunity is because if you can create a solution to what they are struggling with, you now have a way to get their attention and create a value proposition to get them to meet with you in the first place.

You may want to take some loan officer training in generalized marketing concepts of the digital age to find out what marketing problems you may want to help them with.  Understanding their problem is key to crafting a solution that grabs their attention.

2.) Creating A Solution

(Taken from the Attract & Retain Agent Formula)

Now that you understand what many Realtors struggle with, it’s time to create the solution so you can attract them. What can you possibly help them with in their business?  Many lenders share marketing costs with their referral partners, but it doesn’t ultimately build a relationship.

When you have a solution to one their problems, it’s a lot easier to get their attention.  I can tell you first hand that most of us hate the cold call or Linked In request.  It’s usually along the lines of “hey Mike, I’d like to take you out for coffee and show you how I can better serve your clients”.  I’m sorry, but that doesn’t do much for most Realtors.

Instead what would a value proposition of something along the lines of, “Hey Mike, I have this Facebook ads training that is killing it for another one of my agents. I wasn’t sure if you were in to that at all, but you look pretty marketing savvy and I thought I could create value for you”.

What if you had your own in house video dude to shoot agent videos for you?

The list goes on and on, but if you want more information on marketing topics that attract Realtors, you should check out these articles. Maybe a good loan officer training would be to learn the basics of several marketing systems so you can speak intelligently with Realtors about them.

The Only Real Estate Agent Training System Every Agent Can Implement

4 Ways Your Business Can Be Marketing To Realtors

How To Create An Army Of Realtor Referrals

These articles should give you some more ideas of how to create a value proposition that can grab a Realtor’s attention. Once you have a cool value added proposition, then you can start breaking the ice with Realtors on your hit list.

3.) Own or Host The Solution

(Taken from the Attract & Retain Agent Formula)

The ultimate way to serve your agents is to host the solution to the marketing problem you are solving for them. When you make the focus of your business serving your agents, their business will fall in your lap.  This is ultimately how to retain them as well. When you give them what no one else can, you will beat out your competitors.

What do mean marketing dude? What does this have to do with loan officer training?

Let’s go through this example to put this in better context.

Helping Realtors With  The Cost Of A Zillow Zip Code-  When you help a Realtor financially with a Zillow account, you don’t own the solution. They just have your credit card and are using you to pay for their incoming lead generation.  That’s valuable for a Realtor, but not as valuable as owning the solution.

It would be much better to own the follow up sequence or “system” that an agent can use to better increase their conversions from these leads.  I would suggest not helping them with their Zillow account, but more with the process on follow up.

You can check out this super awesome personalized autoresponder system called Agent Legend.  I would recommend signing up for an account with them and learning the system in and out.  It’s simple to use and it’s a value proposition that none of your competitors are doing. If I were a loan officer I would sign up for an account with them, and then let my agents use this autoresponder to increase their online lead conversions.

I would then introduce that system to Realtors who are doing a lot of Zillow, PPC, Realtor.com, or online lead purchases. You will never compete or own a large lead solution like Zillow, but you could own the system that gets them to convert.

Any loan officer can pay for a Zillow account, but I want to work with the dude who shows me how to kill it on Zillow.

This is a system you offer and that’s a value add that would get many agent’s attention!  Why not do some lunch and learns for Realtors and show them how to use your follow up system for their online lead conversions. Are you getting the point?

The point is here that you want to own the system associated with marketing success. When you own the system, you wedge your relationship within it.  

Some of the highest producing loan officers I have met all have the same thing in common. They all work to help their Realtors develop more business, which in turn ends up coming back to them.

If you take this simple 3 step concept, you will develop an endless stream of Realtors sending you their purchase business referrals, you just need to build it.

I often get asked about the best real estate agent training systems in terms of lead generation. The truth is there is no universal lead generation strategy that ALL Realtors could implement and share similar results except for the one I’m going to tell you about in this post.

I have concluded that the personality types and work ethic of individual Realtors is what ultimately dictates the success or failures of various real estate marketing systems.

For example: One Realtor might be great at prospecting expired leads through cold calling.  If I were to implement the same strategy, I would suck at it because cold calling is not one of my strengths.  I hate cold calling, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. It just doesn’t work well for me.

What works for one Realtor might not necessarily work for another. The best real estate agent training in terms of lead generation, will vary from Realtor to Realtor based on their unique abilities.

BUT…

There is 1 real estate agent training system that I believe ALL Realtors can implement and share similar results because it’s based on mathematics. So, if you’re a Realtor looking for a consistent lead generation tool to build a career on, you should get a lot out of this post. If you are a mortgage company, brokerage, or even title company who is looking for a universal marketing system that can add value and increase your agent’s production, then READ THIS IN FULL.

Let’s examine different real estate agent lead generation systems first and learn why the success stories vary from Realtor to Realtor.

Buying Online Leads?

This is a great source of business for some agents, but very poor for others.  After studying this for a few years it comes down to an agent’s relationship building skills.

Realtors can either convert online leads into clients or not.  It really comes down to their ability to take a conversation offline.  If you sign up for a Zillow zip code, the leads are there.  I’ve seen some agents have massive success with buying online leads and other agents have no success with the same service.

Read this article below to see why:

Why Do Some Agent Convert Better Than Others?

I would suggest a real estate agent training system geared towards relationship building and creating a unique value proposition for this type of marketing.

Yes this works well, but it’s not for all agents.

Prospecting FSBO’s & Expireds?

Cold calling and prospecting is purely a numbers game.  It’s something that I do not have a ton of experience with because I’m not a cold call type of guy.  After my first year in the business I quit cold calling (although I did get business doing it, I just got burnt out and not right for me personally).

FSBO and Expireds prospecting are not for every agent.  Some agents are comfortable doing it, but a large margin of agents are not. I have concluded that it’s based on a Realtor’s ability to develop trust and create value for these prospects quickly.

I would also suggest a real estate agent training system geared towards relationship building and creating a unique value proposition for this type of marketing.

Social Media & Technology

Not all Realtors have fully embraced today’s digital world. The average age of Realtors across the United States is roughly 56 years old and many agents have not adapted to the social media revolution. The key to making social media work for you is to be great at building a relationship online, then taking it offline.

Again, a good real estate training system to help Realtors gain more traction online or through social media is one that focuses on building relationships and earning trust. That’s how you create clients online today!

I would also suggest a real estate agent training system geared towards relationship building and creating a unique value proposition for this type of marketing.

Yes this works well, but it’s not for all agents.

Direct Mail For Lead Generation?

Yes this is a great source of potential business, but not every agent will adapt it because of the cost, lack of process, or education on what to do.

There are many ways to use direct mail for lead generation, but it’s something that not all agents can get behind.

Read this article to see a few of those:

4 Ways To Use Direct Mail In Real Estate Marketing

I think you get the point.  There is a trend here. There is no single real estate agent training system that ALL real estate agents can implement and share similar results…is there?

I beg to differ.

All of the examples I wrote about above can get your phone to ring.  Getting your phone to ring is the easy part, but it’s what you say when you answer it that makes the difference in client conversions.  The key to making any of those lead generation systems work is simply on an Realtor’s individual relationship building skills.

Coincidentally as I’m sitting at a bar in Orlando at a marketing conference writing this post I saw a slide today that summed it up perfectly.

If you understand the above quote here, then you will have success implementing any of the above real estate training systems for lead generation in your business, but if you are a non-conversational individual you are not totally out of luck because here’s the one form of marketing that any Realtor can perform.

What’s the one true asset that all real estate agents have?

A network or a database.

Referral/Relationship Marketing Is Something Every Realtor Can Do

WHY?

61% of ALL agent business comes from referrals or repeat clients.  This is generated from an agent’s sphere of influence. You can interview any top producer in your area and the vast majority of them have one thing in common, a large referral based business.

Real Estate will always remain a people business because consumers buy from people they TRUST. People happen to TRUST people they know, which is why a referral/relationship marketing system should be mandatory for ALL Realtors (I’m biased because this is what I do so forgive me for the shameless plug, but it’s the truth).

There is so much clutter in the world today about the next new lead generation tool that is going to crush it, but in reality the majority of business is right in front of us. Real estate agents get referrals from their database, not strangers. We get repeat business from satisfied past clients who remember us!

The most important marketing system for a Realtor to have is one in referral or relationship marketing because it’s really a mathematical formula.

You don’t market your database for their direct business, you do it for their referrals.  Receiving their direct business is a by product of marketing your database, but that’s not the primary reason to do it in the first place.

Buyers and sellers want to work with a Realtor they know, like and trust.  Who wants to make one of the largest financial decisions with a complete stranger? Do you think it’s wiser to put your marketing dollars in front of people you don’t know or in front of those that already know you?

Every one of us has a network, it’s just that many times we don’t see our relationships as the most profitable aspect of our business.

Relationships are the most profitable asset a Realtor can develop

The one thing that CANNOT be outsourced or “done for you” is creating a human connection with your database. There is no gadget, device, or technology that can replace YOU! It’s your authenticity that people buy, not the brand you are associated with (less than 2% of consumers chose their agents because of the brand they were with)!

That’s why a referral marketing system is a universal real estate agent training system that every agent can implement because it’s a mathematical equation.

 If 15% of the people you know this year are moving how many of them can you get to use you?

if 100% of your database knows someone who is moving this year, how do you encourage them to share you name?

It’s through referral/relationship marketing!

When Realtors become great at building relationships, they also become great at conversion for online, direct mail, “old school” prospecting systems, and social media marketing systems.

Focus on building relationships first and the rest will come. This is not rocket science.  Build your database and then keep your brand in front of it using multiple channels.  it’s really that easy.

Sound complicated?

Curious on what to do?

You might like to check out all the content in these articles and I think you’ll see why. Access our entire library of FREE referral/relationship marketing training to see if this is something you think you might be able to do.

IT DOESN’T MATTER ANYMORE!

Yup, I said it. I get asked this question all the time, “Hey Marketing Dude…Whats the best real estate company to work for”?,,

The market has changed and the best real estate company to work for will differ from market to market.  I don’t believe there is a single brand that’s superior anymore, because the truth is that it’s who’s behind that real estate company in leadership positions that determine if they are good or not.

The whole real estate brand thing, in my opinion, is DEAD.  The whole individual brand thing is ALIVE & GROWING!

WHY?

It’s nothing the brands did, it’s because of how consumers interact today.  Less than 2% of buyers and sellers picked their agent because of the company they work for.  In other words, buyers and sellers care more about WHO they are hiring than the name of the company they work for.  Check out this post in one the Facebook groups I’m in.

Buyers and sellers are beginning to figure out that the quality of their Realtor is what determines a wise buying or selling decision, not the company behind them.

The best real estate company to work for in your market are the ones with the best leadership! They tend to have a TRUE leader running the show that inspires their agents.

If you are on the search for the best real estate company to work for, I would suggest starting with some of these questions. These should help you make an educated decision in things to look for.  My goal of this post is allow you to make an educated decision and not fall for the “I’ve been here for years” line that so many of the brands hang their hat on.

What kind of tools and support do they offer?

The only reason real estate offices exist is to support their agents.  It should be a real estate company’s duty to create an environment in which their agents can succeed in. Making it in real estate is not easy. There is a reason nearly 80% of new agents don’t last in the industry.  It is not the agents job to create that environment. Real estate brokerages, pre-Internet, used to create tons of leads for their agents.  Buyers and sellers used to approach the brand first, not the agent. Therefore, that was how many brokerages earned their split.

Today, we know that is no longer the case.  Sure, some real estate companies still create business for their agents, but the difference today is that the brokerage/brand used to be the consumers first stop. Now the Internet is.  I believe that because of this brokerages need to supply their agents with more tools to succeed in the digital age.

The best real estate company to work for is one that EARNS THEIR SPLIT!

What kind of culture do they have?

Have you ever heard of the phrase, “you are the average of the people you surround yourself with”? It’s true!  Working at a real estate office with no energy can be extremely draining.  Working at a real estate office with nobody in it can also have a negative effect.  You need to determine how important culture is to you so you can make a wise decision.

Some agents like monthly social gatherings.  Some agents like monthly meetings. Some agents like never seeing anybody in the office.  Think about what’s most important to you and then talk to some of the agents who work there.

The best real estate company to work for have a culture you feel encouraged and energized to work in.

What kind of splits do they have?

Split is not everything!  When considering a new real estate company to work for, you should take everything they offer into consideration. Are they giving you business, but on a lower split? You need to look at your overall NET income potential.  Far too many agents look for the highest split only, but if you are not doing much business, how much does that really amount to?

Some agents are totally independent and don’t need much support from anyone and could be better off at a 100% type of brokerage. Some brokerages offer creative residual sharing plans like Exit Realty and EXP Realty.  There are all kinds of shapes and sizes that you can choose from today.

The best real estate company to work for is one that has the best commission structure for you!

What kind of technology do they offer?

The world of real estate marketing has completely changed.  Hell, it’s the only reason my blog exists! Real estate will always be a relationship based business, but to compete against flat fee brokerages, ZILLOW, and other Realtors you need to sharpen your technology game.  Do they have a listing marketing system?  Do they offer any kind of CRM tool that allows you to keep track of your database and market them?  Your real estate company should offer the right tools to fit your brand and marketing efforts.

The best real estate company to work for have technology suited for you!

What kind of leadership do they have?

I think this is one of the most important questions to ask when considering a new real estate company to work for. Ultimately the owner or managing broker of the company is going to outline the direction this company is going.  Are they forward thinking and adapting to the changing demands that buyers and sellers have of real estate agents today or are they extremely old school?

Do they inspire you to take action and will you do more business simply by being around them?

The best real estate company to work for is one with LEADERSHIP that inspires you!

In conclusion DO NOT pick a real estate company on a brand alone.  Pick them because you feel they are a right fit for you.  I have seen many offices of the same brand, but run totally differently.  Unfortunately, the brand you work for does not matter nearly as much as it used to.  The good news is that this has created better opportunity for entrepreneurial agents. The bad news is that you might have to work a little harder to get to where you want to be, but hey isn’t that the concept of America anyways?

In this post I want to show you 4 ways your business can be marketing to Realtors so you can form quality relationships with them.

What would you do without Realtor’s referrals or production for your business?

You have two choices; you can market your business to the mass public or you can be marketing to Realtors?

The truth is that is is more profitable with a higher Return on Investment to be marketing to Realtors.

Think about it…

How many referring Realtor relationships do you really need to make a big difference to your bottom line?

You don’t need a ton of Realtor relationships you need loyal and profitable ones.  We want to focus on the quality of Realtors you work with, not the quantity.

The first thing to do is to think outside the box. I don’t care how long you have been in the business, there’s a HUGE paradigm shift happening right now!  The truth is that Realtors don’t give a crap about your programs, brand name, or customer service.

THEY EXPECT ALL OF THAT TO BE FINE AND DANDY BECAUSE…

Buyers and sellers no longer choose their Realtor because of who they work with. They choose them because of who they are.

This is why Realtors today care more about what your business can do for their bottom line.

It’s 2016 and if you want a long lasting career based on Realtor referrals, then it’s time to start serving them.

The formula is simple and no different in any business:

1. Identify Your Target Audiences #1 Problem– Realtors are you target audience and their #1 problem is lead generation and marketing.
2. Create A Solution- Share various lead generation and marketing platforms to “break the ice” and get the attention of potential new Realtor relationships.
3. Host/Own The Solution- You need to position yourself between the service being provided and the Realtor so the service becomes a value added service to doing business with you.

TIP* When marketing to Realtors do not lead in talking about your company.  The services I’m about to outline here are what I suggest leading in with. First, focus on getting their attention and building a relationship.  The best way your business can be marketing to Realtors is to focus everything around RELATIONSHIP BUILDING.

Let’s take a look at some examples shall we…

4 Ways Your Business Can Be Marketing To Realtors

Video Services-It’s the year 2016 and video is here to stay.  All agents should be using video.  The problem is that videos can be expensive. What if you had an in house video dude? Talk about an ice breaker to relationship building! Don’t market your business to Realtors, market your video services instead that is hosted by your business. Do you think you could get in front or more Realtors with this approach?

If you are a mortgage broker, real estate broker, or title company pay close attention. There is a mortgage company called Neighborhood Home Loans in Chicago that has a video guy in house solely for serving their Realtor referral partners. They also have Matterport in house as well as of recently.  They fully understand the concept to creating a solution for their Realtors and then hosting it.

Matterport and their video guy are the services they are marketing to Realtors. They put their brand behind that.

It’s too expensive…

If that’s what you are thinking you need to read the introduction above again.  Why couldn’t you have the video dude charge the agents directly for their services so there is no cost to you? Your job is to provide an environment in which your Realtors can succeed in, not do it for them.  You own the relationship with the video dude (See Step #3 above).

I can tell you that the Realtors who use video are probably the ones you want to form relationships with because there is a direct correlation between Realtors who use video and their production.  Do you want dead beat agents or ones who are killing it?

Application: Let your video dude host several lunch and learns with real estate offices and begin introductions or host a video training event and get traction that way.  I can’t believe how many brokerages don’t offer video services for their agents.

Marketing Training- Agents like training and staying afloat of what’s going on. The real estate business is not what is difficult. It’s getting the business that separates top producers from the average agents. Are you hosting consistent marketing training events for your referral partners? What if you could provide valuable training for them and re-launch the same training once a quarter to bring in new blood?

Put the focus around the training and use it for marketing to Realtors.

The truth is that real estate marketing has entered another dimension and with the average agent being 56.5 years of age, they just simply have not kept up with the technology. For example look at this stupid Pokemon thing.

People are going crazy about this game and there is a way to use this for business, but have you figured it out yet? Hosting a training event titled, How You Can Use Pokemon Go For Your Real Estate Business would most likely fill the room.  Stay on the latest trends and continuously use these educational events for marketing to Realtors.

Training events put you in front of Realtors, but you have to own the training solution. That can be one of your own people doing the training or having guest speakers come in to do it.  The key here is setting up a consistent schedule of hosting training events and sticking to it. I would find a Pokemon expert and have them do one on one consultations for Realtors who attended the training and wanted to try to do something more with it.

It’s like what I teach and preach to Realtors about referral marketing efforts.  If you only send out one direct mail piece and one email a year to your database, it’s not going to work for you. You need a system behind it to make it effective.

The KEY: Hosting a training event is great, but the focus on the training should always be to a service you provide. For example, I would host a training event about how to use video for Realtors, but at the end of the event I “soft” pitch the videos services we host in office.  Just doing a training event is great, but you will lose much traction to it if you are not using the training event to offer a service that you provide as a benefit to doing business with you.

Does This Look Familiar?  Are You Doing Enough To Attract New Agent Relationships?

Social Media Services– Social media is here to stay, but Realtors still don’t know how to fully use it.  What if you had a Facebook ads guy in your office?  Think about it…

Realtors want to run Facebook ads, but 98% of them are throwing their money out the window by not having a strategy behind the ads they are placing.  If you are a lender wouldn’t it be in your interest to help generate buyer leads from Facebook with a Realtor who can close?  If you are a title company wouldn’t you want to be generating seller leads for Realtors who use your service to close?  If you area brokerage wouldn’t you want to be attracting both so that your Realtors close more deals?

The Key: Here’s the key to Facebook ads.  You need the agent the leads are going to have the ability to close.  I would only suggest running Facebook ads for agents who have a proven track record and ability to produce business. The entire point of doing this is to create more transactions so that they turn into closing for you indirectly.

Not every agent is equal and the truth is many of them are not going to be right for this, but the good news is remember what I said earlier.  The absolute key is to be working with profitable and loyal relationships.  You will gain loyalty by providing this service for them, and the ones who produce will become a better source of deals for you. You’ll weed out the non-producers simply by their own performance.

I would host a training event for agents on how to use  Facebook ads the right way, then take names for a done for you Facebook ads service.  You need to find the Facebook ads guy or sign up for my shit.

Tools, Gadgets, & Software– What kind of tools do you have that you can use for marketing to Realtors?  If you said none then go get some because it’s an ice breaker.  There are several lead generating tools you can use such as property websites, CRM softwares like Attracktor (shameless plug), and even document storage types of platforms.

So let’s do a small recap. Everything I just showed you is what I call taking a content marketing approach to forming Realtor relationships.  Focus on serving them first and not yourself.

This is a principle taught in the bible.  Serve others first and it will come back to you in some way shape or form.  More importantly is that when your focus becomes on serving others, your retention rate and Realtor loyalty will increases because there is no worst feeling for a lender, title company, or real estate brokerage to have other than when they learn one of their Realtors who suddenly decided to start doing business elsewhere.

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Quit stalking agents by constantly inviting them to parties they don’t want to go to, checking them out on LinkedIn, and sending emails about how you want to grab a cup of coffee to talk about your new loan program that can turn them into a Top Producer.  We know your tactics!

Instead, focus on creating value for them.  What can you do to help them in their business instead of helping yours?  This is the first step towards changing the dynamic between Realtors and yourself.

Being a loan officer is harder than being an agent many times…

The mortgage business is a constant hustle. You are always on the move making calls to current clients while trying to wine and dine as many real estate agents as possible.

Let’s face it, when a deal goes south you are the first to get blamed by everybody. The buyer calls you up at 11:46 P.M. freaking out about the .00000001% hike in the interest rate and how it’s affecting their payment by $0.76 a month.

The Realtor calls you upset about their client being upset.  You’re freaking out because you fear you might lose them as a referral source, but it was your  processor’s fault. She didn’t get the appraisal back on time.  The Realtor forgot to send in the commission statement 7 days in advance and due to the new TRID guidelines, the clear to close and the closing has been delayed.

Oh yea…

The buyer’s interest rate expired and the rate is going up a lot more than .00000001 %.

Even the title company will get out there and say something about how you mishandled the deal in some way. Your job is hard enough as it is, so I’m going to try to give you some good news.

What if I told you there was a way to build an army of  REFERRING Realtors that would have them chasing you down in a parking lot and not the other way around?

Food, drinks, and loan programs?

Any agent who is doing decent business typically hates the cold calls.  The pitch is always the same:

“I’d love to show you my new program that can help out with a lot of your first-time buyers etc…blah blah blah”

Agents hate this because the truth is that mortgage professionals, more or less, all have the same product.  It’s similar to how we all have access to the MLS.  Sure, once in a while a new mortgage product will come along that will peak some interest, but it’s not what develops a strong relationship with them.

We come across hot pocket listings too that are not on the MLS.  It’s the same thing!

The “program” might get your foot in the door, but what do you do to turn that meeting into a relationship that prints you referrals?

Realtors will refer you their clients when you develop a relationship with them.

You need something to stand out from the crowd to get that appointment.

What if you focused your efforts on helping them build their business instead of building yours?

Anytime you help anyone do anything, they will naturally feel obliged to give back to you. Agents do not want more gifts, drinks, or pointless coffee meetings.  They want help getting to the next level.

We want to take on more clients, sell more houses, and increase our bottom line. Take the focus off your loan programs and make it all about them.  Helping them with their business is how you develop a referral relationship with them.  I’m not talking about paying for their expensive Zillow zip codes either.

Here is the formula for attracting and retaining an army of Realtor referrals.  READY?

1. Identify Realtor problems.
2. Create the solution.
3. Continue to serve them and build your relationship.

6 Problems Realtors Have RIGHT NOW That Their Broker Is Not Solving For Them!

Training – Agents like training and staying afloat of what’s going on, but many of them do not have the money to invest.  The real estate business is not what is difficult. It’s getting the business that separates top producers from the average agents. Are you hosting consistent marketing training events for your referral partners? What if you could provide valuable training for them and re-launch the same training once a quarter to bring in new blood?

Referral Marketing System – Nearly 61% of agent business is directly attributed to referrals and repeat business. Unfortunately, most agents have never been taught how to market their real estate business for referrals. Taking advantage of what their brokers are NOT DOING can be a HUGE opportunity for you. How many agents do you think would like to meet you for coffee if you showed them how to consistently generate referrals with minimum time invested?  For more information on this CLICK HERE.

Listing Marketing System – Have you ever asked a Realtor what their value proposition is for their seller clients? Why should any seller hire them over Billy Bob from ABC Realty?  Try it out and tell me what you learn.

Sellers expect their agents to provide more exposure for their property. Unfortunately, the status quo for Realtors has become popping a sign in the yard and listing the house on the MLS.  That is not a marketing plan!

What if you were able to show them a REAL marketing plan to enhance their value proposition for their seller clients?

Video Services – It’s the year 2016 and video is here to stay.  All agents should all be accustomed to using video.  The problem is that videos can be expensive unless you have your own video dude in-house. Talk about an attraction!  What if you had a video guy that could do property videos for your agents? Do you think you could get some more introductions?

No, you are not paying for their videos either.  All you have to do is make the introduction!

Advanced Marketing Services – What do you think your coffee appointment setting rate will be when you have an in-house marketing department? I’m not talking about someone who creates fliers and rate sheets.  I’m talking about someone who can run an advanced Facebook Ads campaign, an advanced content marketing strategy, and even automate direct mail funnel campaigns for their agents.

What if you worked with agents on advanced marketing campaigns? You could be fishing for loans and they can be fishing for buyers.  Creating business for Realtors is the #1 draw!

CRM – A CRM should only accomplish 3 tasks. It needs to keep an agent organized, maintain a database, and set reminders. What if you were able to offer a tool like this for agents branded to you? This is pretty powerful stuff.

Please take note how all of these things focus around providing value to your agents. Keep the focus on serving your largest source of business and things will start happening.

You are probably thinking that this sounds like a ton of work.  You are damn right because it was. Good news is that all of this is done and took me two years to build and you can offer all of this to your agents if you like.

The real estate market has changed and the truth is that Realtors are going to be forced to become better marketers so they can compete with Zillow, other agents, and flat fee brokerages. There is a HUGE opportunity here to build tons of agent relationships as the market continues to adjust by helping them with what they need most: marketing skills, tools, and training. The question is will you adapt or be late to the party?

There is a reason so many agents are jumping to the 100% commission model and demanding higher splits. It’s because they don’t know what their brokers bring to the table anymore! What are they paying into?

Technology and the Internet have changed the landscape.

Why is this happening?

It’s because the role of the real estate agent has dramatically changed.  People no longer NEED a Realtor, but they overwhelmingly decide to use one. Here’s a quick bird’s eye view of what’s happening.

The Internet came along, evolved, and made many aspects of our lives easier, but it has also brought some unwanted competition that many agents are now competing against.

Buying Real Estate

Prior to the Internet advancements, if someone wanted to buy a property, they would contact an agent who was local to the market place in which they wanted to purchase. Real estate agents used to control access to the majority of information about properties available for sale. In today’s world that information can easily be accessed by turning on your computer and logging onto Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Realtor.com, and other property search-related websites. Real Estate agents used to leverage their brokerage to have access to this information.  In today’s market not so much…

What value does your brokerage offer agents to compete with this?

Selling Real Estate

Today, anyone can log online and Google just about anything they want to

know about selling a property. If someone wants to see what their house is worth, there are multiple sites to go to (although not very accurate). If someone wants to get home selling tips, they can type a keyword into their browser and receive thousands of informative articles. There are even flat fee real estate services that list properties in the Multiple Listing Service for a large discount. Just about anything anybody wants, they can find for FREE or at a LARGE discount online.

Unfortunately, the status quo for taking a listing has become popping a sign in the yard and listing it on the MLS.  That is not a marketing plan and sellers can very easily do this on their own. It’s only a matter of time until  the market realizes this unless we do something about it.

What kind of marketing services does your brokerage offer agents that consists of a better marketing plan than just popping a listing on the MLS and placing a sign in the yard?

So, What Does This Mean?

It means that agents MUST do more in today’s market place to compete and meet consumer expectations. It also means that if you own a brokerage or lead a team, you MUST service your agents to earn the right to have their license hung with you.  Your agents need help and this is a HUGE opportunity to create reasons agents should work with you!

The big name brands no longer have the “reputation” of being the BEST & ONLY option for consumers. Therefore they are also not the only option for agents either. Consumers have smartened up and know that it is their Realtor who makes the difference in making a wise buying or selling decision, not the company they work for.

Some of the largest producing agents are affiliated with boutique brokerages because they know the big brands don’t offer anything differently.  They would rather take a higher split with a less known brand name since they can equally compete with any of them now.

Agents know they are the brokerage’s largest asset and are looking for their brokers to earn their split more than ever. The big name brands can no longer use the, “we are the best brand in town line”.

The tides have turned, but have you?

Do you earn your split?

Agents today believe it’s the broker’s responsibility to provide a work environment in which they can thrive in. It’s not the agent’s responsibility to create that environment for the broker. At the end of the day consumers buy the agent and not the brokerage.

Good news is that there is a way to make your office more attractive, but you might need to implement some things you might not be used to.

8 Things You Can Do To Begin Attracting Agents & Stop Recruiting Them

Training– Keller Williams is the largest franchise because of their incredible training. Agents like staying afloat of what’s going on with the latest marketing strategies. A good brokerage should have an ongoing in-depth training program or systems within its office that focuses strictly on lead generation and customer service.

Training days enhance the culture and keeps everyone on their toes. The real estate business is not what is difficult. It’s getting the business that separates top producers from the average agents. The rest is fairly simple.

Referral Marketing System– Nearly 61% of agent business is directly attributed to referrals and repeat business. What are you doing in your office to help assist agents in their referral marketing efforts. Are you agents using social media, direct mail, and email to keep their name at the forefront of their network’s minds?  For more information on this CLICK HERE.

Listing Marketing System– What are your agents doing for their listing marketing plan.  It never ceases to amaze me that a brokerage who has 50 agents can have 41 different marketing plans.  Can you imagine Subway staying in business without consistency in the taste of their sandwiches?

You cannot have a brand without conformity.

More importantly, the number one thing sellers expect from their agents is for them to provide more exposure for their property.

I personally do all the marketing for all of our listings.  It takes about 30 minutes per listing, but I am able to accomplish a few things. First, I am able to implement a complete “done for you” listing service.  This alone is a HUGE attraction.  More importantly, I like to market the listings because it allows me to leverage the property for additional spin off business through Facebook Ads, online syndication, and direct mail.

Online Listing Presence– The big four websites, Zillow, Homes.com, Trulia, & Realtor.com all provide a featured listing package.  Many agents end up taking on the additional cost of this service out of their own pocket. Our team currently spends over $1000.00 a month just to have our listings featured on all of these sites and keep our own leads.  Depending on the type of split you are working off of this might be a good lure to attract more agents to you.

In -House Photography Services– I recently joined a new office and they have their own photographer at no cost for all of their agents. It’s such a great service to have in-house.  No more crappy photos with your brand on them.  It can be an attraction tool for you as long as you position it the right way. You could offer agents a head shot when they come on board for FREE.

In-House Video Services – It’s the year 2016 and video is here to stay.  Your agents should all be accustomed to using video.  The problem is that the video can be expensive unless you have your own video dude in house.  We have a video guy on our team that produces videos like this for the agents.  Talk about a draw.  It doesn’t cost the office anything either. Agents can pay on a per shoot basis and he’s able to do listing, about, and content videos for a reasonable cost since his clientele are all in-house.

Advanced Marketing Services– What do you think your retention and recruitment rate will be when you have an in house marketing department? I’m not talking about someone who creates fliers.  I’m talking about someone who can run an advanced Facebook Ads campaign, an advanced content marketing strategy, and even automate direct mail funnel campaigns for their agents.

The truth is that you can train agents to do this until they are blue in the face, but the majority of them will never do it RIGHT.  Doing it for them allows them to concentrate on their strengths, spending time converting clients and selling homes! It increases your bottom line at the end of the day.

CRM – Every office should have some kind of CRM to provide their agents. Unfortunately, many of them out there overcomplicate things and many agents have a hard time using them.  A CRM should only accomplish 3 tasks.  Keep an agent organized, maintain a database, and set reminders. Make it simple and they will use it more.  How much more attractive is your office when you provide this for your agents?

Please take note how all of these things focus around providing services to your agents that help them succeed in today’s environment.  You still need the traditional things like culture, community, and right leadership, but what I’m talking about is taking a marketing department and plopping it right into your office to serve your agents.

I believe the real estate  brokerage of the future will be one that serves their agents with everything they need including having a “marketing dude” in house to service their needs. Agents today need more than just a license, they need better marketing skills to compete.

Remember, it’s your job to create the environment for your agents to succeed in, not to pay for them to. You might want to take the quiz below to see what’s stopping you from attracting more agents to work at your brokerage.

Did you like this article?

If so, please share it on your social media accounts and help me get the word out. It’s my goal to help brokers attract more agents to their offices using marketing systems.  I believe every real estate office will have their own marketing dude within the next 10 years.  The question is will you adapt of be late to the party?