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Real Estate Marketing Dude

The Real Secret Why People Refer Realtors

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You will never be able to run a referral based business without knowing why people refer Realtors to begin with. This is crucial for understanding how consistent content creation works.

Are you sick and tired of fighting chasing transactions? The good news is that just about anybody can run a referral based business because is based upon relationships you already have, but it starts by learning why people refer Realtors first.

Once you understand this, it should help you with your marketing your database.

Why Do People Refer Realtors?

When people refer Realtors, it’s almost always because there is an ongoing conversation about real estate occurring. Suddenly, someone jumps in and says, “Hey, I know an agent, you have to call him/her. They are great!” Then, a referral is born. The question everyone wants to know is: why did someone refer the client to that agent?

i got a guy

Referrals take place at work, dinner conversations, or even parties. They take place anywhere people are having conversations. Real estate is a highly referred profession for two reasons:

  1. Moving is an exciting time in someone’s life and people naturally want to talk about it because it’s an emotional decision.
  2. Buying or selling a house is a major financial move to make so people want to make sure they are in good hands.  There is nothing more trustworthy than a referral.

How do you get people to refer you more clients?

Referral marketing is all about training your audience to associate your name with real estate. When your database immediately thinks of you anytime the word “real estate” is brought up, you will begin attracting business. The key to this is through top of mind brand awareness and being everywhere all the time through marketing with consistent content creation.

Think about the last time you referred someone something or someone.

Ask yourself, why did you refer that person or thing?

When people refer services/professionals to others, they do not get any type of award, big shiny trophy, or anything monetary, do they? There is no tangible incentive to refer anyone to anything. We are genetically programmed to refer our friends, co-workers, and family to things we like, which includes how people refer Realtors.

Why is real estate a referral dominated business?

Everyone always “has a guy”. Everyone always wants you to use “their guy”. In some markets you can literally trip over a real estate agent in the street there are so many.

You can make a post on Facebook right now and ask for any type of service provider and people will respond with several of their “guys”, but the question is why do they care? What’s in it for them?

house question non backround

People refer Realtors when the following three things are present:

  1. They have to like the agent they are referring them to;
  2. They have to like the person that is asking or suggesting for a referral for an agent; and
  3. The person referring the agent has to notice that an ongoing conversation is taking place (about real estate) and they have to THINK OF YOU (this is the key).

People Refer Realtors because they like helping others.

Who doesn’t like to be thanked or acknowledged? People refer others to things or services they like, it is only because they feel like they helped someone solve a problem. It’s the way God made us.

That’s it. People refer Realtors because it is embedded in our DNA to be natural problem solvers and we LOVE being acknowledged for doing a good deed. Don’t you like solving problems for others? Of course you do, we all do. It’s part of being human.

Your database actually wants to refer you business, but it’s your job to become more referable. If you are not marketing your database, I promise you that somebody is.  Part of being a successful Realtor is cultivating a rolodex of relationships.

You must look at your career as a popularity contest. Everyone knows a Realtor, but how do consumers decide who to hire as their realtor? Did you know that roughly 75% of people use the first agent they come into contact with?  How do you become the first person they talk to or be the agent that is given the referral? You do it by remaining in communication with your database.

The problem most real estate agents face is; how do I stay in touch with my database?  It starts by finding a marketing strategy that is authentic to you.  Before we begin working with anybody, we first build them a strategy that they are excited about.  It must also represent their personal brand.  The need to create content and use it to stay in touch with your database is essential to running a referral based business.

Creating video content consistently is just another way to stay on top pf mind amongst your database and build a strong personal brand people know, like, trust, and REFER.   If you’d be interested in exploring what a video marketing strategy looks like for you, that makes you the go to real estate agent in your community, schedule a demo with a dude.

 

Do I Need To Create My Own Real Estate Content?

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The topic creating more real estate content is starting to infiltrate marketing discussions, but which is the right type to create for you? Do you have to create your own real estate content or can you use someone else’s?

You need to create your own real estate content.

 

What Is Content?

Let’s first define what content creation is.  I know this may be obvious to many, but not all agents are up to speed on the whole “content marketing” thing.  Content is anything that you share about your business that others could find interesting. In our business you can create articles (blogs), create education videos, or even market your listings.

Content is anything that “reminds” other what you do for a living.

There are many services online that can “ghost write” content for you, but do they work?  Are these services better than creating your own real estate content and are they worth it?

I believe everyone should be creating their own content, but let’s face it, most of us can’t find the time to do it consistently…can we?

If you can’t fit in time to create content consistently then I would suggest paying a service to do it for you. Having something to keep your name out there is better than not doing anything at all.

BUT….

Here’s what I want you to consider.

Pre-written articles are going to sound very robotic because it’s impossible to outsource authenticity.   The key to your content is not creating it, it’s having it leave a lasting impression.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Does your real estate content create attention or is it white noise in the background?” quote=”Does your real estate content create attention or is it white noise in the background?”]

For example, there are many services that offer pre-written email marketing campaigns. One of the things I hate about pre-written “done for you” email marketing campaigns is that they are very cold. When you send “robotic” emails to your database it feels more like spam to your recipients.  This has a better chance of annoying your database than nurturing it. This is why we only teach and preach video email marketing for all referral generation efforts.

Do you get those financial planning and mortgage monthly news emails?  What do you think?  

There’s your answer…

The same concept applies when you have articles written for you.  The entire point of blogging is to establish yourself as an expert in your field and use your real estate content to attract more potential prospects to you. People do business with people they like first and foremost.

Should I Share Others Real Estate Content?

Absolutely, why not? Anytime you are sharing content on social media or to your email list, you are reinforcing in the minds of your database what you do for a living, which is referral marketing. You should always be sharing articles you think your network will find interesting, but you want to make sure to throw some of your own content  into the mix as well.

Creating content allows you to sell without having to ever sell anything at all. Focus on serving others and helping people get the answers to the most pressing real estate questions and it will start turning into money for you.

A while ago I was looking for some case studies about what makes consumers choose their real estate agent. I came across the Keller Center Research findings who did a study on this.  The first answer was through referrals, which is obvious.  This is what else they found;

Top 5 Things Buyers And Sellers Want In An Agent?

1.Comfort– Will I feel comfortable working with an agent over a period of time?

2.Honesty– Will the agent respect my wishes? Will I get straight forward answers? Do I trust them?

3.Establishment– Is the agent established? How long they been in business?

4.Experience– Does the agent have the experience to handle my situation?

5.Knowledge– If I am buying does agent know the in and outs of area? If I am selling does agent know marketing, technology, and staging in a way to justify their commission?

Creating your own real estate content solves all of this.

When you create your own content;

people get an idea if they will feel comfortable working with you;

they will get an idea of how honest and genuine you are;

it will give people an idea of how established you are in the industry;

your level of experience will speak for itself;

and your knowledge will shine.

Creating content will attract more prospects to you and more importantly warm them up for you.

So the final answer is, YES you should be creating your own real estate content.

It’s not about the content, its about the impact it leaves.

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