Table of Contents
- What Are Agent-to-Agent Referrals?
- What Is a Referral Agent and How Much Can You Make as a Referral Agent?
- Best FB Groups for Agent-to-Agent Referrals
- Lab Coat Agents
- National Association of REALTORS YPN
- Inman Coast to Coast
- Agent Edge Real Estate Community
- Real Closers
- Local Buy and Sell Groups
- How to Build Your Agent-to-Agent Referral Network
- Talk to Friends and Family
- Go to Networking Events
- Use Social Media
- Implement SEO
- Be Genuine
- Show Up
- Give Before You Ask
- Agent-to-Agent Referrals Made Easy
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Imagine spending all day and night working to get real estate clients. You get some traction, but you never seem to have a full roster, so you look into agent-to-agent referrals.
That way, you can get more clients and increase your earning potential. If you want to go this route, you need to know how it works and how you can convince agents to send clients your way, so read on to learn more.
What Are Agent-to-Agent Referrals?
Agent-to-agent referrals happen when one real estate agent refers clients to another. These referrals may happen for a variety of reasons, such as if the referring agent is too busy with other clients.
Some real estate agents only work with sellers, so they may refer their clients to a buyer's agent. Of course, real estate agents eventually have to retire, at which time they may stop taking on new clients.
If you have a client who's moving to a city, you may sell their current house. But you might need to refer them to an agent in the new city where they want to buy a home.
New agents may work part-time and need to refer extra clients until they can go full-time. Some agents focus on getting clients and referring them to other agents.
Our software product can help you connect with any of these types of agent-to-agent referrals.
What Is a Referral Agent and How Much Can You Make as a Referral Agent?
A referral agent is someone who gets real estate leads but gives those leads to other agents. Some agents may only operate this way, while others will refer clients only occasionally.
If you operate as a referral agent, you'll make a percentage of the gross office commission. The average starting commission is about 25%, but you can negotiate the rate.
In some cases, the commission will be as low as 5%, but it could go as high as 70%. The specific rate depends on the quality of the leads and other factors.
Best FB Groups for Agent-to-Agent Referrals
If you don't know where to start with agent-to-agent referrals, Facebook groups are fantastic. Whether you're looking for real estate referrals or have clients to refer, you can connect with other real estate agents.
You can join many different Facebook groups for real estate agents or for referrals, specifically. Before you join a group, read the rules so that you know if you can post that you're looking for referrals, for example.
Then, you can make the most of these groups. Every group is a bit different, so join as many as you can manage.
Of course, staying on top of these groups is very difficult. That’s where we can help with our monitoring software.
Here is a list of relevant Agent-to-Agent Referrals Facebook groups:
Lab Coat Agents
Lab Coat Agents is one of the largest Facebook groups for real estate. The group has over 150,000 members and is open to a variety of real estate professionals, not just agents.
When participating in the group, you can't directly promote yourself or share links to your material. However, you can ask and answer questions or otherwise provide value to the community.
If you do this consistently, other agents may start to trust you as an expert. Then, they could send you their clients if they get too busy.
National Association of REALTORS YPN
The National Association of REALTORS YPN group is for young professionals, and there are about 24,000 members. You can use the group to request real estate referrals, which can help you get your business off the ground.
This group also allows you to share ideas for events and talk about what's happening in your career. If you break any rules surrounding anti-trust or the NAR social media policy, they'll kick you out of the group.
As long as you follow those rules, though, you can connect with others. And you don't have to be that young to join, so you can refer clients to younger agents if you have too many to handle.
Inman Coast to Coast
If you're a member of Inman Select, you can join Inman Coast to Coast. The group doesn't allow promotional posts, but you can share information about the field.
You can talk about issues and discuss solutions. So while you may not be able to get referrals within the group, you could connect with other real estate agents in your area who could send you referrals.
Agent Edge Real Estate Community
Another group from Inman, this group is open to anyone who's an agent. You can join to get and give help, so you can ask questions or share advice with the other agents.
The group doesn't let you promote your listings or your business. If you're consistently showing up, though, you can build a name for yourself.
Then, other agents may start to send you their clients. You can connect with agents as Facebook friends so that you can contact each other outside of the group.
Real Closers
Real Closers has about 68,000 members and is an excellent group for real estate professionals. You can ask questions and get advice on certain problems related to your work.
This group is also a nice place to share your wins and build relationships with other agents. Over time, those relationships can help you get more agent-to-agent referrals.
You must answer certain questions for them to approve you into the group. It also helps if your profile clearly shows that you work in real estate.
Local Buy and Sell Groups
You can find buy-and-sell Fb groups for a variety of cities and metropolitan areas around the country. Search for "buy and sell [your city]" to see what comes up on Facebook.
Now, these groups will have more than just real estate agents, so you can also connect with homeowners. However, you may be able to find other agents to work with when you need referrals.
As with any group, be sure to follow the rules regarding self-promotion. Then, you can meet as many other professionals as possible to help grow your network.
How to Build Your Agent-to-Agent Referral Network
Many agent-to-agent referrals will come through your network. Unfortunately, you can't expect to join one Facebook group and get a referral right away.
However, you can do a few things to start building your network of real estate agents. Eventually, that network may turn into a regular source of clients for your real estate firm.
Consider the following tips to help build your network and keep track of referrals.
Talk to Friends and Family
Whenever you meet up with a friend or see your family, talk to them about your real estate career. Share any updates regarding properties you've sold or other accomplishments.
Even if you don't know other real estate agents, your friends or relatives may know other agents. Your friends could introduce you to other agents, so you can quickly grow your network.
If you get to meet other agents through your friends, those agents may trust you more easily. That can help them be more willing to send real estate leads your way than to a complete stranger.
Go to Networking Events
One of the best things you can do is to attend events specifically for networking. The hosts of these events plan them with networking in mind, so you can meet a ton of new people in one place.
You can find network events in your city and surrounding area that you can attend in person. Talk to people, and consider bringing business cards that you can hand out to the people you meet.
Another option is to attend online networking events, which can be a nice way to meet real estate agents in other cities. Then, you can get referrals from agents whose clients are moving to your area.
Whether you go in person or to a virtual event, be present. Try not to be on your phone too much, and spend time talking to others to get to know them.
Use Social Media
You can use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms to market yourself. If you want to use a platform to get real estate referrals, follow as many other agents as you can.
Comment on their posts and keep up with them regularly. You can mention that you're also an agent, and you can start messaging someone to further build a relationship with them.
Be sure to post original content as well. Share photos of a property you just sold, or consider offering tips for how to sell a property in your area, and use hashtags related to your city and real estate, in general.
Social media can be an incredibly powerful tool for building your network. As mentioned, you can join one or more Facebook groups to meet and connect with real estate agents.
That’s also the space our software product plays into, giving you exposure to hundreds of agent-to-agent referrals in your area per month.
Implement SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is another excellent tool to help you build your network. When you use SEO, your website can start to show up in search results.
You can also use local SEO to specifically target people who live or work in your city. If someone is searching for a real estate agent in your area, your website may show up first.
Sure, this may happen more with clients looking for an agent. However, some agents may search for others in their community, especially if they have real estate leads to refer.
Be Genuine
As you start to meet people, you need to be genuine when connecting with others. Sure, you may want to eventually get real estate leads, but it takes time to build a good, trusting relationship.
Show genuine interest in what the other real estate agent is doing. If they tell you about a problem, do what you can to help them, such as offering an hour of your time to help send out mailers.
Ask the agents in your network about their work and how things are going. Pay attention to the answers, and when you see someone again, ask if the business is still going well or if it's picking back up.
Even if you don't particularly care, you don't want to come off that way. If you do, people can see right through that and tell that you're in it for the chance to get new clients.
Show Up
After you connect with people, continue to show up regularly, especially on social media. If you join a few real estate Facebook groups, make time to visit them at least a few times per week.
Answer any questions you can, and share links to helpful resources that you've found recently. The more you do this, the more people will start to remember your name and associate you with real estate.
If you're consistent enough, you may start to get private messages from other real estate agents. Reply to those messages when you can, and build relationships with individuals.
Some agents may ask if they can send a client or two your way. Now, not all agents you connect with will do this, but the more you build your network, the more referrals you can get.
Give Before You Ask
Once you start building your network, it can be tempting to ask for leads right away. However, you should let other agents get to know you and your work first.
If possible, offer to help them with their business. Then, you can show that you're reliable and know what you're doing when it comes to real estate.
When that happens, the other agent can start to trust you. If they have one too many clients, they may refer one to you without you even having to ask.
Of course, you may have to ask for referrals at some point. But that will be much more natural when you know the person, and it will be a lot easier for them to say "yes."
Agent-to-Agent Referrals Made Easy
Agent-to-agent referrals can be an excellent way to get more clients quickly. If you know other agents, they can send you clients when they're busy or if they don't want to work with someone.
However, it takes work to get to the point of getting real estate referrals. Consider using software to stay on top of referral sources, such as Facebook groups.
If you're ready to get more referrals for your real estate firm, book a totally free demo of our monitoring software.
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