How To SPARK Your Real Estate Referral Generation Routine

What if we could generate Real Estate Referrals instead of Real Estate Leads?

–Anonymous

Whether you are a new agent, the ink still damp on your license…or a seasoned veteran, the first thing you need to do EVERY DAY is get yourself some business! And the best way to do that is to get yourself in a Real Estate Referral Generation Routine!

Realizing that in order to sell a house, you first need to sell your services, usually the first step is coming up with a decisive game plan to make  create a routine and make that a vital part of your daily Real Estate business plan.

How To SPARK Your Real Estate Referral Generation Routine

• Specific with what had to done
• Plan oriented to time block for each task
• Actionable to getting at least 1 appointment for that day
• Responsible for committing to building my business
• Keeping focused on what really matters in my real estate business

Time Block

 
One of the first things I did when I was a young agent was adopt a ‘Time Block’ mentality. I figured out that I needed 3 hours each day to generate referrals.

Once I determined how many hours in a given day I would dedicate to my business, I then broke down that time period into half hour or hour increments.

Dedicating each action step to a specific amount of time allowed me to concentrate on one thing at a time and giving me a measured period to complete that task.

My First  Hour:

The idea was simple. I would spend the first half reading and replying to emails from the previous evening or over night when I was done for the day.

HINT: when you’re done for the day…you are done for the day. Your family and social obligations are a big part of your life!

I would then dedicate the next half hour to practicing my scripts and digesting anything and everything I could get my hands on to inspire me and my real estate business.

This would include a motivational book, spending no more than 15 minutes checking out what’s happening on social media or reading up on some of the happenings in the industry through the many subscriptions I would receive via email.

My Second Hour:

• Contacting my sphere via email or hand written cards
• Checking on new and price reduced homes in my market that I could preview for current clients
• Sending out or checking on any new property info for my current buyers

My Third Hour:

The last hour was reserved for working on my blog for that week as well as any other website related work that needed to be done.

I did this 5 days a week, 48 weeks out of the year! It was my S.P.A.R.K. I needed to get my real estate business in gear!

Did I Conduct the Same Thing Everyday? Heck NO!

Monday through Wednesday was pretty standard and on task with the outline above.

Having your 3 hours of referral generation scheduled into your calendar is very important because each day may need to support different tasks.

By Thursday, I would have already had my blog published so now I’d be dedicating that hour, normally spent on my blog to:

• working on my mailers and flyers for my upcoming open houses I had scheduled for that weekend

By Friday, with my blog posted and all my ancillaries for my opens printed or off to the post office:

• I was dedicated to making calls to those agents who showed my listings during the week to let them know I was either holding that particular house open or asking for their clients price opinion and or objections they or their clients had during the showing so I could share that with my sellers.

HINT: A great time to get a price reduction was just before an open house!

What Does Your Real Estate Referral Generation Routine Look Like?

I had to force myself to become a morning person. Once I realized I may need to attend to other pressing matters for my real estate livelihood, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that I needed to get up everyday at 5 a.m. in order to complete my S.P.A.R.K. time.

Very little would get in my way at 5 a.m.! The kids were still asleep…as were most of my clients!

I could get all 3 of my referral generation hours out of the way and under my belt before 8 a.m. and be set for my day to start! This also afforded me the opportunity to be one of the first agents in the office…very often before 9 a.m.!

I know, I know…I hear this questions all the time.

“What did you do if the phone rang during your referral generation time?”

Simple, I didn’t answer it until my 3 hours were in the books. Allowing yourself to get off track with a phone call or a pop by from another agent in your office is a classic way to get off task and not complete your 3 hour referral generation commitment.

HINT: Have a voicemail that lets folks know that your unavailable until a certain time of the day! 

“What if something really important needed your attention like an offer coming in or being at an inspection?”

Sure, those things happen to us all, again that is why I started my SPARK at 5 a.m.
 

Summary

You realize (and hopefully you realize this very early in your real estate career)…you are your own boss! This can be your greatest gift or greatest weakness! You see, you are at the mercy of your own ability to motivate and dedicate your time to getting you more business…and that can be a very hard thing to do if you don’t have a schedule and a plan!

I’ve seen so many agents come and go over my nearly 20 years in the business. And I can attribute just about every one of them leaving the business because they simply failed to plan their day or have a Real Estate Referral Generation Routine!

The other piece to all this is that referral generation (for the most part) is FREE! Real Estate is about the only business I know where you can actually earn a great income producing business for little to no money…just your willingness to work hard, be consistent with your time and have a solid Real Estate Referral Generation Routine that works!