Referrals are the core of your success as a loan modification consultant. These are your bread and butter. The key point to keep in mind about referrals is that you get referrals when you ask for them.
Ask Everyone You Know
Tell everyone you know exactly who makes a good referral for you—the more specific, the better. It seems too easy to work, but just ask them. It works. Put together a sphere of influence list and write to each individual personally. Handwrite it even. This includes friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances, former clients, everyone. Write a couple letters a day until you’ve covered the whole list. Repeat every couple months. It will take forever and seem daunting, but it will return huge dividends. So be remarkable by being the one thoughtful professional who cares enough to take the time to write a personal letter.
Next, call everyone on the list. Tell them what you’re up to. Invite them out to coffee. Email everyone too. Make sure to contact everyone on this list at least once a month in one form or another. Repeat, ad infinitum.
Referral Reward System
Let everyone know that if they refer someone who becomes a client, you’ll reward them in some way. That could mean a financial referral fee, if your state allows it. It could mean a gift certificate to Starbucks. It could be the first nice wine glass in a set of four, along with a note saying that each referral will get the next glass. It could be anything. Get creative, but people will rack their brains trying to refer you more people if they receive something valuable and memorable back in return
Most Likely Referral Sources
Within your sphere of influence list, you’ll want to create a sub-list of extra special referral sources. This includes connectors (people who know everyone), close friends and family (who are pulling for you to succeed), and professionals in complimentary industries. This is your sneezer list. They are the folks who will spread the idea virus that is your new company. Take special care of your sneezers, as they are the folks who will provide you with many, many referrals forever. Take them out to coffee or lunch. Send them nicer gifts when they refer someone.
Getting referrals from professionals in related industries is crucial to your business. Which industries? These days, you can get referrals from pretty much any professional who works with financial or real estate matters for individual clients. For starters, you need to get to know real estate brokers who do a lot of short sales, as they will often refer you business. One easy way to find short sale realtors is to search for short sale listings in your local paper or in Realtor.com. Bankers, accountants, mortgage brokers, financial planners and insurance agents can all be good sources for loan modification referrals as well. Mortgage brokers and realtors often do mods for their clients themselves, so make sure you ask this before you ask for loan mod leads from them. Banks and mortgage company Loss Mitigation departments can be excellent sources for literally hundreds of solid loan mod leads, but it’s incredibly difficult and competitive to land those relationships.
Referrals from Current Clients
Many people forget that oftentimes the best advocates they have are their current clients. Ask your current clients for referrals several times throughout the process, but don’t be annoying about it. Again, the more specific you are about the details of your ideal client, the more likely they will be to think of someone who is a good fit.
