As a professional who earns your keep from getting lots of referrals, you need to know and meet lots of people. If you already know lots of people, great. Now get out there and meet some more. No need to reinvent the wheel here. There are plenty of established ways to meet lots of people, especially the professionals and sneezers who will be most likely to send you lots of leads.
First, you need to get into a leads group. Or possibly several. You can find leads groups on Craigslist.org, Meetup.com, and through your local chamber of commerce. There are also several leads groups organizations that you can find with a quick internet search. Or just start your own group. If you don’t mind the extra time spent recruiting and organizing up front, this is a great way to go, because you can keep the costs low, and, as moderator, you’ll get as many leads every month as everyone else combined.
Referrals are based off trust, so don’t be surprised if it takes you a few months before people in your group know you well enough so that they feel you’re a safe person to refer business to. Sometimes it takes upwards of six to twelve months before getting your first deal, but remember, you’ll earn thousands from that deal, and, if you have and follow a comprehensive marketing plan, you’ll get several referrals from that one closed deal too. Plus, you’ll get a lead or two every month from that point onward if you stay active in the group.
Consider offering free classes in loan modifications. You can market these classes on local bulletin boards, with fliers, with emails and calls to your sphere of influence, ads in the local paper, and especially through Craigslist.org and/or Meetup.com. A good class subject would be on DIY loan modifications. People will come to learn, and they’ll call you or talk to you after class about hiring you to do the modification for them instead.
You also need to join one or more local chambers of commerce, and then go to as many of the chamber functions as you can. Again, it may take awhile before people know you well enough to refer you business. People refer business to their friends, and they just get weirded out if you ask for a referral and stick a business card in their hand 30 seconds after meeting them. Don’t be that creepy, annoying person. Just go to make friends. Period. Soon there will be no question of who you are, what you do, or who those people will think of (you) when their sister-in-law mentions that she’s behind on her mortgage.
That’s all a good start, but it’s only just a start. Now the real fun begins. Now you get to take classes, join clubs, and volunteer for anything you enjoy. That’s right. Anything at all. The more fun you have doing it, the better. Remember, people refer business to their friends. What’s the best way to make friends? Go out and get involved in your community! If you are an active member of at least three (or five or even ten!) clubs, classes, or organizations (leads groups and chambers do count if you go regularly), you’ll have a solid supply of leads before you know it.
A good rule of thumb is that you should be spending 50% of your time working on your files, and a full 50% of your time out of the office networking. If you’re spending more than 50% of your time in the office, you’re not doing enough networking, and your pipeline will suffer as a result.
