Get personal if you want more referrals

“All of those potential referral sources are being wooed and pursued by rival brokers, and those referral sources tend to give their referral to the last broker they heard from, or had lunch or played golf with,” he said.

“To get referrals requires work. It’s not just about doing a great job for the customer by finding them the right loan – that’s just the first part of the job.”

Mr Gibson said brokers need to have a consistent system for maintaining personal contact with their top referral sources and their perfect clients.

“That requires a personal touch every month or six weeks, and the best way to stay in personal touch with customers is to show them how to build equity in their own home – give them ideas that can improve their circumstances,” he said.

“When you do this, you stay top of mind with them and enhance the relationship – you’re showing that you actually care about them and your referral source.”

Mr Gibson will be one of the keynote speakers at the 2015 Better Business Summit, which will visit Melbourne on February 19, Adelaide on February 26, Sydney on March 5, Brisbane on March 12 and Perth on March 19.

Another reason why brokers don’t receive referrals is because they don’t return the favour, according to Mr Gibson.

“Brokers can’t expect someone to owe them a few referrals just because they had coffee or lunch with them. They need to be actively giving referrals,” he said.

Mr Gibson also said brokers will be missing out on leads if they’ve failed to establish the trust of their would-be referral partners.

“This could be because the broker stuffed up last time or didn’t keep them informed and updated on the loan process,” he said.

“Brokers need to make sure they look after the clients that have been referred to them, and keep the referral source in the loop.”

Click here to register for the 2015 Better Business Summit.

[LinkedIn: Do you pay your referral partners?]