How Can Loan Officers Earn More Referrals?

All loan officers understand, from very early in their careers, that referrals are one of the top sources of incoming business. This is precisely why we invest our time and money in strategies to earn more of them. If you’re serious about increasing your referral business, here are some simple strategies you can employ to improve your success:

Just Ask for Them

We’ll start with the simplest tip first—it’s so obvious that some loan officers seem to overlook it. Or perhaps they don’t want to seem pushy or desperate to clients. Whatever the reason, there’s nothing wrong with asking for referrals if you do it correctly. Not all clients understand how valuable referrals are to you. Just letting them know that you greatly appreciate referrals and would be happy to help anyone they send your way can help spark the thought in their mind.

Improve Your Client Experience

If we really hope to excel, we need to think past customer service and consider client experience. Providing a basic service isn’t likely going to earn you the referrals you want. You need to deliver a top-notch client experience that goes above and beyond expectations. It’s these experiences that motivate people to tell their friends and family. Your client experience strategy is entirely about standards. What are the standards you’ve set for yourself and your business? If you want to be known as an affable professional who delivers superior service, you need to ensure you have a plan to actually deliver. Or maybe you pride yourself on a high level of expertise and education for first-time homebuyers. Then those are the things that will shape your experience. While you’ll certainly personalize for each individual client, having well-defined standards that inform a client experience strategy helps professionals to stay on the right track.

Be More Generous

As I mentioned earlier, you want to create an experience that will motivate clients to talk about you. Generosity is a terrific way to stand out from the crowd. Clients understand that they’re giving you their business and you’re providing them with a service in return. When you transcend that basic transaction with real generosity, they’ll take notice. One of the best ways for loan officers to do this is through education. Whether it’s sharing informative articles on your blog, making sure clients feel comfortable asking questions, or breaking down their different options in language they understand, acting as a resource and educator demonstrates your value and gives clients something to talk about.

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Keep in Touch

Referrals don’t automatically come after working with a client. It could be months— or even years— after the closing when a friend asks them if they know of a good loan officer. To ensure you’re the first name on their minds, you need to stay in touch. This doesn’t mean bombarding them with messages. Occasional messages throughout the year and sharing advice that’s relevant to new homeowners is often enough to maintain the connection. Past clients aren’t the only ones who provide referral business. It’s equally important to stay in touch with people in your network. Connections require maintenance to stay relevant and grow. Make sure you’re tending to your network beyond past clients, so that these people can become potential sources of referral business, as well.

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Referral business is great, but it takes some real effort to earn it. For driven loan officers, this isn’t a problem. If you invest the time to implement strategies that promote referrals, they’ll be actively supporting your business growth.

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If you have any questions about these strategies, please reach out. I’m always happy to set aside time to connect.