Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
Ever had that friend that whenever your phone rang, you looked at the caller ID and cringed? You simply subconsciously wanted to call them your friend because at one time they were, but for some reason they crossed the line into a category that none of us dare say to their face that they are now apart of. It’s the “What are they selling now?” category. Many REALTORS® are in that category, especially during the downturn as they have jumped to selling their clients other products, cell phones, or even pyramid schemes.
For me, I hated getting calls from that friend. For that reason I built my company so that I didn’t have to beg for business. I could focus on being a friend instead of a beggar.
How am I getting referrals without asking for referrals? I’m having fun and growing a tribe.
First: Facebook has stats on fan pages and I can see how effective I’m being. I can tell if my tribe is growing and can gauge interaction with people. If likes are growing and interaction and comments are growing my referrals will grow as well. Secret weapon to getting referrals without asking is my fan page
Second: The blogging of house listings and market conditions are dead. Blogging is all about interacting. We started a theme called “Dig it or Ditch it” where we post a picture of a room inside a house. Comments soared. Add a contest where people ‘”share the post” on their profile and our likes grew too. We now are reaching our friends’ friends. On one of these posts we received 19 new fans who were friends with our friends. We didn’t have to call our friends and beg them for business and we gained access to 19 of their friends without throwing a house warming party or sending out postcards. We just posted a pic of a room in a house.
Third: Celebrate your clients. Here was my first shot at celebrating when we sold a home to a client. We took a video at closing. We posted it to our fan page and tagged our clients so all their friends could see it. We got a referral from the clients sister right after this video was posted. We didn’t even ask for the referral. The sister just Facebooked us.
Got a story how you got a referral from someone without asking? I would love to hear it! Post a comment.
Dave Robison, known as “Utah Dave,” is a broker of Robison & Company Real Estate.