I've used Active Rain for the last two referrals I had to give out. Those from Point2 that I contacted never replied.  Active Rain you just post it up and various agents will respond.  I've also used names from the CRS book that another sales associate in my office had.  And, I used someone I got out of the Women's Association of Realtors.  Locally, but in areas I don't handle, I've called independents directly.  Those are the only ones I get referrals back from.  If you give referrals to someone in a franchise their referrals to give generally go in to the franchise referral program.

Whenever I'm faced with an outbound referral and do not have 'someone' in that area, I ALWAYS go first to the ePRO roster and see who's plugged in. It's one of the greatest thing about ePRO.

I know others with CRS designation who will likewise first to to their contemporaries.

And I get a lot of referrals from agents who simply browsed the 'net for my area and found me. We work with a lot of referrals, in and outbound.

I got one yesterday from a lady I went to broker school with 4 years ago. That's what is so great about networking!

So beef up your website and SEO and earn those designations/certifications. And keep your internet presence up via posting here, to AR, RT etc . . .

It is hard to zero in on referrals, giving or receiving.  I decided that I would develop my own referral network for each state.  Such as your home state www.moving-2-florida.com, I provide this service for free, because I'm interested in working with agents that are using the internet.  If I use a P2A, I want to work with agent that is a professional or premium member.

Chantal, there is actually a referral book and I can't remember what it's called. It's at my office where I am not at the moment.

If you e- me at nextwave at frontiernet dot net I will send you the name of the book when I get there . . .

As far as focusing on referrals . . . I just focus on providing excellent service. The referrals come. And I love referrals from agents, but even more than that I love referrals from clients . . . ;)

Cyd,  I work in a franchised office and have never had to pay a referral fee to National, state, or to my broker.  The easiest and best referrals, either in or out, have been within my franchise org.  It is is really a big part of the orgs. selling point to potential agents. We have an online refferal aggrement to send to an agent after a verbal aggrement has been struck and also a network of all agents with, designations, profiles and awards that are very helpful in narrowing down the process.  Just my thoughts.

Tommy

Hey Chantal,

I typically will go to my Franchise's member website which has been hit or miss for me.  I really want to give my client the best experience and some who look great on paper, well, not so good in real life.  I think getting to know agents within the Reliberation platform is going to help me with my future out of area referrals.

Hello Chantal,

After getting my CRS designation I have received many referrals from other agents with their CRS I have also sent out and have been paid through the CRS designation. If anyone in your office has the CRS Directory I would look into to it for future referrals.

I also contact other agents based on that I know don’t have access to my MLS and ask them for referrals. I only received 4 this year and closed 3 from this method.  

There is another source that I use that is not from agents, which might sound evil. I contact divorce attorney and ask them to refer me to their clients when getting divorced.    

[Egan sez: I contact divorce attorney and ask them to refer me to their clients when getting divorced.]    

LOL Egan . . . talk about a pipeline!  

Working with divorcing couples can be challenging! And not pretty. You're a brave one . . . ;)

Chantal~

I will definitely refer you with my Orlando clients!

Tell me about it Candice,

But I have developed some guidelines that I go over in advance that seemed to work out just fine.  

Egan, do you go over the guidelines with the attorney prior to the introduction or with the clients to be?

If you've worked with a LOT of splitting couples, you might want to post the finer points. It's a very difficult task.

Chantal says: "Amy, that is so true...it is nice to know who you are referring too. Please keep me in mind when you have referrals in Orlando :) I'll keep you in mind when I have an Arizona referral."

Jay says: "Forget Amy. Pick me, pick me!"

Just kidding! (sort of...)  I'd have no problem referring to Amy (if she weren't on the same side of town as me.

Regarding divorced couples... we've done a few, and attorneys are *great* referral sources. I'm working on a web page specific to divorced couples:

http://www.thompsonsrealty.com/Divorce_and_Real_Estate/page_1775920.html

It's lame, but it's on page 1 of Google for "divorce and real estate" -- and people are finding it....

Chantal... I've done a couple via point2 and they did not respond.  I don't know why...perhaps they just don't read their emails?  The worst was when I was looking for someone in New Mexico.  Had to go through 4 different people, who I actually called AND emailed before I found a 5th one (through activerain) that was wonderful.  Tried to do one in Maine and had the same problem with point2.  Put it on Activerain and within 15 mins had two responses.

Tommy:  that was my point.  If you work for an independent and you are looking to build a referring relationship, one that works back and forth, you can't do that with a franchise agent.  They keep their referrals within their own system.

Chantal - Before we were advised to remove ALL our State agent link pages on our Advanced Access sites, I always referred to those agents when sending out referrals since I knew that most were Internet savvy. Then I tried using P2's referral setup before they  made improvements. Out of frustration I developed my own agent-to-agent referral network and have hundreds of agents appearing on it. It also has been a good source of leads from consumers since it shows up well on keyword searches for 'city+relocation' An example would be to search "grayslake relocation" whereby the site is #1 on Google for my entry. The site does run on a Wordpress blog which prevents me from using a homepage or specific keywords so I am in the laborious process of moving all the individual agents data over to a separate website. This should then allow it to be even more effective in bringing agents leads from the public as well as other agents. There is no charge to add your info and once I complete the transfer of data, I will look for a sponsor to help defray the cost. Maybe a moving company or lender would be interested. Feel free to check it out and add your info at:

http://www.Worldwide-Relocation.com