Do you have more clients than you can serve? No? You can fill your prospect pipeline by learning how to bring in more referrals.

Start with stellar service

You can do everything else right to generate referrals, but unless you impress current clients, they won’t recommend you. Do what it takes to exceed expectations: communicate however the client prefers, deliver what you promise, and ask what else you can do to make the transaction better.

Don’t assume people know you want referrals

If you do a good job, your clients will tell their friends about you, right? Don’t count on it. Come up with a comfortable, clear way to ask people to send business your way. If you’re struggling with how to word your request, check with your broker, take a class, work with a coach, or search online for scripts that you can customize.

Start early and don’t stop

When is the right time to first ask for referrals? Some agents make it part of their listing presentation. Not only could it lead to immediate business, but it puts prospects in a frame of mind to send others your way in the future. Remind clients while you are working with them that you appreciate referrals. Bring up referrals after closing and periodically during your ongoing contact.

Add referral messages to your outreach

A direct appeal for referrals yields the best results, but you can reinforce the message in your marketing materials, email signature, website, and other materials.

Send updates and thank-yous

Express gratitude to everyone who refers prospects to you. Also, update them about the status of your activity with people they sent your way. This shows your gratitude while reinforcing the idea of referring more buyers and sellers to you in the future.

You may give an unlicensed person a non-cash gift worth $50 or less in exchange for a referral and not violate The Real Estate License Act (TRELA) or Texas Real Estate Commission rules. According to TRELA, if a referral is made with the expectation of receiving valuable consideration, the person making the referral must be licensed under the act. Under Section 535.20 of TREC rules, gifts of merchandise having a value of $50 or less do not count as valuable consideration.

A bank gift card that can be converted to cash or credit or any amount of cash or credit toward rent owed are not allowed to be used as gifts to an unlicensed person in exchange for a referral, according to TREC.