Why you should know the source of your real estate references
Brokers, do you know where the references of your agents come from?
McClelland said that his research showed that more than 30% of the buy-side deals came from leads paid by third-party referring companies.
“I tell the brokerage companies, if you are going to conduct an investigation into your company, that is one of the studies you have to carry out,” he said. “You say, okay, wait a minute. Where do these deals come from? Because we all think, is it the agent. That the agent originated- not so much anymore.”
According to the Nar -member profile of 2025, the typical broker earns 20% of their company from previous customers. The survey showed that this number is increasing for more experienced agents. When it comes to references that have not been made by customers, typical brokers have won 32% of those from non-personal sources of referrals.
Common sources of referrals include Community Social media signs/groups (20%), church and school groups (14%) and non-profit work in the community (10%). A little more than a quarter (26%) of the typical brokers said that in 2024 they did not relieve non-personal references. In total, the typical broker reported that only 1% of their affairs in 2024 came from non-personal references.
Regarding the sites of external lead generation, the typical broker did not receive a business in this way, but 30% of the respondents received at least a company through paid external lead sources. This is further reflected in brokers who report that they have spent $ 0 on generating lead in 2024. Surprisingly, Realtors reported not to spend any money on affinity/referral relation costs.
When it comes to technological tools for generating leads, Nar’s 2024 Technology Survey showed that popular options for quality pipes CRM platforms (32%), the local MLS (26%), the website of their company (20%), digital advertising campaigns (19%) and E -mail marketing tools include, such as E -mail marketing, such as Constant Contact (19%). Only 14% of the respondents selected sites and portals of the respondents as the technical tool that offers them the highest number of quality leads.
How brokers follow leads
According to Makelaars interviewed by HousingIt is not common that brokers, especially at large companies, know exactly how many leads come from each source type.
“I only have 25 agents and I have my finger on the pulse of what they do, so I know who buys leads and roughly how many transactions they get,” Chip Stella, the managing broker of Rutledge -Properties, said. “We have a good company book, but it is a small brokerage, so it is more manageable. It would be harder to keep track of if I had a larger company.”
McClelland emphasizes the importance for brokers and team leaders to understand exactly where the leads of their agents come from. “What if that lead source dries up for an agent?” He notes. For most agents, references are much easier to follow-because they flow from two important places: their influence and external leads of networks or real estate portals such as Zillow, Broker.com And Homes.com. If you know this split, it is clear why brokers need visibility in lead pipelines, while agents can measure the health of their referring networks director.
“I treat Zillow postcodes such as Billboards”
Callie Kelley is such an agent who strongly trusts the buying of leads of a third party, who is for her Zillow. Kelley has even built her company from Zillow Leads.
“My thought was:” Where are the most serious buyers on the market? “, And the answer is that they are on Zillow, so that’s where visibility is,” Kelley, the broker owner of Marathon Realty from Idaho said. “I treat buying Zillow ZIP codes such as buying billboards on Main Street.”
Kelley likes that when a Zillow -Lead calls her, they are usually ready to go and already know what characteristics they want to see.
“Zillow immediately connects me with buyers who are willing and want to make an appointment to look at a home,” she said.
Kelley says that this convenience is worth the $ 25,000 a month, she pays Zillow as a Zillow Premier agent. Although Kelley knows that not all agents would agree, Stella can see her reasoning.
“Zillow -Leads are usually ‘ready to go’ because they have worked independently and have already found a house or houses that they want to see, so it is less effort than when you spend months warming up a lead and then watching them every weekend. The effort is worth the costs,” said Stella.
Conversion is all in great conversations
Although the Zillow leads that Kelley receives are warm, she said that it still takes a lot of work to build trust with a consumer who has never met her before.
“You need to know how to talk to people to convert cold things,” she said. “For me, the fastest way is to do this by informing them about the transaction and the market and then doing what I need to remove roadblocks. I have a whole system to ensure that they are connected to reliable lenders and other service providers.”
No portals for this broker, it’s all convex
Unlike Kelley, for Charlie Wills, the broker-owner of The Wills Agency96% to 98% of his transactions come from references.
“After seven years in the company, I hit this point where I did the same amount of business, regardless of which way I advertised or with whom I communicated. I knew there had to be a better way to grow my company,” Wills said.
He credits working with a training group called Core To help him build his referral activities.
“If people are in your influence because they are friends with your neighbor or grandmother, they are more willing to talk to you than a lead that you have never met before,” he said. “When I tried to convert those cold leads after a few conversations, I would lose that company to an agent they already knew or that a friend recommended.”
Moreover, Wills finds working on his sphere of influence a much nicer way for him to generate things.
“For example, I recently decided that I wanted to hit a bucket of golf balls for 30 minutes and while I did, I finally set up two meetings with customers,” Wills said. “I generate things while I do things that I like.”
Regardless of how they get things, agents agree that generating companies always costs something, whether it is time, emotional energy or actual dollars.
“The costs are always there,” said Wills. “You just have to find out what way you want to spend it. For me I would rather spend my personal time because it gives me energy. If I spend money on leads and don’t get it, my time wastes and it makes me Icky, but that’s me.”
