Reverse

Originating: I Want to Work with Fewer Referral Sources… Really!

Written by Sue Haviland & Brian Sacks, as originally published in The Reverse Review.

The title of this piece might sound crazy, but follow me for a minute and see if you agree with me in the end. For a long time, I was the networking queen. I went to every senior-oriented industry event, and even some that were not senior-focused. I wanted to meet anyone and everyone that could possibly send me a reverse mortgage referral. I was going to keep in touch with them by phone and newsletter and whatever other method I could, because I was going to be darn sure I was the one who got these referrals.

One day the light bulb went on (sometimes you just gotta hit me over the head): The way I was approaching this was simply unsustainable. I took a good look at what I was doing with my networking activities and I started to cut. And even more importantly, I looked long and hard at the referral sources I was cultivating and made some tough decisions.

First, I made a list of the things that were important to me. Try this exercise – your list will be different from mine. I did not need to work with every financial planner within 75 miles. I did not need to be connected with the largest insurance agency in town. It was neither possible nor very smart to operate this way. Instead, I focused on the referral sources that needed me. Who among these professionals could I help the most? Basically, who would see the reverse mortgage as a tool to help their clients and build their business? And whose values and business practices most closely mirrored my own? This was perhaps the most important question. The exercise took quite a bit of time but was well worth it.

I now have a loyal roster of attorneys, financial planners, insurance representatives, home health care agencies, Realtors, etc. They were hand-selected and they know it. They are neither the biggest in the area nor the most well known. That’s just fine. We are all focused on making sure each one benefits from the relationship. They will continue to grow their business and so will I. Can you say the same for your referral partners? Sometimes less really is more.

After seeing the success I had implementing this idea, I began to incorporate it into my training programs. As you might imagine, some loan officers were skeptical at first, but then came to embrace it when they saw the results. Let me know if you think this strategy could help you. Send me a note at [email protected].

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