Real Estate Vendor Referral Program – Grow Your Budding Business

Hey rookie, have you figured out yet that there’s a whole lot of stuff you didn’t learn in real estate school? The practical, day-to-day-how-to-run-your-biz kind of stuff? Like how to build a real estate vendor referral program?

All that money, all that time, all that stress and you still really don’t have a clue about what you’re supposed to do daily.

We got you up to speed on what you’ll need tech-wise, and today we’ll show you how to build your vendor network. The list is long, but we’ve prioritized it to make it easier for you to get started.

Starting a real estate vendor referral program

Real Estate Vendor Referral Program - feature

When you are new to the biz, gather only the most-used vendors. Here is a list of who we added to our real estate vendor referral program at the outset:

General Contractor
Home inspector
Home warranty
Insurance
Lender
Locksmith
Mover
Pest inspection
Title and escrow

In looking over the list, we can honestly say that although all of these are important, listing agents should plan on building a relationship with a title and escrow rep and general contractor first. Buyer’s agents would do best cultivating relationships with lenders, home inspectors and insurance agents.

Real Estate Vendor Referral Program - WIndow Installation

But, you aren’t finished. To be a fount of information for your clients, you need to build relationships with the following vendors and add them to your real estate vendor referral program:

Carpet cleaner
Chimney cleaner
Cleaning crew
Electrician
Engineer (structural)
Flooring company
Garage door repair
HVAC
Landscaper
Mold mitigation
Movers
Notary
Painter
Pest control
Pest inspection
Plumber
Pool care
Roofer
Septic & Sewer Companies
Stager
Trash out
Water damage remediation
Well inspector
Window cleaner
Window/glass repair

How to find these people

The guy or gal you’ll call when you take a listing and need to open escrow, the home inspector that your buyer clients can rely on when they don’t have one of their own. The contractor you will depend on when faced with icky home inspection results.

These are your preferred vendors. In a perfect world, they all agree to take payment out of escrow (if it’s legal in your area).

But, we all know the world is far from perfect and they aren’t waiting with baited breath to work with rookies.

And, they’re busy, so don’t feel that you need to call them to introduce yourself. Wait until you have something REAL to offer, like a pest inspection

So, how will you find these people and add them to your real estate vendor referral program? Just as we counsel real estate consumers to choose an agent by word-of-mouth (our testimonials, hopefully), the best way to start building your real estate vendor referral program is by asking other agents for referrals.

But, be aware that a vendor may not be the end-all, be-all just because another agent recommends him or her. Use care when working with your vendors and occasionally monitor your clients’ satisfaction with them.

Ready to start growing your business? Find out how LeadSites can grow your business.

Just starting out? Check out these 5 things you can do every day to grow your business: