People Work With People They Like. Not Just People Who Are Available.
The agreement tells them you exist. It doesn't make them want to send you business over the three other people they know.
Most people approach referral partners the same way they approach cold leads.
Here's what I do.
Here's what I offer.
Let me know when you have something for me.
And then they wait.
And wonder why the deals aren't coming.
Here's the problem.
You signed an agreement with someone.
That's not a relationship.
That's paperwork.
The agreement tells them you exist.
It tells them how the commission works.
It gets you into consideration.
What it doesn't do.
Is make them want to send you their business over the three other people they could send it to.
That part is different.
That part is built.
Here's what building it actually looks like.
Not texting every week asking if they have a deal.
Not the same check-in message every month hoping something changed.
Knowing what they care about.
What's going on in their business.
What their weekend looked like.
What their kids are up to.
What sport they follow or what industry news affects them or what problem they mentioned two calls ago that you actually remembered.
Being someone they look forward to hearing from.
Not someone they respond to because you might have a check for them eventually.
That's the difference.
Here's why this matters more than most people think.
When a referral partner has a deal.
They have options.
They know people in your space.
Multiple people.
They could send it to you or they could send it to someone else or they could just handle it a different way entirely.
The one they send it to isn't always the most qualified.
It's the one they thought of first.
And the one they thought of first is never the one who just checks in asking for deals.
It's the one who asked about their kid last week.
The one who texted about the game.
The one who remembered something small and brought it back up.
That's who gets the call.
Not because they're the best option on paper.
Because they're the one the partner actually wanted to talk to.
Stop reaching out to take.
Start reaching out to give.
Your attention.
Your interest.
A real conversation that has nothing to do with whether they have something for you right now.
Do that consistently with the right people, and you stop chasing deals because the deals start finding you.