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Section One: The Million Dollar Trusted Advisors Edge Mindset
Section Two: How to Find More Quality Referral Sources Than You Can Handle
Section Three: How to Contact and Set Appointments With Advisors
Section Four: How to Create Instant Credibility When Meeting With a CPA or Financial Planner
Section Five: Building and Maintaining Your CPA and Financial Planner Database
Section Six: How to Capture Authoritative Endorsements That Allow You to Leverage a Single Referral Into Dozens
Section Seven: The Art of ReferralsThe New Way of Doing Business
THE ART OF REFERRALS
CONTENTS
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Section One: The Million Dollar Trusted Advisors Edge Mindset
Dear Mortgage Professional,
I am not going to start this report with the mechanics of how to develop alternative sources of
referrals from CPAs and financial planners. Thats actually the easy part, because Ive created a
proven system. The hard part is this
Mindset.
Heres what I mean. Unless you have the proper mindset, youre never going to be able to use
what Im teaching youno matter how easy Ive made it for you. So, what is this mindset Im
talking about?
The mindset is what I call the Trusted Advisors Edge.
What is the Trusted Advisors Edge?
What most professionals dont understand is that the most professional, credible image you
can have doesnt come from your clothes, your car, or your office. The most bulletproof image
you can have springs up from within you. It comes from having a professional, Im here to do
business and you need the service I deliver attitude. You have to believe that your advice can
actually make a life-changing difference.
You have to shift your perspective around 180 degrees from the typical loan officer. When you
have the Trusted Advisors Edge, you decide if you want to do business with a CPA or financial
planner, or not.Its your decision, not theirs.You decide if they meet your qualifications.
You can enhance their service offering and keep their clients happy, because youre a trusted
and valued resource to them.
But first youve got to respect yourself and the level of expertise you bring to the game. Stand
tall, look confident, and SHOW them how your advice makes a life-changing difference to theirclients.
Do you need to be well groomed and mannered? Of course! But, if you dont have that Trusted
Advisors Edge mindset, your lack of confidence and credibility will quickly eat away at the illu-
sion of image you are trying to create.
With this Trusted Advisors Edge mindset that Im going to give you the tools to
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Section One: The Million Dollar Trusted Advisors Edge Mindset (cont.)
create, you are going to build a huge stream of referrals.
When you finally realize that these CPAs and financial planners, or advisors as I call them,
need you because the knowledge, advice, and insight you possess will help them improve the
financial lives of their cl ient and their influence over their clients you will then be holding the
cards. You are now the player they want to associate with. Thats why I have developed the
tools, techniques, and strategies you are going to learn to use.
Each and every strategy I show you puts you in a position of bringing value to the table
not begging for the crumbs that are falling from it. You dont want to be like a little puppy, pant-
ing and wagging its tail, hoping you are going to get a referral thrown to you. When you learn to
use these tools and strategies with skill and confidence, you are going to stand head and shoul-ders above typical loan officers and lenders who may be competing for those referrals because
of the incredible advice and value you bring to a CPA and financial planner.
And just as importantly for those of you who work with realtorsyou are going to develop a
remarkably strong posture among the real estate agents youre working with. When you bring
this type of world class advice to the table, they will use you as a respected source of advice that
makes a life-changing difference for their clients. The day you realize the power of doing busi-
ness based on the Trusted Advisors Edge is the day you will gain an incredible sense of con-
trol over your growth and the consistency of your business.
Let me quickly cover a few more of the benefits youll experience when you learn to apply the
Trusted Advisors Edge mindset to your business.
First, the peaks and valleys in your income will stabilize because you are broadening out your
referral base. Imagine a pier stretching over the water. Each new referral source you add is like
adding a pillar to its foundation. The more pillars, the more stable the pier. And so it is with
your business.
Second, you will also enjoy the level of business professionalism that comes when you begin todo a lot of business with CPAs and financial planners. You will find their down-to-business atti-
tudes and behaviors refreshing.
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Section Two: How to Find More Quality Referral Sources Than You Can Handle
So whats the first step?
Well, before you can put any of my strategies to work, you must first be able to find
potential CPAs and financial planners.
I have developed two ways to get referrals. Lets look first at the easiest way to get
started.
The easiest way to generate more advisor referrals than you can handle is from your
current customers. Heres how you do it.
I have found that one of the most professional ways to gather quality referrals is during
the initial meeting with one of my customers. As we are going over the application, they
may not have all the necessary financial information or tax returns. When that situation
arises, I use the following script
I notice that your financial information is missing (or your tax returns are missing). Let
me help you out. Ill just go ahead and give your CPA a call for you, with your permission.
My customers typically respond at this point, That would be great. I would really
appreciate that.
Now I am calling their CPA for a business reason. During that business, I raise the idea
of channeling other referrals my way. I ll discuss the actual scripts I use just a bit later.
Now, what if they already have their returns and all their financial information?
If I am meeting with a customer, and I notice that a CPA has prepared their returns, I pay
attention to the name of the CPA and where his/her office is located. (Is it geographically
desirable?) Since Ive been building my business this way all these years, I often know
the CPA. In that case, I use this opportunity to build even more rapport with the client.
Oh, you know so and so? He or she is a client of mine.
When I see a CPA that is in my target area, I wait for a point in the conversation where
things are going really well, and I say this
By the way, I receive the majority of my referrals from CPAs and financial planners. Would you
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Section Two: How to Find More Quality Referral Sources Than You Can Handle (cont.)
mind if I called your CPA?
May I use your name?
This is a very easy (but highly effective) way to establish contact with CPAs and
financial planners.
I also have a questionnaire that I call page 5 of the 1003. This is a separate form that I fill
out for my clients. Be sure to ask for the names of everyone: CPA, financial planner,
insurance agent, human resource managers and any attorney relationships. See a copy
of this form at the end of this report.
How to Get Great Referral Sources From the Newspaper and Other Media
The second major way to generate great CPA and financial planner sources is through the
media. What do I mean by media? Your local newspapers, business rags, local
television shows, and the direct mail pieces you receive at home from CPAs, attorneys,
and financial planners. Ive coined the term counter solicitation to refer to my
approach when I contact them because they solicited me first.
Here are some hot opportunities that should catch your attention as you scan your local
paper and other media sources:
Look for press releases by one of your targeted advisors.
Look for an article written by one.
Look at the ads in the papers. (Yes, I wil l contact them from an ad they have run.)
Look for an article on finances or taxes where the reporter mentions Joe Smith, financial
planner, as a source.
Why do I emphasize working with CPAs and financial planners who are getting media
attention? PUBLICITY! You need to know who is actively marketing themselves.
Typically, the professionals who are aggressively promoting themselves have a better
clientele base, which means you will be receiving more referrals. You are, in a very real
sense, capitalizing on the financial assets they have invested in. These advisors are also
more likely to stay in the business long-term. They are much more stable and an
enduring source of referrals. When you think about it, they are practically annuities.
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I usually go through the newspaper and local business rags every morning, and identify
the people I want as my clients. I like to choose my clients, because I prefer to do
business with people who are action-takers and implementers.
Think about this for a momentby tapping into these sources that are already spending a
substantial amount of money promoting themselves and their practice, you are essentially
able to tap into thousands of dollars of advertising on a monthly basis without paying a
dime. You are leveraging off relationships with their customers that have taken them
years to build. Consider how long it has taken you to build the database of customers that
you currently possess and you can really see the value.
By tapping into these sources, you are tapping into years of work, good service, andthousands of dollars of marketing and advertising expenditures. In addition,you are not
paying a single penny to do it!It is quite literally a hidden gold mine of business just
sitting there, waiting for you to take advantage of.
These professionals are also committed to their businesses and are here to stay. Once you
are locked into this referral system, you will have lucrative, warm, and friendly referrals
flowing your way for years to come.
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Section Two: How to Find More Quality Referral Sources than You Can Handle (cont.)
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Now that you have located potential CPA and financial planner referral sources to work
with, you need to:
Number One: Get through to them and
Number Two: Make a GREAT first impression so you can begin the process of
developing a long-term business relationship.
CAUTION: Do not milk them for all the referrals you can possibly get out of them in the
very first meeting or conversation on the phone. Remember relationship building is a
life-long process. You will have a much better chance by taking it slow during the initial
meeting for building a long-term referral source.
Have you ever had the opportunity to sit in a major port or harbor and watch them bring
in those monstrous 600-foot oil tankers or cargo ships for docking? The cables they use
to tie these vessels to the dock are massive. It is an impossibility to throw one of these
lines from the ship to the dock. In fact, it is impossible for a human to even pick up one
of these cables.
So, here is what they have to do.
First, they throw a thin rope that has been weighed down on the end, over the dock. Even
a child could throw it a long distance. When that rope reaches the dock, a longshoreman
begins to pull that thin rope to shore. Do you know what is tied to the end of that thin
rope? A much thicker rope. Now, the thick rope is pulled to shore, and you probably can
guess what is attached to it thats right, the massive cable that is used to pull the ship
in.
Keep that image in mind during your initial contact with these professionals. Going for
every referral they have during the first call would be virtually impossible. You could
end up damaging a viable long-term referral source.
The goal during the initial contact is two-fold:
First,you must qualify this individual. Do you want to invest your precious time
developing a relationship with this prospect?
Secondlyyou want him/her to see you as an honest, extraordinarily knowledgeable, and
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Section Three: How to Contact and Set Appointments With Advisors
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Section Three: How to Contact and Set Appointments With Advisors (cont.)
totally credible trusted advisor loan officer.
With that said, let me first go into the exact steps and scripts to use when you are first
making contact with a financial professional.
Before you make the first meeting, I highly recommend doing some quick research on
google.com so you have a basic understanding of how this professional presents
themselves to their customers. Be sure to use the LINKS Search before every
meetingreview chapter nine for some advanced Google search tips.
Now lets start with a referral you have received from one of your own customers. The
best way to approach a referral is to mention the referring parties name first, before youmention your own name. Here is an example:
Hello, Joe. Suzy Funding suggested that I give you a call. I understand you prepare her
tax returns?
Yes, I do.
My name is Dave Savage with XYZ Mortgage, and I am c urrently in the process of
processing a mortgage for her (or just closed a loan for her). I then let them know
that I specialize in working with CPAs and financial planners by saying,
Do you ever have clients who have a need for real estate financing?
Sure.
Do your clients ever ask you about real estate financing?
Yes.
Great. I will send you a letter introducing myself and the kinds of services I provide to my cli-
ents, along with a few testimonials from past clients. Then, I will give you a follow-up call and
schedule an appointment with you. This is a key first step because I want to create some credi-
bility and differentiation before we continue talking. Most loan officers will skip this step and
just go for the close, not to mention they will not have a credibility building package like mine.
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Section Three: How to Contact and Set Appointments With Advisors (cont.)
Id especially like to point out the importance of sending the advisor some
actual examples of the analysis and advice you provide to your clients. If
you are a Mortgage Coach Marketing Machine user, send them some
sample reports and analyses you created using it. These examples of the
professional service you provide will make a huge impression on the advi-
sor and cause them to see you as the professional colleague you are.
The next time I call them up, I will schedule an appointment. After the
opening pleasantries, I use some form of the following script
Well, Id like to schedule an appointment with you so that I can explain
to you how myadvice is different than that of typical loan officers and lenders. Would
Thursday at
8:00 am work for you?
That is the best way to get the first appointment.
If you are calling from an article, advertisement, or other mailing piece that you have
seen, the only changes are your opening remarks. Its very simple. You just need to
mention the piece, and they are going to take your call.
I noticed the article you were quoted in on Tuesday. The reason for my call is I
specialize in working with CPAs and financial planners. I would like to schedule an
appointment with you to show you how my advice is different than that of typical loan
officers and lenders. Would Thursday at 8:00 am be good for you?
After that, the process is identical to how you would work with an advisor that was
referred to you from a customer.
What if he is already working with a mortgage broker?
I have a guy I have already been referring business to.
If I send you my business cards, would you have a problem offering your clients a
choice?
Yes/No.
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Examples of reports and analyses created
using the Mortgage Coach Marketing
Machine
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Section Three: How to Contact and Set Appointments With Advisors (cont.)
Well, it sounds like he has been doing an adequate job for you. Suggestion: I would
like to share with you some critical information that makes me different from other loan
officers. My advice makes a life-changing difference for your clients because:
What really makes me different is that I have a very unique approachmost loan officers just
quote rates and feesI do what is called a Total Cost Analysis to help them make an informed
decision. Im committed to providing your clients with advice that makes a difference for them.
What I would like to do is sit down with you, since I get most of my business from CPAs and
financial planners, (Let them know that you deal almost exclusively with CPAs) and explain the
advisory software that I use and show you how ADVICE makes a difference. The advice that Iprovide your clients help them make better decisions. Would that make any sense for you? Do
you have any interest in that?
The answer is almost always, Yes.
Lets do this. It should only take about 30 minutes to go over the report and analysis
that I use that has been very successful assisting other CPAs to provide advice that
generates more referrals.
Now, if I sense that this guy isnt going to be a great source of referrals, I may not want
to take time out of my schedule to personally meet with him. In that case, I use this
alternative wrap-up.
Im going to send you a letter of introduction, business cards, a few sample reports (e.g. Rate-
Watch, Total Cost, Equity Repositioning Analysis), and a couple of letters of recommendation
from past clients.
Then I send him the InfoFAX on a regular schedule, but wont commit my time for a
personal visit with him. InfoFAX is a newsletter that focuses on educating professionals aboutinteresting rates and the economic factors influencing them. Given todays market, I highly rec-
ommend Barry Habibs Mortgage Market Guide (www.mortgagemarketguide.com) to provide
you with the content for this strategy.
Let me point out to you how strong this makes your posture when approaching advisors
and when battling with competing brokers for referrals.
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Section Three: How to Contact and Set Appointments With Advisors (cont.)
Here are three simple strategies that make me different from the competition:
1. The fact that my advice makes a life-changing difference to your clients.
2. Using the Marketing Machine, I am going to continue to provide them with a monthly
RateWatch report to make sure they have the best loan today and for many years to come.
3. Every two weeks, I will be either faxing or e-mailing my InfoFAX using Mortgage Market
Guides content.
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Section Four: How to Create Instant Credibility When Meeting With a CPA
or Financial Planner
In this section, I want to teach you how to conduct your first face-to-face presentationwith CPAs and Financial Planners. The primary goal is to establish credibility as a
professional and develop a strong rapport.
First, I use relevant questions to take control. I also establish credibility as a knowledgeable
professional through the questions I choose to ask, and by visually showing them samples of
the advanced reports in the Mortgage Coach and the Mortgage Machine service delivery vehi-
cle. I usually start with the RateWatch report because everyone is impressed with the unique
value it represents. It demonstrates two powerful messages: First, it immediately demonstrates
that I have advice and tools they havent seen from other lenders. Secondly, it shows them my
commitment to my clients after the sale to ensure my clients always have the best loan avail-
able in the market. This report establishes trust and credibility that gives you an immediate
competitive advantage.
It is important that you continue to build instant credibility for yourself.
After you establish rapport, use questions that show you have an understanding of his/her
business. Ask them personal questions about the last time they financed a home. I ask
them contrast questions, such as:
Did the last loan officer you worked with do an analysis such as a Total Cost Analysis?
Then drill down on the value of debt reduction and asset accumulation. Does your
lender or loan officer track your mortgage on an on going basis, showing you how
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Section Four: How to Create Instant Credibility When Meeting With a CPA
or Financial Planner (cont.)
todays loan programs and interest rates compare to your current mortgage? (See sample Total
Cost Analysis >> See sample RateWatch Report>>)
Rememberin my situa-
tion, I earn most of my busi-
ness from CPAs and finan-
cial planners. Because of
this, it is crit ical that I dem-
onstrate that I have knowl-
edge of their
business.
I use questions I have devel-
oped to demonstrate a ba-
sic understanding of his/her
business. I will give you a
sample dialog of the inter-
view process I go through.
You will notice that I am
also qualifying them to see if they meet my criteria as someone I want to spend my time on.
I dont have a specific script that I go through every single time. The goal that I want to accom-
plish is two fold. First is to make this person like, trust, and respect me. Second is
to completely qualify this individual.
The objective is notto see how many referrals I can milk out of him/her in a single
meeting. My goal is to establish the beginning of a long-term relationship. People
like it, and are impressed when you make it a point to know a lot about them and their
business or industry. Here are some questions I start off with to get him/her to open up
to start telling me about their business, and establish my professional credibility:
How many CPAs are in this office?
How many partners do you have?
How long have you been in business?
Is your emphasis more on getting individual or business clients?
How many tax returns do you prepare a year?
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The reports from The Mortgage Coacha crucial key to referral success.
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Section Four: How to Create Instant Credibility When Meeting With a CPA
or Financial Planner (cont.)
What is your mix between corporate clients verses individuals?
Geographically, where do your clients come from?
How do you market? (Some CPAs from the old school do not like to market.)
How aggressively are you looking to expand?
Are you looking to expand your practice or are you happy with your current flow of busi-
ness?
Have you referred business to other lenders in the past?
Have you seen the types of reports and analysis that I have shown you today?
Does you current lender send you a RateWatch report?
You should not ask all of these questions in one sitting. You are not writing a book, you
are simply trying to find a little about this advisors business and warm him/her up a bit.
It is very important that you ask these questions in a casual manner and be yourself.
At this point, I am in control and I have peaked their interest. I went from being some guy
off the street looking for a referral, to being an interesting trusted advisor.
Watch Out for These Credibility Land Mines
During this interview, there are two serious credibility land mines that can blow both
your professionalism, and any chance of ever seeing a referral out of the water.
The first land mine is acting like you need the business. Desperation is like bad
cologneyou can smell it! Remember, earlier I admonished you to throw away the
little puppy hoping for a crumb to fall off the table mindset and take on the Trusted
Advisors Edge mindset. Nobody likes doing business with someone who seems
desperate. But they will stand in line to do business with someone they respect whos in
demand.
The second land mine is forgetting you are there to provide them with valuableknowledge and advice. Remember, you are there to help them. You are not there to ask
them for business or help. You are there to provide them with li fe-changing advice and
information. You are there with the attitude of If you dont do business with me you are
making a mistake. You are there with total confidence in what you have to provide.
Youre not there to sell them something. You are showing them I am here to make an
impact and this is of no cost to you. That is the attitude you should carry. Not having
the trusted advisors edge is your biggest land mine. By visually showing the reports
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Section Four: How to Create Instant Credibility When Meeting With a CPA
or Financial Planner (cont.)
generated by the Mortgage Coach, you wil l clearly separate yourself from any loan
officer he has met in the past.
The beginning of my advisor communication program starts when I first meet with them.
But, I am careful not to ask for referrals every single time I call. I may only ask every
other time. I use the other contacts to give them updates on the market or other valuable
information.
I also add them to my InfoFAX list and begin to fax a newsletter every two weeksagain, using
Barry Habibs Mortgage Market Guides e-mail newsletters.
In addition, I dont limit myself by merely asking for loan referrals. These CPAs and
financial planners can be great sources of leads to other CPAs and attorneys, etc. Here is asim-
ple way to ask. Lets assume you just asked for a loan referral and they didnt have
one for you.
I dont have anybody right now.
Thats ok. Who do you know that is a financial planner or perhaps another CPA in
your office? Who is your most successful friend in the business? Do you mind if I
use your name?
You will soon have more CPAs and financial planners than you can possibly follow up
with using this system. So, it is going to be vital that you develop a systematic way to
Follow up and capitalize on these valuable referral sources. This is why I think it is
important for me to teach you this system for keeping track of all your advisors,
determining which ones you should spend your time and attention into cultivating.
You must train and condition your advisors on how to refer business back to you. At the
beginning, many of these advisors that you contact will not have been trained on how tokeep a look out. It will take an attentive ear (on the advisors part), trained to listen for
those cues and clues that are opportunities to send you business in addition to giving
value-added service to their clients.
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Section Five: Building and Maintaining Your CPA and Financial Planner Database
This section is the heart and soul of my system.
While the principles are easy enough to apply, you need to keep this fact in mind: if you
do not continuously and professionally follow up and keep in touch with the CPAs and
financial planners, all the work you have done up until now will have been a total waste
of time.
The engine that keeps my referral machine going year after year is the follow-up system
I have developed that keeps me in constant contact with my advisors. If you are not
using a contact management software program to maintain your database, you need to
invest in one. I have put my entire system on computer, so all I have to do is push a
button and the letter or fax is on the way. In fact, the program even reminds me when tosend which document.
I know that you have heard about the 80/20 rule.
You want to spend 80% of your time and energy on the top 20% of your advisors. I have
developed a system that easily allows you to focus your time and energy on these very
valuable relationships. Here is how I classify and keep track of all my advisors and advisors-to-
be.
Advisor/Suspect: Any kind of CPA and financial planner that has been given to me as a
referral or, I have seen a lot of media attention given to. The actions I take are:
1. A qualifying phone call;
2. Sending an introduction letter, client testimonials, and printed examples of my services,
including RateWatch, a credit report, and an equity review;
3. If the advisor sees promising, I may take an appointment.
Advisor/ProspectI had 399 prospects in this segment:Anyone I have talked to who
has met my criteria and qualifies. I personally will take a CPA, for example, who has atleast 100 clients. (These numbers vary for financial planners. You will have to
develop your own criteria for each category of advisor.) Here are my action steps:
1. At least four calls per year;
2. Six mail pieces a year;
3. Follow-up letters;
4. Send samples of RateWatch, a credit report, and an equity review.
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Section Five: Building and Maintaining Your CPA and Financial Planner Database (cont.)
Advisor/SilverI had 161 clients in this segment: These people have
identified
themselves by telling me that they will definitely refer me business and
they have at least
200 clients. Here are the action steps:
1. At least four calls a year;
2. Six mail pieces a year;
3. Follow-up letters;
4. Thank-you cards;
5. InfoFAXfax/e-mail;
6. Send samples of RateWatch, a credit report, and an equity review.
Advisor/GoldI had 118 clients in this segment: These are the top 30%
of my
advisors. They have referred business my way and I have established a
strong
relationship with them. These are the action steps:
1. Six or more calls a year;
2. Printed examples of my services;
3. Six mail pieces;
4. InfoFAXfax/e-mail;
5. Send samples of RateWatch, a credit report, and an equity review;
6. Thank-you cards;
7. Follow up letters.
Advisor/PartnersI had 115 clients in this segment: These are my
best 20 to 30 clients
or the best 15%. This is my sales force. They are constantly calling me with
referrals. Ido a lot of special things for these advisors. You will realize that by looking
at the action steps that I take to maintain the relationship.
1. Six or more calls a year;
2. Printed examples of my services;
3. Six mail pieces;
4. Invite to lunch and/or dinner annually;
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Sample RateWatch Report
Sample Equity Repositioning Analysis
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Section Five: Building and Maintaining Your CPA and Financial Planner Database (cont.)
5. InfoFAXfax/e-mail;
6. Send samples of RateWatch, a credit report, and an
equity review;
7. Send Christmas card;
8. Thank-you cards;
9. Send birthday cards.
Note: I use the Mortgage Coach Marketing Machine to cre-
ate the printed examples of RateWatch, credit reports, and
equity reviews.
I see myself as a source of trusted knowledge and advice. If Ihave identified and established contact with a CPA or finan-
cial planner that has the ability to refer business to me, I
need to send him my InfoFAX, interest-rate updates, and,
call up occasionally. If he sees something come over the fax
from me every month or so, and he sees things come across his desk from me in the mail every
other month, it wont be long before he is referring business.
I try to keep contact going for 3 to 6 months, and then if the advisor never returns my
calls or sends me any referrals, I will reduce his priority. There are just too many fish in
the sea to keep wasting my time on someone who doesnt want to refer business to me.
However, dont forget the importance of patience. Some of my very best referral
generators took a long time to harvest.
This system works well for moving people through a series of stages that gradually
increase their loyalty to you and helps maximize how you invest your time.
This is the system and approach that helped me close 252 loans and generated over
$962,500 in annual commissionwithout talking to realtors.While I do not expectyou to take this to the extreme that I have, I would like you to fully realize that you can
develop a new source of referrals this way and dramatically expand your present income.
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Create referral-generating printed repo
and reviews using the Marketing Mach
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THE ART OF REFERRALS
Section Six: How to Capture Authoritative Endorsements That Allow You to
Leverage a Single Referral Into Dozens
In the final section of this report, I am going to reveal one of my most recent and powerful de-
velopments in getting floods of referrals calling me. If building and maintaining your CPA and
Financial Planner database is the heart and soul of my system, then capturing authoritative
endorsements are the brain. Why? Its the smart way to turn a single referral into dozens.
Several months ago, a marketing consultant said to me, Your referral system is great,
but you are missing the real leverage of what you are sitting on. I bet that if you actually
had these CPAs and financial planners mail out a very strong endorsement letter disguised as
an important financial update, you could turn those passive referral streams
into running rivers of referral gold within days. (Yes, he really does talk like that.) I
thought about what he said and figured it was at least worth a try. Once I was able to getthe first test out in the mail, I was stunned.
Within hours of that letter hitting peoples desks in the morning, I was getting calls.
Actually, ten calls the first day! I hadnt even mailed that many (about 400). Some of
the calls are people who were presently refinancing, and others were people just seeing if
they got a good deal when they recently refinanced, but at least 20% of those
calls are lay down, highly qualified clients.
Yahoo! Yahoo! Yahoo!
What is the point to this little story?
If you presently have even a casual relationship with CPAs or financial planners, you
could generate dozens of new loans within days of mailing this letter. In fact, this letter
would work for a strong real estate agents customer base if you wanted to try that out.
If you have not yet been convinced that you need to add another pillar to your business
by developing relationships with advisors, this little letter and marketing concept should
graphically show you the number of deals that are just slipping away though your fingers.
This section should serve as a wake up call to that part of your brain that wants to make
more cash in a hurry, without having to work really hard to get it. This is almost better
than the Dominos pizza slogan Hot pizza delivered to your doorstep in 30 minutes or
less.
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THE ART OF REFERRALS
Section Six: How to Capture Authoritative Endorsements That Allow You to
Leverage a Single Referral Into Dozens (cont.)
This slogan could be Hot, qualified referrals delivered to your doorstep
Anyway, I think you get the point I am trying to make. Lets get to the exact steps you
need to take to make this dream a reality.
Two of the most important things I have found in getting the endorsements are:
One: Finding a selfish interest on their part. A motivation for them to do this letter. You have
got to find out what makes them tick and go, YEAH! I want it. Lets do it now. Get them inter-
ested, get them to say, Yes, that is a great idea and I can see how that would benefit my busi-
ness. Keep sending different information over to them, discussing why this al liance makessense. You have got to tie it to how it is going to make more business for them.
Two: Make it simple. Offer to take care of all the folding and labeling, offer to come over and
download the information right onto your computer. Offer to work with their administrative
assistant. Just make it as painless and hassle-free as possible for them.
Do not get these two turned around. When I first started, I would say how easy I was
going to make this for them and they kept forgetting to send it out in their newsletter or
monthly mailing. They would say they did not have the time or had just forgotten.
After I learned to convince them that this will make your telephone ring, this willgenerate leads for you, they forgot that I had even mentioned I was going to take care of
the cost. I would actually have to remind them of that.
Another mistake was that I just charged in there. I didnt ask enough questions. I went in
with a presentation, Heres a hot strategy and letter. It can make your phone ring. It is
going to generate leads. It is timely information for your clients that I know you will want
to give them. I did not set it up properlythey need to believe that this was in their own
best interest.
Here is a very effective and proven way to get this endorsement letter sent out quickly.
Do you send out news pieces to your clients about taxes and interest rates, etc.? Great.
What is the purpose for you doing that?
I want to provide my client with information and keep my name in front of them.
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THE ART OF REFERRALS
Section Six: How to Capture Authoritative Endorsements That Allow You to
Leverage a Single Referral Into Dozens (cont.)
Thats great. So, the more we can keep your name in front of the clients, the better?
Absolutely. I always like to do that.
Why dont you do it more often?
I dont have the time. Or It costs money.
And do you like it when your clients call you about the things that you send out to
them?
Of course.
Do you like it because that is an opportunity to get more referrals?
Yes.
Here is what Id like to do, since it is mutually beneficial to both of us. This is
something that can benefit me, as well as you. Since you are putting up the database and
we are sending this letter out to your clients, I will pick up the cost and will fold, stack,
stuff and send out all the mailers.
The best way to handle this is to say, Il l come in and download your information into
my laptop. Then, handle everything yourself.
Anything you can do to make it simple for them.
Say, Lets schedule two hours on Saturday afternoon. Or Lets schedule two hours on
such and such. I will sit down with your assistant, and Ill do whatever
needs to be done to help you get this job done.
That is the best way to do it.
The bottom line is to have them motivated to why they want to do it, why it makes sense
to them, and why it will benefit their business. Then, you have to go in and make it easy.
Take as much control of the process as possible, because it will shorten the timeline on
getting those moneymaking endorsements out the d oor.
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THE ART OF REFERRALS
Section Six: How to Capture Authoritative Endorsements That Allow You to
Leverage a Single Referral Into Dozens (cont.)
This is important: When these people start calling you up and things are going well, do
not forget to start asking for referrals. Your profits are going to grow geometrically by doing this.
Always ask for the referral!
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THE ART OF REFERRALS
Section Seven: The Art of ReferralsA Revolutionary Way of Doing Business
In this report, Ive told you how to take charge of your referral-creation process. First, I told you
about the million dollar Trusted Advisors Edge mindset you need to have. This mindsetcomes from having a professional Im here to do business and you need the service I deliver
attitude. When you believe that your advice can actually make a life-changing differenceand
you possess the knowledge and insight financial advisors need to improve the lives of their cli-
ents and themselves, they will realize that you are a professional that they cannot afford to do
business without.
In the second section, I showed you how to find more quality referral sources than you can han-
dle. The way is to establish relationships with financial advisors. The best way to do this is by
going through your own current clients. You can either ask them who their financial advisors
are or glean their advisors information directly from your clients financial documents. Another
great way to locate financial advisors is to find them in newspapers and other media. A diligent
effort on these two fronts will yield more referrals than you can handle!
Third, I outlined a method of contacting and setting up appointments with advisors. As with
anything worthwhile, contacting and meeting with advisors needs to be done right. I therefore
broke this method into two basic steps. The first is to get through to the advisors so that you
can establish the foundations of a future relationship. The second is to make agreatfirst im-
pression so you can begin the process of developing a long-term business relationship.
As exciting as getting leads to financial advisors can be, dont just charge out of the gate! I wrote
Section Four to help you build your relationships with advisors by gradually establishing credi-
bility and rapport. As a Mortgage Planner, your initial goal is not to milk an advisor for all the
referrals he can give you. Rather, it is to establish a long-term relationship that will afford both
you and him professional success and advancement throughout the years. Once the relation-
ship is firmly footed in professional rapport, personal trust, and mutual benefit, the skys the
limit. Just watch out for credibility land-mines along the way!
In the fifth section, I revealed the heart and soul of my referral system: building and maintain-
ing your CPA and Financial Planner database. All the work youve done up until now requires
maintenance. You need to continuously and professionally follow up and keep in touch with
your advisors. How do you do this? Simply use my tried and true follow-up system to focus the
appropriate amount of attention on each advisor. In general, this involves categorizing your
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THE ART OF REFERRALS
Section Seven: The Art of ReferralsA Revolutionary Way of Doing Business (cont.)
contacts and then expending the bulk of your effort on the most productive of your contacts,
while still maintaining appropriate contact with the rest of your contacts according to my care-fully devised contact and mailing plan. By using this plan, you can nurture your advisors so that
they become steady streams of referral wealth!
Finally, I talked about how to capture authoritative endorsements that allow you to leverage a
single referral into dozens. I do this by using a simple, enterprising letter and marketing cam-
paign in close cooperation with the financial advisors who are most successful and with whom
you have the closest relationship. This approach will, in the words of one of my marketing con-
sultant friends, turn those passive referral streams into running rivers of referral gold within
days!
Now you know the Art of Referrals. You have before you a slam-dunk method of going from
being a typical loan officer who is banking on future new customers to being a trusted advisor
who has a steady, predictable, and m ultiplying referral-driven business. This revolutionary way
of doing business has worked for me and thousands of successful Mortgage Planners. And it
will work for you too. All that is left is foryou to do it. Welcome to the wonderful world of refer-
ral-driven business!
For more information on my ideas and insights, subscribe to my blog, Savage Insights,
at www.savageinsights.com.
For more information on The Mortgage Coach and The Mortgage Coach Marketing
Machine, please visit www.mortgagecoach.com or call 1-800-951-2696.