Q: What’s the weirdest way you ever received a referral?
I dropped my card in a bowl in a neighborhood restaurant. A guy in town for a job interview pulled it out and called me. He got the job and I got the sale!
Dede Hall, CRS, Peak, Swirles & Cavallito, Durham, North Carolina
Ten years ago, I sat next to a stranger on a short flight from Houston to Dallas. He took my card and gave it to a friend of his, who called me. We have all had great relationships since. No telling how much money Ive made just from that short flight.
Lane Mabray, CRS, RE/MAX Westside REALTORS®, Houston, Texas
My husband and I were out to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. A couple was seated next to us and we chatted during dinner. Near the end of the evening, I mentioned that I was a REALTOR®. He asked if I might be interested in listing a rental property that he had near the university. Of course I was! I listed it, a buyer called me directly and I double dipped it. But thats not the end of the story. It turns out that my husbandwho was also a REALTOR® at the timehad sold the property 10 years before. And even thats not the end of the story. The closing was early in the morning at a small bank, and the seller and I got there before the bank was open. We started chatting and somehow figured out that our fathers had worked together at a car dealership many years before, and we had probably met each other as kids.
Joy Diegmueller, CRS, Star One REALTORS®, West Chester, Ohio
I fired a buyer because he was so rude to his wife. I dropped him off at my office and told him that I couldnt work with him anymore because I didnt feel comfortable about how he treated his wife. The wife was quiet, but was obviously very happy that someone finally stood up to her husband. A month later I get a call from someone saying he was referred by this man. The new referral told me that the husband had said I was spunky and knew my stuff. I laughed, but didnt tell the new buyer the story of my interaction with this guy. I just sold the house and kept my mouth shut about my real feelings on the original client. Seriously, a case of where you least expect it.
Christina McCaffrey, CRS, Triangle Trusted Realty, Inc., Willow Spring, North Carolina
I was driving down a street in Columbia and helped an elderly lady who had fallen by her mailbox. I helped her into her house, and she had bumped her head and was bleeding. A summer thunderstorm came up and I waited through it to make sure she was OK, and then I left. About two months later, she called me to list the home and help her sell it. I found out that she had worked for one of the largest real estate developers in Columbia, and I still run into referral sources that knew her when she worked with them. And 15 years later, I still come across referrals from that one good deed.
Morris Lyles, CRS, ERA,Wilder Realty, Columbia, South Carolina
Years ago, as a starving single parent, I stopped at a gas station. The young attendant was quite talkative and inquired about my career. He said he and his dad had been talking about possibly buying a flipper to make some extra income. A month later, he called and they began buying flippers. Since then, theyve bought one or two every year! That lesson taught me to offer my card and services to every person I meet. There would be no way to tally the commissions I have earned from that simple lesson!
Pamela Walters, CRS, The Pamela Walters Group, Tyler, Texas
In the 80s, I worked in the oil fields in Alaska and after many years decided to become a REALTOR®. A friend of mine that I had worked with was in town and asked me to meet her at a local pub (Darwins Theory). When we got there, she saw a friend she had gone to high school with in Juneau, and he sat with us. She told him I was in real estate and he said he was going out the next day to find a REALTOR®. Of course, I rolled my eyes at that, but he did call me and I sold him a house. We started dating and that was 23 years ago. He still has the house and since then I have sold many of his friends houses. And we still go to Darwins Theory once in a while.
Peggy Kelly, CRS, RE/MAX Dynamic Properties, Anchorage, Alaska
My smoke alarms woke me up in the middle of the night; I called 911, who sent the fire department. An hour later, after they determined it was just lint in the heating system and no actual fire, one of the fireman recommended I get the system checked. My home warranty company sent a heater guy out the next day, and after talking awhile, he asked me to call his wife about listing their home! I did, and listed it!
Nancy Chapmon, CRS, Fathom Realty, Longview, Texas
I was phone prospecting several years ago and I didn’t realize that I had misdialed a phone number until I gave my pitch and the lady on the other end of the line giggled and said, “I’m not the person you are attempting to reach and I am not thinking about selling my home, but my daughter in Phoenix is going to sell hers and she needs help. Is that something you could do for her?” I took the information and immediately went to my CRS Directory, selected an agent in her area and had them at her home later that evening. The home sold later that same month. The moral of the story is to keep dialing because you never know what your prospecting will produce!
Patrick M. Wilkins, CRS, Carpenter Realtors®, Indianapolis, Indiana
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