We are ALL in the constant pursuit of finding perfect referral partners.  For those of us in the insurance biz, a loan officer can often turn out to be that perfect referral partner.  

Some of the most successful agents I know get the majority of their business from mortgage companies.

They are not so easy to get business from though. LOs are skeptical by nature and very much creatures of habit.  They don’t care about low rates or anything like we care about.  They care about finding more clients.  The insurance person, company or program does not matter.

If you’re trying to attract more LOs into your referral network, and failing, I’ve got some strategies you can utilize that are GUARANTEED to get you leads, clients and policies from good LOs.

In order to get business FROM a LO you have to think LIKE a LO

We both know WE want more homeowners policies.  Next to life, these policies generally pay the highest commissions.  Every deal that comes from a LO will have a house involved.  it’s like solving two dilemmas at once. 

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of our prospects.  If you were a LO, who would you most want as YOUR perfect referral partner? The answer would be Realtors, Builders, Investors, or something along those lines.  Anyone who sells real estate is the perfect client for a mortgage broker. 

You’re going to need to find perfect clients for the LO you are prospecting, if you intend on having him become your perfect referral partner.  That being said, it’s not as hard as you think.  I’ve put together 5 ways for insurance agents to get more business from loan officers. 

Prospect Real Estate Agents for the LO

Here’s your chance to be the Trojan Horse the LO needs.  You see, realtors are what LOs want to work with, but realtors know LOs only want them for their business.  It’s like trying to pick up a hot chick at the bar, when you’re the drunk guy.  She sees you coming and immediately puts her guard up.  That’s what agents do too. 

However, realtors don’t have anything to do with insurance, so you could ask them all day for business and they’d simple tell you “that’s not part of my job.” They don’t feel the need to put their guard up with an insurance person.  

That’s when you take the time to sell the LO you want business from, to the realtor.

Social proof is one of the strongest forces of influence known to human beings.  When you want a recommendation, you trust another human for that recommendation.  If the person making the recommendation is a seemingly disinterested third party, and they seem passionate about something or someone, the person listening’s interest is usually piqued. 

Leveraging the power of social proof, under the guise of a “trojan horse” messenger, you’ve got the ability to bring business back to the LO.   Once you give leads and clients to the LO, he/she will for sure feel the pressure of another important law of influence.

The law of reciprocity is one of the strongest principles behind lead gen there is

The law of reciprocity simply stated is: If I do something for you, and I ask for a favor in return AFTER I’ve done it, you’ll feel more compelled to grant my favor.

Let’s break down the psychology behind this law.  If you get drunk, and call your buddy for a DD ride from the bar, and he picks you up, you’ll feel compelled to return the favor should he ever ask. Why? Because he hooked you up first. You owe him.

How does this translate over in the business world?

If I give you business and that business makes you a profit, we’ve got an imbalanced situation. It’s like the boy scout rule of Ds.  We gotta balance that shit back out. 

If you hook me up, and then ask me to hook you up, the law of reciprocity states I’ll most likely return the favor.  Instead of being like most people, and asking for business with a possibility of returning the favor, you can show up with your best foot forward and earn their business.

Bottom line: As an agent, you should be making connections and gaining influence with Realtors.  Then leverage that influence and connection to gain influence and connections with LOS.  The more Realtors you get friendly with, the more LOs you can introduce.

Then, once you make the intro, hit the LO up for business.  If they say “they never sent me a lead” you can put that on them and their salesmanship (or lack there of) You can always say “I did my part, I can’t close them for you too”

Use the power of leverage, trojan horses, social proof and reciprocity to create an avalanche of business and be known as the agent who knows Realtors.  

The LOs will all come running your way, once the word gets out.  They are like hawks on the prey when it comes to finding out who has an in with the local Realtors.  

As you know, a good LO can send you 5+ homeowners policies a month.  A great LO can send 10.  From there, as you know, you can offer the triple play discount and bundle the shit out of your polices for them.  Can you say upsell?

If you’d like to learn more strategies on how to attract leads, Realtors and LOs, simply go to www.insadsacademy.com and watch the free video.  Buy the program (if it fits your needs) and put what you learn into play.  Before you know it, you’ll have more LOs than you can stand.  All sending you big ass homeowners policies. You’re welcome