As a brokerage owner or leader of a real estate company, you probably remind your agents every week that the best way to grow their business is by engaging their Sphere of Influence (SOI) and consistently asking for referrals.

But are we holding ourselves to the same standard?

We should be asking our own agents for referrals and recommendations about who we should be talking to in the marketplace.

Questions to ask regularly:

1. “Who are the top agents you’ve worked with in the last six months that would be a good fit here?”
2. “In that last transaction, how did Bob do? Would he be a good fit for our company?”
3. “Is there anyone I shouldn’t talk to—any red flags in the marketplace?”

By engaging agents consistently and requesting their generosity, they start to understand the importance of referrals—just like our clients do when we ask.

Agents aren’t conditioned to send referrals unless we ask. The best time to ask is right after you’ve helped them like after:

• Solving a problem
• H
...

Let’s say you got a referral today. What's your next step?

You should have a series of steps you follow every time. When you systemize how you approach referrals, sure enough, more referrals come your way.

Let’s start with what NOT to do: We’re not just going to send a silly little gift card or a coffee card as a thank-you. That would be ridiculous. We should do way more than that.

Think about it—this is the apex point. Everything you do with your SOI (sphere of influence) is leading up to getting a referral. And when you finally get that payoff, when someone actually sends you a referral, wouldn’t it be crazy to just send them a $5 or $10 gift card?

That’s why we're going way bigger than that.

So here’s a list of things to consider:

First, call them and thank them. If you haven’t already, send them a handwritten note: “Hey, thank you so much. I appreciate the referral.”

Then praise them publicly on social media. Make a post thanking them. This encourages others in your SOI to t...

Let’s talk about the Primadonna agent.

We’ve all heard the term, but what does it mean? It refers to someone—hopefully not in your office—who believes they hold power over the broker or staff. They might wield this perceived power by being verbally aggressive or abusive, saying and doing things that are completely inappropriate. They think they can get away with it because of their production level or tenure in the office.

So, what do you do with a Primadonna agent? Here’s the unspoken fear many office and team leaders face: If I get rid of them, I’ll lose money. Maybe they’re a top producer, and you’re thinking, “I can’t afford to lose someone like that.”

But when you let this fear control your actions, it gives them even more strength—and their behavior gets worse over time. Worse still, having this kind of toxic person in your office impacts your recruiting. Potential recruits may avoid your office entirely, even if they don’t say it outright. They may think, “I’d join, but I can...