How to track agent referrals

To track agent referrals, keep one record for each client you send or receive. Write down the client, the other agent and brokerage, the market, the date and where the signed referral agreement is. Then update the status at each step, from sent to under contract to closed or lost, and check in when it goes quiet.

How do you track agent-to-agent referrals?

Keep one record per client, whether you sent them to another agent or another agent sent them to you. Put every fact you'll need months from now in that one record, instead of leaving it spread across a thread of texts and emails. Then update the status each time the deal moves.

A relocation referral can take half a year to close. By then, the texts that started it are buried, and the question someone asks is usually a simple one, like when you sent the client or which agreement covers them. If you also want to see how much of your business comes from referrals, here's how to track your referral rate and repeat business.

What goes in each referral record?

These are the fields to keep, with one made-up referral filled in. If you use a spreadsheet, each referral is one row across these columns.

For the status, use the same few words every time: sent, connected, under contract, closed or lost. Consistent words let you sort the list and see at a glance which referrals need a call. If you haven't written the agreement yet, the referral terms glossary explains what a referral agreement and a receiving agent are.

What should I use to manage agent referrals?

Use whatever you'll actually keep up to date, because every option works only as well as you maintain it. A spreadsheet costs nothing and holds every field, but it never reminds you to check in. A tag in your CRM keeps the referral next to your other notes on the client, though a CRM is built around your own deals, so the other agent's progress may end up in a free-text note. A referral app adds the reminders, and it still knows only what you tell it.

Whichever you pick, the record starts the day you send the referral. The referral email template covers the email you send just before that. If you're thinking about keeping your vendor list in your CRM too, here's how a CRM compares with Proferral for a vendor list.

How long does a real estate referral last?

A referral lasts as long as the signed referral agreement says it does. Write the agreement's end date in the record and set a reminder a few weeks before it, so you can check on the client while the agreement still covers them. Your broker can tell you what your brokerage's agreement form says about its term.

How do you resolve disputes with other agents over referrals?

Take it to your broker, and bring your record and the signed agreement with you. Referral fees are settled between the two brokerages, so the brokers are the ones who work out a disagreement, and the dates and the paperwork are the first things they'll ask for.

If you and the other agent are both REALTORS at different firms, your local association may also offer mediation and arbitration under Article 17 of the NAR Code of Ethics. Standard of Practice 17-4 lists which disputes that covers, so read it there rather than relying on a summary. This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm details with your broker.

Sources

• National Association of REALTORS: Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, Article 17

Proferral keeps the record next to the client

In Proferral, you log a referral to or from another agent the same way you log one to a vendor, and you update it as the deal moves through connected, under contract and closed or lost. If it goes quiet or the closing date passes, it shows up in your follow-ups. There's no place to enter a fee, and no money moves through Proferral, so the agreement and the fee stay with your brokerages. You can export your records any time, and how it works shows the whole loop.

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