When it comes to sales and marketing, there's one thing that's certain - it's a numbers game. You can't speak with a couple agents and expect instant referrals. You have to market your services to dozens, if not hundreds of agents, before you achieve the volume you desire. That's right...I said hundreds.

Too often loan officers underrate the number of agents needed to market their services. Especially if you have less experience, you make up for it in numbers. For your marketing to be effective, you'll need a whole lot more agents.

But don't be discouraged, and here's why. Everything has a starting point, so the sooner you begin, the quicker you'll get to where you're going, and in this case, that means building a list of agents. Think of your list as a database, it's your most precious resource. The more you add agents to your list and the more you market messages to it, the more your productivity grows.

So when is the best time to begin a list? Today! The great news about building a list is that it begins the moment you've added the first agent. Chances are you already know a half dozen or more agents. And if you made it a goal to add one agent to your list daily, you would have over 250 in one year.

What's great about being in the industry today is that building your list is easier than ever with all the online social networks available for you to join. Just start by joining LinkedIn and you'll see what I mean. You could be connecting with 12 agents a week (or even a day) with very little effort on your part.

Are you prospecting real estates agents only to be rejected by their famous last words, "I already work with a lender?" Of the major objections agents express, this one outranks all of them. I've witnessed these 6 words ruin too many careers.
 
The best thing you can do is to accept the fact that most, if not all agents will express this objection. Why? Because it's a conditioned reflex; a learned response to a particular stimulus.
 
For instance, when you walk into a retail store and the clerk approaches and inquires, "How can I help you?" (stimulus) without hesitation you say, "No thanks, I'm just looking" (learned response).
 
Agents have conditioned their mind to respond when solicited by loan officers with the same reflex.

Avoid Confrontation

Over the years I've experimented different approach tactics with real estate agents. When I traced my successes against my failures, there was one consistent trend: I was always more successful prospecting when my approach avoided confrontation.
 
You avoid confrontation by not soliciting agents directly. Remember, you are the stimulus, so what you say triggers their reflexes.
 
This would be a better approach:

Hi, my name is Jeff Nelson with ABC Mortgage. (Don't Pause) I assume you work with a lender already, but I was hoping you could help me. I'm looking for agents who are struggling (describe the type of problems you solve), which agents in your office do you think would appreciate some information about this?

As you see in the first part of this approach, you purposely assume they work with another lender. By stating the objection first, you have removed it. You have broken the stimulus that triggers their reflex. It's powerful because this pattern of behavior is the direct opposite of the stereotypical loan officer, which immediately changes the agent's perception of you.
 
It's the second part that completes your approach. By asking for a referral, in effect, you disarm the agent. With the agent disarmed, you gain the cooperation you desire because the agent doesn't feel threatened, threatened in the sense that you are trying to sell them something.
 
Finally, your effectiveness hinges on your ability to accurately describe problems you help solve for agents. If your description is lackluster, or breathes the same stuff that every other loan officer promises like, "Close your loans on time, deliver great service, etc." you'll end up defeating your entire purpose.
 
Remember, this is your golden opportunity to differentiate from competition in the first 5 seconds of your approach.