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Most agents are used to just sending deals, sending business over to our lender partners, and not seeing much come back in return. But this week, right now, I'm going to break down exactly how you can squeeze more deals out of your lender partners. So it's not such a one way relationship. Let's get into it. The Massive Agent Podcast with lead generation tips and strategies to get you more leads and sell more homes. I love to buy houses. I like to sell houses. It takes brass balls to sell real estate. Wait a minute. Needs a week. You're weak. I've had better. Oh, have I got your attention now? Here's your host, Dustin Brome. What is up, guys? Welcome to episode 408 of the Massive Agent podcast. I am your host, Dustin Brome here in Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm excited because fall is upon us. The new Tron movie is out, which I think is freaking fantastic, by the way. I said this on Instagram on my story the other day. I believe that Tron legacy, Tron 2, that came out in what, 2010, 15 years ago, I believe Tron Legacy is the greatest movie ever made. The greatest movie ever made. Now I saw it in 3D and it changed my life. Back 15 years ago, I saw the new Tron. My wife and I went to see it in 3D. I think it's incredible. I need to see it once or twice. I'll probably see it two or three more times in theaters anyways. Tron's awesome. That's out. And we're, we're wrapping up the season as far as events go. So I'm going to be at Real Rise in Orlando here in a few weeks at the beginning of November. But I have one last event in 2025 that I am personally speaking at and it's in Vegas November 13th. So this is, this is one of those events, when you hear the lineup, this is a full day, one day event that you're going to want to travel to. This is worth putting on your calendar and getting your butt to Vegas. It's at the freaking Bellagio. So I mean, this, this thing's going to be fancy. I'm going to be speaking along with my good friend Chelsea Pites. We go way back to the Snapchat days. Chelsea Pites, I'm Neil Dhingra, Shivani Peterson, Jen Gottlieb, Arjun Dhingra, Haley Parker and Ashley Corona. Just an incredible lineup. If you are a real estate agent anywhere near Vegas, anywhere near Vegas, or you just want a trip to Vegas and want to Fly to a great event to wrap up the year. Get your butts to Fairways Elevate event. You can get tickets over at Vegas Fairway elevate.com and make sure you use code Dustin VIP at checkout and save yourself some money. Get yourself a discount on the tickets. But this is an event that I personally have a ton of fun at and you will too, at the Bellagio. Let's hang out in Vegas together. Vegas.fairwayelevate.com Use promo code DUSTIN VIP at checkout and come see me and Neil Dhingra and Shivani Peterson and Jen Gottlieb and Chelsea Pites. Frickin stacked lineup. All right. Stacked lineup. And it's the last event this year that I'm speaking at and it's going to be a good one. So I'll see you in Vegas. Now today's episode is is inspired by a mastermind that I did earlier today. I'm recording this on a Tuesday for the Real producers mastermind that I co host every single week for any agent at Real and our guests. So basically it's open to anybody, anybody who wants to come on the mastermind. We were talking about how to squeeze more business out of our lender partners and it reminded me that I think a lot of agents are not fully understanding why it's usually a one way relationship as far as who's giving business to who. And I have some ideas on how to solve that. I have some strategic ways to fix that because your lenders could and should, they can and should be a source of business for you. Now early on in my career because I didn't know any better and I didn't know how to set expectations and I didn't know how to have the conversation and I didn't know some of the things I'm going to teach you today. I would constantly just send my lender's business and on one hand I was okay with it because I felt like my clients were getting a great service. So like that wasn't bad. But, but I was kind of sitting there hoping like when are they going to send me a deal? I just sent them like 15 deals and they're not sending me anything in return. And over time that can create some resentment. But I just sat on it. I didn't do anything about it. I didn't talk to him about it. And, and so we're going to fix that today. Your lender relationships absolutely should be sending you business. Maybe, maybe it doesn't happen quite as often and it shouldn't be like a one for one. I send you one, you send me one kind of thing. And if you don't, screw you, like, no. First off, you have to have a great lender partner. They, you have to get along with them. They have to be somebody that you could sit at an open house with and they're not going to scare potential clients off. You have to be okay with like, you have to, they have to be somebody that you would hang out with. Okay. Otherwise the clients that you attract into the business or sorry that the clients that you attract into your business, the clients that you attract when you set them up with the lender partner who has a wildly different personality. Like if they're not a fit, if they're like a hard seller and like just, it's just not going to work. Your client's going to be like these, this lender is weird, I want somebody else. Like, it doesn't make sense. So you've got to, you've got, you have to have lender partners who are similar to you in a lot of ways, personality wise and otherwise. But they also have to be really good at their job. They have to provide great service, of course, all of that. But I don't think that it's unreasonable to expect that they send you business from time to time and they should expect to do it. Here's the problem. And look, lenders have been trained to seek out relationships with agents because they see agents as their lead source. And I don't even have a problem with that. I'm not mad at that. And whenever I talk to groups of lenders, it's one of the things that I teach them like yes, absolutely, build your network of agents, but you've got to get your ass prospecting and lead generating yourself so that you're not reliant on agents. Now we as agents need to be lead generating. We need to be creating our own business. We need to be self sufficient so that we're not relying on lenders. But it sure is nice when we're sending lenders all the business that they reciprocate that we get business back from them. So you may go through a few lenders, maybe they're great at what they do, but they never have any referrals to give you and that just doesn't work for you. You might have to find someone else. It is possible to have a great lender partner who you get along with your friends, with your clients, like you're similar in personality and everything. They do a great job for your clients. And they have business to send to you every once in a while. It's all possible. So don't tell me that it's not. Okay, Maybe, maybe not with, with the partners that you have right now. So maybe you need to expand the partners that you have. Let's jump into this, okay? Because lenders could and should be a lead source because you are for them. You know, I, I've been to the lender conferences, I've spoken at lender conferences, I've been to lender trainings. They absolutely see agents as their lead sources. Okay. And I'm not. We shouldn't be mad at them for that. It is what it is. But, but we should expect some from them as well. So lenders are taught to prospect agents as their lead source. The problem is that mindset. That mindset, if you allow that to happen, if you don't push back on it or reframe it, I'm not saying to push back on it like an asshole, but you reframe the relationship like, hey, you want more from it than they're thinking. They're thinking that you'll just like send them some stuff every once in a while and that's it. But you want more than that. The you just sending them business all the time. Like that mindset puts you in this one way relationship where you give and they take. And that's not healthy, it's not long lasting, it's not sustainable. The goal is to flip that dynamic so that your partnership, first off, you have to see it as one. Your partnership becomes mutually profitable. So that's the key, mutually profitable. So you've got to change the framing here, change the positioning here. So first off, stop treating your lenders like vendors. You should expect that they stop treating you like one. But start treating your lender partners as business partners because they literally are. Speak their language, okay? When you have a business partner, talk about roi, talk about conversions, talk about lead generating, talk about client experience as if they are a member of your team. Because guess what, spoiler alert. They are. I see a lot of agents screw this up. They just see their lender as like someone else, as like a separate person, separate thing that you know, you send some business to and they better get the job done and I want a bunch of business back from them. When you, if you truly see them as a business partner, you're going to treat them like a valuable member of your team. Because they are. Whether you see it that way or not, your lender is crucial to getting transactions done. Unless you just have all cash buyers. And look, if you have all cash buyers and you don't need a lender partner, good for you. That's fantastic. I still think you need great lender partners because it's not realistic to think that you're going to have all cash buyers. People need to finance homes because they're fricking expensive if you haven't noticed. So flipping that dynamic so that the partnership becomes mutually profitable, stop treating them like a vendor, stop acting like a vendor, act like business partners together. And that means having discussions with them like talk ROI conversions, client experience lead generating, make plans together, do marketing stuff together, do events together with your lender partners. And when they feel that you are a part of their team as well and that you are a business partner, it's much more natural for them to send business to you that you are the first stop, that you are the first thought to send business to. Because guess what, these lenders, you're probably not the only agent that they're working with. I mean for their sake, hopefully not. Hopefully they have a bunch of agents that are sending them business. So that means if when they have business to send to an agent, you're competing with the other agents to get that referral. So how do you stand out? How are you top of mind? Well, become their business partner and make plans with them. Like talk about business goals, find them, ask your, your lender partner, what do they need, what are they struggling with, you know, what can you help them do, what go do they have and milestones are they trying to hit and how can you help them? Ask them, how can I help you hit that goal? How can I help you hit that milestone and then actually follow through on that? Okay. Above all here you've got to, you have to give your lender partner a reason to send you business. Let's go all the way to the beginning. You should absolutely be setting expectations with your lender partners that you want it to be a two way street, that you will send them business, but you also want to be someone who, who they think of, that they send business to as well. You gotta set the expectation upfront, otherwise it's very easy for them to just pass the business off to somebody else. Set the expectation up front. One of my, one of my partners and the co host of that mastermind, the Real Producers mastermind, Randy Mendez, who's been on the show before. She's one of my amazing agent partners out in Reno, Nevada. And a lot of you ladies probably know her from moms in real estate from The Moms in Real Estate group and podcast. Anyhow, Randy has this agreement, this, these expectations with her lender partners where she, she tells them, hey, I understand that it's probably easier for me as an agent to get more conversations, to have more clients. So for every two that I send you, I'd like you to be sending me one. And they have this two for one framework now. It doesn't work perfectly all the time and it's not like Randy's going to say, hey, you didn't send me one. Screw you, we're done, and cut some off. But setting that expectation up front with your lenders of what you expect and that you do expect some reciprocation of business is key. If they want you to keep feeding them, you need to feed them. If you, if they want you to keep feeding them, they need to feed you back a little bit right from time to time. So set the expectations. But in order to do that, you also have to be worth sending business to. You have to be someone who, who is referable. Just because you gave a lender a client, what if that lender doesn't think that you're going to do a very good job as an agent? What if they think that you don't know your shit, that the client experience isn't very awesome because they've heard mixed reviews from the past clients. So you have to give them a reason, give your lender a reason to send you business. So you need to have systems in place for yourself in your business that make the client's lives easier, like communication, updates on the process. All of that is take all of the work and the stress off their plate. Have a team, have transaction coordinators, have assistants so that your clients feel fully supported all the time. And when that happens, a lender knows if they send one of their people to you, that client of theirs is going to have a great experience also. So show those systems to your lender partners, show them what, what you do for your clients, show them what the client experience is like. I think you should be creating co branded content, doing reels and blog posts, and creating local guides and lead magnets with your lender partners. Because if you have all this together, they see you as a business partner. And it's so much more natural to give referrals to you than to some other agent that they went golfing with once. Make it look like a no brainer to your lender, okay? So in the eyes of your lender, make it a no brainer to refer you because you make Them look good. That's what you have to become. So yes, you should expect business to be sent to you from your lender. You should expect them to reciprocate when you send them a bunch of business. But you have to be worth, you have to be someone, you have to be an agent worth sending business to. You can't just expect it and be a crappy agent where you know, you only close, you know, 25% of the deals and everyone has a, you know, you know you have like a 2 star rating overall from clients. Not good. Not good. Sit down with your lender partners every once in a while and talk about what collaboration looks like. What do they expect of you? What do you expect of them? How can you help them? How can they help you? Just have the talk. It doesn't have to be this hour long thing. But just by having that really simple, straightforward conversation puts you so far ahead of all their under their other agent partners because the other agent partners just see them as this lowly lender. They better get their job done, the rates better be great, the fees better be low. Give me my damn pre approval right now. And by the way, send me a bunch of business. That's how most agents are treating the lenders as well, if we're being honest. So create these collaboration plans with your lender partners. Run lead magnets together. Create a lead magnet together. Do a first time, a first time buyer webinar together. Have, you know, invite your lenders to come sit at your open houses. I was talking to a team leader earlier. They require their lender. Now look, once you get to a certain size and you're spitting out a ton of deals every year, you know, a hundred plus, 200 plus deals a year, you can, you can be a bit more picky and have some demands with your lender partners. Like hey, if you want to, if you want to get all of our business, we need you once a week to sit in an open house. You need to do this, you need to do that, you need to sponsor these events when we have them, blah, blah, blah. But if you're not there yet and you're just sending them five deals a year, you can't really be making demands like that. So know where you're at and know which lane you're in. Those, those new home buyer webinars are great. And by the way, they work better. Like when you're doing something with a lender partner, it just works better than if it's just you. If it's just you, one person Trying to do everything and deliver everything. It, it doesn't have the same impact. It doesn't even look as credible subconsciously to whoever's consuming it and viewing it than if you had a lender partner on there so that they handle some stuff, you handle some stuff, and it feels like a real team. It just seems like a more professionally done webinar or class that you're doing. Um, make sure that when you're having a conversation with your lender and setting those expectations of each other that you ask better questions of them. So ask what clients, what kind of clients do you want more of? Now imagine now, these are the questions that you're going to go ask your lender partners. Again. You're showing that you deserve and are a great, a great place for them to send their clients to their family members, their past clients, the people who they did some lead gen for and attracted into their world. Ask your lender partner, what kind of clients do you want more of? And then actually pay attention and listen. Okay, that's, that's kind of the key here. Ask them, what's your biggest challenge in converting what's your biggest challenge in converting pre approvals into closings? What's your biggest challenge in converting leads into conversations or appointments? And you may be able to help them fix and improve that stuff. And if you do, they're going to be indebted to you and they're going to want to naturally work with you and send you a lot of the business because you're helping them to get more. Ask them, what would it take for me to be your go to agent? This is, there's a lot of agents who are great at asking for the business. You know, assuming the clothes and just, you know, saying, hey, let's work together. I mean, you word it however you want, but ultimately it's, hey, let's get this listing agreement signed so I can get to work marketing your home, let's get it on the market so we can start our marketing plan and blah, blah, blah, blah. And you're really good at that. Well, use that same swagger that you have when you're talking to your lender and say, what would it take for me to be your go to agent? What's it going to take for me to be the first agent you think of when you have a client? And then listen questions like these show your lender partner that you're serious about helping them to grow too, that you're actually thinking of them as a partner and not just the lowly vendor I think you should be hosting client events together. Now look, I'm just rattling off a bunch of stuff now, but at a minimum, have the conversation and set the expectations with your lender. But you really want to build that deep, that deep long lasting relationship where you bring a bunch of business to them, they bring a bunch of business to you, and you all, you know, rise together like a rising tide lifts all ships. Host client events together, share the costs, share the exposure, double the database reach. I mean, if, if you are doing an event together, they market it to their list, you market it to yours better for everybody, you're doubling your exposure. Homebuyer happy hour, you know, credit to keys events, first time home buyer, whatever you want to call it. And when you do events, if you do a client appreciation event or a webinar or an in person first time home buyer class or home buyer happy hour, whatever, make sure that you record content from it so that you can leverage that on social to get even more business and to get more exposure out of it. And make sure that you are also, if your lenders are sending you business, you've got to follow up with those clients. So give your lender updates. It's so funny how we as agents expect lenders to give us updates. What's happening? Where are they at? You know what, what happens next in the timeline? You know what, what are we waiting for? Which documents are still needed, blah, blah, blah, blah, what did underwriting say? And then if they refer us a deal, they're having to reach out to us to say, hey, where are we at? What's up? What's going on with this? So give your lender partner that. Anyone who refers you business, whether it's an agent or a lender, you should be giving them regular updates on what's happening with the client that they sent to you because that client is important to them. They want to know what's up. So, and by the way, if you want to keep getting referrals from them, give them updates, show that you actually are considering them and you actually give a shit and that you didn't just take the referral and then you're just like, thank you. And then you go do your thing and you kind of forget about whoever brought you the referral. Don't do that, don't do that. Ultimately, I have a bunch more notes here, but screw it, I'm not, I'm not gonna, it's too much. When you have a great lender partner, set the expectation up front that you want a partnership with Them where not only you can send them business and know that they will take care of your clients, but that you expect them to send you business from time to time and that you will take great care of their clients. And if that's just, that's the relationship you're looking for. And if they can't. Look, I remember one time I was talking to a lender. This was like almost near the end of when I was still in production. But I finally learned some of this stuff and I was like, oh, if I want a lender to send me business, I should probably like let them know that. I should probably let them know that that's what I expect. And so I did. And they let me know. They're like, you know what, I don't get any business. I just, I have a referral only business. I just get deals from agents. I don't really have anybody coming to me. So I don't think I can really send you any business. And I respected it. I was like, cool. Like that sounds amazing. I don't think that's not really the relationship that I'm looking for. I'm looking for more of a partnership here. And we, we ended up not working together, but we still respect each other. We still talk actually like we're still connected through social and you know, it just, it worked because they were honest and upfront or like cool they have something or want something different than I do. That's okay. Isn't it great that we found that out now instead of me sending them a bunch of business and then finding, then resenting them later because they're not sending me any, when they couldn't anyways, there's some, some lenders are like that. So find someone who can have the conversation with them. I don't think it's unreasonable at all that any vendor, not just lenders, but a roofer, a contractor, a painter, your title company, an attorney, whoever, the staging company, photographer, inspectors. If you're sending your vendors a ton of business, it's not unreasonable to ask for something in return. It's not. In fact, they should want to be doing something in return because that's how they get you to continue sending them business. Because if, if it's just a one way street, eventually you may take that one way street and point it in a different direction because you're not getting any anything in return. You start to resent it and you realize, oh, that roofing company is going to give me a 10% refer, you know, revenue share on every deal that I Send them. Okay, I'm gonna work with them now. And this roofer over here who does a great job, they didn't do anything wrong, really. They didn't even know that you were looking to have something come back to you. You've got to communicate and set the expectations. So let's end with that. I hope that this was helpful. Make sure that you're just over communicating and setting expectations. I mean, if we zoom all the way out and oversimplify the hell out of this episode, you can take this concept and apply it to every business relationship you have. This is what you do with your buyers. This is what you need to do with your sellers. This is what you do with your spouse. This is what you do with your kids. You. You set expectations. You over communicate. You let them know what you expect of them. You ask them what they expect of you. It's amazing how great life can be when you have great, solid relationships with proper expectations, with great communication. So do more of that. Hope this was helpful. I will see you in Vegas on November 13th. Go to Vegas Fairway Elevate. And if you're grabbing a ticket, if you're going to come see us in Vegas at the Bellagio November 13th, make sure you use promo code. Dustin VIP. Get a discount. Save yourself some money on that. It's. It's the last event that I'm speaking at in 2025, and there's one hell of a lineup. I believe I'm opening the event and Neil Dinger comes up right after, so, I mean, awesome. Hope to see you there in Vegas. Thank you so much for listening. I'll see you all next week on the Massive Agent podcast. Take care.