Ep #86: Getting Your Clients and Referral Partners to Go from Casual to Committed

Rick Sheerer shares two high-ROI systems: a past-client annual review process that generates 2-4 loans/month using email, voicemail drop, and an online scheduler, and a Realtor Mastermind event format that converts unknown agents into committed referral partners. A third segment covers the Buyer's Playbook, a tool that teaches agents to build vendor referral networks. LOs who want a repeatable, low-rejection system for mining their database and breaking into top-producer agent relationships should listen.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Set up an Outlook mail-merge (Google 'mail merge in Outlook') to send personalized annual review emails to your entire past database in one batch; the email body should say: 'Hey [First Name], it's time for your annual review call. With the current economic and political climate, it's important we spend 10-15 minutes catching up. My calendar is here [link]. I commit that when we hang up, it will be worth every minute.'
• Sign up for ScheduleOnce or Calendly today and add your calendar link to every outbound email and voicemail. Use this exact script when giving the link: 'To avoid any back and forth, click this link, book a time that works for you, and I cannot wait to connect at that time.'
• Three days after sending the annual review email, drop a voicemail via Slydial (slydial.com) to everyone who hasn't responded. Script: 'Hey [First Name], I sent you an email a day or two ago — if you didn't get it, check your spam. There's a calendar link inside to book your mortgage review. I guarantee it'll be worth the 15 minutes.' Then send one final follow-up email. Stop there.
• Identify 5 agents who already refer you and 5 agents you know of but have never done business with. Call each one individually before the event and say: 'I'm hosting an invitation-only event — 10 high-integrity agents brain-sharing around business development, conversion, and time management. I need your commitment to come open, honest, transparent, and looking to give more than you take. Can you commit to that?' Only invite those who say yes.
• Send a pre-event questionnaire to every confirmed mastermind attendee with these four questions: (1) Where in your business are you doing really well? (2) Where are you struggling? (3) What opportunities haven't you capitalized on? (4) If you could change two things for the biggest impact, what would they be? Use their answers to build your facilitation agenda — you moderate, they teach each other.
• After each mastermind, follow up individually with every attendee, ask for their top takeaway, then say: 'I'd love a chance to earn your business — is there room in your arsenal for my team?' Rick reports he has never been told no at this step.

The playbook

1. 1. ANNUAL REVIEW SEQUENCE — Month setup: assistant pulls 100-150 past clients due for annual review.
2. 2. Send personalized mass email via Outlook mail merge with calendar link embedded; expect ~15% to book immediately.
3. 3. Two days later, send Slydial ringless voicemail to non-responders directing them back to the email/calendar link.
4. 4. Two days after that, send one final short email ('I'd still love to connect — here's the link'). Stop outreach.
5. 5. Target: 30-45 booked calls per month from a list of 150. On each call, review their current mortgage situation and ask 2 business-development questions at the end.
6. ---
7. 1. AGENT MASTERMIND EVENT — Identify 5 trusted referral agents + 5 target agents (buyer agents preferred to avoid listing-agent competition).
8. 2. Pre-interview each invitee by phone; secure commitment to openness, honesty, and giving over taking.
9. 3. Send 4-question written questionnaire; compile answers into a spreadsheet to map each agent's strengths and gaps.
10. 4. Host 10am-1pm event at a private hotel meeting room; bring lunch. Open by restating ground rules, give 3 minutes for phones, then put them away.
11. 5. Facilitate only — use questionnaire data to direct conversation toward agents who can answer each other's pain points. Common themes: open house conversion, Facebook/Instagram lead gen, time management.
12. 6. Post-event: call each attendee, collect key takeaways, then ask for the opportunity to earn their business.
13. 7. Rotate new agents into future quarterly events; limit each event to 7-11 people maximum.

Worth quoting

“Doing the right thing is always the right thing — you keep doing that over and over again and putting your head down and you know what happens.”

“You're moving your relationship from casual to committed — you're being seen in a different way.”

Best for

LOs who have a past-client database they're not systematically contacting and want a low-rejection process to generate 2-4 referral loans per month from it.