How this Loan Officer Closed $16 Million in Referrals from Agent Classes

Chris Madden built a 'Grow or Plateau Academy' teaching real estate agents social media and personal branding — and turned that educational platform into his primary source of agent referrals, closing roughly $16M in referral business. This episode breaks down his exact workshop format, follow-up system, and how he uses Instagram to warm up cold agent outreach before ever asking for coffee. Best for LOs who want to attract agents instead of chasing them.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Run a 2-hour in-person 'Personal Branding Workshop' for 10 agents monthly: Part 1 covers core values and unique value proposition, Part 2 covers content creation — body text, headlines, finding ideas. Make it interactive with breakout exercises, not a lecture.
• Before calling or emailing any new agent, spend 2–3 weeks liking their posts, commenting on wins (e.g., 'Congrats on being top producer in June!'), and DMing a brief note. Only then invite them to lunch — and don't talk about loans, talk about growing their business.
• After each workshop, add all attendees to a CRM. Monitor who starts posting. When you see a new agent post, DM specific feedback ('Love this piece of content — great job'). Then offer to co-star in a video with them to break their camera fear and generate your first shared content.
• Send attendees a monthly or biweekly 1–3 minute BombBomb video with a single platform-specific tip (e.g., 'Here's a reel strategy working for a realtor in Buffalo right now') — not a loan update, not a rate sheet.
• Host a quarterly Facebook Live or Streamyard stream with a relevant guest (financial planner on retirement for realtors, home inspector, flip investors) where you play talk-show host and ask questions. Download the video and repurpose clips as Instagram content.
• Partner with your title rep, attorneys, or GSA (local Realtor association) to co-promote your workshop to their database — they email their list, you promote on Instagram, and use Eventbrite to capture reservations and own the attendee data.

The playbook

1. 1. Identify target agents on Instagram; spend 2–3 weeks engaging on their content (likes, comments, DMs congratulating wins).
2. 2. Invite warmed-up agents to your monthly 2-hour Personal Branding Workshop — promote via your Instagram, local Realtor association email list, and affiliate partners (attorneys, title reps).
3. 3. Teach the workshop: Part 1 = personal brand fundamentals (core values, UVP); Part 2 = content strategy (how to find ideas, write captions, create video). Use interactive exercises, not lecture.
4. 4. Add all attendees to your CRM. Monitor their social activity post-workshop.
5. 5. Reach out individually to those who start posting — give specific feedback, then offer to co-create a video with them.
6. 6. For non-posters, send a monthly BombBomb video tip to stay top of mind.
7. 7. Meet active participants for coffee or lunch — talk only about their business growth, never your loan products.
8. 8. Build a resource page on your website (like groworplateauacademy.com) with categorized tools agents ask about repeatedly — agents will share it within their offices, bringing you inbound.

Worth quoting

“I don't talk about loans. I stick to what's gonna help you grow your business.”

“It's like a digital handshake — if you don't shake any digital hands, you're not giving yourself an opportunity to get a client.”

Best for

LOs who want a repeatable monthly system to attract real estate agent referrals without cold-calling, by leading with education instead of a sales pitch.