Closing $36 Million in Agent Referrals
Chris Coghill breaks down exactly how he closed $36,554,196 and served 133 families in a single year using agent education classes as his only lead generation strategy. He covers his pitch to get in front of agents, his feedback-form follow-up system, and how he turned a live class into same-day contracts and pre-approvals. LOs who want a repeatable, relationship-based alternative to cold calling should listen.
Teaching 50-60 agent classes per year — with a feedback form and intentional follow-up — can replace every other lead source entirely.
Takeaways you can run this week
- Pitch agents with this exact framing: 'You've got a lender you love — keep them. I'm not here to replace that. I want to help you grow your business. Give me the business we grow together.' Use this script on your next agent outreach call.
- At the end of every class, collect a feedback form. Your follow-up call then becomes: 'You said X was your biggest challenge — is that still true? If we work on that together, would that earn a shot at your business?' Replace generic follow-up with this question.
- When sending class invites, add this line: 'If you have a loan estimate you're trying to compete with or compare, bring it and I'll take a look — your customer doesn't even have to apply.' Chris closed 2 contracts and 4 pre-approvals the same day he added this to one class.
- Teach 50-60 classes per year by treating classes as your only business development activity — not a supplement to other prospecting. Block time to deliver at least one class per week and eliminate lower-ROI activities.
- Before teaching any class, open the app or platform yourself and verify you can find every button and step referenced. Chris's rule: 'Know the territory so you can truly direct people where to go' — run through the demo yourself 24 hours before each class.
- For agents who registered but didn't attend, call them with: 'You registered but couldn't make it — I wanted to personally share the one thing agents found most valuable.' This keeps the door open without a hard sell.
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GET FREE ACCESSThe playbook
- 1. Identify agents to target using a list of those who closed 8-50 transactions in the last 12 months in your local market.
- 2. Pitch agents using the non-threatening 'keep your lender, let me help you grow' framing.
- 3. Add a loan estimate review offer to your class invite to create immediate transaction opportunities.
- 4. Teach the class — use ready-made, editable presentations so you don't need to be an expert; insert your personal brand (photo, color scheme, personality hook).
- 5. Collect a feedback form from every attendee before they leave.
- 6. Follow up with each attendee referencing their specific feedback form answer: 'You said X — is that still your biggest challenge? If I can help with that, would that earn your business?'
- 7. Follow up with no-shows: 'You registered but didn't make it — here's the one takeaway everyone loved.'
- 8. Repeat at a pace of 50-60 classes per year (roughly 1 per week).
Worth quoting
“I don't do anything else. I don't have to do anything else because I've become known as the glasses wearing guru.”
“If I put 50 people in a room for one hour, I've influenced the mind share of 50 people in that same one hour timeframe.”
Best for
LOs who are already meeting agents one-on-one over coffee but want a scalable, repeatable system that converts groups of agents into referral partners without cold calling.