Target Smarter, Close Faster: The New Way to Grow Agent Referrals
Eric Levin walks through how loan officers can use MLS transaction data and their own NMLS history to identify hidden referral opportunities, recapture lost agent market share, and build a smarter outreach pipeline. Best for LOs who feel like they're always chasing new agents when better ROI is sitting in their existing relationships.
The gap between you and your production goal is probably just a 5% market share increase with agents already sending you business — not finding new agents.
Takeaways you can run this week
- Log into Model Match (modelmatch.com), enter your NMLS ID, and pull every agent connected to your past transactions — the platform surfaces buyer-side and listing-side connections you've likely forgotten. Use this list as your outreach priority, not a cold prospect list.
- Filter your current referral partners by loan type. If a top agent is sending you all conventional deals but her government loans are going to competitors, call her immediately and say: 'I'm in a data tool right now and I can see clearly that I'm not getting all of your business — I can see the VA and FHA going to [competitor names]. I want that business. Is there something I can do to better compete?' That exact conversation recovered a major agent relationship in the episode.
- Pull all FHA/VA loans you've closed since 2019, filter for borrowers still current in their home, then check current rate, LTV, equity, and payoff amount inside Model Match. Call the 20 best candidates — the episode cites a high probability of generating at least one new loan from 20 targeted calls.
- To capture a new referral partner, use Model Match's map pin feature: drop a pin in the neighborhood where a buyer is shopping, filter agents by transaction history in that area, then filter again by loan type (e.g., VA) to find agents already comfortable with that product. Refer your buyer to 3 agents — you'll likely earn 2 new referral relationships from the agents whose buyers you didn't win.
- Run a 24-month transaction report in Model Match, then cross-reference it against which agents you've attended closings for. Identify the 10 agents where you haven't shown up to closing and commit to attending their next one — the episode cites a direct correlation between attending closings and increased referral volume from those agents.
- Start a free 14-day trial of Model Match to audit your own data before committing — the episode notes ~80% of trial users upgrade within 30 days once they see what's in their own transaction history.
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GET FREE ACCESSThe playbook
- 1. Enter your NMLS ID in Model Match to surface all buyer and property connections from past transactions.
- 2. Identify agents in that list who are already referring you business.
- 3. Filter each agent's transaction history by loan type to spot product categories going to competitors.
- 4. Call agents where you're losing product types; use the script: 'I can see in a data tool that [loan type] business is going to [competitor] — I want that business, what can I do?'
- 5. For agents you haven't recently closed with, commit to attending their next closing.
- 6. For past borrowers, filter closed FHA/VA loans still current, check current LTV/equity/rate, and make 20 targeted refi/purchase calls.
- 7. Tag and track all contacts by stage, priority, and loan type inside the CRM; measure conversion rates per segment.
Worth quoting
“The gap between you and your goal might actually be as simple as looking at the agents already referring you business and increasing market share by 5% with each one.”
“She said, 'I didn't know that you wanted that business because he had never presented himself that way.'”
Best for
LOs who have closed 50+ deals but have never mined their own transaction history to identify which agents are splitting business with competitors.