John McGrath reveals massive referral opportunity

Mr McGrath, chief executive of McGrath Estate Agents, said the goal of every consumer interaction should be to create loyal advocates rather than do a transaction or win business.

That will then allow agents to tap into massive referral networks because the average consumer is connected to 285 other people, according to Mr McGrath.

“Once they become a raving fan, not only do you get that piece of business, you get access to potentially 285 of their closest friends and associates,” he said.

“Over 50 per cent of business decisions today on planet Earth are made through a referral and third-party endorsement – over 50 per cent.”

Mr McGrath was speaking at the Better Business Summit, a mortgage broking event run by REB’s sister title, The Adviser.

Mr McGrath said he made so many raving fans as a young agent that he never had to do any marketing or letterbox drops when he founded his business aged 24.

Part of the reason he built this loyal following was because of the attention he gave buyers – when Mr McGrath entered the industry as a 20 year-old, he was intimidated by older vendors, so he made a point of focusing on buyers whom he knew were unloved.

“No one gets back to them, they leave all their details, then a week later the same agent has got a property identical in the paper [but] they haven’t rung them – no one follows up,” he said.

“Here was my goal: I wanted to give the buyers I was working with the best service experience of their life.

“I didn’t just want to look after buyers because that would’ve given me a result; I didn’t want to just make a sale to them; I wanted to give them the best service experience of their life.”

Mr McGrath shares his secrets to sales success in a limited-time presentation available only to REB+ subscribers.

This video presentation, which is available until August 23, clearly spells out how agents can massively increase their volumes – without becoming workaholics.

To subscribe to REB+, click here.