Building & Maintaining Successful Referral Relationships in Property Management

How do you build successful referral relationships in property management?

Your property management company depends on relationships, and on today’s episode of The Property Management Show, we’ve asked Paul Boudier and Terri Alcala to join us. They have a unique professional relationship in place, and they’ve been referring business to each other for years.

Today, we’re diving into how their relationship was built and how they manage to sustain it so that each of them can attract more business.

Introducing Paul and Terri

Paul (BRE# 01179722) heads the Paul Boudier Team at Keller Williams Realty in Placer County. He’s lived in California for more than 50 years, and he’s been a Realtor for 25 of those years. He feels passionate about his opportunity to help thousands of families in the tri-county area find a home or an investment property that works for them.

Terri Alcala (DRE# 01168555) is a property manager who owns Action Properties in Roseville. She’s been managing properties for 30 years, and Action has been in business for 20 years.

Terri’s mother gets the credit for introducing the two. She was a real estate agent working with Paul in 1994, and she immediately grew to appreciate Paul’s work ethic and the way he presented himself. Since Action Properties is one of the few management companies in the market that doesn’t also do real estate sales, the partnership has been invaluable.

Paul and Terri agree that their relationship works because they make each other look good to their clients. That’s the foundation of a strong referral relationship program.

Referral Relationships in Property Management

Use Your Network

Terri and Paul were introduced to one another, and you also have a network of people who can introduce you to partners that may help you build a stronger property management business. Look for people you can work with and build relationships with. It’s difficult to call a random Realtor or property manager who you don’t know, so focus on the relationships that are already in place and see what else they can do for you.

With a relationship like the one Terri and Paul have, they refer new business to each other first. But they have other referral sources, too. Terri specializes in specific parts of Sacramento, for example, so when Paul has a client who is in an outlying area, he relies on other relationships in those regions.

Building additional relationships is its own form of lead generation.

Trust Drives Business

Neither Terri nor Paul rely on formal contracts when it comes to working with each other or with any other professionals in real estate and property management. They trust the people they partner with – which may seem old school, but is vital in their industries.

Terri says she still trusts that people will do what they say. There’s an understanding, and the people she works with are committed to that.

For Paul, communication works hand in hand with trust. He uses client experience to know that each party is holding up their own end of the bargain. When his clients are happy with the services Terri is providing, he knows the relationship is working.

Every agent and property manager handles their referral relationships differently. A lot of property managers also sell real estate, and, in that case, it’s important to track who is referring business to you. You’ll want to take care of the management of that property and then offer the business back to the referring agent when the client wants to buy or sell. This is all based on trust.

Property managers and real estate agents who are focused on good customer service will end up winning business and building both trust and relationships.