I remember when I began my career in real estate sales I was always looking to increase the number of leads I could obtain through canvassing. And then one day it finally hit me. When I would talk with people and ask them if they were looking to buy, sell or lease real estate I would then ask them the following follow-up question:

"Who do you know that may be interested in buying, selling, or leasing real estate?"

Within a few weeks I was in escrow on a $500,000.00 brand-new building with a buyer I located through a referral by simply asking a cold-called prospect this question. And this buyer then referred me to a vendor of his who was looking for a larger building for his own business. After I leased the vendor a building for his business he then referred me to another company that I closed another transaction with.

You never know who people can refer you to. All you have to do is ask them who they know who might be interested in what you have to offer. And the beauty of this type of referral is this:

When you get referred to someone else, the person you get referred to treats you like a close friend of the person who made the referral. You barely had a conversation with the person who made the referral but because the referral came through this person you will be treated much better by the person you have been referred to. And the person making the referral doesn't even have to make a phone call. They just tell you who to contact and you do the follow-up.

Now, with respect to the person you have been referred to, to them you are no longer an agent cold-calling, you are now associated with someone they like and maybe even do business with. This beats the heck out of contacting the person through a cold call!

Now when you are canvassing, "ask the question" and watch the leads you obtain from canvassing begin to take off.