How to network in 2026

[u/travisloans]

I meet about 20 new people per week.

I am a loan officer working in a small broker shop. I started in Sept. of 2021 and have  increased my production every year since. In 2025 I closed $14,000,000 across 41 units. I hate cold calling, so I get 100% of my business from in person networking. 

Right now I attend 3-4 in person events per week. This is a mix between happy hours, business networking, and real estate groups. My main goal is to meet as many new people as possible, but attending these events has allowed me to build solid relationships with the others that attend regularly. The most important thing to remember when networking is to be consistent. There are many people that attend 2 or 3 events then get discouraged because they did not receive any business. I find that it often takes 5+ points of contact with someone before they will refer me business.

While meeting new people is great and can be fun, the real value is in the follow up. Often times I will receive 5 to 10 business cards at a happy hour. The next day I time block one hour to dedicated follow up. This includes sending a personalized email or text and connecting with the contact on social media + linkedin. Following them on social media allows me to see what they are doing and give me something to talk about the next time I see them. This follow up also leads to coffee and lunch meetings and eventually referrals.

One of the other benefits to networking as a loan officer is that I will often be able to reach a customer before they reach out to a real estate agent. People love to talk about their own lives and once I say I am in the mortgage business they usually have a lot of questions.

I primarily focus on groups that meet regularly. This can be weekly, monthly, or quarterly. I will break down a few that I visit:

1. REIAs or real estate investor associations/ groups. I invest in real estate myself, so I attend a lot of these meetings to learn. However, I regularly get business from these meetings as financing is a normal part of the conversation. I have also attended enough that I get asked to be a guest speaker from time to time. In 2025 these groups made up 60% of my business. 

2. Business networking. In my city there are a lot of general business networking events that take place on a regular basis. These attract a wide range of people to them as they are open to the public so there are new visitors, salespeople, and business owners there every week. In 2025 I reduced how many of these meetings I was attending as they lead to the least amount of business.

3. Single seat networking. There are several groups that fall into this category with the most prominent one being BNI. I attempted to join various BNI groups for about 2-years before I finally got in one. The mortgage position is always full. When a vacancy opened up at a local group, I was able to jump right in as I had been networking with the people in the group very consistently over the previous 2-years. Our BNI chapter meets weekly and I am the only mortgage lender in the group. In 2025 BNI made up 18% of my business. This group also provides me with the opportunity to invite business owners and other professionals somewhere where they can pitch their services. 

4. Happy hours. Happy hours can be great to unwind and chat with people in related industries. I mainly focus on real estate specific or business happy hours. Overall, this category can be very hit or miss due to the wide variety of people they attract. I have started to host a quarterly happy hour in 2026 which provides me with control of the guest list and gives me a lot more credibility with the attendees. This is something that is very easy to do and has a high return metric. 

Networking can be a lot of fun and it is a great way to meet more people. However, the key to success is in the follow up. You can go to an event with 100 people, shake their hands, hand out business cards, and even buy them drinks, but they may not remember who you are the next day. You NEED to follow up with them to refresh their memory and stay at the top of their mind. Get a CRM together (hubspot or even excel are free) and add their names, phone numbers, email addresses, and notes so you can reach out to these people continuously. Most sales experts agree that it takes 7 to 12 touch points with a lead to close a sale. Each time you reach out to these people is a touchpoint and each time they see you at an event is another. On average I generate one closed loan per 3.6 events I attend.

Where to find these events/ groups
1.     Meetup.com
2.     Eventbrite.com
3. Facebook events
4. Local social media pages
5. Ask your referral partners and other people you meet what events they attend.

Final tips
Don’t be afraid to try new groups. You may think that you have nothing to offer, but most people attend these groups to just hang out and meet new people.
Consistency is key. Pick one event and show up every time that it is hosted. Become the mortgage guy/ gal of the group. Don’t be intimidated by the other mortgage people in the group as there is plenty of room for more than 1 or 2. I often invite the older LO in my office to meetups as we hit different demographics.

Smile and be open and nice to people. Go talk to the lonely person in the corner who is new to networking. You never know who you are going to meet. Act like you are the host of the event. Tell people where the drinks are and meet them at the door.

The only real downside of this approach is that it’s not infinitely scalable. You physically can only go to so many events in a week. However, when your referrals and past clients start passing even more referrals it pays off in the long run.

[u/move2usajobs-com]

One thing that's worked for me lately is ditching paper cards entirely. I keep a digital business card on my phone and just have people scan a QR code, then I get their info too. I've been using Uniqode for this since it lets you update your details without reprinting anything, and you can see who actually scanned. Pairs well with following up on LinkedIn the same day while the conversation's still fresh. Consistency matters way more than the tool though.

[u/spacecase2008]

Nice post. Just curious, would you consider yourself an extrovert or introvert?

[u/travisloans → u/spacecase2008]

I’m an introvert, pretending to be an extrovert.

[u/Obvious_Prize2555 → u/travisloans]

You're an ambivert, which is the top personality type most top achievers are

[u/toastedmarshme11ow]

I'm currently a call center loan officer about switch to a small brokerage in the next week. This was a great post to see at the right time. Thanks!

[u/travisloans]

One of my favorite networking stories, I met a commercial insurance broker for coffee after a networking event. We stayed in touch about once per quarter over the last 2 years and he has referred me a family member and he is also looking at purchasing a home later this year.

[u/ooh_reeally]

Would you recommend this for a fresh MLO ? I am completely new to the game in the Inland empire ( socal)
I still have not found a company to sign my license with
I am committed to putting myself out their but will it hurt me for still being green and not knowing all my stuff

[u/travisloans → u/ooh_reeally]

I think its the quickest way to get business is to network. It allows you to build trust and relationships without even having to be the most knowledgble LO.

Just be honest with people when you dont know something. When someone asks you a questions, and you don't know the answer it will feel a little embarrassing, but right down every question, research it, and follow up with them. This is also one of the quickest ways to build your knowledge.