When Is a Referral Never a Referral?

I am asked all the time: How do you know if a referral is a good referral versus being a bad referral? The answer is quite simple: From the involvement from the referral source.

I always advocate that a person should earn referrals by way of personal (in-person or telephone) introductions. Never ask for (nor accept) a person's name or telephone number. A person may feel as though they are genuinely referring you to another. But they are not. All they are doing is providing you a name and telephone number, and in most instances, cursory conversations about it.

This type of referral (or introduction) is missing some very important elements.

Here's a scenario that has happened to us all: A close colleague hands you a business card from someone they just met during lunch. Your colleague tells you that you should contact the person because they may be interested in working with you. How do you handle this situation? Take their card? Pick up the telephone??

Well, this is what I would call a cold-introduction. Before taking any action on your part, you are much better thanking your colleague for mentioning your name, and then replying to them, "That's great Sue. But would you mind contacting her again and seeing if the three of us could have lunch together?"

The key concept here is that personal introductions will always trump cold introductions, especially in the game of referrals. You should strive for this level of commitment from others who recommend you to others. After all, they are endorsing you by recommending you to others.

That's not being conceited. It's being downright respectful to the other person's time. You could say something like:

"Sue, again, I appreciate you mentioning my name. Have you told her to expect my phone call? Would you be willing to call her again tomorrow and mention that we both talked, and that I'll be calling soon? Would you please do that for me??"

Notice how you are enlisting the referral source's help in warmly introducing you to the other person, even after their preliminary discussions about you.

Action Step: Train your colleagues, clients and prospects that you want their personal introductions of you to others. Always attempt to enlist their help in introducing you, rather than just passing you a name and/or telephone number.

Daryl T. Logullo is the Founder of Strategic Impact! and MaximumReferrals.com He concentrates on referral building strategies for today's professional. Get a $199 FREE Sample Client Referral Letter, to study, adapt and apply to your own busines, here: http://www.MaximumReferrals.com/am