So what is a good referral, whether you’re an advisor or a plumber?
1) Here’s what it’s not:
“I gave your name to so-and-so. Maybe she’ll call you.”
2) Here’s a medium referral:
An email introducing two people with no contact information other than the email address.
3) Here’s a good referral:
An email introducing two people with a short description of the situation, the benefit of meeting, and phone numbers for both people.
4) Here’s a great referral:
An email as per above preceded by a conversation with each party telling them why it serves them to meet each other.
Or, you get the two people together on the phone or in-person as you make the introduction.
I’ll admit, I sometimes get so busy I do number one – maybe 10% of the time. I never do number two, so close to 90% of the time I am doing an introduction with contact info, usually after telling the person requesting help to whom I’m referring them and why.
It shows you care when you take a little extra step and give personal attention.
