Advice to anyone lucky enough to get a referral. . .
February 25, 2008
This advice applies to anyone who is the recipient of a referral for a job, an investment or a service. If someone takes the time to make a referral and you accept the referral you have several responsibilities:
- Only accept referrals you intend to follow-up on.
- Promptly follow up on the referral (returning the call, sending the information, scheduling the meeting, whatever).
- Let the referrer know (usually via email) that you made the connection, or request help making the connection.
- Close the loop (usually via email) by explaining how it turned out.
- Return the favor. Take a minute to think about how you might be able help the referrer (regardless of how the referral turned out).
More than a week ago a friend of mine who is raising money was in a tight spot. I offered to help connect him to a potential investor. Within a day I had scheduled a meeting over drinks with the investor and my friend. I moderated the meeting over sushi and drinks and by the end the investor was interested enough to request an investment book and my friend seemed appreciative. For some reason I got stuck with the tab (responsibility No. 6: don’t make the referrer pick up the tab). Anyway, I followed up with my friend several days later only to learn he hadn’t sent an investor package to my investor friend. I begged the investor to do the meeting for me as a personal favor. I felt let down and somewhat burned.
However, over the weekend (I was at Ethan’s soccer game) a headhunter told me about a CEO job for a pre-IPO company and I mentioned that I might have the perfect candidate for him. I made a quick call and gave the candidate the headhunter’s contact information. He agreed to contact the headhunter today after sending me a thank you email. This morning I got an email from the candidate indicating that he had connected with the headhunter. He is keeping me in the loop because he realizes that I am extending my relationship to him ~ he is showing me that he respects my relationship and is taking it seriously. Guess who I will refer a second time?
