Never, EVER forget to thank your referrer

Sometimes the obvious slips by us, so I'll take a moment to state it here for this thread. When you get a referral, never ever forget to thank the person who made it happen for you. Of course it's important to do so at the time, but it's also a good practice to re-visit with that person, especially if the referral turns into new business for you. I'll be going to see a new client in the near future which came to me by way of referral from a mutual contact we have. As soon as I made my travel plans, I made sure to carve out some time to buy lunch for the mutual contact that referred us. Who knows... maybe he'll have another contact for me!

I wholeheartedly agree. That person has done you a favor by referring you to someone. People that are willing to refer you, are some of the best salesmen you'll ever have! Thanking them (whether by a fee at the completion of sale, buying them lunch, or even just a card) is so important.

Pam

Originally Posted by Coda1108 Sometimes the obvious slips by us, so I'll take a moment to state it here for this thread. When you get a referral, never ever forget to thank the person who made it happen for you. Of course it's important to do so at the time, but it's also a good practice to re-visit with that person, especially if the referral turns into new business for you. I'll be going to see a new client in the near future which came to me by way of referral from a mutual contact we have. As soon as I made my travel plans, I made sure to carve out some time to buy lunch for the mutual contact that referred us. Who knows... maybe he'll have another contact for me!

This is an excellent point, Coda, but I have to ask what you sell. If you are selling homes, it is easy to know if someone referred you and to thank them personally. Does this rule still apply if you are selling a comodity and have perhaps 200 sales per day? Is there a way to thank you to 100 people who have been part of your word-of-mouth advertising?

Bernhard Dohrmann, cofounder of INI Glogal, Inc. wrote this about sustainable networks:

"In a cooperative network, you reward everyone who helps you appropriately for the degree and level of the help received. Sometimes, it's a 'thank you' or a gift and sometimes it's stock, fees, or money. There should always be a reward for a contact that made a benefit to you. If you have a benefit, you should give a reward of one kind or another including recognition."