Here’s a simple, efficient and appreciated way of referring someone: provide your referral’s basic coordinates to your network contact (Person to talk to, Company name, phone and e-mail) as well as the need and the estimated time frame. And also inform your referral that you are referring them one of your contacts. You will thus help your contact to better get through and your referral to be better prepared.

And here’s the other side of the coin. When you receive a referral, there are three steps to follow.

First of all, thank the person that sent it to you and request additional information as need be: type of business, what’s their character like, the urgency of the situation.

Secondly, get in touch quickly with the referral, ideally live. Even if it didn’t look like a rush. Both parties will appreciate that you took things seriously.

Thirdly, follow-up with the person having provided the referral. If you don’t proceed this way, you are not showing much respect to the person having given you the referral and you are lacking business judgment. People providing referrals are glad to know what happened and want to make sure the people they entrusted you with were well taken care of. Don’t make them run after you and don’t disappoint them if you don’t want your source of referrals drying up. You work hard enough to get them, don’t you?