Having recently blogged about how to get more referrals i then looked around the internet for more resources. Thankfully that led me to your blog. Glad I found it.

I particularly like your tip on providing language that your client might use when making a referral.

Thanks again for your post, my readers wil appreciate it, Mac.

LinkedIn is hugely helpful when used as you suggest.

Ford Harding

*** For readers interested in more on referrals, I suggest going to Ian’s post on the subject. ***

One of the dilemmas of being specific, is the fear that if you ask for a specific company or person and they don’t know them, then you get nothing. But if you’re not specific enough, you get nothing too.

One solution to this is to use Linkedin to see who they know that you’d be interested in a connection to (or vice versa – search for people you’re interested in meeting and as for referrals from people you know who also know them on Linkedin).

I’ll back up your point about asking for advice too – especially if you’re a little uncertain of your relationship with the referrer and/or their relationship with the person you’d like to be referred to. Asking “if you were me, how would you go about making contact with XYZ?” gives them the opportunity to offer to introduce you if they feel comfortable doing so, but also the ability to back out if they’re not quite there yet without being embarrassed. That way you preserve your relationship with them.

Ian