Referral systems

What makes a referral useful?

A name and phone number are not enough. A quality referral protects trust on both sides of the introduction.

The five-part standard

  1. Permission: the person knows their information will be shared and agrees to be contacted.
  2. Relevance: the selected professional actually fits the need, geography, timing, and budget context you know.
  3. Context: explain the problem, desired outcome, and why the connection makes sense.
  4. Warm handoff: introduce both parties instead of quietly passing a number.
  5. Closure: confirm receipt, respect the outcome, and never pressure either person.

What not to include

Do not submit passwords, Social Security numbers, payment-card data, medical information, government identifiers, private documents, or details the person did not authorize you to disclose.

Choose the category, not a guess

Our referral form asks for the service category. The network routes the opportunity to the verified member representing that category, reducing confusion and stale contact information.

Send a consent-based referral

Build the follow-through habit with the Master Networker’s Planner overview.