One of the key roles of management is to build business through relationships. A common way to build relationships is through referrals: with, for and through banks, attorneys, employees, peers, and anyone else who has something that someone else wants or needs. The better you are at managing the referral, the better off you and those in your organization will be. Unfortunately, even though most referrals start with good intentions, theyre conducted haphazardly and dont yield the results people expect. Its often the reason that referrals are not offered. Who wants to be burned? The tips in this article should help you control the outcomes and get what you want.
Everyone has been embarrassed by their association with another person at one time or another. How about that cousin you wouldnt want anyone to know about? But what happens when the embarrassment happens in a business situation: more specifically, when you refer one person to another and one of those parties is unprofessional or just plain screws up? Making a bad connection could cost you money or something more valuable and much harder to recoupyour reputation.
We once stepped into an awkward situation...