Your reputation is attached to every referral you give. A bad referral, just like a good one, is a reflection on you that’s why I recommend following up on every referral you give. Sometimes people don’t connect for one reason or another but sometimes they do and it doesn’t go well. They may not be willing to tell you, they just start treating you differently and that should definitely be your first clue. Here’s a system, that I use to help me complete the connection and make sure both parties are happy with the new relationship:
1. What do you do if the person referred doesn’t follow through? One thing that I suggest is to make sure both parties have contact information. Create a template to save some time and plug in the contact information for both parties and encourage them to connect.
2. Follow up with both parties within a week and see if they’ve connected and ask for a status. If the two parties are able to work together, check in periodically on the connection or project as it progresses.
Sometimes referral don’t work out as well as one would hope. If for some reason something went wrong there are a few things you might want to do to restore your relationships and your reputation.
1. Follow up with both parties to find out what went wrong and if the relationship can be restored. Sometimes a misunderstanding can be resolved and other times personalities just don’t work. Be willing to accept that and move on.
2. Apologies go a long way to restoring relationships. Be willing to restore your relationship with those involved simply by offering and apology that things did not work out.
Sometimes you just need to remove someone from your referral network. Remember your network is a reflection of you, it’s who you choose to align your reputation with so be selective, know the people you are referring.
