I’ve written before on this blog about finding and maintaining strategic referral partnerships. But some questions came up recently in a seminar, and I thought they was worth addressing here.

Always remember that true strategic partnerships are two-way. Both parties should be able to give and receive a comparable number of referrals. A good example of this is the partnership I had with a heating and air conditioning company when I still sold windows. We were addressing a similar need (comfort in the home), and we were doing it with different products. That gave us the ability to proactively uncover referrals for each other at a similar rate.

Now let’s take a different situation, for example a financial planner and an estate planning attorney. It’s an important relationship for a financial planner because his clients need wills and estate work. But there are LOTS more financial planners out there than estate planning attorneys, and attorneys generally get to clients once they already have a financial plan, so the referrals tend to flow one way.

It’s still an important relationship for financial planners, but they need to manage their expectations. They will be giving lots more than receiving.

So look at your relationships. Are you frustrated by some because they seem to be one-way? Examine the needs you both are serving and the point at which clients come to you. Is it a true strategic partnership, or is it more of a one-way referral stream? Knowing that allows you to make some decisions about whether to continue the relationship.

Anyone have stories to share about referral relationships that were (or were not) true partnerships?

Making referrals and introductions can be risky, even when you know all the parties well. Yesterday I got one of those phone calls you just dread.

“Hey, Juli. Can you give me your perspective on a mutual contact.”

Uh oh. That was code for “One of your referrals didn’t go the way I expected. What now?”

All turned out well in the end, but it was an interesting conversation. In this case, the referral was potentially a good contact but required a bit of maintenance. Should I have been up-front with that when I made the introduction? Hard to say. Remember that you are referring people, and people are unpredictable. This person doesn’t always require careful handling, and I could have sent the wrong impression if I’d given a warning up front.

What to do? Follow your instincts. Stay in touch with all parties to see how things are going. And be willing to take that phone call and intervene if needed.

When you receive a referral or introduction, always remember that you are referring a person. Not just a product or service. People have good days and bad days. Keep that in mind when things don’t got quite as you expected.

And never, ever be afraid to pick up the phone to try to work things out. Talking can ease a lot of ills!