In business etiquette, if someone gave me a referral that got me business, how do I repay them? ?

Question

In business etiquette, if someone gave me a referral that got me business, how do I repay them? Do I get them a small gift? A card? Tickets to a movie? Or will it be that I did something for them, now they will feel obligated to give me something? Or will I have to reciprocate with business matters as well?

Answer 1

Depends on the value of the work. Last week one of our customers referred a new customer to us for a job worth about $75, so I called them after we shipped the work to say thanks and had a pleasant chat. (Never by email.) Usually just the acknowledgment is enough, because it's rare to get even that much these days.

I keep some proper thank-you cards by my desk for those occasions that someone has referred a bigger customer or really bailed us out of a jam -- our local Carleton Cards (like Hallmark) has a buy three, get three free promotion, so I have a nice little selection; some funny, some neutral, nothing too sappy or sentimental. The last couple of times I intended to go buy a thank-you card, I wasn't very strict on myself to make sure it gone done in a timely manner, and still sort of regret it, which is why I have a small supply now.

It really depends on your relationship with them and how valuable the work is. A regular customer should get more than an occasional one because you're also reinforcing the relationship with a gesture like this. I would hesitate to give something with a clear cash value unless the referred work is worth quite a lot, because when the gift's value and the job's value are too close it feels more like compensation than a courtesy. That you're thinking about it at all suggests that your instinct will be good on this.