How to Track Referrals in a Networking Group (Without a Spreadsheet)
Why spreadsheets and paper slips stop working as a chapter grows, what to track for every referral, and how to make tracking take seconds instead of minutes.
Updated Saturday, October 3
Every referral networking group runs on one promise: members send each other real business. Tracking those referrals is how a chapter proves the promise is being kept, and how members see who is sending them work.
Most groups start with paper slips, a web form or a shared spreadsheet. That works for a handful of members. By the time a chapter has fifteen or twenty, the spreadsheet is out of date, nobody knows which referrals turned into business, and the leader spends an evening each month adding things up.
What to record for every referral
A useful referral record answers six questions:
- Who gave it, and who received it
- Who the contact is: name, phone and email, so the receiver can follow up the same day
- What they need, in one or two sentences
- The date it was passed
- Where it stands: sent, contacted, meeting set, closed or lost
- What it was worth, once it closes
The last two are the ones most groups lose. Without them a chapter can count referrals passed, but can't say how much business its members actually closed for each other.
Keep contact details private
A referral includes someone's personal details. Only the giver, the receiver and the chapter leader should see them. Totals and leaderboards can be shared with the whole chapter; names and phone numbers should not be.
Make giving a referral take seconds
People give more referrals when it's easy. The fastest way is to start from the need: the member types "roof leak" or "estate planning" and the right member in the chapter comes up. Then the receiver gets the details by email straight away, while the contact is still expecting the call.
Close the loop
The receiver updates the status as things move along, and the giver sees it. When a referral closes, a quick thank-you back to the giver does more for a chapter's culture than any announcement at a meeting.
Look at the numbers once a month
A short monthly report for each member (referrals given, received and closed) and one for the chapter (totals, attendance, who might need encouragement) keeps everyone focused without anyone building it by hand.
Ecoferral does all of this for networking groups, with each group's own brand. If your group is still on spreadsheets, tell us about it.
Questions
Should guests see referral totals?
Totals are great on a chapter's website: referrals passed and business closed show visitors the group works. Contact details should never be public.
Do multiple referrals count separately?
Yes. If a member passes three contacts for the same need at once, record a count of three so the chapter's totals stay honest.