I think it's important to distinguish between an introduction and a referral. Most of these methods will help you get an introduction, which doesn't necessarily imply an endorsement. Referrals generally carry an endorsement, are generally pre-qualified and close pretty quickly. My best referrals come from clients, like yourself, who have experienced the excellent product and service I and my Company provide.

Debbie, 
 
I've found that if one takes the time to institute a complete referral generation process rather than simply asking for referrals the results of both the number and quality of referrals improves many times over. 
 
Simply asking creates too many problems of its own such as: 
* not giving the client time to get comfortable with the idea of giving referrals (my research indicates clients HATE to give referrals because they are afraid of being embarrassed in front of a friend, family member, colleague, etc. because the salesperson screwed up, so they need to get comfortable with the concept of giving you referrals and that takes a little time) 
* they need time to think of quality referrals--when we just ask and stand there waiting for an answer we're giving them about 10 or 15 seconds to go through their mental file cabinet and come up with quality referrals and that isn't realistic for most people 
* We haven't defined what a quality referral is--most of us assume our client knows which is a bad assumption 
* We haven't given them a reason to give us referrals--clients don't give referrals because they like us, they respect us, or even because we've done a good job. Clients are humans and most do things for the same reason most humans do things--they perceive them to be in their own best interests, so we have to give them a reason to give referrals 
* We haven't given them an objective way to determine if we've earned the referrals. Since clients are fearful of referring to people they trust and respect, we have to give them an objective way to determine we've earned the referrals and they need not fear they'll be sorry they referred us--that means objective criteria  
* We haven't helped them give the referrals. You can double,triple or more the quality referrals you get from a client if you pay attention during the sale and find out who the client knows that you know you want to be referred to and then ask for a referral to those specific people 
* Just getting names and phone numbers doesn't turn the referral into a direct introduction. Instead of just names and phone numbers you want to be directly introducted to the prospect by the client. 
 
By following a disciplined process that lets the client know way ahead of time that you expect to earn a large number of quality referrals and that overcomes the traditional issues just asking creates, you can get as many as 5 to 10 high quality referrals from virtually every client.

Great feedback Pete and Paul and thank you.  
 
 
 
If I read between the lines, I think Debbie was trying to communicate the non-strategic kinds of referrals you can capture as you do outbound calling. Referrals that expand your contact base and allow you to effectively start conversations with more people that fit your Ideal Customer Profile. There is a difference between a referral and a recommendation. Based on what I read, I think Debbie was talking about referrals as introductions and not real recommendations. 
 
 
 
Having said all that, if you want to read a great book on referrals please read Paul's "Creating a Million-Dollar-a-Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals." The man is the referral guru!

Referrals is the only way to go. Thanks for the refresher tips....