Referrals are an important part of every business; but how referral ready are you as a recruiter?  When it comes to referrals many recruiters think of candidate referrals and client recommendations made TO them; but having your name passed along to others is just as important. Below are a few tips on how you can become referral ready:

1.    Make time each month to meet and greet leaders in your industry. This can be done at conferences, networking meetings or one-on-one business lunches.  

2.    Pay it forward to contacts.  Make sure that you have valuable information and resources for contacts that you can pass along in the form of a monthly or weekly newsletter. This will keep you in the forefront of their minds and build a sense of appreciation for what you are offering.

3.    Try to get new contacts to signup for the newsletter we mentioned above.  One way of doing this is to send them a personalized email with valuable information (ie. article, events calendar etc.) and tell them that you send out similar information each month/week. Finally, directly ask them to signup for your newsletter. Never spam.  Never send newsletters to someone without their permission. Also, make sure that your ask for referrals in your newsletter.

4.    Write industry articles, maintain an industry blog and speak at industry related events.

Before taking the risk of referring your business, your contacts want proof that you are worthy, referral ready and an expert in your field.  When you are present and constantly contributing to your industry that often serves as proof enough and will send your referral rate skyrocketing.