Who doesn’t like business referrals? The people who are directed to a specific vendor gain confidence from doing business with an outfit recommended by someone they know. The individuals who make such referrals provide a value-added service by steering their clients, or friends and relatives, in the right direction.

Of course, the businesses to whom potential customers are referred may have the most to gain: they can garner new clients without having to carry out expensive and time-consuming marketing campaigns. Indeed, many professionals take pride in claiming that they don’t do any marketing; they say they get all of their business through word-of-mouth referrals. “I just need to do good work, and my clients will give my name to other people,” they contend. That may be true as far as it goes, but that passive kind of approach will never grow a business to its full potential.

To reap the maximum benefit from business referrals, you have to take a proactive stance and develop an atmosphere that generates referrals for you. In other words, creating conditions that bring you business referrals actually should become an integral component of your marketing strategy.

Give and you shall receive

One of the best ways to get referrals is to make referrals. The more referrals you can generate for other businesses and professionals, the more likely they are to refer people to you. Are you vigilant in keeping your ears open for opportunities to make referrals to others? Do you pay attention when individuals with whom you do business or just any people you know express dissatisfaction with their current vendors?

It’s important, however, that you not make referrals cavalierly. After all, how a firm to whom you refer people ultimately treats them can reflect on your judgment and affect your relationship with them. If you have opportunities to make referrals to other professionals and businesses, it’s important to have well-established relationships with them so you feel comfortable sending people to them.

Make sure your potential referral sources are aware of the kind of referrals you would like to get, so they can send qualified people your way. Have you developed succinct communication points to let others know what referrals you’re looking for? Do you reinforce those points each time you have the opportunity to do so?

Educating clients about what you do what products you sell, what services you offer is a never-ending process. An important part of the process is letting clients know what kind of referrals you need. That’s especially true if your clients do not live and die by referrals the way you do. If they’re employed by someone and are drawing a regular paycheck, they may not understand how important referrals are to you.

Rest assured, I’m not advocating that you become a pushy salesman type. Key communication points can be unobtrusively woven into a conversation. For example, to the question “How’s business?” one might reply, “Great! We just started working on a business plan for a terrific new client, a privately held company with annual sales of $15 million. We’re always looking for more customers like that!”

Don’t be shy

For some professionals, the direct approach works best; they simply ask their clients for referrals. They wait for the right time basically, whenever a client is happy with their products or services and inquire who they might know who fits their referral qualifications. If you take this approach, you’ll increase your chances of receiving names if you ask, “Who do you know who…” as opposed to “Do you know anyone who….”

When some professionals are asked to make a referral, they like to provide or even are required to provide several names. This works out well, because it enables them to broaden the number of referrals they give. Also, the issue of chemistry is more likely to work out when someone receives several names. For example, you may recommend three qualified business consultants, but it’s likely that the potential client will click best with one of them.

Some professionals are in a better position than others to make referrals, which means that some find it difficult to reciprocate after people send business their way. CPAs, for instance, may have opportunities to make referrals to professionals in various disciplines, such as estate planning attorneys who may say they have few chances to return the favor.

Although the best way to reciprocate is by making a qualified referral in return, there are other options when that isn’t possible. Perhaps you could pay back referral sources by introducing them to individuals who would be worthwhile for them to know. Or maybe your referral sources are sports fans, and you could give them event tickets that are hard to come by. Most people will understand that you’re sincerely expressing your appreciation.

It’s important to keep an eye on whether the people to whom you make referrals in fact try to reciprocate. If you send a number of qualified referrals and get nothing back, it may be time to move on and make referrals for people who are willing to return the favor. Before doing that, however, ask the source why they aren’t reciprocating. There may be a good reason. But if you’re not satisfied with their answer or if nothing changes, it may well be time to send your referrals elsewhere.

Sharon Berman is principal of Los Angeles-based Berbay Corp., a marketing consultancy specializing in developing and implementing marketing programs for service businesses. She can be reached at .

Entrepreneur’s Notebook is a regular column contributed by EC2, The Annenberg Incubator Project, a center for multimedia and electronic communications at the University of Southern California. Contact James Klein at (213) 743-1759 with feedback and topic suggestions.