The surprising complexity of referrals

I referred a client to three possible publishers. The results revealed a surprising amount about what’s actually going on inside the referral process.

Three referrals, three outcomes

I have been working closely with a former colleague on his book. I’m his coach and developmental editor.

My client had rejected traditional publishing because it’s too slow for the quickly evolving business problem he’s writing about. Faster options included hybrid publishing, in which the author hires and pays a publisher, and assisted self-publishing, which is also a paid service. I referred the client to three possible publishing options.

Publisher 1 is a hybrid publisher with an innovative model and just a few books published so far. I’ve never worked with this publisher before, but I was impressed with their work.

Publisher 2 is a well-established hybrid publisher that publishes dozens of books a year. I have worked with this publisher on multiple books.

Publisher 3 is an assisted self-publishing consultant, the least expensive and fastest way to get into print. While I haven’t worked with this consultant before, they came highly recommended and have extensive experience.

After speaking with all three publishers, my client was leaning towards Publisher 1, based on their innovative model. I was excited to learn more about their process.

Unfortunately, things started to fall apart. Both the client and the publisher contacted me privately because they were concerned about the other. The client asked for references from the publisher. The publisher decided not provide them, as they felt the project didn’t match up well to the types of authors they were seeking. After that there was name-calling on both sides by email, with me copied on all the messages.

I took no action to try to fix things here. Having made the referral, I was ready to contribute to the client and publisher making progress on working together, but I had no reason to believe I could solve their problems. I certainly had no interest in getting in the middle of a fight.

My client pivoted to Publisher 2 and is now working with them.

Publisher 3 lost out because of the limitations of their self-publishing model. I also felt that Publisher 3’s pitch wasn’t well tuned to the highly business-focused and professional authors I work with. I shared some feedback with Publisher 3 that I thought would help them to secure future business with my referrals.

The aftermath of these referrals

I recommend multiple publishing options because I know that clients like to have choices. I choose publishers that I think are well-suited to the needs of any given client. Since the client is paying the publishers, they get to make the choice.

Publisher 1 was well within their rights to decide not to work with this author. Even though their model had clear advantages for this project, there was a personality conflict. There are limits to the adage that “the customer is always right.” The mutual decision not to work together was best, but the name-calling and bridge-burning was unnecessary. I could understand how each party felt and why they were upset.

However, Publisher 1 is going to pay a price here. A responsible service provider would have withdrawn gracefully, even if they felt attacked or provoked. Having seen what happened, I’m unlikely to send any other clients to this publisher, even though they’ve now sent me a couple of referrals for clients who needed my editing or ghostwriting services. When I refer somebody, I am implicitly promising that the publisher does a good and dependable job; sending other clients to this publisher now seems risky. Regardless of whose fault the blowup was, it revealed that I could no longer trust this publisher to treat clients respectfully.

Publisher 2 has done a solid, dependable, and mostly excellent job with the clients I’ve referred to them in the past. They won here because of their consistency. I have no doubt that our book will get the right treatment with them. They generally treat my clients and me with a lot of respect and consideration, in part because they know that’s how to get more referrals.

Publisher 3 accepted losing out on this project. But they then changed their pitch in exactly the ways that I requested. As a result, they’ve already closed a deal with another client of mine, and several others I referred to them are considering them. I commend them on their ability to accept the inevitability of losing sometimes and adjusting appropriately. I’ll be watching closely to determine if they follow through appropriately when they work with my clients. I know they’ll put in the effort to impress us, because a lot more deals could be coming their way as a result.

What I learned

Since after a referral I’m not the one with skin in the game, I could watch this process with a little detachment.

I learned two things.

One is the value of the not sending that angry and entirely justified email after you’ve been attacked. If you’re a service provider, getting upset can be costly. Go ahead and write it. Just don’t press send.

The second is that when you receive a referral, you need to take extra care, because even if the referral doesn’t result in business, it does leave an impression. I make an impression on the service provider based on who I send their way; if I send poor prospects, they’ll stop respecting me as a resource. Conversely, the service provider makes an impression on me based on how they treat the people I’ve referred. The consequences of that extend well beyond whether my client and the service provider actually end up working together.

Next time somebody sends you a prospect, consider this. Because what you do next could have a long-term impact on your business, even if you don’t close the deal.