121 CRM playbook · Referral follow-up

Handle a referral with permission, transparency and clear ownership for both the referrer and the person referred.

A fictional adviser receives Sam’s introduction to Priya by email and waits for Priya’s consent before adding promotional follow-up. This playbook turns that kind of situation into an owned sequence with explicit stop points, exceptions and measures. Use only channels, data and capabilities approved for your setup.

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Customer Thread

Referral follow-up: the working sequence

Illustrative example

Record the source accurately
Respond transparently
Respect the outcome
Human review

Record the source accurately
Note who introduced whom and the context without inventing endorsement.
Respond transparently
Explain how the details were obtained and what the business can help with.
Respect the outcome
Record decline, no contact or progression without pressuring either party.
Human review
A person checks the outcome and any exception.
Human decision

Illustrative playbook — names, organisations and activity are fictional.

Fictional workflow demonstration

Follow referral follow-up from start to next action.

The coded interface shows an example sequence using fictional data and does not expose a live CRM account.

121

Northstar Joinery

Fictional

See every customer relationship in context

OverviewContactsConversationsPipelineAutomation

See every customer relationship in context

Move from a searchable contact list into a useful relationship record.

Bramble Studio

Jamie Clarke · jamie@example.test

Needs review

Owner

Amina Rahman

Source

Website form

Stage

Discovery

Commercial state

Not recorded

Preferred contact

Email preferred

Next action

Confirm site-visit scope

Human decision

Amina Rahman confirms fit and records the outcome before the opportunity moves stage.

Illustrative 121 interfaceAll people, organisations, dates and activity are fictional. Any figures are illustrative. Controls demonstrate interaction patterns, not enabled account features.

What supports the playbook

See what the CRM can coordinate — and where your team steps in.

The CRM can organise the sequence, but the business still sets the rules, checks consent and handles the moments that need human judgement.

Capability 01

Contacts

Stores a person or lead with contact details, activity, ownership and related records.

How it works: Stores or organises supported business data under configured fields, permissions and record rules.
Why use it: Gives a team one place to understand who a customer is and what has happened.
Plan for: The platform does not make imported, duplicated or incomplete data accurate without review.
Your team owns: A data owner must define the record model and resolve quality, ownership and access exceptions.

Capability 02

Tasks

Creates assigned, dated and optionally recurring actions against contacts or opportunities.

How it works: Tracks a potential deal, stage, owner or task using configured pipeline and record rules.
Why use it: Turns the next step into owned work instead of leaving it inside notes or inboxes.
Plan for: Pipeline position is only reliable when users and workflows update it consistently.
Your team owns: A responsible owner must qualify the deal, choose next actions and resolve stale or disputed status.

Capability 03

Email conversations

Sends and receives supported email messages against the customer conversation and contact record.

How it works: Handles an eligible customer interaction through a configured inbox, number or connected channel.
Why use it: Keeps email context visible to authorised colleagues rather than one private mailbox.
Plan for: Delivery, message types, geographic coverage, approval and charges vary by channel and provider.
Your team owns: A person must own sensitive conversations, failed delivery and any situation outside the approved script.

Capability 04

Goals and exits

Moves or removes records when the configured outcome or stop condition has been met.

How it works: Runs an ordered sequence only after its configured trigger and conditions are met.
Why use it: Helps avoid continuing follow-up after the customer has already acted.
Plan for: Automation follows its configuration; it cannot repair poor data, unclear rules or an unavailable external service.
Your team owns: A process owner must approve, test, monitor and pause or correct faulty automation.

Entry criteria

Begin with a valid trigger, enough context and one owner

A referral is received through an approved route with enough context to review contact permission. Before any automated action, confirm that the event, customer record and communication basis are suitable for this playbook.

Trigger

A referral is received through an approved route with enough context to review contact permission.

Practical scenario

A fictional adviser receives Sam’s introduction to Priya by email and waits for Priya’s consent before adding promotional follow-up.

Human decision retained

Accountable owner

Name the person or queue that accepts the work, monitors exceptions and can stop the sequence.

The sequence

Run the referral follow-up playbook step by step

Each step should leave evidence a colleague can understand. Timing and channels should follow the customer context rather than a generic high-pressure cadence.

1. Record the source accurately

Note who introduced whom and the context without inventing endorsement.

2. Check permission to contact

Use the introduction method and any explicit consent rather than assuming a referrer can consent for someone else.

3. Respond transparently

Explain how the details were obtained and what the business can help with.

4. Create the owned next step

Assign a person to answer or arrange a conversation.

Close the loop

5. Respect the outcome

Record decline, no contact or progression without pressuring either party.

Owner, timing and exception

Make the operational state easy to review

The supporting view keeps the next action and human checkpoint visible around the automated steps.

121 CRM · Connected operations

Book discovery

October · illustrative availability

MTWTFSS1234567891011121314

11:3014:00

Appointment sequence

Booked

Calendar entry created

1 day before

Reminder scheduled

Exception

Owner reviews a reply

Journey summary

New

Illustrative

Owned

Illustrative

Due

Illustrative

Website

Referral

Direct

Illustrative exampleAll dates, counts and workflow states are fictional. Availability and behaviour depend on the agreed setup.

Exception paths

Stop the normal route when the facts change

Exceptions are part of the process, not failures to be hidden. Route them to a person with the authority and context to decide what happens next.

Human review

No permission or unclear source

Ask the referrer to make an introduction or do not contact.

Human review

Incentivised referral

Apply the approved terms and disclosure requirements.

Human review

Sensitive need

Move to a suitable confidential route with minimal data.

Operational review

Measure whether the work became safer and clearer

Use measures that reveal ownership, service quality and control. Counts of messages, tasks or workflow runs are supporting signals, not proof of customer value.

Referrals with documented source and permission

Prioritise provenance over quantity.

Time to appropriate human response

Measure useful ownership.

Declines and data corrections respected

Audit repeat contact.

Questions about this page

Useful answers, without the sales fog.

1. When should the referral follow-up playbook start?

A referral is received through an approved route with enough context to review contact permission. Confirm the record is eligible and that a named owner or monitored queue is available before allowing customer-facing action.

2. Which channels should the referral follow-up playbook use?

Use only configured channels that suit the purpose, customer preference and consent position. Give each channel a distinct role and check provider availability and usage charges before launch.

3. When should referral follow-up automation stop?

Stop when the purpose is complete, the customer responds or opts out, the data conflicts, or an exception needs judgement. In this playbook, pay particular attention to no permission or unclear source, incentivised referral, sensitive need.

4. How should we judge whether referral follow-up works?

Review referrals with documented source and permission, time to appropriate human response, declines and data corrections respected. Combine the numbers with sampled records and customer context; do not treat activity volume as a business outcome.

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Continue the journey

Lead management Customer management Security and data Event follow-up

Delegate the work. Keep the human.

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