Referrals are like a bottle of wine
Mar 6th, 2008 
Gil Zeimer's Vintage
Referrals are like a bottle of wine. Some can be opened immediately and savored for the opportunity they present.
Some have to sit for a while in the dark, but not forgotten. You have to tend to them. You have to check their status. You have to constantly look at them in the light of day and see when they’re ready to yield their ripe fruit.
In other words . . . and I swear I haven’t touched a drop of wine while I’m writing this . . . some referrals have to be nurtured until they’re ready.
Case in point: I received a referral early last year from Seth Tajbakhsh from one of his best clients. When I called her, she said she wasn’t ready to move forward yet with her project.
I checked back a month later. She still wasn’t ready.
A few months after that, she agreed to let me revise the content of her Website. Bradley Charbonneau worked on the design and the client is very pleased with the new site, which I can update for her.
Four months later, she handed me a huge editing and proofreading project that I just finished with Sharon Schanzer.
So remember that all referrals aren’t microwaveable. Some have to sit on the shelf and ripen.
Gil Zeimer Freelance copywriting. Direct response copywriting. Web site copy. Writing copy for ads, company brochures, HTML emails, radio, TV, data sheets, sales films, conferences, and more. I’m even a successful blogger — and have even hosted workshops on blogging.
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Gil, that’s so true. Just this week a woman whom Michael Tauber had referred to us came into the office. She purchased Homeowners, Auto and Umbrella Insurance from us.
Michael had sent her our way back in August 2007. We sent her a couple of quotes back then, but she just wasn’t ready to move forward yet (even though we could save her about $500 per year over her various policies.)
We checked in with her a couple of times since last August, each time she said “I think I’d like to switch, but I’m just not ready right now.”
This wek, she was finally ready.