Leave with a specific referral request and an optional introduction message.
Start with a real buying situation
For the worked example, the audience is an operations lead at a professional-services firm. Their problem is that client deadlines live in different spreadsheets and dependency changes arrive late. The desired practical outcome is a single view of owners, dependencies and delivery dates.
The example is deliberately bounded: client teams must retain access to an export of their work. That condition should influence the promise, scope and next step rather than disappear from the marketing copy.
| Illustrative offer | a shared project planning workspace |
|---|---|
| Buyer question | Which handover creates the most rework when a delivery date changes? |
| Possible evidence | a sample project with one late dependency and the resulting schedule change |
| Useful asset | a project dependency mapping worksheet |
How to complete your referral request
- Confirm that the customer has had a useful experience.
- Describe the kind of person and problem you can help with.
- Ask whether an introduction would be appropriate.
- Provide a short optional message they can edit.
- Respect a decline and keep any incentive explicit.
Worked example
These entries are illustrative planning material, not research findings or customer results. Keep the structure and replace the content with verified details.
| Why an introduction may be appropriate | Ask after the customer confirms the work was useful. Do not assume satisfaction from payment alone. |
|---|---|
| Who we can help | an operations lead at a professional-services firm facing the following problem: client deadlines live in different spreadsheets and dependency changes arrive late. |
| The low-pressure request | If someone in your network is dealing with this issue, would an introduction be appropriate? No problem if nobody comes to mind. |
| Optional introduction text | Optional introduction: “I thought you might find this relevant. They offer a shared project planning workspace. You can decide whether a conversation would be useful.” |
| Follow-up and consent | Let the customer choose whether to introduce you. Do not request a contact list or enrol a referred person into a sequence without an appropriate basis. |
Review before using it
A useful operational measure in this example is time spent preparing the weekly delivery update. That does not automatically make it a marketing attribution metric. Define the source, period and owner before drawing conclusions.
- Can the customer decline comfortably and understand exactly who would be contacted?
- Check the delivery assumptions: Agree who imports data, maintains the plan and owns exit exports.
- Use evidence rather than promises. Do not present feature count as proof of adoption.
- Discuss the draft with someone who understands the buying situation. Start with: “Which handover creates the most rework when a delivery date changes?”
- If the next step is a trial, define its purpose. One possible starting point is to run one internal project for two weekly planning cycles.
Common mistakes and a better review
Do not fill a missing fact with an impressive-sounding number. Mark it as an assumption, explain how you will check it and give that check an owner. A short, honest document is easier to use than an elaborate plan built on unknowns.
| Watch for | Asking for access to a customer’s entire contact list creates friction and privacy concerns. |
|---|---|
| A real buyer concern | Another tool will just add more administration. |
| Useful response direction | Let us time the current weekly update and compare the same update on one sample project before asking everyone to move. |
| Evidence to collect | The buyer’s own account, a sample project with one late dependency and the resulting schedule change, and records relevant to time spent preparing the weekly delivery update. |
Your working sheet
Write your own version below. Notes are saved on this browser when local storage is available. Use Download to keep a separate copy; avoid adding confidential information on a shared device.
Example: Ask after the customer confirms the work was useful. Do not assume satisfaction from payment alone.
Example: an operations lead at a professional-services firm facing the following problem: client deadlines live in different spreadsheets and dependency changes arrive late.
Example: If someone in your network is dealing with this issue, would an introduction be appropriate? No problem if nobody comes to mind.
Example: Optional introduction: “I thought you might find this relevant. They offer a shared project planning workspace. You can decide whether a conversation would be useful.”
Example: Let the customer choose whether to introduce you. Do not request a contact list or enrol a referred person into a sequence without an appropriate basis.
Review your work
Tick only what you can support with your answer or practice. This is a reflection checklist, not an automated assessment.
Questions about this resource
How do I adapt this for my project management software business?
Replace the audience, offer and evidence with your actual information. Begin with a recent buyer conversation about why client deadlines live in different spreadsheets and dependency changes arrive late, then check which assumptions match your business.
Is the filled example ready to publish?
No. It is a working example. Verify claims, permissions, prices, current capabilities and any customer information before using it externally. Do not present feature count as proof of adoption.
What should I do after completing the worksheet?
Use it to make one decision or have one focused conversation. The intended output is a specific referral request and an optional introduction message. Set a review date and update it when the evidence changes.
Illustrative business worksheet. No customer results, market rates, traffic volumes or performance benchmarks are implied. About these resources.