The Referral Key: Is this the new LinkedIN?
I’ve seen it before with sites like Facebook’s “Branch Out” – here comes another business networking site that claims to be the “new” LinkedIn.
This week, I have received quite a few requests to connect with people via a site called “The Referral Key“.
The subject line says:
Are you taking on new clients?
The message says:
Hi Leslie,
I exchange referrals with (mutual friend) and I’d like to also include you in my business referral network.
Please accept my invitation below. Thanks!
Best,
(Name)
(Business)
View Invitation from (name)
__________________
Is The Referral Key another great networking site or is it just spam?
The jury is still out.
What I really don’t like about The Referral Key is the automatic messaging.
“Are you taking on new clients?” – They think THIS is a good call-to-action?
I’m like most people who are reluctant to click on any miscellaneous link – particularly when spam is rampant.
I think a message like “Hi, (name) please join me on my new referral network – The Referral Key” is much less smarmy and is clear and concise.
As I’ve mentioned before, it’s important to personalize your message/introduction reminding the recipient as to how you know each other.
Referrals are amazing, but they *must* come from people you know, like and trust to be effective.
Just because I’m connected with someone using Social Media doesn’t mean that I actually know the quality of their work.
I hope The Referral Key does not imply endorsement just because I’m connected to them.
I don’t give referrals for cash rewards. I refer people because I believe they are the best person I know for the job.
Will The Referral Key be the next “big thing”? It remains to be seen.
My first impression of this “new” LinkedIn isn’t a good one.
I would much rather continue to connect people via email or LinkedIn.
When I refer business, it’s not because I’m going to get something out of it (like a $10 reward), it’s because I sincerely want to do something nice for others.
Just like when the U.S. used to pay people to “donate” blood, the quality of donors erodes.
I don’t want referrals coming from people who just want to earn $10. I want referrals from like-minded business people who want to help others succeed.
In my humble opinion: it’s all about karma. You reap what you sow. Selfless acts come back to you ten-fold; and so do selfish ones.
What are your thoughts about The Referral Key?
P.S. Before I wrote my blog, I read Chris Reimer’s blog about The Referral Key: http://www.rizzotees.com/blog/referral-key-clogging-the-arteries-of-my-inbox-with-spam
I think it is junk. I have over 2600 1st degree connections, and I don’t think I want all of them to get some automated message like that. One of the first things any successful LinkedIn networker will tell you to do is to avoid using the default messages when sending invites to connections, or inviting someone to a group. I don’t want to look like a spammer, but how well thought out is this site if this is how it operates? And the option to “Unsubscribe” means you can NEVER connect with those network connections via their site?! Come on, man.
My guess is that HubSpot took some considerable money for endorsing these clowns.
I think you’re absolutely right. Messaging from The Referral Key is very spammy.
I’ve already had a stranger contact me to let me know they will refer marketing business my way if I connect with them on this platform.
Weird that they’d recommend me without even knowing me or the quality of my work. It seems with this platform that a $10 incentive for referrals trumps quality and authenticity.
The opposite of the way I “roll”, that’s for sure!
We designed Referral Key to be used with rewards or not. In fact, rewards are a very small part of the system and its not about being selfish, it’s about some people preferring to say “thank you” with a gift. If you’re not into gifting there are dozens of other innovative features.
Last, we do not want you to send out emails to people unless you want to referral network with them. We do not get any benefit from you emailing 10 thousand people if you don’t know them. We’d rather you get 5 trusted colleagues if that’s what you prefer. But again, we can’t decide how small or large you want your network to be and can’t tell people how many colleagues they can and can’t invite; that’d be unethical.
Referral Key importation is like any other found on any other site. You can choose to check or uncheck anyone you’d like, customize the message, and ultimately choose not to send invites.
Of course we are going to rustle a few feathers as we reach millions of professionals but we are the only free site that I’m aware of that offers immediate customer support and we post the company phone number. I am very proud of the fact that 99% of people love what we are offering and the positive feedback has been tremendous.
We feel that there’s still room for other players and aren’t willing to sum up the social media story with just LinkedIn and Facebook.
We appreciate your coverage and look forward to working with you in the future as your blog grows in popularity and so does Referral Key.
Chris
Referral Key importation is like any other found on any other site. You can choose to check or uncheck anyone you’d like, customize the message, and ultimately choose not to send invites.
Chris, thank you very much for responding to my blog.
Reaching out and clarifying some of my possible misconceptions speaks VOLUMES about your positive and benevolent intentions behind what The Referral Key is and how it works.
I’m behind you 100% when you say “we’d rather you get 5 trusted colleagues” because I think that’s what makes Social Media platforms like these powerful.
If I can be so bold as to make a couple of recommendations:
Your automatic messages could be much more effective. Encouraging people to personalize their invitations would be much more effective. As I said above, quality relationships are much more valuable than quantity.
I also think your subject line is somewhat effective *only* the first time it’s received. After it’s received the first time, and it’s apparent the call-to-action is a bit of a ruse, then it loses it’s power.
Chris, I’m certainly open to continuing to use The Referral Key (particularly because you reached out and responded!) and I sincerely wish you much success.
Leslie
… and not to disagree with you Chris … but this morning (7/26/11) I certainly did NOT get any kind of “check or uncheck” or “customize the message” screen. In fact, about 30 seconds after I clicked on the Gmail button, I was already getting replies to the spam *I* had just sent out from four friends who reported similar experiences with your site.
Thanks Darrin, for your feedback.
There’s definitely a place for the referral site, but I don’t like Referral Key for many of the reasons outlined above. I look forward to the alternatives which will soon emerge.
Thanks Doug, for your feedback!
[…] even though a representative from The Referral Key, Chris, took the time to respond and clarify some issues from my last blog, this is “strike two” […]
My business partner and I both just started getting a few of these automated invitations over the last couple of days, and I’ve never heard of this company before now. This long period of dormancy now seems to be over, since a lot of people are now getting these email solicitations.
It sure looks like spam…
Thanks Brendan, I see that my Facebook connections have plateaued and I’m always eager to try out a new platform or site but the auto-communication from The Referral Key aren’t making it easy to like them very much 🙂
[…] I am not the first to write about this. Chris Reimer of Rizzo Tees and Leslie Hughes of Punch Media have both blogged about similar experiences. In both cases, Chris Ott, Director of Social Media and […]
If I want to refer an assignment to someone I can pick up the phone. Why would I need to use a web site and potentially expose my referral to public scrutiny? Business referrals should be confidential arrangements – involving third parties even peripherally can be highly problematic.
Plus, I am also now getting ReferralKey “standard message” spam from people on the other side of the world who could never provide referrals to actual real assignments.
The people who thought this up must have a pretty naive and puerile vision of the nature of professional consulting.
Thanks for your feedback, Dave.
I have found LinkedIn to be a useful tool for connecting and for business recommendations but you’re absolutely right-many qualified and quality referrals have been via one-to-one calls or emails.
It’s important to me that I only connect with people I’ve had some communication with.
I would never give a referral or testimonial unless I would stake my professional career on them.
Quantity of random referrals isn’t valuable to me. Quality connections are the utmost in value, and you’re right I wouldn’t want to violate the trust of my connections by forwarding all their contact information to others without their consent. Seems Referral Key has done just that (re my blog = Strike Two).
Totally agree. In a business-referral site, privacy and trust should be paramount.
Watch out for WottleDo – launching in just over a month. I’ll be interested in your views/feedback.
I got my first email today, never heard of the site before and googling brought me here. It was from a guy I used to work with 11 years ago and not heard from since but guess we are or were connected on LinkedIn (need to check)
Same default message – instant turn off as it looks like spam. Now it’s on my radar will watch for a while before making my decision, but initial impressions not great and the website does an awful job of explaining what the service is about.
Hi Craig, It’s a good thing we can use social media sites to collaborate and share our thoughts and concerns. Better we can learn from each other.
I agree with many of the points made – I was intrigued when I received my first invite, but having received several more it now just seems like “just another” social media platform – there are so many but in fact only a few seem to last more than a short honeymoon period.
I also have concerns about the motives some individuals may have for referring – it worries me that it may be a little like one of the well known international networking groups where members feel pressurised to make referrals / give leads and therefore give very tenuous leads in order to fulfil their obligations – I certainly dont have time to waste doing quotes based on tenuous leads, but am of course very keen to develop business with genuine potential clients – my concern with Referral Key is that some people will be dishing out “leads/referrals” in order to increase their chances of getting paid?
I think I may wait and see how it develops!
Thanks Jodi
It’s interesting to note that we are all in agreement with our initial reactions to this site. Other than the representative from The Referral Key there hasn’t been any positive feedback about this site yet.
Like many, I’m open-minded enough to give it a chance to redeem itself. But for most early adopters may be too late already.
I agree – definitely open minded to see how it goes, but not in a hurry to sign up now 😉
Very useful discussion here. If nothing else Referral Key resulted in me finding PUNCHmedia. So not bad at all. Thanks.
Very sweet of you to say. Thanks!
I can see how this would be handy for certain kinds of business, especially with an incective. Sometimes, it takes some time for someone to go around a dig up a contact and send it along, so an incentive could be just enough for you to go from not responding to a comment about someone needing a service or product or saying, “Oh sure – I know someone who does X – I’ll send you an email”. Whether that ends up being valuable enough for many people – well, I think you’re exactly right that the jury is out.
Thanks for your input Michelle.
Referrals are an essential part of a growing business and we all really appreciate it when another person values and trusts our work.
I refer business without any expectations or incentives. I do think it’s lovely when I get a “thank you” – even if it’s a simple note.
I’m concerned that paid incentives from Referral Key encourages people to send referrals NOT because the person is the best fit for the job, but because they know they will receive $10 for an introduction.
In the past, statistics indicated that paid blood donors had higher rates of infectious disease markers than unpaid donors. (Paid donors were more likely to be drug users, homeless). When the paid incentive was gone people donated because they wanted to do a good thing.
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12437514
I’d be curious to see if paid referrals would indicate a similar trend.
Just received one of these and you’re absolutely right, very spammy. I particularly liked the massive VIEW YOUR INVITATION link, not spammy at all. Sometimes you wonder what planet the people who come up with these ideas are living on…
Thanks James. 😉
[…] Is ReferralKey the New LinkedIn […]
I really don’t see the problem with just emailing contacts if you want to put some work their way. If they the choose to offer a commission then great. If not, at least you have made a further step in solidifying the relationship. Let karma do the rest.
For me, using a social media platform with a reward scheme just cheapens the experience.
Referral key is quite spammy and I would not recommend it to anyone. LinkedIn is the way to go. Forget referralkey.
I just got one of these today still the same spammy message, in fact my email system put it straight in spam. Investigation does not inspire confidence but I like your blog.
Thanks so much, Jane! I’m delighted this has been a “hot topic” and invite you to send any questions my way about Social Media. I’m happy to help! 🙂
Thanks Leslie for your coverage and thanks Chris for your response. It really made everything clear. As Leslie said automatic messaging is not so good an idea. I my self got the message from one colleague on Linkedin and followed it automatically without understanding really what is Referralkey until I found a message from Chris which made me search the engine to understand what’s that.
I received a similar e-mail from a connection on LinkedIn regarding Referral Key. I looked it up with google and found your website and the comments on your article. Very useful. Thank you. Now I know I definitely won’t react to the request. I don’t like spam nor being spammed.
Maureen, I’m delighted to hear these comments were helpful. Thanks for your feedback.
Does anyone else notice that “Chris'” comment reads like copypasta? It appears they are automating their blog PR response to handle people complaining about their spamtacular methods.
I was interested when I got the first email, now I’m downright annoyed. This company will not get business from me. >:(
Wow. I didn’t realize there was a canned response for all complaints or bad reviews.
The site never seemed to gain the momentum it expected or promised. I haven’t seen many people use it since I published my post.
Leslie,
While I know this is an older blog post, it is still meaningful. In reading through your post, and seeing the reply from ‘Chris’, and your follow to, I find no further comments made by him, or anyone else from Referral Key, as to your recommend changes. Thus, I have to agree with the comment left by Nick when he said “Does anyone else notice that “Chris’” comment reads like copypasta? It appears they are automating their blog PR response to handle people complaining about their spamtacular methods.”
Thanks for your comment. The Referral Key never did gain any traction. My gut told me that it wasn’t a good model for making new introductions and it seems a lot of other people felt the same way as well.
Has any one had a significant amount of business from joining Referral Key? I have not seen anyone saying they have so far. The proof of the pudding….
I haven’t heard anyone talk about Referral Key since 2011.