Last month, I ran a workshop on building referral momentum. One of the advisors there asked what advisors should be looking for when they ask for referrals.

When it comes to referrals, most advisors look for identification of possible new clients - "You should talk to my brother Martin or my partner Mary."

While identification of possible prospects is positive, it's not the gold standard in response to a referral request. For the absolute best results, you need something deeper - you need an introduction.

I was alerted to this distinction by a talk which a U.S. broker gave at a conference featuring top producers that I ran some years ago.

This broker works in an affluent community outside of Philadelphia; at the time, her book was $400 million - the minimum assets for her to take on a client was $2 million (although she had people on her team who would work with smaller clients).

One of the things to which she attributed her success is her "hot 50". She keeps an ongoing list of 50 prospects who she has identified as having assets of $2 million and on whom she has decided to focus. Each December she reviews the list to delete prospects that have become clients, have moved away or whose finances have declined and to add new prospects to the hot 50.

Every morning, one of her team members takes 90 minutes to go through the local papers in Philadelphia and also to review the list of contributors for the local symphony, museum, art gallery and major charities. Her team member looks for two things. First, she identifies references to existing clients - this advisor makes a point of starting each day by calling clients or writing short notes whenever she can, so that they know that she is always thinking of them. Second, her assistant looks for any references to members of Sally's hot 50.

As an aside, all of this predated the Google - the Net these days greatly simplifies tracking current news on clients and prospects.

Going into every client meeting, this advisor's goal is to find a connection between that client and a member of her hot 50. For instance, she might wrap up a meeting with a client named Joan Murphy with these words: "Joan, one final thing. I have identified Phyllis Waterman as someone I could potentially help and might like to work with. I know that you and Phyllis are on the woman's auxiliary of the symphony - I wonder if I can get a sense of Phyllis from you."

What she is really hoping for is that her client Joan might respond: "As a matter of fact, there's a luncheon meeting of the woman's auxiliary next month. Why don't you come as my guest and I'll introduce you to Phyllis."

This broker takes the view that the only way to prospect effectively at the top of the market is by getting introductions - and everything she does is designed to make those introductions happen.

This approach will not appeal to everyone - it requires considerable focus and investment of time. The good news is that you don't have to go as far as this advisor to benefit from the principle of seeking introductions.

As you think about your own referral conversations over the next while, by all means gratefully say thank you when clients identify a family member, friend or colleague as someone you might work with. Think about going the extra mile, however and see if you can turn some of those identifications into introductions.