Have you ever asked for a referral before? What happened? Did the person you asked answer with a stock response like, "let me think about it?" (And did they ever get back to you with names of people for you to call or email?) Or did they almost automatically sit back in their chair or start to shift in their seat?  When they moved back from you they are subconsciously trying to distance themselves from the request you just made.  And the shift in their chair means they are uncomfortable. Why does that happen? Because you attempted to manufacture a referral...meaning you tried to create one that doesn't exist. Now you could argue that asking allows the other person to [...]