Referral request template for ecommerce agencies
Use this referral request worksheet to ask a satisfied customer for a relevant introduction without pressuring them. It is written for ecommerce agencies and starts with an illustrative offer: a store conversion and merchandising review. Replace the assumptions with evidence from your own business before using the result.
Leave with a specific referral request and an optional introduction message.
Start with a real buying situation
For the worked example, the audience is the owner of an online store. Their problem is that customers hesitate at product selection or checkout. The desired practical outcome is a prioritised set of customer-journey improvements.
The example is deliberately bounded: changes must preserve payment, inventory and fulfilment integrations. That condition should influence the promise, scope and next step rather than disappear from the marketing copy.
| Illustrative offer | a store conversion and merchandising review |
|---|---|
| Buyer question | Where does a customer need information that the store does not provide? |
| Possible evidence | a recorded walkthrough with observed friction and a testable hypothesis |
| Useful asset | a product-page and checkout review checklist |
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 | the owner of an online store facing the following problem: customers hesitate at product selection or checkout. |
| 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 store conversion and merchandising review. 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 checkout completion for a defined audience and period. 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: Define platform access, implementation, measurement and rollback responsibility.
- Use evidence rather than promises. A heuristic review does not prove a conversion uplift.
- Discuss the draft with someone who understands the buying situation. Start with: “Where does a customer need information that the store does not provide?”
- If the next step is a trial, define its purpose. One possible starting point is to review one product category and one checkout journey.
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 | We only want more traffic. |
| Useful response direction | More traffic may help, but let us first check whether visitors can choose the product and complete checkout without avoidable friction. |
| Evidence to collect | The buyer’s own account, a recorded walkthrough with observed friction and a testable hypothesis, and records relevant to checkout completion for a defined audience and period. |
Your working sheet.
Make the exercise your own. Notes are saved in this browser when storage is available. Download a copy to keep; avoid confidential information on a shared device.
Example: Ask after the customer confirms the work was useful. Do not assume satisfaction from payment alone.
Example: the owner of an online store facing the following problem: customers hesitate at product selection or checkout.
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 store conversion and merchandising review. 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
This is a reflection checklist, not an automated assessment.
Questions
How do I adapt this for my ecommerce agencies business?+
Is the filled example ready to publish?+
What should I do after completing the worksheet?+
Illustrative business worksheet. No customer results, market rates, traffic volumes or performance benchmarks are implied.
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