Joe Polish explains Dan Sullivan’s concept of "referability habits": practical behaviors that determine whether others will confidently refer you to people (or view you as dependable). He emphasizes showing up on time, doing what you say, finishing what you start (or partnering with finishers), and expressing gratitude; violating these habits signals unreliability and reduces referrals.
Chapters
If you want people to refer you or you want people to view you as someone that can be counted on, you cannot violate these referability habits, either all of them or at least one of them. And no one's perfect. I mean, the thing that I suck the most at, that I really have always had challenges with, is showing up on time because I just have eyes for opportunity much greater than my ability to assimilate it. However, you have to show up on time if you want people to know that you can be counted on. You need to do what you say you're going to do. You need to finish what you start. And even if you're not a finisher, you need to have a team of people that can actually finish stuff. Like, I'm an idea guy. I'm a finisher. I mean, I'm a starter, not a finisher. If I didn't have a team of people, like Eunice has a much higher follow through than me. If I didn't have someone like Eunice, she finishes a lot of what I start and my team finishes a lot of what I start. And without that, I would just be a guy with a bunch of good ideas and nothing would ever get done because I don't finish shit. My follow through sucks, but that's fine because I don't need to be the one that finishes stuff. I just need to start it because I'm a really good starter. And a lot of people that are great finishers can't start anything. So you need to put the two together. So finish what you start and then say please and thank you. Everybody can think of relationships in your life where, you know, really talented people like a really skilled copywriter, but, you know, the copywriter can't be counted on to get anything done on time. So you don't refer them to other people. And so they'll call you when they're broke because they need money, but you have a resistance to referring them because you know they're not dependable. And so whenever you violate the referability habits, what you're communicating to the world is, you cannot count on me. I don't take you seriously. I'm not someone that you can have any certainty whatsoever that I'm going to follow through and do what I say I'm going to do because I violated it. So people that get referred a lot and get appreciated and really get admired for truly what they do and who they are are people that actually follow these referability habits. And there are people that are great at this, that they're thank. They're appreciative that you want to tell other people about because, you know, for the most part, the people that you're going to refer them to are going to have a great experience. And people, you know, do not refer people that violate these things unless they're really in a mess. You know, there are certain situations where, you know, you only come to these people because there's no one else to go to. But you don't do it willingly. You do it because you're kind of in a situation. So does that make sense?
