ChatGPT prompt for asking a client for a referral

This is the prompt we run right after delivering a result a client is happy about, to turn that goodwill into a referral. Its core rule: it reminds them only of the result you stated, with no embellishing, and invents no figure you did not give it.

The prompt to copy

Draft a referral request to {happy client} following {what we did and the result}. Rules:
- Open by reminding them of the result in one line (only the result I stated — no embellishing).
- Be specific about who we help ("teams like X with problem Y") so they can pattern-match their network.
- Make it effortless: include a 60-word forwardable blurb they can send as-is.
- Incentive: {incentive, or "none — don't offer one"}.
Main email under 120 words, plus the blurb.

Replace the fields in curly braces (the client, what you did and the result, any incentive), then run it.

When to use it

Right after a successful project, at the exact moment the client is happy and saying so. Past that peak, the ask gets heavier to phrase. This prompt saves you the writing, but above all it stops you overstating the result: a credible request forwards without awkwardness, an inflated one sits in your client’s inbox.

What you get back

1. A main email under 120 words, in your voice.
2. The result reminded in one line, exactly as you stated it, without embellishment.
3. A precise description of who you help, to make the pattern-match easy for the client.
4. A 60-word forwardable blurb, ready to copy and paste.

Real example: delivered project → referral request

Input: the Brightside agency, an 8-person shop, has just delivered Fernhill Coffee’s range refresh. Maya runs the prompt. The stated result is qualitative, no sales figure was shared. Incentive: “none”. An excerpt of the output:

Hi Marc, We’ve just finished the new labels for your signature range, and you told us they finally do the coffee justice on the shelf. That is exactly the kind of feedback that keeps us going.

We mostly work with food-and-drink makers whose packaging aged faster than the product. If a peer in that spot comes to mind, this short blurb is ready to forward.

Notice what the AI did not do: it added no “+30% in sales” and no superlative Marc did not say, because no figure was given to it. The result stays the one he actually expressed. That is the prompt working, not failing. The human checkpoint, choosing the right moment and the right client, stays in your hands.

The full worked example (main email, 60-word forwardable blurb) ships inside the kit, with the other prompts in the sales phase.