Who they are
- Independent consultants and advisors with a trusted network.
- Adjacent vendors whose customers keep asking for what you do.
- Existing customers who recommend you unprompted, and should be paid for it.
How they earn
A one-time or short-recurring commission on deals that close from their introduction.
What they need from you
Almost no friction
They will not log into a portal to submit a name. If registering takes longer than an email, they will send the email instead and you will lose the attribution.
Visible status
They introduced someone they vouch for. Silence about what happened next costs you the next referral.
Payment without chasing
The amounts are small enough that chasing an invoice is not worth their time — so if they have to, they stop referring.
When to build this channel
Start here. Referral partnerships need the least programme design, prove whether partner-sourced revenue is real for you, and cost nothing until a deal closes.
When to be this kind of partner
Be a referral partner when you want to help without owning the sale. Minimal effort, and the commission is genuinely passive.
The thing that kills it
Making them log in
Every additional step between the introduction and the record loses you a percentage of referrals, permanently and invisibly.