From promotion to building the business: a recruiting plan the members vote on

Names and businesses are fictional; the referral patterns come from a real Connecticut referral group.

A sphere is a group of trades that serve the same client. A realtor, a mortgage lender, an insurance agent and a mover all meet the same family at the same moment. Grouping members this way shows which client circles the group already covers well, and which ones have empty seats.

Referrals rarely stop at one hand-off. A home sale leads to a mortgage, then insurance, then a will. Each chain is drawn link by link, and the trades the group is missing appear as hollow bulbs: places where a referral should go next, but there is no member to send it to.

The network web shows who sends work to whom, so the busiest connections stand out at a glance. The flow grid puts the same data in rows and columns, one cell for each pair of trades, which makes the gaps and one-way streets easy to spot.

Once a quarter, members vote in a short poll: five ranked picks for the trades to recruit next, with give and get ticks for whether they would send that trade work or expect work back. Results publish on a Friday, so members can react before the next meeting. Anyone who taps “I know someone” sends that lead privately to the Membership Chair.