Podcast Summary: Roadmap to Referrals

Episode: #396 – Making Sense of Your Referral Data
Host: Stacey Brown Randall
Date: January 13, 2026

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode centers on understanding how to make sense of your referral data in order to set realistic goals for referrals in the coming year. Stacey Brown Randall addresses a common question from listeners: "How many referral sources should I ideally have?" She emphasizes that referral goals and the number of required sources should be tailored to each unique business and debunks the idea of using “ideal” blanket numbers. The episode provides a practical framework for listeners to gather and analyze their own referral data, laying the groundwork for setting actionable referral goals.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Questioning Conventional Wisdom on Referral Sources

• Stacey reads a listener question (from "Micah") about the ideal number of referral sources needed.

• She pushes back on generalized advice suggesting everyone should aim for numbers like 100 or 250 referral sources.

  • Quote:

    "Throwing out a generic number like everybody needs 250 referral sources is ridiculous, quite frankly." — Stacey (05:54)

  • Stacey explains that the number of referral sources required depends on your unique business needs and goals.

2. Establishing Your Baseline: What Data You Need

• Stacey describes a three-part framework for gathering referral data:

  1. Number of Clients Needed for a "Good Year"

     • Focus on a realistic, baseline year, not an exponential growth scenario.

     • For businesses with recurring clients, new client number will be smaller, factoring attrition as needed.

     • Quote:

       "It's really important you look at these numbers from your perspective." — Stacey (11:50)

  2. Current Number of Active Referral Sources

     • Define active as someone who referred you at least once in the last two years.

     • Referral sources can be clients or Centers of Influence (COIs); in B2C businesses, sometimes friends/family.

     • Quote:

       "We define a referral source as either a client or a center of influence that's referring you." — Stacey (14:20)

  3. Average Number of Referrals Per Year

     • Only count prospects referred to you by another person (not leads from ads, SEO, purchased lists, or networking events).

     • Calculate the yearly average using the last 2–3 years' data.

     • Quote:

       "For someone to count as a referral, it has to be a potential client that was referred to you by another human." — Stacey (17:19)

3. A Formula… But Not an Absolute

• Stacey references her formula for determining ideal referral sources but clarifies it isn’t a rigid equation — context and minor adjustments matter.

  • Quote:

    "It's not like a hard and fast, you know, one plus one equals two. There's a little massaging to it..." — Stacey (19:55)

• She teases that she will share the outcome of Micah’s data (and the formula applied) in next week’s episode.

4. Action Steps for Listeners: Preparing Their Own Data (Recap)

• Stacey encourages listeners to bring their own data next week for hands-on application:

  1. Number of clients needed for a good year.
  2. Number of active referral sources (at least one referral in the last two years).
  3. Average annual referrals (from the last three years).
  • Quote:

    "These are the three things you're bringing to next week's episode." — Stacey (25:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On generic advice:

  "If you can only work with 20 clients a year, you certainly don't need 250 people referring clients to you. Right? ...That's ridiculous." — Stacey (07:18)

• On personalizing your metrics:

  "It's your baseline. It's not comparing it to anybody else." — Stacey (10:40)

• On types of referral sources:

  "If you're in a B2C business ... you will have people who are not clients and also not centers of influence that are referring you ... like the friends and family category." — Stacey (13:03)

• On calculating your referral average:

  "You're going to take the number of referrals you received in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and you're going to divide by three." — Stacey (24:10)

Important Timestamps

• [04:05] — Listener question from Micah is introduced.
• [05:54] — Stacey rebuts the idea of arbitrary referral source numbers.
• [10:40] — Defining your own client baseline, not following others’ standards.
• [13:03] — Who qualifies as a referral source; friends and family considerations for B2C businesses.
• [17:19] — What counts as a true, trackable referral.
• [19:55] — The formula and its flexibility.
• [25:50] — Assignment: Listeners are asked to prepare three data points for the next episode.

Tone & Style

Stacey’s tone throughout the episode is direct, practical, and reassuring. She debunks myths, emphasizes customization, and aims to empower business owners to take a data-driven, personalized approach to mastering their referrals, all while avoiding manipulative or inauthentic tactics.

Next Steps

Listeners are encouraged to collect their specific referral data (clients needed, active referral sources, average referrals) before tuning in to next week’s episode, where Stacey will demonstrate the formula and walk through a real-life calculation using Micah’s data.

For more resources and the full transcript, visit staceybrownrandall.com/396.