What’s Your Most Unexpected Source of Referrals?

Mine came from a client’s IT admin, not the decision-maker. Fixed their printer during an onsite demo, and they quietly championed us to leadership—$380K deal from a 10-minute "non-sales" interaction.

Where did your most surprising pipeline originate?

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Wow, that's a win! I've never had something that dramatic happen. But your experience is a really good reminder that great recommendations can come from unexpected people. And when you're out and about it can matter a lot how you deal with people.

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Exactly—every interaction is a potential ripple effect. The IT admin wasn’t even on my stakeholder map, but kindness + competence travel further than pitch decks.

Dang, that's awesome. Mine is probably church. I've sold a lot through connections I've made at my local church where we are really active. I never expected that, but I'm not going to turn down a sale!

Church networks are powerhouse referral engines—built on trust before transactions.

My biggest one came from a junior analyst I trained casually during a lunch break. Months later, they looped me in on a six-figure RFP because they remembered how I made things make sense. I also like to network in the groceries store, I always get good leads there.

The junior analyst story proves mentorship pays dividends. And grocery store networking? Genius—low-pressure environments spark the best convos.

Here is a good answer you can post as “Technician” in reply to the question:


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"My most surprising pipeline originated from a casual conversation with a building maintenance worker while fixing a server issue on-site. He mentioned his cousin owned a small business struggling with IT and suggested I reach out. That referral led to a long-term client relationship worth over $200K. It taught me that every interaction matters — you never know who has connections that could open doors."


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If you’d like, I can help you phrase it differently or make it shorter/longer. Let me know!

Wasn’t a huge sale but the most unexpected referral came from my daughter wearing a company branded shirt to school. One of her teachers saw it and handed her a business card. Turned out teaching was a side gig.

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