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I booked a jazz trio for a Client A at a hotel recently. Somebody working at the hotel then recommended me to Client B. In Client B's introductory email to me, they included quoted text from their conversation with the hotel, including the email in which I was recommended.

Is it appropriate for me to send a short "thank you for recommending me" email to the person working at the hotel?

Had Client B mentioned who at the hotel recommended me, I would instinctively think that it's plenty appropriate. However because I found the email by looking through the quoted text, I'm more hesitant.

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  • If the quoted email included the name of the person who recommended you, I would consider that the same as if Client B had specifically said "Client A recommended me".
    – David K
    Commented Nov 27, 2017 at 18:09
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    I've never met anyone who doesn't appreciate a "thank you."
    – AffableAmbler
    Commented Nov 27, 2017 at 18:32
  • Is it buried in that email chain or is it just the immediately previous mail? If the latter, it seems like it would be an intentional inclusion. If you really had to dig one way out of the conundrum would be to just ask B how they heard of you.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    Commented Nov 27, 2017 at 22:15

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Is it appropriate for me to send a short "thank you for recommending me" email to the person working at the hotel?

I see no problem with you sending such thank you email. Being grateful is hardly ever seen as inappropriate.

If the way you found the email bothers you, you could address that somewhere in your email like: "I see you recommended my services with Client B, so I took the liberty to contact you and thank you personally..."

You can then proceed to thank him the way you would like to. Just remember to focus more on thanking than excusing yourself for reaching out to him.

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    "I took the liberty to contact you" This is way too formal for my liking. A simple "I wanted to thank you" seems much more appropriate. You may also want to drop "personally" as it's often still used to refer to in-person in the context of thank-yous.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    Commented Nov 27, 2017 at 22:14
  • @Lilienthal agreed. OP should adjust formality as needed, phrasing it that way could be more amicable.
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Commented Nov 27, 2017 at 22:15
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Not only is it appropriate, this is good business practice. Thankfully acknowledging the referral is how you build your network. This could lead to direct or indirect referrals for other jobs.

As long as the referrer is openly identified in the email to you, as indicated by "they included quoted text from their conversation with the hotel", then you haven't done anything inappropriate to identify this other party.

Most business people expect to do business this way, so no need to apologize. Be sincerely thankful and you'll be fine.

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