Quick answer: To get more referrals from networking, make it easy for people to understand exactly who you help, build trust through regular contact, give useful introductions yourself and follow up professionally.
A referral is a personal introduction or recommendation from someone who believes your business may be able to help another person or organisation. It is stronger than simply being given a name because some trust is transferred with the introduction.
Common reasons include being too vague about your ideal customer, attending irregularly, talking mainly about yourself, failing to follow up or asking for introductions before enough trust has been built.
Give people a simple trigger to remember. Explain the size, type or situation of the customer you help and the problem that usually causes them to need you. Specific referral requests are easier to act on than 'anyone who needs my services'.
You can, but make the request specific and appropriate. Asking whether someone knows a particular type of business is usually more useful than asking the whole room for work.
Where you can make a genuine and useful introduction, yes. Networking becomes stronger when people actively help each other. Never make a poor-quality introduction simply to meet a referral target.
Respond quickly, be professional and respect the trust behind the introduction. Keep the referrer appropriately informed and never use the introduction as permission to send unrelated marketing.
Give a relevant group enough time for people to know what you do. Review the quality of conversations, follow-up meetings and introductions over several events rather than judging the channel after one visit.
See also our effective business networking FAQ.