This advice applies to anyone who is the recipient of a referral for a job, an investment or a service. If someone takes the time to make a referral and you accept the referral you have several responsibilities:

Only accept referrals you intend to follow-up on.
Promptly follow up on the referral (returning the call, sending the information, scheduling the meeting, whatever).
Let the referrer know (usually via email) that you made the connection, or request help making the connection.
Close the loop (usually via email) by explaining how it turned out.
Return the favor. Take a minute to think about how you might be able help the referrer (regardless of how the referral turned out).
More than a week ago a friend of mine who is raising money was in a tight spot. I offered to help connect him to a potential investor. Within a day I had scheduled a meeting over drinks with the investor and my friend. I moderated the meeting over sushi and drinks and by the end the investor was interested enough to request an investment book and my friend seemed appreciative. For some reason I got stuck with the tab (responsibility No. 6: don’t make the referrer pick up the tab). Anyway, I followed up with my friend several days later only to learn he hadn’t sent an investor package to my investor friend. I begged the investor to do the meeting for me as a personal favor. I felt let down and somewhat burned.

However, over the weekend (I was at Ethan’s soccer game) a headhunter told me about a CEO job for a pre-IPO company and I mentioned that I might have the perfect candidate for him. I made a quick call and gave the candidate the headhunter’s contact information. He agreed to contact the headhunter today after sending me a thank you email. This morning I got an email from the candidate indicating that he had connected with the headhunter. He is keeping me in the loop because he realizes that I am extending my relationship to him ~ he is showing me that he respects my relationship and is taking it seriously. Guess who I will refer a second time?