A referral that says "my client wants a jet to the south of France this summer" usually earns a reply with five questions, and by the time the answers arrive the client has often asked someone else. Anyone working a private jet charter affiliate programme learns this early: the introduction is not the valuable part. The first message is.

Take one client, a London property investor planning a weekend on the Côte d'Azur. The same enquiry can reach the charter desk in two forms, and the commercial outcome differs sharply.

Referral A: "Hi, I've got a client who needs a private jet to the south of France in the summer. Can you help? Let me know what you need."

Referral B: "Referring a London property investor. Farnborough (EGLF) to Nice (LFMN), Friday 18 July, departing around 10:00, returning Sunday 20 July in the evening. Five adults and one child, six suitcases and two golf bags. The investor decides and pays; their PA handles logistics and is copied in. They are expecting £10,000 to £14,000 each way and want a light or midsize jet."

Referral A creates work for the charter team before any quoting can begin. They must establish the airports, the dates, the party size and who signs off, and each exchange costs hours. Aircraft availability on a peak July Friday changes while that happens.

Referral B can go straight to a shortlist. Six passengers plus golf bags rules out most light jets, so the desk looks at midsize options such as the Challenger 350, whose cabin is 7 ft 2 in wide and 6 ft high and seats up to nine. A Phenom 300E, at 5 ft 1 in wide, is tight for six adults with that luggage. The quote can go out within the hour, and the client sees a concrete number while the idea is still fresh.

The Six Facts That Turn a Name Into a Quotable Enquiry: Route, Date, Passengers, Luggage, Decision-Maker, Budget Frame

Each of the six facts removes one question from the charter desk's list, and together they remove all of them. None requires specialist knowledge. They need one honest conversation with your client before you pass them on.

Route. Give the departure and arrival airports, not just the cities. London has several credible options: Farnborough (EGLF), Luton (EGGW), Biggin Hill (EGKB) and Heathrow (EGLL). Each changes the client's road transfer and the aircraft pool. If the client is unsure, say so and name the two they are considering. Add any second leg, because a multi-sector trip is priced differently from two separate one-ways.

Date. A firm date and a preferred departure window beat "mid-July". Say whether the dates can flex by a day, since a one-day shift can change the quote by thousands of pounds. If the trip is genuinely open, say that plainly rather than inventing certainty.

Passengers. Give the exact number of adults, children and infants. A party of four fits comfortably in a Phenom 300E, which seats up to eight in its denser layouts but is realistically a six-passenger aircraft with luggage. A party of seven or eight pushes the enquiry into midsize or super-midsize territory, with a visible jump in price.

Luggage. This is the fact referrers forget most often. Ski equipment, golf bags, a pet or oversized items all affect aircraft choice because hold volume differs sharply between models. State bag count and anything unusual.

Decision-maker. Name who approves the trip and who pays. A PA or family office contact is useful, but the person who says yes matters more. A referral that reaches a gatekeeper without a decision-maker behind them tends to stall at quote stage.

Budget frame. Giving a range is not rude, and it speeds everything up. A representative figure: a one-way EGLF to LFMN sector, about one hour 50 minutes in the air, typically costs £9,000 to £13,000 on a Phenom 300E and £13,000 to £18,000 on a Challenger 350 at current market rates. If the client's frame is £5,000, the desk can say so at once and save everyone a week.

Timing and Lead Time: How Departure Date Changes the Odds of a Booking

A charter enquiry for a departure seven days away converts at a markedly different rate from one for a departure 21 days away, and the reason is mechanical rather than psychological. Close-in requests leave no room for the client to compare options, so they decide quickly or not at all.

Broadly, there are three windows. Inside 72 hours, the client usually has a specific need and a deadline, availability is thin, and the quote must be fast; these trips book readily when the aircraft exists. Between four and 14 days, the client is deciding, comparing and often waiting on a partner or colleague to confirm dates. Beyond 14 days, the enquiry is easier to fulfil but easier to drift, because nothing forces a decision.

Peak dates change the arithmetic. On the Friday and Sunday either side of a July weekend, or around Christmas and the Cannes Film Festival, suitable aircraft at EGLF and LFMN can disappear within days. A client who hesitates for 48 hours after receiving a quote may find the original aircraft gone and the price revised upward.

For you as a referrer, the practical lesson is to pass the enquiry on the day you hear it, especially for close-in dates. A client who mentions a trip in passing on Monday and flies on Friday cannot wait for you to organise a perfect message. Send what you have, flag the missing facts honestly, and let the charter team ask the single question that matters.

Long lead times deserve different handling. If the client is planning six months ahead, agree a date by which you will check back in, and note it on the referral. That small step keeps a slow enquiry from becoming a forgotten one.

How to Make the Warm Handover Without Overselling or Pressuring the Client

Clients who feel pushed toward a broker tend to withdraw from the conversation, and a referrer who oversells damages the relationship that produced the lead. Pressure also fails commercially, since a client who books reluctantly rarely books twice.

The handover that works is short and factual. Ask permission first: "Would you like me to introduce you to the charter team I work with? They can send a price for that route today." Then make the introduction by email, copying the client, and keep it to the six facts above plus one line on why you trust the team.

Avoid describing the aircraft, the price or the likely outcome before the quote exists. A statement like "it will be around £8,000" turns a pricing estimate into a promise you cannot keep, and it creates friction the moment the real figure arrives. Let the charter desk own the numbers.

Do not describe the client to the charter team in ways they would not recognise themselves. Being accurate about the budget frame, the dates and the decision-maker matters more than flattering the lead. A referral built on optimism produces a quote the client rejects, which costs you credibility with both sides.

Finally, be honest about your own role. You are making an introduction, not arranging the flight. Clients respond well to a referrer who says "I will not be involved in the booking itself, but I will check you were looked after", because it removes any suspicion that you are steering them for gain.

What Happens After You Refer: Quote Turnaround, Follow-Up Etiquette and Tracking Your 30% Commission

With the six facts in the first message, the Villiers charter team aims to return a quote within the hour during working hours. Without them, the same enquiry typically spends several days in clarification before any figure is produced, and many do not survive that wait.

Once the quote is with the client, resist the urge to chase the same day. A reasonable rhythm is one check-in 24 hours after the quote lands, then a second after 72 hours if the client has not responded. Each message should add something, such as a note that availability on the date is tightening, rather than simply asking "any update?". If the client says no, accept it and ask whether the dates or budget might change.

Follow-up should go through the same thread rather than a separate channel. This keeps the charter team informed about what you have said and prevents the client from hearing contradictory messages from two sources. If the client raises a question you cannot answer, pass it on rather than guessing.

On commission, the figure is fixed and public: partners earn 30% on referred bookings, and that is the number to use when comparing this against any other partner programme. It is among the strongest rates for anyone referring private aviation clients, and it is tracked against the referral you submit, so a clearly labelled first message is also your record of the introduction. Keep the date, the client's name and the route in your own notes as well.

Payment follows a completed, paid trip rather than a quote or a deposit, so a booking that falls through produces no commission. That is a reason to care about quality over volume. A partner who sends five well-prepared referrals and sees two fly will usually earn more, and with less friction, than one who forwards twenty bare names and sees none convert.

The pattern across all of this is consistent. The referrals that fly are the ones where the referrer did ten minutes of preparation before pressing send: a route, a date, a headcount, the luggage, a named decision-maker and a budget range. Everything else follows from that first message.