By Amanda Leon, founder of OilMoney.io. Houston-raised, came up in the Houston marketing team of Vallourec, and has run Unrth, a brand and growth studio for oil and gas and industrial companies, since 2017, with her boots on client locations in Midland and Odessa. Last reviewed October 20, 2026.
Our clients range from owner-operators to big companies, and as their names have grown on LinkedIn, the feedback has been great. People buy into their story, want to see them win, and are down for the ride. Even the customers who aren't ready to buy talk them up to somebody else: "Oh, you need this. I know someone who does that. He talks about it all the time." You become that person, the biggest presence in their world for what you do.
That's a referral nobody had to ask for. You'll still have to ask for most of yours, so ask right after a clean job, once the ticket has cleared, and ask the person who saw both the work and the bill. Ask for one specific thing: an introduction to a named person, or a short quote in their own words that they see before anyone else does. A referral is a private introduction, and a testimonial is their words in public with their name on it. Ask for the one their company lets them give.
Why a Referral Carries So Much Weight
Word travels in the Permian. Everyone knows everyone, and one happy client tells five people. A referral is that talk pointed at a buyer you want.
Buyers lean toward sellers they already know, too: in 6sense's 2025 buyer report, 68% of B2B buyers already knew a seller from the vendor that won (more in where to find oil and gas sales leads). A referral gets you into that "already knew" group. The new buyer meets you with somebody's trust already attached. Why operators keep calling the same names has its own page.
Who on the Operator Side Can Vouch for You
The strongest word comes from someone who watched your crew work. On a drilling location, start with the company man, the operator's representative whom the SLB Energy Glossary makes responsible for operational issues on location, safety and efficiency included (more in selling to the oilfield company man). When he says your crew ran a clean job, it carries.
On completions, look to the engineer. Oxy's June 2026 posting for a Midland completions engineer makes that engineer the on-site company representative who also reviews and approves invoices: someone who has seen both your crew and your bill (more in selling to a completion engineer).
A good word from the toolpusher is worth having, but he's the drilling contractor's location supervisor and speaks for the rig. For a referral inside the operator, you want the operator's own people.
When to Ask: After a Clean Job and a Clean Ticket
A job isn't clean until the ticket clears. Aimsio, which sells field ticketing software, lists common reasons operators reject oilfield service field tickets: the wrong signer or an approver without authority at that dollar level, work outside the PO or contract scope, and charges billed to the wrong PO or AFE. It also notes many customers require a second signature above a set threshold.
If a rejected ticket of yours is sitting on their desk, it's the wrong week to ask for a favor. So get those basics right before the ticket goes in. When it goes through without anybody calling you about it, that's your window.
How to Ask Without Making It Awkward
Doing great work and hoping somebody notices is a prayer with a logo on it. The ask is the part you control, and it gets awkward when it's vague. "If you know anybody who needs us" puts all the work on them, and it's forgotten by the time they reach the truck. Name the person or the kind of job, offer to do the writing, and leave them an easy no.
In person, after the job:
Glad that one went clean. Is anybody else on your side running [service] on their wells? If you'd be comfortable putting my name in front of them, I'd appreciate it. I can write a short note you can forward.
By text, after the ticket clears:
[Name], thanks for signing off on the [lease] ticket. If [person or team] has a [service] job coming up, would you mind passing my number along? No worries either way.
For a testimonial:
Would you be OK with me quoting you on how the [job] went? A short line in your words, and you see it before anybody else does. If your company doesn't allow that, no problem at all.
When they say yes to an introduction, send the forwardable note the same day: who you are, what you did on their job in one line, and what you'd like to talk about, short enough to read on a phone. Ask once. If they don't get to it, don't chase the favor. Run the next job right and ask again then.
When a Customer Can't Give a Public Testimonial
Whether a customer can be quoted about a vendor depends on their company's rules, so ask first: "Is your company OK with you being quoted about a vendor?"
If their company bars public endorsements, asking harder won't change it. Take a private introduction instead. You might also ask whether they'd speak to a buyer who asks for a reference, or whether you can describe the job without naming the customer. Check each one with them first.
We live with the same limit. The founder we work with stays unnamed, by policy, and LinkedIn's Social Selling Index still ranks him in the top 1% of sales professionals in oil and gas. Read the full story.
After a Merger, Ask for the Hand-Off
When your customer gets bought, your best contact may be leaving, staying in a new role, or reporting to someone you've never met. Foley and Lardner wrote in July 2026 that after an acquisition the buyer typically reviews inherited service agreements and consolidates, renegotiates, or replaces overlapping vendors (what happens to your MSA when your customer gets acquired covers the contract side).
That review is where a referral counts most, so ask for the hand-off early. Leaving or staying, your contact can introduce you to whoever is reviewing vendors on the buyer's side.
[Name], I saw the deal closed. However it shakes out for you, would you introduce me to whoever is looking at vendors on the new side? You've seen what we did on [lease], and that means more coming from you than from me.
Following Up After the Introduction
Answer the introduction the same day. Thank the person who made it, right in the thread, and move them to bcc so their inbox stays clean. Keep your note to the new contact about their wells: one line on the job you did for the person who introduced you, one line on why you're writing, and a short meeting with a day on it.
If the new contact looks you up before replying, make sure there's something worth finding. The Warm Walk-In™ exists for that moment: it keeps your know-how posted under your own name, in your voice, so an introduction lands on proof. When the meeting comes, I Finally Got the Meeting With an Operator. Now What? picks up from there.
Afterward, tell the person who introduced you how it went, whatever the outcome. It's good manners, and it makes the next ask easier.
Get Your Bison Walk-Around
Make sure the profile at the end of that introduction is worth the favor.
Send us your LinkedIn. We'll send back the Bison Walk-Around: five minutes of plain English on what's costing you callbacks and what we'd build. No call. No invoice. We give first.
Sources and As-Of Dates
- 2025 B2B Buyer Experience Report (6sense), published late 2025. Buyers who already knew a seller from the winning vendor; B2B buyers in general.
- SLB Energy Glossary: company man, accessed October 18, 2026. The company man's role and the toolpusher as a separate role.
- Oxy careers: Eng Completions, Midland, Texas (JR109398), posted June 30, 2026, viewed October 18, 2026. The completions engineer as on-site company representative and invoice approver.
- Top 10 Reasons Field Tickets Are Rejected by Customers (Aimsio), July 17, 2026. Ticket rejection reasons and second-signature thresholds, from a ticketing software vendor.
- Foley and Lardner, Your Customer Just Got Bought. Your Contract Might Not Survive the Deal (Scott D. Ellis), July 22, 2026. Vendor reviews after an acquisition.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Social Selling Index screenshots for the founder's profile, held by Unrth (capture date pending). The top 1% industry rank. Details in the full proof story.
The Warm Walk-In™ is an original method created by Amanda Leon and owned by The Valours Creative Innovation LLC.