Do you need referrals but hesitate to ask for them?

Yep, technology can  take care of even this chore for you.

It’s called Happy Grasshopper, and the founders will let you use their service to email the first 50 people in your contact system at no charge. (Although I’d probably pony up a few bucks to hear how they came up with this name.) The writing team drafts a friendly message asking for names of people you could follow up with, secures your approval of said message, and then hits the send button.

Ta-da! Your ego, averted.

Three weeks from now, they’ll bug ‘em again. (I had to get that pun out of my system.)

All joking aside, it’s an idea geared strongly to Realtors, insurance agents, financial advisors, travel agents, and other salespeople. And with the 29.3% open rate the founder claims, it’s certainly worth a trial spin. And the site design is cute.