Thommy with an H / Founder of UPGRADE Coaching
Become the person people naturally refer.
You already know how to work hard. 1:1 UPGRADE Coaching builds the six habits that turn the relationships you already have into referrals you can count on.
01 / The roller coaster
You're doing the work. Referrals still feel random.
What you need is better referral habits, clearer focus and the follow-through to keep the promises you make to yourself.
Every move on this chart made sense at the time. Pick one to see where it went sideways.
01 / The UPGRADE path
Get off the roller coaster.
Same market. Different habits. Each step builds on the one before it, so the line keeps climbing instead of crashing.
Actions taken →
01 / What you tried
Attend an event
You showed up, shook hands and left with a pocket full of business cards.
Nobody followed up, you included. By Friday the room had forgotten you.
ResultA bump, then flat.
02 / What you tried
Ask friends
The people who love you said yes and sent whoever they could think of.
Then they ran out. They never knew exactly who to send you, so they stopped guessing.
ResultA little more, then it stalls.
03 / What you tried
Follow bad advice
Somebody sold you a script. Ask every client for five names. Message strangers.
It didn't sound like you, and people could feel the pitch. A few of them quietly stopped sending anyone.
ResultA step backward.
04 / What you tried
Grow unsustainably
Then it clicked. You said yes to every coffee and answered texts at 11pm.
Referrals spiked, and so did the exhaustion. When you burned out, the follow-up stopped. So did the referrals.
ResultA spike, then a crash.
01 / The UPGRADE path
Build the habits
This is the step everyone wants to skip. Clarity, energy, courage, productivity, influence and commitment.
Get those right and follow-through stops being a fight. You do what you said you'd do, and people notice.
ResultMomentum that doesn't depend on motivation.
02 / The UPGRADE path
Engage your network
Start with the people who already know you, one real conversation at a time.
They learn exactly who you help. When that person shows up in their life, yours is the first name they think of.
ResultReferrals start coming on purpose.
03 / The UPGRADE path
Attend events that matter
Fewer rooms. Better ones. You walk in knowing who you want to meet and how you'll follow up.
People remember you because you remembered them.
ResultRooms that remember your name.
04 / The UPGRADE path
Host your own
This is where the line leaves the chart. When you host the room, you're the connector everyone thanks on the way out.
One of Thommy's clients hosted her first big event with almost 70 people there.
ResultOff the chart.
Your referrals can only grow to the extent that you do.
Thommy with an H
By the numbers
- 10Years coaching
- 300+Clients coached
- 200+Events run
$7M → $14M
Cynthia, a realtor, doubled her production in one year.
“Coach, I have 13 houses under contract and 4 closings this week.”
Lynne
“You made me believe in myself more than I believed in myself. And I believed in myself a lot, so that says a lot.”
Second-best month ever after moving to a new city
Cynthia
“You gave me the space to figure out who I want to be, and that changed everything. I'm not chasing success anymore. I'm aligned with it.”
Production from $7M to $14M in one year
Will Craddock
“Thommy taught me clarity and focus. His guidance and availability have helped me not only get more referrals, but have more fun doing it.”
6x his expected first-year revenue after cutting seven networking events a week down to one group
02 / The fix
Six habits fix this. UPGRADE instills them.
Random referrals are a habit problem, not a network problem. UPGRADE is 1:1 coaching built around the six habits of highly referable people. Scroll through them.
Clarity
Names who you are, what you offer and who you serve, and the standards you hold yourself to.
Why it mattersPeople don't know your whole business, and it's not their job to be your salesperson. They can only refer what they can describe in one sentence.
Energy
Builds the routines that keep you mentally and physically sharp, so Friday-you shows up like Monday-you.
Why it mattersPeople pick up on tired before you say a word. Nobody refers the exhausted version of you, and generosity is hard to fake on an empty tank.
Courage
Finds where fear is keeping you small and hands you the bold action to take this week.
Why it mattersMost lost referrals were never asked for. The ask you keep putting off is usually the one sitting closest to a yes.
Productivity
Separates tasks from progress and points your week at people.
Why it mattersA cleared inbox never referred anyone. Referrals come from the follow-up calls that busy work keeps pushing to next week.
Influence
Makes you the trusted advisor people recommend without hesitation, through persuasion that guides instead of pushes.
Why it mattersWhen someone refers you, they put their own name on the line. They only do that for people whose judgment they already trust.
Commitment
Sets the daily disciplines that keep the other five running long after the coaching ends.
Why it mattersA referral is a bet on what you'll do next. Once your reputation is "if they say it, it's done," people stop hesitating.
03 / The coaching
One coach. Two ways in.
Coaching for the person behind the business. Both paths are 1:1 with Thommy, both run on the six habits, and both start with a free discovery call.
Referral coachingUPGRADE Coaching
For the entrepreneur who wants referrals they can count on.
Twelve 1:1 sessions that pair Michael J. Maher's Referral Mastery system with the six habits. You leave every session with the exact actions you need that week, and by session twelve you have the daily disciplines that keep the referrals coming after the coaching ends.
- 12 sessions, 1:1 with Thommy
- The Referral Mastery system, installed in your week
- Clarity, energy, courage, productivity, influence, commitment
- A free discovery call first, so you both know it fits
Performance coachingUPGRADE Performance Coaching
For the person who is done with the roller coaster.
The same six habits without the referral system. For business owners in building mode, for employees, for parents, for anyone who wants a life that feeds their family and their soul and is tired of two steps forward, one step back.
- 12 sessions, 1:1 with Thommy
- The six habits, then purpose and persuasion mastery
- Rituals you keep for life, not for 100 days
- Starts with the same free discovery call
Not sure which one? The Referral Habits Assessment takes a few minutes and shows where you're stuck.
04 / Client results
Before UPGRADE. After UPGRADE.
Pick a client to see where they started and where they are now.
Will Craddock
Will was going to as many as seven networking events a week in his first year. He cut to one core group, blocked time for follow-up, reworked his 1:1s and started hosting events for his best referral sources. In nine months he gave 300 referrals and received 80 inside BNI alone.
05 / Community
Thommy doesn't just teach connection. He builds it.
run
Each one is a room where people practise the habits in public and send each other business.
Orlando, in person
Orlando Brew Crew
October 24, 2026
Thrill the World Orlando
Weekly classes
Orlando Moonwalkers
Online, private
The UPGRADE Community
06 / Who it's for
Built for people whose business runs on relationships.
If your next client usually arrives through someone you know, this is your coaching.
Your next listing is sitting in a past client's phone. The habit is the follow-up.
Agents refer the lender who shows up, not the one with the lowest rate.
Trust is the product. Referable advisors are visible, generous and consistent.
Nobody Googles a lawyer they were just handed by a friend.
You already know the material. UPGRADE is about being the person people send people to.
One good engagement should turn into three. Usually it turns into none, for lack of an ask.
Every room is a referral room if you leave with relationships instead of business cards.
Your work speaks, but someone still has to introduce it.
People who know the real bottleneck isn't strategy. It's how they show up.
Find your referral habit gap07 / Questions
What people say before they book.
The same three doubts come up before almost every first call. Tap one to see how Thommy answers it.
“This isn't right for me because…”
Good, because referrals aren't selling. The six habits make you easy to describe and easy to recommend, so people bring you business before you pitch anything. Thommy's clients include realtors, lenders, attorneys and a mold remediation specialist.
You don't need a bigger one. Lynne moved from Michigan to Columbia, South Carolina, rebuilt her network after the move and had her second-best month ever. Coaching works on the people you already know and how you show up for them.
Coaching doesn't add hours. It takes the wasted ones back. Will was going to as many as seven networking events a week when he started. He cut to one group, blocked time for follow-up and 6x'd his expected first-year revenue.
Coaching is 1:1 on Zoom, and Thommy works with clients across the country. The discovery call is virtual too. Orlando clients just get the Brew Crew on top.
“This won't work because…”
Most people who call have. More activity didn't fix it for Will either, and he was at up to seven events a week. The problem is the gap between knowing what to do and doing it every week, and that's what twelve 1:1 sessions are built to close.
Referrals feel random when the habits behind them are random. Follow-up, events and a clear ask can all go on a calendar. As Thommy puts it, your referrals can only grow to the extent that you do.
That's the most common reason people start. Every session ends with specific actions for the week, and the next one opens by checking them. Commitment is the last of the six habits because it keeps the other five running after the coaching ends.
Then you know what to do. UPGRADE works on who you need to be to do it every week, instead of falling off after three.
“I don't believe you because…”
Not this one. The discovery call is a straight conversation about where you are, where you want to be and what's in the way. If 1:1 coaching isn't the right fit, Thommy tells you.
True, so check them. Cynthia went from $7M to $14M in production in one year. Will gave 300 referrals and received 80 in nine months, and he told the story himself on the Referrals Podcast with Michael J. Maher, episode 428. Thommy has been a guest on that show four times.
The price depends on which of the two coaching paths fits you, and that's what the discovery call works out. You hear the number before you commit to anything, and the call itself is free.
Fair. A lot of coaching is motivation that wears off by Monday. UPGRADE sessions end with specific actions and start by checking them, so you see quickly whether the work is happening.
Next step
Find out which referral habit is holding you back.
Take the assessment first. Then book a free discovery call to go over where you're stuck and whether 1:1 coaching is the right next step.
Call or text407-225-5565