RQ for Outlook: capture referrals where they already happen
RQ for Outlook is an Outlook add-in that lets advisers and professionals capture referrals directly inside their inbox, without switching systems,...
RQ for Outlook: capture referrals where they already happen
RQ for Outlook is an Outlook add-in that lets advisers and professionals capture referrals directly inside their inbox, without switching systems, copying data, or relying on memory.
Every professional firm runs on referrals. Accountants introduce clients to financial advisers. Advisers refer tax work back. Lawyers pass along estate planning needs. The pattern is the same everywhere: someone sends an email, someone else picks it up, and the referral happens.
The problem is that none of it gets recorded.
The introduction email gets sent. The work gets done (sometimes). But the referral itself, the thing that connects the two, disappears into an inbox and is never tracked, measured, or followed up on properly.
This is the gap RQ for Outlook was built to close.
Referrals happen in email. That is where they should be captured.
Most referral tracking asks people to leave what they are doing, open a separate system, and fill in details they have already typed into an email. That is a workflow designed to be ignored, and it usually is.
RQ for Outlook works inside Microsoft Outlook as a sidebar. It sits alongside your inbox, so when a referral email comes in or you need to send one, you handle it there, without switching tabs, opening a new app, or copying details between systems.
You can do three things from the sidebar: send a referral, log one you have received, or review referrals that RQ has detected automatically. Each takes a few clicks. The data goes straight into the RQ app.
Sending a referral is easier than forwarding an email
When an adviser wants to refer a client to another firm, they pick the firm and individual, select the relevant service areas (such as tax planning, pensions, or auto enrolment), and enter the client's name and email. RQ generates a professional introduction email, copies the client, and logs the whole thing automatically.
No more drafting bespoke introduction emails. No more forgetting to follow up. No ambiguity about what was sent or when.
For referrals that happen regularly, advisers can save templates. A firm that routinely refers audit work to the same accountancy practice can create a template and reuse it each time, reducing the process to a few clicks.
Logging received referrals takes seconds, not meetings
When another firm refers a client to you, RQ lets you log that referral directly from your inbox. You select who referred the client, choose the service area, add basic contact details, and submit. The referral is tracked from that point forward.
This matters because received referrals are where most firms lose visibility. The introduction email arrives, someone picks up the phone, and the referral is never formally recorded. Weeks later, when someone asks how many referrals came in from a particular introducer, nobody knows.
RQ gives that answer by making the logging step so simple that people actually do it.
Automatic detection catches what people miss
Even with a quick logging process, people forget. Emails pile up. A referral comes in at 4pm on a Friday and by Monday it is buried under 40 new messages.
RQ scans connected inboxes and identifies emails that look like referrals. It picks out the likely sender, receiver, client name, and service area, then presents them in a daily summary for review. From there, you can log the referral with a click or dismiss it if it is not relevant.
This turns referral capture from something that relies on individual discipline into something the system handles. The adviser still makes the final call, but they are prompted rather than expected to remember.
One inbox per adviser. One view for the firm.
The real value compounds when RQ for Outlook is connected across a firm, or across multiple firms in a network.
Each adviser connects their own inbox. Referrals they send and receive flow into the RQ app, where firm leaders and compliance teams can see the full picture: how many referrals are moving between firms, which relationships are active, which introductions are converting, and where things are falling through the cracks.
For multi-office financial planning firms and accounting networks, this is the difference between guessing at referral volumes and actually knowing. It means you can identify which introducer relationships are worth investing in, which offices are under-referring, and whether the referrals you are sending are turning into business at the other end.
Does RQ for Outlook help with FCA compliance?
Every referral logged through RQ carries an audit trail: who sent it, who received it, when, for what service, and what happened next. This matters under the FCA's Consumer Duty, where firms need to demonstrate that client introductions are made in the client's interest and that outcomes are being monitored.
RQ does not ask advisers to think about compliance. It captures the data as a byproduct of the referral itself. The compliance record is created by doing the work, not by filling in a separate form after the fact.
What makes this different from tracking referrals in a CRM?
CRMs are built for managing client relationships, not for managing referrals between firms. Most CRM-based referral tracking requires manual entry, offers no visibility to the other party, and cannot connect inboxes across different organisations.
RQ is purpose-built for professional referrals. It connects the firms on both sides of the introduction, captures data at the point it happens, and provides a shared view of referral activity across introducer relationships.
Who is RQ for Outlook designed for?
RQ for Outlook is used by UK professional services firms including financial advisers, accountants, solicitors, and other regulated professionals who send and receive client referrals as part of their normal work.
It is particularly relevant for firms with established introducer networks, multi-office practices that need central visibility, and any firm that wants accurate referral data without adding administrative burden to advisers.
The bottom line
The easiest way to get accurate referral data is to capture it where referrals already happen. For most professional firms, that is the inbox.
RQ for Outlook turns email into the place where referrals are tracked, measured, and made visible. No behaviour change required. No separate system to remember. Just better data from the work your team is already doing.