View All guides Conversation skill · updated 2026-09-21
Maryland SBDC Toolkit

Skill guide

Service Provider Referral Engine

A neutral, alphabetical shortlist of attorneys, CPAs, insurers, marketers, IT or HR providers near a client — with reviews, licensing checks, and ready-to-send referral emails.

For: Maryland SBDC consultants and staff
Maintainer: Brandon Mason
Source: the skill’s own instructions
What you getWhat you useSetupHow to useFAQ

Start here

What you get

Tell it the client's location, radius, what kind of provider, and the concrete needs. It searches, checks licensing where it applies, reads current reviews, and returns three primary options in alphabetical order (never ranked), up to two alternates, one short referral email per provider with no placeholders, and a follow-up nudge for three days later.

SBDC neutrality is built in: options are presented alphabetically with no implied preference, and emails state that the SBDC does not attend client–provider meetings.

Conversation skill. You start it by saying what you want; it asks for what it needs and hands back a deliverable in the same chat. Nothing to install beyond the plugin, nothing to configure.

What it never does

  • Never ranks providers or implies a preference.
  • Never includes client name, company, or contact in the emails unless you explicitly say yes — default is anonymous.
  • Never retains or re-shares an uploaded Neoserra file beyond the minimum needed to tailor the picks.

Step 1

What to have ready

Step 2

Setting it up

Getting it on your side

The skill is plain instructions, so it runs wherever you already work. Pick your row:

  1. Get the files: everything is in the public GitHub repository — the skills themselves, and the ready-to-install plugin file on the latest release. MIT licensed; no GitHub account needed to download.
  2. Claude desktop app: download sbdc-toolkit.plugin from the latest release, drag it into a chat, click Accept.
  3. ChatGPT: this skill is a plain Markdown file, not Claude-specific. Open skills/business-service-provider-referral-engine/SKILL.md, copy the whole file, and paste it into a ChatGPT Project’s instructions or a custom GPT. Same instructions, same outputs.
  4. Claude Code: /plugin marketplace add bwfnx/sbdc-toolkit then /plugin install sbdc-toolkit@maryland-sbdc

Your first conversation

Open a new chat and say:

Find a small-business attorney near Columbia, MD for a client who needs contracts and an operating agreement.

It will ask for:

  • Only the intake items you haven't given: radius, remote OK, licensing, budget band, timing, preferences, and whether client details may go in the emails.

Step 3

How to use it

Say

Refer my client to a CPA within 50 miles of Frederick.Compare local marketing agencies for this client — neutral shortlist with reviews.Draft the referral emails for these providers.

What comes back

  • A) Three primary options, alphabetical: name and firm (linked), best-for / X-factor tied to the client's needs, contact, reviews, licensing where it applies.
  • B) Up to two alternates.
  • C) One ready-to-send email per provider, ~120–170 words, no placeholders.
  • D) A generic follow-up nudge for ~3 business days later.
  • A CSV referral tracker, if the tools allow.

Then

  • Send the emails from your own mail; paste the nudge when the time comes.

Tips from the field

  • Fewer than three viable options nearby? It widens the radius in 25-mile steps or adds licensed remote providers — say up front if that's not acceptable.

Questions people ask

FAQ

Can I say which provider I prefer?
Yes — give the name and reason; it's included and still presented alphabetically alongside the others.
Is it safe to paste client details?
Paste only what the deliverable needs. Nothing you paste is stored by the skill, but the chat itself is a record — treat it like any other working document.
It did something odd. Who do I ask?
Brandon Mason. Say which skill and what you said to start it; a screenshot of the reply helps.