By now, as a PILMMA member, you know the importance of Referrals in successfully growing your law firm. They are like golden nuggets and while other Marketing Strategies give bangs for the bucks, personal referrals have the ripple effect of creating exponential growth and cost virtually nothing. In order to take full advantage of this marketing tool, it helps if you more fully understand the mindset of Referrals. So this month, I want to share two important aspects of Referrals that will help you maximize this valuable asset in your own practice.
First off, you need to understand why a referral happens, and the real reason may surprise you! Whether it’s for a movie, a restaurant, or a law office, the real reason that people make referrals is that it makes them feel good, plain and simple. They aren’t doing so as a favor to the chef or your firm! People refer because they want to add value to their friends, and doing so makes them feel important. As human beings, most of us want to be helpful or useful or informative. We want to show that we’ve got a “shortcut” that can help our “tribe.”
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Our referral instinct probably goes all the way back to our days as hunters and gatherers. Back then, when people needed their tribe to survive and prosper, they wanted to be the one to bring good news: “Hey, I’ve found some blueberries over that hill, or there’s a source of fresh water right beyond that ridge…,” etc.
Referrals are a basic instinct and the “Why” we refer is because we are genetically wired to do so!
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With the “Why” of the referral established, we need to also understand the “How.” The second critical component of the Referral mindset is to more fully understand the actual mechanics of how a referral occurs. The truth is that all referrals happen as a result of a conversation. And for your firm to receive a referral, three things must be true…
First, people need to be in a conversation about something that is related to what you do. Secondly, while they are in that conversation, one of them needs to know about you. Lastly, the person that knows about you must then mention you in that conversation.
When you take the time to understand both the Why and the How of a referral, then you can start taking proactive steps to increase the likelihood that a person you have successfully represented will then go on to refer others to you. Now you can begin orchestrating referrals almost at will! Start by taking steps that will keep your name and your law firm at the top of your past and current clients’ minds on a regular basis. You might think that once you have successfully represented someone, they will never forget you. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Here are 4 simple but highly successful strategies for staying on your clients’ minds and in their conversations:
1) Newsletters: One of the easiest, cheapest and best referral strategies is the newsletter. If you have time you can do it in-house, but there are also several vendors out there that can take care of as much of the details as you need. The newsletter does not have to be related to personal injury topics at all. Share what is going on around your office, community, recipes, quotes, a meet our lawyers or staff, etc. This is also a great way to recognize those clients who are already referring cases to you. People love to see their name in print, and knowing that you publish and publicly thank people who make firm referrals will lead to even more referrals!
As a PILMMA member, you have ready access to our swipe and deploy newsletter, in the Member’s Toolkit.
2) Books: As a PILMMA member, you know that I often teach on the importance of having a book, written in plain and straightforward language that provides some valuable content to prospective clients. Having a book that you have written, with your photo on the back immediately differentiates you from your competition.
Give 2-3 copies of your book to all your clients when you sign them up and tell them to give the copies to friends and family who need your services.
Having a book that your clients can share makes it easier and more likely that they will give you referrals. (If you are interested in seeing if the books we license available in your market, just contact our office.)
3) “Program” your clients by constantly Disseminating the Message: Look for ways to constantly communicate to your clients that you love referrals!
- Buy stickers that say, “We love Referrals” and put them on the back of all the letters or envelopes that you send your clients;
- Add the same phrase to your e-mail signature, your firm’s website, the bottom of your newsletters, etc. Consider a statement such as:” A referral is the highest compliment you can give our Law Firm. We welcome your referrals.”
- Send out handwritten thank-you cards to each person who refers cases to you.
This kind of personal touch sends home the message of just how much your firm genuinely appreciates receiving referrals and increases the likelihood that this person will continue referring cases to you!
4) Client Advisory Board: People like to feel important and appreciated. A Client Advisory Board made up of persons who have referred cases to you in the past is easy to start and is a great strategy for encouraging and obtaining even more referrals. I have created a step by step checklist for setting up a Client Advisory Board and have made it available to all of our members online in your Members Toolkit, under the “Resources” tab, noted as “Client Advisory Board.”
Of all the Marketing Tools you have, the Personal Referral will always be one of your best and certainly most affordable marketing strategies. By thinking about the Why and How of Referrals you will be able to start orchestrating more and more opportunities to make them happen in your own firm. Be Proactive!
