In preparation for writing this blog, I did some research about referrals. Hold the side-eye. This referrals subject matter expert comes in peace and armed with a deep understanding of referrals from my time served in the legal industry and medical field. But knowledge is like fashion; some principles are timeless, and others go out of style and begin to fade in their power and reach. In this blog, I’ll focus on the principles that have stood the test of time – those core values that can help your firm build a wide and strong referral network.
A general consensus says referral marketing is the most influential form of advertising. Here are some statistics that illustrate how meaningful referral marketing is to the brands that leverage word-of-mouth referrals:
My experience working in and with law firms suggests that referred leads have a higher conversion rate. And some of the biggest cases settled come from a word-of-mouth referral source. Firms are putting a premium on building and nurturing their referral networks to generate high-quality leads and retain past and present clients.
Underscored in the articles I read was trust. It was said that trust is the foundational principle that holds all relationships and the true currency for all businesses. That trust is a bilateral relationship – one trusts, and the other is trusted.
Cambridge University Press & Assessment’s definition of trust – is “to believe that someone is good and honest and will not harm you, or that something is safe and reliable.” This a great reminder of how delicate and beautiful trust is and why it influences referrals in such a powerful way. If someone knows and trusts your brand and makes a word-of-mouth referral, it has a superpower!
Clearly, people trust recommendations from their friends, family, and peers. It’s much more likely that their recommendation will be taken seriously and lead to a conversion.
Referral marketing is a great way to leverage the power of word-of-mouth and get more customers. People are more likely to trust recommendations from their friends and family, so it’s important to make sure that your brand is share-worthy. Your brand should be creating and delivering a service that people will want to share with their friends and family. Providing quality work and excellent customer service will ensure that your customers have a positive experience with your company, which in turn will encourage them to spread the word about you organically. This positive client journey will be vital to building a solid referral network and getting high-quality referral leads.
A referral network is a group of brand champions who refer your firm to interested leads. Your network might include your team, client base, and attorneys outside your firm.
Your Team: Who knows and trusts your brand better than your team? They are intimately involved in the case-handling process and understand the challenges clients face after a crash. Most firms encourage and incentivize personal referrals. Personal referral incentives might be an hour of PTO time for “X” number of personal referrals in a given time period. Firms also typically expect each attorney to have “X” number of attorney referrals in a given period of time. That expectation is memorialized in the attorney scorecard.
Client Base: A prime time to ask clients for a referral is at the settlement meeting. Happy clients want to do something to thank you for helping them. You must tell them what you want! What you want is the referral of a friend, family member, or peer should a legal need arise. Consider targeted training for your team members for this process. While it comes as second nature to some, it may not to others. Provide team members with a short script to use and allow them creative license to modify how they see fit, so it feels natural to them.
Market to your entire database to stay top of mind for legal needs: current clients, former clients, and anyone who has ever contacted your firm. It must be said that you should be capturing (in your case management system) all demographic information (name, address, phone number, email, and date of birth) for all leads that come into your firm, regardless of the case type they’re calling about or the disposition of the intake screening for ongoing marketing initiatives. Marketing initiatives might be email drip campaigns or snail mail campaigns – such as birthday cards, newsletters, etc.
Outside Attorneys: Firms recognize the value in adding attorneys outside their core practice area or jurisdiction to their network. Some suggested ways to grow your attorney referral network are:
Once a referral partnership is established, memorialize the terms and expectations in writing, prior to the referral of your first client. Consider questions like:
For firms that are referring cases to your office on an annual basis, make sure the firm is in good standing and get an updated copy of their malpractice insurance.
Develop a system of reporting back to your attorney referral sources. By proactively reporting to the referring firm, you stay top of mind for additional referrals and provide the firm with peace of mind that you are actively working on the case. It also reassures them that you haven’t forgotten their interest in the case.
Once a case reaches a positive resolution, firms include a copy of the signed settlement memo to show the distribution of all funds, the referral fee check, and a personalized thank you for the referral note.
Don’t ever forget to recognize their trust in you. Handwritten thank you notes for your best advocates expressing your sincere gratitude go a long way. You might also consider sending gifts as a token of your appreciation. Many firms send gifts towards the end of the year around the holidays. Firms are breaking from tradition and getting really creative by sending something unique and local to their area. For reference, at Vista, a Louisiana based business, we send King Cakes in February in celebration of Mardi Gras. The pictures we get from our clients are GOLD, and it’s always fun to learn who got the baby!
Now that you’ve built an army of brand champions, let’s make sure someone is at the helm of referral relations. This designated team member could double as the client relations and co-counsel partner relations ambassador to build and nurture referral relationships. The ambassador should be responsible for the following:
By developing and nurturing relationships with attorney referral sources, you can expect more repeat referrals and create an army of brand champions who are as passionate about your practice as you are. Building relationships takes time, but once established, the results will be worth it! Now go tell a friend to tell a friend and partner up!
