Law Firm Marketing: 3 Ways to Reap the Rewards of Relationships
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What have you done in the past 3 months to build relationships with potential referral partners? Here are the 3 ways to help you develop strong referral relationships:
1. When It Comes To Referral Relationships Take An Active Role
There is an old saying that “to have a friend you must first be a friend.” Don’t wait for someone to take the initiative and contact you – be the first to reach out. In the last few years we have coached and trained thousands of attorneys and the ones who are the best rainmakers are the ones who make at least 3-4 contacts with potential referral sources every week.
Take a few minutes and scan your contact list. Select 15 to 20 names of potential or current referral sources and send them an email or better yet, pick up the phone and call them with an invitation to lunch or coffee. Set a goal of having three face-to-face meetings per week for the next month.
2. Increase the Frequency of Your Contact
Try as we might, it’s difficult with our hectic schedules to meet with every potential referral source on a regular basis. Here’s one strategy I teach lawyers: Set up a Google Alert for a specific phrase that would be of interest to your referral sources. Collect interesting articles and keep them in a separate folder (Referral Articles).
Once a month pull one out, print off a bunch of copies and attach a brief handwritten note on each copy (“I thought you might enjoy this article”). Enclose your business card and mail a copy of the article to all of your referral sources.
Several of my clients have doubled and tripled their referrals in 6 months using this simple technique to stay in front of their referral sources on a frequent basis. You can set up a Google Alert at www.google.com/alerts
3. Focus on Serving, Not Selling
When you meet with referral sources, don’t make the mistake of dominating the conversation. You are there to listen. Any attempt to “sell” them on your services will be a complete waste of your time and theirs. Look for ways you can serve them and their clients by connecting them with other resources or pointing them in the right direction regarding a legal issue. Ask a lot of questions about their business.
Educate them about your Ideal Target Market and how you can benefit their clients only after you have carefully listened to them.
Attorneys who want to become top Rainmakers don’t wait for someone to knock on the door or the phone to ring or the referral to come in. They take the initiative, stay in touch, and focus on serving their referral sources, not selling them a service.
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Here’s hoping you enjoy a wonderful serving of family and friends during this Thanksgiving holiday – we all have many things to be thankful for if we only take a few moments to truly appreciate what we’ve been given, and what we have gained through hard work. Everyone at The Rainmaker Institute joins me in sending Happy Thanksgiving wishes your way!
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