The Art of Referrals
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What separates the lawyers who bring in the greatest amount of new business in a law firm from those who struggle to maintain their marketing goals? Lawyers who have mastered the art of referrals remain at the top when it comes to attracting new clients and profitable business.
How do you master the Art of Referrals?
1. At the core of building referral sources is trust. Trust is based on two components, First, do I believe you are credible and competent and second, do I believe you have my best interest at heart? If I believe you meet both criteria I will begin to trust you. However if I believe you are competent but I do not believe you have my interest at heart, I will not trust you and most likely I will not want to make a referral to you. In an article written by Charles H Green of the Trusted Advisor, he summarizes the four specific principles governing trustworthy behavior as:
A focus on the Other (client, customer, internal co-worker, boss, partner, subordinate) for the Other’s sake, not just as a means to one’s own ends.
We often hear “client-focus,” or “customer-centric.” But these are terms all-too-often framed in terms of economic benefit to the person trying to be trusted.
A collaborative approach to relationships. Collaboration here means a willingness to work together, creating both joint goals and joint approaches to getting there.
A medium to long term relationship perspective, not a short-term transactional focus. Focus on relationships nurtures transactions; but focus on transactions chokes off relationships. The most profitable relationships for both parties are those where multiple transactions over time are assumed in the approach to each transaction.
A habit of being transparent in all one’s dealings.Transparency has the great virtue of helping recall who said what to whom. It also increases credibility, and lowers self-orientation, by its willingness to keep no secrets.
2. Demonstrate interest in others. You must show a level of interest and concern for others before they will care about you or your work. When meeting with a prospective referral source, ask, "How would I know if someone was a good client for you?" This demonstrates your interest in their work and success. It also allows you to know more about the referral source so you can refer a client if you believe they are the best resource for the client.
3. Clearly and succinctly communicate what you do. You will not receive referrals if the person you are talking to does not know your value on how you can assist their clients. Once you have learned about the person you are talking to, communicate the value of your work as it relates to them and their interests.
4. Schedule time in your calendar to strengthen your relationship with existing referral sources and to meet new referral sources at targeted events and on line social media. Building strong referral sources will require dedicated and focused time. Figure out how many referrals you need a month to meet your marketing goals and use this as a gauge to identify how much time you should be spending each week on building your referral network.
5. Provide exceptional value to clients. Your best source of referral is with existing clients. A referral given to someone from an existing clients carries the most credibility because this person can speak from a place of experience about your work. Increase referrals from your existing clients by assuring they have a positive experience with your service.
6. Acknowledge every referral you receive. Once you receive a referral from a client or colleague, be sure to thank them for the referral. Your thank you can be a letter, phone call, lunch, bottle of wine or tickets to a special event. It does not matter as much what you do as long as the thank you is timely, personal and conveys your appreciation.
Everyone can master the art of building referrals by paying attention to who you want as a referral source and creating a plan to build trust and relationships with those professionals. The best plan will be easy to implement if it comes from a genuine place of wanting to learn about and bring value to others.
