Attorney Marketing Blog

Statistically, there are no better clients, customers, or patients in business than those who are referred to you.

Referred clients come to you having been told by a third party that you are the person to contact. Essentially, the “selling” process has already been taken care of for you. The potential client is essentially looking for fulfillment on the promises made by the person who referred them. Your job is to live up to those expectations.

Another benefit of referrals is that they tend to be of higher average value than non-referred clients. There is less resistance to the prices you charge and more compliance with the process of handling the legal issue. This means more money and less stress for you.

It is obvious that more referrals for your practice is a good thing.

But there’s a secret to getting referrals that is often hidden from attorneys. Most attorneys have been taught, “Just do good work and the cases with come.” The idea is that you will get more cases over time as people refer more to you. That’s a pretty slow-moving train of success.

Instead of waiting for referrals to trickle in, you should be creating a steady stream of referred cases. Here are three ways for you to start generating more referrals for your practice:

1. Make Referrals Part of Your Culture – This isn’t a wishy-washy, happy-go-lucky concept. The idea here is to integrate language encouraging referrals into everything you do. New clients should know that you love getting referrals. Stationary you use could have a brief statement about how to refer a case to your office in the footer. Whenever you talk with another attorney, don’t forget to discuss referrals with them. Make referrals a highlighted part of your practice’s general existence. The more importance you give to referrals, the more referrals you will get thanks to how many opportunities you are creating to draw in more referrals.

2. Create an Email Specifically About Referrals – Try making contact with attorneys in your area to build referral relationships. Email is a quick and easy way to open the lines of communication with people about referrals. Send it out to a group of attorneys in your area (you can usually grab email addresses from their websites). Try sending 5-10 emails every week. If you give each one a custom feel by commenting on something you liked on the attorney’s website, you’ll score a few points as you try to establish the relationship. Make sure you follow up every few weeks until you start hearing back from your prospects.

3. Turn Referrals into a “Program” – Develop a step-by-step process that you can show to other attorneys to really encourage referring clients to your practice. Include pieces such as how the referring attorney will be notified when you accept the case, how they will be updated, how you handle the ethics requirements, and how payment to the attorney will be handled if allowed in your state. Giving structure to what can often be a loose verbal agreement makes the referring attorney more confident in how you handle the process. Now you have your own “Program” for referrals at your office, which can be an impressive marketing tool.

The smartest choice you can make right now is to make the cultural shift. This shift will change the behavior of people in your office and will modify how others perceive you and your practice. You can move from occasional referrals to constant stream in short order just by being known as a practice that handles referrals professionally and responsibly.

Other Articles You May Like:

• Why Legal Services Should Be Sold as “Products”

• 9 Ways to Attract More Clients to Your Law Practice

• How to Set Achievable Goals in a Law Practice

Starting over can be scary, but it can also be exciting, revitalizing, and motivating. That’s why many people daydream about what they would do if they could “start over.”

In fact, that’s one of the (few) things I enjoyed about golf! You start from zero at each hole and have a fresh opportunity to excel.

This was my mindset when I wrote the report, 10-Step Program for Marketing Success. I set out to answer the question, “what are the steps I would take if I were rebuilding my practice from the ground up.

Inside this report, you will discover everything I’ve learned since opening the doors to my law firm and all the big-picture tactics I teach the attorney members at Great Legal Marketing.

Charley Mann

Charley is the Chief Marketing Officer at Great Legal Marketing and believes in results, Results, RESULTS!

Most attorneys start their firms assuming that being a really, really good attorney should, in and of itself, be a marketing advantage. Those attorneys believe that joining a whole bunch of committees and putting their name in lawyer directories is “marketing,” and they never bother to ask if there is a better way.

Attorneys are catching on, however, and those who succeed learn to leverage their current resources to create effective (and ethical) marketing. What they discover isn’t a magic pill or silver bullet but a different approach to marketing that your competitors haven’t considered.

If you want a peek at what successful attorneys use to market their practice, the HERO Starter Kit is your logical next step.

We’ve put together a FREE (and potentially life-changing) kit for solo and small firm attorneys that will show you a better way to reach potential clients and get them excited to call your firm. Request your HERO Starter Kit from Great Legal Marketing!

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