Law Firm Marketing: The Key to More Referrals is Education and Engagement

According to a Nielsen report last week, consumers continue to rely heavily on word-of-mouth and recommendations from people they know in the decision-making process for services and products. The major impact that social media has made is that consumers are increasingly including people they don’t personally know –online consumers – in that important “circle of trust.”

We all know that referrals continue to play a huge part in new business for attorneys -- and because they are based on trust, it is important to cultivate both offline and online sources to feed your referral activity.

I believe one of the biggest reasons that attorneys don't receive more referrals is because they don't take the time to inform and remind their clients of the various services they offer.  Most clients believe the only service the lawyer offers is the one they used.

How much business have you lost because your clients simply aren't aware of the various services your firm can provide?

Another way to increase client referrals is to make certain that your clients can accurately explain your ideal target market:

Your ideal target market is the person or company most likely to hire you initially, repeatedly and at the highest profit margin. With so many attorneys struggling to define their ideal client, it's no wonder if your clients don't know whom they should refer to you.

Remember that memory is elusive and just because you wowed them once and they sent you a referral - doesn't mean they will ALWAYS remember.  So don't take referral relationships for granted.  Finding a high-quality lawyer is easy and it takes more than quality to make an impression - it takes a relationship. 

Just like any relationship, you need to be connecting with your current and former referral sources every four to six weeks to ensure the health and longevity of the affiliation. Rainmakers don't wait for the door to knock 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 – both offline and online.