How To Increase Your Referrals and Grow Your Firm
By Next Level Pod on August 30th, 2022 in Uncategorized
We’ve talked about marketing a lot on Law Firm Next. We’ve spent episodes diving deep into social media, web presence, and other forms of online marketing.
However, we haven’t spent much time talking about referrals.
Well, that’s just what we are going to do today.
Referrals are one of those things that, if you will just give it a little bit of time and energy on the frontend, will pay dividends for your firm in the future. Let’s dive in!
Why Referrals Are Important
If you’re only focusing on lead generation marketing and using things like Google search or paid advertising, you’re probably missing out on half the people who are looking for a lawyer. Those people aren’t really searching online for a lawyer; they’re asking friends or colleagues for recommendations. This is why referrals are such a good opportunity to grow your business.
The other reason to focus on referrals is that they convert better. Referral sources are likely to send people to you that they already know are a good fit for your firm. Maybe they weren’t a good fit for their firm but know that your firm is perfect for that client’s needs. Additionally, if someone a client trusts referred them, they will be a much warmer lead.
Five Ways to Increase Referrals
Now that we know how important referrals are, let’s go over five ways to increase your referrals.
1. ASK for referrals.
Most people are, by default, not wired to give referrals. Let’s look at the stats: 20% of people are very proactive and actively give referrals all the time. 20% of people never give referrals. That leaves 60% of current clients, past clients, friends, colleagues, other lawyers, and other professionals that would probably give you a referral but just don’t think to do it.
Get out and ask these people for a referral. You could even send an email explaining why it’s so important to you. Just by asking them, you’ll likely get tons of referrals in.
2. Create a list of emails of people that could refer clients to you.
Here are some ideas:
- Other lawyers in different practice areas
- Other business owners
- Past clients
Additionally, provide referrals for these people yourself. This makes you much more likely to get a referral from them.
3. Create a referral sources newsletter.
Send an email newsletter to your referrals sources reinforcing the understanding about what you do, examples of client success, and maybe some social proof like a great review. You could also offer to give them free information and content for their websites (aka, a lead magnet).
Be sure to direct these referral sources as well. Having a dedicated referral page on your website that explains the type of clients you work with, success stories from some referrals you’ve received, social proof, and reviews is key. Share this page with your referral sources newsletter.
4. Say thank you to someone who sent you a referral.
One of the easiest ways to do this is with a thank you card. When someone gets a handwritten card, it’s so rare that they read it and remember it. Gift cards are another way to thank your referrals as well as customized gift boxes you can order online.
5. Protect your referrals.
Protecting your referrals means making sure your online presence looks good. If someone refers a client to you and they Google your name or your firm’s name, what comes up? Do you have plenty of positive reviews and lots of information on your firm? Make sure to work on building up a solid online presence if not.
If you want to learn more about referrals, check out Episode 057: Growing Your Law Firm with Referrals.