Have You Developed a Referral Culture?
Some lawyers are reluctant to ask for referrals from clients and others. In surveys that I have been involved in over the years, often I have heard in response - to the question why a client has not referred business to the law firm - "I haven't been asked."
John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing has come to the belief that deep down professionals he has worked with think "asking for referrals is somehow a bad thing." I'm not sure whether the lawyers I know think it is a bad thing, rather the reluctance could be an ego thing, or embarrassment or a shyness. John advocates for developing a culture for referrals, to which I concur.
Here are three of John's suggestions that I particularly like for developing a referral culture:
*Make it a part of your networking message (that you are always looking for good clients to help them with ……..whatever it is you do),
*Hold regular lunches/meetings with referral sources (e.g., bankers, insurance agents, realtors, accountants, brokers, classmates, etc.), and
*Constantly look for opportunities to give referrals to others.
Oh yeah, and don't forget to ask for those referrals.
