I got lazy. I admit it, after the holidays and the bad winter we had here in the Northeast, I got lazy with my best referral sources. (For my type of practice, other lawyers are my best referral sources). I admit that I failed to nurture the relationships. Failed to touch base with them, to call them for lunch, or even to pick up the phone and just say, “Hi, what’s going on?”
So, the other day, I did pick up the phone to talk with one of my trusted referral sources because I was referring her to one of my clients who needed some help that I couldn’t provide. After talking about his needs, she pointed out that we hadn’t talked in “what seems like forever.” She then asked me, “Hey, do you handle [fill in the blank]?” I said, “Of course I do.” She said, “Oh good, I have someone I was going to refer to another friend of mine, but since I know you handle that stuff, I’m going to send her to you.”
Boom!!! It hit me in the face. My failure to nurture my referral source caused me to go off her radar screen.
However, on the flip side, it reinforced the idea that laser-networking does work. Focusing on my trusted referral sources and keeping top of their mind…works.
Andrew Garcia, attorney in North Dartmouth, MA
Andy says it better than I could have said it myself (although I try in Networking 101). Our referral sources forget about us. We’re not the primary focus of their lives. Shocking, huh?
Please don’t take people to lunch and then let them drift away. It’s a waste of your time. The first coffee/lunch is the beginning. You’ll need to plan on following up until the first of these occurs:
- your death,
- your retirement, or
- 50 years pass.
Once you reach one of these “terminating events,” you can stop. Otherwise, you need to keep reminding them that you exist. Don’t get lazy, don’t forget, and don’t let it slide or “Boom!!!” it’ll hit you in the face.
