Not all referral sources are equal. Some need to stay, but you need to tell others, “You’re fired!”
Referral sources come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some generate a ton of new calls for you. Some only send a client once in a while, but that client is a whale that can make your year. Some send lots of clients, but they’re the wrong kind of clients. Some send people seeking help, but it’s free help they need, and they can’t afford to pay. Some referral sources rarely send you anything, and when it comes, it’s garbage.
It’s important for you to evaluate the effectiveness of your referral sources. You’ve got to know what’s working and what isn’t so you can properly allocate your time, energy, and resources.
When you’ve got lots of referral sources and the clients are flowing in, it becomes tricky to evaluate the effectiveness of each of your referral sources. You’re on the phone with one prospect when another calls. Your thoughts get jumbled, and you can’t keep the source of every call straight. Real life interferes with data collection.
It’s critical for you to know the origin of every client so you can properly score your referral sources. Keep a list and score each referral source against that list. As cases wrap up, add data to the list. How much revenue came from the case? How difficult was the client? Was this the type of case you’d like more of?
Periodically evaluate your primary referral sources and determine who’s worth giving more attention and who needs to be taken out of the lunch rotation and off the holiday card list.
Some referral sources are tricky. They won’t score well on your list, but they’re fun at lunch or they’re involved with your family. Of course, you should make exceptions to the harsh rule of eliminating referral sources when you’ve got a good reason. But when someone isn’t worth the special exception, you’ve got to eliminate him or her. Marketing time is limited. There are only so many hours in a day.
Sometimes you’ve got to Trump your referral source. Send that person out of the boardroom, down the elevator, and into the taxi. Bye-bye.
