Lunch with a prospective referral source comes with a price tag. It’s expected that they’ll refer to you and that you’ll refer to them. That’s an unspoken understanding in most referral relationships.
Unfortunately, if you’re aggressive about building marketing relationships, you don’t have enough referrals to hand out to everyone. You certainly can’t do a one-for-one exchange when you’re out with five or six referral sources per week and maintaining dozens of relationships. It’s especially challenging if many of your referral sources are in the same profession as one another.
What can you give back when you can’t give referrals?
Plenty.
You’ve got a wealth of assets you can use to fulfill the need to make the relationship reciprocal.
Access: Your referral sources need access to an expert. It’s important to them that they be able to pick up the phone, dial your number, and get you on the line. They may be making the call with their client in the room. They need to look connected. They need their client to understand that they play in the big leagues. Being able to get you on the line immediately helps them make the right impression. Give them your mobile phone number and explain that they can call anytime. By making yourself available, you’re giving them a valuable gift.
Answers: When they call, be prepared to answer their questions. They need a quick answer so they can move on to the next thing, and your willingness to help out, without charge, is incredibly important to them. In the same way that you enjoy placing a quick call to a peer and saving yourself hours of research, they appreciate the help you provide when you answer their question. Be ready to go when they call.
Updates: Help them stay up-to-date on developments in the law. Provide them with informative newsletters, articles, and seminars. You’re their go-to expert, and they need to know what they don’t know.
Insider info: Sometimes they want the inside scoop on opposing counsel or the judge. You’re in a position to know what really goes on and who’s who. Be ready to give them the insight they need to understand the personalities involved.
Jumping the line: Sometimes all they need is quick help for the referral they’re making to your firm. Be ready to expedite things when necessary in order to move their client to the head of the line. That might mean making an initial consultation happen right now instead of three days from now. Treat the clients of your referral sources special, and it reflects on the referral sources, making them look good.
Charitable contributions: We all care about a variety of causes. When referral sources ask you to go to a charity dinner, go. When referral sources ask you to write a check, write it. Care about what they care about, and your relationship will thrive.
Pro bono: Once in a while, good referral sources will ask you to do a good deed for someone they know. Do it.
Do a favor: You’ll find that non-lawyer referral sources need help with all kinds of things that relate to the law. I recently asked a politician friend to write a letter on behalf of a referral source’s child. I made a quick call that made a big difference to the referral source. Use your legal network to help out.
Referrals to other lawyers: Your referral source may not know many other lawyers. Yet the need for other lawyers arises all the time. Keep a list of attorneys you suggest in other practice areas and in other parts of the state and country. Be a resource for finding a lawyer when you’re not able to handle a particular matter.
These are some of many ways you can pay referral sources back for making a referral. You don’t always need to respond to a referral with a referral. In fact, in many instances, you can do more good for your referral sources with one of these other approaches to making the relationship mutual.
If you’re maintaining as many relationships as I hope you are, you can’t possibly reciprocate with a referral every time. This toolbox of opportunities for helping your referral sources should go a long way toward keeping the ledger balanced.
