Referrals: The Biggest Lost Opportunity in Business

Let's face it, there is no such thing as the perfect marketing plan. No matter who you are, what type of business you are in, there is always an opportunity to improve your marketing. With so many different business priorities, there is just not enough time in the day to focus on all the opportunities to promote your business.

Therefore, when we approach a subject as critical as referrals, I will make sure I stress that this tactic is not a "nice to have" but a "must have" in your marketing practices. That said, I would be willing to guess that 90% or more of all businesses do not have a reasonably sound strategy for leveraging client referrals.

How many plaintiff's firms follow up with their personal injury clients by sending an e-mail or letter along the following lines: "Dear Ms. Smith, it was our pleasure assisting you with your case. We wish you a speedy continued recovery.
We hope we were able to exceed your expectations while we represented you. If there is anything we could have done better, please let us know, as we are always looking for ways to improve our practice.
If you were satisfied with our service and performance, we would greatly appreciate your future referrals."

Requesting referrals is a very easy tactic that offers an astounding return on your efforts, but is often forgotten. As a defense lawyer working with a client, how about following up a positive survey response with a follow-up call? "Good afternoon Mike, I wanted to take a minute to thank you for your continued business and the time you took to provide feedback. [My pleasure] Mike I would like to ask you one more thing, do you feel based on our service level that you would feel comfortable recommending our firm to a peer? [yeah, certainly] Would you be comfortable giving me the names and contact information of 2 or 3 peers that you feel may be interested in considering our firm on their next case? [no problem] That's wonderful, thank you so much, and may I refer to the fact that we have worked with you on these particular matters [go for it] Thank you!

And that is how simple and effective referrals can be. It takes a little salesmanship, but if you give it a shot, you will be increasing your business in no time!

Tip: Think about missed referral opportunities in your ordinary course of business and try to leverage them whenever possible