Legal Marketing & PR

Referral System: Check Back With Those You Referred

By Tom Kane

Every lawyer should have a good referral system in place, since at least 71% of new work comes from referrals, as mentioned in an earlier post. As that post noted, 'giving vs. getting' is a very important element of any system. And every lawyer should check to insure his/her outgoing referral – whether to another lawyer, accountant, banker, etc. – was satisfactory to those being referred.

Bob Weiss has an item in the current issue of ABA's Law Practice Today that points out the importance of checking on referrals you make to assure that the person was well served. A bad referral is worse than no referral. Bob suggests:

'Calling the person you referred soon after making the referral. Make sure the call was taken, or that the email sent or voice mail left was responded to timely. Eventually, find out how well the matter was handled, if the results attained were satisfactory and if the fees charged were fair.'

Then, provide feedback to the professional involved. He also recommends, when making a referral, to provide 'three names,' so the client can make up their own mind after talking with each. Of course, let each referral contact know that you gave their name to a client. 

Full post as published by Legal Marketing Blog on June 18, 2009 (boomark / email).