Referrals – Across the Street or Across the Hall

Once you have determined to focus on referrals, the next step is to figure out how to make them effective sources for developing new business. Help them help you... literally.

To actually refer you business, your referral sources have to be able to articulate good reasons for people to consult with – and ultimately hire – you. To do this, they actually have to know what you do. While this may sound obvious, I've seen plenty of attorneys who refer work across the street because they have no idea that another attorney, who just happens to be right across the hall, is well-versed in the same area of law that one of their current Clients has a need for. 

Think about it: do you have more than cursory knowledge about the practices of all of the other attorneys in your firm? Do you know the types of Clients they work with, the issues they help to deal with or the types of results they achieve? If you don’t, then don’t assume that other attorneys know your business...