Casework may form the bulk of your law firm’s revenue, but it’s by no means your only opportunity for producing a profit. In addition to earning via billable hours and contingency fees, you can capture additional revenue by taking advantage of an existing, and sometimes underutilized resource: referrals.
If you’ve yet to make a dedicated effort to send and receive legal referrals, it’s high time that you make the most of this valuable revenue source.
The Two Sides of Referral Marketing
Referral marketing has long allowed attorneys to more easily connect with qualified leads, but its benefits don’t end with new clients. What happens to leads you’re forced to turn down? They might not be right for your law firm, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help you produce revenue.
Make the most of incoming leads while returning the favor—for a fee. This is the ultimate win-win situation. Your qualified leads will receive exceptional representation from law firms better equipped to handle their unique concerns. Those law firms will obtain vetted prospects free of the typical investments in marketing and long-term nurturing efforts. Plus, you will receive a fee in recognition of your efforts to serve clients, even if not directly through your law firm.
On your end, an effective referral system could dramatically improve marketing and intake ROI. Not every interaction will lead to a long-term client, but it could at least produce revenue in the form of a referral. As a result, a greater share of your firm’s leads will hold monetary value.
The Importance of Dedicated Referral Management Solutions
Referral marketing offers huge revenue potential for your law firm, but this effort must be built and maintained strategically. A haphazard approach could lead to wasted time or worse: poor client satisfaction and the associated damage to your firm’s reputation.
The right automated referral solution can ensure that this critical process is tailored to produce client satisfaction, but also efficient enough to allow you to focus on existing clients. Automation also benefits partners by increasing the likelihood of client follow-up and conversion.
Ideally, referral efforts will be customized based on the types of leads and who is best suited to serve them. The sooner referral information is sent to the appropriate partner, the more likely leads are to take advantage of services. This, in turn, could lead to a greater volume of incoming referrals for your law firm, as lawyers generally prefer to send referrals when they know the favor will be returned.
An effective referral strategy takes time to build, but the right solution can help you make the most of a previously untapped source of revenue. Once you’ve developed a reliable revenue stream, you’ll be amazed that you ever let such a valuable resource go to waste.
Are you ready to take the next step with a referral management module? Learn more about Captorra’s referral management solutions.