Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
BeaconFineHomes.com
Here's another video from GetRealVideo.com. Our goal is to portray people as the really are in real life. You see the video on their website and get to know and like them, before you ever meet them.
New Testimonial Video
Christian Companion Senior Care is very unique. They are legally able to hire only
Christians to work as care givers. Why? It's part of the job description.
We did this video last week for their website.
Christians to work as care givers. Why? It's part of the job description.
We did this video last week for their website.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Farming 101---8 Steps for Tripling the Number of New Referrals to Your Law Firm in 90 Days
You don't have to be an attorney to get business help from Mr. Fairley!
Posted on October 3, 2007 by Stephen Fairley on The Rainmaker Blog
In my last post, we discussed the 4 myths about referrals believed by legal professionals:
• Clients are the best source of new referrals. False!
• Most legal referrals come from other lawyers. False!
• Online legal directories can produce a lot of new clients fast. False!
• Formal Networking is a great way to find new clients. False!
If these are myths, then what is the best source of referrals? Strategic Referral Partners (SRPs) are the best source of new referrals. SRPs are people who already have a relationship with or already do business with the people you want to reach.
For example, if you target small business owners, a few potential SRPs are:
• Accountants & CPS
• Financial planners
• Insurance brokers
• Commercial real estate agents
• Community bankers
• Payroll processing agents
• Chambers of commerce
• Industry-specific trade associations
• Temporary staffing agencies
• Management consultants & business coaches
• Executive and Management Recruiters
• Angel investors and small private equity firms
• Commercial lenders
• CEO-only clubs (YEO, YPO or WPO groups)
By building a network of people who already have relationships with your ideal target market, you can reap the benefits of more referrals
There are 8 easy steps attorneys can use to create a network of Strategic Referral Partners:
1. Identify the best 2-3 professions or industries where you can find SRPs. You don’t need to focus on all the groups above, only the 2 or 3 which have the best connection with your ideal client.
2. Create a database of at least 200-300 people in these fields who work in your local area. This should include every person who has ever referred someone to you as well as every professional service provider your current & former clients have worked with. If you still need more names you can either purchase a list of names or go to http://www.superpages.com and search for the industry or profession, like “accountant” or “financial planner” and then enter in your zip code. This is a great little tool to quickly build a database.
3. Write up a letter of introduction to serve as a template. This letter introduces who you are, briefly describes your ideal target market, what's different about your law firm, and requests that they contact you if they are interested in getting together to determine if the possibility exists for cross-referrals.
4. Call several people in these fields to identify their challenges. Before you meet with a prospective SRP, be sure to contact some people you already know in these fields to discover common industry trends and challenges so you can talk intelligently about the field when you meet with the potential SRP.
5. Send out 10-20 letters per week. Do not send a bunch of letters at once, pace yourself. For each letter you send out, plan on having your assistant make 6-8 calls to try and reach the person you sent the letter to. So 10-20 letters can represent 60 to 100 calls over a month—that’s a lot of dialing. The purpose of your call is two-fold: to see if they are interested in getting together or not (about 30-50% will be based on our experience) and second, to set an appointment if they are.
6. Create a spreadsheet to track your efforts. Include information like: when you sent the letter out, date of first call, date of 2nd call, date when you actually spoke to them, whether they agreed to meet with you in person, when the meeting took place, if they agreed to be a referral source for you, date of first referral, etc.
7. Follow up on your letters with a call within 3-4 days to set up a face to face meeting. The goal is to set up 1 to 2 in-person meetings per week. The in- person meeting is critical because it allows you to start the process of building a relationship with the person and educating them about what kind of referrals you are looking for. During this meeting you should only talk about 25% of the time and listen/ask powerful questions 75% of the time. Be clear about your goal and ask them if they would be willing to be a referral partner for you. Be clear about what you can and cannot offer them in return.
8. Immediately follow up each meeting with a thank you letter or email. This will set you apart as someone who is professional and follows up. Create a plan to stay in touch with each person at least every 6-8 weeks via email, telephone, letter, or newsletter. In your follow up remind them of the exact kind of referral you are looking for and how you can help them in their business as well. For this system to work you must approach it as a ‘win-win’.
Skeptical? Of course you are, but we have taught this easy step-by-step system to hundreds of attorneys and they have used this exact process to quickly build networks of 50-60 new referral sources in 90 days.
What would happen to your law practice if you could have 20, 40, or even 60 new referral sources every single year who consistently send you new clients?
Posted on October 3, 2007 by Stephen Fairley on The Rainmaker Blog
In my last post, we discussed the 4 myths about referrals believed by legal professionals:
• Clients are the best source of new referrals. False!
• Most legal referrals come from other lawyers. False!
• Online legal directories can produce a lot of new clients fast. False!
• Formal Networking is a great way to find new clients. False!
If these are myths, then what is the best source of referrals? Strategic Referral Partners (SRPs) are the best source of new referrals. SRPs are people who already have a relationship with or already do business with the people you want to reach.
For example, if you target small business owners, a few potential SRPs are:
• Accountants & CPS
• Financial planners
• Insurance brokers
• Commercial real estate agents
• Community bankers
• Payroll processing agents
• Chambers of commerce
• Industry-specific trade associations
• Temporary staffing agencies
• Management consultants & business coaches
• Executive and Management Recruiters
• Angel investors and small private equity firms
• Commercial lenders
• CEO-only clubs (YEO, YPO or WPO groups)
By building a network of people who already have relationships with your ideal target market, you can reap the benefits of more referrals
There are 8 easy steps attorneys can use to create a network of Strategic Referral Partners:
1. Identify the best 2-3 professions or industries where you can find SRPs. You don’t need to focus on all the groups above, only the 2 or 3 which have the best connection with your ideal client.
2. Create a database of at least 200-300 people in these fields who work in your local area. This should include every person who has ever referred someone to you as well as every professional service provider your current & former clients have worked with. If you still need more names you can either purchase a list of names or go to http://www.superpages.com and search for the industry or profession, like “accountant” or “financial planner” and then enter in your zip code. This is a great little tool to quickly build a database.
3. Write up a letter of introduction to serve as a template. This letter introduces who you are, briefly describes your ideal target market, what's different about your law firm, and requests that they contact you if they are interested in getting together to determine if the possibility exists for cross-referrals.
4. Call several people in these fields to identify their challenges. Before you meet with a prospective SRP, be sure to contact some people you already know in these fields to discover common industry trends and challenges so you can talk intelligently about the field when you meet with the potential SRP.
5. Send out 10-20 letters per week. Do not send a bunch of letters at once, pace yourself. For each letter you send out, plan on having your assistant make 6-8 calls to try and reach the person you sent the letter to. So 10-20 letters can represent 60 to 100 calls over a month—that’s a lot of dialing. The purpose of your call is two-fold: to see if they are interested in getting together or not (about 30-50% will be based on our experience) and second, to set an appointment if they are.
6. Create a spreadsheet to track your efforts. Include information like: when you sent the letter out, date of first call, date of 2nd call, date when you actually spoke to them, whether they agreed to meet with you in person, when the meeting took place, if they agreed to be a referral source for you, date of first referral, etc.
7. Follow up on your letters with a call within 3-4 days to set up a face to face meeting. The goal is to set up 1 to 2 in-person meetings per week. The in- person meeting is critical because it allows you to start the process of building a relationship with the person and educating them about what kind of referrals you are looking for. During this meeting you should only talk about 25% of the time and listen/ask powerful questions 75% of the time. Be clear about your goal and ask them if they would be willing to be a referral partner for you. Be clear about what you can and cannot offer them in return.
8. Immediately follow up each meeting with a thank you letter or email. This will set you apart as someone who is professional and follows up. Create a plan to stay in touch with each person at least every 6-8 weeks via email, telephone, letter, or newsletter. In your follow up remind them of the exact kind of referral you are looking for and how you can help them in their business as well. For this system to work you must approach it as a ‘win-win’.
Skeptical? Of course you are, but we have taught this easy step-by-step system to hundreds of attorneys and they have used this exact process to quickly build networks of 50-60 new referral sources in 90 days.
What would happen to your law practice if you could have 20, 40, or even 60 new referral sources every single year who consistently send you new clients?
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