Joe Volta, who practices injury law in the Carolinas, has been successfully growing his book of business using attorney referral marketing. The vast majority of his open case files have come from lawyers he met on Instagram. He has spent zero dollars building his productive referral network.
The referral marketing technique
Two years ago Joe began contacting lawyers who had a lot of Instagram followers. Through regular contact using Direct Messages, Joe worked to build relationships with those lawyers. Over time those relationships turned into referral partnerships. Using that technique, Joe has built his referral network to 50 sources.
Joe: “I started in January 2021. I followed other lawyers to see what the accounts with a lot of followers did. I then reached out to those attorneys using DMs, and commented frequently on their posts. If you send random DMs you are often not going to hear back. But I would comment regularly and try to become part of their community, which led to becoming friends with them. That led to me obtaining cases in the Carolinas from them.”
Kara: “You’re looking to attract referral sources rather than prospective clients, right?”
Joe: “Exactly. A lot of my page is geared towards meeting other attorneys. In the Carolinas you can ethically fee split. So I promote to attorneys with big national followings. I’m trying to become the lawyer they know, like, and trust.”
“I’ve let those lawyers know that I will do everything by the book – I never solicit clients, and I share fees. I’d rather have a 2/3s, 50/50, or 60/40 of a dollar than have no case at all.”
“I have 115 open files. 100 of those files are from attorney referrals. If I didn’t have those lawyers who know, like, and trust that I’m going to take care of their clients and their brand, I wouldn’t have anywhere near the number of files I have now.”
Caveat
You can’t just barge in and ask for referrals. Just as you do when pursuing clients directly on social media, you first need to become a familiar and known presence to the prospective referral source.
Joe: “I build my referral relationships by continually talking to these folks. I comment on their posts, and have conversations. I comment on their successes, things they’re doing with their kids or families. Or if they lost a family member or friend, I offer my condolences. A lot of it is trying to build friendships.”
“If they’re handling a case in the Carolinas pre-lit and don’t want to refer it, I give them my pleadings and case law they can use to put pressure on insurance companies. It is a long game.”
“I use social media to build people up, to get friends I would not ordinarily have because of the distance.”
Your posts
Ideally the prospective referral sources will follow your page, where you can periodically post information that demonstrates your competence and soft-sells the advantages of referring local cases to you.
Joe: “On my Instagram page I try to do some of those educational posts for the organic reach and for people who might not understand insurance. Then I mix in posts that talk to other lawyers. ‘Our laws in the Carolinas are different from New York’s, California’s, or Wyoming’s. Send the case to me. You might make more from a referral fee than if you try to handle it yourself.”
Major social marketers
Your initial targets are the attorneys with large social followings. They are receiving leads all over the country, and likely don’t have trusted names in every state to whom they can send their out-of-state cases.
These same attorneys are also likely receiving leads outside their specialty, so don’t limit your targets to lawyers in your specialty. If their social videos are discussing a variety of legal situations, or they are commenting on high-profile legal news stories, they are receiving leads in multiple specialties.
Joe: “I’m licensed in North and South Carolina. A lot of attorneys, especially if they have been practicing awhile, are not licensed in both states. So I let the national marketers know that, ‘I will help you in North and South Carolina, and that I am happy to share a fee with you – anything that is ethical and above board.’
“Most people are happy to connect, and put their clients in the hands of someone they know will care about those clients and make the referring attorney look good. Not only am I trying to make myself look good, I really worry about and focus on making my referral partner look good.”
Free
This technique requires an investment of time rather than money.
But what makes it superior to the old face-to-face approach at lunches and networking events is its efficiency. You spend no time trying to schedule a mutually-acceptable meetup time, or traveling to and from the meetup location.
Joe: “Personally, I don’t spend any money on marketing. It is all sweat equity – DM’g all those attorneys, emailing other lawyers on listservs that I’m a part of to build those relationships.”
Expansion
Joe strengthens his new referral relationships … and adds new ones … by meeting face-to-face at marketing-oriented legal conferences.
Joe: “Last year I went to the CEOLawyer conference, which is Ali Awad’s. He is really big on Instagram and does great things. Even though he is a younger attorney license-wise than I am, I really respect what he has been able to build. I met a lot of attorneys there and got 10 new cases, 3 of which are 6-figure cases, just from the lawyers I met there.”
“There are other attorneys I got to meet there for the first time in person who were already sending me cases. It’s all about fostering those relationships. I can’t say that enough. People do business with those who they know, like, and trust.”
“Coming up in July I’m going to the Law di Gras conference in San Diego. I’m hoping to meet in person the attorneys who up to this point I have only had contact with online.”
Parting tip
Everyone needs and loves positive reviews, so this following approach of Joe’s is a wise one.
Joe: “I ask a lot of my clients, ‘Hey, if you’re happy with what I did, can you leave a review not only only on my site, but can you also leave a review on that attorney’s site because they referred you to an attorney who really helped you out and you are thankful they did. I’ve found the referring lawyers really appreciate that.”
If you want to grow your referral network, start following and engaging with lawyers on Instagram who have large followings. Many of them don’t have their nationwide referral networks fully built out, and you may fill a gap.
But remember to build the relationship first and ask for referrals second.
