Rainmaking is converting those people into prospective clients by creating relationships.

Marketing educates your prospective clients and referrals sources about the services you can provide to them.

Rainmaking creates the relationships which allow your prospects and referrals to know that you can provide these services just for them.

Marketing uses a lot of reactive tactics to generate awareness of your services.  For example (this is not even close to an exhaustive list – there are more than 100 ways to get your services known):

• Advertising
• Blogging
• Websites
• Newsletters
• Articles

Rainmaking uses proactive tactics to get to know people personally which will allow them to make the decision to hire or refer you.  For example (Again, this is not even close to an exhaustive list – there are more than 100 ways to create relationships which will get you clients):

• Networking
• Referral Systems
• Entertaining for business (coffee/lunch appointments)
• Social Networking (yes, even online networking can be used for Rainmaking Purposes and will be covered in future blog posts)

So while Marketing will get you known, Rainmaking will get you clients.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

Why aren’t you getting referrals on a regular basis?

It’s probably because you don’t have a system for getting referrals in place.

One of the definitions of the word “System” is “an organized and coordinated method; a procedure.”[i] This is what you need to put in place in order to get referrals on a regular basis.

Most of the time we just hope people will refer business to us – it becomes sheer luck as to whether we get referrals.  However, if you put a system in place where you are connecting with your sources on a regular basis, giving referrals to others on a regular basis and asking them to help you by giving you referrals on a regular basis, you will avoid the “dumb luck” method of getting referrals.

If you don’t develop a method for consistently and constantly getting referrals then you will be doing it ad-hoc.

Develop a method that works best for you.  (If you have a “system” in mind and would like to run it by Jaimie B. Field, Esq. to see if it will work feel free to email her.)   The key is constancy and consistency.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

Rainmaking Recommendation #42 asked:  Do you know how to give referrals?

This third, but by no means final step, answers the question:  Do you know how to ask for referrals?

Being referable and giving referrals are wonderful ways to start the process.  However, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

You have to make sure that each of your clients and referral sources know that your business thrives on their referrals.  You must also teach your clients,  prospects and referral sources the types of clients who would make good referrals for you.

This requires you to understand exactly who your ideal client is and how to describe them to other people (and “someone who pays my bill” is not a good description).   Take the time to figure out what your perfect client looks like and what solutions you can specifically provide to them.  Be broad enough to allow inclusion by enough of a pool of people (or businesses) but specific enough to jog your referral source’s memory of someone who may meet this description.

Once you have this description, you must begin telling your referral sources about them. Remember your referral sources include current clients, past  clients, and other professionals – people with whom you have developed great trust based relationships.   They need to know you are seeking referrals.  So, ask them – ask them who they know that fits the description of the type of client you are seeking and the problems you can solve for them.  While they may not remember or have someone in mind the first time you ask, you have to keep inquiring of them on a regular basis.  This is where implementing a “system” to obtain referrals comes into play.

Don’t forget to thank your referral sources for any attempts to refer new clients.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

The first step answered the question:  Are you Referable?

The second step answers the question:  Do you know how to give referrals?

Why is giving referrals important?  You’ve heard the old adage: “Give to get”.  Nothing could be truer than that statement.    Lawyers, who know much about the law, sometimes fail to take advantage of a law known as “The Law of Reciprocity.”  This law states that people are inherently motivated to pay you back for the nice things you do for them.

However, there is an art to giving great referrals and it begins with these steps:

• Listen closely to what your prospects, clients, friends and family are saying.  Somewhere in that conversation they may need help with something.  You can then provide a referral that helps them with that problem or issue.  (Your referrals to others do not have to be just providing the other person with new clients.  You can refer doctors, restaurants, movies, a great piece of advice, etc.  The point is that you are listening intently and trying to provide a solution to others. )

• Discover exactly who the other person’s perfect client is by asking them for a detailed description and try to provide them with a referral that fits that description.

• Ask the person to whom you have made a referral to keep you in the loop after they have contacted the person you have referred to them.  This will help you to make better referrals in the future.

Start giving great referrals to people and referrals will be returned to you.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie? Call or email for more information.

The first step answered the question:  Are you Referable?

The second step answers the question:  Do you know how to give referrals?

Why is giving referrals important?  You’ve heard the old adage: “Give to get”.  Nothing could be truer than that statement.    Lawyers, who know much about the law, sometimes fail to take advantage of a law known as “The Law of Reciprocity.”  This law states that people are inherently motivated to pay you back for the nice things you do for them.

However, there is an art to giving great referrals and it begins with these steps:

• Listen closely to what your prospects, clients, friends and family are saying.  Somewhere in that conversation they may need help with something.  You can then provide a referral that helps them with that problem or issue.  (Your referrals to others do not have to be just providing the other person with new clients.  You can refer doctors, restaurants, movies, a great piece of advice, etc.  The point is that you are listening intently and trying to provide a solution to others. )

• Discover exactly who the other person’s perfect client is by asking them for a detailed description and try to provide them with a referral that fits that description.

• Ask the person to whom you have made a referral to keep you in the loop after they have contacted the person you have referred to them.  This will help you to make better referrals in the future.

Start giving great referrals to people and referrals will be returned to you.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Recently, I was invited to participate in a podcast with Jared Correia, Law Practice Management Advisor with MassLOMAP for Legal Talk Network Radio on The Power of Legal Referrals, and the one question I get asked the most is how to get more referrals.

There are three steps to getting referrals (the next two Rainmaking Recommendations will focus on the other steps).

The first step to getting more referrals is to be referable.

How do you become referable?

• Manage your clients’ expectations and keep your promises
• Under promise and over deliver
• Keep communicating with your clients
• Do the best work you possibly can

And finally,

• Thank those who do make referrals to you immediately

The last step is one of the most important. If you do not show gratitude to those who trust you with their contacts – friends, family and clients – you will find that referrals from that person will dry up immediately.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month. They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

You wouldn’t give a hungry baby a steak when it wants a bottle of milk.

So why is it that we don’t figure out what our potential and current clients really want?  Instead, we tell them what we want for them.

Great Rainmakers take the time to figure out what their clients want when they work with them.  More often than not, it’s not only about a satisfactory resolution to their legal problems.  Clients want to be heard and understood.   They want someone to listen and respond to them on a timely basis.

Usually, if they are contacting you they are going through an issue which you can resolve.  However, it’s not usually the specific issue that causes them to contact you – it’s the pain that issue causes them.   Figure out what that specific pain is and find a way to resolve it.  You can find this “pain” by continually asking questions.

Put yourself in your clients’ place and try to understand what it is they truly want.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Now that we are adults, we still think of summer as being a slower time; many take vacations with their own kids now.  We find that trying to get in touch with others is harder because they, too, are taking vacations.

However, even though you cannot readily meet with others to continue to build the relationships which will develop into new business, now is the time to begin planning to boost your Rainmaking activities in the Fall.

There are so many Rainmaking Activities you can continue to do which will lead to potential new clients:

• Write blogs, articles, e-zines, newsletters:  Continue to let others know that you are knowledgeable in your field

• Schedule seminars and talks:  many associations are trying to schedule their fall and winter calendars now.  Contact them and offer to speak.

• Continue to personally contact others including your referral sources, prospects and former clients.  Not everyone has the “summertime mentality” and many now have the time to get together with you for a breakfast or lunch appointment.

While summer may be vacation time, it doesn’t mean you have to slack off on your Rainmaking activities.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

5 minutes here, 10 minutes there.

No matter what the event or appointment, they are always late.

However, being late is never acceptable.

When you are late, you are saying to other people that your time is more important than theirs.   This is not a favorable impression to make on anyone.

Being late also creates the impression that you cannot handle your schedule.

If you are too busy to make it to a meeting, a lunch appointment or a call on time, the person on the waiting end is going to be hesitant about trusting you with a legal matter that has time constrictions.   If it is a referral source, they may decide you cannot be trusted to treat the person they are referring to you with the respect they deserve.  You could potentially lose business because of your lack of ability to stick to your schedule.

Think about that last appointment you made with your doctor or hairdresser who kept you in the waiting room for more than 15 minutes over your scheduled appointment time.  You didn’t like that, did you?  Or what about the time you went to meet with someone new, a prospective client or referral source perhaps, who kept you waiting. What kind of impression did that make on you?

Your schedule is just as important as theirs, right?  How do you think they feel when you are late?

You have to find a way to stop this.  Whether it is the old trick of turning the clocks forward so that you are on time, or finding a way to stop doing what you are doing early enough to be on time.

If you do find that you are running late, or have gotten stuck in traffic, then please take the time to contact the appointment you have and let them know in advance.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

When a client sends you an email or calls you on the phone with a question to which you do not know the answer, what is your typical response?

If it’s those three little words:  “I Don’t Know”, you’ve committed a major faux pas with your clients.

Your answer should always be:  “I don’t have the answer to that right this second, but I will find it for you.  Let me get back to you shortly.”

This is because they are relying on you to be their advisor.  They called you because they trust and like you; they know that you will help them find the answer to their questions.  If you don’t know the answer, take a moment and find it for them.  If you cannot find it, there is someone in your network of people (you are building your network of people – right?) who does know the answer.

This is when you either:

a)      Call your contact who does the answer and ask them to contact your client personally (a referral), or

b)      You could call your contact and get the answer for your client and then call your client to provide them with the answer.

Your client will appreciate the fact that you found this answer for them and this will endear you to your clients.   Happy clients give referrals.

While you will not know the answer to every question you are asked, you can try to find the answer. If, in the end, you still cannot find the answer, let the client know what you have tried to do to try obtain this answer.  They will still appreciate that you have gone above and beyond for them.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.