After the rainmaking teleseminar I did with Kristina Haynes we received the following question from Jennifer Bell of Placet Dispute Resolution. Jennifer agreed to let us answer it here (and Kristina will probably post additional advice on her blog.)

Jennifer’s question:

What is the best way to follow up on a referral? I am a mediator. I will get calls for service and be asked for my CV. I will then be told by the lawyer that he/she will contact the other side and get back to me. I assume that there are other mediator under consideration. I am not shy to follow up once but am uncomfortable making more than one call on a particular matter. What is the best way to follow-up more than once without seeming pushy?

My answer:

That’s a good question. There are two issues here: 1) there is the practical issue of getting through to the referrer, and 2) there is the feeling you have that calling more than once is being pushy.

Let’s deal with the second one first. I don’t believe you will be or be seen as pushy if you leave a day between your first call and second calls. Rather, I think the lawyer may feel that you aren’t that interested if you don’t call again. I am assuming that you have no further information that your call is somehow unwanted than the man hasn’t returned your calls. In that case what is going on in his head is unknown and therefore irrelevant to perceived pushiness.

What is going on in yours is highly relevant. You are acting as if you can read this lawyer’s mind. Hearing him say “Oh, it’s that pushy Jennifer again!” stops you in your tracks. But, of course, he didn’t say that, at least not to our knowledge. It must be coming from within you. Of all the thousands of possible thoughts he could have when he hears your voice why do you pick out “Pushy?” I will stop there, or risk getting arrested for practicing psychiatry without a license. I will add that I am a real pro at mind reading, myself. If you have any doubts about that see my post entitled Dealing with Unreturned Phone Calls.

It may sound as if I had you in mind when I wrote it, but it’s been up there since April. I also recommend a book, Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman.

Now, let’s go back to Issue One: How do you get through to this lawyer? Here are some things you can do alone of in combination with each other.

a) Call again . . . and again. A second call 24 or more hours after the first, is perfectly reasonable. One more a week out is fine. I would do more, but won’t push you that fast yet.

b) Leave a message explaining why you need an update quickly: “It’s Jennifer. I was calling to see if you had any word on the mediation. I’m juggling a few things and was wondering if that opportunity is still open. I would very much like to work on it and a little information might help ensure that that remains possible.”

c) Try a different medium. Some people respond better to emails.

d) Ask his assistant for advice, stressing the fact that he said he would bet back to you. She may be able to put you through to him, retrieve an answer, or provide an explanation. (This can help validate or not your mind reading. I was sure one guy hated me when he didn’t return my calls for two weeks. When I asked his secretary for advice, she told me he was in the hospital dying of cancer. Poor man, in his final pain he taught me an important message of how, rightly, inconsequential I am in most people’s lives. It helped me get over any musings I had about being important enough that my calls are seen as pushy.)

The words you say today can hurt you in the future.
 

Many professionals are so busy these days that they obsess about their workloads.  This is especially true of those who are just below partner level.  These people are the backbone of a professional firm.  They run many engagements and are responsible for quality control.  In a hot economy, they bill sixty to seventy hours a week, and often more.  They also have many non-billable responsibilities, such as interviewing job candidates, training recent hires, and representing their office, practice or studio on committees.  It’s no wonder they are obsessed with the workload.
 

One result of this condition is the devaluation of leads (see my posting May 7, 2007, “The Lead Glut and Its Consequences”). If they think about leads at all, professionals in these circumstances are likely to dread them, because they can’t handle additional work and dislike turning a client away.  When a client or other business contact asks how things are going, many of these people and many partners, too, are likely to respond with words like:
 

–I’ve never seen it so good in all my years in the profession.
–Our biggest need right now is for more people. 
–We’re running flat out. This is the best year we’ve ever had.
 And even:
 

–A little less work might even be a good thing.
 

I caught myself using this last sentence not long ago.
 

These statements are all true and also advertise the demand for your services, but they have a drawback:  They can discourage a contact from referring business your way.
 

If you have been in the professions for long, you know how quickly business conditions can change.  Within two or three months you can go from hardly being able to keep your head above water to standing high up on the beach with an ebb tide taking the water further and further away.  Because it takes time to convert a referral into lead and a lead into a new assignment, the claims you made two months ago that put off a referral can deprive you of a lead today, when you really need it.
 

That’s why, in good times and in bad, some savvy old professionals always say
 

–We’re always looking for more work, though . . .
 

These are words worth remembering.  True rainmakers are always looking for more work.
 

I have been reviewing several books on selling.  Most advise us to ask clients for referrals, but that’s a thing more easily said than done.  There’s a lot more meaning packed into the word, “referral,” than its brevity suggests.  In most areas in the professions it means we are asking our clients to rember what we do well enough that they recognize opportunities for us when they are out in the market place, refer prospective clients to us, endorse us, and inform us of things that give us an edge over competitors.  That’s asking a lot of anyone. 
 

A few people will do these things without our asking.  But spontaneous giving of this type is rare.  Most of the time, we do have to ask.  And there’s the rub.
 

Asking favors of this kind makes us uncomfortable.  It’s asking a lot.  Our clients are busy people.  They have problems of their own and are paying us for the work we do, and so owe us nothing.  We don’t want to burden then with our problems.  Nor do we want to seem mercenary about our relationships with them. 

Succeeding at this delicate task requires good timing and technique. 
 

Let’s start with when.
 

An accountant, who is one of the biggest rainmakers in his firm, was the first to explain to me the best time to ask for a referral.  He advised me that whenever someone is happy with you, you are in a position to ask a favor.  Yes, you are being paid for the work you are doing, but clients who are really pleased with what you have done like to do something that will help you personally, too.
 

A recruiter was saying the same thing, when he told me that just after a search is completed, when everyone is happy with the candidate and your contribution is fresh in their minds, is the time to ask for a referral.
 

Now, let’s move to how.
 

The key to getting referrals from clients is to make the request clear, specific and easy to do.  Compare these vague and general requests to the clear and specific ones that follow.  Which would be the easiest for you to comply with, if someone were to ask you for referrals?
 

Group #1:  Vague and General
 

¨      “On the basis of the work we have done, would you be willing to refer us to some other people who might need our services?”
 

¨      “Do you know anyone who might be looking for the kinds of services we offer?”
 

Group #2:  Clear and Specific
 

¨      “I have always wanted to meet your counterparts in the Consumer and Health Care Divisions.  Would you be willing to introduce me?”
 

¨      “Here are the names of three firms in this area that we would like to do business with.  Do you know anyone in any of them whom you would be willing to introduce me to?”
 

¨      “I know you are active in the XYZ Association.  Would you be willing to bring me with you to a meeting, so I could spend a couple of hours with you meeting the people you know there?”
 

Pick a moment when they are happy with the work you’ve done, and make the request for a referral clear, specific and easy to do, and the chances of the client giving you that referral are pretty good!