There has been a lot of recent blog buzz on the topic of referrals from current clients. For example, here. There’s even a blog on referrals. But while these articles focus on the positive, few mention the risk of negative referrals. Consider this.
On Saturday, this display screen on my phone turned white. I could dial and receive calls, but I couldn’t access my phone book or any of the other important information stored in my phone. Today, I went to a CINGULAR WIRELESS store where, I was told, they could not help me. When I explained the importance of getting a new phone immediately, the person from CINGULAR WIRELESS told me that because I had only recently signed a new contract with CINGULAR WIRELESS, that they, CINGULAR WIRELESS were unable to help me. I mentioned that I had been a customer for more than a decade, and the clerk from CINGULAR WIRELESS told me that if I was some bub off the street and signed up for service, they would give me the phone. But because I was a long-time customer, CINGULAR WIRELESS didn’t give a damn about me and I would have to pay $317 for the phone. To be fair, the “not giving a damn” wasn’t verbally expressed, but it was an integral part of the overall message. Frankly, anyone who signs up with CINGULAR WIRELESS after reading this probably has a death wish.
Its unlikely a client would ever recount a story like this about your law firm. But if its possible that you’ve been treating your client like CINGULAR WIRELESS treated me, that is, for granted and as unresponsively as is possible, what do you think your client would say about you. But many lawyers, and in particular in-house lawyers, are adept listeners when they have to be, and if your client says your firm is “all right,” you’ve just lost out on a new client because you’ve been damned with faint praise. Here’s the lesson: if your client isn’t going to gush over you, think twice about whether he or she is a good referral source.
And as your head hits the pillow tonight, have this dream. You’ve just received a call on your cell phone from client trying to hire you for the biggest piece of business you’ve ever had. He got your name from a current client who loves your service. And like me, you have a CINGULAR WIRELESS phone on which the display screen has failed. The prospective client didn’t leave his number because he knew your cell phone would pick up his number. But because you have CINGULAR WIRELESS phone that’s malfunctioning, you can’t get the number. . . . Have you woken up in a cold sweat yet?
I’m not having that nightmare tonight. I’m not even going to dream of providing the best possible client service in the whole world the way I do most nights. Tonight, I’m going to dream that the CEO of CINGULAR WIRELESS stumbles across my blog tomorrow.
And then finds out his display screen has failed.
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