Don’t You (Forget About Me)

Almost everyone reading this knows the Simple Minds classic pop song Don’t You (Forget About Me) from The Breakfast Club soundtrack. The song has an enduring message that stands the test of time: No one wants to be forgotten about. This applies to everyone, including attorneys. One of the primary drivers of law firm growth is staying in touch with and remaining top-of-mind with referral sources. Failing to stay in touch means referral relationships weaken and eventually die. Here are some effective ways to ensure that you are not forgotten about by your referral sources.

Newsletters. I am a major proponent of newsletters because good old-fashioned direct mail just plain works. I have a monthly, printed newsletter for attorneys called The Earley Examiner which has content specifically geared for attorneys and the issues we all face. The cost of outputting this newsletter is minimal because we do it in-house. This is a great way for me to stay on top of mind with the attorneys that refer me to personal injury cases.

I also have a monthly newsletter that I send to both attorneys as well as clients each month called The Earley Edition. This newsletter always has an article from me, a recipe from my wife called Rory's Recipe, as well as other items that aim to always be interesting and useful, and never, ever boring. Almost none of the content of this newsletter is law-related. It is a fact that most attorney newsletters are very vanilla and just plain boring. Be different and make your newsletter interesting so that people will enjoy receiving it each month.

Email blasts. One of the best and easiest ways to stay top-of-mind is through email blasts. I treat email blasts very carefully as I never want to be spammy. Each week myself and my marketing team compose an exciting email that contains an inspiring message, office news, giveaway announcements, and other interesting, non-legal content. The subject line is really important and I put great thought into that so that the emails get opened. Our open rate is roughly 35% and our unsubscribe percentage is minimal which tells us that people are engaging with the emails.

Birthday cards. These are a fantastic and easy way to stay in touch with people. Make sure to send a birthday card to all of those people who refer you work. They will love you for it and by doing this, you will stand out. Sadly, many people don’t hear from anyone on their birthday so this little touch each year has a big impact on people.

Valentine’s Day postcards. We send a postcard each year to our clients and referring lawyers that says “We love your referrals.” This helps us to remind these people that we want their referrals and is another easy way to stay in touch with people.

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Never assume people will remember you. Stay in touch by providing regular and useful value to your referral sources; they will definitely not forget about you.

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Email me at [email protected] if you would like to start receiving our free attorney newsletter each month.