What's the Forever Plan For My Clients?

Last few weeks I have outlined the hows, wherefores and whys of referrals.

Quick review. People will never forget how you made them feel.

There are some very big feelings you are in a position to deliver based on the transformational nature of your work.

You take injured people whose life is upside down and help them, listen to them, brush them off, get them a nice check and send them back into the game. All amazing stuff, but none of it creates referrals. That's a separate effort based in specific principles we've been exploring week after week.

I have talked about disbursal as the most significant opportunity to extend and deepen the relationship with your client into forever. Before disbursal it's a case. After disbursal if you do it right it's an eternal relationship.

Disbursal is that important.

Perhaps most importantly, last week I talked about the mindset that can make all the difference at intake. Catching not just the matter, but the person. Catching not just the person today; catching them for now and into the future.

But that's not all. Catching the person and implicating their social circle in the mission.

And after all that, forever looms.

And, as indicated last week…..people will forget you if the connection is not strong. And, people will forget you if you caught a small matter and did not establish your credibility deeply enough to handle bigger future matters.

It’s all in the subconscious mind of the client. A person will probably never say to themselves: “The guys who did my little case were great, but I don’t know if they can handle something bigger. They were nice, but I never got to feel their steel. I have no idea if they can slay goliath. Maybe they will try to nice him to death. I should probably call someone else.”

But they do call someone else.

If you catch a case in a way that does not communicate that you can also handle a potential future catastrophic injury case requiring a court battle with an intransigent insurer...then you'll never be considered for that bigger case. If you don't extract all the goodness from each opportunity—especially considering how expensive advertising is—then you know you are leaving too much money on the table.

The good news and the bad news.

The good news is that if you conduct an effective intake—establishing authority and entering the Referral Contract? and if you conduct an effective disbursal, bonding deeply and establishing the meaning for the injured person whose very identity has been in flux, you are well positioned to be relevant indefinitely.

If you’ve done all that and eighteen months goes by and the client is involved in a catastrophic injury case, there’s a great chance they will call you without any hesitation.

For all your clients who did not experience a great intake and disbursal, it’s probably over.

Is it really over? But we work our list!

How do you stay in touch with your clients after they get their settlement?

Do you send a newsletter? Is your idea of a newsletter a monthly or quarterly email blast?

Do you send birthday cards? Are they customized and signed? Are they fake customized and fake signed?

What else do you do? Do your follow up communiques sustain the connection? Do they elevate it? Do they slow down the process of all the air seeping out of the balloon? Do you have a way of knowing the impact your messages have?

Here's a direct challenge to your strategic approach to client nurture.

If a missive from you had absolutely no chance of having any impact would you send it anyway?

Because email blasts to unconnected clients you represented in a small matter some time ago might just be a hail mary pass and nothing more. Without the bonding and meaning of the Referral Contract? and the Disbursal, your odds are slim to none.

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I have a more intensive Report on how to do “forever” I will forward as pdf upon request.

Next week, I will answer questions. DM me any questions you have.