Our garage door was damaged when it closed on the rear bumper of my car.
We had three companies come out to give us estimates.
The first one said it was damaged beyond repair and explained why. He gave us an estimate to replace everything except the motor for $1129.
The second one agreed. Estimate: $875.
The third one said the door was fine. He said the track was bent and he could fix it. An hour and half later, he’d fixed the track, replaced some brackets, and installed a new weather strip. Total bill: $219.
The door has never been this quiet or run this smoothly. Even when it was first installed. My wife and I keep opening and closing it, marveling at our splendid “new” door.
Oh yeah, my wife sent the guy over to talk to our neighbor about her door. One of the previous estimators had noticed a gap or something and said to tell her she needed to have it serviced. Nope. The guy who got our business said her door was fine.
Imagine that.
Yes it does pay to shop around. And yes you should be leery of what so-called experts tell you, especially when they have something to sell. And yes you should pay attention to what other people say on Yelp and other such sites. The company we hired had dozens of five-star reviews and sterling comments. We’ll be adding ours.
Now, suppose you had this experience with your garage door and the next day a client asks if you could recommend a garage door company. Would you tell him about this one? Of course you would. You’d be doing him a big favor.
You probably know other companies you would recommend to your clients and contacts, as well as CPAs, insurance brokers, and other lawyers. And if your clients call and ask for a referral, you’d be sure to tell them.
But why wait for them to ask?
If you’re looking for a simple way to add value to your legal services, it doesn’t get any simpler than this. Contact your clients and tell them that if they ever need a referral to a garage door company, auto dealer, roofer, or anything else, they should call your office. Tell them you have a list of companies you have used personally or that other clients have used and recommended.
Encourage them to call. “What do you need? I’ll help you find it.”
Your recommendations help your clients save time and money and avoid problems. Do you think they might love you even more and tell all their friends about their wonderful attorney?
Your recommendations also help the vendors and professionals you recommend. Do you think they might be thankful for your referrals and inclined to reciprocate?
What’s that? You don’t know if you have time for all those calls?
Trust me, you want your phone ringing off the hook with people asking for recommendations because every time it does, you plant more seeds that grow into repeat business and referrals.
One more thing. Encourage your business clients and referral sources to do something similar for their clients and prospects. Why? So you can get your name on their list, of course.
Marketing is simple, if you know The Formula.
