You can’t pay clients for sending you referrals. Not cash, anyway. But you can reward them nonetheless, and thus motivate them to send more referrals.
Reward them? Yes, by including them in your inner circle. The one you have established to recognize your best clients. You know, the clients who hire you most often, send you the most referrals, and otherwise help your practice grow.
Clients who qualify for your inner circle get a special invitation, a scroll or plaque, or maybe a polo shirt with your firm’s name on it.
Nice. But you can do more.
You might invite inner circle clients to special “client dinners” with guest speakers (who pay for the dinner in return for being able to offer their services). You might invite them to your firm’s Christmas party, bar-b-que or beach party. Do you play golf? Perhaps the best of the best get to join your foursome.
If your inner circle clients own a business or professional practice, you feature them on your website and in your newsletter. You might take their employees out to lunch.
Inner circle clients get preferred access to you. You take their calls first, return their calls first, and respond to their letters first.
You might periodically enter the names of inner circle clients in a drawing for a new iPad. Maybe one lucky winner gets their legal fees free that month.
You talk up your inner circle in your newsletter. You congratulate new inductees and prize winners. You promote the upcoming event. Your other clients, the ones who haven’t yet made the cut, hear about the inner circle and want in.
You might establish qualifications for joining your inner circle, or keep it at your discretion. You can invite all clients who pay their bills on time, or only invite clients who send at least one referral every six months.
Whatever you do, those who are in will want to stay in, and those who aren’t will want to be invited. Everyone will talk about your inner circle, everyone will want to be on your team, and everyone will do more to be included.
If you like this idea, your next step is an inner circle for professionals you send you referrals. It works the same way. Behavior that gets recognized and rewarded gets repeated.
