Okay, time to put on your thinking cap and take a stroll with me down imagination boulevard.

We know that paying referral fees to non-lawyers is illegal and unethical for most lawyers. Some lawyers flout the rules and pay referral fees under the table. Others, if they were honest, would admit that while they never have paid referral fees, they have been tempted to do so. At some point in our careers, I think most lawyers have at least wondered why the rules are the way they are.

Rather than debate that hot potato, I’d like to ask you to think about what it would be like if the rules were changed. How would your practice be different if it was legal and ethical to offer referral fees to non-lawyers?

For the moment, forget about whether or not you would offer referral fees yourself, think about what might happen if you did.

When you meet someone new at a networking event, for example, instead of courting them and building a relationship, hoping that one day they might send you some business, you could simply tell them what you do and what percentage of your fees you are willing to pay for a referral.

Do you think you would get more referrals?

Ya think?

Your contacts would have dollar signs dancing in their brains. They’d start promoting you to their clients and customers, friends and family. They’d beat the bushes looking for potential clients, wouldn’t they? They’d refer everyone to you, not to other lawyers who don’t offer a referral fee, or who offer significantly less.

You could quickly build an army of referral sources, people not just willing to send you business but actively looking to do so.

You’d be signing up new clients every day of the week. You’d have more business than you could handle. What will you do with all that money. . .?

Okay, snap out of it. This isn’t going to happen. Not in our lifetime, anyway. And we don’t want it to happen, do we? Okay, maybe we do, maybe we don’t, but it’s won’t, so forget about it.

Let’s sit down, catch our breath, have a cup of coffee, and consider what we’ve learned.

We’ve learned that people who have the ability to make referrals to us often don’t, and that most people who have referred business in the past could probably refer more.

Where does that leave us? Back at square one. Building relationships, practicing the golden rule, serving our clients and professional contacts. In other words, doing the things we’ve learned about marketing and building a practice.

Your clients and contacts can and will send you lots of business. They will beat the bushes for you and promote you to everyone they know, and they will do this without a financial incentive. Smother them will love and attention, give them more value than they expect, stay in touch with them, and give it time.

Offering cash would be quicker, it’s true. But doing things the old fashioned way works just fine.

The 30 Day Referral Blitz will quickly bring you more referrals without asking for referrals. Click here.