Just imagine a nice person standing on one side of a gate and letting in all kinds of referrals to your business each time the gate is opened. You could even have each referral be a real qualified lead and if you have trained your gatekeeper correctly, it will be.
OK, we all feel this would be great for our business. But how do we know what our own gatekeepers looks like? Going back to the basics, what is your target market? Hopefully after all my blogs you have come up with at least one target (best client) profile.
To help you understand, let’s use my example from the time when I practiced personal injury and workers’ comp law. My best client was someone injured in an accident which, for PI, was not their fault and for WC it didn’t matter as long as it happened at work.
After identifying the target client, I needed to figure out what person or profession finds out about the problem of that injured party. In my case, I decided for a lot of injuries it was chiropractors. Additionally, they might see the injury first but then refer the patient onto other medical professionals if the injury is outside their scope of practice. This then brings them into contact with other professionals who also treat injured people and might eventually become referral sources for me.
So I chose my Gatekeepers as chiropractors who lived in my community. Now the question is: what do I do next to meet these gatekeepers and get them on board. Working from the Zig Ziggler premise of doing something for other people as your best marketing tool, I wrote a book in collaboration with a Chiropractor titled: The Medical-Legal Survival Guide, A Handbook for the California Chiropractor. We published it ourselves and marketed it to all Chiropractors in California. More importantly, I had my best business card available when I met a chiropractor. I could give them something of value.
Additionally, I gave seminars in my office about how to do depositions, ethics and writing reports. I taught at some seminars and the book was used by two chiropractic colleges in California as a text book. Well worth the hard work and expense!
This partnership went onto produce many cross referrals over the 21 years I had my solo practice. I could refer accident victims to a doctor I knew could write a good report and also give outstanding service to my client. The chiropractor knew, in turn, that I was ethical, experienced and trustworthy. They could also reach out to me for advice if necessary. I was available!
So that’s my story about gatekeepers. Who are your gatekeepers? Again, start with your target market. If you are a business attorney, it might be small and mid-sized start ups. Who knows of their problems? CPA, Financial Planners, other attorneys, bankers, etc. Next question is how do you reach those people? Get creative.
EVERY ATTORNEY IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR NEEDS GATEKEEPERS TO FILL OUT THEIR MARKETING PLAN. Let’s talk more about this next week.