How to Identify Potential Referral Sources

Most sellers do referral prospecting backwards. Smart referral prospecting is NOT asking your warm network "Is there anyone in your network who might find value in taking a look at our Legal Time Tracking software?" You're almost always going to hear "Hm, nobody immediately comes to mind, but let me think about it." (They're not gonna think about it) Asking someone to scan through their entire mental rolodex of every single person they know isn't going to get you good referrals. You're asking for too much of the referrer.  -- Here's how I do outbound referral prospecting: 1. Start with the end in mind. Identify the prospect you want to talk to. (If you don't start with the end in mind, you're going to get a bunch of random non-ICP or out of territory intros, if you get any at all) - 2. Find mutual connections who actually know your target prospect. I like mutuals who have shared work history (you can find this in Sales Nav). If that fails, I'll look for shared membership in trade association groups or folks who have spoken on a panel/event together. - 3. Ask your shared contact for permission to make the introduction. Here's what I send: 𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌, 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩? 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 30 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵'𝘴 𝘊𝘭𝘶𝘣 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌 𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘊𝘔𝘌. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? - 4. If your referrer says yes, ghostwrite them a message in THEIR voice. This helps remove as much friction as possible for the person who is making the introduction. Don't worry about including pleasantries in the message you draft (Ex. "Hope you have been well since our days working together at ACME!). I've found that most people delete the pleasantries you write on their behalf so it's not a good use of your time. - 5. If someone makes a referral for you, send them a thank you note + a gift. Seems obvious but this goes a long way. - 6. If you start to find success with outbound referral prospecting, consider adding an "outbound referral blitz" to your weekly prospecting cadence. -- Anything else you'd add re: prospecting for referrals?

I deeply believe one of the most sustainable ways to grow your book of business is to build your referral network strategically. Here are four actionable steps to help you get started: 1. 𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑰𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒆 (𝑰𝑪𝑷). Think about who your perfect client is. Are they in-house counsel in a specific industry? Small business owners with revenues over $500K? Individuals facing legal challenges after an accident? Whatever your ICP is, understanding them is key to connecting with the right people. 2. 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑳𝒂𝒘𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔. Build relationships with other lawyers who either share your practice area or intersect with your ICP. For example, if you specialize in employment law, connect with labor law attorneys or commercial real estate lawyers—professionals who have overlapping clients or interests. 3. 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑶𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑰𝑪𝑷. Expand your network beyond lawyers. Real estate agents, accountants, financial advisors, and other professionals regularly engage with your ICP and can become key referral partners. The more you build these relationships, the more referral opportunities you'll uncover. 𝟒. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Some people are connected to everyone. These “centers of influence” can open doors to a world of opportunities. Make it a point to connect with these individuals and become a part of their network. Remember, most people don’t know lawyers—you want to be the go-to referral source for them. Building a robust referral network is a strategic process, and it all starts with clarity. If you don’t have a clear understanding of who your ideal client is, you risk feeling frustrated and stuck. If you're ready to take your network to the next level, sign up for a free consultation. Let’s get started! Go build that network. You got this. - M

A $2.5M+ ARR deal, biggest of the year. Where did it come from? 𝐀 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫. There is so much talk about outbounding but if you are in enterprise sales, this can be a way to diversify from the gauntlet of outbounding. It was consistently one of the best channels at both BounceX and Botify. Here are some learnings to pass along: 𝟏. 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬: The obvious advisor is a notable person who worked within your industry but there are other people to ask. It can be a highly respected individual who sold to your industry for decades or someone who runs an association affiliated with your industry. 𝟐. # 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬: You don’t need a lot of advisors to make this channel successful. If you have the right ones, you only need a couple. ~10% of our pipeline came from only a few advisors.  𝟑. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐬: Don’t just ask, “Do you know someone?” Here are the areas to mine: ⭐ Start with the obvious: Comb through first degree connections. They are the lowest hanging fruit but you can't stop here. Some of the best intros weren't connections. ⭐Prior Jobs: Find people who spent time at the same company during the same time period. For example, if a advisor was an executive at Target from 2014-2019, identify other executives who worked at Target during that period. ⭐Think Beyond Employees: Don’t just focus on employees at a prospect to reach out too—consider the prospect’s board members. They can also be a valuable entry point through referrals especially if you are selling to larger enterprises. 𝟒. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬: Meet with your best advisors on a regular basis. We have one individual we met with almost monthly, bringing 20-30 names of potential leads we’ve found deep in their LinkedIn network. Gold mine. 𝟓. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦: Have your team do all the legwork—write the notes, ping for follow-ups, and handle all the details. Don’t put any of the work on the people you’re asking for referrals. 𝟔. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠: These are people who are extremely well respected. They aren’t going to put their reputation on the line if they don't think what you are doing is valuable. You need to educate them here. If you’re struggling with outbounding and need to build your pipeline, try to spin up this channel. I’d be shocked if this strategy didn’t deliver results.