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Training: A Win-Win Situation
BY CARL DIRKES
I was doing a bit of referral-source analysis the other day,
trying to determine where my best referrals are coming from. Although my clients are
law firms rather than injured or disabled people, the same marketing principles apply
to all of us—it's very important to understand who your good contacts are no matter
what you do. In my particular situation, I happened to notice that my top ten referral
sources are all existing clients. I love it when existing clients send their friends
and colleagues to us. To me, it's the most significant affirmation that what we do
here is worthwhile.
 As I looked at my
"top 10" list of referral sources, I tried to identify characteristics they had
in common. One thing in particular jumped out at me—all ten of my top referral
sources had training when they bought Prevail. On the whole, only about 25% of
the firms that use Prevail opt for training, so the 100% among my top ten
referral sources seemed significant to me. Draw whatever conclusions you want,
but I drew this one: These people refer their friends to us because they're very
happy with what Prevail has done for them. Prevail has been effective for them,
in large part, because they got off on the right foot with solid consultation
and effective user training.
As I was thinking about that, I realized how quickly this company would grow if
every client got user training. Since they'd be better prepared, they'd get up and
running faster, and they'd operate more efficiently. Because of this, they would be
more excited about the Prevail experience in general, and they would all refer their
friends to us.
Okay...so maybe that is never going to happen, but the thought certainly made me
realize that, for me at least, user training and referral business go hand-in-hand.
The more training we do, the more efficient our clients are, and the more
referrals they send us. Now, most people who opt not to get user training do so
because they don't want to spend $750 a day to have somebody from PTI come out
and do it. It is a simple cost issue, and it is something I can relate to. Sometimes
you just don't have the money available to do the things you want to do.
I know how much training would help these clients streamline their practices,
but it would not be a prudent business move for me to go around giving away valuable
training time for free...or would it?
The more I think about it, the more I think it might not be a bad idea for me to
do just that—give away free training to clients who send me referrals. In the long
run, it's a win-win situation. Our clients get more efficient, and we get more
clients. I think the idea is at least worth a try, so bear with me while I make an
offer that is not quite as crazy as it sounds:
I'll give one full day of free training and consultation to any firm that pays my
travel expenses, and schedules two sales appointments in the area while I am there
for the training. Five appointments and I'll pay my own travel expenses.
I suppose this offer needs a few rules to keep me from getting taken advantage of,
but I am not a big fan of rules so I will only make a couple. First of all, the sales
appointments have to be with legitimate Prevail prospects. That is, firms whose
practice is made up of at least 50% of some combination of personal injury, workers'
compensation or social security law. They should also be within a couple hundred
miles of where you are, so I can save time and money by visiting them while I'm on
the same trip.
It is pretty clear that training gets you up and running as quickly and
efficiently as possible. Nonetheless, a lot of firms used to feel they could not
afford it and could do okay without. Now everybody can afford to have training.
Along the way I'll make a new friends and hopefully gain some new clients.
I like it when everybody wins. |
