Remember the old days?  Remember when you could call up a couple of friends to ask them who to go to for a particular service?  You would then call the referred business and it was that easy to make a decision!  Referrals were everything!  Those were the days where people weren’t trolling the internet trying to find 15 different reviews in 5 different places about a service before hiring.  People just trusted the recommendation of a friend. 

Who are leaving these reviews for your law firm?  Mostly past clients, maybe some prospects, and, very rarely, total strangers.  The reaction is often that it is completely hopeless.  After all, there are people leaving reviews that have never even retained you, right?  Bad idea:  hide from the truth.  In fact, the quality of your work still matters greatly!  What’s exciting about the world we live in is that it is easier than ever for people to attest to that quality.  See, while some lawyers have resisted that opportunity and chosen to hide from reviews, in fact, that is a terrible strategy.  Great idea:  stay alert and manage your reputation!

Why are reviews so popular?  Reviews are growing tremendously in popularity because those that never voiced their opinion are gaining their voice through writing reviews.  Important note:  REVIEWS ARE CAUSING CONSUMERS TO MERGE THEIR SEARCH FOR A PARTICULAR PRODUCT OR SERVICE WITH THE EVALUATION OF THAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE.

So, what can you stand to gain from online reviews?  You can gain real world knowledge of your law firm.  Even if the review is a negative comment from a prospect who called and felt your receptionist was rude, that is still feedback you can take to fix something about the way your law firm functions.  

Referrals!  Believe it or not, these online reviews will lead to an increase in referrals!  The more online reviews you receive, the more visibility online you will have and, in turn, more REFERRALS!

See how I closed the loop on how referrals use to happen and how they do now?