sporadic to systematic – Cross-selling and referrer management

March 23, 2026|Kim's Blog, Lawyers, Marketing, Relationship Management, Selling|

Here are highlights from the recent PM Forum workshop on “Cross-selling and referrer management accelerator”. We acknowledged that there was no one “right way” to enhance cross-selling and referrer management. Each firm starts from a different place, has varying access to information and may have different goals. There was recognition that it was essentially relationship-based marketing which means that day-to-day activity is reliant on fee-earner behaviour. And there are many barriers preventing fee-earners from conducting the relevant activities. So how can marketing and business development professionals help? From sporadic to systematic – Cross-selling and referrer management programmes.

Identify barriers to cross-selling and referrer management

Delegates identified many barriers to cross-selling and referrer management activities.

Some delegates faced a lack of data. This presents a problem when trying to establish baselines on current referrer and referrals patterns. This, in turn, made setting goals challenging – so ROI cannot be measured. Some were more concerned about the dearth of data to track activities between business development meetings.

Others were grappling with sporadic and uncoordinated referrer management activities across the firm. Sometimes this was caused by a lack of fee-earner capacity and time, some from a lack of processes to guide behaviour and for others it was a lack of motivation.

Several mentioned barriers relating to fear, lack of trust and protectionism. Delegates reported some of the issues experienced:

“Partners going off and having conversations with clients and referrers and not informing BD”
“Referrers trust in a person not a team or the firm”
“I just had a partner yesterday tell me they’re winning work from another firm because they don’t refer to their own people”
“They want to retain control of the relationship”
“I worked hard to bring this client in, I don’t want them to ruin the relationship” – a true quote from a partner”

Another delegate observed: “Some fee earners may have very strong relationships with specific referrers but this doesn’t necessarily translate into a fruitful relationship for the rest of the practice group”

Most of these issues relate to a lack of joined-up thinking. Primarily to extend understanding of the need for internal and external referrals from the individual fee-earner to the practice group and the firm.

The barriers are explored further here:

Referrer Management Strategies – Rationale and Challenges

Cross-selling and referrer management – Data, focus

Achieve more engagement and buy-in

Obtain cross-selling and referrer data

One delegate enjoyed the benefits of having really good CRM systems with data that enabled them to see referrers and referral patterns. But the majority didn’t have adequate data as a starting point.

In some firms, there was a need for senior leadership commitment and engagement programmes to help fee-earners understand the potential value of CRM systems. (see CRM – Applications, systems and fee-earner engagement). And to encourage regular and strategic use of CRM.

Without data showing the current state of play, it was almost impossible to set goals on what was hoped to achieve.

But the lack of a CRM is not an excuse for no programme. Sometimes, all you can do is sit down with a small group of fee-earners and work through their case and client files for the last few years to obtain information that helps understand what happened in the past and currently. And what they would like to achieve in the future.

Even those who had a good CRM were concerned that they lacked data about fee-earner activities between meetings. Move the CRM system from a static mailing facility to an opportunity and sales management ecosystem. Some said that they simply did not know what lawyers were doing with their referrers. Most were unable to track lawyer behaviour and results.

We talked about other solutions to the lack of data, including internal education and campaigns, gamification and client listening programmes.

Prepare a pragmatic plan

One delegate asked “What does a good referrer plan look like?”. This reminded me of Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland):

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”

But seriously, this is a really tough one to answer as there isn’t a one-size fits all approach to cross-selling or referrer management. It also depends on whether you are preparing a plan for the firm, a particular practice group or team or an individual fee-earner. Or even for a particular client or referrer.

We explored various approaches to planning during the session, in particular – CASPIM:

Collect data
- Systems
- Conversations with fee-earners

Analyse, research and diagnose opportunities and issues
- Source of work
- White space analysis
- Profiles of key referrers
- Relationship maps
- Research studies

Set goals to bring focus
- Firm, teams and individuals
- Specific clients (cross-selling) and referrers
- Cross-selling aims
- External referrals objectives

Plan strategy and programmes
- Systems and processes
- Engagement
- Internal communication
- Training programmes
- Design campaigns and content
- Organise events
- Key relationship plans
- Schedule meetings
- Promote collaborative initiatives
- Embed behaviours

Implement and support action
- Establish systems, processes and workflows
- Pilot studies
- Cross-firm collaboration
- Share success stories

Monitor
- Dashboards and reports
- Refine programmes

(This is explored further here: Cross-Selling and Referrer Management Strategies March 2026)

Plans for fee-earners need to be short and focused – who they need to see and why, what they are trying to achieve and activities that will help them achieve their goals.

The general view was to start small – and either choose one or two fee-earners or to concentrate initially with a pilot scheme for one practice group. (See – Don’t try to boil the ocean – Cross-Selling and Referrer Management Strategies)

Support change in fee-earner behaviour

There was much discussion about how to engage fee-earners in discussions about cross-selling and referrer management. To educate and support them. To help them keep referrer management front of mind. And to prompt the necessary behaviours to improve cross-selling and referrer management.

Some of the desired behaviour changes included to:

Be open to opportunities to extend relationships
Set goals for cross-selling and referrer management activity
To share information with relevant colleagues and BD
To enter information into CRM and related systems
Plan and schedule their activities
Organise and attend meetings regularly
Be curious and ask questions
Collaborate with their colleagues
Consider and research the needs of clients and referrers
Prepare before attending meetings (e.g. request and read “taxi” reports)
Report back on activities (for systems and at team meetings)
Share success stories internally and relevant information on LinkedIn

We need to help fee-earners develop new habits – for them to undertake small (but focused) activities on a regular basis. For fee-earners to allocate a set amount of time each day or week to concentrate on business development cross-selling and referrer management programmes. (See the research on the desired behaviours Rainmaking best practice in professional services firms (Selling))

About the delegates

Unusually, all delegates represented law firms (both small and large). Some provided B2C services as well as B2B. They were from locations across the UK (Birmingham, Bristol, London, Leicester, Leeds Peterborough) as well as Berlin and Brussels.

Roles spanned marketing and business development managers, senior client relationship managers and CRM/data analysts. There were various sectors represented including social housing and private wealth.

Delegate aims

Keen to learn more about referrer management and cross-selling opportunities internally and externally through intermediary contacts.
Cross-selling is difficult and I never saw it really work – so to learn how to overcome the obstacles
Would like to understand what a plan looks like and how to implement it
Understand the data side to cross-selling and how to approach it and support the team.
Know how to get the lawyers to want to cross-sell to each other (getting them to share is difficult)
One of my primary practice areas is incredibly referrer-based, so I’m keen to improve and refine our approach
How to improve tracking ability of the referrals
Be less sporadic in our approach
Demonstrate ROI

Delegate key takeaways

Recognise the importance of data
Gain a deeper understanding of the firm’s referrers
Map the process for internal and external referral management
Review the data to guide the strategy
Conduct a white space analysis within key client programme
Segment your approach depending on different types of referrers
Adopt a “less is more” approach – target a smaller number of referrers and focus on those
Create a referrer workflow
Establish systems to track progress with referrers
Identify the key metrics to measure cross-selling success
Understand the referral relationships (e.g. ask referrers why they refer)
Set realistic expectations with fee-earners
Explore referrer relationships breadth and depth
Adopt a structure that could result in more focus for our fee-earners (client portfolio management with dinosaurs – Be more T Rex)
Apply the Bowtie and Diamond approach (KAM Basics – Bowties and Diamonds)
Deploy some of the collaboration tools