Zihuatanejo Dreams & Q1 Reflections: Navigating the Path to 120 PI Cases

I think a lot about Zihuatanejo. 

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I've never been, it looks cool, but I mean it more from the perspective of Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption.

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Spoiler Alerts are incoming (come on gang, it is a 1994 movie).

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Andy is planning to escape from prison and that beautiful city in Mexico is where he plans to meet his friend Red afterward.

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That dream helps him get through a false accusation of murder, beatings, sexual assault, and a GIANT tunnel of human shit.

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Why? Because he had a dream AND a plan!

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So let's revisit my referral plan from this article! 

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If (re)reading another article is TL: DR... here's the quick summary

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I wanted to get 120 pi cases referred to my firm for 2023.

That required 156 leads.

And then I broke down where those would come from, and what we did to earn them.

Quarter 1 Follow Up

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For this newsletter, I sat down and pulled Q1 numbers.

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So I should see:

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30 cases

39 leads

etc

And here is what I found... drumroll, please...

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Are you ready?

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Is the suspense killing you as much as it is killing me?

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So far, I found...

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29 referred cases

45 referred leads

What Does That Mean?

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Is that good or bad? It's all about perspective, right?

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I am 1 below my target # of cases, but 6 above my # of leads. So a bit under our normal close rate and the cases, but above the goals for leads.  

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With a quick glance at closes in April...it looks like some of those March leads were hired in April which probably puts us back in line on the close rates.

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All in all, I think it's pretty good. But you're not here to pat me on my back (at least you shouldn't be). We are here to learn together, so let's dive in!

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Let's Revisit the Plan

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We looked at getting referrals from: 

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Treatment providers - 48 leads (year goal), 12 (quarter target), 10 (target cases), 7 actual cases so far

Lawyers - 40 (year goal) 10 (quarter), 8 (case target), 10 cases so far

Other professionals - 10, 2.5, 2, 3 so far

Organizations - 12, 3, 2, 0 so far

And Clients - 48, 12, 10, 9 so far

So we are behind on our treatment provider cases, organizations, and clients, but up on our lawyer referrals, and other professionals.

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How do we get Leads?

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Here's what I shared in the original newsletter

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"We host two parties a year - Cinco De Mayo and Friendsgiving.

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Other large-scale yearly things - scratch-off tickets for St Paddys, a movie over the summer, a back-to-school items drive, and a Gingerbread house contest.

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Then I connect with my referral sources at least every quarter above that - whether that's a Magic Suite, Topgolf, Lunch, etc."

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The events haven't happened yet (if you're in Central Florida, the Cinco De Mayo event is on 5/4... message me for more info).

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We did NOT do the scratch-off tickets, and the rest of the events aren't timely yet.

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We did 3 Magic Suites this year

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I have done TopGolf almost every Thursday this year.

And I have eaten a LOT of lunches and dinners with awesome people (and a LOT of salads for 75 hard)

What Would I Do Differently?

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On this one, not much...I think we NEED to be more specific about the larger events, but the week-to-week ones seem to be on track.

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"For organizations: we go to events, follow the rules (bring guests, send referrals, present, do 1-2-1, etc.), and we try to get more involved in fewer organizations by being on the board or a committee, hosting events, sponsoring, etc."

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Here we have seen nothing DIRECTLY. But, no one has joined a BNI yet. But one of the treatment providers that has sent us multiple cases already I met at an event at the end of last year. So maybe the tracking here is going to be a bit tougher.

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What Would I Do Differently?

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I'll push the team for BNI or a similar group again. And make sure we are following up with people we met at events better.

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"And for clients, they get Valentine's stuff, invited to Cinco De Mayo, a movie, the school drive, holiday photos with our photographer, and the Gingerbread house contest. Plus, we try to make connections for our professional clients, use our Food & Beverage clients for catering events and networking meals, invest in their cottage industries for thank you gifts to people, etc."

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This seems to be pretty close to being on track. We did stuff for Valentine's Day (and gave out Girl Scout Cookies). The photo shoot was a success (but that was the end of last year). And the Cinco De Mayo party is coming up.

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What Would I Do Differently?

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Not much. I want us to up our calls to clients a bit. And we are going to be giving out client appreciation awards at the event (or privately for the clients that prefer). But otherwise, the 9 we got v the 10 I wanted is VERY close, and probably too small of a sample size to throw away.

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Social Media

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This is the last thing I want to mention. We have this included in the plans for a lot of our referrals to stay top of mind.

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And honestly, I have done a TERRIBLE job at this for the firm this year.

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Yes, we are going through a rebrand, but I just haven't put in the effort there. Or forced the execution at least.

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What Would I Do Differently?

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We have an April calendar together to get us through the rebrand of the firm (Jordan Law to Driven Law).

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This week we are working through the May calendar, and then we will get more ahead with this and start pulling some data from the social media impressions to see how that moves the needle for our leads.

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To be honest, I don't expect ANYONE to hire us BECAUSE of social media (they do, but it's not my focus)... but I want it to help referral sources and clients think of us when situations come up. So I don't need direct ROI, but I do want to see the overall referrals go up.

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And this rundown doesn't include SEO/GMB/Ads/etc, we are JUST focused on the referrals (and social media as an impact there).

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Until next week, may you not have to fight a red witch to save your daughter and townsfolk from turning into zombies (at least I think they’re zombies…) and just get to enjoy some fun D&D with people you care about.

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Next week we are talking about - the best books to make a CHANGE in your life!

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