Nobody’s ever really made a lot of money (or done anything of value, really) working alone. Even as you launch and run your new legal technology startup, there’ll be people you know (and don’t know yet) who’ll help you along the way. It takes a village to raise up a titan of industry, you know.
There are a number of people who will be willing to help you in your journey to take over the legal software world; some of those people will seek financial recompense, others will just want to help you because they like you, or they like what you’re doing. You’ll want to present opportunities for both. So, let’s review a list of folks who will be willing to help you, and talk about how you can facilitate the provision of that aid.
Friends, Family, Close Colleagues. The people you know best will be very willing to spread the word. These particular ‘sneezers’ are likely to help you in everything you do because they like you on a personal level; and, it almost doesn’t matter what you’re doing. Accessing their help is mostly about getting them informed of what you’re doing, so that they have an opportunity to tell others about it. Therefore , you’ll want to make sure that your branding game is strong, including your email marketing and social media presence.
Referral Sources. Formal or informal contacts outside your immediate circle will be willing to recommend your product or service. And much of that recommending is a function of networking or brand awareness. People you meet, but don’t know well, may be intrigued by what you’re doing, and will then be disposed to getting your product in front of others. Many people are naturally connectors or helpers, and are on the lookout for ways to help create meeting points, in part by recommending things that will help their contacts in their businesses. And maybe your new contact just really likes you, and begins referring you business while on the pathway to becoming a close colleague or friend.
Referral Partners. Most companies end up developing a referral partnership program of some kind, which programs will adhere to varying degrees of formality — though, most of these arrangements are relatively informal. Referral programs are aimed at incentivizing those who would refer you business, but require some type of financial remuneration to do so. The first step, then, is to develop a compensation model (which may feature different levels) that addresses how, when, and what referral sources will be paid. While traditional referral systems tended to offer lifetime percentage arrangements, most modern systems provide a one-time payment, perhaps covering the first month or few months of subscription revenue paid. The idea behind the viability of a referral network is that it is an effective way to grow your footprint without taking on additional employees or contractors.
Channel Partners. In many cases, a referral program is aimed at building semi-formal associations with businesspeople, whereas channel partnerships are aimed at developing more formalized referral arrangements with other businesses. So-called ‘channel’ partners would be defined by their ability to sell your product or service into their networks. Most often, though not always, there is a concomitant promise by your company to also sell your channel partner’s product or service into your niche market. That all makes sense; and, there is added value to an arrangement like this, in that it forces business owners to drill down into what their specific niche within a vertical really is. A channel partnership could also represent a white label solution, with a revenue share model attached. But, the general notion is that your product is of interest to their constituency and vice versa.
Integration Partners. An integration partnership is formed when your software is integrated with (links features to) another vendor’s product. With the rise of ‘platform-as-a-service’ programs, the new vogue is to attach as many additional product integrations to yours as you possibly can. And integration partners can be a great way to incentivize both parties to offer each other’s products to their customer bases in a very tailored way. If two software systems work well together, they can be more easily bundled, and sold as a package deal. Even in an integration partnership, individuals, as referral partners, can be leveraged to push something like product suites; but, so can salespeople within each company. With the proper financial motivations, those other salespeople can kind of become your salespeople, without the addition of salary, benefits or long-term contracts to your own team. In the first instance, however, there has to be a technology fit: the softwares must actually work together in a coherent and effective way, for an integration partnership to make sense. Avoid bolting-on, just to get access to a more mature vendor and its client base.
Users. With any business, the leakiest potential revenue source is existing customers. Not everyone will fall madly in love with your product or your service, but some people will. And, among those people who love your product or your service, a certain number will be willing to actively promote you . . . for nothing. You can begin to track this willingness via a metric called ‘net promoter score;’ but, the upshot is that customers who will tell other, similarly-situated businesspeople to buy your product or your service are the most accessible referral base for your organization. An, you have immediate ways to access them, including via existing social and communication channels. Make sure, then, that your customer base knows about what you’re doing now, and what you’re doing next. And make it easy for them to refer others to you. It’s okay to incentivize them financially, as well. Give them discounts for referrals and/or offer discounts to those they refer to you. Develop and promote user events and/or a user conference. Cultivate a community well, and you can reap the benefits.
Your mom will still probably always be your biggest advocate, but there are also a bunch of other people who wish to see you succeed, and who will support you, as you grow your company.
About the Author
Jared D. Correia, Esq. is the CEO of Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, which offers subscription-based law firm business management consulting services for law firms, bar associations and corporations. Red Cave also works with legal vendor to develop programming and content. Jared is also the COO of Gideon Software, Inc., which offers intelligent messaging and predictive analytics software built exclusively for law firms. A former practicing attorney, Jared has been providing services to lawyers and law firms for over a decade. He is a regular presenter at local, regional and national events, including ABA TECHSHOW. He regularly contributes to legal publications, including his column, ‘Managing,’ for Attorney at Work, his ‘Law Practice Confidential’ advice column for Lawyerist and his column for Above the Law focused on the legal technology startup community. Jared is is the host of the Legal Toolkit podcast on Legal Talk Network. Jared also teaches for Concord Law School, Suffolk University Law School, Solo Practice University and Becker College. He loves James Taylor, but respects Ron Swanson; and, he tries to sneak Rolos when no one is looking.
