Referral Network
Track referral sources, measure conversion rates, and understand which relationships drive the most revenue to your firm.
Overview
Referrals are one of the most valuable and cost-effective sources of new business for law firms. A client referred by an existing client or professional contact arrives with trust already established, needs that are already defined, and conversion rates that significantly outperform cold lead sources. Despite this, most firms have no systematic record of where their referrals come from, which referrers are most valuable, and whether referral relationships are being reciprocated or maintained.
The Referral Network module solves this by automatically aggregating referral source data from across all your contacts and matters. It shows you, for each referral source, how many clients they have sent you, how many have become active matters, the total revenue attributed to that source, and the conversion rate. This transforms referral management from a social activity into a measurable, data-driven practice.
What the Referral Network Shows
Referral Sources
Each unique referral source is listed with the number of contacts referred, the number that became active matters, total revenue attributed to those matters, and conversion rate. Sources include individuals (existing clients, colleagues), organisations (accounting firms, real estate agents), and channels (professional networks, bar association events).
Conversion Rate
For each source, FRITH calculates the percentage of referred contacts that became active, billed matters. A source with a high referral count but a low conversion rate is either sending you poor-fit leads or requires better follow-up processes at your end.
Attributed Revenue
The total fees billed across all matters originating from each referral source. This is the clearest measure of a referral relationship's value to the firm — more useful than contact count alone.
Top Referral Source
The summary panel highlights your top referral source — the individual or organisation that has generated the highest number of converted clients over the selected period. Use this to prioritise relationship maintenance activities.
How Referral Data Is Collected
Referral tracking in FRITH is primarily driven by the Referred By field on Lead and Contact records. When a new lead is created (manually or via the intake form), the "referred by" field captures who sent the lead. When the lead converts to a contact and a matter is opened, FRITH traces back to that referral source and attributes the contact, matter, and ultimately the revenue to that source.
For partner and professional referrals (accountants, financial advisers, real estate agents who regularly send you clients), FRITH also supports referral links — unique URLs that can be shared with each referral partner. When a new intake form is submitted via a partner's referral link, the source is automatically recorded without any manual data entry.
The Referral Network module aggregates all referral data across your entire contact and matter database. The quality of the data depends on consistent use of the "referred by" field at lead and contact creation. Firms that record this field reliably will see complete attribution; firms that skip it will see gaps.
Using the Referral Network
Open Referral Network
Click Referral Network in the sidebar under Business Development. The summary panel at the top shows total referred contacts, total referred matters, top referral source, and total attributed revenue for the selected period.
Set a date range
Use the date range pickers to filter by period. Common views: year-to-date (to compare against last year), last 12 months (rolling measure of current relationships), or all time (to identify historically strong referral partners). The summary stats and source list update to reflect the selected range.
Review the source list
The source list shows each referral source ranked by contact count by default. Click column headers to sort by matters, revenue, or conversion rate. Use the search bar to find a specific individual or organisation.
Identify under-maintained relationships
Look for sources with high historical revenue but low recent contact count. These are referral relationships that may have gone cold. Use the Contacts module to find the individual or organisation and schedule a check-in call or lunch.
Export for reporting
Click Export to download the full referral source table as a CSV. This is useful for partner meetings, annual business development reviews, and compensation discussions where referral contribution is a factor.
Referral Summary Statistics
The summary panel at the top of the module shows four firm-wide metrics for the selected period:
Getting the most from your referral network
- • Record the "referred by" field on every lead at the time of capture. Asking "how did you hear about us?" is standard intake practice — the answer belongs in the system, not just in the receptionist's memory.
- • Review the top 10 referral sources each quarter and schedule a touchpoint with each: a phone call, a coffee, a brief note thanking them for recent referrals. This costs an hour and directly reinforces the referral relationship.
- • Pay attention to conversion rate, not just contact count. A source who sends you 20 leads with a 10% conversion rate is less valuable than one who sends 5 with a 90% conversion rate. Focus relationship investment on quality over volume.
- • Share referred-matter revenue with partners who have referral fee arrangements — use the attributed revenue data in this module as the basis for those calculations.
- • Use referral links for your most active professional referrers (accountants, financial planners). Automating source attribution eliminates the risk of "referred by" being left blank for high-volume partners.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does FRITH know who referred a client if the field was not filled in?
It doesn't. The Referral Network module depends entirely on the "referred by" field being populated on Lead and Contact records. If the field is blank, the contact and their matters appear as unattributed and do not appear in any referral source's row. This is why consistent intake discipline is essential.
Can I record referral fee obligations in this module?
The Referral Network tracks relationships and revenue attribution, but referral fee obligations are recorded in the matter's billing settings and paid via the Billing module. Use the attributed revenue data here to calculate the fee owed, then record the disbursement in billing.
Can I add a referral source retroactively to an existing contact?
Yes. Open the Contact record, click Edit, and populate the "Referred By" field. FRITH will then include this contact and their matters in the referral source's totals going forward. The attribution date uses the contact creation date, so historical metrics are appropriately backdated.
Does the Referral Network track ongoing referrals, or just the first time a source refers someone?
It tracks all referrals from a source over time — not just the first. If an accountant refers a client to you every year for five years, each referral appears as a separate contact and matter attributed to that source. The total contact count and revenue reflect the cumulative value of the relationship.