Step 1: Pick the right firms
- Injury firms within about 20 miles of your office, so callers are local to you.
- Firms that advertise heavily: more ads mean more car-only calls.
- Firms you already know, or have co-counseled with. Start where trust exists.
- Firms that don't handle property damage themselves (most injury firms don't).
Step 2: Know why they'll say yes
- It costs them nothing and there's nothing to set up: their intake team just forwards the call.
- Every injury case you come across goes right back to them.
- Their callers get help instead of “sorry, we can't help you”, which protects their reputation.
Lead with what's in it for them. You're offering to take a problem off their phones and send business back their way.
Step 3: Make the two-minute call
“Hi, this is [name] at [firm]. Quick one: when someone calls your office after a car accident and nobody was hurt, what does your intake team do with them?”
(Usually: we tell them we can't help.)
“That's what I thought. We handle exactly those: totaled cars with a low offer, and repaired cars that lost value. Instead of turning them away, your team could forward them to a line we've set up. An assistant answers 24/7, and if there's any injury at all, the case comes straight back to you.”
“There's no cost and nothing to set up. Can I send you a one-page overview and a short agreement?”
Step 4: Send the follow-up the same day
Subject: The car-only calls your team turns away
Hi [first name], thanks for the time today. As promised, here's the one-pager with our referral line, and the short referral agreement you can sign online.
When someone calls about a wrecked car and nobody was hurt, your team can forward them to [referral line]. Any injury case comes straight back to you.
Happy to walk your intake team through it in five minutes.
Both the one-pager and the agreement come from the Referral Partners tab in your dashboard, filled in with your firm's details.
Step 5: Make it easy for their intake team
- Give them one line to say: “We have a partner firm that should be able to help.”
- Give them one number to forward to, and put it on a sticky note at the desk.
- Add the firm and each of its phone numbers in your dashboard, so every call is tracked back to the firm (and the person) who sent it.
Step 6: Keep the calls coming
- Send injury cases back fast, and tell the partner when you do.
- Share a short monthly note: how many callers you helped from their office.
- Thank the intake staff, not just the partner. They're the ones forwarding the calls.
- Add the next firm once the first one is running smoothly.
Check your state bar's rules on referral arrangements, fee agreements and advertising before you start. The referral agreement True Claims provides has no fee sharing: the partner firm gets its injury cases back, not a payment.
Get the Referral Partner Playbook The pitch, the email, the intake questions and a 30-day plan. Free.Start taking the calls nearby firms turn away
Create your account, or book a 15-minute demo and we'll map out the firms around you.
Related answers
Questions people ask
›Do we pay the partner firm for referrals?
No. The referral agreement has no fee sharing. What they get is every injury case you come across, sent right back to them.
›What if a firm says no?
Ask what they do with car-only calls today and leave the one-pager. Firms that advertise heavily often come back once they see how many of those calls they get.
›How long does it take to get the first partner?
It depends on your relationships. The Referral Partner Playbook lays out a 30-day plan, one call and one follow-up at a time.
About the author. Jeff Zigman works with personal injury firms on property damage claims at TRUEclaims. Figures in this guide are past True Claims results or illustrative math, as labelled. This is general information, not legal advice.