Jorn Vermeulen, founder of Klerq, a platform supporting the business development side of law firms, shared insights from his 15 years of experience working with lawyers across 14 countries on building systematic approaches to cross-border legal work.

With his extensive background in legal consultancy and platform development, Vermeulen provided practical guidance on transforming ad hoc referral relationships into strategic revenue drivers, addressing the challenges faced by firms seeking to expand their international presence.

Building a Data Driven Referral Strategy

Vermeulen’s approach centres on replacing intuition with intelligence. “You need a lot of data. You need a good market overview or good market mapping,” he explained. His methodology begins with systematic analysis of existing relationships, tracking both inbound and outbound referrals to identify patterns and opportunities.

The transformation potential is substantial. Vermeulen cited a Belgian lawyer who grew international work from €350,000 to €1.6 million over three and a half years through strategic referral management. “There’s your answer. Does it make sense for us to go to the IBA in Toronto? Not if you don’t have a strategy, but if you have a strategy, yes.”

This data foundation extends beyond financial tracking to qualitative assessment. Firms must evaluate where they met potential referral partners, understand their key strengths, and assess their real focus areas. The goal is creating shortlists based on evidence rather than personal relationships or recent social interactions.

Building Networks is The Long Game

For younger lawyers entering the referral landscape, Vermeulen emphasised the importance of starting early. “You take your network throughout your whole career. You can never start early enough with this.”

He highlighted the evolution of networking opportunities, noting significant changes in traditional venues like the International Bar Association conferences. “I’m visiting those conferences since 2015 and nowadays it’s a way younger crowd already, and better organised,” he observed.

For firms unable to invest heavily in international conferences, Vermeulen suggested beginning with national referral management. “The people you studied with and who are now at accountancy firms might be very useful referrals.” This domestic foundation can later support international expansion as lawyers advance in their careers.

However, he cautioned that networking without supporting infrastructure proves ineffective. “If you do not position yourself in the legal directories like Chambers and Legal 500, it also makes no sense to go to the IBA, because then probably the minute you make a connection during those conferences, they also want to see who you are.”

The Quality Control Challenge

Client experience remains paramount in referral relationships. Vermeulen stressed the importance of maintaining service standards across jurisdictions: “You need to know that your client is in good hands. You need to know that your client is getting more or less the same service as they are getting from you.”

Yet the legal profession struggles with systematic feedback collection. When informed that only 16% of firms generate client feedback, Vermeulen offered a practical solution: “Always make sure that someone else is asking for the feedback. Sometimes you feel maybe a little bit embarrassed, and it’s also not always nice to hear back when it didn’t go so well.”

This third-party approach serves multiple purposes: reducing emotional barriers to honest feedback, improving reference response rates for directory research, and providing opportunities for service improvement. The data becomes crucial for future referral decisions and maintaining client relationships.

Technology’s Role in Modern Referral Management

The complexity of managing international referrals demands technological support. Klerq addresses this need by storing lawyer’s track records in their practise facilitating their use across different marketing deliverables.

“When not using AI and not using tooling, you cannot keep track basically,” he noted. His team developed AI-powered conference assistants that can identify law firms by jurisdiction and practice area, automatically generating the “pocket notes” that lawyers traditionally required for networking meetings.

This technological approach transforms the traditional marketing and business development function from reactive to proactive. “You should always be well-prepared with AI and the right tools, and be more proactive as a result. That, in my view, is the most important quality for marketing and business development specialists.”

Implementation Challenges and Solutions

Despite the clear benefits of systematic referral management, implementation faces predictable obstacles. Vermeulen identified partner resistance as a primary challenge, noting that successful projects require partner sponsorship and genuine commitment to change.

“The most successful implementations that we have with our tooling were, for example, in Italy where a partner really stood up and said, ‘Now we are gonna make efficiency in this,'” he explained. Without this leadership commitment, even simple tasks like compiling work highlights for submissions become unnecessarily complex and time-consuming.

The solution lies in demonstrating clear business cases supported by data. Partners, despite believing themselves rational, often make decisions based on incomplete information or personal relationships. Systematic data collection and analysis provide the foundation for more strategic decision-making.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Vermeulen sees continued transformation driven by technological advancement. Law firms are appointing innovation managers and change managers to oversee legal technology adoption, recognising that efficiency gains don’t replace work but enable different market delivery.

However, he criticised the legal directory system for failing to evolve adequately. “I think they didn’t change the things that actually needed changing. They’re good at providing insight, but they’re not good at turning that insight into something practical and actionable.”

The contrast between consumer technology expectations and legal industry tools remains stark. “We already use more than 60 apps in our daily lives. At home, I’m used to working on modern, well-designed platforms, but at work, it still feels like the prehistoric era, using Excel spreadsheets.”

Conclusion

International referral management represents a significant revenue opportunity that demands strategic rather than ad hoc approaches. Success requires data-driven decision-making, systematic relationship building, quality control mechanisms, and technological support.

For law firms operating in an increasingly connected world, the choice isn’t whether to engage in international referrals but whether to approach them strategically. As Vermeulen demonstrated, firms that invest in proper systems and processes can transform modest international practices into substantial revenue streams.

The legal profession’s traditional reliance on personal relationships and intuitive decision-making must evolve to meet modern client expectations and competitive pressures. Those firms that embrace systematic approaches to referral management will likely gain sustainable competitive advantages in the global legal marketplace.