Clients know there are plenty of good attorneys from which to choose. As a result, new aspects of the attorney-client relationship are gaining weight in the client's decision to retain or refer. One of the most important of these is rapport. It would be helpful at this point to define marketing. Marketing is any action that affects the perception of another so as to change the probability of making a sale.
Rapport is part of that perception.
To put it in simple terms, part of marketing boils down to whether the client likes you. Naturally, this affinity by itself is not enough to make clients refer their friends if they are not convinced you deliver good legal services. However, lack of rapport with your clients can cause them not to refer prospects to you even if they perceived you did a good job on their matters. Most attorneys pay little attention to rapport building. I've had more than one attorney tell me they are running a law practice not a popularity contest.