Hey Big Law Firms: Marketing is About Relationships
I work with very few big law firms on marketing. This is by design. Most big law firms have significant overhead and even more significant egos and both are a hindrance to profitability. Give me a guy in a two room office who is hungry, tired and broke with a law degree from a state school and I’ll help him double his profit inside of a year. A big law firm guy would need a tutorial to understand the hungry guy’s financial statement.
My biggest beef with big law firms is their marketing. Brochures, event sponsorships and congratulatory ads in the local business paper are what pass for good marketing at most big law firms. Forget the fact that nobody has ever hired a lawyer because his firm sponsored a tennis tournament; explain to me how you measure the effectiveness of this kind of marketing.
Now let’s say the kick ass brochure pulls in a client. What is the first thing the partner at the big law firm does? He estimates how many hours he can bill them. Yes, he listens to the problem. Sure he comes up with a legal solution. And ultimately the client’s company will benefit from that solution. But not before the partner bills 20 hours to the client’s account and his associate bills 15 hours to it and the paralegal bills 36 hours to it etc. etc.
My clients have learned the art of stealing business from big law firms by charging flat fees or value based fees to clients who have been beaten up by big law firms for years. They build relationships with their clients BEFORE they become clients. They deepen those relationships with the work they do for them. They charge them a fair price that the client agrees to in advance.
Suffice it to say that attorneys at big law firms should be required to wear a mask and hold a gun when walking into the office of a client. Hourly billing is horrible. Clients hate it. It destroys relationships with clients. But for the big law firms, marketing and billing are not about relationships.
Big law firms could use their size to their advantage. They could conduct seminars that educate potential clients. They could follow up with attendees by sending them a monthly newsletter on the very topic covered in the seminar. They could offer legal audits for clients by the preeminent attorneys in specific areas of the law…FOR FREE. They could do hundreds of things the small firms don’t do with their marketing. If they did, the small guys would have trouble competing.
But I guess the big law firms don’t get it. Maybe they never will. My clients get it. Their clients get it. Before you know it, the big firms may just become small enough to try it.
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EmailThe Reason You Don’t Get Hired
A Real Estate broker called me recently. She wanted me to recommend her to my clients when they needed office space. I was reluctant to take the call as I already know several excellent people in this field and I don’t make recommendations on office space all that often.
Since the broker was referred to me by a client I decided to take the call (she originally wanted a face-to-face meeting). In advance of the call, I asked for an email detailing why her firm was different than all the others.
What I received back was an email with seven points that were all about her firm. Nothing about how the client would benefit. Nothing about how the client would save money by using her firm, make more money by securing a better location, save time because her firm does thorough due diligence, etc. I didn’t see any of that. All I saw as chest thumping, me, me, me.
This is the number one reason why clients don’t select you as their lawyer. Until you tell the client how you can help them, they will not care where you went to law school or which judge you clerked for or who you know in the local government.
Legal marketing should be all about the client. Show him how you can solve his problem. Help him understand his options. Show him you know how he feels (empathize).
Put the client first in your marketing, just like you do in your legal work.
The Loneliest Number in Marketing for Lawyers
A couple of days ago I had lunch with a smart lawyer. He receives a few referrals each month from former clients and other lawyers and he is ready to take his practice to the next level. This was the purpose of our lunch. He called me to talk about how we could work together to improve his marketing.
Lunch started off great. We discussed the value he provides to his clients. We also discussed his competitive advantage (the thing that makes his law firm different and better than everyone else). He had both of these down cold. As far as marketing for lawyers goes, he was off to a good start.
Things started to get a little off track when we discussed specific marketing tactics. (A tactic is an action you take to achieve a desired result.) When we discussed newsletters he said: “I tried that and it didn’t work”. I asked: “How long did you send out newsletters?” “One month” he replied. “And I didn’t get any clients from it.” We moved on to the blog on his website. I asked him how many times he updated the content. His response was that he updated it for a month (a couple of times) and again, nothing. Finally we discussed networking. He said he joined a networking group. The group met each week and he attended for a month and guess what…yep…nothing.
“I just don’t know if marketing will work for my law practice” he concluded.
We discussed three tactics that he tried for one month each and he got no results.
This makes him a victim of loneliest number in marketing for lawyers…the number one.
Any time you implement a new marketing initiative you need to give it a fair shot. Doing anything once is never going to produce a fair return on investment. Some initiatives (like blogging, newsletters or networking groups) take several months (like six or more) in order to be effective.
The first step in building a marketing plan is to get your head on straight. You must give each tactic a fair opportunity to succeed.
Think of marketing like sex. If you only do it once there’s a chance it will work but you definitely won’t be satisfied.
Law Firm Marketing: You are Probably Doing It Wrong
Most law firm marketing is done incorrectly, if it is done at all. You know your marketing is bad if:
Everything in your law firm marketing material is about you. This is a common marketing mistake. Great law firm marketing educates the client about solutions to his/her problem. Clients come to you for solutions. They don’t come to you to ask about your background.
At some point in the marketing process it may make sense to let the client know about your qualifications, experience and education. But in the beginning, it is best to focus on educating the client about the situation and provide them with solutions to their problems.
You only work on your law firm marketing when you need clients. Many lawyers come to me when they are in this position. They get in an alternating cycle of client overwhelm followed by a dearth of business. For three months are franticly busy and then for three months there is nothing. Then one month of client work and two months of nothing. They fall into the trap of ignoring the marketing while the client work is plentiful and that leads to double the amount of time without client work.
Law firm marketing is something that must take place consistently. In good times and in bad times you must be focused on building your client base.
The cornerstone of your law firm marketing is networking. Since there are restrictive rules governing the marketing process in each state, many attorneys believe the only true way to market their services is by networking. Networking is a very effective way for attorneys to attract clients but it should only be one in a series of client attraction tactics.
The right way to use networking in your law firm marketing plan is to set a goal for each networking event. Decide who you want to meet, how you can help them (giving is the best way to start any relationship) and how you will follow up.
You only have one way to find new clients. This is a common problem we find in semi-successful law firms. The law firm has developed one way to attract a great deal of clients. But when that particular marketing tactic loses its effectiveness the firm has no new clients.
Your law firm marketing must always include several (at least 10) different ways to attract and retain clients. This diversity affords you the luxury of testing new tactics because you are not financially devoted to one specifically.
You think law firm marketing is all about billboards, bus stop benches and television ads. Many attorneys believe that television and billboards are the only forms of media successful attorneys use. This is far from the truth. In fact, most successful attorneys will never use these media. They have dozens if not hundreds of other ways to attract clients.
If your law firm fits one of these five criteria, help is available. To change your view of law firm marketing and get more clients, give us a call today. 888.692.5531. We can help you develop some smart, ethical and effective law firm marketing tactics that will drive clients right to your front door.
Get a Grip on Administrivia and Make More Money
Do you want to immediately give yourself a productivity boost?
The best way to do this is to remove the trivial administrative tasks that bog you down. I call these things ADMINISTRIVIA.
All of us tend to make things more difficult than they need to be. We use 200 words when 20 will do. We spend too much time analyzing minor issues. We work on mundane tasks that we can/should delegate to others. The administrivia in our firms is the biggest example of time wasted (or at least underutilized).
Here are three things you can do today to dramatically increase your productivity by eliminating administrivia:
One: Never Answer a Ringing Phone
This simple rule has quadrupled my personal productivity and it has (at least) doubled the productivity of my clients immediately upon implementation. In my firm we have a system for handling phone calls.
Here’s how it works:
My main phone number rings directly into voice mail. The voice mail is transcribed and automatically sent to my assistant. She reads the message and either handles it immediately or calls the party back for clarification. If she cannot resolve or dispose of the issue, she schedules a telephone appointment for the caller directly with me. The appointment has a start time and an end time (usually 15 minutes in length) and it has a mini-agenda. Once we resolve the issue, I’m off the phone.
Now you’re probably thinking that your clients have different expectations of you. That’s because you have conditioned them to think you are going to take their calls right away. You can change that perception by having a simple conversation.
It starts like this:
“Mr. Client, you are very important to me. In order to maximize our time together I want to make sure I prepare for every interaction I have with you. From now on, when you call me, I’m going to set aside some dedicated time for us to discuss your issue. Since we are both busy it may take a day or so to get this scheduled but we will both be more productive as a result.”
Second: Stop Checking Email
You really don’t need email. Business was conducted just fine for centuries without it. You especially don’t need to check email constantly. Your productivity will skyrocket when you begin ignoring that stupid inbox on your computer (or Blackberry, PDA, iPhone, etc.).
Here’s how you can conquer this seemingly impossible issue:
Keep your current email address but set up an out of office auto response that states you are no longer checking email. Tell everyone you work with that you are no longer accepting email. Tell them to email your assistant with important documents. Have your assistant schedule a call to review the document with the client/prospective client/opposing attorney. Have your assistant check your email once a day for anything important.
I’ll be the first to admit that I had a tough time with this initially. I used a step down method to get off email. I checked it three times a day at first. Then I moved to once a day, which was almost worse because stuff piled up. After that I went to once a week (at that point I just deleted everything because it was too much to keep up with). Now with my assistant keeping an eye out for important items, I never log into email unless she tells me there is something I need to handle.
Third: Have Someone Manage Your Calendar
There is nothing I do worse than schedule my own appointments. Honestly, I think I have a disability that prevents me from keeping an orderly calendar.
Having someone manage your schedule will make you more efficient and you will be much, much happier. This also helps alleviate the guilt you feel when you have to say NO to an unproductive meeting or event. Someone else says NO for you. It’s beautiful!
Time to Decide
There are about a million reasons not to implement these three changes. After all, no NORMAL person does this, right? Well what does NORMAL mean anyway? Doesn’t NORMAL mean ‘just like everyone else’?
And what do the law firms run by EVERYONE ELSE look like? Most of them are mediocre. If you want to be just like everyone else and have a mediocre firm, ignore this article.
But your productivity will suffer if you don’t take charge of your interpersonal interaction.
If you think you can’t do this because you can’t trust your assistant, you need to get a new one (or go into therapy for your trust issues). If you can’t afford an assistant I’m afraid I can’t help you. Virtual assistants are available for $10/hr. and they can handle these tasks in about 10 hours a week. That’s $100. Give me a break.
This article is your call to action. Take control of your productivity immediately.
Small Firms Beat Big Law Firms at Marketing
My solo and small law firm clients have enjoyed a fiscal resurgence the last few months. It seems as though business is rushing in the door faster than they can handle it. This has resulted in a few calls to my office from BIG LAW firms. I guess the BIG LAW people are a little curious about the secrets to the success of the small firms in difficult economic conditions.
For those of you who want some ideas as to why a small law firm would thrive in this economy, here are a few clues:
Layoffs Put Legal Work on Sale
As big law firms trimmed their payroll, they got rid of many good attorneys. These attorneys can walk into a client’s office and say: “I’m the same guy you worked with at Big, Bigger and Biggest but I now cost you about 1/3 what I cost you back then because I own the firm”.
Same attorney, lower price. That is a sale.
Small Law Firms Eat What They Kill
Small law firms (especially sole practitioners) understand if THEY don’t bring in the business, nobody will. Business development has always been a priority for these folks. Survival is a tremendous motivator. Small firms will go to great lengths to land a client. They focus on business development. They make it a priority.
Efficiency is a Way of Life
If you can’t afford an assistant, a fancy office and a regular table a Capital Grill, you learn to get the most out of the things you can afford. Small law firms make efficiency a way of life. They focus on necessities and they get by without the window office on the 45th floor of the tallest building in town.
Hourly Billing Disappeared a Long Time Ago
Clients have been telling lawyers they hate hourly billing since the 1940s. Small law firms are the only ones listening. Many of my clients in solo practices are winning business from large companies by offering alternative billing strategies. This is business that, until recently, was the domain of BIG LAW.
Large law firms can’t figure out alternative billing. It makes their heads hurt. The small guys get it. And the clients love it.
Relationships Still Matter
People do business with other people. They don’t do business with THE FIRM. Lawyers who are great at establishing and maintaining relationships will always win more business than those who do not possess those skills. The smaller the firm is, the more important relationship development becomes. This forced human interaction makes you think about the needs of the client. And that is a very good thing.
How can you THINK SMALL and grow your law practice? Are there BASICS of human interaction you have let slip as you pursued the almighty dollar?
If you want to get your focus back, give me a call. 888.692.5531
The First Step in Building a Succesful Law Firm as a Solo Attorney
Successful solo attorneys understand that a law firm is a business.
Building a successful law business starts with setting goals, writing them down, and reviewing them regularly.
The very first question I ask my clients in my coaching practice is:
“What do you want from your business?”
It doesn’t matter if the person across the desk from me is a litigator or a transactional attorney. It is no different if the attorney in my office is an intellectual property attorney or the owner of a personal injury firm.
Just about every one of them tries to give me a long-winded answer about taking care of customers, giving back to society, and making the world a better place.
After I let them say their piece, I politely tell them that they are full of crap!
Well, at least I hope they are full of crap.
The only good reason to go into business for yourself is to make a lot of money doing exactly what you want to do when you want to do it.
That’s it.
If you went out on your own and started up a law firm and you did not have this thought in your head, then you should go out and look for a job.
Click Continue Reading for The First Step in Building a Successful Practice as a Solo Practitioner.
