Why Is It So Easy To Hire You?
Every so often I will point out things I think are worth reading for people interested in law firm marketing. This week I came across a post by Seth Godin on open buying and open selling. Seth is talking about the ease of getting something and its true value to the end user. This is a concept that is near and dear to me. If something is easy to get, how much could it be worth?
Let’s say you need to see a heart surgeon. It’s not an emergency but your doctor has detected an irregular heartbeat. The doctor doesn’t give you a referral (he doesn’t believe in them). So you are forced to find a heart surgeon on your own.
You go to the Internet and you call the heart surgeon who comes up on top in a Google search. You call the office at 9AM and get an appointment for 11AM. After a FREE consultation, you shake the doctor’s hand and he agrees to operate on you at 1PM.
What do you think? Is that guy most likely a good doctor or a bad doctor?
I know that sounds ludicrous but that’s what happens with many lawyers.
You can pick up the phone at 9AM, make an appointment for today at 11, go to the office for a FREE consultation and have an attorney retained by 1PM.
And the attorneys who operate this way wonder why they have so many clients who shop around.
It is not easy to hire a good lawyer. Good lawyers are selective in the clients they accept. Good lawyers are always busy…too busy to handle same day appointments or walk-ins…too busy to offer FREE consultations.
If you want quality clients you need to have a process in place to select them. If you want clients to listen to your advice they must perceive it as valuable. Law firm marketing helps influence that perception but commonsense must also have a role.
Clients get what they pay for…and they know it.
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EmailA Law Firms Marketing Madness: Cutting the Budget is a Bad Move
Many large law firms have been cutting their marketing budgets during the past couple of years. This is being done as a reaction to the broad economy and the perceived weakness in the demand for legal services. These law firms marketing madness will only make things worse.
Cutting the law firms marketing budget during difficult economic times is the wrong approach. A down economy is exactly the right time to spend MORE on marketing. Here are three reasons why:
Clients still need you to solve problems.
Do you really think there is a shortage of legal issues during a down economy? Come on now. Clients have either chosen to ignore their issues or they have put off fixing them until the economy improves. Your job (as a law firm business owner) is to help potential clients realize that their problems must be addressed now. It shows that you still involved in the community/industry.
Since we practice educational marketing, we are always providing value to our clients.
If you continue to provide this value, even during an economic downturn, you will build your credibility and goodwill within your community/industry. Law firms marketing in a recession are perceived as strong. Law firms marketing using educational marketing provide their clients and prospective clients with value. The combination of these two factors makes them unstoppable.
The return on investment is still there.
Think like a business owner. If you invest a dollar and you receive three dollars in return you have made a good investment. That’s what marketing is all about. Good marketers find out what works and they invest in it and leverage their investment to receive a great return.
Law firms marketing in a recession are rare but that’s all the more reason for you to INCREASE your marketing during tough times. Make the investment.
You’ll be glad you did.
Lawyer Marketing Starts With Target Market Selection
Most lawyers don’t give marketing too much thought. Networking at an event, printing up some brochures, handing out business cards and a setting up a website are what passes for lawyer marketing these days. Of course these ARE marketing tactics but there is more to business development than dropping a pile of brochures in the waiting room of the office and waiting for the phone to ring.
The first point of marketing strategy a lawyer must tackle is selection of the ideal person he would like to engage as his client. Initially this will sound odd to most attorneys. After all, isn’t EVERYONE in your target market?
The personal injury attorney thinks anyone can be in an accident. The criminal defense attorney thinks anyone can get into trouble (or be misunderstood) the divorce attorney thinks anyone can get divorced. The list continues on and on.
In truth, those people are all correct. Many legal matters can apply to the general public. But marketing to the public at large is costly and wasteful. The REAL market for these attorneys is someone who not only has realized he needs a lawyer, but it is someone who is looking for a lawyer.
So the personal injury attorney needs to meet someone who has been injured due to the negligence of others and wants justice. The criminal attorney wants to meet the person who has made a mistake and wants the best defense possible, regardless of cost. The divorce attorney wants to meet the individual who just can’t take another day with his/her spouse. The potential clients are looking for a lawyer to help them, NOW.
This is where lawyer marketing begins. The strategic component of targeting clients who are looking for an attorney who focuses specifically on the type of problem they can solve. This is a great deal of work. This means that the attorney must look for commonality in the clients that he has worked with over the years. Age, occupation, geographic location can all be factors. Past behavior, membership in specific groups and spending patterns can also offer clues. Understanding how your potential clients think will help you understand where to find them.
Good lawyer marketing begins with understanding as much as possible about your prospective client. Knowing your target market will not only prevent unnecessary spending it will help you find good clients who understand the value you provide. Get inside your clients’ mind to learn where to find them.
Attorneys Marketing Question: How do I get new clients?
One of the questions I am asked most frequently by attorneys marketing their services is: “How do I get new clients?” My consulting practice is dedicated to helping attorneys answer this question but unfortunately there is no one right answer. Each attorney is different and each practice area has different nuances. Applying a one-size-fits-all answer to this question would be to do a disservice to anyone genuinely interested in the answer.
There is a way to answer this question and have the answer broadly apply to just about any attorney in any practice area. That is answer can be summed up in two words: DO SOMETHING.
It’s not complicated.
Each and every day you should do something that helps you build your law firm client base. Today you write an article for a trade journal. Tomorrow you ask a colleague to make an introduction for you to an influential individual in a target company. The next day you reach out to the chamber of commerce to see if there is an opportunity to give a speech.
Start each day by doing one thing that will help you get closer to your client acquisition goals for your law firm.
Now I have a question for attorneys marketing their services: What have you done today to get new clients?
Marketing for Attorneys and The Magic Beans
Marketing for attorneys is just like Jack and the Beanstalk. Every attorney I meet wants to plant the magic beans, go to sleep and wake up with a beanstalk that will lead him to a beautiful place in the sky that contains untold riches. Of course there is a giant who guards this place and he enjoys eating attorneys who climb the beanstalk. Occasionally, one or two attorneys will make it down from the beanstalk with the hen that lays the golden eggs. But most of them spend a lot of time and money and in the end; they get devoured by the giant.
In marketing for attorneys, the magic beans are their website. The attorneys believe you plant the seeds, go to sleep and wake up with a vehicle that will lead the clients to your doorstep. In a few cases, this actually happens. But in most cases, fees, costs, and unforeseen expenses (the giant) beat you up pretty well before you even sniff any gold.
Don’t get me wrong, a website is a critically important tool in marketing for attorneys. You must include it in your arsenal but success doesn’t happen overnight. Here are four things you must do if you want your website to deliver qualified clients to your doorstep:
Post New Articles at Least Three Times per Week
Static web pages are as useless as brochures. (In case you didn’t know, I hate brochures. They provide no value and they only enrich the printers who sell them to you.) You must have dynamic content on your website and it must be updated a few times each week to drive your webpage to the top of search engine rankings. The articles you post do not need to be long but fresh content is critical.
Focus the Content on the Client
Don’t write about you and your firm. Someone who just arrived at your website is searching for help in solving a problem. Write about solutions to problems. You must enter the conversation that is going on in your client’s mind. Provide the information the client needs and he will check out your background once he sees what you can do for him. This doesn’t just apply to the Internet; it is a fundamental principle of marketing for attorneys.
Offer Information for Free in Return for Contact Info
The thing that separates your website from a brochure is the response device. This is a little section on the website where you offer information in return for the client’s contact information. It can be in the form of a little box at the top of the page that says: “Enter your first name and email address for my free report titled: ‘Five Things You Need to Know About Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer’” or whatever your practice area may be.
Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up
Marketing for attorneys is all about follow-up. The web is no different than any other media. Once you get a lead you need to call and email that person within 24 hours. After your initial contact, if they don’t ask to come into your office for a consultation, you should keep them on your mailing list forever. That’s right. I said forever. Your goal is to be the FIRST and ONLY attorney they think of when they have an issue in your area of expertise.
In marketing for attorneys there are no magic beans but your website can eventually help you live happily ever after.
How Smart Attorneys Double Their Revenue in a Year
As you may have heard from me (several times) it is better to have 100 ways to get one client than it is to have 1 way to get 100 clients.
But there is one thing you should do first, actually NOW, if you really want to grow your client base in the next twelve months. In fact, this activity is possibly THE BEST way to ensure you will DOUBLE your revenue.
It is not sexy.
But it works.
What is this mysterious client acquisition tactic? Is it something on the Internet? Is it social media? Is it some new form of technology?
No.
It is called follow-up.
Good, old fashioned, follow-up.
Here’s how it works:
Let’s say you are introduced to someone by a client, friend or referral source. You have a brief conversation and you believe this person has the potential to become a client in the future or refer you to potential clients. What happens next? Usually nothing.
Replace “nothing” with these steps and you will double your revenue in a year:
1). Go to lunch: Take your new friend to lunch and learn everything you can about his business. Don’t sell yourself. Learn about him and his business.
2). Send a hand written note: Let him know you enjoyed meeting him. Enclose a business card.
3). Send your contact information in electronic form. People like to have your information in their PDA or Smartphone. Make it easy for them. Send your contact info in an email.
4). Introduce this person to someone who can help his business. This point is critical. You need to go the extra mile and actually HELP your new prospective client. You must give something before you can expect to receive something.
5). Provide them with something of value a least every month. This means you should send them something they will enjoy every month. It can be a newsletter. It can be a greeting card. It can be a phone call where you touch base and help them solve a problem. The key is to help them remember you by providing them with something valuable.
People do business with people they know, like and trust. If you implement a simple follow-up and monthly contact system you will reap the rewards.
It takes about six months for people to get used to interacting with you on a consistent basis. But once they realize you are interested in helping them, they will warm up to the idea of trusting you with their most important matters.
How many ways do you have to get new clients?
One of the first things I review with attorneys is the variety of ways they attract new clients. At first, I am usually greeted with a blank stare when I pose the question: “How many different ways do you have to attract new clients?”
The puzzled look is followed by a statement like:
“I can’t afford too many marketing initiatives. I rely on referrals and word of mouth.”
The folks who offer up this response have three specific problems:
They have made a decision to cap their income. The fewer ways you have of attracting new clients the less opportunity you have to grow your firm’s revenue. Keep in mind, I love referrals. I think you should have a system for nurturing referral relationships. But referrals will generally come from people who know you, like you and trust you. Most of us – even the super-networkers – will have a limited sphere of influence from which we can attract referrals.
They do not know that there are more personal forms of marketing. Networking is a great way for attorneys to make contact with potential clients but the follow-up from networking (which is marketing by the way) is how the relationship grows. Educational events are fantastic ways to introduce the value you provide to potential clients. Writing articles, giving speeches and serving on the board of directors of a charitable organization are all ways to develop new relationships and new potential clients.
They are looking for the magic bullet. They want one way to attract 100new clients. They want the easy money that comes with running ads or mass mailing. The trouble with these forms of marketing is that they are expensive and their effectiveness is often fleeting.
The key to developing new client relationships lies in the diversity of your marketing efforts. I have been developing business strategy for my entire career (22 years) and I say with confidence that I have seen very few individual marketing methodologies that consistently attract hundreds of clients – yet I have seen hundreds of ways to attract one client. The key to growing your law practice lies in improving the diversity of your client attraction tactics.
