Is a Bad Client Your Problem? You Bet
A client walks into your office and he expects you to do a song and dance and convince him that he should hire you.
He wants the free consultation and he wants to ask you a few questions about his brother-in-laws’ (unrelated) legal situation.
But as soon as you start to discuss his matter with him, he launches into a know-it-all diatribe about why the approach you are suggesting will never work. Never mind that he is an engineer and not a lawyer. Forget the fact that he got himself into this mess with his genius level decision-making ability.
Now this lunatic is sitting across from you, wasting your time, and robbing the office of the air you should be breathing. And all you can think about is how much you WOULD PAY to make this guy go away.
But then, when he gets out his checkbook, you eagerly take his money (after he negotiates a 15% fee reduction).
Then you call me up and complain that all of your clients suck and that the economy is in the crapper.
I’ve got news for you:
It is your problem.
Nobody else’s.
You are creating this mess for yourself by doing what you have always done. (Remember: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing day-after-day and expecting different results).
If you are unhappy with the clients in your practice and you are ready to do something about it, you can start with these three simple rules for client selection:
1). Always make sure the client has a good understanding of the value you provide. One of the best ways to do this is to have him pay a fee to meet with you. People value what they pay for. If you give away your services, even at the point of the initial consultation, you are conditioning your clients NOT to value you.
2). Dictate (don’t negotiate) the terms of the relationship. You are the expert in the law. If the client does not see that at the beginning of your relationship, he will never see it. You should not have to convince him that you are an expert. That should have been done before he even walked into your office.
3). If you get a bad feeling, walk away. There is nothing worse than working with a client you cannot stand. No matter how much he pays, a jerk is always a jerk. Have some integrity. Turn away clients who you do not feel comfortable representing.
Now you may not like this guidance and my language may be a bit harsh for you…but reading this and implementing it now is far better than the alternative.
Just say “NO” to bad clients.
If you accept them it’s going to be your problem.
Print
EmailIt Is Your Choice: Take Action or Face Extinction
Whether you realize it or not, you are at a crossroads.
We face stagnant economic growth, rising unemployment and inflation and an unprecedented crisis of political leadership. Your wasteful government has been on a drunken spending spree for 10 years and has awakened with a massive hangover rendering it useless to anyone looking to build a business.
During this period of economic upheaval the legal industry has changed right before our eyes. In most areas of practice, billing has been trending downward. The number of kids graduating from law school is up by 20%. Average income for an attorney in a small law firm is down 25% since 2006 (according to the American Bar Association). More lawyers, working for less money, means increased pressure on everyone just to get by.
To make matters worse, snake oil salesmen knock on your door everyday offering you’re the next elixir that will cure your ills. Charlatans promoting Search Engine Optimization, Facebook, Twitter and Legal Matching services pick your pocket while they shake your hand.
So the government cannot help you. Your industry is a shambles. The people who say they are experts are literally stealing your money.
Where do you go for help? Who can you count on to help you get through this mess?
Look in the mirror.
Believe it or not this is the time to make great money as a lawyer. Here are three things you can do, right now, to take control of your future.
Strengthen Relationships
Your clients and your referral sources trust you. Invest in them. Invest your time in helping them improve their lives and their businesses. Send them referrals. Talk them up everywhere. Help them become successful. You will be amazed at the return on this investment.
In the Far East this is called Karma. In the movies it is called paying it forward. In some business circles it is called “givers’ gain”. I call it good old fashion relationship development.
Help your clients and referral sources succeed and you will benefit in the long run.
Communicate Frequently with People Who Can Invest In Your Services
People forget us 10 minutes after they meet us. It’s human nature. Studies show that someone must interact with you a minimum of seven times before they will remember you. This means you need to communicate with people often. How often? That depends upon what you have to say.
If you have something interesting to share with me every day, I will listen to you. Most people feel the same way. There is no such thing as over communicating. Just don’t be boring.
Keep Your Promises
It is better to commit to nothing than to make a commitment you cannot fulfill. In this day and age, people are willing to commit to just about anything to land a new client. Don’t be that guy (or gal).
When you commit to something, you must live up to that commitment. Do what you say you are going to do. This includes showing up, on time, for meetings.
It’s sad, but this is actually a differentiating factor in today’s society.
Does this three step process sound overly simplistic?
Don’t confuse simplicity with ineffectiveness.
Try this three step plan for 90 days before you invest in the latest internet advertising scam or social media platform. You don’t need new technology, strong governmental leadership or a roaring economy to make a great living and live a great life as a lawyer. You just need to apply some commonsense and take action.
Start now.
Sometimes Law Firm Marketing is About Things That Don’t Happen
We are in the advice business. We bring our talent, skills, knowledge and experience to a situation and give the best guidance possible to our clients.
The people who engage us do so because they need help. Sometimes they want to avoid pain and sometimes they want to attract something favorable. Ultimately, they are looking to us to help them improve their current state.
When we are at our best, we objectively assess the situation and deliver powerful advice in a way that makes the client feel as though our idea was hatched in his brain. To him, our presence was simply validation that he is the smartest person in the world. And this idea, which was germinating in his head forever, magically sprung to life when we showed up.
We do not take a victory lap. We do not gloat. There is no touchdown dance.
If you can keep your ego in your pocket you can make a great living in the advice business.
In an age where pundits handicap everything from sporting events to elections, you can bet that anyone claiming to know, with certainty, about the outcome of a future incident is only partially informed. The real expert is behind the scenes, throwing up. He knows that in spite of his talent, skills, knowledge and experience, there is still a 10% chance that he is wrong. And he spends his entire career trying to reduce or manage that percentage.
Want to make a great living and live a great life?
Hone your craft. Strive for continuous improvement. Smoke an expensive cigar, alone, when you are successful. And then move on to the next client. Charge lots of money. But never, ever, brag about your role in the success of a client matter.
Practice educational marketing not boastful marketing. Offer references – other people who will boast of your success.
The most successful lawyers and consultants work behind the scenes to make things happen. They are the real force behind the big deal or the acquittal but more often, they are judged by what DOES NOT happen.
Think of it this way: The guy you see on TV who won the big case is never the best lawyer. The best lawyer is the guy who convinced the prosecutor not to file in the first place.
Never Let Them See You Coming
Many people think being flashy is good. They believe that showing off your wealth, your knowledge or your skills is the way to win people over.
Nothing is farther from the truth.
If you want to attract clients, this may be the most important piece of advice you will ever receive.
Never let the client see you coming. This means you should always let the other guy feel superior.
Always.
Let him think he is smarter than you (at least when it comes to his business). Let him think he has more money than you do. Let him think he is more successful than you.
People are constantly comparing themselves to one another (both consciously and subconsciously). If they think they are more successful than you, they will want to be around you.
It’s human nature. The ego needs to be placated.
Providing the other person with the illusion of superiority allows you to control the interaction.
Need a case study? Watch a Colombo rerun.
Back in the 1970’s there was a television detective named Colombo (played by Peter Falk). Colombo appeared to be forgetful, disheveled and generally pathetic looking. His appearance and behavior always made the suspect feel at ease – as they did not believe Colombo was smart enough to crack the case. Of course this meant that they would be less guarded when having a conversation with Detective Colombo. This always led to the bad guy’s demise.
What does this mean for you? How can you use this in the day-to-day running of your law firm?
Avoid appearing or sounding superior. Dress professionally but not extravagantly. Be low key in your behavior. Never boast. When your work is successful, always deflect credit. Let others sing your praises. Make the client look good.
At the end of the day your goal is to help the client achieve his goal and to collect a fair fee for doing so.
In business and in life you can have everything you want as long as you are willing to make others look good (and feel good) while you conduct your business.
Choices We Make
I provide guidance, systems and ideas to lawyers.
I don’t teach lawyers how to get rich quick.
Don’t get me wrong, some of the lawyers I work with improve their income substantially. But that’s not the reason my clients engage me.
My clients hire me to help them improve their income and get home for dinner, on time, every night.
These lawyers are not “get rich quick” kind of people. Most of them love the law. They enjoy what they do. But they also love spending time with family and living life.
Make a great living and live a great life is not just my firm’s slogan. It is what everyone who invests in my services wants – a great living and a great life.
You chose the law as your profession. That doesn’t mean you chose to sacrifice your life serving it.
We all make choices in life but that doesn’t mean you have to give up a great income to spend time with your family. And it doesn’t mean you have to spend eighty hours a week in the office to make an above average living.
But you do have to make some choices. You have to get your priorities in order.
You must choose the right clients. You must choose the rules under which you will operate your law firm. You must choose the advice you take and the advice you discard.
And you must choose to have thick skin. Because lots of people will be jealous if you have success at making a great living and living a great life.
I’m not a lawyer but I choose to work with lawyers. Why? Because I am good at helping people make tough choices. Lawyers trying to build a law firm and have a family life face some of the toughest choices in the business world.
I’m not going to help you get rich quick but I am going to help you feel good about the choices you make.
Most of the time doing the right thing is easy. It’s figuring out what the right thing is, that’s hard.
Are You Worth the Risk?
When a client comes to you with a problem he is anxious. He may never have faced this kind of situation before. He is worried about losing money, time and/or an opportunity. He knows that hiring the right lawyer is going to be the most important decision he will make toward achieving a favorable result.
In short, he is worried about the risk he is taking in selecting you as his lawyer.
Overcoming the client’s fear of making a mistake in lawyer selection is the single most important factor in law firm marketing. Most lawyers underestimate the depth of that fear.
There are six different elements of risk that come into play when a client is looking to hire a lawyer and you must overcome all of them.
Below are these elements of risk. I have also included some thoughts on how you can address this risk head on and make the client’s decision easier.
The risk of poor performance: The client hires a lawyer and the lawyer is not able to achieve the desired result.
To overcome this risk, show the client your past work. Help him feel comfortable with your skill level. Give the client the names and phone numbers of other people you have represented so he can check up on you.
The risk of financial investment: The client invests in you, you do not perform well and he is responsible for damages awarded to his adversary.
To overcome this risk, show the client the value he is receiving by hiring you. Help him see that NOT hiring you is the true financial risk because you are their best option.
The risk of loss of time: The client helps you become familiar with his situation. This takes time. If he needs to find another lawyer, he has lost the time he invested in working with you. In many matters, time is of the essence. If the client works with you and you cannot act quickly he may not achieve a favorable outcome.
Overcome this risk by demonstrating sensitivity to his time investment. Show up on time to meetings with him. Return his calls promptly and be attentive to his needs. If you are unavailable, make sure a member of your team responds to the needs of the client in timely fashion.
The risk of the loss of an opportunity: Your depth of knowledge is critical to the client’s success. If you miss an opportunity while working on his matter, you may cost him money or you may even jeopardize the entire engagement.
Start the relationship off by asking in-depth questions about the client’s situation. Show him that you are thinking about his matter beyond the superficial aspects of it. Asking good questions demonstrates the desire to completely understand a situation. This is critical to alleviating the client’s fear of loss of an opportunity.
Psychological risk: How does the client feel when he works with you? Does he feel like he is in good hands? There is a fine line between giving your client peace of mind and promising an outcome. You need to walk that line effectively and make the client feel good about your work. When you present your client with options and he makes a decision, reassure him.
Social risk: Clients talk to other people in their sphere of influence. Every interaction you have with a client or on behalf of a client either enhances or detracts from your reputation. Monitor what is being said about you in the community and realize that what you do is also a reflection on your clients.
Many times the client is making the decision to hire a lawyer during a brief conversation you have with him. You must, through your actions and your words, address each of these elements of risk to his satisfaction in order to be hired. Lawyers who are good at business development have made this a natural part of their initial client meeting.
If clients come to see you and leave without hiring you, you have a problem addressing these six elements of risk.
This is not unusual and it can be corrected. Call me today to find out how.
What I Failed To Do and What You Can Learn From It
Have you ever felt bad for a client because they said they couldn’t pay you?
Ever discounted your fee because the client told you a sob story?
Let me tell you about a time I did that and tell you what I learned from it.
I had been working with Charlie the tax attorney for about two years. He is a great lawyer – maybe one of the best lawyers in his field in Miami. At the outset of our work, Charlie was the only attorney in his firm and he had a part time administrative assistant who worked with him on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He was billing about $200,000 per year back then. He shared an office with a criminal attorney who was a friend from Law School.
When we first started working together we would meet in weekly one-on-one sessions. Each week I would cover a topic with him, give him some action items, and he would religiously implement the things we talked about.
About six months into our work together Charlie and I were reviewing his financial statement and we realized that his billing had doubled. He was giving his part time assistant full time hours and he hired a paralegal to help him with his workload. When we reviewed his financial statements, he pointed to the time when we started working together and he said: “This was the turning point in my career as a lawyer.”
Things continued to go well for Charlie. Over time he hired another paralegal and an associate attorney. His client flow was increasing as was his billing. But something strange began to happen in our relationship. Charlie stopped wanting to see me every week. He became very slow to implement the adjustments I recommended. And when I recommended something he could not implement immediately, he would question the value of my advice.
This finally came to a head one summer day when he said he was “choking on my monthly fee”. He pointed out how expensive I was and how what he really needed was help with implementation because he “had enough good ideas”. And at that point he asked me to reduce my fee.
I wanted to keep Charlie as a client so I agreed to do it.
And for three more months, things were fine. Charlie’s firm had grown to over $800,000 in annual revenue and he had five staff members. He moved into a bigger (more expensive) office. He leased a fancy car. He was buying custom tailored suits. And then it finally happened.
Charlie called me from his scuba diving lesson in Aruba to inform me that he “just couldn’t afford to work with me anymore.” Again he said he had enough good ideas and he was going to take his time and implement them. Even the reduced rate was too much for him.
His practice had quadrupled in size, he hired three staff members, he had a beautiful new office, new clothes, a new car and was taking exotic vacations three times each year but my fee was too much.
And that’s where I learned the lesson.
Providing value to clients wasn’t enough. Helping them transform their law firms and their lives was not enough. I also had to demonstrate this value over and over – each and every time we met. I had to show them, in a subtle way, the value I was providing.
This experience changed the way I handled my work with my clients. It transformed the way I do business. These days I only personally work with a handful of clients. I intentionally keep my private client roster small so I can provide outstanding guidance and access to the few people who truly understand the value I provide and execute on the strategy we discuss. And I charge these people a significant fee for helping them grow their business and improve their life.
You can do the same thing in your law firm.
You can make a conscious choice to work only with qualified clients who appreciate your talent.
The key to transforming your law practice into an exclusive, private client firm is in your law firm marketing. What you say to your clients before, during and after you get hired makes all the difference in the world. How you develop your relationship is critical to their perception of your value. It is not enough to do good work. You must also be perceived as a highly valuable member of the client’s inner circle.
If you are ready to take your law firm to the next level, give me a call. I may not be able to work with you personally, but at least I can point you in the right direction.
Law Firm Marketing for Leaders: Can You Handle It?
It really is lonely at the top. It doesn’t matter if you are the knot tying champ in your Boy Scout Troop or the CEO of a FORTUNE 500 company. Being the best or being in charge means that people will be coming after you. Rest assured, it will happen. One of the inevitable byproducts of success is the big target that will be firmly affixed to your back.
Why?
Human nature.
Each of us is born with the capacity to feel emotion and, in early childhood, we develop and refine our use of these emotions and our response to the emotions displayed by others.
Insecurity, jealousy, anger and resentment are often byproducts of our view of the success of a rival.
Some people see your success and they feel all of these things. A few of the more narcissistic folks will actually act on these feelings. That’s when the fun really begins.
The more successful you are, the more intense the emotional reaction to your success will be. Expect it.
And if you think it won’t happen to you because you are a “Nice Person”, just do an Internet Search for Christopher Hitchens thoughts on Mother Teresa. If someone can hate a Saint that much, trust me, someone out there will take aim at you once you have achieved a modicum of success.
So what are you supposed to do with these HATERS?
When my clients come crying to me about people who are:
1). Complaining about them to the world
2). Sending them hate mail or posting hateful things about them on the Internet
3). Spreading false rumors about them (or even bringing some old but true indiscretions to light)
I encourage them to react as follows:
Embrace the Fame
Let’s face it, if someone is attacking you, no matter how awful the attack is, your message is reaching its audience. Losers do not get targeted by anyone. Somebody feels threatened by you. Somewhere you have struck a nerve. Go with it. Shout louder. Appear in more places. Write more articles. Use even stronger language.
Remember that your goal in marketing is not only to attract potential clients but also to REPEL non-clients. You only want to work with people who have a problem you can solve and are willing to pay top dollar for you to solve it.
Publicly Identify the Emotional Dysfunction
Never attack your adversary directly as this would only serve to elevate him to your status. Instead, attack his emotional dysfunction. Talk about the evil of the emotion and not about the specific individual who personifies that evil.
Hillary Clinton did this masterfully during impeachment proceedings against her husband. During a nationally televised interview that was watched by more than half of the population of the United States, she painted the vitriol toward President Clinton as a vast right wing conspiracy.
With one statement she polarized the voting public. You were either part of that conspiracy or you were a victim of it.
Use the Attacks to Embolden Your Own Mission
Now that you have an enemy, use it (remember the enemy is the ideal not the person) to advance your position.
Personal Injury Lawyers use Insurance Companies or Big Tobacco or greedy manufacturing companies looking to make money at the cost of worker safety. Criminal Lawyers use the ruthless state-run system that chews up victims of circumstance and makes them hardened criminals. Labor attorneys use the union as a socialist enterprise that wants to drive a wedge between the workers and their benevolent employer.
Find a way to fight the emotion without picking a fight with the individual. The last thing you want to do is create a sympathetic victim.
You may be wondering why I selected this forum to share this insight with you. I will admit that this is advanced messaging strategy and an unusual law firm marketing strategy and can easily be misinterpreted by the uninitiated. The reason I share this particular strategy with you today is because I want you to think about your future. I want you to mentally prepare for the success that is coming. As your law practice (your business) evolves, and you become more successful, you will also become a target. My goal is for you to expect it.
But that begs a critically important question about your future success:
Can you handle it?
8 Words That Make All The Difference
“I’m sorry I have not been in touch.”
Those eight simple words are the best way to begin a communication campaign with your clients, past clients and potential referral sources.
I know you probably don’t receive as many referrals as you deserve. In most cases, this is a not a reflection of the quality of your work. It is a reflection of your lack of communication with the people most likely to give you referrals.
Your clients want to refer others to you. Unfortunately, they just don’t think about you all of the time.
The easy remedy to this situation is to remind them (frequently) that you are still here, still practicing law, and still providing the same fantastic service.
This is a tricky proposition.
You want to communicate with potential referral sources frequently but you do not want to be annoying.
Here are three ways to do that:
1). Send out a weekly email newsletter. This is a cost effective way to stay in touch with people who could potentially send you business. Many lawyers are intimidated by the suggested frequency. They initially feel that weekly communication may be too much. I assure you it is not. As long as your email is interesting, your clients will welcome it. Use the phrase: “Sorry I have not been in touch” in the subject of your first email.
2). Remember birthdays. There are three elements that go into getting a great referral. A person must know you, like you and trust you before they refer business to you. Your clients trust you or they would not have worked with you in the first place. If you send them a card on their birthday you will deepen your relationship with them. This simple step of remembering and recognizing them on an important day in their life will go a long way toward building your relationship.
3). Host a client appreciation event. One of the first things eliminated from the budget during difficult economic times is the office holiday party. This is a mistake. You should host an event, at least once each year, to recognize your clients. This doesn’t have to happen during the holidays. It can be anytime. In fact, it is often best to have this event during a time when there are no other competing events to distract from its significance. A simple gathering of clients with light food and drink is a terrific way to build good will.
Referrals are the lifeblood of any law firm marketing plan. Last week I shot a DVD for my clients that outlined 15 ways to attract more referrals. Watching this video and then taking consistent action on just one of these ideas could double the size of their law firm.
Think about it: If each of your current clients referred you one new client, your practice would grow by 100%.
Implement the three strategies I outlined above immediately. They are wise investments of your time and money and they will help you grow your business rapidly.
How Law Firm Marketing Can Improve Your Revenue
If you are thinking about different ways to improve your law firm revenue there are three specific options you need to consider.
These options should result in a shift in your law firm marketing strategy.
They are:
- Sell Different Legal Services
- Sell Your Services to Someone Different
- Sell Your Legal Services Differently
Think about each of these options for a minute:
Sell Different Legal Services
I am not advocating that you shift from being a criminal defense lawyer to drafting wills. I am saying that you should consider pursuing some options that are either related to the field of law you enjoy or you decide where your talent lies and align your practice with your talent. So in the example above: If you like computers focus on computer related crime.
Sell Your Services to Someone Different
This is the argument for focusing on niche marketing with your law practice. Having one (or several) target markets and tailoring your marketing to those areas, is a good way to measure results. This will enable you to decide which market is right for your law firm.
Sell Your Legal Services Differently
This is the argument for marketing. And I’m not talking about billboards and bus stop benches. This is the argument for having an excellent follow up system and focusing on marketing to referral sources.
There is one important thing that you must keep in mind as you move forward with a law firm marketing plan: Nothing changes until you change. If you do the same things you have always done you will get the same results you have always gotten.
