You haven’t lived until you’ve been “subbed out”. You’re contacted by your client’s new attorney who informs you that they have been substituted in on their case, here’s the paperwork, please send the file ASAP.
Kaplowie, right in the kisser.
It happens to the best of attorneys. Sometimes you screw up. Sometimes the client can no longer afford you. Sometimes the client doesn’t want to follow your advice and decides to find someone who will tell him what he wants to hear.
But even if you have never had a client leave, you may have had clients who did not return for a subsequent engagement.
Your work may have been stellar and your fees may have been “just right”. So why do these clients hire another attorney the next time they need what you do? Usually, it’s because they didn’t feel appreciated.
You didn’t listen to what they were saying. You weren’t patient. You didn’t ask if they had questions.
You didn’t return their call. You rushed them into making a decision. You didn’t explain what you were doing and why it is important.
When you made them wait for forty minutes before their appointment, you told them their time wasn’t important (and you don’t keep your promises). When you took that phone call during the appointment, you showed them that someone else was more important to you.
There are many ways to show clients you appreciate them and many more ways to screw up. You can learn what to say or do through study and through experience, but one thing you must have and cannot be taught is sincerity.
You can’t fake it. People know. You can’t say the words and have your face say something different. The only way to communicate to your clients that you appreciate them is to appreciate them.
If you do, your job is easy. You don’t have to think about what to do or say or review a checklist. You’ll let them know in a thousand ways how much they mean to you and even if you are clumsy about it, they will know that you mean it.
If you don’t appreciate your clients, you can’t expect them to appreciate you, or to come back the next time they need help.
If you do appreciate your clients, The Attorney Marketing Formula will show you how to let them know.
I think this is a refreshing and very honest piece of advice that many more professions would do well to take on board! It’s very true that the tiniest thing you do in front of a client can really be make or break to them. I find it a good idea to pretend there’s nobody else in the building when a client arrives!
” I find it a good idea to pretend there’s nobody else in the building when a client arrives!”
That’s a great way of thinking about it, Louise!