I got an email from a marketing expert I follow who asked us if we would prefer to have a customer or a buyer on our list. What’s the difference? A customer is someone who buys something or hires you once and then goes on their merry way. They might come back, they might not. A customer, on the other hand, is someone who makes a custom of buying from you, “because of the trust, respect, and loyalty they have for you.”
So, customers are better than buyers.
Repeat clients are better than one-time clients.
Does this mean lawyers should only practice in areas where clients make a custom of hiring again and again? Should we choose business law, for example, with lots of repeat business, over consumer bankruptcy where the client might hire us once in a lifetime?
Not necessarily.
Someone who “buys” from you once and never again is potentially just as valuable as someone who hires you frequently. They should be courted and nurtured. We should build relationships with one-time clients, even if they never hire us again.
The lifetime value of a client is only partially measured by the fees they pay us. There are many other ways they can deliver value and help our practice grow. They can provide
- Referrals
- Website traffic
- Recommendations and positive reviews
- Introductions to other professionals, meeting holders, editors, bloggers, etc.
- Invitations to networking events
- Feedback about our services (so we can make improvements)
- Information about our target market or community
- Likes, re-tweets, and sharing of our content
- Forwarding our emails to others in our target market
They can send us business, help us build our list, and otherwise help us bring in more business. In fact, what a client does for us outside of paying fees could easily be worth far more than the fees they pay. In terms of referrals alone, some clients who never hire you again could be worth many times the fees generated from clients who hire you again and again.
In fact, someone who never hires you could be worth far more to you than someone who hires you repeatedly.
The lesson? Treat everyone as though they are your biggest client. Provide extras. Help them every way you can. And stay in touch with them, before, during, and after the engagement or case.
You never know what someone can do to help you.
The Referral Blitz is one way to get clients and contacts to help you build your practice. Click here for details.
