Yesterday I spoke with a trial lawyer about a business idea he was contemplating. He wanted to know my thoughts about it. During our conversation, I had to chuckle when he said he didn’t know if he would be good at it because he wasn’t a sales person.
“After 20 years of trial work,†I said, “I’m pretty sure there are a few judges and jurors who disagree with that assessment.â€
Let’s face it, lawyers sell. We sell our clients’ claims to judges and juries, and to opposing counsel and insurance adjusters. When we negotiate a contract, we’re selling. When we do a presentation, we’re selling the audience on booking an appointment. When we meet with prospective clients, we’re selling them on hiring us.
Lawyers sell. Every day, and twice on Wednesdays. But that doesn’t mean we’re sales people.
We don’t cold call, we don’t go door to door, and we don’t make appointments and sit at someone’s kitchen table (usually). But we do qualify prospective clients, show them how we can help them, overcome their objections, and close. We may not be good at it but we do it.
We sell. Get over it. Make a full confession. Once you do, you can learn how to get better at it.
You do want to get better, don’t you? If you currently close 7 out of 10 prospective clients, wouldn’t you want to close 8?
The mechanics of selling aren’t difficult to learn. And with practice, you can get better. What’s difficult is overcoming your fear, but you can learn how to do that, too.
It starts by admitting to yourself that you sell legal services. Even if you’re not a sales person.
Let your website do most of the (pre-)selling for you. Here’s how
