Our washing machine is failing so we’ve been shopping for a replacement. My wife spent lots of time reading reviews before making her selection. Unfortunately, the one she wants is slightly too big for the space occupied by the current machine. There is a cabinet overhead and the lid of the new machine wouldn’t clear it.
We went to a store to see if there was anything we could do. We talked to a friendly sales person and asked about switching the positions of the washer and dryer, which would solve the problem (our dryer is front loading), and the sales person told us that they do this all the time.
Only they don’t.
According to another sales person at that store, due to legal concerns, their installers won’t move the dryer. We would have to buy a new dryer, which we don’t need. He also pointed out some other issues with respect to the position of the existing hookups.
Was the first sales person telling us what we wanted to hear? Was the second sales person being overly cautious?
We didn’t know so went to another store and asked the same questions.
That sales person told us there should be no problem switching the machines, but he would check with their installers and let us know.
His shirt indicated that he was the head of the department and we wondered why he didn’t already know the answer to this question. In addition, he made absolutely no eye contact with us while he said “no problem.†My wife and I walked away thinking we couldn’t trust him.
Now, do you think prospective clients go through a similar process when they are shopping for a lawyer?
Yes indeed. And if they don’t trust you, they won’t hire you.
If a lawyer doesn’t have a website, many clients will pass them over, even if the lawyer was referred by a friend. In addition, according to one study, 75% of consumers say that not having a professional email address (you@yourdomain.com) is an important trust factor.
I’ve mentioned this before. If you have a generic gmail or hotmail or aol email address, you’re probably losing business.
Prospective clients don’t hire lawyers they don’t trust and if you don’t want to lose business, you need to tick as many “trust†boxes as you can. Start with your online presence, which is what they see first. Your website doesn’t need to look snazzy, but it should look professional, be easy to navigate, and have lots of good content.
And when they come to see you, make sure you make eye contact and tell them the truth, not what you think they want to hear.
The 9 elements of an effective website
