You may not be the best writer or speaker. Your trial skills may not win any awards (or big verdicts). You might be just okay at managing your team or your money. But you can be amazingly successful in your practice if you master this skill.

Actually, it is a set of skills, usually referred to as “client relations”. Which encompasses a lot of things, big and small, but boils down to the ability to make people like you.

Think about it, a prospective client comes to see you. They have a problem. They’re nervous about their case and nervous about you. Can you help them? Are you honest? Will you charge a reasonable fee? Will you be nice and friendly or mean and scary?

All these doubts and fears swirling in their head, making them even more nervous as they open up and tell you about their situation.

Within minutes, they feel better. Relieved. Encouraged. They like you. And trust you. And feel confident that you can help them.

And they hire you on the spot.

Or they don’t. Because you don’t have this skill. In which case, all of your core legal skills, experience, and reputation don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

Once the client hires you, they see that you are attentive and work hard to serve them. They see that you appreciate them. They come back to you. And tell others about you.

Or they don’t. Because you didn’t continue to earn their trust or make them feel appreciated.

We’re in the people business and client relations is a set of skills that can make or break your practice. Like any skills, they can be learned.

You can learn how to make people like and trust you. You can learn how to inspire loyalty. And if you’re already good at these things, you can learn to get better.

And you should. Because if you want to build a successful practice, no other skills are as valuable.

Learn how to make people like and trust you

Marketing has been defined as “everything you do to get and keep good clients”. Or something like that. They operative word is “everything”.

Everything you say, everything you do, but also everything you don’t say or do.

When you speak to a client on the phone, even if all you’re doing is talking about their case, that’s marketing because when the call is done, you will leave them with an impression of you. That impression will either be favorable or unfavorable. It either increases trust and likeability or it does not.

If that impression is neutral–no change from their previous impression–it has to be considered negative because it was a missed opportunity to enhance their previous impression.

I’m not suggesting that you manically parse every word and overthink every deed. But it does make sense to think about what you say and how you say it.

One way to get better at building trust and likeability in your client conversations is to use a checklist or script. They will help you to remember what to say and give you the ability to polish your delivery.

Examples? How about a checklist for answering FAQs, especially with new clients? No doubt your clients will be impressed with the clarity and completeness of your answers.

How about a checklist for small talk–asking about family or work? Each time you use it with a client, take notes and put them in their file so you will remember to ask follow-up questions the next time you speak.

You might consider a script for delivering bad news, convincing the client to “take the offer,” or explaining “what happens next”.

Much of the value of these documents comes from the process of creating them. Writing them forces you to think about what’s important to your clients, what you want them to know, and how you want to be perceived.

To get started, over the next week or so, write some notes to yourself after each conversation. What did you do well? What could you improve? What did you leave out?

Remember, to your clients, you are more than the sum of your legal knowledge and abilities. You are the person who makes them feel more confident about their future.

Marketing legal services starts with a plan

We’ve all had them. Clients who blame you for things that aren’t your fault. They make a fuss over silly stuff and ignore all the good you do for them. They’re usually not bad enough to tell them to take a walk, they’re just incredibly annoying.

I was thinking about this while browsing through the app store this morning. I was looking at the reviews for an app I had purchased and love, smiling at all the five-star reviews, reading comments from users pointing out their favorite features and use cases. “This has changed my life,” “Worth every penny,” “Best app on my phone.”

A bit of mindless distraction while I waited for the coffee to kick in.

And then I saw a two-star review. The reviewer complained about a feature that didn’t work for him. He said the app was, “not ready for prime time”.

Tens of thousands of people have no problem with that feature. Hundreds of five-star reviews. But no, he’s right and everyone else is wrong.

Did he stop to think that maybe he was doing something wrong? Did he contact support and ask for help?

Nah, Mr. “I’m right” didn’t do that. He just posted his “review”.

What’s up with people? Why do they never consider that THEY are the problem?

I don’t know. I just know that people like this exist and they buy apps and hire lawyers.

What do you do about clients who are like this? Usually, you grin and bear it. Business is business and paying clients get the benefit of the doubt, even when they’re clearly a doofus. If they get bad enough, you ask them to find another lawyer; otherwise, you deal with it.

Or you do like I often did: turn them over to an employee who is “nicer” than you and let them deal with them.

It’s good to be King.