Thinking like a lawyer may be costing you money

August 16, 2017 by
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On my walk today I saw a car parked in front of a neighbor’s house. On the car door was a magnetic sign advertising, “Pam’s house sitting and pet sitting” business. Attached to the sign was a plastic business card holder which was filled with her cards.

Many lawyers who saw this wouldn’t give it a second thought. They’re busy thinking about their cases and clients and all the work they need to do. Or they would think about whether Pam is bonded and insured. Does she have employees and are they also insured? Does she supervise them? Did the owner of the house put the jewelry in a safe deposit box before they went out of town?

You know, lawyer stuff.

Enlightened lawyers would look at that sign and think about marketing.

No, I’m not suggesting a lawyer put a magnetic sign on their car. But if you’ve trained yourself to think like a business owner as well as a lawyer, seeing that sign might prompt you to start asking yourself about other ways Pam might be building her business.

Does she rely solely on that sign and word of mouth or does she do other kinds of marketing? Does she have a website? Is she listed in business directories? Does she advertise in our community newsletter? Does she distribute flyers?

Does she network with other business owners who might have customers or clients who need her pet sitting services–pet stores, vets, dog groomers, and kennels for example? For house sitting, does she network with real estate agents and travel agents?

Does she have a mailing list? How much repeat business does she get? How about referrals?

Does she know other house and pet sitters and do they cover for each other when one is overbooked? Has she considered expanding her services to include dog walking or pet food delivery?

This is how a business person thinks. Lawyers need to think this way, too because a law practice is also a business.

Ideas are everywhere. You just have to look for them. You might not be able to use many of the ideas you see (like car signs) but ideas you can’t use often lead to ideas you can use.

You know you want them. Here’s how to get more referrals

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

Following up with leads

August 10, 2017 by
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My wife visited a real estate website and filled out a form to get some information. As you might expect, an agent called and left a message, offering information, encouraging my wife to call, yada yada. She did the same thing via text.

My wife didn’t respond, so naturally, the calls and texts continued.

A month later, they’re still coming.

My wife thought she would be nice and put the agent out of her misery. She called and politely told her that our plans had changed and we weren’t interested in getting more information.

The agent’s messages had been cheerful and positive. When my wife told her our plans had changed, the agent’s demeanor did a 180. She wasn’t rude or dismissive. More like defeated and unhappy.

When my wife told me the story, she said she would never want to work with an agent who is that moody.

What agent of any experience doesn’t know that leads are a numbers game and that most don’t turn into sales? What agent lets people who say “not interested” (which should be interpreted as “not now”) hear their disappointment?

What a missed opportunity.

A “no” today might be a “yes” tomorrow. Or a referral. Sadly, my wife and others we may assume, won’t contact Miss unhappy pants if and when things change.

Of course, this never happens to most lawyers. That’s because most lawyers don’t follow-up with inquiries and leads, even with people they’ve spoken to. They don’t follow-up at all.

And that’s even worse.

When someone contacts you to ask questions or get information, don’t give up on them if they don’t take the next step. Stay in touch, offer more information, and continue to let them know how you can help.

Should you call or text? Maybe once or twice in the beginning. Have your staff do it. After that, use email and snail mail.

They were interested once. They may be interested again. Follow-up until they buy or die. Or tell you to stop. And no matter what, never let them see you sweat.

They may never buy but they can send you referrals

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Priorities for marketing a law practice

August 4, 2017 by
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Marketing to clients is easier and more profitable than marketing to prospective clients.

It’s easier to get someone who has hired you once to hire you again. It’s easier to get existing clients to buy your more comprehensive and expensive services. It’s easier to get clients to give you referrals.

It’s also easier get clients to promote your events, share your content, provide testimonials and positive reviews, mention you on social, and send traffic to your website.

Clients are easier to “sell” to because they already know, like, and trust you. They are more profitable because you’ve already paid the marketing costs (money, time) to acquire them.

Even if a client has already “purchased” your most expensive (or only) service, they are potentially worth more to you than someone who has never hired you.

Marketing to prospective clients is important, of course. You need to keep the funnel full. But if you want to earn more and grow your practice faster, you should make marketing to clients your number one priority.

You should also do whatever you can to get prospects into the client column. Get them to hire you for something. It doesn’t matter what. You want them in your office, signing papers, handing over a few dollars, seeing you in action.

One way to do this is to offer them an entry level service. Something small and inexpensive. Something that doesn’t require a big commitment.

If you don’t have an entry level service, create one. Break up one of your services into smaller pieces. One document, one hour, one small bundle. Or offer a free consultation, a free document review, or a free second opinion.

Just get them in the door so you can call them a client and start turning them into a lifetime client, a fan, and a referral source.

Marketing is simple when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Forget pretty. Forget brilliant. Just fart out some words.

August 2, 2017 by
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When was the last time you sent an email to your list? No, not to a client about a specific case, I mean an email you send to all clients and former clients and prospective clients, staying in touch, sharing information, reminding them that you’re still in business.

Yeah, like a newsletter.

Too much time? Look, if you can’t invest 30 minutes a week for marketing, I can’t help you.

Too much effort? Me thinks not. You write every day. A little more writing won’t kill you.

Nah, there are only two reasons why you’re not doing this. The first is that you’re not sure it will be worth it. Will you really get more business? (Don’t tell me you’re practice is different. It’s not.) Anyway, the only way to resolve this debate is to try it.

What if it does work? What if you’re able to bring in several new clients each month just from writing emails once a week?

The other reason why you don’t commit to writing a newsletter is that you’re scared. What if you inadvertently say something that offends someone? What if your clients say you’re emailing too often? What if you make a sincere effort and it doesn’t work?

Get over it.

Seriously. You owe it to yourself to start or restart a simple email “newsletter” to stay in touch with the people who pay your bills and can send you referrals. You owe it to yourself to see how effective this is for building your practice.

Look, marketing doesn’t get any simpler than this. Once a week you email a few paragraphs to people you know. You share some information, a story, a resource, or anything else that strikes your fancy, and you don’t worry about making it perfect.

If it helps, don’t call it a newsletter. It’s just an email.

Yes, I know I talk about this a lot. Nag, nag, nag. I’m your annoying little brother, right? But you know why I do it, don’t you? And deep down, you know I’m right.

Learn how to start your newsletter 

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters

Don’t just tell me about your legal services, tell me what problems you solve

July 31, 2017 by
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People contact you and ask about your services. Or they find your website and have a look around. Some of those people are looking for X service because they believe that X is what they need. Other people don’t know what they need, they just know they have a legal problem.

If you’re smart (and you are), you’ll tell people about both the solutions (services) you offer and the problems you solve.

You have a “Services” or “Practice Areas” page on your website, right? If you don’t, uh, hello, McFly? If someone finds your website by searching for X, you want to show them that you do X, right?

Okay.

You should also have a “Problems We Solve” or a “How We Can Help You” page that describes the problems you solve, prevent, or mitigate, or the objectives you help clients attain.

Your “Problems” summary page should then link to pages where you present text and video content about those problems and the solutions you offer. You can then link to your specific “Services” pages(s).

Make sense? Sure. It also makes dollars.

Learn more about creating a website that sells

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Online Marketing

Mark the date, you’re invited!

July 28, 2017 by
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An attorney friend sent me this email:

“Have you heard? The sci-fi classic film, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” is being re-released on September 1st, on its 40th anniversary. It’s Spielberg’s “director’s cut” and has been remastered in 4k. I can’t wait to go and I want to invite you to join me as my guest.

I’m sending this email to my entire list. The first 25 who RSVP will get a free ticket for themselves and a plus-one. After the movie, I’ll buy you a burger.

Why am I doing this? Why not!? It will be fun!

Bring some business cards and I’ll introduce you around.

I need to hear from you before August 15th, so don’t wait. Hit reply to this email and let me know.”

Wow, what a great marketing idea. For less than $20 a head, he gets to reward some of his clients and/or referral sources, and create a buzz among everyone on his list. Whether they go or not, everyone who hears about this will tell people about the attorney who invited his clients to the movies.

Good will. Word of mouth. Repeat business. Referrals. And fun!

I salute the attorney for coming up with this idea.

One more thing. I AM that attorney. I didn’t get that email, I made it up. But now, you can send this email (or one like it) to your list. (I hope I’m on that list.)

Lawyers are complicated. Referrals are simple.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

We’ve got trouble. Right here in River City

July 25, 2017 by
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According to the Wall Steet Journal, there’s a lot less suing going on these days. “Fewer than two in 1,000 people. . . filed tort lawsuits in 2015,” down significantly from 20 years ago.

Why? You know the drill: higher costs, caps on damages, changing jury sentiment against “frivolous” claims, carriers taking a hard line, and the list goes on.

Alternative legal services (paralegals, mediation document prep services, legal plans, etc.) and self-help measures are also thinning the herd. The latest? You can now use a chatbot to get answers to a variety of legal questions and help (advice, sample letters) in fighting parking tickets.

On top of this, more firms offer “low cost” legal services, educating the public to not pay “retail”.

Should we panic? Yes. If panicking is what you need to do to wake up and smell the coffee. Otherwise, no. There may be less business overall, but there is (and always will be) more than enough for you.

But you may need to make some changes. It’s not your father’s profession anymore.

  • Consider changing practice areas. If you handle tort litigation, consider refocusing on business litigation. Or at least adding this to your menu of services. Also consider “emerging” practice areas like “Drone Law”. (I mentioned this the other day, not realizing it’s not “coming” it’s already here, according to the email I got later in the day offering a CLE class on the subject.)
  • Don’t expand your practice areas in order to compete with multi-practice-area firms, in fact, don’t compete at all. Specialize. Be the best you can be in fewer practice areas. Clients prefer specialists, remember?
  • Target the high end of the market and charge higher fees to clients who are willing and able to pay them. Of course you’ll also need to up your game and offer more value and premium services.
  • Target niche markets and dominate them. Become the best known and most highly regarded lawyer or firm in smaller markets. Leverage word of mouth and “influencer” marketing and take the lion’s share of the business.
  • Make marketing an even bigger priority. Pick a handful of strategies and get good at them.

On the latter point, you’re in luck. Many lawyers still don’t get it. Some don’t believe they need to do any marketing at all. You should find them easy to beat. But don’t get complacent. There’s a new crop of young attorneys coming up who do understand the need for and power of marketing, and they’re eager to take business from you.

But don’t get complacent. There’s a new crop of young attorneys coming up who do understand the need for marketing and they’re eager to take business from you.

So basically, do what you should have been doing all along. Narrow your focus, develop your skills, offer more value, and hustle.

There’s plenty of work out there. Go get it.

Good marketing comes down to getting good at the fundamentals

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Filed Under: Legal industry, Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

Why you might want to take your grandma to lunch

July 21, 2017 by
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Let’s rap about this niche market thing I’m always talking about.

Suppose you’ve looked at a niche market but rejected it because it looks like it’s not lucrative. Let’s use the “senior” market as an example.

Most people consider the senior market to be “price sensitive,” given the preponderance of fixed incomes in that market. If you want to find the best deals on dinner, go where the seniors go. If you want to charge premium fees for your services, seniors aren’t the first demo you think of.

You might want to think again.

Not all seniors live on a fixed income. Many have investments and real property, some have retired from running businesses but still draw an income, some are still running their business, and some are quite wealthy.

These folks may identify as seniors but lack of money isn’t an issue.

Okay, what about a lack of need? Most seniors aren’t as active as they once were, most have already taken care of their estate planning needs, and many have long standing relationships with attorneys and don’t really need you.

Many, but not all.

What if you could identify well-off seniors with unmet legal needs? A niche market within a niche market.

You could own that market.

Seniors get divorced. They get into car accidents. They even commit crimes.

They have tax issues, real estate issues, investment issues, business issues. And more than a few have not yet taken care of their estate planning needs because, you know, 70 is the new 50.

And even if they don’t need you. . .they know a lot of people. They have a lifetime of contacts: family, former co-workers and employees, professionals they have hired, and centers of influence in your niche market and community.

They can send you referrals and they can introduce you to prospective clients and referral sources.

In other words, even if they don’t hire you, their contacts can be very profitable for you.

I’m not trying to get you to choose the (wealthy) senior market as a niche necessarily. I’m simply trying to get you to think outside the box about what makes a viable niche market.

Okay, that’s it for me. I’m off to an early lunch and some networking. I hear Denny’s has a great senior special.

Need help choosing a niche market? Here you go

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

What’s wrong with this picture?

July 20, 2017 by
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Yesterday, my wife and I were speaking about some legal work we had done a few years ago. We had a question, the answer to which might lead to more work for our attorney. Unfortunately, we couldn’t remember his name.

We got lucky and found the old file and my wife called him.

He answered the phone himself. My wife explained the situation and asked the question. She said he didn’t remember us but he was very pleasant and helpful. He answered her question by telling her what we could do to handle our issue that would not entail additional legal work.

Nice.

Now, what’s wrong with this picture? What’s wrong is that we didn’t remember his name.

We didn’t remember because after he did the work for us, we never heard from him again.

Not a card, not an email, nothing.

If we hadn’t found the file, we might have called another attorney.

What if we did need additional legal work? What if we had a referral?

Some other attorney would get the work.

So, for the 298,304th time, do yourself a favor: stay in touch with your clients.

The simplest way to stay in touch is an email newsletter

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Filed Under: Client relations, Marketing legal services

Tell ’em why if you want ’em to buy

July 17, 2017 by
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Years ago, I read Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, the lead prosecutor in the case against Charles Manson. Bugliosi presented the timeline and documented the evidence in the case in meticulous detail.

But he didn’t just describe the facts and the evidence. He explained why it mattered. He put everything together into a masterfully persuasive account, as though he was again presenting the case to the jury.

I remember thinking, “nobody who reads this would have any doubts about what happened, or the correctness of the verdicts”.

That’s what we expect of a prosecutor doing his job. It’s also what we expect lawyers to do when advising their clients.

When you tell your clients what you recommend, you must tell them why.

It may be obvious to you, but it isn’t necessarily obvious to the client. Even when it is, telling them the facts and arguments you considered helps them to see why they should follow your advice.

I’m sure you do this (most of the time). You’re not like my father who sometimes grew tired of my relentless “why” questions and said, “Because I said so!” (Wait, your dad did that too?)

Anyway, I’m sure you tell clients why they should follow your advice, but do you do that in your marketing?

I’ve seen too many ads, blog posts, articles, videos, emails, presentations, and so on, where the lawyer doesn’t tell people what to do (call, email, fill out a form, etc.), or if they do, they don’t tell them why.

Tell people why they should call, download your report, or subscribe to your newsletter. Tell them why they need a lawyer, why they should choose you, and why they shouldn’t wait.

If you want to get more clients, tell people what to do. And why.

Marketing is easier when you know the formula

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Filed Under: Copywriting, Marketing legal services
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