Word of mouth referrals: How to get your clients talking about you

October 19, 2015 by
Share

How do you get your clients talking about you? The answer is simple. Give them something to talk about.

Most of the positive word of mouth you will receive about you and your services will come from providing your clients with a great client experience. I’m not just talking about the work you do. I’m talking about the way you make your clients feel.

Appreciated. Hopeful. Protected.

The same goes for your prospects and business contacts. They talk about you, too. Their referrals count.

Make people feel so good about themselves and their decision to hire you or associate with you that they feel compelled to tell someone about you.

But don’t stop there.

Make it easy for them to talk about you and send you referrals. Equip them to do a good job of spreading the gospel.

Tell them what to say. Give them “sound bites” they can use to describe you and what you do–the problems you solve, your ideal clients, why you are the best lawyer for the job.

Give them tools they can use to show people why you’re the one to choose:

  • A great website, with lots of helpful content
  • Reports and ebooks and videos they can hand out or share online.
  • Emails they can forward; social media posts they can like and share.
  • A stack of your business cards to hand out when they meet someone who might need your help.

Then, when someone does send you referrals or traffic or mentions you on social, say thank you. send them a thank you note, and if appropriate, thank them publicly, too. Showing appreciation for what they do is the best way to show them you appreciate them, and the best way to get them to do again.

What else?

Ask for referrals. This can be as simple as saying, “Here are some of my cards. When you talk to someone who needs X, please give them a card.” It can be as simple as asking them share your post, forward your email, or allow them to invite people they know to your free webinar.

Finally, stay in touch with them. Let them know when you add something to your website. Share other people’s content you find online. Update them about your interesting new case or client.

Keep your name in front of them, reminding them that you still exist and you’re still helping people solve legal problems.

Getting word of mouth referrals is really that simple. Can you do more? Yes. But if do these things, you probably won’t have to.

Here’s everything you need to get referrals from lawyers and other professionals

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Referrals

Are you too good at your job?

October 16, 2015 by
Share

Your clients want you to solve their problems. The quicker you can do that, the better, right?

Maybe not.

If you’re too good at your work, if you finish too quickly and display an apparent lack of effort, your clients may not appreciate your superior ability and may object to the amount you charge.

Psychologist Dan Ariely tells a story about a locksmith who told him that as he got better at his job, his customers didn’t value what he was able to do.

“He was tipped better when he was an apprentice and it took him longer to pick a lock,” he said. “Now that it takes him only a moment, his customers complain that he is overcharging and they don’t tip him.”

“What this reveals is that consumers don’t value goods and services solely by their utility, benefit from the service, but also a sense of fairness relating to how much effort was exerted,” Ariely explains.

So what should you do if you’re too good at your job?

Perform some magic. A little slight of hand.

Don’t let clients know that you did the work without breaking a sweat. If you can prepare a document in 30 minutes, because you have the forms and because you’ve done it 100 times before, consider holding onto it for a few days before sending it to the client. Let them think that you worked and re-worked the document to get it just right.

Caveat number one: Don’t lie. It’s okay if they think you took three days to do it, but don’t tell them you did. Also, if you bill by the hour, obviously you shouldn’t bill for more time than you actually took. (Yet another argument in favor of jettisoning the billable hour.)

Caveat number two: Don’t overdo it. Many clients do see a benefit to your ability to get the work done quickly. In fact, quick turnaround might be a marketing point of differentiation for you. So don’t drag things out.

The best course of action is to manage your clients’ expectations. Under-promise so you can over-deliver. If you can do it in 30 minutes, promise to deliver it in a week. Then, deliver it in three or four days.

Marketing legal services is easier when you have a plan

Share
Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Image, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship

Stop trying to make everyone like you

October 15, 2015 by
Share

Believe it or not, some people don’t like me. Okay, maybe it’s not me they don’t like, they don’t like my writing.

They think my ideas “aren’t for them”. My writing style makes them uncomfortable. They don’t think I understand them or can help them.

You know what? I don’t care.

For one thing, I never hear from them. They quietly leave my email list or stop visiting my blog. They’re gone, like a fart in the wind, and will probably never return.

The other reason I don’t care is that they aren’t my target market. I don’t write to them, or for them. If they don’t “grok” me, they probably don’t trust me and my ideas and thus they aren’t going to hire me or recommend me.

If I cared about what they thought and tried to appeal to them, I would have to water down my style or homogenize my ideas. If I did that, I would be doing a disservice to the ones who do like me: my prospects and clients.

So, I ignore them and continue to do my thang. And the more I do that, the more I attract people who like what I say because they know I’m talking to them.

One of the reasons I pound on the idea of targeting niche markets instead of marketing to “everyone” is that it allows you to connect with the people in that niche on a deeper level. By your examples and stories and yes, even your style of writing, they think, “he gets me”. That synergy leads to more clients, more referrals, and more positive word of mouth.

That doesn’t happen when you try to please everyone.

Seth Godin put it this way recently:

When we hold back and dumb down, we are hurting the people who need to hear from us, often in a vain attempt to satisfy a few people who might never choose to actually listen.

It’s quite okay to say, “it’s not for you.”

Write to the people who get you. Ignore the ones who don’t.

Marketing is easier when you know The Formula

Share
Filed Under: Client loyalty, Communication, Marketing legal services, Presentations, Public Speaking, Referrals, Writing

Don’t say thank you unless you mean it

October 14, 2015 by
Share

I’m on an email list. The owner of the list is a successful entrepreneur who offers his own products and other products for which he is a commissioned affiliate.

Nothing wrong with that. But like many marketers, the only emails he sends me are sales pitches. Buy this, watch this video (and then buy this), last chance to buy this, and so on.

Again, nothing wrong with sales pitches. Sales make the world go round. The problem is that he never sends me anything else.

No information I could use in my business. No valuable content. No ideas. Not even anything interesting to read that might make a pleasant diversion.

Just pitches.

As a result, he’s always just a hair away from losing my subscription.

If he sent educational information in addition to the pitches, he would sell more products, and not just because more people would stay on his list.

More people would read his emails, and look forward to them, because they know they’re going to read something valuable or interesting. Now, I’m guessing that most people delete most of his emails, as I do.

More people would also trust his recommendations because he wouldn’t simply be the deliverer of advertising material, he would be a mentor or adviser.

Why don’t I leave his list? Because occasionally he recommends something that catches my eye and I do go and look at it. That may change, however, the next time I do an email subscription purge, or I’m in a bad mood.

One more thing. At the end of every email, before his signature, he closes by saying, “As always, thanks for supporting our site!”

Ugh.

What’s wrong with that? Isn’t he just being polite?

Well, when you say thank you to everyone every time you write to them, it makes “thank you” meaningless. It’s a throwaway line, a marketing gimmick, not a sincere expression of gratitude.

Say thanks when I buy something. Say thanks when I pay you a compliment or do something for you. Say thanks when you appreciate something I’ve done, and show me that you mean it.

Here’s another thing he doesn’t get. If I buy something from him, I am not doing it to support his site. I’m doing it because I see value in what’s being offered. Nothing more, nothing less. Like any consumer, I do what’s best for me and mine. I care about us, not you.

But here’s where it gets interesting.

If he was sending me valuable content instead of nothing but pitches, I would be grateful to him for that. If I was also interested in the product being offered, I would probably buy it from him instead of anyone else. (I’m on a lot of lists in this niche). I would “support” him because I appreciated the benefits I was getting from his content.

It works the same way for marketing legal services.

When you offer the same services as other lawyers, more clients will choose you if you give them value, not just sales pitches.

How to bring in more client via email: Click here

Share
Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing

The one thing you need to do to build a successful law practice

October 7, 2015 by
Share

Do you remember the Billy Crystal movie, “City Slickers”? There is a scene where Jack Palance’s character, Curly, is about to tell Mitch (Crystal) the secret to life? “There’s just ONE thing,” Curly says, holding up one finger. All eyes are fixed on Palance. What will he say? What is the “one thing”?

Curly never does answer. When I saw the scene, I thought he would say, “That’s what you have to figure out”. That’s your quest. Figure out the one thing and everything else will take care of itself.

I don’t know if that’s what he meant, but it makes me wonder, is there “one thing” for building a successful law practice? One thing that can take a lawyer from where they are to where they want to be?

Yes there is. For most lawyers in private practice, the one thing that would make all the difference is getting more clients.

Getting better clients is important, of course, and should be on every lawyer’s to-do list. But for both short term and long term success, getting more clients is the one thing that changes everything.

More clients means more money. More money allows you to improve your lifestyle. More money means you are able to help more people and leave the world a better place.

Yes or yes?

Okay, so more clients is the main ingredient. With a side dish of better clients. The next question, of course, is what’s the one thing about getting more clients?

You know the answer to that, amigo. It’s marketing. That’s how we get clients, after all.

But marketing is big and scary. There are too many variables. I don’t know what to do. Tell me, is there “one thing” about marketing?

Hold on, now, you want me to sort through everything there is to know about marketing professional services and tell you the “one thing”?

Okay, I will.

It’s referrals. Get referrals right and you may not have to do much of anything else.

Referrals have always been the number one way clients find attorneys and it still is today. The Internet is important, vital even for many types of practice, but it’s number two on the list.

Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. To build a successful law practice, referrals are king. But. . . but. . . what’s the “one thing” about getting referrals?

You ask a lot of questions, Chachi. No worries. That’s what I’m here for.

Anyway, whether it’s referrals from clients, other professionals, or anyone else, the one thing, the Holy Grail about getting referrals is. . . delivering value.

Not just doing good work and treating people with respect. That’s expected. That’s the standard of care. Every lawyer should do that, and most lawyers do. No, if you want to get more referrals and stand out from the crowd, you have to do what most lawyers don’t do.

You have to do more than do your job.

The lawyers who get the most referrals are the lawyers who do things for their clients and contacts that transcend their work and their professional relationships. They help them, unselfishly, without being asked and without expecting anything in return.

Yes, the golden rule.

There, I said it. Call me a sentimental fool, but there you go. Help others, give to others, treat others the way you would like to be treated.

What’s the “one thing” when it comes to the golden rule?

That’s what you have to figure out.

Share
Filed Under: Client relations, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Referrals, success

Put away your shotgun and get out your rifle

October 6, 2015 by
Share

I found a book yesterday which purported to be about marketing for attorneys. I didn’t buy it.

I didn’t buy it because the author isn’t an attorney, nor is she a marketing expert, for attorneys or anyone else. According to her bio, she’s a freelance writer. Nothing against freelance writers, but given the choice, attorneys prefer to learn from an attorney who built a successful practice, a marketing consultant for attorneys, or ideally, from someone who is both.

Someone like me, for example.

Because of my background and experience, attorneys prefer to buy my books and courses instead of those written by people with generalized marketing experience, or no marketing experience. They’ll pay more, too, because I’m worth more. At least to them.

We speak the same language. We understand each other. You don’t have to explain your situation, I’ve know it, either because I’ve lived it or because I’ve helped others in that situation.

By contrast, the aforesaid writer doesn’t have that connection. In her book description, she reveals that failing when she says, “. . . in your attorney business,” instead of in your firm or practice.

Nuff said.

This is why I preach to you about niche marketing. Your task in marketing your services is to show prospective clients, and the people who can refer them, that you are the best lawyer for the job. The simplest way to do that is to show them that you are the closest match to what they need and want, by virtue of your experience in helping other clients like them.

If a real estate investor is looking for an estate planning attorney and learns that you do estate planning exclusively and represent hundreds of real estate investors, he is more likely to choose you instead of another lawyer, and more likely to pay your well-deserved higher fee.

The key to attracting high-value clients is focus. Stop trying to be all things to all people. Put away your marketing shotgun and get out your marketing rifle.

How to get focused and attract your ideal clients

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Lawyer to lawyer referrals: don’t ignore this potential gold mine

October 2, 2015 by
Share

How many lawyers do you know in another state? Probably not many. That means there are a lot of attorneys in other states who also don’t know you and if they don’t know you, they probably won’t send you referrals.

What if there was an easy way to change that?

In the Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals, I said that the simplest way to get more referrals from other lawyers is to get to know more lawyers. Yes, you want to know more lawyers in your local area, but there’s a very good reason for getting to know lawyers in other states: no competition.

If you are in Pittsburgh, PA, an attorney in San Diego, CA might not have a lot of referrals for you, but if you’re the only lawyer he knows in Pittsburgh in your practice area, when he does have a referral, you’ll be the only one on his list.

Me entiendo?

Imagine having an email list of lawyers in other parts of the country, or in other countries, who know who you are and what you do? They hear from you occasionally, getting updates about your interesting new client, your big settlement, or your latest article or blog post. Your name and contact information is continually in front of them.

Of course you also ask them to keep you informed about their practice, because you might have a referral for them, or know someone who does.

Many of your contacts will never pan out, but some will. If there are 100 lawyers on your list, you’re going to get some business.

In fact, make that a goal. 100 lawyers on your list in the next 60 days. (You could do this in two days if you wanted to.)

Lawyers are easy to find. They have websites, they are on social media, they advertise. Find lawyers who represent the kinds of clients you target, contact them and introduce yourself.

You can call first, or email. Calling is better; email is faster.

Tell them you saw their website or ad or read something they wrote. Pay them a compliment or ask them a question. And then tell them that you’d like to know more about what they do because you don’t know any lawyers in their area and you never know when you might have a referral.

Of course they will ask about you and your practice.

It really is that simple.

For more ways to find and approach attorneys, both locally and in far off places, see Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals.

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Networking, Referral sources, Referrals

Five keys to growing a law practice and increasing cash flow

September 29, 2015 by
Share

You probably know most of what I am about to tell you, but knowing something doesn’t mean you’re doing it or that you can’t do it better. So consider this a helpful reminder to regularly examine these five areas of your practice:

1) Marketing

Marketing is everything you do to get and keep good clients, and it should be your top priority. Examine the marketing activities you now do and see how you can do them better. Look at other strategies you can implement. Look for ways to expand what’s working and minimize or eliminate what’s not.

2) Systems

Every practice should set up and maintain manuals that detail every aspect of work flow and office management. Detailed checklists, forms and templates, and the like, help you do what you do more quickly and efficiently, train new hires and temps, reduce mistakes, save money, and increase profits.

3) Personal Development

Everyone associated with the practice needs to continually re-fresh and improve their professional and personal skills. These include staying current on law and procedure, learning how to use technology, and improving their writing, speaking, salesmanship, marketing, and productivity skills and habits.

4) Human Resources

Hiring and outsourcing are an important part of improving profitability. You need to regularly review who’s working for you, what they’re doing, what else you can assign them, training, scheduling, and incentives. You should also consider when to hire additional staff or replace the ones who aren’t doing a good job.

5) Infrastructure/expense management

Every dollar saved is a dollar earned. This category includes offices, leases, service contracts, technology, library, supplies, repairs, insurance, etc. Can you get it for less elsewhere or by buying in bulk? Can you negotiate? Can you eliminate it? Also look for ways to make the work environment safer, more compliant, and more pleasant for staff and clients.

Of these five categories, most lawyers should focus 70-80% of their time and resources on marketing. When you bring in more clients, bigger cases, or higher fees, the rest of the things on this list will be relatively easy. When you don’t, the rest don’t matter.

Marketing plan for growing a law practice: Go here

Share
Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

What kids can teach you about marketing legal services

September 28, 2015 by
Share

If you have kids you know that they are like a Terminator when it comes to asking questions. They never stop. They have an innate and insatiable curiosity about the world and their place in it and asking questions is how they make sense of it all.

Of course you also know that their favorite question is “why?”

When you tell them to eat their peas, they ask why. “Because I said so” isn’t a very good answer.

And yet “because I said so” will get many kids to comply. It is a reason, after all, even if it carries an innate threat of punishment for failure to do so.

On the other hand, if you give them a good reason to do what you ask, you should find it easier to get them to comply.

Well guess what? It works the same way with your clients, prospective clients, friends and followers on social media, and everyone else in your life. You want someone to hire you? Tell them why. You want them to click and read your post or register for your event? Tell them why. You want them send you referrals, tell them why?

What’s in it for them? What will they get out of it? What will happen if they don’t?

I got a text this morning from one of my business partners. There’s a conference call at 10 am and he would like me to listen to it. He told me what to do, but he didn’t tell me why.

What I will learn? What’s the subject matter? Who is the speaker? What will I get out of the call?

Many people will do what you ask out of habit or allegiance to you, out of curiosity, or because you said so. But more people will do it if you tell them why.

Studies have shown that the reason doesn’t have to be particularly strong. Offering any reason will increase response. “It’s Monday and we have a call at 10 am” isn’t a very good reason but it’s enough to get some people to dial in who otherwise might not.

But if you ask me, and you do, offering better and more compelling reasons will get more people to sign on and do what you ask.

In fact, the degree of your success in marketing legal services is a direct function of the persuasiveness of your message.

No reason? Some will comply. Lame reason? More will do so. Great reason? Home run. Multiple reasons with valuable benefits and invoking a fear of loss if they don’t? Grand slam.

You can’t threaten to send clients to their room if they don’t hire you or send you referrals. You need to tell them why.

Get this and you will get more clients and increase your income

Share
Filed Under: Client loyalty, Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Writing

Do you have five minutes? Great, then you can market your law practice

September 25, 2015 by
Share

Like a broken record, I promote the idea that you can market your law practice in only 15 minutes a day. You repeatedly hear me say, “Put 15 minutes on your calendar and make it an appointment with yourself.”

But I know that many lawyers don’t do it.

Is that you? If 15 minutes a day is too much, how about 5 minutes?

The beauty of five-minute marketing is that it can be done on the spur of the moment. You don’t have to schedule anything. When you’re waiting for your next client, when you’re eating lunch, when you’re driving, you can make calls, dictate emails, or brainstorm ideas.

You can even write the first draft of a blog post or article. Yes, in five minutes.

The trick to writing an article in five minutes is to separate the idea-getting from the writing. Set up a notebook dedicated to ideas for articles or posts. When you have five minutes, add a few bullet points, examples, or sub-topics to each idea.

When you have another five minutes, you’ll be ready to crank out the first draft of an article.

Assuming you’re writing about something you know, with notes in hand, in five minutes you should be able to write 200 to 400 words. More if you dictate them.

Whether you type or dictate, the trick is to write for five minutes without stopping to edit or even to think. Remember, you know this subject and you know what you want to say about it. That’s enough for a first draft.

That draft will be rough and better for it because it will sound conversational. At least it should.

Put the first draft aside and come back to it when you have another five minutes. Re-write, add links or cites or quotes, edit and polish.

As proof, I wrote the first draft of the foregoing in about five minutes. I’m taking another ten minutes or so to make it pretty for you.

Whether it’s writing articles or emails, calling former clients to say hello, or calling other lawyers to talk about how you might work together for your mutual marketing benefit, you can do a lot in five minutes.

If you’re not willing to commit 15 minutes a day to marketing, make a list of things you can do in five minutes and keep it handy. If you are willing to commit 15 minutes a day to marketing, during those 15 minutes you can do three of them.

How to talk to lawyers about referrals

Share
Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing legal services, Productivity, Time Management, Writing
« Previous Page
Next Page »