I've been conducting free consultations with attorneys who want to earn more and/or work less. I'm pretty quick at getting to the heart of the matter, but since we have just a few minutes together, I've asked each attorney to answer a few questions before we speak. One of those questions is, "What are your strengths?"
Most of the attorneys say pretty much the same thing. They're good at what they do, they provide good service, and their clients seem to like them.
Good stuff. But is it true?
How do you know you provide good service? How do you know your clients like you? This is your perception, after all, and let's face it, you are just a little biased.
Do you ever ask your clients for feedback, through surveys, questionnaires, or interviews?
Do you ever have a "mystery shopper" sit in your waiting room and watch the way clients are greeted? Does your staff greet them with a smile and make them feel welcome? Are they offered something to drink? How long do they have to wait?
Have you ever listened in on phone conversations between your staff and your clients? Have you ever recorded yourself speaking with clients and listened to the conversation?
No matter how well you're doing you can always do better. But you have to put some energy into it. Start by looking at what your firm does through the eyes of your clients. Take inventory of what you do and how well you do it.
Your clients like you but that's not enough. You want them to love you, to be so enamored with the way you treat them that they are not only willing to refer clients to you, they go out of their way to look for people they can refer.
Commit to making superlative service a fundamental part of your firm's culture. Conduct meetings, trainings and weekend retreats with your staff, focused on improving client relations. Recognize and reward your employees who treat clients right.
If you regularly receive referrals, testimonial letters and thank you notes from your clients, that's good. But don't settle for good when you can be great.
Filed under Client loyalty, Client relations, Law office management by 
I read another thoughtful post by Leo Babauta on the Zen Habits blog about the subject of practice. No, he wasn't writing about a law practice, but I thought his message of "practicing" to effect improvement applied as much to a law practice as to anything else. Plus, I like the play on words.
We are what we repeatedly do. We are the sum of our habits. If we want to change who we are, we have to change what we do.
Change begins with awareness. If you didn't say "thank you" to the new client who just hired you (you'd be surprised at how many attorneys don't), reading this sentence made you aware that you didn't and also aware of how important it is. (Your mother will tell you, it's one of the most important things you can do.) If you usually say thank you, but for some reason didn't do it last time, there is room for improvement. The standard of excellence isn't saying thank you most of the time, but every time.
Now that you are aware, make a decision to change. Then, practice your new habit. With something as simple as saying thank you, you might only need to be reminded. Write it down on your intake sheet, use a post it note, put it on your calendar, whatever you need to do to remember to always say thank you.
Also be aware of what happens when you get it right. Watch your new client's face as you look him in the eye, shake his hand, and sincerely tell him how much you appreciate having him as a client. Tell him you'll take good care of him. Let the handshake linger a few seconds longer. Give him your full attention. Say thank you, and mean it. You'll see some of the tension leave his face as he comes to realize that you really do care.
Your law practice is a collection of habits. What you (and your staff) regularly do and how well you do it defines you, distinguishes you from other lawyers, and plays a big role in determining your success. There are big habits and many small ones and they all matter.
Filed under Client loyalty, Client relations, Image, Marketing legal services, Personal development, success by
In my recent post, "Why don't people trust lawyers and does it really matter?" I concluded that not only doesn't it matter that people don't trust lawyers, it's actually a good thing.
It's good for clients because it makes them more careful when hiring an attorney. They ask more questions. They don't blindly follow. Caveat emptor.
It's good for attorneys because it allows us to stand out from the crowd by showing how we are different, how we can be trusted, and with a little effort, this is not difficult to do.
But not only do people not trust lawyers, they also hate lawyers. Attorney Suzanne Meehle presents ten "bad lawyer" stereotypes that make people hate lawyers.
Ambulance chasers, unethical lawyers, a**holes, incompetents, and so on.
Some of these stereotypes are worse than others. The "24/7 Lawyer," the workaholic on a path to burnout, doesn't belong in the same category as the dishonest lawyer. I don't think people hate lawyers merely because they work too hard. But we all get the point: there are plenty of examples of bad lawyers who give the rest of us a bad name.
I say this is a good thing. Why? Because stereotypes are almost always exaggerated depictions of real life, making it even easier to show people that you're "not like that".
If a lot of people don't like lawyers because they perceive them to be bullies, for example, don't be a bully. If they hate lawyers because they think we are unethical, go out of your way to display words and deeds consistent with the highest ethical standards.
I don't particularly enjoy meeting people who, within the first minutes, feel compelled to tell me they, "don't like lawyers". But that's the way it is and I do enjoy the challenge of winning them over.
In sales, it is said that the best prospects are often the ones who offer the most resistance. These prospects know they are naturally an "easy sale" and so to protect themselves from getting taken advantage of, they put up an outer wall. They may be surly and unpleasant, overly suspicious and overly demanding. The best sales people understand this and when they encounter a prospect who "protests too much," shower them with kindness and patiently wait for them to "drop their shields". The result is often a sale and a lifelong customer and advocate.
Don't try to argue away the stereotypes. Acknowledge them. There are a lot of bad eggs out there and people do have to be careful. With a little common sense, you can easily distance yourself from this crowd and show you are one of the good guys. When you do, you'll find people hiring you, in some cases simply because you're not what they expected.
Filed under Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship by
In his report, "What's Hot and What's Not in the Legal Profession," posted last week, Bob Denney said that one of the trends that was heating up in the marketing and business development area is "client interviews and audits". He said, "More firms are recognizing, however slowly, that the feedback and information obtained from them–particularly when they are conducted by knowledgeable outside consultants–are critical in strategic planning and development of growth strategies."
Asking your clients how you're doing and what you can do better is the best market research you can get, and it's free. Not counting the cost of the outside consultant.
There's no better "intel" than that from someone who actually paid money to hire you.
Using outside professionals to do the surveys is also good advice. A firm that specializes in this kind of research will ask the right questions and they will know how to critically evaluate the answers. And using an outside service instead of doing it yourself will undoubtedly provide more honest feedback.
If you don't want to hire an outside firm, interview your clients anyway. The feedback may not be as accurate but it's better feedback than you're getting right now.
Client interviews can help you learn what you are doing well and what you can do better. They can help you improve client relations and communications. And they can help you discover new marketing opportunities. All you have to do is ask.
Surveys are an easy alternative to interviews. You can post them on your web site, using free sites like www.surveymonkey.com and www.polldaddy.com. By providing anonymity, clients will be more likely to respond honestly. Open-ended questions can lead to some surprising discoveries. Multiple choice questions can help you identify patterns that deserve your attention. If 70% of your clients say you need to communicate with them more often, that's something you cannot ignore.
At the very least, call a client today and ask them how you're doing. You never know what you might learn and what you learn could earn you a fortune.
Filed under Client loyalty, Client relations, Law office management, Legal industry, Marketing legal services by
We often hear that the secret to success in marketing is to "be yourself". But what if you're a jerk?
Can you build a successful law practice if you're not likable? Actually, I think you can. We all know lawyers who clearly haven't read, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" but build successful practices anyway. Their strengths–drive, work ethic, skill set–allow them to overcome their interpersonal shortcomings.
What if the successful jerks of the world weren't jerks–would their success have come any sooner or been any bigger? One could argue that it's better to have people like you and want to be around you, that it's better to be liked than respected. But that's not true of sports coaches or military leaders. They don't want friends, they want to win. In fact, in the sports and military realms, befriending your charges can be a liability.
Speaking for myself, yes, I do want to be respected and I also want to be liked. I feel good when people appreciate not only my work but me as a person. I like to be liked and I think you do, too, and while we may not need to be liked to be successful, for most of us, it does make it easier.
The article, "20 Reasons People Unfollow You on Twitter," provides practical advice for building your social followers, (actually, for not losing your social followers), but also a paradigm for un-likeability in general. If you are an unrelenting self-promoter of your legal services, for example, a common failing of many attorneys in social media and in-person networking, you're chasing people away. They don't like you and they don't have to listen to you–and they don't.
In social media, likability has another meaning: "follow-worthy". People may not like you personally but if you provide good content, they may "Like" you and follow you. Social media metrics don't care if you're nice or not, either your numbers are going up or they aren't and if they aren't, you can do something about it.
I just put, "Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks)." on my reading list, after reading this review. I think I'm a likable guy but hey, who wouldn't want to be "generally amazing on Facebook (& other social networks)"?
Filed under Client loyalty, Image, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing by
When was the last time you called a client just to say hello?
If you're not doing that, you're missing out on a simple but very effective marketing tool. In fact, it's one of the best tools you have.
Calling clients and former clients without the meter running, with no business agenda whatsoever is, ironically, a great way to get new business. Why? In the long term, the stronger your client relationships, the more loyal your clients will be. When they need your services, or know someone who does, odds are you will be the one they call. In the short term, your call reminds them that you still exist, that you still provide the benefits they want, and it prompts them to think about their lives and the lives of the people they know in that context.
When they speak with you your clients will remember a question they've been meaning to ask you but "didn't want to bother you" or didn't want to get a bill. They'll remember their cousin who just got into an accident or someone at work who is having marital issues. They'll think about a friend of theirs whose business is having cash flow problems.
Surveys tell us that clients who could refer often don't merely because they, "just didn't think about it." Your call makes them think about it.
The telephone is your most valuable marketing tool because it allows you to reach out and speak with the most important people in your (professional) life. These are the people who pay your mortgage and put your kids through school and they don't know how much you appreciate them. Show them by calling, just to say hello.
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This morning, I spoke to a coaching client, a successful personal injury attorney, about a recent decline in the number of new clients his firm was signing up. It wasn't a precipitous drop, but enough to bring it to my attention. The economy has hurt attorneys, but clients don't need money to hire someone on a contingency fee, right? Could it be that people are simply driving less?
After some discussion, the question answered itself. The attorney realized that he had gotten away from doing some of the things he had done to build his practice. For one thing, he didn't have as much time to meet with clients personally. He used to do the initial client interviews himself and now has a paralegal do that for him. He knows it is the personal touch that builds relationships (and that those relationships create future business) but he doesn't have ninety minutes to invest in the initial client meeting.
I suggested he continue having the paralegal do the interview but that he come into the room at the end, shake hands, review the file, and say something wise and reassuring. Five minutes instead of ninety.
Isn't that what happens when you see a doctor? The nurse takes your history and then the doctor comes into the room. The doctor sees you for a couple of minutes, writes a prescription, and moves on. You expect this and you are satisfied with this. He or she is still "your" doctor.
It is important to meet clients personally, to let them know they made a good decision in choosing you, and to give them some encouraging words about their case. This has nothing to do with the technical aspects of the case and everything to do with building a relationship with the people who are putting your kids through college.
But this post isn't about the value of building relationships so much as getting back to basics, about doing what worked so well in the past that you stopped doing it.
Football coach Vince Lombardi began every new season with a lecture to both veterans and rookies alike on the basics of football. "This is a football," he would begin, followed by instructions on the elements of the game–passing, blocking, punting, and tackling. Lombardi knew that mastery of the fundamentals was the key to success in football and it is no less so in building a law practice.
If your business has declined, the economy could be a factor, but there's nothing you can do about that. What you can do is get back to fundamentals. What have you done in the past that worked so well you stopped doing it?
Filed under Client loyalty, Client relations, Coaching, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Time Management by
Seth Godin talks about making your (practice) indispensable:
[mc src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vzuLbaMAF8&feature=player_embedded" type="youtube"]Seth Godin on making your business indispensable[/mc]
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