Yesterday, I wrote about clients who need what you offer but don’t necessarily want what you offer. Your job, I said, was to convince them to want what you know they need.
I also said you should (primarily) focus on attracting new clients who already know they want what you offer. Stop marketing to people who don’t hire lawyers.
A lawyer asked me to clarify.
If you owned a restaurant that served steaks and chops, would you advertise in a vegetarian magazine? Hey, you might convince a few readers who have been thinking of giving up vegetarianism, or who occasionally eat meat, that they should try your place. Or, maybe people in their family aren’t vegetarian and will see your ad.
Wouldn’t you be better off advertising in magazines where other steak houses advertise, and show their readers why you have the best steaks in town?
It’s much easier and more profitable to market to people who already buy what you’re selling.
When people are sued, not everyone will hire a lawyer. Some don’t want to spend the money and try to settle it themselves. Some defend it pro se. Some ignore the problem and hope it will go away. Some are judgment proof or are already planning to file bankruptcy.
The point is, not everyone who NEEDS an attorney WANTS to hire one. Don’t spend a lot of time convincing them. Target people who have already demonstrated their willingness to spend money on attorneys:
- The ones who go to search engines to find attorneys who handle their issue
- The ones who ask their friends on social media for recommendations
- The ones who read articles written by attorneys
- The ones who attend seminars to learn about their options
- The ones who already have an attorney but are unhappy and are looking to change
Tailor your marketing to appeal to people who use attorneys and show them why they should choose you.
Let’s say you are a small business attorney and you are scheduled to do a luncheon talk for small business owners on a subject of your choosing. You could do a talk about why business owners should have an attorney review their contracts and leases before they sign them. Or, you could talk about a new law that affects small businesses in your community or niche market.
Let’s say the room is 50/50 people who regularly hire attorneys and people who don’t.
If you talk about “why attorneys,” you may or may not convince some who don’t use attorneys. But you are definitely not showing the people who already hire attorneys why they should hire you. They already know “why attorneys”. Yawn.
If you talk about the new law, however, you’re showing everyone in the room something valuable. The group who hires attorneys may conclude that their existing or former attorney didn’t tell them things like this and maybe they should give you a closer look.
Ironically, you’re also showing the other half, the ones who don’t use attorneys, why they should start. They may not have realized that an attorney (like you) can help his clients protect themselves by being aware of new laws like the one you are talking about.
Stop marketing to people who don’t hire attorneys. Sell your steaks to meat eaters.
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