I mentioned to my wife that the recently planted tree in our yard didn’t seem to be growing much. She reminded me that it would first build its root structure before it grew above ground.
Of course. Roots before branches.
What a perfect metaphor for building a law practice. Before you grow branches or reaching out methods, make sure you have a strong foundation.
Before you attract prospective clients, make sure you are ready to do a good job for them and leverage their experience with you to generate referrals, website traffic, and positive word of mouth.
The roots of a successful law practice include your core competencies, your operating systems, and a commitment to delivering exceptional service. If your roots aren’t strong, networking, advertising, and content marketing may bring prospective clients to your door, but you may not sign them up. You may be able to do the work but if you aren’t prepared to surprise and delight the client, he may not be back.
Before you do any external marketing, you should know how you will ask clients for referrals. What will you say? When will you say it? What collateral material will you provide to make it easier to provide those referrals?
Before you connect with anyone on social media or at a networking event, you should be ready to respond when they ask for information about what you do and how you can help them. Make sure your website is filled with information and success stories that demonstrate your expertise and knowledge.
Before you sign up your next client, make sure you have a new client kit, thank you letter, and a system for sending out timely bills.
I am told that the Chinese Bamboo tree shows no visible signs of growth for four years after it is planted. All of the growth is underground. Then, in the fifth year, it breaks through the surface and in the next six weeks it grows to a height of 80 feet.
My law school torts professor told us it would take five years to build a successful practice from scratch. I didn’t want to believe him, but he was right. Today, because of the Internet, you can do it a bit quicker. But you still must have a solid root structure before you do anything else.
The 30 Day Referral Blitz shows you how to quickly get referrals. Click here for details.
Love the metaphor! Not too long ago I had a defense attorney tell me we were lucky to have the cases and practice that we do. He dismissed it as nothing more than some random thing that fell into our lap as he walked away with a smirk on his face.
What a scrub!
Just as the tree must first build its root structure, so did we for the first 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of our practice. Year after year we grew our roots by putting in the time to learn and apply the basics while handling cases on the fly and putting out fires 24/7. All the time never letting opposing counsel, the judge or even our clients see us sweat.
Yep, we sure did have it easy.
That knucklehead is in for a very long and hard ride.
BTW, we wouldn’t have done things any different. Success is a marathon and it takes years to learn the art of practicing law. And it is an art.
Can’t wait to show him what “luck” feels like while I paint my masterpiece on his forehead during our next trial!
BTW, some of the luck we enjoyed over the years came to us because we took advantage of your materials and courses. Great stuff that has helped us over and over :–)