You’re not good at everything. Sometimes you make mistakes. Sometimes you don’t do what you said you would do when you said you would do it.
You’re a lawyer. And pretty good at disguising your flaws, because why would you talk about them?
Why tell clients what you don’t do well or give them reasons to doubt you?
Because it might be the best thing you could do.
Transparency isn’t a common characteristic of most lawyers. We thrive on displaying strength and avoid revealing weakness. We say what must be said and avoid saying anything that doesn’t.
Of course we protect ourselves with disclaimers and disclosures in our retainer agreements, authorizations, invoices, and other documents, lest we later be accused of failing to disclose something.
We hide the negative in the fine print.
What if you shared some of that upfront? Better for clients to hear it from you instead of hearing it on social media or finding out after they’ve hired you.
What if, instead of downplaying some things that can go wrong with a case, you talk about them openly? What if you tell stories about problems you’ve seen in your practice and point out that not everything has a happy ending?
What if you tell clients what you do and what you don’t do? Tell them what you offer and what’s not included. Tell them you don’t handle “everything” and when you will refer them to someone you know and recommend.
How refreshing to hear some unvarnished truth from an attorney.
Transparency will let you differentiate yourself from most attorneys and give you a distinct marketing advantage by building trust and likeability.
You don’t have to walk around with a lie detector attached to your arm or take a truth serum before you meet with prospect clients.
Just don’t bury everything in 6-point type.
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