Ask prospective clients this question before their first appointment

June 5, 2017 by
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Have you ever had a prospective client tell you they need to talk to their wife (husband, partner, parent, etc.) before they can hire you?

Sure you have.

They go home and do their best to explain why they need to hire a lawyer and why that lawyer should be you. Too often, their best isn’t good enough.

They can’t remember everything you told them. They can’t explain why they need to do this. They can’t answer questions. And when their spouse or partner says, “Let me see if I can find someone cheaper. . .” they don’t know what to say.

Someone wanted to hire you but someone else overruled them.

No soup for you!

You can reduce the odds of this occurring by asking prospective clients a simple question before you confirm the details of their first appointment:

“Is there anyone else who should be here with you?”

Anyone they might have to talk to? Consult with? Get permission from? Anyone who might be paying some or all of your fees? A son or daughter or caregiver? A business partner? In-house counsel?

You want the other decision maker to meet you and see for themselves what the client sees. You want to field their questions, overcome their objections, and help them make the decision to hire you.

Tell the client that things will be much easier for everyone if their spouse or partner comes to the appointment with them.

In fact, you might insist on it.

Tell them you have a policy of meeting both spouses (partners, decision makers, etc.) before you take on a new client. Share a story or two that explains why you have this policy. Help them understand why this is better for them, too.

If you don’t want to “insist,” at least tell them you “strongly recommend”. And if you don’t want to do that, or it looks like they won’t be able to get the other person to come with them, at least send them home with lots of information.

“Don’t try to explain everything, just give them this information. If they have any questions, get me on the phone and I’ll be happy to speak with them.”

No, it’s not as good as having the other decision maker at the first appointment. Not by a long shot. But sometimes, a long shot is the only shot you have.

Marketing is easier when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Salesmanship

The second most important question to ask your new client

June 2, 2017 by
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You know that the most important question to ask a new client is, “Where did you hear about me [us]?” If they were referred, you need to know who to thank. If they found your website through search, you need to know what they searched for so you can focus on that keyword. If they saw one of your ads or articles or heard you speak or saw your video or heard you interviewed. . . you need to know.

You need to know what’s working in your marketing so you can do more of it. You also need to know what’s not working so you can reduce or eliminate them.

But there’s a second question you should ask new clients, and in some respects, it’s even more important than the first:

“Why did you choose me [us]?”

There are lots of other attorneys they could have hired. What was it that convinced them that you were the better choice?

It could be any reason or a combination of reasons. Maybe they liked a certain article on your site. Maybe their friend said you were nice. Maybe they liked the way you treated them when they called to ask a question.

Maybe they saw all the good reviews you have on online. Maybe they’ve been on your list for awhile and your emails helped them get to know, like, and trust you. Or maybe they chose you because they can see that you focus on helping people like them (e.g., same business niche, same ethnicity, same neighborhood, etc.)

You won’t know unless you ask.

Ask, “Where did you hear about me?” upon greeting the new client. Or ask them when they are on the phone, in case they don’t make or keep an appointment.

Ask the second question after they’ve signed your retainer agreement and put some shekels into your sweaty palm.

One more thing. If you have thick skin (and an elastic heart), you should also ask prospective clients who DIDN’T hire you why they went with someone else.

How to get your clients to send you more referrals

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Baby steps, baby cakes

June 1, 2017 by
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Imagine drinking 30 cans of cola a day, every day. I saw a program profiling a 20-year old girl who’s been doing that for years and can’t seem to stop. To make matters worse, the rest of her diet consists of Twinkies and Ding Dongs and an assortment of other blocks of sugar.

Yikes.

She’s pre-diabetic and has the lab report to prove it, but she isn’t doing anything about it. She’s in the medical field and should know better, but like a lot of addicts, she’s in complete denial.

Call in the professionals: a nutritionist and a mental health doctor, tasked to help her.

They couldn’t have her quit cold turkey because she would suffer withdrawal symptoms that could put her in the hospital. They asked her to reduce her consumption in stages. Within a couple of weeks, she was supposed to be off the sauce.

She didn’t last a day.

Why? Two reasons, as I see it. The first reason is that they had her cutting down too quickly. Not only was she physically addicted to sugar (and caffeine), she had long-term emotional attachments to her habit.

It was too much, too soon.

I’m a doctor of laws, not medicine, but I would have asked her to cut her intake by a single can per day, or even every two or three days. Wean her off the stuff slowly. In a month or two might be down to a few cans a day, and from there, quitting would be relatively easy.

Breaking a bad habit, especially one that has physical and emotional addiction components, should be done slowly, shouldn’t it? A little bit each day.

That’s equally true for adopting good habits. Don’t run a half marathon this weekend if you currently do no exercise.

I talk about doing marketing 15 minutes a day because (a) anyone can do 15 minutes, and (b) if you do 15 minutes every day, eventually you might build up to 30. (NB: if you can’t do 15 minutes, start with 10. Or five.)

Do a little, but do it every day until it becomes a habit.

Besides being asked to taper off too quickly, the second reason cola girl couldn’t quit is that she didn’t want to. She admitted as much at the end of the program.

Even when a habit poses serious health risks, if you don’t want to quit, you won’t. Or you’ll quit but go right back to your old ways.

That’s also true for starting a good habit.

A lack of marketing might pose a serious risk to the financial health of your practice, but if you don’t want to change, you won’t.

Start with a simple marketing plan

 

 

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:

Sorry for your loss, sign here

May 31, 2017 by
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I heard a story on the radio. It seems a real estate broker team sent a condolence letter to a recent widow, and by recent I mean a few days after her husband’s death. The letter expressed condolences, acknowledged that it must be a difficult time, and then pitched the woman on using them to sell the family home.

Classy, huh?

Obviously, surviving spouses are a good target market for real estate brokers, and for other professionals, e.g., probate lawyers. Brokers target recent empty nesters–homeowners with kids graduating, getting married–and that’s fine. It makes sense to target people who are more likely to need your services. Lawyers should, too (assuming there are no ethical restrictions).

But a letter like this, so soon after her loss and so obviously a shameless attempt to take advantage of her situation, is no bueno.

Is there anything these brokers could have done to leverage the “opportunity” presented by the demise of this woman’s husband?

Yes.

They could have mailed a letter that simply introduced themselves, without referencing her loss. As though they were sending that same letter to everyone in the neighborhood.

Offer a planning guide, a free market analysis, and make the case for using them for buying or selling, as brokers do. Let her decide when and if she wants to sell.

Get there early, before other brokers fill up her mailbox. And mail frequently with more information and offers.

In other words, invest more time and money targeting recent widows and widowers, as a group. Just don’t tell them why.

Does your website make your phone ring?

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Why some firms charge more for the same services 

May 30, 2017 by
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A friend sent me an email he got from a company that offers law firm management consulting. He’d spoken to them about what they could do for his practice and wanted to know if I knew anything about them or if I had any advice.

I didn’t know them. My advice? Get more information. A lot more.

Granted, all I looked at was the email. I didn’t see a website or any other marketing materials. But what I did see left me less than impressed.

They have different packages ranging from $1500 per month up to more than $4000 per month, which isn’t expensive if they can help you grow from six-figures to seven-figures, something they allude to.

But can they? And what exactly do they do?

The email was a model of vague generalities. It talked about meetings and coaching, but not much about the subject of those meetings or that coaching. It talked a lot about bookkeeping and accounting. It mentioned the word marketing once.

Why anyone would talk so much about counting beans instead of getting more beans to count is beyond me.

So yeah, not impressed.

But here’s the thing. Some lawyers are paying these guys thousands of dollars a month to do whatever it is they do. So I have to assume that they deliver some value to their clients.

Whether or not they’re good at what they do, one thing they’re doing right is packaging their services in ways that make it difficult to compare what they offer with what other consulting firms offer.

And that’s the point, my little droogies.

When you offer the same services your competition offers, and you charge the same range of fees, you make it easier for clients to compare you to everyone else.

Sometimes they choose you. Sometimes they don’t.

On the other hand, when you offer something your competition doesn’t appear to offer, you give clients a reason to choose you. You can charge more, too.

Don’t offer what other lawyers offer. Package your services in ways that allow you to emphasize results and benefits and not the activities or time needed to deliver those results. Charge monthly fees or flat fees, not hourly.

A little slight of hand? Smoke and mirrors? Maybe. Or maybe just good marketing.

For more good marketing, go here

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Spring cleaning animal style

May 26, 2017 by
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I keep my hard drive reasonably well-organized. But every once in awhile I do a little spring cleaning. Get rid of the junk, eliminate duplicates, re-arrange folders.

I’m sure you do the same.

At some point, you might want to do something more radical: empty your hard drive and fill it up again from scratch.

Like this:

Move the contents of your hard drive into one temporary folder. Go through that folder and only “put back” the stuff you know you’ll need and use. It’s like cleaning out your clothes closet. The best way to do that is to remove everything and only put back the clothes you still wear, making room for new clothes.

If you don’t want to do this with your hard drive, you could do it for your note and task apps. Set up a new Evernote account, for example, and add back selected notes from your old account.

As you do this, you’ll look at everything with fresh eyes. Your old notes will give you “new” ideas. You’ll re-evaluate your priorities and make your workspace more efficient. You’ll revisit past victories, smile at past mistakes, and discover things you didn’t know you knew.

Bottom line: you’ll be better organized, more productive and ready for some new ideas to fill up the empty space you just created.

Have you read Evernote For Lawyers?

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Filed Under: Productivity

Pushing politically correct envelopes for fun and profit

May 25, 2017 by
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Yesterday, I used a phrase that some might say is politically incorrect. I said, “They may love you like a brother.”

Did you notice? Did you wonder why I didn’t add “or sister”? Did you wonder why I didn’t include the 71 gender identification options available on Facebook?

Am I sexist or just sloppy? Was it a slip or did I do it on purpose, poking a finger in the collective eye of the social justice warriors who have kidnapped our language and are holding it for ransom?

I wasn’t making a political statement. I did it because “Love you like a brother” is a term of art and makes the writing better.

But I admit that in today’s hyper-sensitive social climate it also makes the writing edgier.

And that’s a good thing.

Edgier writing is better writing. It makes people slow down and think about what they just read. A thinking reader is a reader who is likely to keep reading and come back for more.

You should go for the same thing in your writing.

I’m not advocating anything radical. You don’t need to immolate yourself in public. Just take a stroll off the well-worn path in the middle of the road and wave a little flag. Get people to notice that you said something unexpected and maybe a bit controversial, instead of the same bland and boring things everyone else says.

Yes, that means you have to take some chances. Go out on some limbs. And yes, that means you might get labeled by people who don’t “get” you or that have no sense of humor. You might lose some followers. Even a client or two. But the people who stick with you will bring others who also like the cut of your jib.

Some might even love you like a brother.

Go write something that will bring in some new clients

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Filed Under: Writing

Stop talking about yourself all the time

May 24, 2017 by
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Not everyone in your target market needs your services right now. Not everyone is ready to hire you. Not everyone has someone they can refer.

Someday? Sure. Just not today.

So when they talk to you or read your blog post or email, a lot of what you say goes in one ear and comes out the other.

They may hire you (again) someday. They may love you like a brother. But if they don’t need your services right now, they probably aren’t interested in hearing you endlessly talk about what you do.

What if you talked about something else once in awhile? What if instead of talking about what you do and promoting your practice, you promoted someone else?

Do you know any real estate brokers? Anyone you think highly of and openly recommend? How about promoting them?

Write a post or article about them. Interview them. Put one of their cards in the envelope when you mail invoices and attach a sticky note saying something nice about them. Put a link to their website on yours.

When you hear someone talking about buying or selling property, tell them you know a great broker. When you speak with another professional, bring up the subject: “By the way, if you have any clients looking to buy or sell property, I have a great broker I can recommend”.

You could promote any professional you know, any contractor, car dealer, insurance agent, or small business. Do you have a VA you use and like? A graphic artist, video whiz, or website developer?

They don’t need to be a client, just someone you know and trust.

Why wouldn’t you do this? If you would recommend them when anyone asks for a referral, why not recommend them before anyone asks?

The people you talk to (who don’t need your services right now) may be looking to buy or sell a home. When you bring up the subject of a good broker, they may be all ears. They’ll appreciate you for helping them find someone and remember you when they do need your services.

They’ll also appreciate you for talking about someone other than yourself.

Oh yeah, the broker you promote? They’ll appreciate the hell out of you. And maybe they’ll promote you, too.

If you want other lawyers to recommend you, get this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Maybe you need to get out more

May 23, 2017 by
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If you’re like most people, you spend most of your time with people who are similar to yourself. Other professionals you know through work, neighbors with similar income levels and lifestyles, friends with similar values and interests.

This isn’t a bad thing. But it can get a little boring.

How about meeting some people with different backgrounds? How about talking to people who disagree with you and have different values and interests?

You might learn something from them, and they from you.

I know, it can be stressful meeting new people. And it takes time. But there is a payoff: New ideas, new resources, new ways to do what you already do. You might even make some new friends.

Worst case, you’ll confirm what you already think and that you like things the way they are. Best case, you’ll stumble into some great adventures.

You might meet someone who leads you to your biggest client. You might get excited about learning a new skill that changes everything for you. You might meet the love of your life, find a new business or investment, or cross something off your bucket list.

You might have some fun.

Start small. Join a club. Take a class at your local college. Invite someone to lunch with whom you have little or nothing in common.

You never know where that first step might lead but you won’t find out until you take it.

The most profitable clients come from referrals

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Filed Under: Personal development, success

When the client is ready, he will find you. Maybe.

May 22, 2017 by
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Over the weekend I bought a piece of software I first looked at several years ago. I wasn’t ready to buy it back then, or maybe it wasn’t ready for me, but that was then and this is now.

I got it, set it up and fooled around with it all weekend. I’m happy. Yay me.

A few thoughts.

First, I didn’t go looking for this. I happened to find it again when I was looking at something else. I got lucky and so did the developer.

I was lucky because the software will help me save time and make money.

They got lucky because I found them again and I might not have.

I wasn’t on their email list so they couldn’t stay in touch with me and sell me on their product. They couldn’t tell me about updates and new features, prompt me to watch videos to help me see how I could use it, build trust by showing me reviews, make me special offers, encourage me to tell others, and all of the other things you can do when you have clients and prospects on an email list.

Had they done that, I might have purchased this a year ago. I might have told others about it, on my blog and newsletter, and on social. I might now be ready to buy something else they offer, aka “repeat business,” or recommend their product to other people I know, aka “referrals”.

Lesson: get thee an email list and stay in touch with folks.

Second, I found the software (again) not through search but while browsing through a site that recommends software in different categories. I recognized the name as something I had looked at before and took another look.

Lesson: find sites, blogs, directories, et. al., that sell to or advise your target market(s) and do something with them.

Show them what you do and how you can help their customers, clients, subscribers and visitors. Offer to write articles for them. See if they want to interview you. Comment on their blog posts. Share their products and services and content with your subscribers.

Your clients will appreciate you for telling them about things that can improve their life and the people who sell the products and run the sites will see you as someone they should work with and promote.

Third, I didn’t find this product through search, but I might have. Not by searching their name (I didn’t remember it until I saw it) but by searching keywords related to what the software does.

Lesson: use keywords on your site(s). Don’t obsess over it, don’t pay companies exorbitant sums to work voodoo magic, just use those keywords in your content.

That’s all for now. I’ve got to get back to playing with my new toy.

Turn your site into a client magnet

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services
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