David M. Ward, Author at The Attorney Marketing Center

How much do you know about your clients?

October 26, 2016 by David M. Ward

Your clients are more than an amalgam of the legal problems they bring to you and the more you know about them, the more you’ll be able to help them.

And helping them is one of the best waysÂ to inspire them to help you.

If you want your clients to fall in love with you, send you referrals, and tell the world about your amazing ways, if you want them to go out of their way to help you, you should be prepared to do the same for them.

Help them solve problems and achieve goals that go beyond the core services you offer.

Send business clients referrals. Introduce them to professionals and business contacts who can do the same. Send traffic to their websites. Promote their events. Post reviews about their products or services.

Send consumer clients information that can help them save time or money. Recommend trustworthy contractors and vendors. Refer them to tax, insurance, real estate, and investment professionals. Support their charitable causes.

How do you know what your clients want and need? You ask them.

In new client intake forms, ask questions about their business or personal life. When you speak to them on the phone or in the office, listen carefully for clues about their problems or goals. When you’re done talking about their case, ask “How’s business?” or “What’s going on with you and the family?”

Get your clients to open up to you and they’ll tell what you can do to help them. If you can’t help them yourself, go out and find someone who can (and help them get a new client or customer).

The more you know about your clients, the more you can do to help them and the more you do that, the more likely it is that they will help you.

Learn more, earn more

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Marketing legal services

How to get your rich dad to increase your allowance

October 25, 2016 by David M. Ward

You may have heard that the probability of selling to an existing client is 60 to 70% while the probability of selling to a new prospect is only 5 to 20%. You may have also heard thatÂ the cost of acquiring a new client is estimated to be five times the cost of retaining current clients.

The conclusion is obvious: you should focus most of your marketing efforts on current and former clients.

They can provide you with repeat business and referrals, send traffic to your website, provide testimonials and reviews, promote your content and events, and otherwise help your practice grow.

Question: other than to report on a legal matter, when was the last time you communicated with your clients and former clients?

N’uff said.

Of course the best way to stay in touch is via email. According to surveys, 80% of businesses rely on email for customer retention.

Smart lawyers should do the same.

Email allows you to stay in touch with clients and prospects, build or strengthen relationships, and persuade peopleÂ to make an appointment or tell their friends about you.Â Â It is theÂ easiest, cheapest, and most effective marketing tool available.

Anyway, I’m not your daddy, but if I was, I’d tell you to wake up and smell the coffee. If you don’t have an email list (and by that I mean an autoresponder that allows people to sign up from your website and allows you to send automated emails and newsletters), you’re missing the boat.

If you do have an email list, color me impressed. But are you using itÂ effectively? Or are youÂ leaving money on the digital table.

If you want to learn my wicked ways for using email to grow your practice, start with this.

Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services

Are you too logical to be successful?

October 24, 2016 by David M. Ward

I’m pretty sure that most lawyers are left-brained. We’re logical, orderly, and rule-bound.

These traits help us to be good at what we do. They make us good at drafting documents toÂ protect our clients. They help us to see the flaws in the other party’s position and forge the right arguments against them. They help us to fill out the right forms, check the right boxes, and avoid neglecting something important.

Unfortunately, these traits might also hold us back from reaching our potential.

Logical thinking is linear. A before B followed by C. This helps us to get the work done efficiently but it often blinds us to other options.

Right-brained people operate differently. They see many options, usually all at once. They are artists and inventors and creators of new ideas. They don’t necessarily follow the rules, they often break them. As if to underscore this difference, Thomas Edison once said about his laboratory, “There ain’t no rules around here! We’re trying to accomplish something!”

As lawyers, we can’t ignore the rules, although perhaps we can remember to question them.Â When it comes to marketing and building our practice, however, we should consider throwing out the rules and making new ones.

I’m not suggesting we violate the law or ethical rules. I’m suggesting that we observe what everyone else is doing and do the opposite.

That should be easy. Since most lawyers aren’t good at marketing and don’t do much of it, it doesn’t take much to beat them.

In a world of blind men, the one-eyed man is king. In a world of logic-bound lawyers, a little creativity can go a long way.

How to earn more than you ever thought possible:Â the formula

Filed Under: success Tagged With: Creativity, left-brain, right-brain

Turn on your dream machine

October 21, 2016 by David M. Ward

Author Richard Bach said, “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.” As far as I know, he didn’t supply any proof. He didn’t explain how this works. That’s okay. I’m willing to accept it on face value because if it’s true, it means I’ve got a very exciting future ahead of me.

And if it’s not true, that’s okay. Because I’d rather do what I love, and fail, than do what I hate and succeed. It’s that whole journey vs. destination thing.

Anyway, let’s assume it’s true. Let’s assume that, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve,” as Napoleon Hill said. Or that, “Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon… must inevitably come to pass!” as billionaire Paul J. Myer noted.

What do you do with this information?

Well, if God whispered in your ear and told you that you could have, do, or be what you want, wouldn’t you act differently? Your certainty about the future would cause you to talk to the right people, say the right things, and make the right decisions.

And that’s how you would make it happen.

So turn on your dream machineÂ and “act as if” they will come true. Because if you do, they will.

Clients not paying on time? Here’s the solution

Filed Under: Inspiration

The best way to get more referrals

October 20, 2016 by David M. Ward

The best way to get more referrals is toÂ ask for referrals.

Hold on, I know you don’t want to do that. I know the idea makes you uncomfortable. Asking for referrals makes you sound needy. Sales-y. Unprofessional. You’ve tried it but your mouth went dry and you stumbled over the words. So you don’t do it or you don’t do it much.

I can help.

I can show you ways to ask for referrals in a way that won’t make you uncomfortable. I can also show you how to ask for referrals without actually asking.

Without asking? Yes. You won’t have to say a word.

How is this possible? As I describe in my two referral marketing courses, Maximum ReferralsÂ (about getting referrals from clients and prospects)Â and Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals (about getting referrals from lawyers and other professional contacts) you do it with a “referral letter”.

Your referral letter spells out how you can help people who might need your services. It shows the reader how to recognize people who would make a good referral for you. And it shows them the best way to make the referral to you.

Have you ever wondered why people who couldÂ send you referrals don’t do it? One reason is that they don’t know how.

Do they give the client your card? Do they send them to your website? Do they call you themselves and give you the referral’s information?

Your referral letter solves this problem by spelling out the simplest and easiest way to connect you with referrals. When you make it easier for people to send you referrals, more people will send you referrals.

Once your referral letter is written, most of your work is done. From that point forward, your job is to make sure that every client and former client, every professional contact and potential referral source, receives a copy of your referral letter.

Distributing your referral letter to clients is simple. Just send it. Have extra copies printed to include in your new client welcome kit and to give clients when they are in the office.

Distributing your referral letter to attorneys you know is equally simple, but a little different. You can mail them (or email them) but there are other things you can do to make it more likely that they will not only read your letter, they will act on it.

You can also send your referral letter to attorneys you don’t know. That’s where things get interesting. That’s where you can expand your list of referral sources manifold, for just the price of a stamp.

If you want referrals, get aÂ referral letter written and get it out into the world. There is no simpler way to ask for (and get) referrals than to let a letter do the askingÂ for you.

To get more referrals from clients, get this

To get more referrals from other lawyers, get this

Filed Under: Referrals Tagged With: Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals, Maximum Referrals

Nobody says, “Call my law firm”

October 19, 2016 by David M. Ward

When one of your clients gives your business card to a friend or colleague who might need your services, they don’t say “Call my law firm,” they say, “Call my lawyer”.

They have a relationship with you and it is you they are recommending. They may know and work with other lawyers in yourÂ firm, they may think highly of the firm as a whole, but you are their lawyer and you are the person they want their friend or colleague to speak to.

When I see letters or emails signed, “For the firm,” I shake my head in amazement at the lack of personalization. Why put distance between yourself and your client?Â You wouldn’t call aÂ client and say, “This is Jones and Smith calling,” would you? You’d say your name. You would use theirs. It should be no different in writing.

Professional services are personal. Even if the client is part of a big company, you should nurture your relationship with them as an individual.Â It’s okay to send out a “Welcome” letter from the firm but that letter should be in addition to a personal letter from you. The client chose you as their lawyer, orÂ if they were assigned to you by a partner, you should conduct yourself as if they did.

A law firm can advertise and build a brand, but when it comes to working with clients, the personal relationship is paramount. Don’t sign letters “for the firm” and don’t have a secretary or assistant sign for you. Personalize everything. Show the client that you are fully invested in your relationship with them. If you do, when someone they know needs a lawyer,Â your clientÂ will hand them your card and say, “Here, call my lawyer”.

Are you getting all of the referrals you want? Here’s how to get more

Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services

Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable

October 18, 2016 by David M. Ward

I read a quote the other day that said the key to success was getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. This is obviously based on the idea that success lies outside of your comfort zone, which it surely does. Success requires growth and growthÂ means doing things that are unfamiliar and risky and thus uncomfortable.

Our subconscious minds crave familiarity and routine, however, because they keep us safe. Meeting new people, learning new skills, taking on new projects, all involve risk. What if this new person means to do us harm? What if we get lost? What if we fail?

But without risk, there can be no growth. And thatâ€™s the challenge we face every day. Do we take the risk or stay comfy in our regular routine?

Some people say that success requires us to live outside our comfort zone but surely thatâ€™s going too far. We can live inside our comfort zone most of the time and regularly venture outside of it. Take a few minutes a day to work on your new skill. Meet one or two new people each week. Then, go back to your routine until tomorrow or next week.

By briefly but regularly stepping outside of our comfort zone and then returning to it, we grow not by getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, which we may never do, but by expanding our comfort zone.

Need more clients? Want more referrals? Here you go

Filed Under: Personal development

Do you make this mistake when replying to email?

October 12, 2016 by David M. Ward

I donâ€™t reply to every email I get and neither should you. Vendors and people pitching you something donâ€™t expect a reply and you arenâ€™t obligated to give one.

Prospective clients are another story.

Respond to prospects, even when they ask dumb questions or annoy you. Say â€˜thank youâ€™ for the inquiry, answer their question, and tell them what to do next.

You can use a (mostly) canned response. You can have an assistant respond on your behalf. You can point to a page on your site where they can get the information.Â But always reply and do it as soon as possible. They might be your next client. Or send traffic to your website. Or promote and share your content. Or send you referrals.

Capiche?

Of course, that goes double for clients and former clients.

When a client emails, you should do everything possible to reply within 24 hours (or the following weekday if it is a weekend or holiday). Actually, try to reply within two hours, even if it is to sayÂ you’re not able to respond fully just yet but will do so as soon as possible.

People who have paid you money (or sent you referrals) deserve as much respect and attention as you can give them.

Now, for an example of what not to do.

I recently bought somewhat expensive video course. After I went through everything, I had questions. I emailed the guy who produced the course seeking to clarify some points and to ask about a few things he didn’t address.

What happened? Nothing happened.Â Several days went by with no reply. I emailed again to ask if he had received my first email. Crickets.

I had asked several questions that could have been answered with a yes or no. He should have replied, if only to refer me to the section of the course where the issue was explained.

There is some good material in the course but I’m not inclined to recommend it to anyone, provide a testimonial, or purchase anything else from him. Too bad.

It takes a lot of effort to create a new client or customer. It takes but a simple error in judgment to lose them.

How to use email to get more clients

Filed Under: Email, Law office management, Marketing legal services

More conversations equals more clients

October 11, 2016 by David M. Ward

Yesterday, I urged you to take steps to weed out non-buyers, price shoppers, and problem clients before you speak with them. Clearly, some will slip through.

Thatâ€™s okay. You want to talk to them, even if ultimately they don’t hire you, because the more conversations you have with prospective clients, the more clients youâ€™ll get.

True, youâ€™ll talk to people you donâ€™t want to work with. You’ll also talk to people who are harder to land. But math is math.

More conversations equals more clients.

In fact, daily or weekly conversations should be a metric you focus on increasing. Talk to more prospective clients this week than last week and your practice will grow.

You want to talk to people so you can ask questions, diagnose their problem, and propose a solution.

You want to find out their pain so you can show them how you can alleviate it.

You want to build rapport and show them that you care about helping them.

And you want to help them to focus on making the decision to hire you (or come in to see you) if that’s whatâ€™s best for them, or if they’re not ready to do that, to feel good about you and remember you when they are ready.

Some of this can be done via email and filling out forms. But nothing beats a conversation.

Iâ€™m guessing youâ€™re pretty good at having these conversations, that is, you have a high sign-up ratio. If not, you’ve got some work to do to get better at weeding out prospects who aren’t a good fit for you or closing the ones who are.

If you already sign up a high percentage of the people you talk to, your weekly task is to ask yourself what you can do to have more conversations. Because more conversations equals more clients.

Marketing by the book

Filed Under: Salesmanship