Do you have a back-up plan for your practice?

July 7, 2016 by
Share

My hard drive started making a noise so I ordered a new computer. I also ordered a new external hard drive for back- ups. And yes, I also back up to the cloud.

So I’m good. If disaster strikes, I’m ready.

Going through this process made me think about back-up plans for other areas of my life. I have multiple sources of income but I’m working on new ones. I don’t rely on one marketing method, so if something went awry, I could lean in on the others.

How about you? Do you have back-ups for your machines, your marketing, and your sources of income? Do you have extra food and water at home?

If something bad happens, will you be ready?

In the marketing department, most lawyers get most of their new clients through referrals. At least they should. And when you think about it, referrals have their own built-in back-up plan because referrals come from, or should come from, dozens of individuals–former clients, existing clients, professional referral sources, friends, and so on. If one decides they no longer like you, you still have others.

Referral sources die off, however, and need to be replaced. And you should never rely on referrals just happening, even if they presently do. You should work at making them happen, consistently and in ever-increasing numbers. There are ways to do this, as detailed in my several courses on referrals.

Okay, you’re with me. You regularly do things to stimulate referrals. You’re getting most of your new clients from referrals and that number is growing. Or at least you’re working in that direction.

Good. But what’s your back-up plan?

Yes, a back-up plan for your back-up plan. What else do you do to bring in business? What else will you start doing?

Suggestion? A content-rich website. Just make sure you back that up, too.

How to get more client referrals

Share
Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

It’s time for me to confess

July 6, 2016 by
Share

I have a confession to make. I don’t like marketing. Never have, never will.

That may sound crazy coming from me but it’s true. So if you don’t like marketing, that’s cool. We’re on the same page.

What I like is what marketing can do. The new business it brings. The lifestyle it affords.

I like knowing that because of marketing, I will never have sleepless nights worried about where my next client will come from, or if they will come at all.

And, compared to some of the other things I’ve had to do in my career, marketing really isn’t difficult. Or time-consuming. Or expensive.

At least it doesn’t have to be.

And hey, marketing lets you use the very skills that made a career in law attractive to you: writing, speaking, thinking, planning–using your brain instead of your brawn. And let’s not forget that marketing also allows you to help more people.

So hate on it, if you must, but find a way to do it. Because marketing is your friend. Even if you don’t like your friend and wish you never had to see her again.

Marketing is easier with this

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Is your online presence costing you business?

July 5, 2016 by
Share

Our washing machine is failing so we’ve been shopping for a replacement. My wife spent lots of time reading reviews before making her selection. Unfortunately, the one she wants is slightly too big for the space occupied by the current machine. There is a cabinet overhead and the lid of the new machine wouldn’t clear it.

We went to a store to see if there was anything we could do. We talked to a friendly sales person and asked about switching the positions of the washer and dryer, which would solve the problem (our dryer is front loading), and the sales person told us that they do this all the time.

Only they don’t.

According to another sales person at that store, due to legal concerns, their installers won’t move the dryer. We would have to buy a new dryer, which we don’t need. He also pointed out some other issues with respect to the position of the existing hookups.

Was the first sales person telling us what we wanted to hear? Was the second sales person being overly cautious?

We didn’t know so went to another store and asked the same questions.

That sales person told us there should be no problem switching the machines, but he would check with their installers and let us know.

His shirt indicated that he was the head of the department and we wondered why he didn’t already know the answer to this question. In addition, he made absolutely no eye contact with us while he said “no problem.” My wife and I walked away thinking we couldn’t trust him.

Now, do you think prospective clients go through a similar process when they are shopping for a lawyer?

Yes indeed. And if they don’t trust you, they won’t hire you.

If a lawyer doesn’t have a website, many clients will pass them over, even if the lawyer was referred by a friend. In addition, according to one study, 75% of consumers say that not having a professional email address (you@yourdomain.com) is an important trust factor.

I’ve mentioned this before. If you have a generic gmail or hotmail or aol email address, you’re probably losing business.

Prospective clients don’t hire lawyers they don’t trust and if you don’t want to lose business, you need to tick as many “trust” boxes as you can. Start with your online presence, which is what they see first. Your website doesn’t need to look snazzy, but it should look professional, be easy to navigate, and have lots of good content.

And when they come to see you, make sure you make eye contact and tell them the truth, not what you think they want to hear.

The 9 elements of an effective website

 

Share
Filed Under: Email, Online Marketing Tagged With:

What to do about freebie seekers

July 1, 2016 by
Share

We all get people asking us for free advice. It goes with the territory. But sometimes it gets to us, as a friend of mine expressed in a recent email:

“Hi David –

Do you get requests to provide free advice?

I’m feeling insulted by professionals – many of them strangers – expecting me to provide free advice.

I hear “I just want to ask a few questions” or “I don’t have money to pay you” and the like.

Am I putting the wrong vibe out there? Or, is it a universal problem?

What do you think?

Thanks for your input.”

I said, “So you’re asking me for free advice about what to do about people who ask for free advice?”

Okay, having a bit of fun, but isn’t that what she’s doing? Even if we are friends and even if she is only letting off steam and looking for me to tell her this is normal (which is it), her request makes plain how easy it is for people to ask for free advice.

That’s just the way it is.

I get these, too. Are we putting out the wrong vibe? I don’t know but I don’t worry about it.

In fact, it’s a good thing. It means that people feel comfortable reaching out to us. It means they value our advice, yes, even if they are unwilling or unable to pay for it.

So don’t let it get to you.

The question isn’t how many people don’t want to pay, it’s how many do. Are you making money? Are most of the people who contact you willing to hire you? When they do, are they willing to pay top dollar?

Focus on them and you will attract more of them.

And hey, just because someone emails you doesn’t mean you have to respond. Or explain why you charge for your services, or why you charge as much as you do.

If you do respond, point to the page on your website that explains your policies, enumerates the services you offer, and tells them what to do to hire you or take the next step.

Or ask them, as I often do, “Do you want to book a consultation?” I usually don’t hear from them again.

Be firm. But be nice. Because today’s freebie seeker might be tomorrow’s paying client.

And if you are inclined to respond substantively, as I am doing here, turn your response into a blog post or article, as I am doing here. Think of it as your compensation. Because you don’t work for free.

How to use your website to weed out freebie seekers

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Would you do me a favor?

June 30, 2016 by
Share

Your clients are willing to help you. They’re willing to send you referrals, provide positive reviews, promote your event, and tell others about your new article or blog post.

All you have to do is ask.

But you have to ask.

Yes, many clients (and prospects) will tell their friends and social media connections about your free report or email newsletter without being asked. But with a little prompting, many more will do it.

You can have your website and email do much of that for you. Put buttons on your site that make social sharing a one-click effort. On your “contact me” page or widget, add a check box that says, “I have a referral”. Add a call to action to your emails asking subscribers to forward the email or share your link.

When clients are in the office or on the phone, have your staff ask for their help. Have them remind clients that you “get most of your new clients from referrals” and then give the client “referral devices” that make it easy for them to send you business.

Of course you can ask, too.

When someone says something nice about you or your services, after you thank them, say, “Would you do me a favor?” Then ask them to email you their kind words [and then put them on your site] or go to a review site and post their feedback.

You can also ask, “Would you do me a favor?” when they don’t come forward with a compliment.

Give every client your business cards, reports, and referral devices and ask them to pass them out. Tell them about your upcoming webinar and ask them to invite their friends or business contacts. Ask them to add you or follow you on social media. Ask them to “tell your friends about us”.

Can it really be that simple? Why not? You’d do a favor for them, wouldn’t you?

When a client asks you to buy their daughter’s girl scout cookies, you do it. You do it because you want to help them, just like your clients want to help you. But you wouldn’t buy those cookies if you didn’t know about them, and you won’t know about them until the client asks you to buy a box.

Let me show you how to create the perfect referral device to give your clients and other lawyers

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Referrals

How to compete with bigger firms

June 29, 2016 by
Share

You’re a small firm or a solo, competing against bigger firms. They have more employees and bigger budgets. They have more buying power and can advertise for half of what you’ll pay. They have marketing committees and dedicated staff who do marketing-related activities all day long.

How do you compete against them?

You don’t. If you want to win, you have to choose the right battles.

If you have a small team, perhaps just you and an assistant, don’t target big clients who would never consider a small firm. Target smaller clients who not only would consider hiring a sole practitioner or small firm, they prefer it.

As a small firm, you are quicker and more agile. You don’t need committees to make decisions or change course. You make the call and do what needs to be done.

Unlike big firms, you don’t handle “everything”. You’re not adequate at many things, you specialize and are excellent at what you do.

You don’t have a huge staff or rent entire floors so your clients save money when they hire you.

You work closely with your clients and develop a personal relationship with them. When they need you, they can speak to you. You understand their business and industry. You know their staff. You are more than just their lawyer, you are a partner in their success.

Big firms have their strengths. Don’t compete with them. Don’t approach big companies and try to dazzle them with your successes. Even if they are impressed and love you they’re not going to hire you.

Create a profile of your ideal client and target only them. Tailor your marketing materials and your approach and show them that they are your ideal client and you are their ideal lawyer.

To create a profile of your ideal client, use this

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

The hidden value of content marketing

June 28, 2016 by
Share

Education based marketing means providing prospective clients with information about their problems and the available solutions. As they contemplate the severity of the issues and the nuances of the solutions, they get closer to hiring a lawyer. Your content shows them that you understand their problem and have helped others to solve it, and you thus become the lawyer they are mostly likely to hire.

In other words, the quality (and quantity) of your information does much of the selling of your services for you.

So, plus one for content.

But in what form do you deliver that content?

William Glasser said that we learn. . .

10% of what we read,
20% of what we hear,
30% of what we see,
50% of what we see and hear,
70% of what we discuss,
80% of what we experience,
95% of what we teach others.

So you want to give prospective clients options to read, watch, and listen to your information. You also want to involve them with that information by engaging them in a conversation about it, through commenting on your posts and emailing and calling you to ask questions about how the information applies to their specific situation.

In a live presentation, you can engage the audience by soliciting feedback and asking people to talk about their experience with the subject. On your website, you can post surveys and other types of involvement mechanisms.

The more senses your prospects use, the more they learn; the more they learn, the more likely they are to see you, the teacher, as the best solution to their problem.

But there’s a hidden value to this process. As you create your content, you learn more about the subject and get better at teaching it.

You spend more time thinking about what you know and verifying what you think you know. You read what other teachers (lawyers) say about the subject and how they say it. You find more examples and stories to illustrate your points. And as you write and re-write your information, and practice your delivery, you become a better teacher and thus better at attracting clients.

If you want to get better at content marketing, use this

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

Is your wicked past hurting your career?

June 27, 2016 by
Share

Last night my wife and I watched the 1955 version of “To Catch a Thief” starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It’s an enjoyable diversion, even if just for the scenic French landscapes and beaches.

Grant is a reformed jewel thief, John Robie, who was in his day known as “The Cat”. He has paid for his crimes and is trying to live a quiet retirement but when a series of high-profile jewel heists occur, the police and the townspeople believe that “The Cat” is up to his old tricks.

Grant seeks to prove his innocence and redeem his name by using his skills and knowledge to catch the real thief in the act.

The central theme of the film is the fragility of reputation. It’s hard to build, easy to lose, and next to impossible to regain.

Our reputations are what people know about us, or think they know, and what they say or do as a result. Jeff Bezos was speaking about reputation when he said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

What, pray tell, are your clients saying about you?

You have spent years building your reputation. It is your most valuable asset. I hope you have been equally diligent about protecting it.

We must all watch what we say and what we do. We must continually listen to what the town’s people are saying about us. I think you know that. Lawyers are by nature cautious and closed mouth about things that don’t need to be said. I think this is one reason why so many lawyers are loathe to use social media.

That doesn’t mean we can merely let our work speak for us. Clients hire lawyers they know, like, and trust, and you have to make some effort to get them to do this.

So yeah, there are risks and we have to take them. Fortunately, building your reputation doesn’t require the elimination of all risks, only the intelligent management of them.

So be smart. Don’t don’t steal any jewels. Or piss off the wrong people.

And remember what the watch commander on the police drama, “Hill Street Blues,” always said at the end of each briefing: “Let’s be careful out there”.

Get clients to know, like, and trust you. Here’s the formula

Share
Filed Under: Image Tagged With: ,

Are you yelp-proofing your practice?

June 24, 2016 by
Share

The other day our washing machine decided it needed to go on vacation and stopped working. My wife called the service company we’ve used in the past and booked an appointment. They were due to come out today between 8 and 11.

My wife has a busy day today and called to see where we were in the queue. Yep, you guessed it, they had no record of the appointment.

It seems that their computer also needed a vacation and lost a bunch of bookings. They had no way of knowing who to call so it was a good thing my wife decided to call them. (They’ll be here later today).

What about the customers who don’t call to confirm? When the repair person is a no show do you think some of them might call another service? And then rip into them on review sites?

Yeah, I do too.

The company needs a fail-safe mechanism to minimize the risk of this happening again. How about something simple like instructing the person who answers the phone to write down the name and phone number of every caller, on paper, before entering the info into the computer?

Problem. Solved.

If I owned the company, not only would I implement this, I would make a point of dramatizing it in my marketing. In our ads, on our website, on the phone, I would explain that since computers have glitches and the Internet sometimes goes down, we use “double entry” appointments to protect our customers. Or something like that.

This may seem like a small point but marketing is about small points. Showing the world how you are different and better than the other guys by dramatizing the little things you do to give your customers a better experience.

I’m guessing this company won’t do any of this. They won’t apologize or offer us a discount or a freebie to make amends. But if they did, they would go a long way towards strengthening relationships with the people who not only pay their bills but who can recommend them to their friends.

Client referrals start with good client relations

Share
Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management Tagged With:

Facebook wants us to kill each other but I’m not taking the bait

June 23, 2016 by
Share

Facebook and other social media platforms are rife with ugliness, especially during the political season. It’s like we’re all in a giant sandbox, yelling at the other kids and calling them a doody face. Facebook censors a lot of content but they’re smart enough to realize that the more we fight, the more eyeballs they get on their ads.

Anyway, this morning I thought that a good rule of thumb would be to never say anything on social media we wouldn’t say in person.

What do you think, good rule?

I’ve blocked so many “friends” lately it’s crazy. Me: “Okay, I used to think this person was smart, now I see they are an idiot. Or evil. Or both. Life is too short and I don’t want to have anything to do with them. Blocked.”

Why not reply? Defend my side of the issue? Show them the error of their wicked ways?

Not worth it. I have better things to do. Besides, I don’t really know most of them.

Sometimes (and by sometimes I mean every day) I wish there were no social media.

Omm.

Anyway, this morning, I read an article about a memo written by advertising legend David Ogilvy in 1982. The memo includes ten “rules” for better writing, the tenth of which made me pause and reflect: “If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.”

Of course today he would be vilified on social media for saying “guy” instead of “person,” but it’s good advice don’t you think? If it’s important, talk to people.

What if instead of writing a demand letter we went and visited opposing counsel and told them what we wanted and why? Or at least called and spoke to them?

I don’t know if we’d get better results but I’m almost certain our interaction would be more professional and dignified. We might get testy but we’d have a conversation, not a shouting match (usually). Even if we didn’t agree on anything, we would at least respect the other person in the morning.

In my pre-digital days, I encountered many fools but I was able to get along with most of them.  I had no choice. I couldn’t block them so I had to learn how to play nice with those doody faces.

I do use social media. Here’s how

Share
Filed Under: Social media Tagged With:
« Previous Page
Next Page »