Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals–New Referral Marketing Course Launches

August 17, 2015 by
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Do you remember the last time a lawyer sent you a referral? How would you like to have that happen every day?

My new marketing course, Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals: How to Get More Referrals From Lawyers and Other Professionals shows you how to get more referrals from the lawyers you know, and how to get more lawyers to become a new referral source for you.

Of course lawyers are potentially one of your best sources of referrals.

Sure, your clients may be willing to send you referrals. If they don’t know anyone who needs your services right now, however, there’s not much they can do. But lawyers talk to people with legal issues every day of the week. Unless those lawyers handle “everything,” they can’t help everyone.

They can either turn those people away or refer them to other lawyers. Like you.

In fact, many lawyers have the ability to send you a steady stream of referrals, month after month, year after year. If you have a systematic method of showing them how you can help their clients and prospects and business contacts. . .

YOU WILL GET MORE REFERRALS

But it gets better. Not only will you get more referrals from other lawyers, the clients they send you are often better clients than you typically get through other means such as the Internet or advertising.

They’re better because they are pre-screened by the referring lawyer. The lawyer knows if the client is a good match for you and if they can afford to hire you. They can also “sell” the client on you and your abilities, making it less likely that the client will “shop around” and more likely that they will hire you.

The referring lawyer can also provide you with pertinent information about the client and their situation, making it easier for you to relate to those clients and do a better job of showing them how you can help them. As a result, referred clients tend to sign up more quickly and with less effort on your part.

And referred clients are themselves more likely to provide referrals.

Lawyers get referrals from a lot of sources—clients, prospective clients, business contacts, friends, business owners, and other professionals—but one of the best sources of high quality cases or clients are referrals from other lawyers.

In Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals you’ll learn

  • Why some lawyers almost always get more referrals—and how to become one of them
  • The SIMPLEST way to get more referrals from other lawyers (without asking for referrals)
  • A proven system for increasing referrals by up to 1,000%
  • What to say to lawyers who “owe” you referrals
  • How to get referrals from your competition
  • How to use incentives and “referral devices” to get even more referrals
  • How to set up simple joint ventures with other lawyers. Don’t wait for referrals to happen, MAKE them happen
  • What to do about referral fees
  • The ultimate, long term, best way to get other lawyers to send you MOST or ALL of their referrals
  • What to do when you don’t have referrals to send them (i.e., when you can’t reciprocate)
  • How to get referrals as a new lawyer or when starting a new practice
  • A 7-step process for getting all the new referral sources you could ever want

One of the best things about this course is that it allows you to “automate” your referral program with a “referral letter” that does most of the work for you. It’s not as simple as mass mailing letters to other lawyers, but it’s close.

Have you ever had a lawyer tell you they sent you a referral, but you don’t know what he’s talking about because you never heard from the client? Your referral letter will make sure that doesn’t happen.

Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals is the ultimate referral-getting system for any lawyer. It comes with scripts and step-by step instructions and everything else you need to start getting more referrals immediately.

GET MORE REFERRALS IN 15 MINUTES A DAY

You may be wondering if this system will take up a lot of your time.

Nope.

You can get everything set up in a few hours, and then spend as little as 15 minutes a day “working” the system. And you can delegate some or all of the daily activities if you want.

The course comes with a Bonus Quick Start Guide to help you get your referral program set up and working. Then, you can use the system over and over again, to get more referrals from the lawyers you know and to get more lawyers and other professionals on your “team”.

No matter how many referrals you now get in your practice, you are about to learn how to get more. Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals comes in pdf format and is available for immediate download. You can use PayPal or a credit card.

Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals is only $79 $59 for a limited time. Click here to order.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, News, Referral sources, Referrals

Lawyers make the worst clients

August 14, 2015 by
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Just as most doctors will tell you that doctors make the worst patients, I think most lawyers would say the same thing about our species.

It’s because we know how things are supposed to work. And it’s because of ego. We’re not comfortable letting someone else call the shots.

And so we routinely handle our own legal affairs, often to our detriment. Nowhere is this detriment more apparent than when we have a dispute with another lawyer.

A lawyer friend contacted me the other day and told me about one of his clients, another lawyer, who has become the proverbial client from hell.

She isn’t happy with anything and blames him for things outside of his control. She wants what she wants and steadfastly refuses to compromise, despite his many attempts to accommodate her. At first, he wanted to save the client. Now, he just wants to save himself.

How bad is it? She’s reported him for imagined ethical violations and is threatening to file a criminal complaint.

As I say, the client from hell.

He asked for my take on it. Naturally, I suggested he turn it over to another lawyer. Not just because of the ethical and criminal risks, but because the whole thing is making him miserable.

“You’re too close to the situation and she will continue to push your buttons,” I said.

If he’s lucky, she will get a lawyer, too. Then the two lawyers can negotiate without the animus or emotion that has gripped this situation. It will cost him, but can you put a price on your sanity?

I’ve met lawyers who swear they will never again have a lawyer for a client. What say you? Have you represented any lawyers who made you wish you hadn’t?

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Law office management, Legal industry

You can expect what you inspect

August 13, 2015 by
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In marketing legal services, you need to know your numbers. You need to know where prospects and new clients and website traffic are coming from so you can do more of what’s working and less of what isn’t.

Knowing your numbers allows you to cut expenses (time, money) and increase profits.

For starters, ask your new clients how they heard about you. If they found you through a search engine, ask which one, and which keywords they used. If they saw one of your articles or blog posts or videos, on your site or elsewhere, ask them to identify it. If someone shared one of your blog posts or social media posts, which one?

Do the same for prospects who call to ask questions or schedule a consultation.

If the client or prospect was referred to you, you need to know the source of the referral. Was it a client? Another lawyer or other professional?

Who was it? What did they say about you?

You need to know so you can thank the referral source, even if the referral doesn’t become a client. When you show people that you appreciate what they have done, they are more likely to do it again.

What you recognize, grows.

Of course you also want to know which of your referral sources deserves more of your thanks and your attention. You may know 100 lawyers, but if four or five are sending you more referrals (or better referrals) than the rest, you’ll want to send your referrals to them.

When someone calls your office, they should routinely be asked where they heard about you. Your intake form should ask this question.

Because you need to know.

You can track referrals and other metrics with a simple text document, a spread sheet, or on a legal pad.

Once a month, examine your global numbers, i.e., how much new business (traffic, opt-ins, etc.) you got for the month, and from what sources. If one of your articles is drawing lots of traffic to your site, you need to know this so you can write more articles like it. If you’re getting more business from referrals and less business from social media, knowing this will help you know where to invest your time.

In addition, once a month, look at your numbers for each individual source of business–each ad, your blog, speaking, individual referral sources, etc.

Know your numbers, because you can expect what you inspect.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Referral sources, Referrals

Why you shouldn’t worry about legalzoom (and why you should)

August 12, 2015 by
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The legal landscape is changing. More people are using Legalzoom, paralegals, and pre-paid legal plans, and it’s making a lot of lawyers nervous.

They shouldn’t be. Instead of fearing these would-be competitors, they should celebrate them.

These companies are doing lawyers a great service. They are expanding the marketplace of consumers of legal services. Many of their clients have never availed themselves of legal assistance before. As more of them start doing that, there are more opportunities for lawyers to show them the benefits of hiring them instead.

But many lawyers need to step up their game.

They need to learn how to use technology, and incorporate it into all aspects of their practice. They need to put marketing much higher on their list of priorities. The world is changing and they need to change with it.

Speaking of tech and marketing, I have a message for the “gentleman lawyers” of the world. The ones with an established client base who no longer work hard to build or maintain it. The ones who take two hour lunches and don’t listen to anyone with “new ideas”.

They’re living on borrowed time. Legalzoom may not be a threat to them, but the next generation of tech-savvy, hungry young lawyers certainly are.

What about everyone else? Well, if legalzoom and the like are a threat to you because they offer the same services you offer, you’re also living on borrowed time.

What can you do?

How do you compete with their massive advertising dollars and technological systems?

You don’t.

Don’t do what they do. Don’t offer what they offer.

Offer different services. Offer more specialized and complex services, to more sophisticated and higher-paying clients. Offer more personalized service and greater value.

If you rely on basic estate planning as the core of your practice, for example, move towards higher end services, for higher income clients. If basic business formation is a primary source of your income, you need to re-focus on more complex work for bigger clients.

If you offer a commodity service, you’re going to have a rough go of it. The competition will eat your lunch.

But there’s no competition at the top of the service/price pyramid. The competition is at the bottom 80% of that pyramid, where most lawyers (mistakenly) compete.

Don’t fear legalzoom, celibrate them. Don’t compete with legalzoom, and don’t let them compete with you.

How to differentiate yourself. Click here

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, success, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Email marketing done wrong

August 10, 2015 by
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I got an email this morning, from a guy in Russia. The subject, “Let’s do business”. The message:

I’m running a digital marketing agency focusing on local businesses that need help getting leads using PPC and Facebook ads.

One of the niches we’re definitely interested in are attorneys and you seem like an expert on this topic.

I’m not sure what kind of marketing services you provide to your clients but it would be good to have a quick talk and and see if we can bring more value to your customers by working together on some projects.

I won’t want to bore you with excessive details. . . get back to me if you’re interested in general. . .

You don’t know what kind of services I offer? Why not? You want to work with me on some projects? Yeah, I think I’ll pass. But I’ll use your email as an example of email marketing done wrong, thank you.

I don’t want to talk to this guy. I don’t know him and he obviously doesn’t know me. But even if he said something brilliant and I wanted to learn more, it’s waay too soon to talk.

So no thanks. Delete. Bye.

What could he have done differently?

For starters, how about personalizing the email? Show me you’ve actually read something I wrote or at least know what kinds of services I offer.

Then. . . let’s see. . .

How about mentioning the name of someone I know who referred you to me? That would get my attention.

Or how about mentioning the name of someone in my field you’re working with whose name would impress me and show me you’ve got some credentials?

How about friending me on social media, first? Like and share my posts, engage me, talk to me about something we have in common. When you email me, then, you can mention that we’re connected and remind me that we already have a “relationship” before you take the next step.

How about offering me something I might be interested in? A free report, a tip sheet, a checklist, a video, for example, that shows me how to make more money, save time, get more leads, or something else that interests me, related to what you do?

How about offering me a free trial of your product or service, so I can see if it’s something I want to use or recommend to my clients?

How about at least giving me your website, so I can learn something about you and how you can help me?

Get my attention, first. Show me you have something beneficial to offer to me or my clients. Earn my trust, before asking me to talk.

Attorneys can use cold emails in their marketing. But don’t just blast them out and hope for the best. Don’t “spray and pray”. Learn something about the prospective client or referral source, meet them where they are, take them by the hand and walk them towards where you want them to go.

They’ll come, but at their pace, not yours.

Marketing online? Here’s what you need

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Email, List building, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship, Social media

What would you do with a $200,000 line of credit?

August 7, 2015 by
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What would you do with a $200,000 line of credit, or a windfall in that amount?

What would you buy? Who would you hire? What would you do to grow your practice or free up more time?

Would you hire more or better employees? What would you have them do?

Would you invest in additional web assets?

Would you invest in advertising, or increase your ad buys?

It’s up to you.

You might pay off higher interest debt. Maybe you’d open a second office, or move to a bigger one. Maybe you’d buy new computers or furniture or invest in training your staff to work more efficiently.

Think about your SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. How would access to cash allow you to maximize your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities, or neutralize threats?

What do you want to accomplish this year? Where do you want to be in five years?

Maybe you would invest in a business venture outside of your practice. For additional profit, for retirement, or just something you’ve always wanted to do.

As you think this through, you might decide to do nothing. You know you’re on track to meet your goals and you don’t need a pile of cash to get there.

The point of this exercise is to make you think about where you are and where you want to be. It’s to make you see what’s possible if money wasn’t an issue. It’s to give you ideas you can put on the drawing board.

If cash or credit would help you accomplish your goals more quickly, begin working towards acquiring a line of credit or amassing a pile of cash.

If you don’t need capital to get to the next level, however, consider building a line of credit anyway, because once you get to the next level, you might need cash to get to the level after that.

Do you know The Formula?

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Law office management, success, Technology

You don’t know what you don’t know

August 6, 2015 by
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I’ve hired hundreds of people in my career (law and business). I’ve looked at thousands of resumes and conducted more interviews than I can count. One thing I’ve learned is that while resumes and interviews and checking references help, you really don’t know how someone will do until you give them a try.

Some people look good on paper but aren’t right for the job. Some don’t present well in an interview but turn out to be great at doing the work.

You make an educated guess, but you don’t know until you hire them.

This is also true in the world of marketing. You don’t know how something will work out for you until you try it.

If you don’t have a blog, how do you know it’s too much work or won’t be worth the effort?

If you’ve never tried advertising, or only advertised (unsuccessfully) in the yellow pages, how do you know it’s not for you?

If you tried networking once or twice and hated it, how do you know you won’t love it if you find the right crowd?

You don’t. Because you don’t know what you don’t know.

Just as you have to hire a lot of people to find the ones who work out and stay with you long term, you have to try out lots of marketing techniques to find the ones that are the right fit. If something doesn’t work out, fine. But before you “fire” that activity, you might want to give it a second chance.

With a little time and a little coaching, it might turn out to be an amazing addition to your team.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

If Donald Trump managed your law office

August 5, 2015 by
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If Donald Trump managed your law office, you’d be in for one hell of a ride. On the first day he arrived, he’d call a meeting and lay out the plan to take you into the big (or bigger) leagues.

Before he arrived, he would have had his people study you. They would know your operation better than you do, and they would have recommendations. Lots of them. They will have briefed The Donald and he will be ready to sell the plan to you and your staff.

And that plan would be breathtaking.

Everything that you have always taken for granted would be back on the table. Every document, every procedure, every employee would be examined, and that includes you. Some of your staff will be given raises. Some will be fired. New people will be brought on board.

Waste will be eliminated. Opportunities will be exploited. Everything will run smoother, faster, and more profitably.

I imagine The Donald will tell you (repeatedly) why a business person and not a lawyer should run things. He’d point out that lawyers aren’t good at taking risks, they don’t appreciate marketing, and they are often better with paper than people.

Yes, he’d ruffle feathers and leave you breathless trying to keep up, but as a result of implementing his plan, new clients would come in, bills would go out, and your bank account would grow.

The lesson? Hire a business person to manage your law firm. Or change your thinking, crack the books, and become one yourself. Embrace the notion that your firm is a business and needs to be run like one. Change the way you think about things, and change the things you do.

Because Mr. Trump is a little busy right now and probably won’t show up at your office any time soon.

Here’s a good place to start

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Productivity

Help clients find you before they need you

August 4, 2015 by
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Hockey great Wayne Gretzky was asked how he was able to get so many good shots on goal. After all, he wasn’t the only one on the ice. How did he get the puck so often?

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been,” he said.

Lawyers need to do that with clients.

Figure out where your clients will be and what they will be doing before they need your services, and get there first. All of the other lawyers “on the ice” are waiting until prospective clients go looking. You’ll already have the puck and they won’t have a chance.

What are your clients doing one month or six months before they hire you? What are they reading? Who are they confiding in? What are they doing?

Answer this question, and get your name in front of them before they decide to hire a lawyer.

If you handle divorce, for example, your clients are probably reading books and blogs and articles and watching youtube videos about property rights and custody standards. Create your own books and articles and videos and advertise on or write for sites that offer this type of content.

Your clients are probably talking to people, like counselors, tax advisors, financial planners, real estate agents, and business lawyers. These folks can send you referrals, so find them and network with them. Stay in touch with your former clients because their friends will talk to them and ask about their experience, and if they can refer them to a good lawyer.

You can also create generic consumer or business content. If you handle personal injury, write a report on how to save money on auto insurance. If you represent small businesses, write a report on how to negotiate a better lease. Promote your reports and build a list.

Help clients find you before they need you. Figure out where they will be and get there first.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Referrals

If you’re not growing, you’re dying

August 3, 2015 by
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James Clear had an interesting post about something called The Repeated Bout Effect. In simple terms, it means, “the more you repeat a behavior, the less it impacts you because you become accustomed to it.”

He quotes Marshall Goldsmith, author of “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There,” who says, “Doing the same thing over and over again, even if it worked for a long time, will eventually lead to a plateau.”

Clear uses examples from weight training, but the principle applies to other aspects of life, including marketing and managing your practice. If you continue doing the same things you’ve always done, or you do them the same way you’ve always done them, you limit or retard your growth.

And if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

Clear suggests deliberately practicing new skills that you can master quickly, i.e., “in one to three practice sessions”. This will stimulate growth and help you reach new levels of achievement.

Identify skills that could prove helpful to you in marketing and managing your practice. Once a week or so, choose a skill to focus on for the next few days.

For ideas, read blogs and articles and books on those subjects. Talk to your colleagues and business contacts and see what they do to build or manage their business or practice.

Regularly add new skills to your bag of tricks and encourage your staff to do the same.

But don’t stop there.

I think it’s also wise to periodically examine your current skills and activities and seek ways to improve them.

Over the next few days, take note of everything you do–small tasks and big tasks, highly skilled tasks and rudimentary or routine tasks. Include everything: writing, speaking, presenting, signing up new clients, meeting with employees, interviewing job applicants, dictating a motion, prepping for trial, reviewing a new client intake, touch typing, and everything else.

Then, look at each task and ask yourself, “How can I do this better?”

Can you change the order of the steps? Add in an extra step? Use a different tool?

Can you do it faster, perhaps by leaving out a step or two?

Can you get better results by practicing the underlying skills or delegating some of the tasks (or the entire task) to someone else?

Acquiring new skills, combined with an ongoing effort to improve your current skills, is a powerful recipe for growth. And if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity Tagged With:
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