What do clients want from their lawyers?

June 7, 2013 by
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What do clients want from their lawyers? I don’t mean just your work product or the results of your efforts.

I’m talking about their overall experience with you and your firm.

You need to know so you can give it to them.

You should ask your clients what they want. Put up a survey on your website or hire a firm to conduct one over the phone. Or mail a questionnaire to your former clients.

But what do you ask?

I was thinking about this the other night while I was watching a commercial for a hotel chain. I asked myself what I thought was the most important factor for me in choosing a hotel. The answer came to me immediately: cleanliness.

Now I’m not a clean freak, by any means. I’ve stayed in hotels before that weren’t particularly clean and I survived. But if I have a choice (and I do) and I’m going to be sleeping in a bed that hundreds of others have slept in, I’m going to choose a hotel that appears to have very high standards of cleanliness.

I jotted down other factors I might consider in choosing a hotel (in no particular order):

  • Convenient location
  • Security features
  • Quiet rooms
  • Free wifi
  • Reasonable prices
  • Free breakfast
  • Participation in my credit card rewards program
  • Starbucks in the lobby or nearby

Some are more important than others. Many of them I can live without, but each one is a selling factor.

Now, do the same thing for your practice. Make a list of what you think clients want from their lawyers, specifically, you and your firm. Try to think of things your clients would tell you and things they might not say but nevertheless want.

I’ll help you get started:

  • Office near the client’s home or work
  • Early/late/weekend appointments
  • Phone answered within three rings; on hold for no more than 30 seconds
  • Clear explanation of options, risks, timeline, contingenices
  • No pressure to sign up
  • Polite treatment by staff, attorneys
  • Being seen at the time of the appointment (not having to wait)
  • Billing statement that’s easy to understand and sufficient detail
  • Flat fees, so they know in advance the total cost
  • Not being charged for every phone call, every copy (not “nickeled-and-dimed”)
  • Payment options (payments, financing, credit cards)
  • Regular progress reports (at no additional charge)
  • Returned phone calls within 48 hours maximum, preferably 24 hours
  • Free/validated parking
  • Starbucks. . .

Now you have some ideas for creating a survey. You also have some ideas for improving your services.

Don’t stop there. Dig deeper and see what else you can come up with for improving client relations. In the category of being “polite treatment,” for example, think about how you would make that occur. You might want to start another list:

  • Greeted by name upon arrival
  • Smile, eye contact, asking about their day
  • Shaking hands
  • Offering water, soft drink or coffee
  • Having coloring books or toys available for children
  • Box of tissues within reach of the client’s chair
  • Not taking calls or checking text messages during appointment
  • Introducing other staff who will be working on their case
  • Brief tour of the office
  • Patiently and thoroughly answering all questions
  • Walking them out after the appointment
  • Personal  thank you note from lawyer

What do clients want from their lawyers? If you were hiring a lawyer, what would you want? Write that down. Now you know.

Marketing is everything you do to get and keep good clients. Here’s the Formula.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management, Marketing legal services

Email marketing for attorneys

June 6, 2013 by
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Yesterday, an email arrived in my inbox. See if you can tell what’s wrong with it:

–BEGIN EMAIL–
David,

First of all thanks you for subscribing over the years. I know
many of you have read my books or taken some of my courses
and I truly appreciate that.

The reason I have been so passionate in creating an online
business over the years is because it is the perfect way to
reach people worldwide and EXPRESS YOUR CREATIVITY.

I have tried the do this in my [Product names] . . . as well as my music.

——————————
QUICK NOTE:

Our once a year World Class [Product Name] Certification
Program starts next Monday June 10. Only a few spots left.

[Link to sign up]

——————————

THE SECRET OF LIFE

In my opinion it is doing what you love and sharing it
with others (and best of all make a living at it).

But rather than talk about it let me SING it to you
with some help from [Famous singer]…

[Youtube link of famous singer with writer of email]

In this You Tube channel you will see a part of me
many of you haven’t. In 1976 I got a Masters in
[Music degree, school]

. . .

–END EMAIL–

Okay, that’s enough. The rest of the email discusses his music and asks us to subscribe to his Youtube channel. He then mentions that he is working on another product and signs off.

So, what’s wrong with this email?

1. Who is this guy?

You can’t tell from the email itself but this is a list I signed up for a long time ago and I haven’t heard from this guy for at least six months. I don’t remember anything about him or what he does.

When people subscribe to your list, you have to write to them regularly or they forget who you are and that they signed up on your list. At best, they delete your email or unsubscribe. At worst, they flag your email as SPAM and now, when you do write to your list, your emails get filtered out and don’t get read.

You must write regularly, and frequently. You want to build a relationship with your readers, so that they know who you are and look forward to hearing from you. You don’t know when they will need to hire you, or know someone who does, and if you’re not in their mailboxes and their minds when that occurs, you’re not going to get the call.

2. “I know many of you have. . .”.

When you write to me, write to me. Don’t write in the collective. Say “you” not “many of you”.

Even if there are thousands of subscribers on your list, write your email as though it is a personal communication sent only to one reader. Me.

3. What’s in it for me?

When you write to me, tell me something that will make my life better. Give me something valuable–a tip, a link to something I can use in my business or personal life. There is nothing in this email that does that.

I’m blazing through my inbox, reading and saving a few emails that have something of value for me and deleting (and unsubscribing) everything else. If you want me to read your email, give me a reason. Give me a benefit. Tell me what’s in it for me.

4. “I have been so passionate about. . .”.

Your readers may care about what you are passionate about, but only if they share that passion or they have a relationship with you. The rest of us don’t care. We have our own problems to solve and lives to lead. We’re busy. We don’t have time to look at what you’re doing and did I mention, we really don’t care?

Ironically, I do share his passion for expressing my creativity. I also like the music of the famous singer he refers to. But I didn’t go watch his videos because I can watch videos of the famous singer any time I want. I don’t care that years ago, this guy played with him. So what? Lots of people did. I don’t know them, either.

On the other hand, when you have a relationship with your subscribers, you can share with them something about you that has no direct benefit to them, and they will pay attention.

When you have a relationship with someone, they’ll read your emails, Like and Tweet your posts, send their friends to your website, and respond to your requests. When they need your help, they’ll hire you. When they have a referral, they’ll give it to you. And when you share a video of you playing with a famous musician, they’ll go watch, because they probably don’t have a relationship with anyone else who did that and it might be neat to go see someone they know in a video with someone famous.

Build your list. Build relationships with your list.

Email marketing for attorneys. Click here for details.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Copywriting, Email, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Writing Tagged With:

What’s the best way to handle objections?

June 5, 2013 by
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What’s the best way to handle objections?

The best way is to eliminate them before they occur. That means providing enough information to prospective clients on your website, in your presentations, and in your client meetings, so that all of their issues and concerns are addressed and there is nothing left to object to.

Give them the facts. Share the stories. Provide FAQ’s that deal with all of the objections you commonly hear.

If money is a common objection, make sure you build the value of what they get, show them how not hiring you could be even more costly, and explain the payment options you have available. Deal with this issue in advance and you will get far fewer objections.

You won’t completely eliminate objections, however. What then?

It depends.

Sometimes, the best way to handle objections is to repeat them back to the prospective client. People often say things they don’t really mean or haven’t thought through. When they hear their own words repeated back to them, it causes them to re-evaluate. As they respond, they often answer their own objection.

Your conversation might go like this:

CLIENT: “I want to think about it”
YOU: “You want to think about it?”
CLIENT: “Yeah, I need a day or two”
YOU: “A day or two?”
CLIENT: “Well, maybe not that long. I need to see if this is something I want to do.”
YOU: “Something you want to do?”
CLIENT: “Well, I know I need to do this but it’s kinda expensive [the true objection reveals itself]. . .”
YOU: “Expensive?”
CLIENT: “Yeah, it’s a lot of money to me. But like I say, I know I need to do this and I guess I can put it on a credit card, so let’s get this going. . .”.

Sometimes, the best way to handle objections is to respond directly. When the client tells you they want to think about it and you know the real objection is probably something else, like money, you might say, “I understand completely. It is a big decision and it is a lot of money. But you have to consider what might happen if you ignore this problem. As we discussed. . .” and go over the issues and possible outcomes again.

If you’re not sure what the real objection is, ask them. “What exactly do you want to think about? Is it the need? Is it the cost?”

Handling objections this way is sometimes referred to as “Feel, Felt, Found.” It is a way to validate the client’s position before you respond to and overcome their objection. So if they object to the expense, you might say, “I understand how you FEEL. A lot of my clients tell me they FELT the same way when they were in your position. But once we got started, they FOUND that it was money well spent and they were glad they got it taken care of.”

Sometimes, the best way to handle objections is to ignore them. You’ve handed the client a retainer agreement and pen and he tells says he wants to think about it. Instead of saying, “Sure, just let me know,” and having him walk out, you say, “I can get started this afternoon and have everything done for you by next Tuesday. You will finally be able to move forward with your life and you told me that’s what you want to do. Today is the 15th; make sure you write the date here” and point to the blank for the date.

Clients typically have the same four or five objections, not hundreds. Think about the last few prospective clients who didn’t retain you. What did they say? How did you respond? How might you have handled it differently?

Come up with two or three ways to handle each common objection and the next time they arise, you’ll be ready.

Want to make the phone ring? Here’s my step-by-step system.

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Handling objections, Salesmanship

How to stand out from the crowd

June 4, 2013 by
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“There are so many attorneys who do what I do. How do I stand out from the crowd?”

I was thinking about this the other day as I was browsing through the app store. There are thousands of apps for writing, note taking, outlining, and task management. I love checking out new productivity apps, but they are all so similar, more and more I find myself not even bothering to look.

Attorneys have the same challenge. If you do what all the other attorneys do, why should anyone choose you? How do you even get them to look?

App developers and attorneys have three ways to differentiate themselves.

THE FIRST WAY TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

If your services (or app) are extraordinary, meaning so much better than what everyone else offers, you will eventually be noticed. The cream will rise to the top.

I have my favorite note taking app. I consider it the best in it’s class. I even wrote a book about it. However, if I ever found something demonstrably better, I would be open to switching. It wouldn’t be easy to convince me, but it could be done.

Attorneys can stand out from the crowd by working hard to serve them in every way possible. Since many attorneys don’t “get” this, however, this is not as difficult as it may appear. You don’t necessarily have to be the best, just better than the crowd.

THE SECOND WAY TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

Jerry Garcia once said, “It’s not enough to be the best at what you do; you must be perceived as the only one who does what you do.” You may not be any better than other attorneys, but you can stand out from the crowd by being different.

Are you the only one who does what you do? Do you have a “unique selling proposition” (USP)?

The key word is “perceived”. You don’t really have to be unique. Jerry Garcia wasn’t the best musician and he certainly wasn’t the only musician. But he definitely did stand out from the crowd.

THE THIRD WAY TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

The easiest way to stand out from the crowd is by defining what you do in terms of for whom you do it. By marketing to well defined niche markets instead of the mass market, you can clearly differentiate yourself from other attorneys.

In addition, through your knowledge of and experience in your niche market, you will be able to provide better service and more value than other attorneys who don’t have that knowledge and experience, so you will be perceived as better as well as different.

How do you stand out from the crowd? By being seen as better, unique, or by serving a particular niche market. Any one will get the job done. Get all three right and you may find clients describing you as “the only one who does what you do”.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you how to craft your USP. Get it here.

 

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Specializing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Internet Marketing for Attorneys: How to Make the Phone Ring

June 3, 2013 by
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The Attorney Marketing Center announced the release of a new course, “Make the Phone Ring: A Step-by-Step System for Attracting Good Clients.” The course is primarily about Internet marketing for attorneys, says David M. Ward, author of the course and CEO of The Attorney Marketing Center, but also shows attorneys how to get more referrals.

Ward, a former practicing attorney, taught himself how to get clients online and says too many attorneys spend money on high priced consultants or expensive websites that bring very poor results. “Internet marketing for attorneys is not that difficult once you know what to do,” he says.

“Make the Phone Ring” shows attorneys how to create an effective website, the basis of marketing online. “Many attorney’s websites are little more than an online brochure which does nothing to differentiate them from other attorneys who offer similar services,” Ward says. “An effective website shows visitors how the attorney is different and why the visitor should choose them.”

Ward says that among other features, an effective website has lots of high quality information that helps people understand their legal problems and the available solutions. “When prospective clients go online, this is precisely what they are looking for. They don’t want ads, they want information,” Ward says. “When your website provides this information, visitors see why they should choose you because you’re not just telling them you know what you’re doing, you’re showing them.”

In addition, a website that provides this information will also attract those prospective clients through search engines and social sharing. “Internet marketing for attorneys is actually quite simple. The more information on your website, the more likely it is that prospective clients will find you and sell themselves on hiring you,” Ward says.

Ward based the course on his system of marketing online. He says that every day his website attracts attorneys who are looking for the solutions he offers and he doesn’t spend a lot of time or money on marketing. Most attorneys can do what he does in a couple of hours a week, he says.

“Make the Phone Ring” is available as a pdf download at Ward’s website. For additional information, please visit The Attorney Marketing Center.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, News, Online Marketing Tagged With: ,

What do you do when you have too much to do?

May 31, 2013 by
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I’ve got lists. Lots of tasks and projects. Things I’m working on and things I plan to work on. Everything is organized in Evernote. I follow my own version of GTD. Every task or project has at least one tag to identify it as something I plan to do Now, Next, or Someday.

But while everything is organized and tagged, I still have too much to do. It’s overwhelming. So I find myself avoiding my lists and doing what is nagging at my brain, which defeats the entire purpose of having a task management system.

Currently I have 54 Now tasks, 531 tagged for Next. I’m supposed to look at everything during my weekly review, but with that many tasks on my list, I find myself procrastinating.

What do you do when you have too much to do and your weekly review isn’t working?

You declare task bankruptcy.

You get rid of everything and start over. A fresh start with your tasks.

While I had never heard the term “task bankruptcy” before, I’ve done it before. I did it to achieve inbox zero with my email. I did it when I stopped using one online task management app and started using another and there was no way to export/import my tasks. I can attest to how good it feels to wipe the slate clean and start over.

Starting over doesn’t mean throwing out everything. I will refer to my lists in the process of creating new ones. But every task will be scrutinized and will have to earn it’s way back onto my lists.

First, I will move all of my tasks and projects into a temporary notebook. My main notebook, where I keep all of my tasks and projects will then be empty.

(NB: In Evernote, I use one notebook for all of my notes. I use tags to identify when I will do something (Now, Next, etc.) and for reference purposes. Multiple notebooks leads to confusion–Which notebook should I file this note in? Which notebook DID I file that note in?)

Next, I will go through all of my tasks and projects in the temporary notebook. Anything I know I want to do (or have to do) will get moved back into my main notebook. Anything I’m not sure of, that doesn’t call out to me and inspire me, will go.

The objective is to have a lean and mean Now and Next list. I will still have my Someday/Maybe list, but I will be ruthless in paring this as well.

I guess you could describe this as a periodic review. You go through everything and make decisions about whether you still want to do something and if so, when. That’s what should be done during the weekly review. But when the whole system gets bloated, it makes sense to periodically re-boot.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything you have to do, if you find yourself procrastinating on your weekly review, you might want to declare task bankruptcy and get a fresh start.

But be careful. Once you have zeroed out your task obligations and created new lists, those tasks might start accumulating again. Fortunately, you won’t have to wait seven years before declaring task bankruptcy again. You can do it any time you want.

If you want to see how I organize everything, check out my Evernote for Lawyers ebook.

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Filed Under: Dealing with stress, Productivity Tagged With: , , , ,

The secret to success in the courtroom, boardroom, and new car showroom

May 30, 2013 by
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If you want to win more trials, negotiate better deals, and make lots of money so you can buy new cars, the secret has just been revealed.

According to a study of over a billion Tweets during sporting events, being confident makes you more popular than being right. “The more opinionated [the tweeters] were, the more influential and trustworthy they were perceived to be,” the study found.

I’m not surprised. People are attracted to confident people. They listen to them and want to follow them.

I am a little surprised, however, by the researcher’s correlation of “loud” and “confident”. “Despite professional pundits and amateur fans making a similar amount of correct and incorrect predictions, the tweeters who ‘yelled’ louder were seen as more trustworthy and had more followers,” they said.

I don’t know about you, but when I hear people “shouting,” I see it as a lack of confidence. When you have the facts on your side, you don’t need to shout. But maybe that’s not true on Twitter where you have to make noise so you can be heard above the incessant chatter.

In the real world, I have occasionally raised my voice slightly to emphasize a point in a negotiation or in oral argument. It is done sparingly and it is very brief, no more than a word or two. Mostly, I rely on a calm and sober recitation of the facts. I’ll bet you do, too.

Maybe that’s why many attorneys aren’t loving social media. We’re too self-conscious. We want to win friends and influence people but we don’t want to shout to do it.

Fortunately, there is another way to be popular on social media. According to another study, referenced on the same page, “Twitter users who posted positive, easy-to-read messages that contained news and other factual information, gained 30 times more followers than grumpy, self-centred [sic] tweeters.”

So, if you want more friends and followers, and you want to win more arguments and more trials, be confident, stay positive, and share valuable information. And if you are inclined to shout, make sure it’s not about you.

Want to attract more good clients? Click here to learn how.

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Filed Under: Communication, Image, Personal development, Presentations, Public Speaking, Social media Tagged With:

The most important second opinion a lawyer can get

May 29, 2013 by
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Every day lawyers make lots of decisions. Big ones and little ones. And we’re pretty good at it. We usually make them quickly and we’re right most of the time.

But what do you do when you don’t know what to do?

You’ve weighed the pros and cons, you’ve IRAC’d the facts and reasoned out all the “on the other hand”s and you still can’t decide. What then?

You can do more research. More information often helps. But sometimes, it does just the opposite. More information makes it harder to decide because there’s too much to evaluate, too many things that can go wrong.

So, you get a second opinion. You ask your partner or a colleague. You talk to your mentor or bring it to your mastermind group. You ask your wife.

Sometimes I ask people like Aristotle or Albert Einstein what they see about the situation and what they would advise me to do. “What would Abraham Lincoln do in this situation?”

Hearing what other intelligent, informed people say on the subject often helps us to know the best course of action. But just as too much information sometimes makes it harder to decide, too many opinions can do the same thing. Too many cooks often do spoil the broth.

When you have collected enough information, sought out second and third and fourth opinions, and still don’t know what to do, the only thing you can do is to ask yourself for a second opinion.

Put away everything you know and have learned about the subject, all of the information and opinions of others, and after a reasonable period of time, come back to the subject with fresh eyes. Just like editing a paper, the passage of time will allow you to see things you could not see before and give you clarity about what to do.

It is your decision, after all. The most important second opinion a lawyer can get is his or her own.

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With: ,

Yep, size does matter

May 28, 2013 by
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We used to say, “you can judge the success of a man by the size of his Rolodex.” Of course today we would say, “you can judge the success of a person by the size of his or her list”.

It’s true. The more people you know, the more conduits you have to clients, referrals, introductions, and information. As the currently running ATT commercial says, “more is better”.

However, while the size of your list is important, even more important is the quality of that list.

You may do pro bono work at a legal clinic and know 1000 indigent people. From a networking standpoint, the five people you know on the clinic’s board are probably more valuable to you.

Who you know is more important than how many.

A small list of high quality contacts will almost always beat a much bigger list of weaker contacts.

What is a high quality contact? Someone who needs your services, has the authority to hire you and the ability to pay is a high quality contact. So is someone who is influential in your target market. They might not need your services themselves but if they can refer a lot of people who do (or who know people who do) they are a high quality contact.

But there is another equally important factor: your relationship with the people on that list.

You may know a lot of people who have the ability to hire you or the ability to refer clients to you but if they don’t yet know you well enough to hire you or send you referrals, their value to you is limited.

It’s not just who you know, it’s who knows you.

So you want a list of high quality contacts, people with the ability to hire you or refer lots of others and who know, like, and trust you enough to do so. Where do you find them?

You find them on your list of low quality and average quality contacts. Quantity leads to quality. The bigger your list of low quality and average quality contacts, the bigger will be your list of high quality contacts.

The man or woman with a big Rolodex or email list has lots of high quality contacts but they also have lots of low quality contacts.

So yes, size still does matter.

Want to grow your list online? Click here to learn how.

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Filed Under: Leverage, List building, Networking, Online Marketing, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Holy shitakes, Evernote adds reminders!

May 23, 2013 by
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Evernote announced today the addition of reminders on Mac, iOS, and their webapp, and promises to soon roll out the feature to Windows, Android, and other platforms.

This is big!

This long awaited feature is the missing piece of the puzzle for those of us who use Evernote for tracking our tasks and projects. We can now add a reminder to any note, include a date and time, and receive notifications via the app and email. For the first time, we can schedule future due dates (or “start dates”), without having to use a funky workaround.

If you have a document due in 60 days but don’t want to work on it right now, for example, you can set a reminder for, say, 45 days and forget about it. On the 45th day, you will be notified that it’s time to work on that document.

Which means you won’t have to put a reminder on your calendar or in any other reminder applications.

We are told they are working on many more features. I hope that includes multiple reminders. If so, then you can schedule the due date for 60 days hence, and a start date for 45 days. Recurring reminders would also be welcome.

I’ve just started using this feature but I can already say this is a very exciting addition to my number one productivity app. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Want to see my Evernote set up? Get my Evernote for Lawyers ebook.

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Filed Under: News, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: ,
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