Building a high volume law practice

May 8, 2013 by
Share

When I started practicing, my goal was to build a high volume law practice. Lots and lots of smaller cases and clients.

Why?

Because there are more of them. I figured I had more chances to get small cases simply because there were more of them.

And because when I was getting started, I wasn’t good enough to handle the big ones.

But even when I was good enough, I still focused on small cases. My thinking was that a high volume of small to medium size cases would scale. As I brought in more business, I could hire more employees and get a bigger office. Or, as I later did, I could open a second office. And, if things didn’t work out, I could just as easily scale down.

Small cases meant smaller risk. Big cases require a big investment of time and resources and with only a handful of those cases, I could suffer some big losses if one or two went south.

The other reason is that a high volume law practice would make marketing easier. More clients meant more opportunities to get referrals from those clients. 500 clients meant 500 fishing lines in the water.

And I was right. I got lots of referrals. And life was good.

I always thought my exit strategy would be getting one or two monster cases that would allow me to cash out and be “done”. In law school, we heard that’s what our torts professor had done and it sounded good to me. But it never happened. I got some decent sized cases, but no monsters.

Many attorneys turn away small cases. They want bigger cases, with a bigger potential payoff, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

They probably don’t get as many referrals as I did, but the referrals they do get are bigger. If they’re really good, they get referrals from other attorneys who don’t handle big cases.

Some attorneys do it all. Small cases, medium cases, big cases. Bring it! The small cases allow the firm to finance the bigger cases. That works, too.

There’s no right or wrong way. You have to find your way.

If you aren’t (yet) a great attorney, be a prolific attorney. If you are a great attorney, you’ve got options.

If you want to get more clients and increase your income, learn The Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Law office management, Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With:

Do attorneys charge too much?

May 6, 2013 by
Share

A lot of people think attorneys charge too much. But you can’t charge too much. It’s not possible. If someone is willing to pay what you ask, then, by definition, it’s not too much.

Unless, somehow, an attorney has some kind of monopoly–government hook up, union contract, that sort of thing, or someone else is paying the bill–in a free market, the market determines price.

Willing buyer, willing seller, and all that.

Actually, many attorneys fees are too low. They don’t charge what they could. Why? Several reasons:

  • They try to match their rates to what other lawyers are charging, so they can “stay competitive,” and everyone gets locked into thinking that what everyone is charging is the “right price”.
  • They believe they will get more clients by offering rates somewhat lower than other attorneys.
  • They haven’t factored in the costs of overhead or inflation.
  • They start out low and are afraid that if they raise their rates they’ll lose clients.
  • They lack confidence in themselves and their abilities or think they don’t have enough experience to charge top dollar.

How do you know if you could charge more? You raise your fees and see what happens. Start with new clients. If there’s little or no resistance, roll out the increase with existing and former clients. Keep raising fees until there is “significant” resistance. I can’t tell you what that is, but you will know it when you see it.

Here’s the thing: the best clients don’t shop around for the lowest priced attorney, and you don’t want the ones who do. You should never compete on price. You’ll attract the worst clients, and besides, there will always be someone who charges less.

The best clients — the ones who return again and again and refer others — understand that you get what you pay for. In fact, if you charge less than most other attorneys, you’ll actually make them nervous. What would you think if you found out that the doctor who was about to operate on your brain charged much less than other surgeons?

You don’t want a reputation for being “low priced”. Instead, you want clients to think of you as “charging top dollar but worth every penny.” In this way, you get the better clients and maximize your revenues and profits.

Regularly survey the market and keep your fees at least in the upper one third of fees in your area. You don’t have to be the most expensive in town to get the best clients (although that may be an effective strategy for some lawyers), but you do want to be among that group.

Will you lose some clients as you raise your rates? Yes, but far fewer than you might imagine. And the revenue you lose by their loss will be more than made up for by the gains from other, higher-paying clients.

In fact, you may find that by raising your rates you actually find there is more demand for your services. More clients at higher rates? That would be okay, wouldn’t it?

The Attorney Marketing Formula: How to Earn More Than You Ever Thought Possible. Click here.

Share
Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Legal industry Tagged With: , ,

The only good lawyer is a dead lawyer

May 3, 2013 by
Share

In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of people don’t like lawyers. Hey, a lot of lawyers don’t like lawyers.

But why?

Because we help bad people get away with bad things? Because we’re mean? Because we earn a lot of money for doing nothing?

I guess there are lots of reasons. Most of which we can’t do anything about. But there’s one reason we can do something about.

A lot of people say they don’t like lawyers because we can’t be trusted. We lie. We don’t keep our promises. We say one thing and do another.

A lot of people think this. As long as they do, the legal profession will continue to be looked down upon and lawyers will have a harder time winning our clients’ trust.

What can we do about it? We can start by making sure we always keep our promises.

The other day I had a phone appointment with a lawyer. I called at the scheduled time, as we had arranged. The lawyer was “in with a client”. I was told the lawyer would call me back.

But he didn’t.

An appointment is a promise. Two people agree to meet or talk and they schedule it in their calendar. When someone doesn’t show up, they break that promise.

So, here’s the thing. If you want people to trust you, you have to do what you say you’re going to do. If you have an appointment, you keep it. If you say you’re going to call someone or you say you’re going to do something, you do it.

There is no gray area. There is no best efforts. As Yoda says, “Do, or do not. There is no try.”

If there is an emergency, okay, people understand. But you’ve got to tell them.

If you need to re-schedule, okay, that happens a lot. But you’re got to tell them.

Otherwise, they think, “flake”. “Doesn’t keep promises”. “Can’t be trusted”.

And people don’t want to hire lawyers that can’t be trusted.

Have you noticed how a lot of Texans who use the word “lawyer” intentionally pronounce it “liar”?

Now we know why.

If you want to learn more ways to build trust, get this.

Share
Filed Under: Client relations, Image, Legal industry, Personal development Tagged With: , , ,

Contract work for lawyers

May 2, 2013 by
Share

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about how a new attorney should seek appearances and overflow work from other attorneys. This morning, I found some older articles I had written about contract work for lawyers

One article was my response to an attorney who asked for my advice in getting contract work. I suggested the following:

  1. Call everyone you know who is a lawyer and let them know what you are doing. Ask them to refer you to three attorneys they know who may need court appearances, research, etc.
  2. Call everyone to whom you are referred and tell them what you’re looking for. Ask them to refer you to three attorneys who may need court appearances, etc.
  3. Repeat this process, until you have personally spoken to 100 attorneys. Follow up with a letter reminding them about what you do. Stay in touch with them every 90 days.

A personal phone call is a great way to cut through the clutter. But you can also be successful by advertising, as I did, or by mailing, as the following email I received attests:

“I think that I was perhaps one of the first contract attorneys in LA County way back when (late 80s). It was unheard of to hire hourly legal assistance at law firms and I certainly didn’t think it would work. Nonetheless, I sent out 100 letters to a focused group of law firms offering my services. I received 30 responses, had approximately 10 meetings and got work from almost everyone that I spoke to.

I’m sure my early big law firm experience helped, as well as my education and other credentials. But mainly I think I owe my success to just being willing to do something that made no sense at all!”

Christine P.

To whom should you write?

1. YOUR COMPETITION

I got a lot of personal injury referrals from personal injury attorneys. They had cases that needed to be worked up for trial and didn’t have the time.

If an attorney is going to turn it away a case that’s too small or two weak for them, why not give it to you? Especially if you offer a referral fee (if allowed) or suggest that you will associate with them on bigger matters that may be over your head.

I also got lots of appearances. I remember one sole practitioner who had been ill and was essentially bed ridden. His wife was holding the fort in the office while he recuperated and hired me to do all of the court appearances, depos, and arbitrations.

Another time, an insurance defense firm had to do hundreds of depos in a short period of time and didn’t have the manpower. I was brought in, along with several other contract attorneys, and we worked every day for six weeks. I billed them thousands of dollars a week (this was a long time ago) and they billed their client. I’m sure they had a nice mark up.

2. LAWYERS IN OTHER PRACTICE AREAS

If they don’t do what you do, you have a chance to get better clients and cases referred to you. The challenge is that they may already have someone they refer to.

But they might not. Or maybe they don’t have someone in your geographic area. You won’t know unless you ask.

And, a lawyer who doesn’t have something for you today might have something for you two months from now when the lawyer they had been referring business to screws up or is too busy, the matter is too small, or there is a conflict of interest.

Also, the lawyer you contact may not have work for you but they may know someone who does. So, focus on building relationships. The work will come.

You might also send letters to lawyers and firms that are advertising to hire attorneys. They obviously have the work and are looking for help, and until they find it, you may be able to get some of that work.

Even the best and biggest law firms need help from time to time. There are temp firms that book attorneys, and you can certainly register with them. But I found that going direct to the source allowed me to get the best work and charge the highest fees. And, once a lawyer had used me once or twice and knew they could trust me and my work, they usually wanted to continue to use me, even though they could find much cheaper alternatives.

Like any kind of marketing, the hard part is getting your foot in the door. As soon as one firm hires you or refers business, ask them for referrals to other lawyers who might need contract work. One will lead to others.

Marketing is easier when you know The Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , , ,

How does a new attorney get clients?

May 1, 2013 by
Share

Yes, how does a new attorney get clients? I remember when I was opening my practice this was something I desperately wanted to know. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a good answer.

I was told that I should do the following:

  1. Send engraved announcements to everyone you know announcing your new practice
  2. Pass out business cards to everyone you meet
  3. Join groups where you can network and pass out cards to everyone you meet
  4. And, that was about it.

There was no Internet in those days. Yellow pages advertising was too expensive. Besides, I’d have to wait months for the book to come out and I needed business immediately.

I didn’t send out announcements, but I did tell everyone that I had opened my own practice. That brought in exactly zero business. I didn’t do any networking. I was 23 years old and looked it, and I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously. Hey, I didn’t take me seriously.

What I did do (on the phone and in classified ads in a bar journal) was contact other attorneys and let them know I was available for (a) appearances and (b) overflow work. And that actually worked. It gave me some breathing room until I could figure out how to get some clients of my own.

If you’re a new attorney today, opening your own practice, I suggest you do the same. It’s a great way to generate immediate income and get some hands on experience.

But the first thing you should do is set up a website.

Not a page in an online directory or a free website, but your own site. A domain name you own and a site that you host. You don’t need anything fancy. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. You can either do it yourself–if I can learn, you can learn–or pay someone $100 to set up the site for you. Monthly costs are less than $10.

Add lots of content to your site, to show people what you know and how you can help them. Educate people about the law and procedure. Show them what they need to know. Answer their questions, show them their options, and help them understand what to do.

Yes, you should also tell them about the services you offer. But fill your website primarily with information prospective clients want to know about their legal problems and the available solutions . Give them enough information and they will see that you can deliver those solutions.

Make sure your content has appropriate keywords so clients can find you via search. And make sure your site has social media sharing enabled so visitors to your site can share your content with their friends and contacts.

As you gain experience, update your site with additional content–articles, blog posts, reports, checklists–and stories of how you have helped your clients solve problems.

Start building a list. Not everyone who visits your site is ready to hire you. Capture their email address so you can stay in touch with them, notify them when you post new content, and remind them that you are still available to help them or people they know.

When you meet someone who might be a prospective client or referral source, send them to your website so they can learn about what you do.

What’s next? Well, that depends on you. You can continue to build your practice primarily online. You can join networking groups and do public speaking. You can create a free seminar or webinar and “allow” other professionals and centers of influence to invite their clients.

But here’s the thing. Your best source of new clients is referrals from existing and former clients. So, as soon as you have a few clients who are happy with your work, you should leverage those relationships to generate new business.

You can ask for referrals directly but you have another option: ask your clients to refer people to your website and the great content you have available.

How does a new attorney get clients? The same way an old attorney gets clients. Plus appearances and overflow.

The Attorney Marketing Formula. How attorneys get clients.

Share
Filed Under: Advertising, Business cards, Client loyalty, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Networking, Online Marketing, Referrals, SEO, Social media marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,

I hate my clients

April 30, 2013 by
Share

You: I hate my clients. They’re angry, stressed out, demanding, and impatient. They blame me for everything and are making me miserable. I don’t know if I can do a good job for people I can’t stand to be around. Do you have any advice?

Me: If you are delivering a perfunctory service–preparing a document, a few court appearances, basic work where you don’t have to see the client that often, just focus on the work. Or, focus on the money they’re paying you.

If you’re talking about an ongoing relationship, where you have to deal with the client closely over a long period of time, a difficult client is more challenging. The way I see it, there are three things you can do:

1. Be honest. Tell the client you need to talk to them about something important and ask permission to be candid. Then, tell them how you feel. Explain that you understand what they’re going through, but when they take out their anger and frustration on you, it makes it more difficult for you to do a good job for them. Remind them that you are on their side and that you need to work together. Once they agree, establish some ground rules so you can move forward.

2. Get a buffer. Have someone else in the office deal with the difficult client. You step into the picture from time to time, briefly, and then step out.

3. If you can’t change your clients, change your clients. If you still find it difficult to work with an individual client, despite your best efforts, ask them to find another lawyer. If you find it difficult to work with most of your clients, you need to consider a new practice area (or new career).

You don’t have to like your clients to do a good job for them, but it helps. If you do like your clients, they’ll be more likely to like you, and that is always a good thing.

Marketing is everything we do to get and keep good clients. Here’s the formula.

Share
Filed Under: Client relations, Personal development

7 Reasons You Should Write More

April 29, 2013 by
Share

I know, you already do plenty of writing for work. You should write more.

Love it or loathe it, writing more (and getting better at it) is good for you and good for your practice. In fact, if I were making a list of essential skills for attorneys, writing would at or very near the top.

Here are 7 reasons:

  1. You learn things. Writers are readers. In reading deeply in your discipline, and broadly outside of it, you accumulate knowledge. That knowledge makes you better at spotting issues and finding solutions. It helps you understand other people and relate to them. It makes you more well-rounded, interesting, and likable.
  2. You find out what you think. Writing forces you to clarify your thoughts and priorities. Clarity leads to better decisions; better decisions leads to better outcomes.
  3. Writing more makes you a better writer. You get better at asking questions, doing research, and sorting information. You get better at the mechanics of writing. You get better at communicating your ideas and persuading others to your cause.
  4. Writing makes you a better speaker. Writing helps you consolidate, organize, and present your ideas. You develop a better ear for words and become a better story teller. Not surprisingly, speaking more makes you a better writer.
  5. Writing helps you meet new people. You can approach other experts, to interview them, invite them to do a guest post for your blog or an article for your newsletter. Through them, you can meet other people you would like to know.
  6. Writing helps you build your practice. The more you write, the better you get at showing people what you do and how you can help them. The more articles, posts, reports, and other documents you create and distribute, the more opportunities there are for clients to find you.
  7. Writing more helps you become a better attorney. For all of the above reasons.

To get better at writing, write something every day. A journal is a good place to start.

If you don’t know what to write, open a blank page, set a timer for 15 minutes, and write whatever comes. Keep your hand moving (or fingers typing) and don’t stop until the timer sounds. If nothing comes, write about how you don’t know what to write, but keep going.

Write something every day and your writing will improve. So will your thinking. So will you.

Get more clients and increase your income. Get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Share
Filed Under: Communication, Personal development, Writing

Promote someone else’s business or practice today

April 26, 2013 by
Share

I’m sure you know other professionals or businesses you would recommend to your clients and contacts. If someone asked you for a referral, you would enthusiastically offer up their name.

Instead of waiting to be asked for a referral, I want you to take some time today to tell everyone you know all about this outstanding individual or company.

Write an article and publish it on your blog or in your newsletter. Send a solo email to your list. Make sure you tell everyone you see in the office today or talk to on the phone.

Tell them why you recommend them. What makes them different? What do they do that is remarkable?

If you’ve used them personally, share the story. If your clients or friends have used them, mention that, too.

Give out their website. Tell people to subscribe to their blog or newsletter, download their report, or Like their page. Ask people to buy their products or services and refer everyone they know.

Promote someone else’s business or practice today.

Do it because you want to help the people you know find quality products and services. Do it because you appreciate the business owner or professional and want to support their good work. Do it because it feels good to say nice things about someone.

But don’t do it because you want that business or professional to do something similar for you.

Yes, they might reciprocate. If they do, be happy for them. It’s nice to receive, but the true joy is in the giving.

Marketing is easy when you know what to do. Here’s the formula.

Share
Filed Under: Client relations, Marketing legal services, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Stop marketing to people who don’t hire lawyers

April 25, 2013 by
Share

Yesterday, I wrote about clients who need what you offer but don’t necessarily want what you offer. Your job, I said, was to convince them to want what you know they need.

I also said you should (primarily) focus on attracting new clients who already know they want what you offer. Stop marketing to people who don’t hire lawyers.

A lawyer asked me to clarify.

If you owned a restaurant that served steaks and chops, would you advertise in a vegetarian magazine? Hey, you might convince a few readers who have been thinking of giving up vegetarianism, or who occasionally eat meat, that they should try your place. Or, maybe people in their family aren’t vegetarian and will see your ad.

Wouldn’t you be better off advertising in magazines where other steak houses advertise, and show their readers why you have the best steaks in town?

It’s much easier and more profitable to market to people who already buy what you’re selling.

When people are sued, not everyone will hire a lawyer. Some don’t want to spend the money and try to settle it themselves. Some defend it pro se. Some ignore the problem and hope it will go away. Some are judgment proof or are already planning to file bankruptcy.

The point is, not everyone who NEEDS an attorney WANTS to hire one. Don’t spend a lot of time convincing them. Target people who have already demonstrated their willingness to spend money on attorneys:

  • The ones who go to search engines to find attorneys who handle their issue
  • The ones who ask their friends on social media for recommendations
  • The ones who read articles written by attorneys
  • The ones who attend seminars to learn about their options
  • The ones who already have an attorney but are unhappy and are looking to change

Tailor your marketing to appeal to people who use attorneys and show them why they should choose you.

Let’s say you are a small business attorney and you are scheduled to do a luncheon talk for small business owners on a subject of your choosing. You could do a talk about why business owners should have an attorney review their contracts and leases before they sign them. Or, you could talk about a new law that affects small businesses in your community or niche market.

Let’s say the room is 50/50 people who regularly hire attorneys and people who don’t.

If you talk about “why attorneys,” you may or may not convince some who don’t use attorneys. But you are definitely not showing the people who already hire attorneys why they should hire you. They already know “why attorneys”. Yawn.

If you talk about the new law, however, you’re showing everyone in the room something valuable. The group who hires attorneys may conclude that their existing or former attorney didn’t tell them things like this and maybe they should give you a closer look.

Ironically, you’re also showing the other half, the ones who don’t use attorneys, why they should start. They may not have realized that an attorney (like you) can help his clients protect themselves by being aware of new laws like the one you are talking about.

Stop marketing to people who don’t hire attorneys. Sell your steaks to meat eaters.

Get The Attorney Marketing Formula before your competition does. Click here.

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services

Clients buy what they want, not what they need

April 24, 2013 by
Share

In sales and marketing it is axiomatic that people buy what they want, not what they need. Your client may need a living trust, but unless he wants it, he’s not going to hire you to prepare it. He may need to settle his case, but if he doesn’t want to take the latest offer, you’re going to trial.

Your job is to help your client want what he needs.

So, you show him the facts. You tell him what he will gain if he follows your advice and what he may lose if he does not.

But the facts, compelling though they may be, are often not enough. The client doesn’t believe the bad things will happen to him, or he’s willing to take his chances. What then?

Your best bet is to use “third party,” meaning someone else’s experience or expert opinion. So, you tell your client stories about what happened to others who didn’t follow your advice. Or you show him statistics compiled by an independent organization. Or articles written by other lawyers.

This is something you do every day with your clients. You do the best you can because that’s all you can do.

But with new clients, you have a choice.

You can choose to convince prospective clients that they need a living trust, for example, and many attorneys do precisely that. They educate prospects, through seminars and reports and blog posts, in an attempt to persuade them that a will isn’t enough and that a living trust is what they need.

They spend a lot of time and money and go through a lot of people to find the ones who will become clients.

But you don’t have to do that. You can choose to target people who have already decided they want a living trust and show them why they should choose you as their attorney.

This is what I do with my services.

All attorneys need to know about marketing, right? No matter how busy and successful they are, there’s always room to grow. But not all attorneys want to know about marketing. Do I try to convince them that they should? No. I let their circumstances and other blogs inform them and motivate them. When they want to learn about marketing or improve their results, I show them how I can help.

There’s nothing wrong with educating your target market about why they need what you offer. I’m not saying you shouldn’t. There are a lot of people at various stages of learning about what they need and many of them will eventually decide to hire an attorney. You’ll want to be there when they do.

Focus most of your energy, however, on the ones who have already decided they want an attorney and are looking for the right one.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you how to get more clients. Click here for details.

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:
« Previous Page
Next Page »