Why the average lawyer earns average income (and why you don’t have to)

March 1, 2012 by
Share

In yesterday’s post I made the point that most clients don’t price shop, that price isn’t at the top of their list of hiring criteria. A lawyer posted on Facebook that he sees price shopping all the time, the result of the commoditization of legal services.

Who’s right? We both are.

If the services you sell are just like everyone else’s, you have a commodity and if a client can buy it from someone else for less, they often will. In the age of the Internet, it’s easy to find dozens of lawyers who offer the same services. If the attorneys advertise their fees, as many who offer commodities do, it’s even easier to compare prices. When all the client has to go on is price, price becomes important.

At the same time surveys consistently tell us that price is not the number one criteria among clients. It’s not irrelevant, they are just more concerned with issues of trust and quality.

So, we have a dichotomy. Clients say price isn’t the number one factor in choosing a lawyer and yet many clients do compare prices. How do you reconcile these two statements? More importantly, how do you avoid the price shoppers?

There are two ways. The first is to not offer what everyone else is offering so there can be no comparison. When every other attorney is offering apples, you offer oranges.

Package and promote your services so that they are different from what other lawyers offer. The average lawyer offers a commodity, you don’t. You offer something different and better.

If you handle consumer bankruptcy, for example, look for ways to add value and scope to your services and offer a comprehensive bundle of benefits that goes beyond the core services you now offer. This might include loan modification, tax lien negotiation, foreclosure defense, and credit repair. You might offer these additional services yourself or partner with other professionals who do. If not a complete service, at least offer information and advice so the client can get the solutions they need.

Don’t just treat the disease, cure the patient!

Put on your thinking cap and get your creative juices flowing. But don’t start with your services, start with your clients and the problem they want to solve. What caused the problem? What do they need to do to fix it? How can they avoid having this problem in the future? What other problems do they have? What problems have they had in the past or are likely to have in the future?

The answers to these questions will allow you to create a unique bundle of services that distinguish you from other lawyers and allow you to charge more than they do.

If you offer what everyone else does, as the average lawyer does, you will continue to see price shoppers, and in today’s economy especially, downward pressure on your fees. If you offer what nobody else does, or if you promote your services in ways that nobody else does, you will be (or appear to be) unique. You can sell your oranges for more than average attorneys sell their apples.

The second way to avoid price shoppers is by getting referrals. Referred clients come to you pre-sold. Somebody they trust already checked you out, took the risk of hiring you, and gave you a passing grade. If the referred client does go looking at what other lawyers are charging, they still won’t know if those lawyers are any good. And they know they will have to “answer” to the friend who refers them if they decide to go somewhere else.

If you combine the two strategies, packing your services in unique ways and getting most of your business from referrals, your income will be anything but average.

Share
Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How much should you charge for your legal services?

February 29, 2012 by
Share

Most lawyer’s fees are too low. They don’t want to scare off any clients so they quote a rate they think is in the ballpark of what other lawyers charge. As a result, they charge less than they could.

You’re not like other lawyers. You’re different. Better. You offer more and you can charge more. At least I hope you feel that way and can back it up (or are working to get there).

Charging what other lawyers charge isn’t a good strategy anyway because most clients don’t price shop. Price is not at the top of their list of criteria. Trust, responsiveness, availability, and added service are all far more important. And clients who are aware of what other lawyers charge will still hire you if you charge more, but only if you’re worth it. So be worth it.

Okay, so you’re worth more and you raise your fees. You may get some resistance. That’s to be expected. In fact, if you don’t get any resistance you’re probably still not charging enough.

If you owned an apartment building and had zero vacancies for an extended period of time, barring other problems, you would know that your rents are too low. If you raise the rents and your vacancies get too high, your profits will suffer. And so you adjust your rents until you find the right balance. There’s a sweet spot for apartment vacancy rates, probably in the 3-10% range depending on location and other market factors. Smart apartment owners continually adjust their rents to stay in that range and maximize their profits. You need to do something similar.

If you raise your fees and lose some clients that’s okay too, so long as you replace them with clients who are willing to pay the higher fees. The hard part is losing clients before the higher-paying clients show up. Be bold. Take a chance. Make room for some new, higher-paying clients. You’re worth it, remember?

Share
Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Increase your income Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to network without leaving your office

February 28, 2012 by
Share

No, I’m not talking about social media although you can use that as a starting point. I’m talking about the phone. Pick up the phone and call someone you might like to know.

It doesn’t have to be a prospective client. In fact, for most attorneys it probably shouldn’t be. Call someone who works in the market you are targeting, someone who sells to, advises, or is otherwise influential in that market. It could be another professional, someone who owns or manages a business, a blogger, or the head of an association. Anyone who (a) knows people who might (one day) need your services, or (b) knows people who might know those people.

What do you say? It almost doesn’t matter. Just call and reach out to them. Don’t ask for business or talk about yourself (other than introducing yourself), talk about them. After you introduce yourself, tell them you called to. . .

  • See if you could interview them for your blog or newsletter
  • Ask them to participate in a 90 second survey for an article you’re writing
  • Ask for their take on an article you read in one of their industry’s journals
  • Offer to send them a report, ebook, article reprint
  • Invite them to coffee
  • Invite them to your seminar/webinar/event
  • Invite them to be your guest at your networking group’s next meeting
  • Compliment their web site/ad/brochure
  • Tell them you have a mutual contact

Just get the conversation started. Then ask about them their business. Find out what they do and how they do it. What are they looking for? What can you do to help?

Of course you know they will ask you about your practice. Tell them briefly and change the subject back to them.

Afterwards, send them an email or better yet a hand written note and tell them you enjoyed the conversation. Follow up with the next logical step or if there isn’t one, just stay in touch. If you can, send them a referral. Send another article they might find helpful. Calendar a few weeks or a month or two and call again.

Networking is a courtship. You go on a date and if you like each other you go out again. If things go well, you get engaged. That’s when referrals, joint ventures, and other good things happen.

Most attorneys never do this. They let their egos get in the way or they don’t think it will do any good. That’s sad. There are people out there who would love to meet you but they aren’t going to call you. Go ahead, call someone today. Introduce yourself and see if they want to date.

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

If Goldilocks went to law school

February 27, 2012 by
Share

You can’t blame us for feeling the stress of our jobs as attorneys. After all, we deal with other people’s problems all day long. Some problems have life or death consequences. Others hold us accountable for every word in a fifty page document. A single omission could cost millions.

There are unrelenting demands on our time and we are under tremendous pressure to perform. Some attorneys find it difficult to cope with the stress. We read about them in the back pages of our bar journals. Most attorneys find acceptable ways to handle the pressure, however, and some even thrive on it.

What about you? Do you have too much stress in your life?

When Goldilocks ate the first bowl of porridge, it was too hot. The second bowl was too cold. She found the third bowl was just right and “ate it all up.” I think stress is like that. Too much stress can lead to burn out. There are warning signs and ways to cope, but while there may be ways to handle the stress you have to ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” If not, it’s time to make some fundamental changes in what you’re doing.

If you have no stress in your life, however, if the porridge is too cold, it’s likely that you’re not growing. If you never try anything new, never get outside your comfort zone, at best your routine will become boring. At worst it will lead to stagnation and eventually, the death of your spirit.

Your challenge is to find a level of stress in your life that is “just right”. Not too hot, not too cold. You don’t need to read books or go to therapy to figure this out. All you have to do is regularly ask yourself a simple question: “Am I happy?”

Share
Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Dealing with stress, Personal development Tagged With: , , , , ,

Two questions to ask yourself every day

February 24, 2012 by
Share

Every day we accomplish things. Most of them are trivial. A few are important, advancing us towards our goals.

If you want to accomplish more of the important things, there are two questions to ask yourself every single day.

The first question should be asked the night before, about the following day: “What are my three ‘most important tasks’ for today?” I’ve talked about the concept of “MITs” before. They are a key to effectiveness, making sure you’re not just getting things done but that you are getting the right things done.

You may have ten things you need to do today. Only some of them move you forward and bring you closer to your goals. Those are your MITs.

Most people let their circumstances dictate their actions. They do whatever shows up for the day. Successful people, people who know what they want to be, do, or have in the future, let their vision of that future pull them forward. Your day may be busy, filled with many tasks, but “busy” isn’t the same thing as “effective”. If you want your day to be effective, you must do your MITs.

The second question to ask yourself each day is a reality check: “What did I do today that brought me closer to my goals?” Did you do your MITs? Did you start something and not finish it? Did you do other things that weren’t on your list of MITs but which advanced you towards your goals?

Being honest with yourself about what you did today will help you choose your MITs for tomorrow.

Ask and answer these two questions every day. They will help you create your own future.

Share
Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

To build your practice faster create a “Focus 30 List”

February 23, 2012 by
Share

Most attorneys know a lot of people. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people–clients, former clients, attorneys, referral sources, prospects, friends and family, business contacts, community leaders. Your contact list is your most valuable marketing asset.

People who have inquired about your services are more likely to hire you than people who don’t know your name. People who have hired you before are likely to hire you again. People who have referred clients in the past are likely to refer in the future. The best way to grow any law practice is to stay in touch with the people who know, like, and trust you. Nurture this list and the people on it and your practice will grow.

But you can’t possibly give everyone on your list the same amount of attention. There simply isn’t time. And some people are more valuable to you than others. Your best client is obviously in a different category than someone who has never hired you. Someone who refers you two or three clients every month deserves more attention than someone who sent you one client last year.

You need a “Focus 30” list– a list of your 30 most valuable contacts.

These are your best clients and referral sources, your most promising prospects, the most influential and helpful professionals you know. Put their names on a list and carry it with you. Post it next to your computer. Keep it in front of you everywhere you go.

Why 30? Because experts tell us that’s about the maximum anyone can effectively work with at any one time. Whereas you will write and occasionally call the people on your master list, the people on your Focus 30 list get your personal time. You will talk to them every week, maybe even every day. You will meet with them every month. You give them your time and energy because they are the 30 most important people in your professional life.

Build or strengthen your relationship with your Focus 30. Call them, just to see how they’re doing. Send them business. Get to know their families, their employees, and their best contacts. Dedicate 80% of your time to your Focus 30 list, 20% to everyone else.

Your list will change over time. You will add people as they play a more prominent role in your life and remove those who drift away. Someone you thought deserved to be on the list will disappoint you. Someone who isn’t even on your radar today will emerge as a valuable ally tomorrow.

Your list may start out with only five or ten people. No hurry. Start with them.

When you get to thirty, you’ll need to pare some names to make room for others. Continually upgrade your list so that you focus on the best. And when you have 30 of the best, upgrade your list to the “best of the best”.

Eventually, you will have 30 people who send you so much business you won’t be able to handle it all.

Share
Filed Under: Client relations, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With: , ,

6 rules for saving time with email

February 22, 2012 by
Share

Leo at Zen Habits says most emails are too long. They take too long to write, too long to read, and too long to respond to.

He has made a habit of writing shorter emails, five lines or less. Everyone is better off.

Here are his 6 rules for short, effective emails:

  1. Keep it to 5 sentences. No more. I stole this from five.sentenc.es of course, but I’ve used it for years and it works. I usually try to do fewer than 5.
  2. Figure out your main point. If you think you need more than 5 sentences, you haven’t figured out the key thing you want to say. Take a second to figure it out, and stick to just that.
  3. Ask one thing. Don’t ask 10 questions, just ask one. Or two at the most. You’re much more likely to get an answer quickly.
  4. Edit. If you stretched it to 8 sentences, cut out 3.
  5. Link. If you need to refer to info, include a link to it on the web.
  6. Post it. If the info you need to share isn’t on the web, put it there. Create a long answer or long background document (then edit it to the essential info) and post it online. Use your blog, or one of the many free tools for posting info. Create an FAQ if it’s useful. Link to it in your email.

Ironically, it might take longer to craft a shorter email as this famous quote from George Bernard Shaw quote reminds us: “I’m sorry this letter is long, I didn’t have time to make it shorter.” So if you bill by the hour, you’ll actually earn more by writing shorter emails. (Insert smiley face here. . .)

Share
Filed Under: Communication, Email, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

You’ve got more prospects than you think. Make sure you’re not ignoring them.

February 21, 2012 by
Share

Do you know who your prospects are? Someone who can hire you, right? Well, yes and no.

Sometimes there’s another decision maker. A spouse, a partner, a supervisor. How about the son or daughter of an elderly client. Maybe the family attorney. Or a trustee.

If someone needs to “sign off” on hiring you, they are as much a prospect as the person who would be your actual client. You should identify these people, network with them, and court them. Market to them the same way you would market to the actual client.

In fact, anyone who can refer clients to you should be placed in this category. You need to market to prospective referral sources just as much as prospective clients. Perhaps more since a good referral source can send you a lot of business while the son or daughter of an elder law client probably cannot.

Start by determining categories of prospective referral sources for your practice areas and niche markets. Go beyond the obvious choices–other attorneys, CPAs, insurance agents, and financial planners. Who else influences your actual client? But don’t stop there. Who influences those people? If you are an bankruptcy attorney and you want to network with real estate professionals, for example, you might want to start by networking with someone who teaches continuing education courses to real estate agents.

Once you have identified some categories of prospective referral sources for your practice, the next step is to identify candidates. Who works in those categories? Add these people to your ever-growing list of prospects.

You’ve got more prospects than you think.

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

A simple way to promote your law practice with email without being spammy

February 20, 2012 by
Share

I just updated my (personal) email signature. Now, everyone who gets an email from me will see, “Author of Evernote for Lawyers” under my name and contact info. It is hyperlinked to the sales page for the book. If my emails get forwarded to anyone, they will see it, too. These few words tell people I am an authority (book author) and, of course, they also promote the book.

Your email signature has your contact information but it can also be used to directly promote your specific legal services (i.e., a list of your practice areas), your blog and it’s valuable content, your next speaking event, or your new book.

Take some time to review your signature and update it with links or information. Here are some more ideas:

  • A direct link to your most popular blog post
  • A link to the FAQ page on your web site
  • A link to a “welcome” page on your web site
  • A promo for your newsletter
  • A mention of you or your firm in an article or blog post
  • An offer (e.g., free consultation, free report, seminar discount)
  • A call to action (e.g., “Call now to schedule your appointment”)
  • Links to your social media profiles

While you’re at it, consider curtailing or even eliminating all of the disclaimers and legalese that are so prevalent in lawyers emails. Do they really protect you? Will someone really be able to claim that because you sent them an email you were their attorney or you gave them legal advice? I’ll let you answer those questions, but I can tell you that from a marketing standpoint, they don’t help. They push people away at a time when you want to invite them to come closer.

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