Attorneys: An alternative to free consultations that might work even better

January 19, 2012 by
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Yesterday, I posted about the problem with free consultations and what to do about it. Even though people like to get things free, if prospective clients don’t see the value in your offer they either won’t call for an appointment or if they do, they won’t keep it.

There’s another way to get prospects to see the value of your offer and that’s what I want to talk about today.

Instead of offering a free consultation, consider offering a “introductory great deal”.

The popularity of Groupon, Living Social, and other “bargain” apps prove what everyone already knows, people love getting a bargain. A $450 weekend spa package for just $77, a $40 dinner for two for $20, brings in a lot of new customers to the businesses that offer them.

Why can’t you offer something similar?

Bundle up your free consultation package as attractively as you can, put a “regular” price on it, and offer it at a special “introductory” (bargain) price.

If your “free consultation” is normally a “$250 value,” for example, and you offer it for a nominal $39, you might get a lot of takers.

You still have to show prospects the benefits of everything they get. You still have to “sell” your offer, just as you do when it’s free, and probably more so.

Give your package a name, something that implies enhanced value. For example, “Comprehensive asset protection planning session” or “Corporate risk evaluation” or “Pre-Divorce diagnostic and strategy plan.”

And make sure to include the dollar amount your package is worth. When a prospect sees that they can get $250 in value for just $39, their shopping instincts often kick in and they want to buy. Add a “deadline date” when your offer expires and fear of loss will get more prospects off the fence and into your office.

Charging a fee will usually depress response. But not always. The right offer, in the right market, could actually increase response. Charging a fee, however nominal, will almost certainly increase qualified response, which means you will have fewer “shoppers” and more “buyers”. And your no-show rate will plummet, especially if you collect the initial fee at the time the appointment is booked.

As with everything in marketing, you won’t know whether this will work for your practice and your market until you test it. Put it out there, see what happens, track your numbers.

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

The problem with free consultations (and my offer to you)

January 18, 2012 by
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People prefer to hire lawyers they know, like, and trust. One of the best ways to get prospects to know, like, and trust you is to give them a sample of what you do.

To some extent, that’s what you do when you provide free information. Blog posts, reports, articles, seminars, and so on, give prospective clients an insight into what you have done for others, suggesting that you can do the same for them. They can see you know what you’re doing and get a sense for what it would be like to work with you. Through your words, they come to know, like, and trust you, bringing them one step closer to hiring you.

And yet, of all the people who read or listen to your information, only a small percentage actually take it upon themselves to call and book an appointment. There’s too big of a gap between “reader” and “client”. One way to bridge that gap is by offering a free consultation.

Free consultations allow you to initiate a personal relationship with a prospect and provide them with “customized” information. It’s one thing to provide generic information in your practice area, quite another to interpret that information in the context of a prospect’s particular problem. Prospects who read your information may like what you say and the stories you share but this will never take the place of actually speaking with you.

Done right, free consultations can bring in a lot of business. The problem with free consultations, especially in practice areas where they are common, is that they are usually not done right.

“Free” is one of the most powerful words in the dictionary, but just because something is free doesn’t mean anyone will want it. Many prospects today, seeing that most attorneys in your field offer free consultations, don’t see the value in yours. In fact, many prospects see no value in a consultation, believing it is just an excuse to get them into your office so you can do a sales pitch for your services. Unfortunately, for many attorneys, that’s exactly what it is.

One solution is to include a detailed description of everything the prospect gets as part of the free consultation. Tell them what they will learn, what you will explain, what you will do for them, and what you will give them (e.g., reports, checklists, case evaluation, issue summary, etc.).

Also tell them how they will benefit. Yes, you evaluate their situation and explain their options, but so what? What does that mean to them? It means they will be able to make better decisions about what to do, making it more likely that they will resolve their problem or achieve their objective. It means they will save time or money. It means they will be one step closer to eliminating their anxiety and worry and sleepless nights.

In other words, you can’t simply say the magic words “free consultation” and expect people to come running. You have to “sell” it.

Let me give you an example with my own services.

Starting today, until further notice, I’m offering free consultations for my consulting and coaching services. These will be on a first come, first served basis since I can only do so many of these and I expect to get a lot of response.

During our consultation we’ll talk about where you are and where you would like to be in your career. I’ll ask questions and I will give you my advice. I won’t mince words. I’ll tell you straight out what I think you should do. As a result, you’ll know exactly what to do to bring in more clients, increase your income, or otherwise improve your current situation.

In addition, you’ll be able to ask me questions. You can ask about marketing, cash flow, productivity, goals, or anything else that’s on your mind.

As you know, I’m not somebody who simply read a few marketing books and set up a web site. I practiced law for more than twenty years and learned (the hard way) what it takes to bring in good, paying clients. I know what works and what doesn’t, what works quickly and what doesn’t, because I’ve tried it all. I’ve been in your shoes. I know what it’s like to struggle to make rent. I know what it’s like to question whether you made the right choice of career or specialty or market. I also know what it’s like when the business is coming in faster than you can handle.

I have seventeen years experience consulting with attorneys and helping them to get more clients and increase their income. But then if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know most of this. That’s why you read it.

These consultations are free and there is no obligation to you whatsoever. Sure, I hope that after the consultation you will want to hire me or buy something from me, but that’s not important. What’s important is that I give you so much value during our consultation, so many ideas for taking your practice to a much higher level, that you can’t wait to get started. I know that if I deliver that to you, we’ll do business some day.

Because I expect to get a lot of response to this offer, I must limit these consultations to 15 minutes. Therefore, after we schedule your consultation, please email me as much information as possible about your current situation. Tell me your problems, obstacles, questions and objectives, so that when we talk, we can get right to the solutions.

Fair enough?

If you’re interested in setting up a consultation, please email info[at]attorneymarketing.com and put “consultation 15” in the subject. Give me three dates and times when you will be available for 15 minutes and the best telephone number to reach you. (I’m in California, so mind the time zone.) I’ll email back and we’ll confirm the date and time.

I look forward to helping you make 2012 your best year ever.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Coaching, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, success Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When you’re not the best lawyer in town

January 16, 2012 by
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So you’re not the best attorney in your field. You didn’t finish first in your class. You’re not the best presenter, writer, or negotiator.

You’re just you, someone who loves being a lawyer and helping people.

And you know what? That’s enough.

You don’t have to be the best to have a very satisfying and rewarding career. In the long run, your passion for what you do will attract everything you need. You can learn what you need to know and get better at what you do.

But you must be willing to grow.

Unfortunately, many lawyers stop growing the day they receive their license. The got school “out of the way” and then switched gears to focus on building a career.

Oh they go through the motions of continuing their education but mostly because they have to, not because they want to. Soon they find themselves in a rut, a career rut where billable hours and overhead and moving up the ladder are job one. In time, many such lawyers find themselves dissatisfied with their careers, but often they don’t know why.

It’s because they’ve stopped growing.

Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Lawyers who stop learning stop adapting to the changes around them. If they’re not careful, they’ll find themselves on the endangered species list.

Learning and growth aren’t limited to the law, however. There is much more to being a lawyer. You need to learn marketing. You need to understand human psychology. You should be able to read a balance sheet. And much more.

I heard someone say (on LinkedIn, I think) that it’s no longer acceptable for an attorney to say they are “computer illiterate”. Yet many attorneys are functionally so. Yes, you can hire people to do what you don’t want to do, but in the wired world we live in today, someone who refuses to learn some basic computer skills might as well waive a white flag and call it a day.

Never stop learning. Never stop growing. Never stop adapting to the changes around you. That’s how you will survive in this jungle.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Continuing Legal Education, Inspiration, Personal development Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to create a more successful law practice

January 13, 2012 by
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I read another thoughtful post by Leo Babauta on the Zen Habits blog about the subject of practice. No, he wasn’t writing about a law practice, but I thought his message of “practicing” to effect improvement applied as much to a law practice as to anything else. Plus, I like the play on words.

We are what we repeatedly do. We are the sum of our habits. If we want to change who we are, we have to change what we do.

Change begins with awareness. If you didn’t say “thank you” to the new client who just hired you (you’d be surprised at how many attorneys don’t), reading this sentence made you aware that you didn’t and also aware of how important it is. (Your mother will tell you, it’s one of the most important things you can do.) If you usually say thank you, but for some reason didn’t do it last time, there is room for improvement. The standard of excellence isn’t saying thank you most of the time, but every time.

Now that you are aware, make a decision to change. Then, practice your new habit. With something as simple as saying thank you, you might only need to be reminded. Write it down on your intake sheet, use a post it note, put it on your calendar, whatever you need to do to remember to always say thank you.

Also be aware of what happens when you get it right. Watch your new client’s face as you look him in the eye, shake his hand, and sincerely tell him how much you appreciate having him as a client. Tell him you’ll take good care of him. Let the handshake linger a few seconds longer. Give him your full attention. Say thank you, and mean it. You’ll see some of the tension leave his face as he comes to realize that you really do care.

Your law practice is a collection of habits. What you (and your staff) regularly do and how well you do it defines you, distinguishes you from other lawyers, and plays a big role in determining your success. There are big habits and many small ones and they all matter.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Image, Marketing legal services, Personal development, success Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A habit that will make you rich (hint: it’s all in your mind)

January 12, 2012 by
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One of the “Eight Secrets to Getting More Done in 2012,” in this Forbes magazine article struck a nerve with me because it is something I have struggled with. If you have ever been accused of being “overly analytical,” “a perfectionist,” a “procrastinator,” or just somebody who has trouble making up their mind, we’re bred from the same stock.

Yes, being an attorney means being careful, not jumping to conclusions, and not making rash decisions. We carefully weigh the options and we go out of our way to avoid risk. It goes with the job description.

It’s also why attorneys usually make poor business people. Entrepreneurs see a vision of success and act on it; lawyers see what could wrong and either say no or mull it over so long the opportunity passes them by.

But according to Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, the ability to make quick decisions is the hallmark of rich people:

Analysis of several hundred people who had accumulated fortunes well beyond the million dollar mark, disclosed the fact that every one of them had the habit of reaching decisions promptly, and changing these decisions slowly, if and when they were changed at all. People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often.

Marty Zwilling, founder and CEO of Startup Professionals understands this. It was his contribution to the Forbes article that caught my eye:

My key to productivity is simply “make a decision.” Even a bad decision is recoverable, and better than no decision, since it gets the issue off your plate and moving. Making no decision bottlenecks your work, and causes things to happen to you, rather than by you.

But if the ability to make decisions quickly is a habit of the rich and attorneys are prone to doing the opposite, why are there so many rich attorneys?

Two reasons, I think. First, we’re around a lot of successful people and get in front of a lot of good opportunities. The odds are in our favor that we will be “in the right place at the right time”. Second, attorneys are intelligent people and tend to make “good decisions,” albeit not quickly. If we could combine the two and make “good decisions quickly,” I think there would be many more rich lawyers.

Fortunately, making decisions quickly is a habit and habits can be developed. You do it once, the world doesn’t end, you do it again.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Start with little decisions, “which movie to see,” or “which topic to write about today.” Give yourself five minutes to decide. Use a timer. Use a screen saver message or post-it to remind you to “Decide Now!” And do it every day.

If you mindfully make quick decisions every day, making quick decisions will soon become a habit. Eventually, you’ll be able to make quick decisions about important matters and that’s when you will see more significant results.

But don’t forget the other side of the equation. Once you’ve decided, you must stick with your decision. Practice not changing your mind. Yes, you’ll make mistakes, but as Zwilling says, “even a bad decision is recoverable”. Isn’t that why God invented E and O coverage?

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Personal development, success, Wealth Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New eBook Shows Lawyers How to Use Evernote to Organize Everything

January 10, 2012 by
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If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know how much I love Evernote. I use it for everything: notes, documents, writing, task management, you name it. Today, I’m proud to announce the release of a new eBook, “Evernote for Lawyers: A Guide to Getting Organized & Increasing Productivity“.

Lawyers manage an incredible amount of information and finding that information quickly is imperative. More and more attorneys use Evernote for capturing notes and web clips, and initially, that’s all I used it for. I’ve since discovered many other ways Evernote can be used to organize the information in my life, and that’s what this book reveals.

Topics include using Evernote for research and writing, time and billing support, marketing and career development, and managing client files and documents. Other chapters include, “going paperless,” “data security,” “working with email,” and “working with your calendar”.

Attorneys who use David Allen’s Getting Things Done® methodology (or want to), will want to read Chapter 4, which covers this subject at length. I’ve written before about my Evernote/GTD system. Evernote for Lawyers presents my latest thinking on this subject, as well as the latest updates to my gtd system and work flow.

Evernote currently has 20 million users world wide and was recently honored as Inc. Magazine’s 2011 Company of the Year.

Evernote is free and is available for Windows, Mac, on the web, and all major mobile platforms. A premium version with enhanced features is also available.

Evernote for Lawyers: A Guide to Getting Organized & Increasing Productivity is available for immediate download in pdf format at OrganizedLawyer.com

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Filed Under: Law office management, News, Productivity, Technology, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to find a legal job in this economy

January 9, 2012 by
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A new attorney contacted me recently, seeking advice on getting a job. I don’t know that I’m the right person to ask since I’ve never had a job, unless working for your father for a year out of law school counts, but I do have some thoughts about the subject.

If I was looking to work for someone else, I’d consider what everyone else is doing (job hunters) and do the opposite.

First, I wouldn’t write a resume. Resumes are a mechanism for rejecting the masses and not a good way to stand out. Instead, I’d write a sales letter.

This letter would show what I’ve done for others (clients or employers) and include endorsements from influential people who know me and what I can do, and testimonials from people I’ve previously helped.

Before this, I’d do my homework. I would choose a handful of firms or companies I was interested in working with and look at their “resume” (web site). I’d study them and their industry and learn everything I could. I’d talk to people who work there and people who used to. I’d find professionals who know the principals of the firm and buy them coffee. I’d learn about the firm’s strengths and especially, their weaknesses. What problems do they have? What objectives are they trying to meet? What can I do to help them?

Then, I’d ask the people I met during my research period for an introduction. If they don’t know the top dog, I’d ask them to introduce me to someone who does.

When I met the owner, I’d ask questions that let him know I knew something about their firm. I’d keep asking questions until I saw an opening to make some suggestions. That’s when I’d show them I had something to offer.

If I do a good job of showing them I can solve some of their problems, it won’t matter whether there is a job opening or not, they’ll create a position for me.

If they asked me for a resume, I’d give them my sales letter.

Statistics tell us that two-thirds of all jobs are never advertised and are filled through networking. I like those odds better than the resume game.

And if I didn’t have enough experience for the position I wanted, as this new attorney suggested, I’d lower my sights initially and do the same thing for a company or firm where I could develop that experience. Or I’d volunteer somewhere that would provide the experience and take a “Mc-Job” in order to pay the bills.

So, my advice is to think of yourself not as an employee looking for a job but as the owner of your own company. Don’t ask for a job, market your company to prospective clients.

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Filed Under: Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to get clients if you hate networking

January 5, 2012 by
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I don’t like networking. It doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s not my “thing”.

I know how to do it. I’ve done it enough. I just don’t enjoy it. I’d rather talk to someone on the phone or in a one-on-one setting over a cup of coffee.

Does that make me a bad person? Does it doom me to marketing failure?

No, not at all.

Marketing is (or should be) a mechanism for you to express yourself in a natural way. Marketing isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a mold you must contort your body and soul to fit.

So if there is some aspect of marketing you don’t enjoy (and you’ve given it a fair shake), don’t do it. Life is too short to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous marketing. Or whatever.

It doesn’t matter how well others are doing with a particular strategy, or how many goo-roos are touting the latest and greatest tool or technique. You have to do what’s right for you.

If you don’t like networking–don’t do it. Speaking give you the willies? Cross it off the list. Social media got you tied in knots because you don’t want to “talk” to strangers online? Choose something else.

If you force yourself to do things you don’t enjoy, you’re not going to be very good at them anyway, so what’s the point? Go try a lot of things, pick one you like, and go nuts with it.

Okay, I know there’s someone who’s dying to ask this: “What if I’ve tried every type of marketing and I don’t like anything?”

The answer to that is simple: get a job.

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