The Attorney Marketing Center--Earn More. Work Less

You’ve got to make people feel something

January 31, 2018 by David M. Ward

We’re good with facts, you and I. We’re good at explaining the facts and helping people understand what they mean.

That’s important, but marketing requires a different skill.

To get people to hire you, send you business, share your content, sign up for your list, or do anything else you want, you can’t rely on just giving them the facts.

You’ve got to make them feel something.

Make them feel safe, understood, appreciated, or cared for. Talk about the relief they will feel when they hire you and the pain they will feel if they don’t.

You’ve heard the expression, “Facts tell, but stories sell”? Stories sell because they touch people’s emotions. That’s why you tell people about clients who didn’t listen (and got hurt), and about clients who did and got saved.

But don’t ignore the facts. People “buy” for emotional reasons, and justify their purchases based on logic. When you quote a big fee, for example, and tell the prospect what might happen if they don’t take action, you should also show them how they will save money in the long run by taking care of the problem now, before it gets worse.

In your next article or post, or the next time to speak with a prospective client, if you’re telling them to do something you know to be in their best interest, make sure you include an emotional appeal.

If you don’t, and they get hurt, it’s your fault, not theirs. If you do, and they get saved, you’re a hero.

Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Salesmanship

Don’t let your ego deter you from your dream

January 30, 2018 by David M. Ward

Writer and entrepreneur, Ben Arment, said this:

“Rainmakers generate revenue by making asks. They ask for donations. They ask for contracts. They ask for deals. They ask for opportunities. They ask to meet with leaders or speak to them over the phone. They ask for publicity. They come up with ideas and ask for a few minutes of your time to pitch it. They ask for help.”

So that’s it? That’s why you don’t like marketing? Because of all the asking? Because asking makes you look weak or needy? Because it takes you out of your comfort zone? Because you’re a professional, not a business person or a sales person?

That’s your ego talking, sister. And it’s holding you back.

Arment continued:

“Donâ€™t let rainmaking deter you from your dream. Itâ€™s one of the barriers to entry, and you can overcome it. Once you taste the sweet victory of a positive response, youâ€™ll not only become comfortable with it, you might even enjoy it. But making asks is the only way to bring your dream to life.”

And hey, asking isn’t as difficult as you think. Start with something simple. Like this: “Here’s my card. Here’s a couple of extras, in case you run into someone who might need my help.”

Could you do that? Congratulations, you’re a rainmaker.

How to talk to clients about referrals

Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: rainmaking

Reverse engineering your big goals

January 29, 2018 by David M. Ward

Let’s say you have a two-year goal of having 20 referrals per month coming into your practice from professional contacts.

How do you get there?

You get there by asking yourself, “What has to happen first?” and working backwards until you know what to do today.

Let’s say you estimate that you can achieve this goal by having 20 referral sources who send you an average of one referral per month.

You don’t have that now. What has to happen first?

You figure that to have 20 solid referral sources, you need 60 professionals who tell you they’ll do their best to send you business.Â You know that some will send you a few, some won’t send any, and some will send you more than a few. You can’t possibly know how it will work out, but you figure (for now) that it will average out to 20 referrals per month. (If it doesn’t, you’ll need to change your numbers, find different referral sources, or re-assess your strategy.)

So, what has to happen first?

To get 60 professionals who have the ability to send you referrals and say they will, you figure that, over time, you need to have conversations with 300. If 80% tell you no, that leaves 60 who say yes.

What has to happen first?

Before you can have those conversations, you need to make a list of candidates. Professionals who seem to have the right client base that would be a good match for you. Let’s say that to find 300 who seem to have the right client base, you need to work your way through a list of 2000.

What has to happen first?

First, you need to do some research and find lists, directories, associations, et al, with names and contact information. You also need to work on a script.

And then, you need to schedule the time to make calls.

And now, you have a plan. And you can start working on that plan.

For help on finding lists and creating scripts, get this

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

Stirring the marketing pot

January 26, 2018 by David M. Ward

I assume you have a list of professionals you know and respect and whoÂ know and respect you. People who could send you referrals but haven’t. Or haven’t done so in a long time.

Don’t wait for them to send you referrals on their own. Stir the pot. Make something happen.

Call through your list. One a day, five a day, whatever you can handle.

Say something like, “I want to start working with you (again). Can you send me some information I could share with my clients? Not a brochure or sales piece, a report, an article, an ebook, or something else you wrote that you send to prospective clients?”

When they tell you they do, tell them great, send it over. (If they don’t have anything, ask if they could put something together.)

Before you hang up, say, “If any of my clients want to talk to you, ask some questions or get some additional information about what you do, can I tell them to call you? Is email better?”

Make sure they are open to being contacted and you know their preferred method. Plant the seed that this might happen.

Finally, say, “I’ll make sure they mention my name so you know where they came from.”

What’s next?

Send the information to your clients and prospects, along with a note about your friend. Say something nice about them. Tell how you met, share a story. Encourage your clients to call them if they have any questions or want more information about what they do, and to mention your name.

And, that’s it.

What will happen? You think I have a crystal ball? Something will happen. I don’t know what,Â or when.

Okay, some of your contacts will ask you to send them something they can send to their clients. Some will ask this before you finish that first conversation. Others will do that down the line.

Either way, go ahead and send their information to your list.

And then, wait.

Something will happen. The professional will contact you and tell you they signed up one of your clients. Or your client will contact you and tell you they had a nice conversation with that professional and thank you for putting them in touch.

Eventually, more will happen. Clients will sign up, money will change hands, and out of nothing, you will have created something. Which is better than waiting and doing nothing.

How to get referrals from other professionals: here

Filed Under: Referral sources, Referrals

Are you doing the best you can?

January 25, 2018 by David M. Ward

If you’re not achieving the results you want in your life, but you’re doing the best you can, there’s a question you need to ask yourself:

“Am I doing the best I can or am I doing the best that can be done?”

You want to live an extraordinary life. To do that, you need to achieve at an extraordinary level. If you’re not, if you’re doing the best you can but not the best that can be done, something has to change.

You have to improve your skills, your habits, or your commitment. You have figure out how to do (whatever it is) better than you’ve ever done it before.

You have to reinvent yourself and become the person who can do it the best that it can be done.

And, if you can’t do that, if you don’t have time to do that, or you don’t want to do that, you have to turn the job over to someone else.

Refer the case. Delegate the task. Ask your partner to handle that client. Find someone who can do the job better than you.

That may be difficult to hear but we all need to hear it from time to time. We have to admit to ourselves that our best may not be good enough.

If you want to achieve at an extraordinary level, you need to focus on your strengths, the things you do best, and eliminate or repair the things you don’t.

The good news is that if you are only good at one thing, and it’s the right thing, you don’t have to worry about anything else.

Want to get good at making money? Get good at getting referrals

Filed Under: success

The objective of every productivity system or methodology

January 24, 2018 by David M. Ward

If you’re like me, you read a lot of article and books, watch a lot of videos, and try out a lot of apps, looking for the Holy Grail of productivity.

Even when things are working smoothly, you continue looking for ways to improve.

I think that’s fine. Wherever you are in life, you always want to do better. As long as you don’t spend more time searching and tinkering with your system than using it and getting things done, continually seeking improvement is a good thing.

But have you ever asked yourself how you can tell when you’ve found the right tool or method?

As I see it, there are two ways to tell.

The first way is quantitative. You track your results and establish a baseline. Then, you change something and compare those results. Are you getting more done with the second method? Is the other tool helping you to accomplish more important goals? Are you able save time or money or energy using one method versus the other?

Unfortunately, these questions are often difficult to answer.

You may not be able to measure accurately. Outside factors or timing may affect results. The new system may help you in some areas but hurt performance in others.

Like relationships, it’s complicated. Which leads to the other way to know you’ve found the right method.

You’re probably thinking I’m going to say something like “trust your gut” and you’re right.Â But I won’t leave you hanging. I’ll offer you some words of guidance I heard David Allen use to describe the objective of every productivity system or method.

He said that no matter what you use, the objective is to help you feel “relaxed, focused, and in control”. So ask yourself if your current method or system does that.

If it does, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Keep doing what you’re doing but be open to incremental improvements.

If your current method doesn’t help you to consistently feel “relaxed, focused, and in control,” however, your next project should probably be to find something that does.

Filed Under: Productivity

Make sure they can see what you’re saying

January 23, 2018 by David M. Ward

I heard a podcast this morning that featured a financial advisor being interviewed about his productivity habits. He had some good information to share but I couldn’t follow all of it because he spoke in the abstract.

He would make a point and, while I was processing it and thinking about how I might apply it, he was off to another point. He didn’t explain what he meant or tell us how he applied it in his practice, which would help me to see how I could apply it to mine.

As I listened to him make a point, I said more than once (and probably out loud), “give us an example!” But examples didn’t come.

The interviewer should have asked questions to clarify what the guest meant and help listeners to “see” what he meant. I’m not sure why he didn’t do that.

Whenever you communicate–whether you’re being interviewed, conducting a webinar, writing an article, or talking to a prospective client–your job isn’t just to present information, it is to help people understand what you mean and how they can use this information.

When you make a point, illustrate it with one or more examples.

For example, (see what I did there), if you write an article about comparative liability, after you quote the code section and/or some case law, you should then illustrate what the law means by relating a fact pattern or two, either hypothetical or from actual cases.

Examples help translate what you’re saying so that your audience can see what you’re saying.

You can also help your audience understand and remember your message by explaining it in other ways. Say, “What that means is. . .” and then explain it a different way.

If you’re speaking with someone directly, their questions will often tell you if they understand. If you’re not sure, offer to explain further or provide additional examples.

For presentations and articles and the like, put the work product aside for a couple of days or a few hours and come back to it with fresh eyes. Or, have someone else read it and edit it or point out areas where you could be clearer.

I know you know this and you probably do it most of the time. But it couldn’t hurt to stop and assess your communications, to make sure you are being as clear as you mean to be.

Clearly explain to clients the kinds of clients you want and you will get more referrals

Filed Under: Communication Tagged With: clarity

They key to better relationships

January 22, 2018 by David M. Ward

Think about some of the successful professionals you know, the ones you like and trust the most. What is it about them that makes you feel closer to them?

My guess is that it’s because they’ve been transparent with you about certain aspects of their professional and personal life, revealing to you a weakness or flaw.

Vulnerability is a key to better relationships. Showing people that you have flaws, things you struggle with, problems like everyone else.

Contrast that with people who never have a hair out of place. They have a “perfect” life. Everything is under control. They don’t have any problems or weaknesses. At least nothing they tell you about.

And that’s the problem. We don’t trust this. It’s not. . . real.

If you want better relationships–with other professionals, with clients, with friends or family–one of the best things you can do is be transparent about certain aspects of your life.

Let your clients see that you don’t know everything. Let other lawyers and referral sources know you do better with certain types of clients or cases. Let people know about some of your mistakes.

Not everything. Not all the time. Selectively, with the right people at the right time.

You don’t want to blurt out your flaws, you want to be intentional about this, so I suggest you give this some thought and choose a “safe” weakness you’re willing to own up to.

What’s safe? Something that doesn’t irreparably impair your character or core set of skills.

You might reveal that you still get nervous on the first day of a jury trial. You might share the time you lost a case (and paid dearly for it) because you didn’t listen to your partner who warned you not to trust a certain witness. You might admit that you have a soft spot for clients who don’t pay on time.

A weakness, a flaw, something you’re not particularly proud of. You know, the kind of stuff that makes you human.

At the same time, be prepared to talk about what you have learned about yourself, or how you got the problem under control. For example, if you confess to being a perfectionist and how this causes you to take too long preparing documents, you might say that you have adopted a strict rule about the number of re-writes you allow. If you are lax about billing, explain how you’ve turned that function over to your merciless partner.

Once you have a few safe flaws you’re willing to reveal, look for safe situations where you might reveal them.

Not with everyone, not all the time. Selectively, when it is appropriate.

One thing you’ll find is that as you open up to people, they will often open up to you. They’ll tell you they have the same issue, and share how they dealt with it, or they’ll tell you about something else.

This is how strong relationships are built. Sharing vulnerabilities and trusting each other with that information.

Tell other lawyers what kinds of cases you do and don’t handle and get more referrals

Filed Under: Personal development, Relationship marketing

A critical marketing skill

January 19, 2018 by David M. Ward

Marketing requires a number of skills. One of the most important and valuable is the skill of being able to look at things the way prospective clients and others do.

Most people could use a little practice in this area.

This morning, on my walk, I saw a sign pointing to an open house. The name of the agent was on the sign, along with her phone number. I noticed that the phone number had a 714 area code, whereas the open house, where I am, is in the 949 area code.

I’m pretty sure the agent doesn’t live in the 714 area. It’s too far. My guess is that the agent used to live in 714 but moved here and kept her number. A lot of people do.

Another possibility is that the property is a “one-off” listing she’s handling in my area.

Here’s the thing.

When prospective clients, buyers or sellers, see her 714 number, some of them might think, even on a subconscious level, that she’s not the best agent for the job because she’s not local.

That’s just silly, isn’t it? Most people won’t even notice the area code. Most of those who do notice won’t care.

But some will, and instead of putting aside their doubts (or asking her about it), they’ll go with another agent.

This won’t happen often. It really won’t. But ifÂ it only happens once every other year and you factor in the loss of repeat sales and referrals, over the next ten years she could lose a bundle.

I may sound a bit nutty for thinking this, but if you don’t at least think about how people might interpret your actions and messages, you’re not thinking like a marketer.

Nutty people buy and sell houses. And hire attorneys.

It’s important to consider things like this.Â As you create marketing documents, update your website, talk to referral sources and prospective clients, speak, write, email, or do anything else to communicate with the world, before you click the send button or open your mouth, take a moment to do a “safety check”.

Think about how people might interpret your message. Think about the words you use and the context where your message will appear. Consider the details and nuances.

Because if you don’t, somebody else will.

Make your website great again

Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services

What do you want, exactly?

January 18, 2018 by David M. Ward

In order to figure out what you want in your practice or any area of your life, it helps to first figure out what you don’t want.

Try this exercise:

Sit down in a quiet place and write, as quickly as you can, a list of everything you don’t want in your professional life. The things that take too much time, the things you hate, the things you don’t hate but would prefer not to do.

Don’t editorialize (or whine), just get it out and write it down.

It might be litigation, divorce, small cases, big cases, employees, partners, working for someone else, going to networking events, business travel, high rent, long hours, billing, collecting fees, unhappy clients, stress, too little income. . .

Don’t hold back. Write it all down. Nobody will see your list but you.

Keep writing until you can’t think of anything else.

Look at your list. It feels good to unload all of your burdens, even if it’s only on a piece of paper.

But you might also feel angry, as you see, in black and white, all of the things you have brought into your life and allowed to continue. Things that cause you anxiety, stress, time, and money.

Acknowledge those feelings and resolve to change the things that are causing you to have them.

You probably can’t eliminate all of the things you don’t like, or even most of them, at least anytime soon. But you can eliminate some of them and make some of them better.

Look at your list and decide what needs to go and what needs to change. Then, take a few minutes and make a new list. A list of things you want, based on your first list.

If you said you don’t want to handle divorce any longer, what do you want to handle instead? If you said you don’t want to chase clients to pay their bills, write down the way you want things to be.

Then, add to your “want” list anything else that comes to mind. Let your imagination soar. Do you want to work a 5-hour day and simultaneously double your income? Write that down. (NB: you can do that, as other lawyers and I can attest).

This is an important exercise because clarity is the first step towards change.

Plan, do, review. Start with this

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, success