You messed up? Congratulations!

October 4, 2016 by
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We may not like it but it’s true. We learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. I’m sure you can think of lost cases, unhappy clients, and failed projects you’d like to forget, but forget them at your peril.

I don’t dwell on them, but I still remember some of my mistakes. Like the client I was prepping for a statement. He didn’t speak English so I had my secretary translate. I told him not to say something during the statement because it could be interpreted as an admission of fault.

Sure enough, he said the very thing I told him not to say.

I couldn’t believe it. I shook my head and muttered the word “stupid”. Unfortunately, after the statement, I learned that the client spoke some English and understood what I said.

Yeah, he wasn’t too happy with me. But I learned a valuable lesson that day. Some clients really are stupid.

Anyway, learn from your mistakes. And learn from the mistakes of others.

Jim Rohn said, “It’s too bad failures don’t give seminars. Wouldn’t that be valuable? If you meet a guy who has messed up his life for forty years, you’ve just got to say, “John, if I bring my journal and promise to take good notes, would you spend a day with me?”

Until that happens, you can learn from the mistakes of others through observation, and by reading biographies and watching documentaries.

Or, you could come hang out with me.

Despite some mistakes, I built my practice through referrals

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Filed Under: Personal development

Nothing compares to you

October 3, 2016 by
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Have you ever shared a waiting room with another lawyer who always seems to have new clients waiting for them? Do other lawyers in town get the big cases or clients that you’d like to get? Have you ever wondered why some lawyers always seem to be in the news?

They may have more energy than you or work at a faster pace. They may be willing to take more risks. They may have more time or more money or better connections. You may not be able to compete with these things.

So don’t.

Instead, use your unique self to market yourself.

Because nothing compares to you.

Put as much of yourself into your practice because you are unique. Nobody can compete with you because nobody is you.

I see many attorneys hiding their personality and style and sense of humor. They promote their services and tout their skills and experience when they should be promoting themselves.

Yes, clients want solutions to their problems. Your skills and experience are by no means unimportant. It’s just that what attracts clients in the first place, and what keeps them coming back and referring others, has little to do with your technical ability and everything to do with being liked and trusted.

Many of the attorneys you see with overflowing waiting rooms have figured this out. They aren’t necessarily better lawyers. They’re simply better at selling themselves.

Effective marketing starts with this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services

How to win friends and influence clients

September 30, 2016 by
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You may be a good writer, a good speaker, and a good advocate, but an even more valuable skill is to be good with people.

In a one-on-one setting, when you meet someone new, when a prospect calls, or when sitting with a new client, being able to make people feel good about themselves and about you is one of the most valuable skills there is.

How do you acquire that skill, or improve on it if you’re already good with people? You can read books (like, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”). You can hire a coach. And you can make a conscious effort to observe your interactions with others and work on improving them. But one of the best ways to become a more charming and likable person is to watch how other people do it.

Find people who are good with people and spend time with them. Observe them. Listen to them. Watch their body language, absorb their language, and soak up their energy. Note what they do to put a smile on other people’s faces. And then model their behavior.

Use what you’ve learned from people who have the “people gene”.

I can attest to the value of doing this because I have surrounded myself with people who are good with people and it has allowed me to change my wicked ways. People used to tell me I was “intimidating” and “hard to know”. Now they say I’m “approachable,” “friendly,” and “nice”.

Nice? Me? That’s embarrassing. How about if we just say that I’m not as mean as I use to be?

Earn more, work less. Here’s the plan

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Filed Under: Personal development

The client from heck

September 29, 2016 by
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We’ve all had them. Clients who blame you for things that aren’t your fault. They make a fuss over silly stuff and ignore all the good you do for them. They’re usually not bad enough to tell them to take a walk, they’re just incredibly annoying.

I was thinking about this while browsing through the app store this morning. I was looking at the reviews for an app I had purchased and love, smiling at all the five-star reviews, reading comments from users pointing out their favorite features and use cases. “This has changed my life,” “Worth every penny,” “Best app on my phone.”

A bit of mindless distraction while I waited for the coffee to kick in.

And then I saw a two-star review. The reviewer complained about a feature that didn’t work for him. He said the app was, “not ready for prime time”.

Tens of thousands of people have no problem with that feature. Hundreds of five-star reviews. But no, he’s right and everyone else is wrong.

Did he stop to think that maybe he was doing something wrong? Did he contact support and ask for help?

Nah, Mr. “I’m right” didn’t do that. He just posted his “review”.

What’s up with people? Why do they never consider that THEY are the problem?

I don’t know. I just know that people like this exist and they buy apps and hire lawyers.

What do you do about clients who are like this? Usually, you grin and bear it. Business is business and paying clients get the benefit of the doubt, even when they’re clearly a doofus. If they get bad enough, you ask them to find another lawyer; otherwise, you deal with it.

Or you do like I often did: turn them over to an employee who is “nicer” than you and let them deal with them.

It’s good to be King.

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Filed Under: Client relations

Put your passion on your todo list

September 28, 2016 by
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When you wake up in the morning and think about your work and your life, what do you look forward to? What puts a smile on your face? What excites you?

Whatever it is, that’s what you should focus on. If you can do it, do it. Otherwise, think about it during the day. Make plans for it. Study it. Talk about it. Because whatever it is that excites you is at the heart of your creativity and growth.

Earl Nightingale said, “The key that unlocks energy is desire. It’s also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited.”

Most people spend most of their day dealing with the mundane, fixing problems, and taking care of responsibilities. They make a life for themselves but neglect the things that make life worth living.

Some say we can’t build a life around our passions, that the realities of the world make that impossible for all but a privileged few. I say that while we might not be able to have the life of our dreams today, we can start working on it today, and thus unlock the energy that fuels our journey.

And that’s what life is, really. A journey. We may never reach the destination, but if we have something we’re excited about to keep us company, we can have one helluva ride.

Get more referrals and increase your income: here’s how

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:

Marketing to people who don’t like lawyers

September 27, 2016 by
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They’re out there. People who will tell anyone who will listen how much they don’t like lawyers. They go to great lengths to describe their bad experiences, how they were cheated or lied to or how their lawyer was incompetent or in the pocket of the other side.

True or not, they are angry and passionate about their dislike and distrust for members of our species.

There are others who aren’t necessarily angry but who have been conditioned to be anti-lawyer by a friend’s experience or by what they see on TV or movies. They think lawyers are arrogant or mean or uncaring.

And then there are those who simply think lawyers charge too much. They may be jealous of our income or lifestyle, real or imagined, or jealous of the fact that we don’t seem to work hard compared to whatever they do.

I’m sure you can think of other reasons why people hate lawyers or don’t trust lawyers or are quick to tell the latest lawyer joke making the rounds.

The question is, how do you market to these folks.

A few thoughts.

First, prepare for it, especially if you target consumers and small businesses. “I don’t like lawyers” is an objection, and like any objection, it is best handled before you ever talk to the client. Put something on your website that deals with the issue up front.

Talk about how some lawyers give others a bad name but that most are honest and hard working and want the best for their clients. Talk about why lawyers charge what might seem to be exorbitant fees, and say something about the costs of running a practice.

Talk about some of the issues clients sometimes have with their lawyer, such as the failure to keep them informed. Explain what a lawyer should do and what the client can do if their lawyer doesn’t do it. Explain the recourse that is available, i.e., how to file a complaint with your bar association.

Use this as an opportunity to explain your policies, procedures, and safeguards on those issues. Tell them what you do to keep your clients informed, for example. Explain when and how you seek permission before you do certain things. Tell them how you handle delays and contingencies.

In other words, don’t run from the issue, turn it into a selling point.

Second, make sure clients and prospects know that your door is open. If they have questions or something bothers them, encourage them to contact you and tell you about it. You want to know because it helps you do a better job for your clients. Make it easy for them to fill out a form to communicate with you.

Third, if allowed, make sure your website provides testimonials from clients who talk about the great job you did for them, how you were patient with their questions, how you always got back to them, and other “trust factors”.

If testimonials aren’t allowed, provide “success stories” wherein you describe cases and matters you have handled that a good outcome. Talk about how you copied the clients on everything, and other things you did to keep them informed and happy. If possible, include stories about clients who came to you after they had a bad experience with another lawyer and what you did to fix things.

Fourth, make sure your website has lots of substantive content. Explain the law and procedure and process for handling cases, negotiating and drafting documents, and the like. Illustrate your points with cases and matters you’ve had as examples. Let prospective clients thus see you “in action,” helping clients, solving problems, saving the world.

Of course much of the above applies to prospective clients who don’t have any trust issues with lawyers but might have unanswered questions about what you do and how you do it.

Most people who say they don’t like lawyers still hire lawyers. When they have a problem or need something a lawyer can provide, they will hit up a search engine or ask someone for a referral. When they do, the above steps will make it more likely that you’ll be the one they choose.

More about how to build trust: The Attorney Marketing Formula

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

You’re making things harder than they need to be

September 26, 2016 by
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As lawyers, one of our strengths is our ability to reason. Our strength, however, can also be a weakness because we often think too much and do too little and it is the doing, not the thinking, that brings results.

A key to doing more is to make things simpler. Break up big decisions, difficult tasks, and complicated projects into smaller components. Then, start with the easiest parts because starting is the most important element in doing.

As you begin, a good question to ask yourself is one posed by writer Alan Cohen: “How would I be doing this differently if I were willing to let it be easy?”

Among other things, letting it be easy means letting go of the need to avoid all risks and control all outcomes.

Stop making things harder than they need to be. Get out of the way and let them be easy.

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Filed Under: Personal development

Does your practice need more sales people?

September 23, 2016 by
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Before you say no, give me one minute to convince you of the value of hiring a sales person for your practice. Someone who would talk to prospective clients and referral sources on your behalf and convince them to hire you or send you their referrals. Suppose that this was legal and ethical and could be done with little or no cost.

This sales person could deliver a steady stream of new business for you. Every day, prospective clients will call your office to make an appointment. When they meet with you, they are either sold on hiring you and ready to sign up or they have a few questions about their legal matter, and then they sign up.

So. . . how many sales people would you hire?

Hold on. Calm down. This is doable. In fact, there’s a very good chance that you’re already doing it. You already employ one or more sales people who are bringing you new clients.

Okay, I’m not really talking about people. I’m talking about information.

Articles, blog posts, reports, ebooks, videos, audios, podcasts, seminars, and other content you deploy on your website and elsewhere. This information attracts prospective clients who learn what you do and how you can help them, and persuades them to call you, fill out a form, or otherwise take the next step towards becoming your client.

Your content does what a sales person does, but in many ways, it does it better. It works for you 24 hours a day, never complains, and never asks for a raise. And once your content is deployed, it works for you tirelessly, endlessly, for many years to come.

So the next time you’re looking for a way to bring in more clients, start writing, or hire someone to help you, and get more content out into the world.

Here’s how to create content for your website

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

The lawyer who would be clown

September 22, 2016 by
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Okay boys and girls, gather up your blankets and let’s form a circle, it’s storytelling time.

Once upon a time there was a lawyer who wanted to be more successful. Does anyone know what a lawyer is? Johnnie? No, it’s not someone who loys. A lawyer is someone who gets paid a lot of money for writing letters and talking on the phone. So children, pay attention to your reading and writing lessons and someday, you’ll drive a nice car and live in a nice house.

One day, the lawyer decided he wanted to get more clients. Do you know what a client is? Right, Cindy, a client is someone who pays you to tell them what to do, and if you pay them more, they’ll do it for you.

Anyway, the lawyer didn’t know how to get more clients because they don’t teach you that in law school. Yes, Johnnie, it is incredible to pay six-figures for a degree and learn nothing about how to make money with it.

Anyway, the lawyer looked all over the Internet to find out how to bring in more clients. One thing he learned is that he should do something to stand out and look different from all the other lawyers in town. He needed to do something to get noticed. Can you think of any ways he could do that?

Yes, Johnnie, dressing like a clown and chasing people down the street with a knife would definitely get him noticed, but that’s probably not the best way for a lawyer to stand out.

The lawyer learned that since many lawyers offer the same services, one way to get noticed is to offer services that are better or different. If he did that, people would notice him and talk about his services and go to his website to learn more about how he can help them.

He also learned that he could stand out by telling people about himself. He heard that a lot of people choose a lawyer based on their personality and style, more than anything else. If they learn more about your background, personal life, and outside interests, they often relate to you  and like you, and this brings them a step closer to hiring you.

The lawyer thought about what he had learned and decided that he would do both things. He would offer services that look different from what other lawyers offer and he would show people some things about himself. Not too much, just enough to let them get to know him.

A few months went by and the lawyer was already getting more clients and earning more income. A few years went by and he was very successful and very rich.

Unfortunately, the lawyer let his success go to his head. He decided he would run for office. He started lying, cheating, and stealing, got elected and ruined the world.

Well kids, what lesson have you learned today? That’s correct, it’s better to dress like a clown and chase people down the street with a knife than to become a politician.

More ways to stand out from the competition: here

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

How to double your income in five years or less

September 21, 2016 by
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There is a very good chance that you’re not charging enough for your services. By enough, I mean the amount your services are worth and what good clients would be willing and able to pay.

Why do I make this assumption? Because when I consult with lawyers and we talk about their fees, almost all of them are on the low side. That, plus recent surveys which show that two-thirds of solo lawyers earn a gross income of less than $200,000 per year and 28% earn less than $100,000 (again, gross income), tell me I’m right.

If you have been following me for awhile and have moved away from offering the same basic, “commodity” services most lawyers offer, in favor of higher-level, better-paying work, you’re offering more value and you should be paid for it.

How much more? Perhaps double or triple.

It’s exciting to think about doubling your income without doing anything more than increasing your fees. But you might be afraid to do it, thinking that most of your clients would leave.

Don’t let that fear stop you.

You can minimize the risk of a wholesale exodus by doing it over a period of years.

If you increased your fees 20% starting next year, yes, you might lose some clients. My guess is that it would far fewer than you imagine, perhaps very few or none at all, but if you do lose some clients, two things would happen:

  1. No matter how many clients you lose, if the rest of your clients pay you 20% more than they had been paying, your net revenue for the year would increase, and
  2. Any clients who leave would make room for new clients who will pay your higher rate.

If you increase your fees by 20% per year, in five years your income will double, not including compounding.

Too much? Too soon? Okay, start by charging new clients the higher rate. Once you’re comfortable with this, once you see clients are still signing up, you can begin phasing in higher rates for existing clients.

(For contingency fees, you can “raise your fees” by increasing the minimum size of the cases you accept.)

Look, I’ve seen lawyers (and accountants) who haven’t increased their fees in ten years. That’s not a professional practice, that’s a charity. You are entitled to charge what you’re worth and what the market will bear. You don’t have to settle for less.

How to ask for, and get higher fees

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing
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