Why lawyers should target clients who WON’T hire them

October 26, 2012 by
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Are you planning to upgrade to Windows 8? I’m not. At least not right now.

I use Vista on my PCs. It’s not the most feature rich or trouble free, it’s certainly not the fastest, and in no way would anyone say it’s the best OS. But it works. So why switch?

If I switched, I might find that like any new software, Windows 8 has bugs or conflicts or other issues that cause me headaches. Why take the chance? I remember thinking the same thing when Windows 7 came out.

So, for now, I’ll stay where I am.

Guess what? It is this same mindset that keeps your clients from “upgrading” you. They’re used to you. You’re working. You may not be the best, but they don’t want to risk switching because your replacement could be worse.

So unless you’ve screwed up, your clients will probably stay with you. If you haven’t neglected your clients, they’ll probably return. Inertia keeps me from upgrading my software and it keeps clients from “upgrading” you.

But what works for you also works for other attorneys. Their clients will also stay put. So, if your marketing strategy is based on getting clients to switch firms and hire yours, you’re going to have a tough time of it.

However. . .

Eventually, some of those those other attorneys will screw up. At that point, their clients will be open to hiring another attorney. You should be there when that occurs.

But how do you do that? How do you get in front of prospective clients at precisely the moment when they are again “in the market” for a new attorney?

You have two options:

1. Advertise. Keep your marketing message in front of your target market. When someone is ready to change lawyers, they may (finally) notice your message and respond.

2. Build relationships. Network with prospective clients in your target market, even though they are happy with their current attorney. Be “number two” on a lot of lists and when “number one” screws up, dies, or retires (or has a conflict of interest), there you’ll be.

There’s a lot of money to be made signing up clients who are ready to upgrade their attorney. Just make sure your version is bug-free.

Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and learn key marketing strategies for getting more clients and increasing your income.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services

What do you do when you f****d up?

October 15, 2012 by
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The other day an attorney asked me, “What do you say to your client when he says “you f***d up and I’m not going to pay you?”

I told him that if he did do something wrong, the answer is easy: admit it, fix it, and be prepared to offer a refund.

Don’t blame others for your mistake. Be honest about what you did or didn’t do. Your client will understand and respect you for admitting it. Then, do whatever you have to do to fix the problem.

The good news is that when you do the right thing after making a mistake, when you fix things to your client’s satisfaction, they often feel a stronger allegiance to you. You didn’t try to hide it, you took responsibility and respected them enough to admit your mistake. And, of course, you fixed the problem.

Even if the problem cannot be fixed, if you bite the bullet and offer to pay compensation, most of the time you can save the relationship. So when you mess up, see it not so much as a problem but an opportunity.

Of course the next thing you need to do is to figure out why you made the mistake and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Ask yourself some questions:

  • Are you taking on too much work?
  • Are you taking on work outside your core competencies?
  • Are you promising too much or too soon?
  • Would a checklist help?
  • Could you get someone to help you?
  • Are you allowing enough time to review your work before the deadline?

The most successful people in the world often attribute their success to having made more mistakes than anyone else. They learned from those mistakes and got better at what they do. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes or admit to them. Use them to get better.

But we’re not done with the subject.

What do you do when a client blames you and accuses you of making a mistake you did not make? Clients often blame their lawyer when they don’t get the results they want. Do you have to take the hit?

Not at all. When you aren’t at fault, stand firm. Show the client that you did everything you were supposed to do, everything you could do, and that whatever happened was the result of something outside of your control. If the facts are on your side, and you handle things firmly and respectfully, in time, most clients will see the light. Often, they will apologize.

But we’re still not done.

You will have far fewer unhappy and ready-to-blame-you clients by managing your clients’ expectations at the beginning of the case, rather than trying to explain things at the end. Clients need to acknowledge, before you take their money, that:

  • You don’t promise results of any kind (other than best efforts)
  • They understand the risks and contingencies you have spelled out for them
  • They have declined certain options or a course of conduct you have recommended
  • They know what you will do for them and also what you will not do

You can’t be so heavy handed about this that you scare the client off, but you do need to make sure the client understands, from the beginning, what to expect of you and their case. Then, if something goes wrong, it will be clear that you are not the one to blame.

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

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Law office management, Personal development

Good news: your clients don’t want to leave

September 26, 2012 by
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If a client leaves and hires another attorney to replace you, the odds are you’ve screwed up big time. Sure, they leave for other reasons but generally speaking, clients would rather stay with the devil they know (that’s you) than take a chance on the devil they don’t.

They don’t want to take the time looking for another attorney, or take the risk. The next attorney could turn out worse, and then what? It’s easier to stay where they are, even if they’re not crazy about you.

It’s like the story about the old hound dog sleeping on a nail poking out of the floorboards. “Why doesn’t he get up off the nail?” his owner is asked. “Doesn’t it hurt?” “Sure it hurts, just not enough.”

So that’s the good news. You don’t have to be that nice to your clients to get them to stay. You don’t have to smile or show them you care. You don’t even have to be competent (as long as the client doesn’t figure this out). Just don’t treat them like crap.

Of course you would be a fool to set the bar this low. Clients may stick with you because it’s easier than replacing you, but will they come back? Will they give you referrals? Will they Like your page or tell their friends about your web site or seminar?

Your clients may not leave because the nail doesn’t hurt enough, but once their case is done, they’ll find another place to take that nap.

Learn how to make your clients love you. Get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations Tagged With: ,

Why do clients leave?

September 18, 2012 by
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You haven’t lived until you’ve been “subbed out”. You’re contacted by your client’s new attorney who informs you that they have been substituted in on their case, here’s the paperwork, please send the file ASAP.

Kaplowie, right in the kisser.

It happens to the best of attorneys. Sometimes you screw up. Sometimes the client can no longer afford you. Sometimes the client doesn’t want to follow your advice and decides to find someone who will tell him what he wants to hear.

But even if you have never had a client leave, you may have had clients who did not return for a subsequent engagement.

Your work may have been stellar and your fees may have been “just right”. So why do these clients hire another attorney the next time they need what you do? Usually, it’s because they didn’t feel appreciated.

You didn’t listen to what they were saying. You weren’t patient. You didn’t ask if they had questions.

You didn’t return their call. You rushed them into making a decision. You didn’t explain what you were doing and why it is important.

When you made them wait for forty minutes before their appointment, you told them their time wasn’t important (and you don’t keep your promises). When you took that phone call during the appointment, you showed them that someone else was more important to you.

There are many ways to show clients you appreciate them and many more ways to screw up. You can learn what to say or do through study and through experience, but one thing you must have and cannot be taught is sincerity.

You can’t fake it. People know. You can’t say the words and have your face say something different. The only way to communicate to your clients that you appreciate them is to appreciate them.

If you do, your job is easy. You don’t have to think about what to do or say or review a checklist. You’ll let them know in a thousand ways how much they mean to you and even if you are clumsy about it, they will know that you mean it.

If you don’t appreciate your clients, you can’t expect them to appreciate you, or to come back the next time they need help.

If you do appreciate your clients, The Attorney Marketing Formula will show you how to let them know.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

The three stages of lawyer marketing (where are you?)

September 17, 2012 by
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The other day I wrote down an idea for a blog post: “The day I decided to get serious about marketing.” I was going to talk about how I came to realize that a law practice is a business and that if I wanted to be successful, I needed to put marketing first.

The truth is, that day never occurred.

I don’t remember waking up, slapping my forehead, and saying, “of course!” No light bulb appeared over my head. The realization that marketing must come first didn’t occur at any particular moment, it was a process, over time.

At first, I didn’t want to believe that marketing was important. I was young and idealistic and I wanted to believe that if I did great work, I would be noticed and rewarded. I knew other attorneys who didn’t seem to do any marketing and they were doing just fine. Why not me?

What I didn’t realize is that the attorneys who seemed to be completely disengaged from marketing, were actually very good at marketing, so good in fact, you couldn’t tell by looking at them.

And it’s true. If marketing is defined as, “everything you do to get and keep clients,” (and it is), then marketing must include all of the little things we do for our clients to keep them happy and sticking with us and sending us referrals. The little things that maintain loyalty and create positive word of mouth aren’t readily apparent to the outside world.

Most marketing, certainly the most valuable marketing, isn’t public, it’s private. It’s done through letters and phone calls and newsletters to our clients. It occurs one-on-one, networking with key people. It’s done by leveraging the relationships you already have with clients and professional contacts, to meet the people they know and show them why they should hire you instead of anyone else.

Advertising, public relations, public speaking, blogging, and other public marketing activities are important when you’re starting out and need to build momentum, or when you are already successful and want to generate additional income. But they are never more important than what you do privately.

As I came to realize these difference, and accept the importance of marketing in building my practice, I went through three stages:

Stage One: Indifference

At first, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I had an opinion about marketing and that was that. Many attorneys are at this stage, although fewer and fewer today, due to (a) the economy and increased competition, and (b) The Internet.

Obviously, if you are reading this post, you aren’t at this stage. You know that marketing is important. But there are attorneys who still don’t care about marketing. Generally, they fall into two categories:

  1. Successful, and don’t realize that they are engaged in marketing (the private kind) or how much more successful they could be if they paid attention to marketing, or
  2. Arrogant, stubborn, and destined to struggle.

I’m sure you know lawyers in both categories.

Stage Two: Acceptance

After months of struggle, I still didn’t get it. I did busy work and told myself things would change. Eventually, I realized that nothing would change unless I did. Necessity (paying rent, eating) became the mother of invention. Once I accepted that what I was doing wasn’t working, I opened the door to change.

Most attorneys in private practice today, at least those who aren’t newly minted, well- financed, or well-connected, understand why marketing is important, and most of them do something that could be called marketing. They want to do more and get better results, but don’t know how. There are two reasons:

  1. They dabble. They don’t do anything long enough to get meaningful results. Or they do things they think they’re supposed to do but their heart isn’t it so they do them poorly and get poor results, and/or
  2. The focus on “public” marketing and ignore “private” marketing. They bring clients in through the front door and lose them through the back door because they don’t take care of them.

Does this describe you? Do you feel like you are spinning your wheels and not getting great results? Are you getting clients on the front end but they don’t come back or you’re not getting enough referrals on the back end? The good news is that you can change your results by making a commitment to marketing.

Stage Three: Commitment.

Once I accepted the importance of marketing, I began studying it and trying different things. I didn’t get good results, however,because I was dabbling. It was a start and it allowed me to see which direction I might eventually go, but it wasn’t until I committed to marketing that things really began to change.

How did I make that commitment? I found something that worked and I got excited.

“More, please!”

I did more and worked harder and eventually, I fell in love with marketing and what it could do.

And that’s when my practice really took off.

I think a lot of attorneys are afraid to commit to marketing because they are afraid of what it means. Being committed to marketing doesn’t mean compromising your values or spending time or money doing things you don’t want to do.

Commitment to marketing means two things:

  1. Mindset. You must believe that a law practice is a business and that you (the professional) work for that business (practice), and that without clients, you are out of business. You must believe that marketing isn’t beneath you and that it is benevolent because the more successful you become, the more people you can help. You must believe in the primacy of “private” marketing and understand that if you can’t start there (because you don’t yet have enough clients), that this is where you can eventually go. And you need to get excited about marketing and what it can do.
  2. Consistency. You don’t have to spend a lot of time on marketing. You can make a lot of progress in just 15 minutes a day. The key is to do something every day. If you don’t, you are a dabbler. If you do, your efforts compound and your results accelerate.

So, what stage are you in? Are you a dabbler or are you committed to marketing? Do you have the right mindset and are you prepared to do something every day?

If you are committed to marketing, The Attorney Marketing Formula is required reading.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client loyalty, Client relations, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Personal development Tagged With: ,

How to get a much higher return on your marketing investment

August 21, 2012 by
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Yesterday, I said “don’t settle for good when you can get great.” Clients agreeing to pass out your cards if and when they meet someone who needs your services is good. Clients knocking on doors, looking for people to refer is much better.

What I didn’t say is what might happen as a result.

Imagine what your practice would be like with an army of “unpaid sales people” beating the bushes on your behalf. Every day, people who know, like, and trust you are spreading the word about you. They’re making calls or posting on Facebook. They’ll putting your reports in their waiting rooms and forwarding your emails to their colleagues. They’re introducing you to referral sources and inviting you to speak to their employees or church group.

Do you think you might get more repeat business and referrals? Traffic to your web site? Attendees at your seminars?

Your practice would grow exponentially and your clients would do all of the marketing for you.

By the way, you can (and should) do everything I talked about yesterday not just for clients but for referral sources and other “friends of the firm.” Your clients want to help you but may not be able to do as much as a handful of equally inspired professionals with big lists.

It’s true that all of this extra attention I’m suggesting you give to your clients and professional contacts requires extra effort on your part. It takes time to get to know people on a personal level, beyond what is needed to handle their legal matter. You’ll probably spend a few dollars, too. Where do you get the time and money to do that?

Well, think about all of the time and effort (and money) you spend on marketing right now. What if you didn’t have to do that? What if you put that aside and re-invested everything in delivering to your clients the exceptional level of service we’ve talked about?

It would be worth it, wouldn’t it? Especially if you no longer had to spend time on networking or social media, or spend money on advertising or SEO.

Most attorneys finish one case and go looking for the next one. They help one client and then go looking to replace them.

Dollar for dollar, hour for hour, marketing to your clients and professional contacts is far more effective and profitable than marketing to strangers. You can market to strangers too, but you’ll get a much higher return on your investment by marketing to the people who already know, like, and trust you.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With: ,

Marketing legal services: never settle for good when you can get great

August 20, 2012 by
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Your client is in the office and tells you he’s pleased with what you have done for him. You give him a handful of your business cards or brochures and ask him to pass them out. He says he will.

That’s good, isn’t it?

Yes. Very good. But why settle for good when you can have great?

Great would be if your client not only agrees to refer people who need your help, he actually goes out of his way to look for them.

He calls people he knows, tells them about his experience with you, and asks them if they know anyone who might need what you offer. He posts a similar message on Facebook or Twitter. He calls and introduces you to his uncle the insurance broker who has many clients who could benefit from what you do. He posts a link to your web site on his web site. He mails a letter to all of his customers recommending you. He invites all of his friends and neighbors to your seminar.

How do you get this kind of help from your clients? How do you go from good to great?

First, you have to deliver an experience to your clients that wildly exceeds their expectations. They can’t be merely satisfied, they have to be thrilled.

As you might suspect, this usually has very little to do with the core services you provide and everything to do with the way the client is treated. It’s the little things you do for them, the extras and surprises, the courtesies and comforts.

It’s not the documents you draft or the depositions you take. It’s writing a letter of recommendation for your client’s son so he can get accepted into your alma matter. It’s mentioning your client’s charity in your blog or newsletter or Facebook group and encouraging your friends and followers to contribute their time and money. It’s referring customers to your client, introducing him to a lower priced supplier, or sending him and his wife to a nice dinner on your dime.

If you are doing these things, you can ask for your client’s help.

Give him suggestions, based on what you know about his personal and professional life–what they do and who they know. Or give him a list of things they could do based on what other clients have done and let them choose the ones they prefer.

You can give your clients a good experience or a great one. They can do the same for you.

Never settle for good when you can get great.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With: , ,

How to grow your law practice by establishing routines

August 17, 2012 by
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Lifehack has a post today on improving productivity by turning important tasks into routines. The idea is that you are more likely to do something when it’s part of a regular routine, just like you do, for example, every morning when you get ready for work.

How might this be applied to marketing?

We know it’s important to regularly reach out to clients and former clients, via email, regular mail, phone (and possibly, social media). The return on your investment of time, in terms of repeat business and referrals, is tremendous. A few minutes a day spent connecting like this could bring you thousands of dollars in additional revenue every month.

Arguably, there is nothing more important to the growth of your practice.

It’s important, you know it’s important, you WANT to do it, but somehow, you’re not doing it. Life keeps getting in the way.

What if you established a new routine whereby every day at lunchtime, before you eat or before you leave for a lunch meeting, you take ten minutes to connect? You send out ten emails, make three phone calls, or write and mail a handwritten note.

Easy stuff. And because it’s your part of your daily routine, you do it.

At first, you schedule this ten minutes on your calendar. You see it there every day, reminding you to take action. You have an app send you an alarm. Later, when you’ve been doing it for a month or three, when it has become a habit, you won’t need to be reminded. It’s as much a part of lunchtime as eating.

Make a list of marketing activities you do, or know you need to do. Look for ways to make them routine.

Marketing is easy. The hardest part is remembering to do it.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How to use someone else’s blog post to get traffic to your website

August 9, 2012 by
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You read lots of blogs, right? For work, for news, for fun. You might think most of it isn’t something of interest to your clients and prospects. But you might be surprised at how much of it is.

Your clients and prospects are interested in lots of things that can make their lives better. They want to make more money, cut expenses, protect their credit, and get a better return on their investments. They want to get their kids into college and plan for retirement. They want to know how to be safe when they travel.

No matter what your clients are, they are also consumers.

So when you see an article entitled, 6 Things You Should Never Say to a Police Officer, and share it with your list, you’re providing them with value. The next time they see something from you, they’ll be more inclined to read it. And the next time they need a lawyer, they’ll be more inclined to think of you.

When you come across a post that’s interesting or useful, you probably do share it via social media. But when you share a link to a story and someone clicks on that link, it will take them to the website with the original story. Wouldn’t you prefer to have them go to your website?

Why not write your own article on the subject and share that link?

People will come to your website to read your article (and then onto the original), but by coming to your website first, they may see something else you wrote and be reminded that they need to hire you. When they share your link with their friends and followers, those folks will also come to your site first and hire you, sign up for your newsletter, or see something else they want to share with their friends and followers.

If you are a criminal defense lawyer, an article on what not to say to a police officer is a natural. You can add your comments, agree or disagree, and tell stories about your clients who messed up. What you have to say could be even more interesting than the original post.

If you are not a criminal defense lawyer, you can still comment on an article like this. You might have a personal experience you can share or know someone who has. You can ask a criminal defense lawyer for his take on the subject and add his comments or stories. A quick search may lead to a another article or two you can link to.

A blog post doesn’t have to be authoritative. It doesn’t have to be long. A few short paragraphs are fine. Tell your readers you found something you want to share, and why you like it (or don’t).

If there is a connection with what you do, yes, that is better. Your post will be longer and readers will stay on your page longer to read it. Your post will also be more valuable. That can only lead to more sharing and more appreciation.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Client loyalty, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to make sure you never run out of clients

July 17, 2012 by
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In my practice, every time I closed a client file I reminded myself that I needed to replace it. My future income depended on it.

Early in my career, this made me nervous. I would look at the void in my file drawer where the active file had been and wonder what I could do to replace it.

At some point, I realized that every client can lead me to at least one new client, and if that’s true, I would never run out of clients.

It’s called, “the power of one”.

Every client can refer at least one new client. If not now, at some point in the future. The clients they can refer can do the same.

Of course this is not always true for every practice area. Not every client can refer, or will. But some clients will refer three clients, or ten clients.

Every client can do something to “replace themselves.” If they don’t know anyone they can refer, they know someone who does. Ask every client for the name of their insurance agent, CPA, or other professional. Ask for an introduction. Ask if you can use their name.

Every client can help you build your contact list. Ask every client to distribute your report, promote your seminar, or forward your email.

Growing your practice by leveraging your relationships with existing clients begins with the belief that what your clients pay you for the work you do is only part of your compensation. In addition to your fee, you expect them to refer at least one client or introduce you to at least one professional contact.

Some attorneys discuss this with new clients when they talk about fees. Some actually put this in their retainer agreement.

No matter what you say, or don’t say, one thing is clear: Attorneys who get more referrals expect their clients to refer.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: ,
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