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: ,

The easiest way to increase law firm profits

July 12, 2012 by
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In medicine, The Hippocratic Oath includes the Latin phrase, Primum non nocere, meaning, “First, do no harm.” Attorneys need a similar pledge, not just to protect our clients, but to protect our bottom line.

According to a study from The George Washington University (ppt–not worth downloading, IMHO), the cost of a dissatisfied customer is staggering:

  • The average business does not hear from 96% of unhappy customers
  • For every complaint received, there are 24 people with unvoiced problems; six are serious
  • 90% who are dissatisfied with the service won’t return
  • The average customer with a complaint will tell 9-10 people; 13% will tell more than 20 people

Other studies confirm numbers like these. The bottom line: losing one client could cost you a lot more than you earn from one new client.

Therefore, the easiest (and smartest) way to increase your profits is to stop losing clients.

There is some good news from the study:

  • Of those who complain, 50-70% will do business with you again if the complaint is resolved. 95% will return if it is resolved quickly

Therefore, you must encourage your clients to let you know when they aren’t happy so you can fix the problem quickly and can take steps to make sure the problem won’t occur with other clients.

Remember, most unhappy clients don’t complain. They just leave–and tell others that you are a Bozo.

Here’s how you can solicit this extremely valuable feedback from your clients:

  • Include feedback forms in your “New Client Kit”
  • Post surveys on your web site
  • Tell clients (repeatedly) that if they ever have an issue of any kind, you want them to call you personally (and give them your cell phone number or direct line)
  • Put a “Suggestion Box” link on your web site. Allow people to contribute (or complain) anonymously. Promote this box via your newsletter and blog
  • Put stories in your newsletter about suggestions you received and implemented.
  • Interview clients at the end of the case. Ask them, (1) What did we do well? and (2) What could we do better?
  • Thank everyone for their ideas and feedback, publicly if possible

In other words, if you want feedback, create an environment where feedback is encouraged, appreciated, and most of all, acted upon.

Often, perhaps most of the time, unhappy clients aren’t unhappy because the attorney did something wrong, they are unhappy because of poor communication:

  • Something wasn’t explained properly.
  • The attorney didn’t keep the client informed.
  • The client’s phone calls weren’t returned.

If you ever drop the ball in any of these areas, don’t worry, these are easy to fix. If any of your clients were unhappy with their previous attorney for any of these reasons, celebrate. This is a tremendous opportunity for you to convert them into raving fans.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Increase your income, Law office management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Put your contact list on a diet

July 10, 2012 by
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I’ve written before about the value of creating a “Focus 30” list–a list of your most important clients, best referral sources, and other people to whom you want to give your time and attention.

Keeping that list in front of you will remind you to call, write, and engage with the people who contribute most to your success.

I didn’t say so then, but I should mention that you can include on your Focus 30 list people who are important to you outside of your professional life. Friends, spiritual leaders, and others you influence you in positive ways also deserve your attention.

If your Focus 30 list is the cream of the crop, the tip of the top, there are undoubtedly people in your life who are just the opposite.

You know the ones I mean.

  • People you don’t like
  • People who waste your time
  • People who are abusive to you and others
  • Takers/users

You get the idea.

Your relationship with these people does not serve you. You should take steps to either reduce the amount of time you spend with them or completely eliminate them from your life.

Of course some people (i.e., clients, close relatives) you may have to put up with to some extent. But this should be a conscious choice you make, not something you do merely out of habit or a sense of duty.

The easiest way to put your contact list on a diet is to go through the list, one name at a time, and rate each person. If you don’t recognize a name, or you don’t communicate with that person often enough to matter, you can skip them. For everyone else, assign a number based on how you feel about them:

1 = Positive
2 = Neutral
3 = Negative

That’s a lot quicker and eaiser than trying to figure out why you don’t like someone. Trust your gut.

If you’re not sure about someone, give them a 2.

Anyway, don’t agonize over anyone and don’t spend a lot of time on this.

When you’re done, go back through the list. 1’s and 2’s are okay. (You may see some 1’s you want to add to your Focus 30 list).

You need to do something about the 3’s.

Some you’ll stop seeing and taking their calls. Cross them off your list. Eliminate them completely from your life.

Others, you’ll reduce the amount of time you give them. If they are a client worth keeping, give the task of dealing with them to someone who works for you. Get away from them as much as possible. If that won’t work, you’ll need to decide if the negative feelings you get from being around these people are worth the money they pay you.

Or, look at it this way: How much more would you earn by getting rid of your negative, anxiety-causing, slow-paying, trouble-making, pain-in-the-ass clients?

Now, as for your relatives. . .

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client loyalty, Client relations, Dealing with stress, Personal development, success Tagged With: ,

What do you do when the case is over?

July 9, 2012 by
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Think of a file you closed in the last thirty days. The work was done, the client was paid or got their final papers, there’s no more work left to do.

What now? What’s your plan?

If you think in terms of “cases” or “files” or “work,” probably not much. You finished what you were hired to do and you were paid. Gotta go find someone else who needs you.

If you think in terms of “clients” and “repeat business” and “referrals,” you’re just getting started.

Your clients are worth far more to you than what they paid you to handle their case or file. Over time, they may be worth 50 times that amount. But if you leave it up to them to come back when they need you again, or refer someone who needs you, you’re making a big mistake.

It’s up to you to stay in touch with your clients, now, at the end of their case, and forever–until you retire or one of you dies.

It’s called “lifetime value,” and many attorneys never see it because once the work is done, so are they.

Call your client: “Do you have any questions?”

Mail to your client: “Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. Please fill out this survey and tell us how we did.”

Mail something every month: “Here’s something I thought you would like.”

Most of tomorrow’s business should come from the clients you have right now. Even if those clients never hire you again and never refer a single client, they can help you by sending traffic to your web site, promoting your seminar, or distributing your report or video.

So, when the case file is closed, open another file for the client. You have more work to do.

You need to stay in touch with your clients and let them know you appreciate them. Remind them about the (other) services you offer. Ask them what you can do to help them with anything of a legal nature, or anything else. And once in awhile, ask them to help you by liking your page or forwarding your email to someone they care about.

The work is not difficult and it pays extremely well.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Marketing legal services, Referrals, Relationship marketing, Thank you letters, Web traffic Tagged With: , ,

Engage your clients and prospects by explaining the news

June 29, 2012 by
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So we have some health care news. Now what?

Your clients and prospects are wondering what it all means. What do they have to know? What do they have to do? What will it cost them? What’s next?

This is a great opportunity to provide some answers. Leverage news events like these to add value to the lives of the people who follow you. They will appreciate you for sorting it out for them and the next time you write, tweet, post, or otherwise open your mouth, they will be more likely to pay attention.

If you don’t know what to make of everything yourself, there’s plenty of help available. Here’s an article that explains, “How Will the New Health Care Law Affect Me?” Here’s one about, “How Your Business Will Be Affected.” You can use articles like these as a starting point to write your own summary.

You don’t need to write a comprehensive legal analysis (unless your clients are in the health care field or are affected more than most). Give them the who, what, where, when, and why.

But be careful with the why. If you get political, you may alienate a lot of people who put food on your table.

Show people they can trust you. Give them the facts. Help them understand.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Image, News, Newsletters Tagged With: ,

Why you should create an “inner circle” for your clients

June 13, 2012 by
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An attorney liked my post about the magic of practicing law and asked how we can “capitalize on the mystery, the magic, and the utility of the work we lawyers do?”

In other words, how can we use this mystique about what lawyers do to bring in more clients?

Yesterday’s post provides one answer: eliminate the mystique. By educating prospects and clients about what you do, they see that what you do isn’t magic at all. It’s years of study, the scars of many battles, and hard work, harder than they ever imagined. By removing the veil of mystique surrounding what you do, clients are more likely to appreciate what you do.

For most attorneys this is the best way to capitalize on the mystery of practicing law. It’s easy to do and it works. And since most attorneys don’t do this, you can easily stand out when you do.

Another way to capitalize on the mystique is to add to it. Continue to educate prospects (blog readers, newsletter subscribers, etc.) about what you do but let it be known that you have a lot more that you share only with your clients. If your public information is good, anyone who is considering you for their attorney may tip the scale in your favor to get access to your best information.

Let it be known that your clients get “private” information, not just about your practice area, but on other topics: tax savings, consumer advice, strategies for improving credit, business building ideas, and so on, supplied by you and other professionals you know and work with.

But don’t stop with information. Promote the fact that your clients get other benefits as a member of your “inner circle”. They get discounts from local merchants you have negotiated with on their behalf, access to free seminars, gift certificates, and other benefits. You might have “client only” luncheons, picnics or retreats, or other activities exclusively for your clients.

And talk about those activities. Blog about them, show pictures from them, get quotes from your clients about how much they learned or how much they enjoyed bowling and pizza night.

When someone hires another attorney, they get the work done. When they hire you, they get to belong to a private club. Members of that club get far more than the basic services any attorney provides. They get specialized information, valuable benefits, and access to fun activities.

Yes, this takes more work. But it gives you something unique that you can use to build a culture of clients who would never think of hiring anyone else.

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

Why clients don’t appreciate their attorneys (and what to do about it)

June 12, 2012 by
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An attorney mentioned to me that clients often don’t appreciate what attorneys do for them. He said, “. . .[B]ecause they can’t see what we do or because they believe that it’s just templates and forms, [they think our] fees should be low and that we don’t really do much for our fees.”

We shouldn’t be surprised that clients feel this way. After all, we sell an intangible service, something you can’t look at or hold in your hands. We deal in ideas and paper and much of the hard work goes on in our brains.

And attorneys are expensive. When the client earns $30 an hour and you’re billing $300 an hour, or when you get $3,000.00 for “a few letters and phone calls,” you can see why they don’t appreciate what we do.

A detailed accounting of your work helps them see how much effort you put into their case or matter. But this can backfire if they don’t understand why you had to do what you did.

The solution is to teach your prospects and clients as much as possible about what you do. Educate them about the law and procedure. Teach them about their options, the risks and the contingencies. Show them the process and the paperwork.

The more they know, the more they will appreciate what you do for them.

Write articles and blog posts. Tell war stories that illustrate what can go wrong. Provide interviews, Q and A’s, and FAQ’s.

Record videos that walk them through the documents in a typical file or a pile of depo transcripts, tabbed and notated. Give them copies of the full opinions you quoted in your motion, highlighted and with your notes in the margins. Give them copies of everything that comes into, or out of your file.

And explain everything. What is obvious to you is not obvious to them. What you do every day is something they’ve never seen before.

Tell them why you choose A instead of B. Explain why you used to do C (which is what other attorneys do) and why you no longer do it that way.

Don’t hold back. Teach them enough so that they could do all of it, or parts of it, themselves. They won’t even want to try and they will begin to appreciate how hard you job really is.

They won’t understand everything and they don’t have to. They simply need to see that what you do is a lot more than they thought it was.

Educating prospects and clients is also one of your most potent marketing strategies.

When you teach people about what you do, and other attorneys don’t, you have an advantage. All of that information positions you as knowledgeable and experienced. It also positions you as generous. “If he gives away all of this information free, I can only imagine how much he does for his paying clients!”

Educate the market. Provide lots of information. Teach them what they need to know about their legal matter and about what you do. More often than not, they’ll choose you as their attorney and instead of questioning your fees they’ll thank their lucky stars you agreed to represent them.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Fees and Billing, Marketing legal services, Newsletters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to get people talking about you and your law practice

May 15, 2012 by
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One of the best ways to help people understand what you do is to tell stories about the clients and cases you’ve handled in the past. All of your marketing documents and messages should be peppered with client stories for reasons I’ve written about before.

But if you want people to talk about you and remember you and send business to you, there’s one more story you need to tell: your story.

People are fascinated by lawyers. Yes, they criticize us and make jokes about us, but at the same time, they love to watch TV dramas and read novels featuring attorneys.

Of course we know that the real world of practicing law is not anything like that depicted on TV. By and large, what we do is boring.

Nevertheless, your clients and prospects and social media fans and followers believe you lead a fascinating life. They would love to peek behind the curtain to see what you do.

Don’t tell them. Remember, what you do is boring.

But who you are is not.

Tell them your story. What drives you? What gets you out of bed in the morning, ready to slay dragons and save princesses? Why do you do what you do?

Share your passion for your work and insights into who you are. What fascinated you when you were growing up? Who influenced you? What experiences made you the person you are today?

Share your feelings and beliefs, desires and dreams, and even your fears. Let people see that you are a real person, just like them.

Real stories, of course, have a dramatic arc. There is controversy, disagreement, hardship, struggle. Our hero (that’s you) wants something, but there are obstacles in the way. The dragon doesn’t roll over and die, you have to slay him.

Find the dramatic story of your life and tell it. It’s what makes you unique and memorable. It’s what will help you stand out in the crowd.

Your story will attract people and get them talking about you and sending you business. And hey, if your story is good enough, one day we might see it on TV.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Communication, Copywriting, Image, Marketing legal services, Public Speaking, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How to be more persuasive in your writing and speaking

May 2, 2012 by
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When I was in law school I helped a friend with her divorce. I prepared the Petition (yes, under supervision) and served it.

In those days, even though there were no children or real property and the matter was uncontested, she had to appear in court. I went with her to the hearing in downtown Los Angeles and we waited in the hallway for the courtroom to open.

I’d never seen my friend so nervous. She had never been in a courtroom and was afraid she wouldn’t know what to say. I told her this was a very simple case, the judge would ask a few basic questions and everything would be over in a few minutes. I kept talking, trying to calm her down, but nothing seemed to work. She was visibly shaking and barely able to speak.

Finally, I said, “Oh, here comes the judge.” I was looking over her shoulder behind her. She turned to look. Coming towards us was a shabbily dressed old man with dirty, unruly hair and an unshaven face. It was not the judge of course but a homeless man and the sight of him shuffling down the hall made her laugh.

A good laugh was exactly what the doctor ordered. My friend was able to get through the hearing and soon, we were on our way home.

In the car, she thanked me for helping her and especially for helping her to calm down enough to get through the hearing. It meant a lot to her that I cared enough to do that. We are still very good friends today, more than thirty years later.

So, why did I tell you this story? I could have simply made the point that your clients want to know you care about them and really do appreciate the little things you say or do.

Telling you that story was a better way to make that point, don’t you think?

I talk a lot about using stories in your writing and presentations. You’ve often heard me say, “facts tell but stories sell” and I’ve explained why:

  • Stories have people in them and the reader or listener can relate to them and their experiences.
  • Stories have a dramatic theme; people want to know, “what happened next?”
  • Stories have verisimilitude; they “show” instead of “tell,” and are often more persuasive than a logical argument
  • Stories appeal to human emotion. When you make people feel something, you connect with them on a deeper level.
  • People remember stories long after the facts are forgotten.

As you read my story, I hope you were you able to see my friend and me in that hallway and you could relate to the experience of trying to comfort a nervous client. If you could, then my story did double duty–it made the point about showing clients you care and it showed you why you need to put more stories in your writing and presentations.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Presentations, Public Speaking, Salesmanship, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Success in legal marketing is yours for the asking

April 23, 2012 by
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Marketing your services is so much easier when other people help you. And help you they will. All you have to do is ask.

So ask.

Ask for referrals. Ask for introductions. Ask for advice from other attorneys. Ask your clients for information about your target market. Ask people to Like your Facebook page. Ask people to forward your newsletters and recommend your seminars. Ask clients what you can do to better to serve them and ask prospects how you can win their business.

Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find.

Often, attorneys have trouble asking for help for themselves. They have no problem asking a judge or jury for relief for their client but when it comes to asking people to help them, they get uncomfortable. Their ego gets in the way. They think it makes them look weak. But the opposite is true. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of confidence and strength.

And people want to help you. It makes them feel good to do it. It makes them feel appreciated and important. You flatter them when you ask.

Don’t you feel good doing favors for others? You know you do. You like being asked and you like being able to help. It feels good when someone says, “thank you”. So look at asking for help as an opportunity to make others feel good.

Now, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to ask someone for help today and let me know what happens. It will make me feel good to know that my advice worked for you. So will you do me that favor? Thank you, I appreciate your help.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Relationship marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,
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