Will you REALLY fight for me?

September 9, 2015 by
Share

A personal injury lawyer used to (still does?) run TV ads which ended with him pointing at the viewer and saying, “I’ll fight for you!”

But will he?

It depends.

Is it a good case? Are there enough damages? Does the other party have insurance?

If he were being honest, when asked if he would fight for the client, he would say, “We’ll see”.

“We’ll see” is a lawyer-like answer. But it won’t get the client to call.

Clients want more commitment. They do want you to fight for them. They don’t necessarily expect that you will win every time, or bring in a massive settlement, but they expect you to try.

“We’ll see” doesn’t cut it, so although you might be thinking it, don’t say that to a client.

Most lawyers recognize that their clients expect (and their oath demands) that they provide “best efforts” and they will tell the client something along the lines of, “I’ll do my best”.

That’s much better, but what if their best isn’t good enough? What if they don’t have enough experience? What if the case needs resources they don’t have? What if. . .

Your clients don’t want to hear that you’ll do your best, they want to hear that you’ll do “whatever it takes”. And that’s the message you should convey in your marketing.

This is also true for non-litigation matters. Clients want to know that you’ll do whatever it takes to help them achieve a good outcome. If you’re negotiating a contact, or drafting documents for them, they want to hear that you’ll do whatever it takes to protect them, deliver value, and make them happy.

“I’ll do my best” isn’t good enough. Tell them you’ll do “whatever it takes”.

If you want to earn more, make sure you have The Attorney Marketing Formula

Share
Filed Under: Advertising, Client relations, Closing the sale, Communication, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship, Writing

Email marketing done wrong

August 10, 2015 by
Share

I got an email this morning, from a guy in Russia. The subject, “Let’s do business”. The message:

I’m running a digital marketing agency focusing on local businesses that need help getting leads using PPC and Facebook ads.

One of the niches we’re definitely interested in are attorneys and you seem like an expert on this topic.

I’m not sure what kind of marketing services you provide to your clients but it would be good to have a quick talk and and see if we can bring more value to your customers by working together on some projects.

I won’t want to bore you with excessive details. . . get back to me if you’re interested in general. . .

You don’t know what kind of services I offer? Why not? You want to work with me on some projects? Yeah, I think I’ll pass. But I’ll use your email as an example of email marketing done wrong, thank you.

I don’t want to talk to this guy. I don’t know him and he obviously doesn’t know me. But even if he said something brilliant and I wanted to learn more, it’s waay too soon to talk.

So no thanks. Delete. Bye.

What could he have done differently?

For starters, how about personalizing the email? Show me you’ve actually read something I wrote or at least know what kinds of services I offer.

Then. . . let’s see. . .

How about mentioning the name of someone I know who referred you to me? That would get my attention.

Or how about mentioning the name of someone in my field you’re working with whose name would impress me and show me you’ve got some credentials?

How about friending me on social media, first? Like and share my posts, engage me, talk to me about something we have in common. When you email me, then, you can mention that we’re connected and remind me that we already have a “relationship” before you take the next step.

How about offering me something I might be interested in? A free report, a tip sheet, a checklist, a video, for example, that shows me how to make more money, save time, get more leads, or something else that interests me, related to what you do?

How about offering me a free trial of your product or service, so I can see if it’s something I want to use or recommend to my clients?

How about at least giving me your website, so I can learn something about you and how you can help me?

Get my attention, first. Show me you have something beneficial to offer to me or my clients. Earn my trust, before asking me to talk.

Attorneys can use cold emails in their marketing. But don’t just blast them out and hope for the best. Don’t “spray and pray”. Learn something about the prospective client or referral source, meet them where they are, take them by the hand and walk them towards where you want them to go.

They’ll come, but at their pace, not yours.

Marketing online? Here’s what you need

Share
Filed Under: Closing the sale, Email, List building, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship, Social media

Do you get nervous when quoting fees?

May 29, 2015 by
Share

You’ve met with the prospective client, diagnosed their situation, and told them what you can do to help. You’ve got your retainer agreement ready and it’s time to quote a fee.

How do you feel at that very moment?

If you’re like many attorneys, you’re nervous. You’re afraid they will say no or try to haggle. They’ll balk at signing up and you won’t know what to do next.

Maybe they sign up, maybe they don’t, but the next time you quote a fee, you’ll remember that feeling and your apprehension will grow.

It doesn’t get better over time, it gets worse. It gets worse because deep inside you may believe that your fees really are too high and you telegraph that to the client.

What’s the solution?

Reduce your fees. Lower them until that uneasy feeling goes away and you feel that you are offering them a great deal.

Hey, if YOU believe your fees are too high, they’re too high.

Think about it. If you truly believe that what you are proposing to do for the client is worth more than what you’re asking them to pay, if you truly believe that you deliver immense value and the client would foolish to turn you down, you would have no trouble looking the client in the eye and telling them that. No nerves, no doubts, no hesitation.

Okay, okay, you want to know if there is another solution.

Sure. Instead of lowering your fees, increase the value of your services.

Look at what other lawyers do and do more. Provide better service, bonuses, guarantees, payments options, and other tangible and intangible deliverables that make the totality of what you do worth more to the client.

When quoting fees, you’ll be able to tell the client the advantages of hiring you. You’re worth more so you can charge more.

What’s that? You believe your fees are fair? You’re nervous because you think the client won’t understand.

Ah, but they will understand. You just have to do a better job of selling your services.

Don’t just show them the “features” of what they get–the documents, the process, the work product–show them the “benefits”. Show them how they will be better off as a result of hiring you. Show them how they will save money, increase their profits, protect their business or family, minimize risk, or achieve peace of mind.

Features are what you do. Benefits are what they get as a result of your doing it.

Don’t hold back. Tell them what could happen if they don’t fix the problem. Give them both barrels, right between the eyes.

Tell stories about other people who tried to fix that problem themselves, hired the wrong attorney, or waited too long, and suffered the consequences. And then tell them success stories of clients you’ve helped get the benefits you offer.

Give them a vivid picture of how things could be if they hire you, and how they might be if they don’t.

Sales is about the transference of belief. If you believe in the value of what you do, and you transfer that belief to your prospective clients, you’ll sign up more of them and never get nervous quoting fees.

For more about using features and benefits to sell your services, get The Formula

Share
Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Closing the sale, Dealing with stress, Salesmanship Tagged With: ,

Charging clients more because you are worth more

April 16, 2015 by
Share

I heard from an attorney who says he gets tongue tied speaking with prospective clients about fees and tends to lean towards charging less. Even then, he’s afraid they will think he charges too much.

I told him to write out what he would say to them if he was confident about his fees–why he charges what he does, the benefits he offers, why he’s worth more than other lawyers, and so on.

Write it, read it, contemplate it. And then post it, or a version thereof, on your website so that prospective clients will be able to read it before they ever speak to you. They will understand that you charge a bit more but you’re worth it.

You might want to try this, too. Write down all that you do for your clients, from soup to nuts. Write down all the little things you do to make their experience with you as comfortable as possible. Write down all of the things you do to help them achieve a successful outcome.

You don’t have to post all of this on your site but you do need to see the value in what you do. You need to understand why you are worth more.

But what if you don’t believe you are worth more?

Then you have work to do. Because if you want to charge higher fees than you currently charge, if you want to charge more than other lawyers charge, you have to believe that you are worth more.

If you believe it, you won’t have any trouble talking about fees. You will do it confidently. It is a selling point for you. You want clients to know that when they hire you they get incredible value for what they pay.

Charging clients more comes down to believing you are worth more.

But keep in mind that when it comes to something as abstract as fees for professional services, value is relative and perception is everything. You’re worth what clients are willing to pay and you’re willing to accept.

No more and no less.

Share
Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Client relations, Closing the sale, Fees and Billing, Handling objections, Online Marketing, Personal development

Would you like to get started today or is next week better for you?

November 11, 2014 by
Share

In sales, the “alternative choice close” is a well known technique for getting the client to buy something, rather than nothing. You ask them if they want “A” or “B” and no matter which one they choose, they’re buying something.

“Credit card or check?” “Deluxe package or basic package?” “Would you like to come in at noon or 4:30?”

Clients want you to help them make a decision. They know they might procrastinate and never get the work done. When you help them take action and get the benefits they want and need, you’re acting in their best interest.

And did I mention you’ll also get more clients?

Anyway, you can also use the “alternative choice” concept to improve your own decision making and productivity. It can help you reduce procrastination.

The idea is to always have more than one project you’re working on, or could be.

Writer Geoff Dyer put it this way:

Have more than one idea on the go at any one time. If it’s a choice between writing a book and doing nothing I will always choose the latter. It’s only if I have an idea for two books that I choose one rather than the other.

If you find yourself procrastinating on Project A, you can turn to Project B. Or Project C. When you find yourself resisting something, work on something else.

You probably do this now with client files. When you are frustrated or bored or unsure of what to do next on a given file, you put it aside and work another.

I do this with blog post and other writing projects. I’ve got lots of irons in the fire and when I run out of steam on something, I’ve always got something else I can work on.

I also do this with reading books. I have thousands of books in my Kindle and I usually read two or three of them at a time. When I find myself losing interest with one, I turn to another.

You can use the “alternative choice” concept for anything you’re working on, or should be. Calls, letters, documents (drafting or reviewing), even errands. Always have something else lined up, because doing “A” or “B” will always be better than doing nothing.

Share
Filed Under: Closing the sale, Law office management, Personal development, Productivity, Salesmanship, Time Management Tagged With:

Why didn’t the client hire you?

October 20, 2014 by
Share

You’ve met with a prospective client. You’ve given them a free consultation or done the dog-and-pony show. It’s decision time for them and unfortunately, the decision is “no”. You didn’t get the job.

You need to find out why.

Ask them why they chose someone else.

In your presentation or conversation, did you forget to say something they wanted to hear?

Did they think you don’t have enough experience? The right experience? What would have made a difference?

Did they see a bad review online or talk to someone who said negative things about you?

Were they unable to afford your fee? Would they have said yes if you offered a payment plan or accepted credit cards?

Were they expecting you to be more solicitous and comforting? Did you do something during the consultation they didn’t like (e.g., taking calls, checking texts, not making eye contact)?

Was it your website, or lack thereof? Were you lacking in content that proved you are good at what you do and have helped others?

Or was everything “okay” but other lawyers looked better or offered more? Clients have been known to hire the lawyer who offers free parking over the equally qualified one who doesn’t.

You need to know. If you made a mistake, if you don’t offer something clients want, if your bedside manner needs improvement, you’ll want to fix that so it doesn’t happen again.

So ask: why didn’t we get the job?

But here’s the thing. When they DO hire you, you should also ask why. What are you doing right? Why did they choose you instead of others?

Fixing your mistakes and neutralizing your weaknesses are important, but it’s even more important to maximize your strengths.

If new clients consistently tell you they like all the great content on your website, for example, that it helped them see the depth of your knowledge and experience and get a sense of what it would be like to work with you, you’ll want to do more of the same. If they chose you because of a referral from another professional, you’ll want to thank that person, reciprocate, and find more like them.

Clients will tell you why they did or did not hire you and their feedback is invaluable. But you won’t get that feedback unless you ask.

Turn your website into a client magnet. Here’s how.

Share
Filed Under: Client relations, Closing the sale, Marketing legal services

The best way to end an email

August 26, 2014 by
Share

What’s the best way to end an email?

The same thing you do at the end of any closing argument, presentation, meeting, pleading, report, blog post, or other persuasive communication.

Tell the reader what to do.

Tell them to buy. Sign up. Click here. Remember these three things. Go here. Do this.

When you tell people what to do, more people do it.

Can’t they decide for themselves? Sure. And they will. You’re not forcing them to do anything, you’re just pointing the way. Instead of leaving things up in the air and asking the reader to figure out what you want, you’re telling them.

And guess what? People want you to tell them. The judge wants to know what you want. The audience wants to know what you’re selling. The client wants to know what you advise. When you tell people what to do, you’re making things easier for them.

Of course somewhere in your opus you should tell them why. You have to back up your call to action with some substance. Tell them how they benefit, why it’s the right decision, what will happen if they don’t.

The call to action doesn’t literally have to be the last thing you say. You could tell them what to do and follow that with a memorable quote, a short story, or additional bullet points in support of your request. But don’t walk off the stage or sign your letter until you’ve told them what to do next.

You’re not in the entertainment business, you’re in the persuasion business. Do your job. Tell people what to do, and why.

Like this:

If you want to get more clients and increase your income, go to this page and buy everything.

Share
Filed Under: Closing the sale, Communication, Copywriting, Writing Tagged With:

Is your marketing message like a horror movie? I hope so.

August 13, 2014 by
Share

Suppose you went to a horror movie and it was 90 minutes of non-stop slashing and killing. No plot, no character development, no suspense. You see the bad guy in action from start to finish. You know what’s going to happen next (more blood and guts) and you don’t care.

Bad script.

A good script plays with your emotions. It makes you think something might happen to someone you care about, but you’re not sure what it is or when it will happen. It tells a story, so that you can feel what the characters feel and get scared right along with them. There is a rhythm to the film, with highs and lows and twists and turns which keeps the story moving towards a satisfying ending.

You need to tell a similar story in your marketing.

Let’s say you handle divorce and you have an email list. Prospective clients subscribe because they are interested in learning more about divorce and haven’t made up their mind about what to do. So, you start emailing. What do you say?

Many lawyers send their list an endless message depicting the client’s pain (bad marriage) and the ultimate solution (divorce). Every email is basically the same.

PAIN. PROBLEM. (HIRE ME). PAIN. MORE PAIN. MORE PROBLEMS. ONGOING PAIN. (WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?) PAIN. PAIN. PAIN. . .

Bad movie. Your audience is more than likely to walk out (un-subscribe).

Nobody wants to listen to a non stop recitation of painful thoughts, any more than they want to watch 90 minutes of evisceration. Give your readers a dose of pain and problems, but then give them some relief before you go at it again.

Tell them about the problem and the solution you offer. Then, talk about something else. Tell them about one of your clients–what they went through and how they came out okay. After that, tell them another client story with a happy ending. Ah, just when they are feeling good and forgetting about their pain, boom, you remind them again about what might happen if they don’t take action.

The problems is still there. It’s not going away. They need to do something.

Next message, you might talk about alternative solutions. Mediation, counseling, marriage encounter.

Options. Relief. Something else that might work. Give them information, ideas, links.

Then, maybe something completely off topic. Talk about the wind chimes on your patio and how relaxing it is to watch the sunset and listen to the chimes after a hard day at work. Your list sees that you are a real person with problems and stress in your life, just like them.

Then you might talk about wills and trusts. This might not be one of your practice areas but everyone needs to know something about this, including people thinking about divorce. Give them a few tips. Refer them to a good estate planning lawyer you know.

Next up, more pain. They thought you had forgotten about that. They were trying to forget about it, but there you are, reminding them again. And you’re right. The problem isn’t going to go away by itself. They have to do something.

You mention that you have a questionnaire on your website that might help them put their situation into perspective. They fill it out. They see that you offer to speak with them, no charge or obligation, to answer their questions and tell them more about their options. They’ve been hearing from you for awhile. They trust you. They call.

Marketing is like dating. You don’t clobber the girl with a club and drag her to your cave. You court her. You let her know something about you and what you have to offer. You give her time to get to know you. You back off and let things develop naturally.

When she’s ready, she’ll let you know.

Learn how to build an email list and use it to get clients. Get this.

Share
Filed Under: Closing the sale, Copywriting, Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters

The two stages of following up with prospective clients

March 27, 2014 by
Share

So, someone is interested. You talked to them about how you can help them, they came to a seminar, or requested information. You may or may not know where they are in terms of hiring you (or not), but you understand that following up with prospective clients can bring you a lot of business.

What do you do?

Following up with prospective clients (and this can include former clients who have inquired about another one of your services) should be done in two stages.

Stage one takes place soon after the initial conversation, consultation, or request for information. How soon depends on the nature of their problem. For most legal issues we’re talking days, not months.

In stage one, you contact them frequently and send them lots of information.

Your letters and emails (and calls, possibly) have an element of urgency. If you have made an offer for a free or discounted service, there is a deadline, the clock is ticking, and you remind them about this often, right up until the deadline has expired.

You or someone in your office should call them. Ask if they want to schedule an appointment to get started. Ask if they reviewed the information you sent. Ask if they have any questions. You have to assume they will be making a decision soon and that they have or will talk to other attorneys. You want them to choose you.

Stage two follow-up is for prospective clients who went through stage one but did not hire you. They may have hired another lawyer or done nothing. The legal situation that precipitated their first contact with you has either passed or is under control. They may hire you for that matter at some point in the future, or for something else.

Stage two is your “drip list”.

You contact them less frequently, and with less urgency. You send them a little bit of information (about your services, about their legal issues) from time to time. You don’t wait months but you don’t send them something every day.

You might invite them to another event, offer them a free or discounted service (or renew your original offer), or encourage them to call with questions. You gently remind them that you are still handling the kinds of matters they first inquired about, and you tell them about your other services or practice areas.

Stage one follow-up runs its course in matter of days or weeks. Stage two follow-up takes place forever. Someone who talked to you today may hire you ten years from now, if you stay in touch with them. They may never hire you but send referrals.

Your might fold your drip list into your newsletter list. After all, they have the same purpose.

Learn more about following up with email and how to Make the Phone Ring

Share
Filed Under: Closing the sale, Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

When prospective clients interview you for the job

February 24, 2014 by
Share

I once had a client interview me before hiring me. It only happened once in my career, probably because 99% of my clients came from referrals. (She didn’t hire me. I never found out why. It was thirty years ago. I’m over it, now.)

Today, many clients find lawyers through the Internet and other means, and because there are so many articles and blog posts educating them about what to ask a lawyer before they hire them, if you haven’t been interviewed for the job, there’s a good chance you will.

Will you be ready?

One way to get ready is to post content on your website that addresses the questions prospective clients typically ask. The process of writing that content will also prepare you to answer those questions in the event someone bypasses your website. It also helps you codify your philosophies, policies, and procedures, forcing you to examine what you do so you can make improvements.

I read an article recently, for employers interviewing job candidates, that presented “killer questions” to ask to eliminate the duds. I thought the first question was applicable to clients hiring lawyers:

‘Tell me about a work achievement you are most proud of?’

Clients may not ask this per se, but isn’t this something lawyers should be prepared to answer?

Take 30 minutes this week and write three paragraphs about something in your career that you are especially proud of. What was your most gratifying or challenging case? If you were writing your obituary or eulogy, what would you like to be said about your work.

Post this on your website. When prospective clients interview you for the job, or a reporter or blogger interviews you for an article, you’ll be ready.

Did you know, Make The Phone Ring shows you how to create great content for your website? Check it out on this page.

Share
Filed Under: Blogging, Client relations, Closing the sale, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Writing
« Previous Page
Next Page »