6 rules for saving time with email

February 22, 2012 by
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Leo at Zen Habits says most emails are too long. They take too long to write, too long to read, and too long to respond to.

He has made a habit of writing shorter emails, five lines or less. Everyone is better off.

Here are his 6 rules for short, effective emails:

  1. Keep it to 5 sentences. No more. I stole this from five.sentenc.es of course, but I’ve used it for years and it works. I usually try to do fewer than 5.
  2. Figure out your main point. If you think you need more than 5 sentences, you haven’t figured out the key thing you want to say. Take a second to figure it out, and stick to just that.
  3. Ask one thing. Don’t ask 10 questions, just ask one. Or two at the most. You’re much more likely to get an answer quickly.
  4. Edit. If you stretched it to 8 sentences, cut out 3.
  5. Link. If you need to refer to info, include a link to it on the web.
  6. Post it. If the info you need to share isn’t on the web, put it there. Create a long answer or long background document (then edit it to the essential info) and post it online. Use your blog, or one of the many free tools for posting info. Create an FAQ if it’s useful. Link to it in your email.

Ironically, it might take longer to craft a shorter email as this famous quote from George Bernard Shaw quote reminds us: “I’m sorry this letter is long, I didn’t have time to make it shorter.” So if you bill by the hour, you’ll actually earn more by writing shorter emails. (Insert smiley face here. . .)

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Filed Under: Communication, Email, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How to get a lot more clients without doing ANY additional marketing

February 13, 2012 by
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Most people who visit your web site, hear you speak, or read your article, don’t call you. And if they don’t call, they aren’t going to hire you.

What’s worse, they’ll never return to your web site or re-read your article. At least you have to assume that because that’s almost always the way it is.

Unless you have a lead capture mechanism in place (and you should), this is a squandered opportunity, a loss for both you and the prospective client.

The good news is that for everyone who does call, there may be three or five or ten people who almost called. They liked what they saw but for one reason or another, they didn’t take the plunge. If they aren’t ready or they don’t have any money, there’s not much you can do. There is one reason prospective clients come close to calling but don’t you can do something about. And if you do, it could bring in a boatload of new clients.

Many people don’t call lawyers simply because they’re intimidated. Let’s face it, attorneys are usually not known for being warm and fuzzy. But while a tough exterior may be a useful quality in an advocate, it can damage our ability to connect with prospective clients.

Fortunately, there is an easy solution.

Your web site or other marketing communication needs to reach out to the reader or visitor, invite them to connect, and make them feel comfortable about doing so.

One way to do that is to feature testimonials from your clients, who speak about how great it was to work with you, how you were kind and helpful and took a personal interest in their case. They can say how they felt scared before they called and thought they were going to get a sales pitch or be told they had to come into the office before they could get any information. Instead, you talked to them on the phone and answered a lot of their questions and there was no pressure at all.

Another way to make people feel comfortable about contacting you is to describe the process. Tell them what happens first, who they will speak to when they call, what will be discussed, what happens next, and so on, so that people can get a picture in their mind’s eye of what it will be like when they call.

Yet another way to reach out to people is to simply tell them directly that you will be happy to speak to them via phone or via email, that you will answer any questions they may have, with no cost or obligation.

No pressure. No intimidation. Call or email, the door is open.

There are other things you can do to make people feel comfortable about contacting you. Reduce or eliminate the “disclaimer” language so prevalent on lawyers’ web sites and emails. Photos of you and your staff are good. Use head shots and also some informal shots of you with clients or you outside the office. Personal information helps. Talk about your kids, sports you enjoy, or your volunteer work. On your web site, consider adding a video of you speaking and welcoming visitors, telling them what they will find on the site, and inviting them to contact you by phone or email.

Show people you are a regular person and you want to speak with them and more people will call.

—

Want more great marketing ideas? Check out The Quantum Leap Marketing System for Attorneys

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Filed Under: Communication, Increase your income, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Networking 101: What Do I Do After I’ve Made a New Contact?

February 1, 2012 by
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An attorney emailed and asked:

“Last week, I met a man who is the head of the [an influential association]. Good contact. I sent him an email saying nice to meet you, he responded likewise and hopes to see me around. Now what?”

Great question. What do you do after you meet someone? How do you develop a relationship that will bear fruit?

Of course there isn’t a simple answer. Each situation is as different as the individuals involved. And while every nascent networking relationship has the potential to grow and develop, it’s possible that it won’t. The chemistry isn’t there, the timing isn’t right or one of the parties simply isn’t amenable to taking the relationship to a higher level.

So you meet a lot of people, try a lot of things, and see what works. Most relationships probably won’t pan, out but that’s okay. You only need a few good ones.

When you meet a new contact, here’s what to do next:

First, never leave anything to the other party. Always take the initiative to move things forward. You invite them, you call them, you ask them. The reason we give people our business cards when we meet them, isn’t so they have our contact information, it’s to get theirs.

So you’ve done that. You took the lead and emailed “nice to meet you”. That’s good. He replied. Even better. The door is open to future contact and there is now a chance that he will remember you.

Second, when we meet new people, during those uncomfortable first few minutes where we exchange small talk, we are searching for “commonalities”. When we find them (a school, a mutual friend, a shared interest in golf, for example) we are united in that common interest and we have something we can talk about. When you find something in common with your new contact, however banal, you can use that to continue the conversation at a later time.

So, did you discover any commonalities with your new contact? Did you discuss anything that you can use to continue the conversation? If not, in your next communication, find a reason to ask him a question. Ask if he knows someone you know or what he thinks about an idea that is important to his industry. Share an article you think he may like and ask for his thoughts.

Third, and most important, networking isn’t about you getting something from the other person, at least not initially. In the beginning, networking is the search for people with problems you can help solve or objectives you can help meet. I am not necessarily referring to your legal services.

What does the other person want? Where is his pain? What is on his mind? You need to find out so you can help.

You might have information that can help. You might introduce him to someone. Or give him a referral.

You get what you want by first helping other people get what they want. The more you give, the more (eventually) you will get.

So, if you don’t know what this individual wants, find out. Ask him–“how can I help you with. . .?” Or ask people who know him or his organization what might be needed. Or do some research.

Once you know what someone wants, look for ways to help him get it. If you can’t help them yourself, turn to your existing network of clients and contacts and find someone who can. If your contacts can’t help, they may know someone who can.

Your role is to position yourself as the “go to” person when people need something. You connect people with problems with people who have solutions. In doing so, you help both people and you also help yourself.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Networking, Relationship marketing, Thank you letters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dear Attorney: Why should I hire you?

December 27, 2011 by
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why should i choose you instead of any other attorneyAs you think about the end of this year and the start of a new one, there’s something you should spend some time contemplating: Why should a prospective client choose you instead of any other attorney?

After all, they could choose from a long list of other attorneys. In some cases, if their needs are simple enough (or they think they are) they can also choose a paralegal or other non-attorney. In any case, not you.

So why choose you?

It’s an important question, don’t you think? Spend some time thinking about this and crafting your answer so that if someone asks, you can confidently answer in a way that inspires them to take the next step in your direction.

A good place to start is by using your imagination. Pretend a prospect is sitting in your office, across the desk from you, pen and paper in hand. You’ve discussed their issue with them, answered their questions, and shown them their options. Then, they pop the question: Why should I hire you instead of any other lawyer?

What would you say?

Write down everything you can think of. No doubt you’ll mention your track record, results you’ve obtained for other clients, and your accolades and awards. You’ll talk about your firm’s resources and capabilities. You’ll say things like “dedication” and “hard word” and “caring”. And all of this is good. But it’s not enough.

For one thing, nobody really cares that you are the biggest, oldest, or most successful. It’s not meaningless, but it’s not that important because it’s all about you. Your prospects want to know what’s in it for them.

In addition, those other lawyers are saying something very similar.

So dig deeper. What makes you different? Why are you the better choice? What co your clients get they don’t get from any other lawyer?

These aren’t easy questions to answer. You may not have a good answer, or any answer, and that’s okay right now. At least you’re thinking about this and if you continue to think about it, eventually you will start doing things that will provide you with a great answer.

Your prospects may never ask you this question. They may never even think it. And, in truth, most will make their decision based on how you make them feel when they speak to you, not on any quantifiable measure of your superiority. But don’t get complacent.

In the end, the attorney who delivers the highest standards of service and benefits to his or her clients is the attorney who will attract more of them. Even if nobody asks.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Closing the sale, Communication, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What do your clients really want?

October 17, 2011 by
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Your clients hire you to obtain results. They want a certain outcome, a verdict or settlement, a deliverable. This post points out that results usually come at the end of the engagement and says that, “. . .clients don’t care about results most of the time, they care about the experience they’re having with you right now.”

Clients obviously do care about how they are treated by you and your staff; their experience with you is important to them. But I don’t think you can say they don’t care about results most of the time. They certainly do.

But, next to getting those results, there’s something else they care about.

They want to see that you made the effort.

Clients want to see that you tried. You fought for them. You did the work. If the hoped for results don’t come, most clients will accept this, but only if they know you did your best.

Your clients expect you to treat them politely and keep them informed. They expect you to be fair in your billing. Being treated well is part of the deal, part of what they get when they hire you. But being treated well will never excuse a lack of effort.

There’s two parts to this:

  1. You have to make the effort, and
  2. Your clients need to know you did.

Make sure your clients see your work product and understand everything you do. Paper them, inform them, explain to them. Show them you did everything you could to obtain the results they want. That’s what they’re paying you for.

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

Attorneys: Will you be sending holiday greeting cards again this year? (Read this before you do)

October 3, 2011 by
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‘Tis the season. . .

Yep, the holidays are right around the corner. Will you be sending cards this year?

If you are, this excellent 13-step holiday greeting card guide for law firms will help you create a plan and a timetable.

You don’t want to wait until the last minute. Not with so many decisions to make. Remember last year? You spent way too much time looking through catalogs to find just the right card (mustn’t offend anyone) and then spent way too much money because you didn’t want your clients to think you couldn’t afford a nicer card. . .

I’d like to propose an alternative to this annual ritual of pain.

Don’t misunderstand me, I do recommend communicating with your clients and professional contacts and the holidays are an especially good time to do that. Communication is the sine qua non of relationship building, after all. What I don’t recommend is sending the same commercial greeting cards everyone else sends.

Why? Because a mass market, commercial greeting card that your client reads for three seconds before placing on the fireplace mantle sends an unwritten message:

We’re sending this to you because it is expected of us and we didn’t want to take a chance that you would notice if we didn’t. We couldn’t be bothered to put any thought into it, so we spent some money instead. We want to remind you that we still exist and we hope you will remember us if you need an attorney or know someone who does.”

Commercial holiday cards, the same cards sent by every insurance agent and dentist, are nothing more than advertising, and everyone knows it.

Look, you know these people and you do appreciate them, and they you. You helped them through a tough time or you helped them achieve something important. You met their family or their employees. You really do care about them as individuals, but your holiday card says they are just names on a mailing list.

So, what do I advise instead?

A letter. Send a personal letter to your clients that says what you really want to say.

Tell them what you would tell them if you were sitting with them in person.

Tell them that you appreciate knowing them and you are proud that you have been able to help them. Share news about what happened this year in your practice and personal life and your thoughts about next year. Share a story about a remarkable case, a client who opened a new business, or a new hire in your firm.

Write about the economy and offer solace and advice. Write about books that changed your thinking, and quotes that inspired you. And, because it’s a personal letter, you can write about your kids, your hobbies, or your vacation. Whatever you write about, make sure you tell your clients how grateful you are to know them and have them as clients.

When your clients receive these annual missives, they will read every word. They will tell their friends and families about their attorney’s letter. And because they know you didn’t have to do it, they will call you and send you emails thanking you for taking the time to write a personal message.

My wife and I have friends who send out a family newsletter every year. It’s written by the husband and reads like a newspaper, with headlines, photos with captions, and “news” stories. Very funny news stories. Humor is not easy to pull off, but my friend does it like a pro. My wife and I read it cover to cover, laughing all the way. Our friends moved to the Midwest a few years ago, so we don’t see them much (they visited recently) but their newsletter keeps us informed about what’s going on in their lives and makes us feel like we are still a part of it.

Send your clients and others you care about a year-end personal letter. If not a complete letter, at least add a note inside the card. If you really want to make an impact, add a personal, hand written P.S., something that lets your client know you know who they are.

You don’t need much, just something personal. “Tell Michael I wished him good luck in his soccer tournament!” will be appreciated and long remembered, and so will you.

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Filed Under: Communication, Law office management, Relationship marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do lawyers need a blog?

January 10, 2011 by
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The Attorney Marketing Center web site launched in 1998 and transitioned to a blog in 2007. At that time, I wrote an article detailing the change, David’s Website Diary, and promised updates. To be honest, I forgot about the article and didn’t update it until today.

Sorry, but you didn’t miss much.

From a technological standpoint, not much has changed since I switched to the blog format. I’ve changed the color and layout and added some new plug-ins, mostly having to do with social media integration, but not much else.

My site has grown because I focused on creating content, not on the latest bells and whistles. Content creates value for visitors, allows you to demonstrate your expertise, and brings traffic from search engines and from word of mouth. And so the number of subscribers to my newsletter has grown and the number of blog subscribers has grown and I have continued to sell products and services.

Do you need a blog? If you want to get more clients online I think you do.

A blog has several advantages over a static web site. As you update your content, search engines are notified and they bring visitors. As those visitors see the solutions you provide, they may (a) take the next step toward hiring you, (b) connect with you by subscribing to your newsletter or your blog feed or commenting on your posts, or (c) tell others about you via social media.

Your blog allows prospects and referral sources to see you “in action”. Your content is not just puffery about how great you are it is an exemplar of your abilities. As visitors become familiar with your style and hear your “voice,” as they get to know and trust you, your preeminence grows, your traffic grows, and your client base grows.

You can set up a blog yourself  in about an hour. WordPress makes is easy. There are many free and inexpensive “getting stated” videos available and you can hire people inexpensively to do it for you. Contact me if you would like some referrals.

Once you have your own blog, you control it; you don’t have to wait for tech support to do updates for you, you can do them yourself. It’s as quick and simple as using a web browser. And, other than paying for hosting (under $10/month), it’s free.

What about content–do you have enough to say? Trust me, you have enough. There is an endless amount of material you can supply. Everything from posts about the law and procedure in your practice areas, success stories you helped created, general business (or consumer) advice, guest posts from experts (referral sources) in allied fields, and much more. A post can be as short as a few paragraphs and as simple as you commenting on something you found on another web site or blog or in the news. And you can outsource content creation, too.

A blog may seem to be a big commitment but think of it as the front door to your online office. You won’t be there 24/7 but your presence will be. If you write an offline newsletter, publish articles, or do any public speaking or networking, you are already doing the things that are done online through a blog.

If you have a web site, you have something you can point to and that’s good. But you have to do the pointing. If you want free traffic, you need a blog.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Email, List building, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, Technology, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What do SEO and client relations for lawyers have in common?

December 20, 2010 by
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“I’m a busy lawyer. I don’t have a lot of time to write a newsletter or blog.”

Good. If you have time to write a lot, your clients and prospects might not read what you send them.

While frequency of contact is important, quality is far more important. Instead of writing low-quality weekly messages, you’ll do far more to strengthen your relationships and build your reputation by sending a high-quality missive once a month.

I am subscribed to hundreds of blogs and email newsletters. My email inbox and RSS feed reader are inundated. Several times a day I peruse these offerings. I spend most of that time skimming the headlines and deleting or archiving nearly every article. I may scroll through ten or twenty percent but I probably read no more than two percent. The ones I read (and, often save) are where the real value for me lies.

I stay subscribed to this multitude of newsletters and blogs because they give me a sense of what’s trending in my areas of interest. I also find articles I can share with my Twitter and Facebook companions. And, I do find articles worth reading. If I don’t have time to read them on the spot, I save them to read later. Many of the publications I follow publish several times per week; some of the bigger publications publish twenty or thirty articles per day.

I filter through a large quantity of articles looking for the few of high quality. Sometimes they come from the multitude. More often, they come from the handful of sources that consistently provide high quality material. They may not post frequently and not everything they post is golden, but the most useful material (for me) usually comes from the same sources. Those are the ones I look forward to and make sure I read.

So, if you write a newsletter or blog, you don’t have to write every day or three times a week or even weekly. Write when you can but make it worth reading. Your clients and prospects will appreciate it.

Apparently, uncle Google agrees. Carolyn Elefant writes that while in the past, quantity of keywords and links to a web site determined primacy in search engine ranking, Google has modified its algorithm to better reflect the quality of those keywords and links. You don’t need everyone linking to your site, so long as you have the right ones.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Client relations, Communication, Email, Productivity, Relationship marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lawyers: How to write emails that get results

December 13, 2010 by
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In my previous post I talked about email mistakes to avoid. Today, I want to share some basic but nevertheless vital ideas for writing emails that get opened, get read, and get results.

WRITE AN EFFECTIVE SUBJECT LINE

Your email may be powerful and persuasive but if people don’t open it, they won’t read it. The key to getting your emails opened is your subject. It is the “headline” for your email message. It has to stop the reader who is skimming his email in box and get them to click. The more effective your subject, the more often this will occur. Also, an effective subject “pre-sells” the message contained in the body of your email, making it that much more likely that the recipient will respond to your request.

  • Be specific. Effective subjects are clear and precise. They tell the reader what your message is about.
  • Include a benefit. What will the reader gain (or avoid) by reading your email? Why should they read your message?
  • Use their name. Although using the recipient’s name in the subject is overdone in some circles, it is still an effective way to get their attention. It can also convey urgency, e.g., “John, please call me as soon as you read this”.
  • Include key words. Specific nouns and active verbs communicate. Project-specific key words will also get attention.
  • Include due dates. If you have a time-oriented offer or request, consider putting the date in the subject.
  • Front load. Most email programs cut off the end of lengthy subjects so put the most important parts up front.

GET TO THE POINT

The purpose of the subject (headline) is to get readers to open the email. The purpose of the first sentence is to get them to read the second sentence. And so on. You’ve got their attention but it is oh so easy to lose it, so say what you have to say–immediately.

Put the most important things up front: due dates, requests for information, requests for action. If you bury these, they may never been seen (or seen too late). Telegraph your message so the reader cannot possibly miss it.

How long should an email be? Long enough to get the job done and no longer. Make it as short as possible but don’t worry if your message is lengthy. In a particularly lengthy message, you can always link to additional information (or offer to send it).

CLOSE FOR ACTION

  • Summarize. There’s a communication formula that works in writing and speaking. (1) Tell them what you’re going to tell them. (2) Tell them. (3) tell them what you told them. This may not be necessary in a short email but it can prove helpful to you and your reader in a longer message.
  • Tell them what to do. Repeat your request (or offer) at the end of the message and tell them what to do. Do you want them to call? Email? Go? Be specific; you’ll get more people doing what you want them to do when you tell them precisely what to do.
  • Tell them why. Studies show that when you give a person a reason they are more likely to comply with a request. This should obviously be a part of the body of your email but it’s a good idea to repeat it in your close.
  • Give them ways to contact you. Don’t assume they know your phone number or even your email address. (You might want a reply to a different email.) Provide full contact information in your signature to make it easy for them to contact you or otherwise connect with you through a web site or social media.

Writing effective emails will save you time and get you better results. Your recipients will also save time and be more inclined to not only read your messages but act on them.

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Email, Law office management, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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