Trust me, I’m a lawyer

December 31, 2020 by
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If people don’t trust you, they won’t hire you. At first, they may give you the benefit of the doubt, especially if you were referred to them, but that trust can be lost in a heartbeat.

My wife used a referral service she likes to have some roofers come out for an inspection. First one, great. On time, friendly, plain spoken. He showed her photos of some minor issues that need work and gave her an estimate. She liked what he said and he’s in the running.

Yesterday, the second one showed up (from the same referral service), but there was a problem. He couldn’t get up on the roof.

It seems he had a short, fold-up ladder, which he transported in the trunk of his car, and it wouldn’t reach. When my wife asked why he didn’t bring a longer ladder, he explained that he would need to drive a truck and the gas would be too expensive.

Yikes.

He said he could send someone with the truck later in the week. Right, after experiencing this guy’s bewildering lack of preparedness, we’ll sit around waiting for one of his guys to show up.

Needless to say, he didn’t get the job.

If you’re in a competitive field, where clients talk to more than one lawyer before making their choice, consider that prospective clients aren’t looking for a reason to hire you so much as a reason to disqualify you.

It doesn’t take much for them to do that.

If you are unprepared, if you squawk about your costs of doing business, if you say or do anything that says “unprofessional,” that’s it. You’re off the list.

And anything can knock you off that list.

Someone doesn’t like your photo on your website because you look mean, or there is no photo so they can’t look at your eyes, or you didn’t call them back right away, or you yawned on the phone and sounded like you didn’t care.

Anything.

Am I saying you have to meet certain minimum standards to even be in the running? Yes. Getting the basics right only gets you in the game. If you want to get the job, you have to do even more.

Yes, it’s hard. You have to be ever vigilant and pay attention to detail. When you are in a service business or a profession, it’s not just the quality of your work or the results you deliver that count, it’s the entire client experience.

Which begins with trust.

Want more referrals? Do a 30-Day Referral Blitz

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Filed Under: Image, Referrals Tagged With:

I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. Demille

November 18, 2020 by
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“Zoom Gloom” is causing a dramatic rise in plastic surgery. People are getting face lifts, Botox treatments, and other procedures, because they don’t like the way they look on camera.

“Noses and wrinkles seem to be the most common complaints generated by this phenomenon, which the experts have dubbed ‘Zoom Dysmorphia'”

Hey, I’m not crazy about seeing myself on camera, but aren’t there other things we can do besides surgery?

Many articles and videos show how to position our camera and adjust our lighting for a more flattering look. The right lighting can hide wrinkles and blemishes and even out skin tones.

A better camera might help.

More ideas:

  • Makeup that suits your skin tones, especially under harsh light
  • A different hair cut, style, or color
  • A tan
  • Teeth whitening
  • Losing weight (or gaining it) as appropriate
  • Different eye glass frames
  • Different clothing (style, color)
  • Drinking more water (just not before you go live!)

For many of us, just getting more sleep can make a big difference.

We all want to look our best. These are some thoughts about how to do that without going under the knife or needle.

By the way, if you haven’t seen Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, here’s the infamous scene. If you’d like a good laugh, check out one of Carol Burnett’s Nora Desmond parodies.

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Filed Under: Image Tagged With:

3 ways to position yourself as an expert

July 29, 2020 by
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If you want to stand out in your field and attract more and better clients, being an attorney isn’t enough.

There are too many of us and we all look alike.

The good news is that it isn’t especially difficult to help the world see you as an expert in your field or niche.

Here are 3 ways to do that:

  1. Specialize.

Prospective clients and the people who refer them prefer lawyers who specialize. They see specialists as having more knowledge and experience, greater capabilities. They see less risk in hiring you or referring clients to you versus other attorneys. And, specialists can charge more than attorneys who don’t specialize.

You can specialize in your practice area and in the types of clients or cases you represent.

  1. Educate the market.

Make sure your website provides lots of information about your field–issues, problems, risks, time lines, and available solutions, especially the ones you provide.

Write about your target market’s world–news about their industry or local market, prominent people in that market, and other matters that would interest the people in your niche.

Tell people why you’re different or better than other attorneys in your field.

Continue to educate the market via articles you publish on authority sites, in your presentations, in interviews, and in your newsletter.

  1. Social proof.

Your bio should confirm your authority status. It should cite articles by or about you, note your speaking engagements, describe awards you’ve received, and detail other distinctions–e.g., Judge Pro Tem, Arbitrator, clerkships, CLE classes, former industry jobs, etc.

Other forms of social proof include testimonials, client reviews, and endorsements by influential people.

It also helps to network with other authorities.

Finally, if you wrote a book, mention this–everywhere. Authors are, by definition, authorities. And if you haven’t written a book, start. Not only can it build your authority, it can also attract a lot of prospective clients to your door.

For more ways to assert your authority and build your reputation, see The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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

Haters gonna hate

September 20, 2019 by
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Surprise: not everyone loves you. Truth be told, many people don’t like you at all.

Because you’re a lawyer.

And they don’t like lawyers. Never have, never will.

They think we’re corrupt. We lie, cheat, and steal as a matter of course. We’re greedy. We think we’re better than them.

Lawyers are evil. End of story.

And then there our clients. The ones who think we failed them or overcharged them or were mean to them. The ones who leave bad reviews, file complaints against us, and tell everyone they know to avoid us.

Yes, we’re in a tough business. Clients with stressful legal situations, a society that needs a scapegoat to blame for its ills, and, let’s face it–we’re not cheap.

So it’s easy to blame us and be jealous of us.

We shouldn’t be surprised when people talk bad about us or about our profession.

Because that’s never going to stop.

What can we do? We can ignore the haters. Don’t let their vitriol seep into your psyche.

Ignore them and focus on the people who appreciate you.

Many of your clients love you. They know you care about them and work hard for them. They trust you and will come back to you when they need you. They will tell their friends good things about you.

Focus on them.

And remember, when the haters need you, when their liberty or dignity or bank account is on the line, they’re going to call you and pay what you ask.

Because they need you.

Also remember that the best clients don’t begrudge what you earn. The best clients know you’re worth every penny.

You solve problems for them and help them achieve their goals and they gladly pay you to do that.

The best clients want their lawyers to be well-paid.

If you’d like to get more of those types of clients, then check out my video course on using leverage to grow your practice.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Image

Are you an authority? You could be.

July 25, 2019 by
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Are you better than other attorneys in your practice area or market?

Better than some? Better than most? Does it matter?

Yes, it matters. Better clients prefer to hire better attorneys and they’re generally willing to pay more to get them.

But how do they know you’re better?

If you have 20 years experience, clients usually see you as better than attorneys with only two years experience. If you’ve won some big verdicts or have an office on “attorney row,” clients tend to see you as the better choice.

When you look successful, people see you as an expert, an authority in your field. They tend to trust you and value you more.

Brain scans confirm that people process information coming from authorities differently than from other sources. That’s why success breeds success.

What if you don’t have a long track record or a big office? What can you do to get prospective clients (and the people who refer them) to see you as an authority?

Positive reviews help. So do testimonials and endorsements from influential people in your niche.

Get ’em and feature them on your website and your marketing materials.

Public speaking helps, probably because so many people fear it. Do what you can to get in front of a room a few times and add this to your bio.

Finally, one of the best ways to be perceived as an authority is to publish a book. Authors are author-ites, so get to scribbling.

Give people reasons to see you as an authority and more people will see you as the better choice.

Want help writing and publishing a book? Contact me

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Filed Under: Image, success Tagged With: ,

Why am I not surprised?

January 11, 2019 by
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I just saw an infographic depicting “America’s Most & Least Trusted Professions”. Lawyers ranked near the bottom, just above business executives, car salespeople, and swamp-creatures, aka, members of Congress.

I’ve noted before that lawyers are an easy target. We do everyone’s dirty work and tend to make a lot of enemies, after all. And who doesn’t like a good lawyer joke?

But that doesn’t mean we should accept the world’s collective opprobrium. Neither should we single-handedly attempt to repair the reputation of an entire profession. 

Instead, we should take steps to differentiate ourselves. To show the world that we’re one of the good ones. 

We can do that, we must do that, by going out of our way to foster trust in the eyes of our prospects, clients, and professional contacts. 

This covers a lot of territory, everything from treating people better than they expect (or deserve) to be treated, to displaying the accolades and endorsements of others who vouch for us, to doing charitable work usually associated with good people, and everything in between. 

We should, of course, also refrain from the types of practices we know client’s dislike. Failing to keep clients informed about their case and charging for every little expense and every nanosecond of time are common examples.  

Another way to earn trust is to exceed our clients’ expectations. Giving them extra services, delivering better results, and showering them with the highest level of “customer service” not only goes a long way towards earning trust, but it can also stimulate a heap of positive word of mouth about you. 

In our marketing, we can build trust by showing our market how we are different or better than our competition. This can be as simple as providing more information than most attorneys do, or doing so in an interesting or entertaining matter. 

Finally, one thing we shouldn’t do is deny the fact that lawyers tend to rank low on the trust totem pole. Instead, we should acknowledge this fact and help people understand what to do about it. 

Educate your market about the standard of care, so prospective clients will know what to expect and demand. Teach them what to do when a lawyer doesn’t deliver.

And teach them what to look for when they are looking for a lawyer in your practice area. Give them the questions to ask and the answers they should get.  

Do this, and you will take a big step towards showing the market that you are indeed one of the good ones.

How to build trust and get more repeat business and referrals

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Filed Under: Client relations, Image, Legal industry, Marketing legal services

Posture

August 16, 2018 by
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Yesterday, I talked about how some lawyers are afraid of their clients. They bend over backward to give them whatever they want, even if they don’t deserve it, because they’re afraid of losing the client or having them say bad things about them.

They try to please everyone, thinking they’ll attract more clients, but all they do is drive clients away.

When you’re too eager to please, too available, or too generous, you project an image of neediness. Clients can sense it.

When clients see you as needy, they get nervous. It’s like pulling up to a restaurant at 6 pm and seeing an empty parking lot. Nobody wants to eat where nobody else is eating.

People want to hire attorneys who don’t need their business. True or not, that’s what you want them to think.

Don’t be so quick to give them what they want. Make them wait a day or a week to book an appointment. Have them speak to someone on your staff or fill out a form on your website before they get to speak to you.

To pull this off, you have to believe that they need you more than you need them. If you don’t believe this, you need to work on that. For starters, make your services different and better than what other lawyers offer, or at least package and present them that way.

It’s called posture and the most successful attorneys have it in spades.

Have you seen attorneys who accept new clients “by referral only”? That’s posture.

You want to attract clients, not chase them. You want them to see you as the best choice, not just another pretty face in the crowd.

On the other hand, don’t do what some attorneys do. Don’t overplay your hand. Some attorneys come off as cocky, expensive, and too unavailable. Hey, if a client wanted that they’d hire a doctor, not a lawyer.

How to get clients to see you as the one they want

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Filed Under: Client relations, Image Tagged With:

Do clients hire ugly lawyers?

June 11, 2018 by
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Apparently, eyebrow toupees are a thing. Who knew?

It looks like Canada’s Justin Trudeau wears them. Over the weekend he had what appeared to be an eyebrow malfunction when one of those puppies started to come off.

Embarrassing.

Why would someone glue artificial caterpillars over their real brows and take the risk of being discovered?

Vanity.

We all want to be more attractive. It’s in our DNA. Experts say that fit, attractive people attract more mates and produce more children.

Or something like that.

Studies show that good looking (and taller) people tend to be more successful in life, at least financially.

Fortunately, clients hire lawyers for our beautiful brains. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything we can to make ourselves as physically attractive as possible.

Most of us do that by eating well, exercising, getting plenty of sleep and bathing regularly. But there’s nothing wrong with getting a little extra help.

Men, if you’re losing your hair, shaving your head is a viable option. Some studies show that many women find bald men more attractive. Have you seen Jason Statham’s wife?

Some guys wear makeup. Some have shoe lifts. Some get plastic surgery. It’s all good.

But, here’s a thought. If your eyebrows aren’t as lush and sexy as you’d like, get a friggin eyebrow pencil. Because eyebrow toupees shouldn’t be a thing.

Marketing legal services: here’s the formula

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Filed Under: Image

Why you should zig when everyone else zags

February 28, 2018 by
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You really don’t want to stand out, do you? You’ve heard the reasoning behind it and you get it, but if you have a choice, you’d rather blend in with all the other guys and gals who do this legal thing.

You want to be left alone to do your work. You don’t want people to pay attention to all your typos and blemishes and weird ideas.

And yet, you must. You must put yourself “out there”. You must take the risk.

If you don’t give people reasons to notice you, remember you, and hire you (instead of any other lawyer), you shouldn’t be surprised when nobody does.

So, baby steps. Start with something easy. It almost doesn’t matter what it is so long as its different from what most lawyers do.

I’ll give you one. Email. When every other lawyer (and other professional) sends fancy newsletters, with pretty pictures, stylish formatting and modern layouts, do the opposite.

Plain text.

Go on, I dare you. It is a very simple way to stand out.

Plain, ugly, mono-type. The plainer the better. Like I do. Your newsletter won’t look like everyone else’s. It won’t look like something you bought from a company. It won’t look like a commercial product.

It will look like an email. Which is why it will stand out. And why it gets read.

Make your email look like a personal communication, not an ad. It’s an easy way to stand out and build a relationship with the people on your list.

You do know how to write an email, don’t you? You just put your lips together and. . . okay, nevermind. We’ll talk about that another time.

Need ideas for your newsletter? Get them here

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Filed Under: Communication, Email, Image

You are what you appear to be

February 27, 2018 by
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Marketing maven Dan Kennedy talks about something he calls the “full parking lot phenomenon”. He says nobody wants to buy from a store, eat at a restaurant, or hire a lawyer with an empty parking lot.

It’s true.

If your parking lot or office waiting room is empty, if you don’t appear to have many clients, people get nervous.

They want to buy from successful merchants. They want to hire successful attorneys. You need to do whatever you can to create and maintain that image.

If you have lots of clients, talk about the work you’re doing for them–in your newsletter or on your blog, and in your conversations. Yep, tell war stories (but make them quick.)

If you are just starting out, talk about work you did for the firm you worked for prior to opening your office. If you’re going through a bad spell and you aren’t flush with clients, talk about the clients you do have or the ones you’ve had in the past. Nobody needs to know how long ago it was.

Book appointments back to back so that clients see other clients in your waiting room.

Talk about things busy lawyers do–your speaking engagements, writing, and networking. Let the world know that you are “in demand”.

Perception is everything. If you look successful, clients will assume that you are successful.

Does that mean that you should continually upgrade your image as you grow? New office, furniture, clothing, and car?

To some extent, yes.

If your clients (or the clients you wish to attract) expect their attorney to fit a certain image or profile, you should probably accommodate them. I know, we’ve all seen some very successful (and wealthy) attorneys who wear old clothes and drive old cars, but not everyone can get away with that.

Keep up appearances but don’t go overboard. You don’t want clients thinking you charge more than you’re worth because you are addicted to wearing $4000 suits.

You don’t need an expensive website. Here’s what you do need

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Filed Under: Image, Law office management
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