The Fortune is in the Follow-up

April 21, 2014 by
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One of the most important aspects of marketing any business or professional practice is follow-up. For many, it’s also one of the most challenging.

Because they must, most attorneys have a process for communicating with existing clients. This process is driven by the demands of the case or legal matter. Copies are mailed, calls are made to discuss strategy, progress reports are sent on a pre-determined schedule. Once the case is settled or the matter is completed, however, follow-up is often done haphazardly and too often, not at all.

And then there’s everyone else.

  • Prospective clients
  • Former clients
  • Referral sources/professional contacts/”friends of the firm”
  • Prospective referral sources
  • Bloggers/editors/publishers
  • Meeting planners
  • Etc.

Each category has a different purpose. Following-up with former clients, for example, can lead to repeat business, updates, referrals, traffic to your website or sign-ups for your event. Following-up with bloggers can lead to guest posts, interviews, and links to your web content. Following-up with prospective clients can lead to new cases or engagements but can also lead to referrals.

Within each category are individuals who are further along in their relationship with you and thus more likely to respond to your contact. There are also individuals who have more potential than others, e.g., a prospective referral source who is well known in your target market, a prospective client who could bring you a lot of business, etc.

I’m sure you appreciate the value of following-up with these people. You know that former clients are your best source of new business (repeat, referrals). You know that staying in touch with prospective clients is good for business.

But how do you manage everything?

You start by creating lists. There are many software solutions for doing that. Pick one. Import your existing database or create new lists manually. It is time well spent.

Add a code or tag or field to each contact in your database so you can sort your lists by type and date range and other criteria. For example, you should be able to do a sort and find a list of former clients with whom you haven’t spoken OR emailed in more than 90 days.

Now what?

You’re almost there. The hard part is done. Now, you just need a plan for staying in touch with everyone. There are three parts to the plan:

  1. Schedule. How often will you contact them?
  2. Media. Will you use email, phone, regular mail, or social media?
  3. Content. For example will you send them personal emails, a general newsletter, or both?

You’ll probably find it easier to start with one category. Create a plan for following-up with former clients, for example. Once that’s done, you can consider other categories.

Once you have things set up, flag key individuals for customized follow-ups. You’ll want to call certain people more often, for example, or call some people but only send email to others.

This may seem a daunting task but if you take it step by step, you can do it. Once you have, you’ll be glad you did.

Marketing is easy, when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Communication, Law office management, Marketing Plan, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: ,

How to get your work done on time

April 18, 2014 by
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The statute runs on the ninth, so we get the complaint filed by the eighth. We have to, so we do.

What about things that don’t have a deadline? We put them off. We procrastinate. Especially if it’s something we don’t want to do.

But we know this is a bad habit and we want to overcome it. So we make up a deadline. A firm date when we will have the work done. We put it on our calendar. It’s in writing. We see the due date coming up. We’re determined to beat the deadline.

But we don’t.

The day comes and goes and we don’t do the work. We were probably busy doing things that had a real deadline.

I read about a study that confirms what we already know: self-imposed deadlines don’t work. At least for things we really don’t want to do. We procrastinate for a reason, and writing down a deadline doesn’t eliminate that reason.

There is a solution. A way to make a self-imposed deadline work.

You need a deadline AND a penalty for missing it.

When you set a deadline, tell someone. Someone who will hold you accountable.

Tell your client when the work will be done. Promise to deliver it on that day. Put that in writing. You don’t want an unhappy client. Or a client who thinks you are incompetent. Or a client who sues. So you get the work done. Because you have to.

If you really have a problem with procrastination, put in your retainer agreement that the work will be delivered on the date promised or there will be no fee. Or, 10% reduction for every day it is late. Or some other costly consequence.

You’ll get the work done on time, won’t you? Yeah, you will.

You can do something similar with non-billable work or projects. Have you been procrastinating on your website? Tell your boss, partner, or spouse when the work will be done and ask them to hold you accountable.

If you have difficulty estimating when you can finish a big project, break it down into components and set a deadline for the first one. If you want to write a book, for example, set a deadline for completing the first chapter or the first draft. After that, set another deadline for the next component.

You can use penalties to finish any project or achieve any goal. I know a vegetarian who publicly promised that if she didn’t meet a certain goal, she would eat a McDonald’s hamburger every day for a month. Her goal was a big one, but yeah, she made it.

Get serious about marketing. Here’s help.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Law office management, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With:

Why you should offer multiple versions of your legal services

April 4, 2014 by
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If you only offer one version of your services, you may be losing business and short-changing your income.

Think about it, when a prospective client thinks the fee you quoted is more than he wants to spend, he has two choices: hire you or go away. One of those choices is bad for both of you. If you offer two versions, however, the client might choose the lower cost version. They’ll get some of what they need now, they can get more later, and you get a client.

When I was selling my big ticket referral marketing course a few years back, I offered Basic and Deluxe versions. The Deluxe version offered more information and more help (consulting). Most lawyers chose the Deluxe package, which meant I got more customers and earned more on the average sale.

You want prospective clients to think “which package should I get?” instead of “should I get this?” In marketing, it’s called “alternative choice”. It’s used extensively  in direct response.  And sales people use it to set appointments: “could I come out tomorrow or would some time next week work better?”

If you currently offer a menu of different services, see if you can combine some of them into bigger packages. You’ll make it easier for clients to choose, because they will have fewer options, and you’ll earn more for the same work.

If you charge by the hour, see if you can break off some of what you do, package it, and offer it for a flat fee.

And, if you currently offer a package of legal services for one set fee, see if you could break up that package into two or three separate packages. You can charge more for each package separately, or offer a lower price if they sign up for both (or all three). Not only will you get more first time clients, you’ll also earn more for each component of your work.

Learn more about packaging your services. Click here.

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

What do clients want from their lawyers?

April 3, 2014 by
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What do clients want from their lawyers? You can ask your clients what they want. You can conduct surveys. You can do research. But as Steve Jobs once said, “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

A client comes in, thinking he wants a certain document or course of action. You show him his other options, recommend one, and tell him why.

A prospective client visits your website, looking for a solution he thinks he needs. He reads your articles and learns that something else might be better for him.

A client comes to see you, asking about your cheapest solution. You show him why this will cost more in the long run, or expose him to too much risk, and suggest a more expensive option.

A client wants you to go to trial. You show him why it makes sense to settle.

But your job is about more than the delivery of your core services. It is about creating the complete client experience. This includes how you answer the phone, how you schedule appointments, how you keep clients informed during the case, your billing practices, how you dress, your office decor, your bedside manor, and everything else.

If the client has hired an attorney in the past, they are probably expecting you to treat them the way other attorneys have. It probably won’t take much to exceed their expectations.

If they client hasn’t hired an attorney before, they may not know what to expect. That means you have to work a little harder to explain your recommendations. It means you have to manage their expectations, by under-promising, so you can over-deliver.

In your marketing, are you advertising or promoting the same services and features other attorneys offer or are you taking some risks and offering something different?

In any business or professional practice, you have to give clients what they want. But sometimes, they don’t know what they want until you show it to them.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

Building a law practice is like growing a Chinese Bamboo tree

March 17, 2014 by
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I mentioned to my wife that the recently planted tree in our yard didn’t seem to be growing much. She reminded me that it would first build its root structure before it grew above ground.

Of course. Roots before branches.

What a perfect metaphor for building a law practice. Before you grow branches or reaching out methods, make sure you have a strong foundation.

Before you attract prospective clients, make sure you are ready to do a good job for them and leverage their experience with you to generate referrals, website traffic, and positive word of mouth.

The roots of a successful law practice include your core competencies, your operating systems, and a commitment to delivering exceptional service. If your roots aren’t strong, networking, advertising, and content marketing may bring prospective clients to your door, but you may not sign them up. You may be able to do the work but if you aren’t prepared to surprise and delight the client, he may not be back.

Before you do any external marketing, you should know how you will ask clients for referrals. What will you say? When will you say it? What collateral material will you provide to make it easier to provide those referrals?

Before you connect with anyone on social media or at a networking event, you should be ready to respond when they ask for information about what you do and how you can help them. Make sure your website is filled with information and success stories that demonstrate your expertise and knowledge.

Before you sign up your next client, make sure you have a new client kit, thank you letter, and a system for sending out timely bills.

I am told that the Chinese Bamboo tree shows no visible signs of growth for four years after it is planted. All of the growth is underground. Then, in the fifth year, it breaks through the surface and in the next six weeks it grows to a height of 80 feet.

My law school torts professor told us it would take five years to build a successful practice from scratch. I didn’t want to believe him, but he was right. Today, because of the Internet, you can do it a bit quicker. But you still must have a solid root structure before you do anything else.

The 30 Day Referral Blitz shows you how to quickly get referrals. Click here for details.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

“Here, call my law firm,” said nobody ever

March 11, 2014 by
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Your clients may write their check to your law firm, but they hire. . . wait for it. . . YOU.

They know you. When they call the switchboard, they ask for you. If you leave the firm, they will probably follow you. And when someone needs a referral, they hand them your card and say, “Here, call my lawyer”.

Not your firm. So, if you are marketing your firm, stop it. Market you.

When you send an email, it should be from you@yourname.com, not you@yourfirm.com.

If your firm has a blog, posts should be by-lined by you, the individual lawyer, not the firm. If you don’t want to take my word for it, here are seven reasons why you should be the author. And if your firm doesn’t have a blog, you should start one. You, not the firm. It should be hosted at yourname.com or yournamelawyer.com.

Social media pages and profiles, you guessed it, should feature you, not your firm. Your firm can have a page, too, but you should promote yours, not theirs.

This is not just for branding purposes. It’s also for self-preservation. If everything is in your firm’s name and not yours, what do you do if your firm dissolves or you leave? You start from scratch, that’s what you do.

Now, what if you own the firm? Same advice. Brand yourself. You can promote and brand the firm, too, but don’t forget to get and keep your name in front of your target market. Because people hire lawyers, not law firms.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With: ,

What I learned about marketing legal services at my car wash

March 10, 2014 by
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The car wash I go to has a nice touch. When the car is ready, one of the employees comes into the waiting room (or the outside waiting area), walks up to me with my keys and says, “Mr. Ward, your car is ready.”

He doesn’t shout out my name to the crowd or wave a rag and expect me to notice. He comes and finds me.

The first time this happened, I was impressed. How did he know? When it happened the second time, I asked. When they take my car at the entrance, the employee asks for my last name and writes it on the ticket. He also writes down what I’m wearing: “blue shirt, glasses” or “tall, dark, and handsome”.

Simple.

Now, when you go out to your waiting room to meet a new client (you do go out yourself, right?), do you walk over to the client and greet him by name? You should. It’s a nice touch. Much nicer than shouting his name or waving a rag.

All you have to do is have the receptionist write down what the client looks like or what they are wearing.

Your clients will appreciate the gesture.

I’ll tell you what else they will appreciate. When they come back for another appointment and the receptionist (and you) recognize them and greet them by name. Or when you meet the client for his court appearance and find him in a crowded hallway.

How do you do this? At the first appointment, ask the client if you can take their photo for your file. It’s for their protection. So nobody can pretend to be them and pick up their settlement check. Or, because you have many clients and you like to get to know them.

You often hear that marketing legal services is mostly about the little things. If you’ve ever wondered what that means, now you know.

Marketing is everything we do to get and keep good clients. Here’s The Formula

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Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management, Marketing legal services

Do you love your clients?

February 14, 2014 by
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Do you love your clients? You do? Wow, that’s a bit creepy. Don’t they have rules against that in your state?

Like your clients, sure. Care about, appreciate them, respect them, yes, yes, and yes. But not so quick with the love glue-gunnin.

Let’s reserve the Valentine’s for loved ones, okay? And your dog, if you must. But not the clients.

But, here’s the thing. When was the last time you told a client you cared about them?

You don’t have to get all weepy or anything. You’ll just embarrass them, and yourself. In fact, you really don’t have to say anything at all. You can let them know in little ways. Like calling them, off the clock, just to say hello. Like remembering the names of their kids. Like sending them a hand written thank you note when they send you a referral.

I’ve hired attorneys. Doctors, dentists, too. Most of them get it wrong. Oh, they go through the motions of being friendly and treating me like a person, instead of an account. But you can tell, they’ve got other things on their mind.

Look me in the eyes, please. Take an extra few seconds to listen. Laugh at my dumb jokes, and maybe tell me one of your own.

Yes, I know you’ve got other clients in the waiting room, but I’m here in the office, right now. Me. Make me feel like I’m your only client, just for a few seconds.

I came to you because I heard you’re good at your job. That’s important to me. If you do good work, I’ll probably come back.

But what if you went a wee bit further and made me feel special? Like you truly enjoyed meeting me. And you appreciate having me as a client and you know that without me and others like me, your kids wouldn’t go to a nice school.

Then, I might do more than come back. I might become a big fan and go out of my way to tell others about how great you are, not just as a clinician, but as a person. Someone special. Someone I care about. Someone the world needs to know about.

I won’t send you flowers or candy, but I might help you fill your waiting room with clients.

Your bill is one of your most valuable marketing tools. Click here to learn why.

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

Hack away at the unessential

January 30, 2014 by
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I just heard about a hoarder who had 30 years of newspapers and magazines stacked floor to ceiling in nearly every room of his house. Yeah, he had a lot of issues.

(Rim shot.)

So last weekend, I cleaned out my closet and armoire and got rid of a lot of old clothes. There’s empty space now, and it feels good. Next stop, my office.

Once a year, I get the bug to de-clutter. I like to, “Hack away at the unessential,” as Bruce Lee said. Getting rid of things I don’t use, simplifying my life.

It’s not just about possessions. I try to do the same in my digital word. Eliminating (or at least filing away in a place I won’t see them) forms, emails, notes, and assorted paperwork. I pare down the apps on my iPhone, too.

I like looking at an empty email inbox and a slimmed down “My documents”. It gives me a sense of peace and control over my world. Fewer things to look at, think about, or update.

Bruce Lee talked about getting rid of the unessential to better focus on the few things that mattered most. He concentrated his work outs, his energy, and his focus on a few things. It made him more efficient, quicker and more powerful. He may never have described it as such, but he appears to have embraced the Pareto Principle, eliminating the “trivial many” so he could focus on the “precious few”.

In a law practice, that might be achieved by getting rid of (or filing away) eighty percent of your forms (letters, checklists), so you can focus on the twenty percent you use the most. You’ll have time to make them even better.

You could do something similar with client intake. Identify the most important parts of the process and spend more time on them. Do you really need to know all of the facts or review all of the documents at the first meeting or might some of this be done later? Freeing up some time at the first meeting would allow you to get to know the client better and he, you.

It could also mean paring down your client list, getting rid of marginal clients who pay the least or give you the most trouble, so you can focus on your best clients.

Bruce Lee believed that simpler is better. When you hack away at the unessential, you aren’t mired in complexity or distracted by minutia. Fewer moving parts makes you more agile. You get better at the most important things.

How can you hack away at the unessential in your law practice?

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Filed Under: Law office management, Personal development, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Imagine there’s no clients

January 28, 2014 by
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Imagine there’s no clients. It’s easy if you try. Yes, I have the Beatles on my mind.

But I really do want you to imagine that you have no clients. (Don’t panic. You’ll get them back in a minute. If you want to. . .).

I want you to think about what you would do if you were starting your practice today. Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

Would you choose a different practice area? Would you target different clients? Would you have partners? Employees?

Where would you office? Would you use a different billing system?

What would you do to bring in new clients? What would you NOT do?

You may want to partner up with another lawyer or a friend and do this exercise. Tell each other what you would change about your practice, knowing what you know now.

So, what do you think? What would you do differently if you were starting over?

Here’s the thing. Whatever it is you said, no matter how weird or frightening it might seem, you should do it now. Make those changes, or at least start in that direction.

You don’t have to turn your practice completely upside down or do anything reckless. You don’t have to tell all your clients to get lost. But you know things today you didn’t know before–about the market, about the day-to-day activities of a practicing lawyer, and about yourself–and you should use what you know.

In fact, knowing what you know now, taking it step by step, you could completely remake your practice in just a year or two. You could be in a completely different (and happier) place in less time than you spent in law school. If you start now.

What if you told yourself you wouldn’t go into private practice, you’d do something else? If imaging there’s no clients made you smile, don’t ignore the feeling. It may take a bit longer, but you should probably think about doing something else. Find something you would love to do and start working towards it. Three or four years from now, you could be there.

And, if you discovered that you wouldn’t change much of anything, that’s good, too. You’ve done a “level three diagnostic” and been cleared for your continuing mission.

Hellen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing.” I agree. You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Inspiration, Law office management, Marketing Plan, Personal development
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