Law office management

Internet marketing for attorneys and handymen

August 2, 2013 by David M. Ward

My wife and I hired a handyman yesterday. She found Dan on a review site for trades people. He had nearly 100 positive reviews, more than any other on the site.

Dan doesn’t have his own website. He probably thinks he doesn’t need one. He’s got all that business coming in from the review site and I’m sure he also gets lots of referrals.

But what if that review site shuts down? Yes it does happen. Sites that aren’t making money, sites that are mismanaged, sites that get sold to someone who has different ideas.

Just like that, Dan’s online presence would be gone. All the business from that site, gone.

Then what?

Okay, he would still get referrals. But when the people getting referred go online to “check him out” and find nothing, what do you think they will do? They’ll go find someone else, that’s what they’ll do.

Now then, how about you? What kind of online presence do you have? Do you have a website? If you don’t and someone goes online to “check you out,” what will they find? Bad stuff? No stuff? Don’t you want them to see some good stuff?

If you do have a website but it is hosted on a site that you don’t own, what will you do if that site goes away?

It won’t happen? That’s what everyone who had their sites at Posterous.com said, just before they shut down.

You need your own site. Hosted on your own account. www.yourname.com.

Directory listings and reviews on other sites are fine. Having a page on your firm’s site is fine. You still need your own site.

I get a lot of emails from attorneys who use the email account at their current employer’s law firm. joelaw@myemployerfirmname.com But what happens when they leave that firm? They lose that email address.

A year from now, if someone has a referral and wants to email them, they can’t. They don’t work here anymore. Do they track him down? Who knows.

So, if you’re not ready to create your own website, at least get you own domain name and your own email address that will never change. you@yourname.com

Here are some of the resources I use and recommend for domains and hosting.

And here is my course on Internet marketing for attorneys.

And, if you need a good handyman. . .

Filed Under: Email, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Technology Tagged With: Attorney website, Internet marketing for attorneys, Internet marketing for lawyers

Audit your website

August 1, 2013 by David M. Ward

When was the last time you audited your website?

Okay, you need to do that. You need to go through the pages of your site and make sure that all of the requisite elements are present.

Like your contact form. Have you made it easy for website visitors to contact you by phone and email (at least)? Is there a link to this on every page?

Or your newsletter sign up form. You want visitors to join your list so you can stay in touch with them until they are ready to hire you or refer someone. That should also be on every page.

How about a page that lists all of your services, with links to sub-pages providing details about each of those services?

But here’s the thing. Your website may have these and other essential elements and you may think you’ve got things covered. But having them isn’t enough. They need to be easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to use. It’s hard to be objective about things like this.

So, after you audit your website, I suggest you find someone who has never seen your website and ask them to do the same.

Ask them to go through your site, page by page, and tell you what they see and what they think. You might do this with another lawyer, i.e., they go through your site and you go through theirs.

Give some instructions, i.e., “find the services I provide,” “sign up for my newsletter,” or “email me and tell me you want an appointment.”

Have them report if they hit any snags along the way. Was everything easy to find? Was it easy to understand? Did anything slow you down? Did you have any questions that weren’t answered?

Have them start on your home page, and then start again on one of your blog post or article pages, i.e., “landing pages” where they might enter your site if they find it via search.

After they read the home page, ask them to tell you what page they went to next. How long did they stay there? How many pages did they click through to get to something they wanted to see?

The best way to do this is to sit them down in front of a computer and watch them. As they go through your pages, have them narrate their journey–what they see and what they think.

See if they can quickly navigate through your site and find everything you have asked them to find and anything else they are attracted to. This is very valuable information.

You’ll learn what your website visitors encounter when they arrive at your site. You’ll see what you need to add, improve, move, or replace. You’ll know what questions visitors ask themselves as they arrive at and click through your site. And you’ll see how long it takes them to find the key elements that make your site work.

In Make the Phone Ring, I identify nine essential website elements for attracting (prospective) clients and getting them to hire you or take the next step. Whether you create your own websites or hire someone, if you want to get more clients online, you need to know what these elements are and how to implement them. Check it out on this page.

Filed Under: Blogging, Law office management, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Technology, Web traffic Tagged With: client audits for law firms, website inventory

One year ago I. . . and today. . .

July 30, 2013 by David M. Ward

Let’s try a little exercise. I want you to think back to one year ago. Look at your calendar to remind yourself where you were and what you were doing. Sort your notes by date. Read your diary.

What did you do or change one year ago that has positively affected your life today?Â It doesn’t have to be exactly one year ago. Close enough is close enough.

Write it down.

“One year ago, I. . .” and then describe how your law practice or personal life has improved as a result. Something like this:

One year ago. . .

“. . .I started. . . and today, I. . .”.

“. . .I improved. . . and today, I. . .”.

“. . .I changed. . . and today, I. . .”.

“. . .I updated. . . and today, I. . .”.

“. . .I stopped. . . and today, I . . .”.

You might find it easier to work backwards, that is, to think about something positive in your life right now and see if you can relate it back to something you did last year. For example, if you are seeing an increase in new clients today, you might realize that last year at this time, you began reading my blog or you purchased one of my courses. (Smiley face with big grin goes here.)

Anyway, if you can find something you did last year that has benefited you this year, it should be noted and reflected upon. How did you come to make that change? What precipitated it? What has been the best part? What might you have done differently or better?

Now, think about the future. How can you amplify what you did last year to make it even better this year? What should you continue doing and what should you consider changing? What should you do more of and what might you cut back on?

By now, you have probably figured out that the point of this exercise isn’t really to get you to look back so much as it is to get you to look forward.

What could you do today so that one year from now, you can look back at this date and see how you effected a positive outcome?

Go on, give it some thought and write down your answers. What could you start, improve, change, update, or stop doing today?

Send me an email next year and let me know how it worked out.

The Attorney Marketing Formula includes a simple marketing plan. Check it out here.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development, success

Do you have complaining clients? That’s good!

July 19, 2013 by David M. Ward

The other night my wife and I went to a well-known Mexican restaurant. We ordered the fajitas “combo” which was billed as having chicken, steak, jumbo shrimp, and scallops.

Yummy.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t yummy, it was just okay.

I could accept that. What I couldn’t accept is that there were only two pieces of steak, two pieces of chicken, two (small) shrimp, and no scallops. None.

I told the waiter I was not happy and he went to summon the manager. He came back and said the manager couldn’t come over, he was busy talking to some customers.

I’m a customer! An unhappy one! He should be talking to me!

The waiter said he’d had other complaints about the size of the portions and offered me a free dessert. I declined and asked for the check. I told him I wouldn’t be back and I would tell everyone I knew not to come.

And I will.

Because I can.

What kind of manager won’t come to talk to a customer with a complaint? An idiot, that’s what kind.

When a customer (client) has a complaint, you must talk to him, validate him, and offer to fix the problem. You do not want a customer going away angry, ready to tellÂ dozens of other customers about his bad experience.

You must do this, because it’s the right thing to do.

You must do this because it can stop a dissatisfied customer from spreading negative messages to other prospective customers, which will lose business and generate ill will.

You must do this because when you turn complaining clients into satisfied clients (through validation, apologizing, and various make-goods), that client often turns into one of your biggest advocates, spreading the word about how you took care of him properly when something wasn’t right.

Customers (clients) don’t expect perfection. They expect to be treated right. When there’s a problem, they don’t want it to be ignored.

And so if you own a restaurant (law firm), you definitely want to know when a customer has a problem because it is an opportunity for you.Â You should welcome complaints, and embrace clients who have them. They are doing you a favor by telling you how to improve.

Unfortunately most clients who are unhappy don’t complain. They just stop calling.Â You don’t want that to happen. You want to know if they are unhappy with your services, your staff, or you. You want to know so you can make things right for them and so you can fix the problem that is probably causing other clients to be unhappy.

At the very least, give your clients an “exit survey,” asking them to rate and review your performance. Ask them what you did well and what you could improve.

In addition, put a form on your website with language that encourages visitors to share feedback anonymously.

And, if you forget the scallops, make sure you don’t ignore the client. There are too many other lawyers who offer a good fajitas combo.

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

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Law office management Tagged With: client complaints, client feedback, client surveys, exit surveys

3 simple questions for managing your law practice

July 17, 2013 by David M. Ward

Managing your law practice is anything but simple. There are a lot of moving parts. People, problems, deadlines. It’s easy to get lost.

If you find yourself busy but not achieving your goals, if you find yourself doing but not getting things done, I want to offer you a way to gain clarity and get back on track.

All you have to do is ask yourself 3 simple questions.

The first question is. . .

1. What do I want?

More clients? Better clients? Bigger cases?

Lower overhead? Less stress? Shorter hours?

Do you want to build a big practice or do you want to work towards retirement? Do you want to eliminate a problem or achieve a milestone?

Whatever it is, write it down, and be specific. You need to know what you want before you can work on getting it.

Let’s say the answer is “I want to get an average of two referrals every week.”

Nice. Now you know what you want. Now, answer the next question.

2. Why don’t I have it?

Why aren’t you getting an average of two referrals every week right now?

Are there any obstacles? Problems? Defects? Something you should do but aren’t? Something you are doing but aren’t doing enough? Something you are doing but aren’t doing well enough?

Be honest. There could be many reasons for not getting the referrals:

You don’t have enough referral sources
You don’t have enough former clients to provide enough referrals
Your existing and former clients don’t know enough people who need your services
Your clients don’t know you want their referrals; (you’re not asking for referrals or asking often enough)
Your fees are higher than other attorneys and you haven’t made it clear why you are worth more
Your fees are lower than other attorneys and people think there is a reason (i.e., you don’t have the experience, don’t get the results) and get scared off
You’re intimidating or have a reputation for being unapproachable
You haven’t made it easy for people to refer (i.e., told them what to do, what to say, etc.)
There aren’t enough cases or clients in your market
You don’t have a website (so referrals can’t “check you out”)
Your website isn’t good enough so when referrals check you out, they get scared off
Your competition gets the lion’s share of referrals because they [know someone, spend big money on advertising, etc. . .]

There are lots of reasons why you might not be getting the referrals you want. Write down everything you can think of. Ask your staff. Ask your colleagues.

You may not like some of the reasons, especially the ones that reveal your personal shortcomings. Those are probably the ones you need to pay the most attention to.

Okay, one more question to answer.

3. What can I do about it?

Once you know why you don’t have what you want, it’s time to focus on solutions.

What can you do to remove obstacles? Fix problems? Make improvements?

Write a “can do” list–a list of what you can do.

If you’re not getting enough referrals because you don’t have enough referral sources, that’s something you can work on. Write it down. You can get more referral sources.

On the other hand, if you’re not getting enough referrals because you don’t have enough former clients to make those referrals, you can’t do anything about that right now. That’s not something you “can do”.

There may be items on your “can do” list that you choose not to do. That’s okay. Write them down anyway because you may decide to do them later or they might give you ideas for other solutions.

For example, if your market isn’t big enough to supply you with the referrals you want, you can move, open a second office in another town, or take on another practice area. All things you can do, but you might choose not to do any.

However, although you might not want to open a second office right now, or ever, writing it down as a “can do” might prompt you to find an attorney in another town and establish mutual “of counsel” arrangements. Now you can promote your “other office” to your clients and contacts and start getting referrals in that other town.

A “can do” list shows you what’s possible. Instead of dwelling on problems, you will focus on solutions and be on your way to getting what you want.

Does your website need work? I can help. Let me show you how to Make the Phone Ring.

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Referrals Tagged With: how to achieve your goals, Law office management, law practice management, managing a law practice, managing your law firm

3 ways to leverage every case or client to get your next case or client

July 15, 2013 by David M. Ward

Get a client. Do the work. Look for the next client.

That’s what you do, isn’t it? It’s always been that way. It always will be that way. It’s the circle of life.

Hakuna matata.

You can’t change the process. But you might make it more fruitful. Before you move from one case or client to the next, take a few minutes to reflect on how you can leverage that case or client to expand, enhance, or streamline your practice.

Here are three ways to do that:

TALK ABOUT IT

No matter how routine or boring, there’s always something you can talk about. It could be as simple as saying, “I have a new client who. . .” or, “I just finished a case where. . .” and then sharing a detail or two about your client’s background, industry, occupation, demographic, or niche, as well as their issue and what you did for them.

Talk about your cases and clients in conversations with clients, prospects, and professional contacts. It gives you ways to start a conversation or validate a point being made by someone else. It gives you ways to illustrate points in your presentations. And it allows you to remind people about what you do and for whom you do it without talking about yourself.

WRITE ABOUT IT

Every case and client is a story. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. You should be telling those stories in your blog, newsletter, and articles.

If it’s a great story, feature it. If it’s routine, mention it in connection with other mentions about other cases or clients, e.g., “my last three clients.”

Use these stories to illustrate points in your reports or marketing documents. Or use them as prompts when you don’t know what to write about.

At the end of every case, make a few notes and put them in an idea file. You won’t write about every one but you never know which one might provide you with exactly the idea you need.

THINK ABOUT IT

At the conclusion of every matter, take five minutes and ask yourself two questions:

What did I do well?
What can I do better?

By answering these questions, you will almost always find ways to improve your work, your client relations, or your marketing.

There’s one more thing you can do at the end of every case.

Send thank you notes.

To your clients, to expert witnesses, to opposing counsel. Thank them for putting their faith in you, for their help, for their professionalism.

Every case or client presents an opportunity to connect further with someone and set the stage for a deeper relationship. Thank you notes will bring you repeat business, referrals, and a reputation for being someone worth knowing.

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

Filed Under: Client relations, Communication, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Networking, Presentations, Thank you letters, Writing Tagged With: stories

You screwed up. What are you going to do about it?

July 11, 2013 by David M. Ward

My wife ordered vitamins online. The wrong order came. No, it’s not a tragedy, just one of life’s little annoyances. She has the hassle and expense of shipping it back and then waiting for the correct order to arrive.

She called the company to ask what to do.

“No problem,” she was informed. The rep explained that they company has a “one time courtesy policy” for situations like this.

My wife immediately got a 100% credit for the purchase.

No need to return the vitamins sent in error. My wife could use them, give them to someone, or throw them away.

The correct order was shipped out that day. No charge for shipping. And the 15% discount she got on the original order would be applied.

Yes indeed, no problem. In fact, a very nice experience, all things considered.

For a nominal one time cost, the company not only prevented the loss of a customer (they have to assume that an unhappy customer will leave), they made a fan. My wife will indeed use them again and, as she often does, recommend them to others.

But it wasn’t just what the company did that mattered, it was what they didn’t do.

They didn’t suggest that my wife was the one who had screwed up. (It is possible. Maybe she did click the wrong box.) They didn’t even ask. They gave her the benefit of the doubt and they did it immediately.

That’s their policy.

So, do you have a similar policy?

You know you’re going to screw up something. You’ll forget to return a call, there will be an error in your bill, or something will go wrong on a case and the client will blame you.

Law happens.

The question is, what are you going to do about it?

You need to think this through and decide in advance.

How will you handle it? How will you make it as pleasant and beneficial for the client as possible?

Take some time to consider this. Meet with your partners and staff. Brainstorm problems and solutions and make some decisions.

Then, when something does happen, you can surprise and delight your clients with your own “client courtesy policy” and keep those clients coming back and recommending you to others.

Marketing is everything we do to get and keep good clients. It’s easier when you know The Formula

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

Do you and your clients speak the same language?

July 2, 2013 by David M. Ward

Why do app developers who aren’t fluent in English insist on writing their own app description? Do they think their English is good enough? Do they just not care?

Whatever the reasons, here’s what happens when you don’t have someone “translate” your broken English:

Description

Support sending international fax! !
Functions:
Phone pictures or mobile phones to take pictures of the file obtained images into the nearest scanned copy binarization pictures, and sent to anywhere from any fax machine.

Features:
Approaching the ultimate speed of processing image! !
Most satisfied with the effect of processing pictures! !
Send a fax, the cheapest price! ! !
The fastest speed of service of the destination fax machine! ! ! !
In short, pack your satisfaction.

Not kidding. This is the actual description of an app I looked at. And no, I didn’t buy it.

I don’t care how good the app is, when I see a description like this I move on. I don’t want to invest even two dollars in a company that doesn’t pay attention to detail or care about it’s customers.

It’s not about the app. It’s about the total user experience.

The same is true in a law practice.

If clients don’t speak your language and you don’t speak theirs, you must have someone available to translate. I’m sure you do.

But what about that other language lawyers speak? You know, legalese?

Lawyers need to be able to communicate in plain English.Â We all know lawyers who hide behind overly ornate language. Clients don’t get all warm and fuzzy about a lawyer who continually says things like, “With respect to. . .” and “Notwithstanding. . .”. (Anyone remember Marcia Clark?)

Plain English, please.

Get rid of unnecessary words. Don’t use a ten dollar word when a fifty cent word will do.

Use the active tense. Action verbs. Specific nouns.

Don’t write (or speak) to be understood. Write (and speak) so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood.

If you need help, get help. Take lessons. Get an editor. Practice.

Or clients won’t buy your app.

MarketingÂ is everything we do to get and keep good clients.

Filed Under: Client relations, Communication, Law office management, Public Speaking, Writing

Waterboarding our cat

July 1, 2013 by David M. Ward

We took Seamus to the vet to get his teeth cleaned. They found a problem and had to pull a tooth. The vet sent him home with instructions for his care, which included eating only soft foods for ten days.

As you probably know, cats are fussy about everything. And stubborn. Seamus doesn’t like soft foods. He wanted his regular food and when it wasn’t forthcoming, no matter what we offered him, he wouldn’t eat more than a few morsels.

He wasn’t drinking water, either.

We were concerned. The vet said that if he didn’t get water, his kidneys could shut down. She said we should probably bring in him to be hydrated via IV.

My wife went online and found an alternative. Some cat owners in this situation used a big syringe to force feed their cat during their recovery period. And so for the next several days, that’s what we did. I held him tightly and my wife fed him baby food and water. He didn’t like it. Not one bit. It was torture, but it kept him alive.

But he was still unhappy and listless. He wanted his regular food, in all its crunchy glory. But it wasn’t ten days post surgery and we didn’t want him to bust his stitches.

Do we wait three more days and watch him suffer?

My wife went online again and found another vet’s website that discussed the issue. He said that one week on soft food was enough and the animal should be sufficiently healed by then.

We crossed our fingers and gave Seamus a bowl of his regular food. He devoured it. He looked at us like he wanted to say, “oh hell yes,” and when he was done, he drank water.

And today, he’s fine.

Anyway, here’s the thing.

When you give your clients advice, are you telling them what’s best for them or what’s best for you? If you tell them ten days when seven days is probably okay, are you doing that to cover your tush in case something goes wrong?

This is why two thirds of our population is on some kind of medication. Physicians don’t want to suggest anything non-traditional. If something goes wrong, one of our kind will will come at them with our six-shooters a’blazin. So they take the easy way out and prescribe the medically accepted pill of choice. It’s best for them, even though it may not be the best for the patient.

So, how about you? Where do you draw the line?

Do you tell your clients they need to have certain documents prepared to protect themselves or do you let them “take their chances”? In a contingency fee matter, do you recommend settlement because it is best for the client or because you don’t want to risk losing your fee?

I admit, it’s often a tough call. But that’s the gig. That’s what we get paid to do.

I do wish for one thing, though. When a stubborn client doesn’t want to follow our advice even though it is truly what’s best for them, we should be allowed to waterboard them.

Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management, Legal industry Tagged With: legal malpractice