Clients buy what they want, not what they need

April 24, 2013 by
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In sales and marketing it is axiomatic that people buy what they want, not what they need. Your client may need a living trust, but unless he wants it, he’s not going to hire you to prepare it. He may need to settle his case, but if he doesn’t want to take the latest offer, you’re going to trial.

Your job is to help your client want what he needs.

So, you show him the facts. You tell him what he will gain if he follows your advice and what he may lose if he does not.

But the facts, compelling though they may be, are often not enough. The client doesn’t believe the bad things will happen to him, or he’s willing to take his chances. What then?

Your best bet is to use “third party,” meaning someone else’s experience or expert opinion. So, you tell your client stories about what happened to others who didn’t follow your advice. Or you show him statistics compiled by an independent organization. Or articles written by other lawyers.

This is something you do every day with your clients. You do the best you can because that’s all you can do.

But with new clients, you have a choice.

You can choose to convince prospective clients that they need a living trust, for example, and many attorneys do precisely that. They educate prospects, through seminars and reports and blog posts, in an attempt to persuade them that a will isn’t enough and that a living trust is what they need.

They spend a lot of time and money and go through a lot of people to find the ones who will become clients.

But you don’t have to do that. You can choose to target people who have already decided they want a living trust and show them why they should choose you as their attorney.

This is what I do with my services.

All attorneys need to know about marketing, right? No matter how busy and successful they are, there’s always room to grow. But not all attorneys want to know about marketing. Do I try to convince them that they should? No. I let their circumstances and other blogs inform them and motivate them. When they want to learn about marketing or improve their results, I show them how I can help.

There’s nothing wrong with educating your target market about why they need what you offer. I’m not saying you shouldn’t. There are a lot of people at various stages of learning about what they need and many of them will eventually decide to hire an attorney. You’ll want to be there when they do.

Focus most of your energy, however, on the ones who have already decided they want an attorney and are looking for the right one.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you how to get more clients. Click here for details.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With:

How to invoke the law of reciprocity to get more clients and more referrals

April 23, 2013 by
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A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had a termite inspection. Just routine. It had been awhile and it was time. We got the all clear once again, and once again there was no charge for the inspection.

However, we now have a pest control maintenance contract with this company and told our previous company adios.

We had been with the other company for 15 years and we were satisfied with their work. They showed up when they were supposed to and were reasonably polite. They always called the day before, to remind us they were coming and to ask if there were any problems they needed to address.

So why did we switch?

No, it wasn’t price. Our previous company had never raised their rates and the new company actually charged a bit more (but was willing to match the first company).

Actually, there were two reasons.

The first reason we switched is that while we were satisfied with our first company, we were only satisfied. They didn’t do anything to tip the scale from satisfied to delighted.

Of course we didn’t realize what was missing until we had the new company come out. They were more organized. And cleaner. And more thorough. The man who came out was articulate and patiently explained everything. You could tell he wasn’t just doing his job, he really enjoyed what he did.

The first company was competent. The second company made us feel like they cared about having our business.

The second reason we switched? We’d had this company out twice and it was the same guy both times. Both times, there was no charge. And so when he offered the maintenance contract, the law of reciprocity kicked in and we took it.

The law of reciprocity says that when you give someone something, they have a psychological compulsion to reciprocate. Buy someone lunch, for example, and the next time you go out together they’ll pick up the check. It’s not politeness or friendship. It’s the law of reciprocity.

If you doubt this, the next time someone you know says good morning to you, don’t say anything in return. That awkward feeling you have is the law of reciprocity.

So, did we hire the new company out of guilt? In a way, yes. We had two free inspections and had never given them anything in return. We might have reciprocated by sending them referrals, but we liked what we saw and hired them.

When you offer a free consultation, your prospective client feels like they owe you. So, unless you give them a reason not to, they will be inclined to hire you. If they can’t or don’t need to hire you, they will be primed to send you referrals.

The same goes for anything you do for others. Send a lawyer friend a referral and they will probably send one to you. Give your newsletter subscribers helpful information and they will tell their friends to visit your website. Help a neighbor set up their new computer and they’ll be looking for ways they can return the favor.

The “Golden Rule” says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Now you know how it works.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you how to earn more than you ever thought possible.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Closing the sale, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Referrals Tagged With:

What’s wrong with this attorney’s newspaper ad?

April 22, 2013 by
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An attorney’s newspaper ad just appeared in our local paper. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Here’s the ad:

Law Offices of
ATTORNEY’S NAME

7 lines of information about the attorney’s (30 years) civil and criminal trial experience and his recent move to our area.

“For more information regarding the law in your specific case, please contact my office for a free consultation by phone or at my office.”

Law Offices of
ATTORNEY’S NAME
ADDRESS
ADDRESS
TELEPHONE and FACSIMILE
E-Mail

The ad includes the attorney’s head shot.

So, what do you think? What’s good? What’s bad? What’s missing?

Let’s start with the good.

He does present an OFFER (Free Consultation) and a CALL TO ACTION (“Call my office”).

That’s good.

He could improve his offer by telling the reader the benefits of the consultation (i.e., “Find out your rights and options, so you know what to do. . . get all your questions answered,” and so on). He should also let them know that there is no cost (yes, even though it is a “Free Consultation,” tell them again) and no obligation.

He could improve the call to action by writing his phone number BIG AND BOLD in the same sentence. “Call my office at [phone]. . .”. Even though it is spelled out below in his contact information. Don’t make people look for it.

He mentions his experience and that’s good. Including his photo is also good for this type of ad.

Now, what about the bad.

There are two things missing from this ad and they are big. Really big.

First, the headline. Or rather, the lack thereof.

You can’t use your name for a headline. Well, you can, but it’s a mistake. Why? Because unless you are famous and your name is something that people will recognize and be drawn to, your ad isn’t going to catch anyone’s attention.

Nobody cares about you. They’re busy and have their own problems and lives to lead. They’re not going to notice your ad.

Okay, some people will notice it. The ones who read the paper cover to cover every week will probably glimpse at the ad because it’s new. But most people won’t. More importantly, most of the people who need a lawyer won’t. And if they don’t notice the ad, they won’t read it and if they don’t read it, they’re not going to call.

What should be in the headline? Well, the attorney does civil and criminal litigation, so how about something that speaks to people who have been sued or arrested and don’t know what to do.

Like this:

Sued? Arrested? Find out your legal rights and options–FREE!

Okay, not brilliant, but can you see how this identifies the people this attorney is targeting? And promises a benefit?

If you’ve been sued or arrested and you’re turning pages in this newspaper, a headline like this is going to flag you down. It says, “Hey, you there with the big hairy legal problem, here’s something good for you.”

Because your lawsuit or arrest is very much on your mind right now, you stop turning pages and look at the ad.

The headline did it’s job. It got your attention and promised a benefit. So now you read the first line of the body copy. If that grabs you and promises a benefit, you keep reading. Then you see the offer for a free consultation and you might call.

Without a headline, it doesn’t matter how compelling the body copy or how great the offer because nobody will see them because they never stopped to read the ad.

Your ad is only as good as your headline.

Okay, what else is missing? Take another look and see if you can spot it.

Of course. No website.

Not having a website is unacceptable today. Guaranteed disqualification in the eyes of many prospective clients. Why? Because all they have to go on is a few self-serving words in an ad. No proof. No details. No reason to trust.

There’s no helpful information that might begin to answer their questions. The only way to get more information is to call.

If you are the only attorney in town, they would have no choice. But you’re not. A quick visit to Uncle Google or Auntie Bing reveals that there are hundreds of attorneys who do what you do, right here in my area code. And they have websites. I can go read all about my problem and their solutions, and find out things I want to know before I call.

So, prospects see your ad without a website and either (a) cross you off the list because you are a dinosaur, or (b) go online to search your name and, finding nothing, cross you off the list.

In other words, the only ones who might call are fellow dinosaurs, a species that is quickly dying out.

Actually, there are two additional clues in the ad that this attorney is living in a different century. They are both in his contact info.

The first is the word “Facsimile”. Go ask your 25 year old neighbor if he even knows what that word means.

The second is the attorney’s email address, which I didn’t include. It’s hisnamelaw@netscape.net. Yes, Netscape. Didn’t they help Al Gore start the Internet?

Obviously, the attorney doesn’t realize how antiquated this makes him look. Somebody should send him a telegram and let him know.

Marketing for 21st century attorneys. Click here to upgrade.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Technology Tagged With: ,

Choosing the right color for your website

April 18, 2013 by
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As soon as I saw this infographic on The Psychology of Color in Marketing, I sent the link to the graphic artist who did the cover for the course I have coming out shortly. I told him, “I think we made the right choice”.

You can tell me if you agree when I release it in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, I’m saving the infographic (into Evernote, of course), because it has some very interesting statistics and factoids about color, things I would never had known.

Yes, I knew that restaurants like to use red because it is thought to stimulate appetitive and red is also used to stimulate urgency (think “Red Tag Sale”), but I didn’t know much else.

If you’re planning to update your website or other graphic, consider the psychological effect of different colors before you make your final decision. Of course you could go a neutral palate like I have on my site, shades of gray and white, but I don’t know what it means psychologically. Maybe I’ll drop a line to Apple and see what they can tell me.

Marketing is easy. When you know The Formula.

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

4 reasons you should run a contest or drawing

April 17, 2013 by
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You don’t see too many attorneys running contests. That’s one reason why you should. You don’t want to be like every other attorney, do you? I’ll answer for you: no you don’t.

You want to stand out. Be different.

No, a contest or drawing doesn’t demonstrate fundamental differences that prove your superior abilities or experience. But anything you can do to look different in a positive way is a good thing.

Besides, contests are fun and everyone likes to have fun.

Here are four reasons you should consider running a contest or drawing:

  1. It’s news. It gives you a great excuse to connect or reconnect with clients and prospects in a fun and positive way. You could see some repeat business and referrals as a result.
  2. It gets people engaged. They have to do something to enter the drawing or contest. That makes them more likely to do something else you ask them to do, like promoting your webinar or forwarding your new report.
  3. It makes you more likable. People like people who are positive and like to have fun. Attorneys are known for being stodgy and serious. Not you!
  4. Results. If the contest requires participants to Like or Tweet your page, for example, your traffic and email list will grow. But even if Liking or Tweeting isn’t required, many will tell their friends and followers about your contest and encourage them to enter, especially when you tell them to “invite your friends”.

If you’re thinking a contest is unprofessional or inappropriate for your market, think again. There’s always a way to do it in an acceptable (and ethical) way. If you’re still not sure, do a tie in with a charity or cause you support. For example, ask participants to Like or Tweet on behalf of your local dog shelter or blood drive. Or, “anyone who donates $5 or more (send your receipt to me) will get a free (one of your services)”.

The easiest way get started is to use a template. Pay attention to the contests and drawings you encounter online and in your email. You’re bound to find one or two you can adapt to create your own.

Marketing is easy. Start here.

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Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services, Social media marketing, Web traffic Tagged With:

Marketing legal services like a trial lawyer: show them the evidence

April 15, 2013 by
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Marketing legal services is like conducting a trial. No matter how charming and eloquent you are, you’re not going to win the case or the client unless you show people the evidence. But you can’t just throw the evidence at them all at once. First, you need to lay a foundation.

If your prospective clients aren’t convinced they need an attorney, for example, you’re probably wasting your time showing them why you are the best choice. Start by educating them about the benefits of hiring an attorney and the risks of doing things yourself, before you show them your bona fides.

The Wall Street Journal’s recent article, When it Helps to Have a Lawyer, references a 25 year study that shows that trademark applicants represented by attorneys are 50% more likely to get their application approved than those who try to do it themselves. Solid evidence in favor of hiring an attorney. The kind of evidence that IP attorneys should be pointing to and writing about.

No matter what your practice area, you should be utilizing studies and surveys and other evidence that proves the need for and value of what you do. Quantify the benefits of hiring an attorney. Show people that doing it themselves is ultimately more expensive, more risky, or less effective. Personal injury attorneys, for example, can point to studies showing that clients tend to net more after legal fees.

SIDE BAR: If you have a choice, it’s almost always better to target prospective clients who already know they need an attorney and are trying to decide which one. You don’t have to convince them to spend money, only why they should spend it on you.

Of course you should also present evidence that shows the client why he should choose you. You probably can’t prove you get higher settlements or verdicts but you can show him you’ve tried more cases or represented more clients than most.

Testimonials are very persuasive (if you are permitted to use them). So are endorsements by other lawyers and centers of influence in your target market or community. Speaking and publishing credits, awards and honors, number of years in practice, prestigious employers (or clients), all serve as credible evidence of your abilities.

If you aren’t already collecting evidence to prove why clients need a lawyer and why they should choose you, start now. Open a file and call it, “Why you should hire me.” Start collecting evidence you can use in your marketing. The next time someone asks, “Why you?” you’ll be ready to show them.

Want more ways to show clients why they should choose you? Get this.

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Marketing legal services, Presentations, Salesmanship

Pick two: Good. Cheap. Fast.

April 12, 2013 by
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With any task or project, you have to consider the results you want, how long it will take to produce those results, and any costs. You almost always wind up with good outcomes with two of these three factors and not so good with the third.

You can vacation in Italy (good) this weekend (fast) but it won’t be cheap. You can lose weight quickly and cheaply by fasting for a week but it won’t be good (healthy).

If you have a document to prepare you can do it yourself (good, cheap), but if you’re busy, it probably won’t get done quickly. You can hire someone to do it and they might do a good job and do it quickly but it could be expensive. Or, you could hire someone that’s fast and cheap but not very good.

It’s all about choices. Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick two.

So, let’s see how this works with marketing professional services:

  • Blogging: Good, Cheap, (but not Fast)
  • Advertising: Good, Fast, (but not Cheap)
  • Networking: Good, Cheap, (but not Fast)
  • Speaking: Good, Cheap, (but not Fast)
  • Articles: Good, Cheap, (but not Fast)
  • Social media: Good, Cheap, (but not Fast)
  • Cold calling: Good, Cheap, Fast (but not a good idea)

Conclusions? Advertising can produce good results quickly so if you have more time than money and advertising is appropriate for your practice, you might include it in your marketing mix. Everything else is relatively inexpensive but good results usually take time.

Of course if you do it yourself (i.e., networking) you have to consider your time as an expense. It might not cost a lot of dollars, but if it takes up too much time relative to the results, it’s expensive.

Also, “good” is a relative term. You might get good clients from a given activity, but not a lot of them. Or, you might get a lot of clients but if they can’t or won’t pay what you charge, that’s probably not a good result.

It’s funny, the one thing lawyers don’t (can’t, won’t) do, cold calling, can actually produce good results quickly and cheaply. Fortunately, there’s something similar that you can do and it works even better: warm calling.

Call your clients and former clients and say hello. Fast, cheap, good results, almost guaranteed.

Marketing is everything you do to get and keep good clients. Click here for the formula.

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Productivity, Time Management

How often should I call a prospective client?

April 9, 2013 by
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A lawyer wants to know, “How often should I call a prospective client after a free consultation or a first phone call?”

The answer is you shouldn’t.

Don’t call. But do follow up.

Don’t call, because calling is bad posture. It makes you look like the pursuer, not the pursued. And that’s true even if you have someone in your office make the call.

You want to attract clients, not chase them. You are a professional. Highly sought after. Booked up.

Let them call you when they’re ready to hire you.

There are exceptions. If the prospect asked you to call. If they called you and you’re returning the call. Or if you are calling to find out if their wife’s surgery went okay.

Otherwise, don’t call.

Follow up by email or regular mail. Send them a thank you note. I enjoyed meeting you, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

Courtesy, not sales.

Then, put them on your mailing list. Send additional information about their legal issue. Articles and reports. Emails that direct them to relevant content on your website.

But no personal mail or email.

Stay in touch with them and all of your prospects by mail or email. Each time you mail, it reminds them that you still exist and you’re still available to help. You maintain a bit of distance and the correct posture because you’re mailing this information to everyone on your list, not just them.

Information, not sales.

If they came to see you and didn’t hire you, there’s a reason. If they don’t have the money, or they need someone else’s permission, sending information is about all you can do. When they’re ready and able, they’ll call.

If there’s another reason they didn’t hire you, you need to figure out what it is and fix it. Because until you do, no amount of information is going to get them to call.

Get more clients and earn more from the clients you get. Click here.

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Communication, Email, Image, Marketing legal services

Why you should get a marketing partner

April 4, 2013 by
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You may not want a law partner but you should definitely have a marketing partner.

Seriously.

It will mean more traffic to your website. More sign ups for your newsletter. And more new clients.

Maybe a ho lotta new clients.

So, this is how it works. You find another attorney, or any other professional who targets the same market you do. It could also be a business owner.

It should be someone who does good work (or sells good products). Someone you would recommend to your clients and contacts if they needed those services or products.

You call them, and ask them if they want to be your marketing partner.

They say yes. Sounds like a plan.

And then. . .

You promote him and he promotes you.

You tell everyone on your list and on social media about how great your partner is. You tell everyone to go visit his website and see all of his great content and sign up for his list.

Your partner does the same thing for you.

You both get traffic. And sign ups. And clients.

Of course your web site should have great content. And a mechanism for signing up visitors on an email list. So if you don’t have these things, you might want to do that first.

And then go get you a marketing partner.

But don’t stop there. Go get another marketing partner. Get as many as you can. Because more is better.

And then, you can talk to your marketing partners about doing more things together to promote each other. Like webinars or teleconferences. Or writing articles for each other’s newsletter or blog.

This is easy. And smart. And very highly leveraged.

It’s called a strategic marketing alliance. Or joint venture. Or cross promotion. And it is one of the best ways for any lawyer to build their practice.

Start making a list. Who do you know who is good at what they do, has a decent website and an email list? Then make some calls.

The Attorney Marketing Formula teaches you more ways to leverage other people’s lists. Click here to get your copy.

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Filed Under: Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Relationship marketing Tagged With: ,

Save 50%–but only for a few days, and then never again

April 3, 2013 by
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Yesterday, I wrote about the subject of scarcity and how you can use it in your marketing to get people off the fence. When something is in limited supply, or the clock is ticking and a deadline is approaching, a fear of loss kicks in and motivates action.

The ultimate in scarcity is “no longer available.” When you know that something you want (but have not yet purchased) is going away and may never come back, The Force compels you to reach for your credit card. Or something like that.

For many years, I sold a referral marketing course for attorneys. It was the first of its kind and I sold millions of dollars worth of that course, all over the world. I took it off the market a couple of years ago, intending to update and re-release it.

I still hear from attorneys who bought my course, way back in 1996. They want to know when I’m coming out with the new version. I also hear from attorneys who have heard about the course and want to know when they can order it.

The answer is, I don’t know. It’s a big project and I’m working on other things right now and my plate is full.

“Not available” is about as scarce as it gets. People want it but can’t have it. Value increases. Demand increases. The point is, if it was always available and you could order it at any time, that demand and that perceived value wouldn’t be the same.

That’s the rationale behind the “product launches” you see on the Internet. There’s a big run up to the launch and then the product is removed from the market. Once it’s gone, you can’t get it at any price. No surprise, they sell a lot more of the product during the launch period because people don’t want to miss out.

So. . . what if you announced to your clients that you from this point forward, you would only accept clients who are referred to you by other clients. What do you think would happen?

Yes, demand would go way up.

We see physicians do this. When you hear that a doctor is no longer accepting new patients, that’s the doctor you want, isn’t it?

“Who do I know who can get me in!”

Well, you may not be ready to announce something like this. But what you could do is announce that starting next month, you are strictly limiting the number of new clients you will accept.

You’re super busy and can’t give proper attention to everyone (or you want more time for your family) and so you have to be much more selective about who you accept as a client.

That’s something you should do, anyway. Continually upgrade your client base by eliminating (or not accepting) smaller clients and cases or the ones who give you the most trouble.

Announce it, promote it, and you should see demand for your services go up.

Something to think about.

Okay, announcement time.

Later this month, I’m changing over to a different shopping cart and payment system. In order to do this, I am taking two of my products off the market. I probably won’t re-release them, at least for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, before I remove them, I wanted to give you a chance to pick them up at a great price. So for the next few days, you can order either Cash Flow for Attorneys or The Quantum Leap Marketing System at 50% off the regular price.

Here are the details:

Cash Flow for Attorneys shows you how you can increase your cash flow in the coming year by re-structuring your fees, tightening up your billing and collections, and utilizing other strategies for bringing in more cash. Check it out at http://cashflowforattorneys.com

To get the 50% discount, click on the order button and enter the code <final> (no brackets) in the coupon box. Click to “validate” and you’ll see the price change below to reflect the discount.

The Quantum Leap Marketing System shows you how to quickly bring in a lot of new business. It’s over ten hours of videos and comes with some great bonuses. You can see what’s included at http://quantumleapmarketingsystem.com.

Important: When you get to the big box that says, “Add to Cart,” scroll down a bit and click on the link for “one payment”.

On the next page, (near the top), you’ll see a box that asks for a “Coupon”. Enter the code <final>  (no brackets) and click the link to validate the code. The price will change below to reflect a 50% discount.

After you order, you’ll receive a confirming email with download and/or access instructions. Please make sure to download everything as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please email info@attorneymarketing.com.

Please note, all sales are final–there will be no refunds accepted, so make sure this is something you want before you click the button.

You have the rest of the week to get these. And then. . .  they will be gone.

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Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, News
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