Build a better practice with a better file closing checklist

September 8, 2016 by
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Most attorneys do a good job of onboarding new clients. They have a process for obtaining the information they need and explaining things to the client. They have documents ready for the new client to fill out, review, and sign. They have a routine for calendaring dates and follow-ups, and a set of form letters they mail to get the case started right.

They do these things to protect themselves from omissions, to save time, and because it gives the client a good first impression.

Unfortunately, not as many attorneys are as disciplined or detailed-oriented about how they close their files. But how you close a file is as important as how you open it.

What you do or don’t do at the end of the case can determine whether the client will hire you again, post positive comments and reviews, and refer other clients your way.

Of course, you lay the foundation for these things at every appointment and with every email or letter you send. But the final appointment is your last and best opportunity to “sell” the client and warrant your time and attention.

Your final appointment/file-closing process should include things that are too often taken for granted. You should have a checklist that addresses

  • What you say (e.g., asking if they have additional questions, cross-selling your other services, advising them about possible future needs, etc.)
  • What you give them (e.g., “after-care” instructions, marketing collateral, checklists, reports and other “added value,” etc.)
  • What you do (e.g., scheduling follow-up letters and calls, enrolling them in your newsletter, final billing/accounting, contacting them a few days later to make sure all is well, etc.)
  • What you ask them to do (e.g., asking for referrals and/or to pass out your information, asking for a review or testimonial, asking them to fill out a survey, etc.)

It should also include a review of the file to see what went right and what could be improved.

These things should be planned in advance. You should know who will do them (you, staff) and when. They should be a regular part of your routine and you should continually seek to improve them.

Because how you close a file is as important as how you open it.

How to get more referrals from your clients before, during, and after the engagement: here

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Filed Under: Law office management, Referrals

Out of sight, out of luck

July 12, 2016 by
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One of the main reasons people who could refer you business don’t do so is that they “don’t think about it”. They’re busy and have other things on their mind. Unless they have a legal need, they don’t think about you or your services.

Out of sight, out of luck, me bucko.

You can change that, and get more repeat business and referrals, by doing the following:

1) Stay in touch with them

The easiest way to do that is via email. One of my subscribers, an associate in a firm that severely limits his ability to do any marketing, told me that he now emails his clients and prospects and referral sources every two weeks.

He writes about legal matters, and also about what he’s doing in his practice and, I suppose, in his personal life.

He’s staying “in their minds and their mailboxes” and getting repeat business and referrals, and lots of it.

He tells me, “It has worked like a charm. When you write email blasts “right where they live” you are reaching out to them, and many think it is personal. You establish your credibility. You establish a reputation.”

2) Talk about referrals

Another reason you don’t get as many referrals as you could is that you’re not talking about referrals. There are many ways to do that, but one of the simplest is something I suggested to the lawyer mentioned above: put a blurb at the bottom of your emails asking the recipient to forward it to their friends, colleagues, etc., who might like to receive his updates. Spell out what those people should do if they want to be added to the list.

People read your wisdom, tacitly endorsed by the friend or colleague who forwared it to them. They like what they see and want to see more. They ask to be added to your list. You stay in touch with them and they hire you and send you referrals.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

You can make this work better by using an autoresponder to manage everything and offering an incentive to join your list–a report, ebook, or a collection of some your best prior articles–but you don’t have to.

3) Make it easy to refer

Many clients and contacts come close to referring but don’t do it because they don’t know what to do. Do they tell the referral about you and give them your number? Do they send the referral some information about you, and if so, what should it be? Do they tell you about the referral? If they do that, what will you do?

Of course, when it comes to making it easy, “forward this email” is about as easy as it gets. Your contacts don’t have to refer people to you, they can refer them to your content and then your content refers you.

Get this if you want to learn how to get more referrals

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Referrals

Would you do me a favor?

June 30, 2016 by
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Your clients are willing to help you. They’re willing to send you referrals, provide positive reviews, promote your event, and tell others about your new article or blog post.

All you have to do is ask.

But you have to ask.

Yes, many clients (and prospects) will tell their friends and social media connections about your free report or email newsletter without being asked. But with a little prompting, many more will do it.

You can have your website and email do much of that for you. Put buttons on your site that make social sharing a one-click effort. On your “contact me” page or widget, add a check box that says, “I have a referral”. Add a call to action to your emails asking subscribers to forward the email or share your link.

When clients are in the office or on the phone, have your staff ask for their help. Have them remind clients that you “get most of your new clients from referrals” and then give the client “referral devices” that make it easy for them to send you business.

Of course you can ask, too.

When someone says something nice about you or your services, after you thank them, say, “Would you do me a favor?” Then ask them to email you their kind words [and then put them on your site] or go to a review site and post their feedback.

You can also ask, “Would you do me a favor?” when they don’t come forward with a compliment.

Give every client your business cards, reports, and referral devices and ask them to pass them out. Tell them about your upcoming webinar and ask them to invite their friends or business contacts. Ask them to add you or follow you on social media. Ask them to “tell your friends about us”.

Can it really be that simple? Why not? You’d do a favor for them, wouldn’t you?

When a client asks you to buy their daughter’s girl scout cookies, you do it. You do it because you want to help them, just like your clients want to help you. But you wouldn’t buy those cookies if you didn’t know about them, and you won’t know about them until the client asks you to buy a box.

Let me show you how to create the perfect referral device to give your clients and other lawyers

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Referrals

What would happen if you stopped marketing?

June 9, 2016 by
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What do you think would happen to your practice if you suddenly stopped marketing? If you pulled your ads, stopped networking, never wrote another blog post or article, and never gave another presentation–what would happen?

Henry Ford said, “Without advertising a terrible thing happens–nothing.” He meant, of course, that if a business doesn’t continually keep its name and wares in front of the marketplace, the business will eventually die.

Lawyers don’t have to advertise but if they stopped marketing in all forms, will their practice eventually die?

Maybe not.

If a lawyer has been around for awhile and has a base of a few hundred current and former clients, most lawyers could continue to bring in repeat business and referrals, probably enough to sustain and grow the practice in perpetuity.

But they need a mechanism for staying in touch with their client base and. . . they have to do it. They have to regularly send emails and/or letters, at the very least reminding their clients that they still exist and can still help them and the people they know.

I assume that the lawyer is well-practiced in, and fully committed to, client relations (customer service). When you treat clients like they are kings and queens, when you deliver more value and service than they expect, how could they not come back? How could they not tell others?

Lawyers who excel at client relations, and stay in touch with their clients, don’t have to rely on advertising or networking or other “reaching out” methods to sustain and build their practice.

Notice I said, “rely”. Reaching out to find new prospects and bring them into your marketing funnel is smart. It can help your practice grow faster. If you’re doing these things and they’re working, don’t stop.

But isn’t it nice to do those things because you want to, not because you have to?

Referrals from clients are the foundation of a healthy law practice

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Referrals

Who fills out the paperwork in your office?

June 7, 2016 by
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In my practice, when I had a new client in the office I didn’t have them fill out any forms or paperwork in the waiting room and I didn’t have my staff do the initial intake–I filled out the paperwork myself.

One reason was that I wanted to talk to them about their case, get all the details, and ask follow-up questions my staff might not ask. I was able to do a better job for them as a result.

Another reason was that I didn’t want them fussing with paperwork when what they really wanted was to unburden their troubles on me and let me fix them. I thought they appreciated my making it easier for them to do that.

I could have had someone else do the initial information gathering before I saw them, and if I was pressed for time I sometimes did that. But I preferred to fill out the forms myself because it gave me an opportunity to spend a few more minutes with the client and get to know them.

I could ask about their kids, their job or business, and where they were going on vacation. I might tell them about a case I had that was similar to theirs. I could have some fun with them and lighten their load.

I often saw my clients only two times: at the first appointment and at the final appointment when I presented a settlement check and final paperwork. Those two visits were an opportunity to bond with them and I didn’t want anything to take away from that.

When clients like you, and think you like them, they come back to you and refer their friends.

So who fills out the paperwork in your office? You? The client? Staff? Do you send them a form to fill out before they come in for their first appointment? Or do you use a combination of the above?

Every practice is different, of course, so I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. I’ve told you what I did, and why, but you need to decide what’s best for your practice.

What I can tell you is that while this may be a “little thing,” you should spend time thinking about it because when it comes to building relationships, and building a successful practice, little things mean a lot.

Do it right and your clients will send you more referrals

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Referrals Tagged With: , ,

I like big checks and I can not lie

May 18, 2016 by
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I like big checks. The bigger the better. Yeah, I admit it. Big checks really make my day.

Wire transfers, direct deposits, and piles of cash also make my heart sing. If it spends, I like it. That’s just how I roll.

I like big checks and I can not lie. You other lawyers can’t deny, that when a client walks in and pays big money it’s exciting–a thing of beauty to behold.

Yeah, I like big checks, because big checks let me pay big bills and buy big things and watch my bank account grow.

Nothing wrong with that. It’s natural. So if you have a big check I want to talk to ya.

But you know what? I also like little checks. Because little checks can pay little bills and lots of little checks can pay lots of little bills.

It’s a beautiful thing.

And clients with little checks can come back and I’m always happy to see them. Sometimes they come back with big checks, and you know I like that. Sometimes they send you their friends with little checks, and big checks, too.

It’s all good.

So yeah, I like big checks but if you’ve got a small check, I like that, too.

Client got check.

C’mon, you know you want more referrals

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Referrals

3 ways to tame your marketing beasts

May 5, 2016 by
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There are two powerful marketing methods available to you that you’re probably not using. You’re not alone. Most lawyers don’t use them, either because there are rules that preclude them from doing so or because they aren’t comfortable doing them even when the rules permit it.

What if I could eliminate these two obstacles for you? What if I could show you how you could safely and comfortably use one or both of these marketing methods to bring in a steady stream of new clients?

Would you hear me out?

Great. I’m going to pull back the curtain and show you the faces of these beasts.

The first beast goes by the name “unsolicited email”. You may recoil in horror, but I urge you to gaze at the face of this beast. Examine him, though your stomach may churn, for he can make you rich.

Take a breath as I reveal the second beast, who many say is more hideous than the first.

In polite company, we refer to the second beast as “cold calling”. You may know him as the Devil himself.

I know, you thought I was going to show you things you could do and here I’m talking about things you would never consider.

Never say never.

You can use cold calling and unsolicited email to build your practice, without violating any rules or doing anything unprofessional or uncomfortable.

You can let your marketing beasts out of their cage and tame them. Here are three ways to do that.

Strategy number one: Contact someone other than a prospective client

As far as I know, there are no rules against contacting another professional, a business owner, or other center of influence in your community or market via cold call or cold email. As long as you’re not contacting a prospective client, you can contact anyone, unsolicited though that first contact might be.

With email, you have to follow CAN-SPAM rules, and there may be rules against calling too early or too late in the day, but these rules are easy to follow.

And, with the right approach, you should be completely comfortable doing it.

What’s the right approach? See below.

Strategy number two: Call or write about something other than you and your services

Don’t promote your services. Don’t ask for referrals. In fact, on the first contact, you should say very little about yourself.

What do you say? There are lots of options. Here are a few:

You can introduce yourself as a fellow professional in the community, say something nice you heard about them or saw on their website, and offer to buy them coffee. You could ask to interview them for your blog or for an article. You could ask them to recommend a vendor or expert or if they know anything about an arbitrator you are considering. You could offer to send them information on a subject that would benefit them or their clients.

Strategy number three: have someone else make the first contact for you

If you’re still gun-shy, have someone in your office or a VA make the call or send the email on your behalf. You don’t have to talk to anyone until someone says they’d like to talk to you.

And that’s how you can tame these powerful marketing beasts.

For more approaches, scripts, and additional strategies, get this

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Filed Under: Referrals Tagged With: ,

The simplest way to get more referrals

April 8, 2016 by
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You want simple? You can’t handle simple! Okay, maybe you can.

So I’ll tell you the simplest way to get more referrals, but on one condition–that you tell your lawyer friends about me. All you need to do is send them to The Attorney Marketing Center. They’ll thank you, and I will too.

If you’re reading this in an email, go ahead and forward it to them. Click, address, done.

Will ya do it? Great. Then I’ll go ahead and share with you the simplest way to get more referrals.

In fact, I’ve already done it.

I asked you to “tell your lawyer friends about me” and mentioned my website. And that’s all you need to do.

When a client is in the office, at the end of the appointment say, “Tell your friends about us,” and hand them some business cards.

Could getting referrals really be that simple? Of course. But if you want to complicate it a bit, you could make your request a question: “Would you tell your friends about us?” When they answer that they will, as you may already know, it makes it more likely that they will do it.

Could you do this on the phone. Why not? Could you do it in an email or mention it in a blog post?

Sure. Like I just did.

Want more? Get Maximum Referrals

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Filed Under: Referrals

This week’s marketing challenge: make a new business contact

April 4, 2016 by
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This week’s marketing challenge is to make a new business contact. Meet another lawyer or other professional in your community or target market.

All you need to do is introduce yourself, get their “details” (what they do, their contact information) and give them yours.

I’ll make it easy for you. You can “meet” them via email or on the phone. (Phone is better, for many reasons, but email is a place to start).

Okay, but where do you find them, and what do you say?

You find them anywhere. Grab a phone book, bar directory, or go online and search.

What do you say? You tell them your name, what you do, and where you’re located.  Then tell them where you found them: I found your name in the Chicago Bar Association member directory. I found your website. I saw your ad, read an article you wrote, saw your picture in the paper.

For good measure, say something nice about them: I like your website, I liked your article, I was impressed by your story.

Next, tell them why you’re contacting them.

“I thought I’d find out more about what you do, tell you a bit about what I do, and see if there’s a way we might be able to work together [help each other]”.

Simple. Honest. Straightforward.

If your first contact is via email instead of the phone, use that email to invite them to speak with you on the phone or meet you for coffee. You need to talk to them, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

When you speak, ask them about their specialty or what kinds of clients or customers they target. To get things started, or keep the conversation going, you might ask, “How long have you been doing that?” or “How did you get started?”

You want them to open up and tell you about themselves. Your turn will come later.

If things go well, ask them what they do to bring in new clients. Do they advertise? Network? Blog? Do they have a newsletter? Do they do webinars? If they’re good at marketing, they might be able to send you a lot of referrals.

Exchange contact information. Tell them you’ll send them some information about what you do or your new report, and then follow-up. If things go well, before you end the conversation, you might schedule another time to talk or to meet for lunch.

And that’s how it’s done. And that’s your challenge for the week.

Learn more on what to say and what to send them: click here

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Filed Under: Referrals

Create a better marketing message by keeping it simple

February 23, 2016 by
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The best marketing messages are simple. They are easy to understand and easy to remember, and the ideas embodied in them affect the reader or listener on a basic emotional level.

The same can be said for any message.

The strength of a simple message is in its clarity. The reader or listener grasps the message on its face, without explanation or documentation, and without delay. It says what it means and it means what it says.

Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Do not write merely to be understood. Write so you cannot possibly be misunderstood.”

But how does one do that?

Ultimately, this is a function of the writer’s or speaker’s understanding of the essence of the message and their ability to communicate it. In other words, it takes some skill and effort. But there’s a lot you can do to make your message simpler, clearer, and more effective, even if you’re not (yet) a great writer.

Make your message about fewer ideas

Include a few key points in your message, not everything you could say on the subject. This is true no matter who your audience is, but even more so for a lawyer seeking to influence lay people.

Be brief

Spare the details. Don’t write pages when paragraphs will do. See if you can convey the same idea in a sentence or two.

Most people want no more than the bottom line and a fact or two that supports it. You should have additional information available, however, for those who want it. On your website, for example, put your message on the home page; provide links to the details for those who want to drill down to get them.

Write at a fourth grade level

You want your message to go from the page or the lectern to the recipient’s brain at the speed of thought. You don’t want anything slowing it down. So use shorter paragraphs and sentences, and simpler words. “Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do,” Mark Twain told us.

Use repetition

No matter how effective your message is, it will be more effective if it is repeated often. Repetition helps people understand, accept, and remember your message. It is key to earning their trust and their business.

Think of your message as a campaign speech, if that helps. You address the same handful of ideas and repeat them over and over again, to new crowds and to your die-hard supporters alike.

Repetition makes your message stronger and affects people at a deeper level. The first time they hear it, they may be critical and doubtful. After they’ve heard it several times, they are better able understand and accept the message. Eventually, after they’ve heard your message repeatedly, they can remember it and articulate it to others.

And that’s what you want.

You want your clients and prospects, friends and followers, to know what you stand for and what you promise, and you want them to easily share that message with others.

Need help crafting an effective marketing message? Try this

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Public Speaking, Referrals, Writing
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