If my dentist managed your law practice

January 23, 2015 by
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My dentist send me an email that said:

NORDSTROM GIFTCARD GIVEAWAY

INVITE A FRIEND AND WIN A NORDSTROM GIFTCARD!

Introduce friends, family and co-workers to our office, and when they come in for their appointment between now and February 19th, you will be entered into a drawing to win a 0 NORDSTROM Giftcard!

The rest of the message said when the drawing would take place and that the “New patient must complete routine exam, cleaning and x-rays to qualify for drawing entry. One entry per person seen in the office.”

Not bad. Get more referrals, total cost: $100.

Two things come to mind:

(1) You could use something like this in your law practice, and

(2) If you do, you can get more bang for your buck than my dentist

First, let’s put aside the notion that you can’t do something like this in a litigation practice. You can. Not necessarily to get clients immediately, although you might, but to build your email list, which will eventually lead to new clients.

Now, how could you get bigger results than my dentist?

For starters, how about something obvious like having the drawing for the referring parties instead of (or in addition to) the new clients?

Hello. . . ?

Yes, it’s nice that you’re going to enter my friend in a drawing if I refer him, but how about something for me? Give me a reason to think about this for more than the three seconds it takes me to delete your email. . . let me imagine that I might win this thing. . . let me get excited and start thinking about who I could refer. . .

Okay, what else?

How about not requiring the referral to actually hire you?

It should be enough if they only have a free consultation, or even if they just schedule one. Or only opt into your list.

The name of the game is getting people to know about you and how you can help them. It’s about building your list.

Get more people on your list and you’ll get more clients.

The prize doesn’t need to be won by someone who referred a client (or became a client). So what if the “winner” is someone who refers ten people, none of whom become an immediate client? As long as your list is growing, your practice will be growing.

What else?

Well, you might offer a bigger prize.

Assuming your margins are higher than a dentists (arguable, I know), you can afford to offer the winner more than $100. You may not have to, it’s true, because winning anything is exciting. But a $250 prize sounds much more exciting, especially at Nordstrom where $100 would only buy you one shoe. For another $150, you might get a lot more participation.

You could also offer more prizes, e.g., three or five winners. Or you could offer a big first prize and lesser value second, third, and fourth place prizes.

NB: if you’re thinking of awarding prizes based on the number of referrals, i.e., the winner being the one who refers the most clients, do your homework re possible legal and ethical issues.

One more thing.

How about promoting your drawing to people who aren’t your clients? Contact other professionals you know (and ones you don’t know) and offer the same deal. Why not offer this to anyone in town (through your blog, social media, ads or mailings, or word of mouth)?

Would it be okay if you got referrals from strangers, people who have themselves never hired you, people who only send referrals so they can get a shot at winning a prize?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Email, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Referrals

Bundling isn’t just for political campaigns

January 21, 2015 by
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I just got an email with a great offer on a “productivity bundle”: “For just $59.99, you can unlock one-year subscriptions to Wunderlist Pro, Pocket Premium, Evernote Premium, and LastPass Premium.”

If you’re interested, here’s the link.

Now, put on your thinking cap. How could you use bundling to market your services?

Find one or more compatible service providers–lawyers in different practice areas, (including lawyers in your firm), a CPA, a financial planner, or a business owner–anyone with a product or service your clients or prospects might want and need–and create a bundle that each of you can offer to your lists.

It might bring in more clients but it will definitely get your name in front of a lot of prospects and help you build your list. It’s also a great way to deliver added value to your clients.

You could offer a “entry level” service, a review package, or a maintenance contract. Or you could also do this with information products. (If you handle litigation only, this is probably your best bet.)

Your ebook, video course, recorded seminar, checklist, form set, or anything else, combined with something similar from other professionals, all bundled up and available for a small payment, or even free.

Of course putting this together is a great way to meet other professionals and start building a referral relationship.

Check with your handlers to make sure you are allowed to bundle services with non-lawyers. And note that some professionals (i.e., insurance, securities) probably cannot bundle their products, but they may have a service or information product that would work.

Talk to another professional and tell him or her your idea and see what they think. You only need one other participant to create a bundle, but I’m betting that once there are two of you, you will quickly find others who want in.

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Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services, Networking, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: ,

What do you “know” to be true about legal marketing?

January 13, 2015 by
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Smart people once believed that it was impossible for man to fly. Most accepted this as truth and never considered challenging it. The Wright brothers thought differently and changed the world.

Orville Wright said, “If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advance.”

It got me thinking about what we (lawyers, society) believe is true about the subject of legal marketing.

Not long ago, many lawyers said that other than writing scholarly articles, public speaking, and networking, marketing wasn’t appropriate for an attorney. While this is still true in some places, most of the world has evolved.

Advertising was long thought to be inappropriate, even unethical. Most western jurisdictions now recognize that with certain standards in place, advertising isn’t the stain on the profession it was once thought to be.

Question for you. What do you know to be true about legal marketing? What do you do, or refrain from doing, to market your practice based on your beliefs?

Let’s take the subject of referrals. It is widely understood that you get more referrals if you ask for them. Yet many attorneys don’t ask. They think it makes them look weak or needy, or they don’t know what to say so they don’t even try.

Our beliefs create our reality. If you believe that asking for referrals makes you look weak or is an imposition, you won’t ask. On the other hand, if you believe that referrals are good for all three parties (the referral giver, the client, and you), your entire framework changes.

You’ll ask for referrals because you know that a referral helps the referred client save time and avoid the risk of making a bad decision. You’ll ask for referrals because you’ll know that your clients and contacts want to help the people they know get the benefits you offer and you’ll know they also want to help you.

If your beliefs about referrals currently preclude you from asking for them, changing those beliefs could transform your practice.

It’s time to re-examine all of your beliefs about legal marketing and re-validate them. Are they still true? Has anything changed? Are there any exceptions?

Have you “closed the door” to things you might now consider?

Have you looked at things as black and white and not seen the gray areas within within which you could operate?

Step away from the construct that is your existing practice and look at it from a distance. See your practice and all of your existing beliefs as contained in a giant box.

How can you think outside that box?

Because progress never occurs inside the box.

Marketing is easier when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Legal industry, Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With: ,

What to do when you have nothing new to offer

January 12, 2015 by
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What’s new?

Unfortunately, for most attorneys, the answer is “nothing”. They offer the same services today that they offered last year, and the year before that.

The clients change, the cases have different elements, but for most attorneys, same old same old. Even if they offer a menu of services, the menu rarely, if ever, changes.

Worse, many of their clients need them only once in their lifetime.

If attorneys owned any other type of business, they would regularly offer new products or services. Their business would always be growing.

But if a client doesn’t need another divorce, or doesn’t get in another accident, it’s game over.

It would be great to be able to offer the client another service, wouldn’t it? But if you specialize (as you should), you probably don’t have anything else.

Some attorneys offer updated documents, reviews, and modifications, and that’s good. But what about everyone else?

Well, there are a couple of things every attorney can do.

First, you can partner with other attorneys and promote their services to your clients. In return, your partner promotes your services to their clients. You can also do joint ventures with other types of professionals, and businesses, too.

Your clients have problems and needs that go beyond what you can do for them. They need help finding high quality professionals and vendors. They would love to get a good deal, or at least know they aren’t getting a bad one.

You can help them, and in so doing, help yourself.

Think “clients” not “cases” or “engagements”. Continually look for ways to help your clients with their other business or personal needs.

See The Attorney Marketing Formula for different ways you can work with joint venture partners.

Second, no matter what kind of practice you have, you should continually be creating new content.

Every article, blog post, report, seminar, video, or ebook you produce and put out into the market place can bring you new clients.

They can bring traffic to your website via search and social sharing. You can ask your clients and contacts, (and joint venture partners), to share our content with their clients and lists. You can offer them for sale on Kindle and other venues, where millions of prospective clients can find them.

Each piece of content you create educates prospects about what you do and how you can help them. It pre-sells them on the need for an attorney, and why that attorney should be you. And it prompts them to contact you to ask questions, make an appointment, or sign up for your list.

New services, albeit someone else’s, and new content. These are your new products and services. This is what you should continually create and offer.

Then, when someone asks, “What’s new?” you’ll be able to show them.

To learn more about joint ventures, get this

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Filed Under: Increase your income, Legal industry, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Referrals, Web traffic

The best way to get more legal work

December 19, 2014 by
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I spoke to an estate planning lawyer the other day. He’s getting ready to do another mailing to his client list to encourage them to make an appointment to review and update their estate plans, due to a change in the law. It seems many people are either unaware of the new law or believe it doesn’t apply to them.

We spoke about the content of the letter, including whether or not to extend a special offer or incentive to get more people booking appointments.

I am sure he will get more work out of this, but not nearly as much as he could.

One letter (or email) isn’t enough. Selling your services to prospects or clients is a process, executed through a series of communications. Even if the letter he sends is brilliant and makes the phone ring, a second letter would bring even more.

Some people won’t read the first letter. Some will mean to call, but forget. Some will need time to take care of other business. Some won’t have the money today, or not want to spend it today, but that will change over time.

Never rely on a “one off”. If you do, you’re leaving much dinero on the table.

Your letters and emails, your newsletters, and everything else that comes out of your office, should be part of a sequence of communications, designed to educate and stimulate response.

But don’t stop with the written word. Or other static ways to educate and motivate your list (e.g., videos, seminars, speaking engagements, etc.)

I told this lawyer that if he wants to book more appointments, there’s something else he needs to do.

Call the clients.

You are their lawyer. They need to have this work done. You’ll book more appointments and get more legal work if you talk to them.

Actually, have someone else in the office call on your behalf: “Mr. Twinkletoes wanted me to call you to make sure you received his report about the recent changes in the tax law and to see if you have any questions. He knows you’ll want to take care of this immediately, so we’re booking appointments right now for the week of the 5th. I have an opening on. . .”.

You’ll get waaay more appointments if you call.

What’s that? You don’t do estate planning? Your practice area doesn’t have a lot (or any) repeat business?

No problem. Here’s a couple of things you can do.

  1. Team up with an estate planning lawyer and promote his or her services to your client list. That lawyer can then promote your services to his or her list.
  2. Call you clients and tell them you have a special offer or promotion going right now and you want to let them know so their contacts can take advantage of it. Referrals, baby.

Your list is incredibly valuable. Repeat business, updates, and referrals await you. Call and get some.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With: , ,

How to get your first client (or your next client)

November 13, 2014 by
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An attorney who is starting his own practice wrote me asking how he could get his first client.

I’ve written before about the value of doing a S.W.O.T. analysis. “S” stands for “Strengths”; “W” means weaknesses; “O” is for “Opportunities”; “T” means “Threats”. You can read more about this here and here.

If you’re launching a new practice, or setting goals for growing and improving your existing practice, a S.W.O.T. analysis is a good place to start.

The attorney who wrote me didn’t tell me anything about his background or experience, or anything else, frankly, other than the fact that he doesn’t have an office. (I’d put the latter in the category of “Weaknesses”. Get thee some office space, my legal friend.)

Anyway, getting your first client. Or your next client. Start by assessing your “Opportunities” (and keep an eye on your “Strengths”).

Who do you know? Make a list of employers, your employers’ clients with whom you have a relationship, other lawyers, and business contacts. Include family and friends on your list.

Who do you know socially or from church? Do you have hobbies or something you do outside of work? If there are other people involved, put them on your list.

The point is that everyone you know, or have known in the past, may have legal work for you, or referrals. They may be able to introduce you to people who have work or referrals.

To get your first client, contact everyone you know and let them know what you do and what you want. Tell them how they can help you and ask them to do that. Ask them for referrals, ask them for introductions, and if they have experience in the business world, ask them for advice.

While you’re at it, ask them if they know where you can find an office space. Which reminds me, when you get an office, get in a suite or building with other lawyers. You can get work from them. That’s how I got clients when I opened my first office. Overflow, conflicts of interest, appearances.

What else?

Create a website. Add ten or twenty articles or posts that demonstrate your expertise. You need an an online presence so prospective clients and referral sources can find out what you do and how you can help them.

In fact, do this first. Then, when you contact everyone you know and tell them what you’re doing, you can send them to your website.

If you don’t know how to create a website that pulls in business, get my course, Make the Phone Ring, to learn what to include on your website and how to use it to get traffic, build a list, and get new clients.

Other opportunities? Look around you. Find some places to network or deliver a presentation. You’ve got the time. Don’t sit there organizing files, go meet some new people. Look for people you can help, and not just with legal issues. Send them business and introduce them to others who can help them. Build a relationship with them.

Every day, you need to build your email list. All of your marketing efforts from this point on should be designed to get more people to opt into your list. As your list grows, and as you stay in touch with them and remind them that you are available to help them solve legal problems, your list of clients will grow.

That’s enough for now. Do these things and you’ll have your first client. Or your next client.

Want more referrals? The 30 Day Referral Blitz shows you how.

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Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Networking, Online Marketing, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With: ,

The three quickest ways to get new clients

October 17, 2014 by
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You want (need?) new clients and you want them fast. You want them today. Next week at the latest.

I understand and I can help.

Here are three quickest ways to get new clients:

1. Referrals

Not only can you get clients quickly through referrals, those clients tend to be better clients. Because they trust the person making the referral, they are more likely to hire you, more likely to follow your instructions, and less likely to complain or argue about fees. They are also more likely to refer other clients.

The simplest way to get referrals is to ask for them. Contact your clients and former clients and professional contacts and social media contacts and ask for referrals. You can do this in an email, letter, post, or phone call. Say, “Who do you know. . .[who fits the description of your ideal client/might have a specific legal need]. Ask them to have these people call your office to schedule a free consultation or visit a page on your web site to learn all about how you can help them.

Instead of asking for referrals directly, you can ask indirectly. You do this by offering a copy of your free report, ebook, planning guide, checklist, coupon, or other goody, and telling your contacts they can forward your email or share you post with anyone they know who might want one. Give them a download link to make it easy. For step-by-step instructions, get The 30 Day Referral Blitz.

You’ll get referrals, build your email list (which will lead to more new clients and more referrals), and self-referrals, i.e., people who hear about your request or offer and contact you with their own legal matter.

2. Advertising

If you get it right, advertising is an incredibly quick way to bring in new business. You can place an ad today and have new clients calling within minutes.

The key is to test different headlines, offers, and media/lists, until you find a combination that works. When you do, repeat those ads, and run them more often and in more media.

You can offer your services directly, or offer a free consultation or other incentive for new clients. You can also offer your free report, planning guide, etc. Which leads me to the third method of getting clients quickly.

3. Special offer to your list

If you don’t have a list, you need to build one immediately. Include prospects, friends of the firm, people who have attended a seminar, newsletter subscribers, former clients, and other people in your target market. People who know who you are and what you do.

If you have a list, you know you can make things happen with the click of a button.

Send your list an email and remind your subscribers about what you do. Some of them need your services right now and will contact you. Others will know people who need your services and refer them.

Spice up your email with a time-sensitive special offer, something that gets the maybes off the fence. Your special offer could be a bonus service for new clients who come in this week, a one-time discount for new clients, something extra for returning clients, or you can get creative. For example, you could enter all new clients into a drawing for free tickets to the World Series or dinner for two at a good restaurant.

You wanted quick, you got quick. Go forth and slay ye some new clients.

Create a referral blitz in your practice with this

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Filed Under: Advertising, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Referrals, Social media, Web traffic

What kind of attorney are you?

September 29, 2014 by
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When you hand someone your business card and tell them you’re an attorney, what do they typically say to you? They ask, “What kind of attorney are you?” or “What kind of law do you practice?”

They can’t tell from the word “attorney” and most attorneys don’t identify their practice areas on on their card.

If you simply answer the question and state your practice area(s), you’re missing out on a big opportunity. Instead, you should say something like this:

“I handle [whatever you handle]. I also know a lot of attorneys who handle other matters, and many other professionals and business owners in town. If you ever need a referral to anyone, for any reason, please give me a call, okay?”

You can modify this to suit your practice and the people you’re speaking to. If you know a lot of financial planners, for example, and you’re speaking to people you think might benefit from financial planning, you can add “financial planners” to the list of professionals you know.

So what does this accomplish? It gets the person to see you as a resource and a nice guy or gal. Not just someone with a service to sell, but someone who can and will help them. All they have to do is ask.

It also suggests that you are very good at what you do. If you know lots of professionals, then lots of professionals know you. That speaks to your success and reputation.

Finally, it gives them a reason to hold onto your card. And, because you added the word “okay?” to the end of your statement, whether or not they verbalize a response, it makes it a little more likely that they will call you when they need a referral.

It’s a simple way to make a good first impression, and it gets more people calling. When they do, not only will you have a new contact who is grateful for your help, the professionals you refer them to will also be grateful and primed to reciprocate.

There are other things you can do when you meet a new contact, especially if you think they may be a prospective client, but this is something you can and should do with everyone. When people need help, you want them to think of you and remember that they have your card.

By the way, when someone asks me what kind of lawyer I am, the first thing I usually say is, “A good one”. I do it with a little smirk and it gets a laugh or a smile and suggests that I’m not overly serious or full of myself as many lawyers are thought to be. I follow that with my “real” answer.

Marketing legal services is easier when you know The Formula.

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Filed Under: Business cards, Communication, Marketing legal services, Networking, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

How to use your new client intake sheet to get more referrals

September 18, 2014 by
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There’s a very simple way to get more referrals from your clients. It will also help you build your newsletter list and meet more referral sources.

All you have to do is add two things to your client intake sheet.

The first addition is a prompt for the client to list people they know who might like to receive your newsletter, special report, video series, or anything else you offer, such as a free consultation.

You or your staff point out this section to them and explain how this helps their friends solve a problem or understand their options. Tell them there is no cost or obligation or pressure of any kind.

Also tell them what you will do if they provide names, i.e., send these people a letter and mention the client’s name (or omit it if they prefer). If they don’t want to give you names, you will instead give them copies of your report or a certificate they can give to their friends to redeem for a free consultation, report, etc.

The client gives you names and you contact those people, or you give the client something to give to those people and let them take the next step. Either way works.

Even if the client does nothing on day one, you will have planted a seed that may eventually result in referrals and subscribers. You can prompt them again by sending them a letter with a blank form they can fill out, or a link to secure web page form. As the case progresses, they may be more comfortable opening up their address book.

The second addition to your intake sheet are prompts to supply the names of other professionals they know. Who are their insurance agents? Do they have a CPA or tax preparer? Do they know any other lawyers? Do they have a financial planner, stock broker, or real estate broker?

Explain to the client that you will introduce yourself to these other professionals. If there is a logical connection with the work you’re doing for the client, explain this. For example, if you’re an estate planner, it makes sense to coordinate with their financial planner or tax professional.

If not, tell the client that you do this for marketing purposes. By meeting other professionals your clients know and recommend, it helps your practice grow. It also helps you meet other good professionals you can recommend to your clients, so it helps these other professionals, too.

Provide a check box for the client to indicate it’s okay for you to mention their name, or not.

Contact these other professionals, tell them you have a mutual client, and you’d like to find out more about what they do and see how you might be able to work together.

Clients will send you referrals without being asked, but if you ask, they’ll send you more.

Learn the formula for marketing legal services. Go here now

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Filed Under: Law office management, Leverage, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With: ,

A simple legal marketing plan

September 11, 2014 by
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I like simple. Simple is easy to understand, easy to remember, and easy to do. So when it comes to writing a legal marketing plan, you guessed it, it should be simple.

Here’s that plan: “Two a day”.

Talk to two people a day who are in some way connected with your target market.

Examples:

  • Call a lawyer or other professional you don’t know and introduce yourself
  • Call a professional you haven’t spoken to in a long time and ask how they’re doing
  • Hand out your card to someone you meet in line for coffee
  • Call a former client, “just to say hello”
  • Invite a prospective client to coffee or lunch
  • Call a blogger in your niche and compliment something they wrote
  • Call someone who just got hired or promoted and congratulate them
  • Call new business owners and ask if they would like a free copy of your business report
  • Call the head of an organization and ask if they need a luncheon speaker

You get the idea.

The only rule is, you’ve got to call or speak to them in person. No email.

Why call? Because a professional practice is about the people. Not paper, not electrons. Flesh and blood people who can hire you or recommend you to others. Reach out and connect with enough people and you will never want for business.

If they’re not in, it’s okay to leave a voice mail message. Let them hear your voice, your sincerity, your lack of agenda.

Talk to two people a day. It should take you a minute or two, plus the time to decide who to call. If you don’t know who to call, call every one of your former clients. Or get a directory from a bar association, chamber of commerce, or business networking group and call through their membership list.

Two a day doesn’t sound like much but in the course of a year you’ll speak to more than 500 people.

At the end of each business day, before you go home, ask yourself, “Did I do my two today?” If you did, great. You’re working your plan. If you did not, pick up the phone and call someone.

For a slightly more robust, but still simple legal marketing plan, get this

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Marketing Plan, Referrals
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