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: ,

Referrals for lawyers who want more referrals

September 5, 2014 by
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You’ve got a client list. A list of people who hired you once and will hire you again if they need you. But what if they don’t? What if your clients don’t need your services ever again?

Is that it? You invested time and money to attract them and persuade them to hire you. You worked hard to do the work and make them happy. Your clients know, like, and trust you. But if they don’t need your services, is that it?

No. Your clients can send you referrals. And they will if you stay in touch with them. They’ll send more if you ask for referrals.

In fact, for each $1,000 in fees a client pays you there may be $5,000 or $10,000, or more, in additional fees waiting for you via their referrals.

Your clients can help you in other ways. They can send traffic to your website. They can promote your content or seminar or newsletter to their social media connections. They can introduce you to other professionals they know who could become new referral sources.

And. . .

. . .they can buy products and services from professionals and businesses you recommend.

Perhaps they need legal services you don’t provide. Do you think they might hire an attorney you recommend? I think so, too. In return, you might earn referral fees from that attorney, or their referrals.

Tell your clients you know other lawyers and if they need legal services of any kind, they should call you first.

(Note to self: go meet attorneys with different practice areas.)

Wait, what else do your clients need?

An accountant? Financial planner? Real estate agent? Mortgage broker? Insurance broker?

Would you like to receive more referrals from people like this? You’ll get them. As soon as you start referring your clients to them.

Referrals for lawyers who don’t want to ask for referrals. Go here.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Earning the right to ask for help

July 1, 2014 by
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A lot of people ask me for help. They want me to promote their event, link to their site, or donate to their cause. I do what I can, but I can’t help everyone with everything.

But when my friend Mitch Jackson asked for help with his Rotary Club’s fund raiser to end polio, I didn’t hesitate.

I made a donation and then posted this on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Anyone who sees my post is invited to donate. I’m asking you to do the same. Just go to http://MonarchBeachRotary.Club. Their goal is to raise $20,000. With our help, I know they can reach it.

Polio has almost been eradicated, but still exists. If you have known someone afflicted with this horrible disease, as I have, you know it’s time to wipe it out once and for all. So please help. Make a donation. Any amount will help. And promote this cause to your contacts.

Now, why did I agree to help Mitch and his cause? Because he’s earned the right to my help. He has supported me and promoted me over the years and this is one small way I can reciprocate.

And that’s the lesson for the day. If you want people to help you, your practice, or your cause, become worthy of their help. The more you do for others, the more you can ask others to do for you.

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Filed Under: Personal development, Relationship marketing Tagged With: , ,

How well do you know your clients?

June 24, 2014 by
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When your clients like you, they tend to stay with you. And give you referrals. And send traffic. And say nice things about you on social media and review sites.

Yes or yes?

So, how do you get your clients to like you? One way is to show them that you like them. People like people who like them.

Yes or yes?

One of the simplest ways to do this is to show them that you remember some personal details about them. Like the names of their spouse and kids. Like their birthdays. Like whether or not they have pets.

When you know your clients well enough to remember these details, you tell them that you think they are important and that you care about them as people, not just bill-paying clients.

I got a call from a lawyer I haven’t spoken to in a couple of years. I asked him about his wife, by name. He didn’t say anything, but I’m sure he noticed.

When you first meet with a new client, or a prospective clients, get them talking about themselves and take notes. Enter this information into your client database, and continue adding this kind of information, over time. The next time you speak with the client, have your database open and use this information during the conversation.

We are in the people business, you and I. We may sell products or services, or our problem-solving abilities, but what we really sell is ourselves.

Want to make your phone ring? This shows you what to do.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Referrals, Relationship marketing, Salesmanship

Get more referrals by making it easy to give referrals

June 5, 2014 by
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Yes, I’m a broken record.

Every few weeks, I say something about the importance of building a list, specifically, an email list. I tell you a list allows you to stay in touch with people who aren’t ready to hire you, and with people who did. I tell you that having a list will bring more traffic to your website, more referrals, and more subscribers to your list who might hire you, send traffic to your website, or send referrals.

Did you? Did you add a form to your website that allows visitors to sign up for your list?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Is this thing on? You do want to get more referrals, don’t you?

Okay, let’s say someone slipped some LSD into your water bottle and you imagined you actually do have a list. You have a few hundred people on that list, a mix of former clients, current clients, professional contacts, and a random assortment of website visitors.

You hallucinate emailing something to your list. Once a week, you write something that passes for readable and send it out. Sometimes you write about the law, sometimes you write about interesting cases and clients, sometimes you write general consumer or business information. When you get back from your vacation to Italy, you write about the food. When you read a great book, you share something you got out of it.

Okay, you get the picture. A few paragraphs once a week. The only requirement is that it’s not completely boring, and hey, this is a hallucination, so it should be brilliant.

Now what?

At the end of your weekly scribbling, you ask readers to forward the email to someone who might be interested in the content or something you have offered (e.g., a seminar, free consultation, free report, etc.) Add another sentence, “If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe by going to. . .”.

Some of your subscribers forward the email. People you don’t know get a taste of your wisdom, and the tacit endorsement of the person who forwarded it.

Word-of-mouth, digital style.

That’s how it’s done, at least in a hallucination. Of course, this will never work in the real world. Forget I mentioned it.

Marketing online for attorneys. Go here to see how it’s really done.

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Filed Under: Email, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Referrals, Relationship marketing

The lifetime value of one-time clients

May 19, 2014 by
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I got an email from a marketing expert I follow who asked us if we would prefer to have a customer or a buyer on our list. What’s the difference? A customer is someone who buys something or hires you once and then goes on their merry way. They might come back, they might not. A customer, on the other hand, is someone who makes a custom of buying from you, “because of the trust, respect, and loyalty they have for you.”

So, customers are better than buyers.

Repeat clients are better than one-time clients.

Does this mean lawyers should only practice in areas where clients make a custom of hiring again and again? Should we choose business law, for example, with lots of repeat business, over consumer bankruptcy where the client might hire us once in a lifetime?

Not necessarily.

Someone who “buys” from you once and never again is potentially just as valuable as someone who hires you frequently. They should be courted and nurtured. We should build relationships with one-time clients, even if they never hire us again.

The lifetime value of a client is only partially measured by the fees they pay us. There are many other ways they can deliver value and help our practice grow. They can provide

  • Referrals
  • Website traffic
  • Recommendations and positive reviews
  • Introductions to other professionals, meeting holders, editors, bloggers, etc.
  • Invitations to networking events
  • Feedback about our services (so we can make improvements)
  • Information about our target market or community
  • Likes, re-tweets, and sharing of our content
  • Forwarding our emails to others in our target market

They can send us business, help us build our list, and otherwise help us bring in more business. In fact, what a client does for us outside of paying fees could easily be worth far more than the fees they pay. In terms of referrals alone, some clients who never hire you again could be worth many times the fees generated from clients who hire you again and again.

In fact, someone who never hires you could be worth far more to you than someone who hires you repeatedly.

The lesson? Treat everyone as though they are your biggest client. Provide extras. Help them every way you can. And stay in touch with them, before, during, and after the engagement or case.

You never know what someone can do to help you.

The Referral Blitz is one way to get clients and contacts to help you build your practice. Click here for details.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, List building, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing Tagged With:

Networking for lawyers who don’t like networking

May 9, 2014 by
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Think of a professional, business owner, or executive, you know. Got it? Okay, next, think of someone else you know in the same market or community who (you are pretty sure) doesn’t know the first person. This could be a business client, or prospective client.

Now, call the first one and ask if they know the other person. If they don’t, tell them how great they are and tell them you want to introduce them. They might be able to do some business together. They might be able to help each other in some way (write articles, interviews, joint venture, referrals, etc.) Or, they might just meet a kindred spirit.

Next, introduce them. Do a three-way call, or meet for coffee.

Then, get out of the way. Your job is done.

One of the most valuable (and easiest) things you can do in networking is to simply introduce people. In doing so, you are providing value to both. Of course, you’re also helping yourself this way. The two you introduce may not do business together but they will both be grateful that you made an effort to help them.

Networking for lawyers doesn’t have to be formal, time consuming, or awkward. It can be done quickly and over the phone. And it can yield huge benefits.

Think about who you know and who might like to know them. And from now on, when you meet someone new, think about who you know you can introduce them to.

Want more referrals? Consider doing a Referral Blitz.

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Filed Under: Networking, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Welcoming new businesses to your community

April 15, 2014 by
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My local Chamber of Commerce puts out a weekly email newsletter. It features upcoming events such as networking mixers, charity golf tournaments, and a meet and greet with our mayor. It also welcomes and lists new members. 

If I were still practicing, I would contact the new members, congratulate them on their new business, and welcome them to the community. If they aren’t a new business, I would congratulate them on joining the chamber.

If they are new, I’d ask if they are having a grand opening. If they aren’t new, I’d ask about any current sale or promotion. Then, I’d mention this in my newsletter and post it on my blog.

It doesn’t matter whether I handle business matters or consumer matters, or that they already have a lawyer. They have customers and vendors and business contacts who may need a lawyer, now or in the future. They joined the chamber to meet other businesses and some of those businesses might need a lawyer, or have customers who do.

I’d ask what kind of customers or clients they wanted and do my best to send them some referrals. I’d introduce the owner or manager of the business to other business owners and professionals in the market.

Do you think some of these business owners and professionals might also introduce me to other business owners and professionals they have met? Is it possible they might have some referrals for me? Do you think they might offer me some kind of special deal I could pass along to my clients and prospects?

Yes or yes?

How many other attorneys do this? Approximately zero. You can be the one and only.

You can start with a short phone call. Leave a message if you need to. Or send an email. Don’t pitch anything, just welcome them. If you speak to them, ask about their business. If you hit it off with them, meet them for coffee.

Marketing is easy. Lawyers are difficult.

Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and learn more about marketing legal services.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Networking, Newsletters, Referral sources, Referrals, Relationship marketing

Networking and your legal marketing plan

April 8, 2014 by
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If you do it right, networking can become a cornerstone of your legal marketing plan and one of your biggest sources of new business and career opportunities. But it can also be time consuming. 

One way to get more out of your networking is to use it as a springboard to finding content for your blog or newsletter.

Interview people you meet through networking and post it on your blog or in your newsletter. Do a profile of them or their business or practice, or promote their cause.

They get exposure, traffic, and new clients or customers. Your readers learn valuable tips from these subject matter experts. You get content for your blog that may bring you more search engine traffic.

And you get the gratitude of your new networking partner.

Their gratitude may lead to good things for you. Or it may not. Not all of people you feature in your interviews will reciprocate by interviewing you or sending you traffic or referrals. But some will.

These interviews can lead to other things. You can invite your networking partners to submit guest posts or articles for your blog or newsletter. You can explore other marketing joint ventures.

Go find some professionals, businesses, or vendors who sell to or write about your target market or community. You can find them online or in person. Reach out to them and ask questions about what they do. Then, ask for the interview. I can’t imagine anyone turning you down.

Wait, I’ll make it even easier for you. Start (this week would be good) by approaching someone you already know. Call your best referral source or business client and tell them you want to interview them.

What’s that? You don’t have a blog or newsletter? I guess you better start.

Learn how to create or grow a blog or website. Click here.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Networking, Newsletters, Relationship marketing, Web traffic, Writing Tagged With:

How to get better results from networking

March 21, 2014 by
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One of the biggest mistake people make in networking is expecting too much too soon. Networking is a process, not an event. You can’t simply pass out cards or connect online and expect anything to come from it in the short term.

It takes time to nurture a relationship. You need to learn more about what a person does, what they want, and how you can help them. You have to focus on them before you can expect them to focus on you.

Another mistake is expecting the other guy to initiate contact or follow-up with you. If you want the relationship to progress, you have to move it forward.

Call or email and set up a time to talk or meet. Learn all you can about their business. Find out what they want or need.

If you know anyone who can help them, give them a referral. If you see information they need, send it along.

Give, without expecting anything in return. Waste of time? It might be with some contacts. But there’s this thing called Karma and if you put out enough positive energy and help enough people, it does come back to you. You don’t know from whom, or when, but it always does.

Want some good news? You can get better results from networking without leaving your office or making a single new contact online. You already know plenty of people.

Look at your address book. There are people in there you haven’t spoken to in years. You might not even remember who they are. You’ve got old clients, attorneys and other professionals, dozens if not hundreds of people you met at one time. You have a connection, however tenuous, and you can leverage it starting today.

Choose someone, even at random. Pick up the phone and call, or send an email. Tell them you just saw their name in your contact list and you are embarrassed to admit that you don’t remember where you met. Or tell them it’s been years since you spoke and you want to say hello and see how they’re doing.

Tell them you’d like to get to know them better, or get reacquainted. Ask them to tell you about their company, what they do, or what’s going on in their life.

Start a conversation. Update contact information. Keep your ears open to learn how you can help them.

At some point, they will ask about you. Answer briefly, and then go back to them. Show them you truly want to know more about them. You might find out that they offer a product or service one of your other contacts needs. Perfect. You can help both of them.

Follow up with a brief note, acknowledging your conversation. Send the information you promised or remind them to send you theirs.

Schedule an in person meeting. Or calendar a date in a couple of weeks to contact them again. Ask more questions and tell them you would love to see how you could work together. Propose some ideas.

No man is an island. All of your contacts need or want something, whether it’s referrals, information, or advice, and so do you. All you need are a few who see the value of having you in their life and the willingness to meet you half way.

Marketing is easy, when you know The Formula

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Filed Under: Networking, Referrals, Relationship marketing
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