Legal Marketing | Attorney Marketing | Marketing For Lawyers

Want to know how to pick the right clients?

Start with the right relationships.

Referral sources are critical to the success of any law firm. Marketing to these sources of repeat business is essential. If you are in a consumer-driven law practice area (criminal law, probate law, family law) you need to concentrate your marketing efforts on people who influence others in large numbers. These are the relationships that will deliver excellent results for you.

If you are a transactional attorney and you target corporate clients, you should focus on companies with numerous issues you can work on. Look for companies with many different problems you can solve.

Below is an outline of how you can go about targeting some high value clients and referral sources. Ultimately, the choice of clients is yours. But you need to create enough demand in order to be selective.

How to Target High Value Clients

Look at the Total Potential of the Relationship

Many lawyers have the attitude that any business should be retained at any cost. This is wrong. You should only take clients that fit your ideal criteria.

Each attorney must set the criteria for himself as all clients are not created equal. If you practice law in a field where each individual client has the potential to provide you with several matters, then you can move to a direct client marketing plan.

If you practice law in a field where the clients only have one or two matters in a lifetime, then you should focus your marketing resources on referral sources. These are long term relationships that will have tremendous value to you and your law firm.

Think About the Second (or Third) Matter Up Front

The first matter sent to you by any referral source (or with any long term client) should not be viewed as an opportunity to get rich. This is simply an opportunity to establish a relationship that could last for a long time. Do not cut corners. Do not charge a higher fee than is normal. Use this first matter as an opportunity to establish a relationship.
Keep your mind on the future business this resource will provide.

Target the Big Fish and the Small Ones will Wander Into the Net

The clients with one-off matters will still find their way to you even though you are targeting the bigger clients. Your referral sources will generate enough interest so that your waiting room will be full. If a matter is right for you and your law firm, you should take it. But keep your marketing focus on referral sources and large clients with multiple matters.

Most attorneys would not know their ideal client if he walked up and punched them in the mouth. Legal marketing should help you identify and engage your ideal client. If you have not given any thought to the kinds of clients you are attracting you need to watch this video.

The legal marketing process begins with client identification. It then helps you position your firm and differentiate yourself from your competition. Knowing what you want is half the battle.

What does your ideal client look like?

One of the least understood metrics in law firm marketing. Client lifetime value can be summed up as the amount of revenue a client has give to your firm during the time your firm has done business with them. It is explained in this law firm marketing video.

There is another factor to take into account when calculating client lifetime value in law firm marketing. This is the amount of referrals a client has given to you during your relationship with them. If you have a way of tracking the referrals, you can and should take into account the referral dollars you receive from clients.

Thinking about client lifetime value is natural for transactional attorneys. Their clients often come to them for many different issues over the life of their relationship. An alternative for the consumer practice areas is tracking the lifetime value of referral sources.

It is important to look at this metric as it helps you identify your most valuable clients and referral sources. This allows you to spend your time and your law firm marketing dollars attracting and retaining the best clients and referral sources.

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