If you own a law firm you have a responsibility to make money.
You read that correctly. If you are a law firm owner, you are required to make money or you will be out of business.
As a lawyer you are part of a profession. You have professional responsibility. You must adhere to a code of ethics. But if you own your own law firm you must also live up to your responsibility as a business owner.
This video explains:
Too many lawyers use the the argument of professional responsibility as an excuse for not marketing. In reality, the two role, business owner and professional can and should coexist.
If you want some guidance on law firm marketing you have come to the right place. Stop back here a few times each week and you will find some of the best information available on law firm marketing.
If you have any desire to sell your law firm and make a profit you must have a strategy in place that will facilitate building equity in the firm.
This goes beyond law firm marketing. This is about planning for the future and aligning your short term goals with long term goals.
Here are the four things to focus on when looking to build equity in your law firm:
1). Build ongoing, predictable revenue in the future. This will show that someone who is purchasing your law firm will have revenue that last beyond your involvement.
2). Develop long term relationships with people who would benefit from purchasing your law firm. People who understand the value of your law firm and people who have seen that value first hand are more likely to pay a premium for it. Identify these people early on in your career and develop and maintain a relationship with them.
3). Build a group of people who can do the work and manage the work flow without your involvement. If all the work is completed by you, and you exit the business, there is limited value in what you leave behind. You must create a law firm that runs without you.
4). Develop systems to automate your marketing. You must have several different ways to source new clients. These legal marketing initiatives must function whether you are involved in them or not. Systems are the key to legal marketing success.
These four elements must all be in place and operating for years before you plan to sell your law firm. When you make the decision to exit, you can market your law firm as a business that generates revenue without your involvement. If that is true, you will be able to command a fee premium when you sell.
There are four relationships that are of critical importance to attorney marketing. Each of them are critical in their own right, but when you look at them together you realize that these four relationships impact every aspect of your working life.
These four relationships are:
Your relationship with Time
Your relationship with Money
Your relationship with Clients
Your relationship with Yourself
This video (which has implications beyond attorney marketing) provides some detail.
There are two important points to consider in your relationship with time:
1). Time is a perishable commodity. You will never get back the hour you wasted.
2). You must respect it. The minute you become careless with your time, you become careless with your money and your interpersonal relationships.
The two points to consider about money:
1). Focus on value and not on cost. Something that provides a return is more valuable than any price tag.
2). Eliminate guilt about money. Do not feel bad about spending money. That is why you make it. Money is a means to an end.
A couple of points about client relationships:
1). You must set expectations for client interaction. You cannot get angry with a client for inaction if they did not know you wanted them to take action.
2). You must be willing to hold your clients accountable. The customer is not always right.
Finally, a couple of points about your relationship with yourself:
1). You provide a great deal of value yet you probably do not charge a fee commensurate with that value. Make sure you know how much value you provide to your clients.
2). Have confidence in your ability. If you do not believe in yourself nobody else will believe in you. Be confident and be bold.
In the past few years legal marketing experts have popped up all over the place. If you are thinking of hiring a legal marketing expert you may want to follow this link to a video I posted about the charlatans that have recently infiltrated the ranks of legal marketing consultants.
If you do not want to spend the time to do your homework (and you should) before you hire a legal marketing expert, than I have a solid litmus test you can apply to anyone who claims they can help you attract clients for your law firm.
This is a concept borrowed directly from a Cognitive Behavioral Psychologist and made famous by Author Malcolm Gladwell. It is called the Theory of 10,000 Hours. Here is a video that explains how to apply this theory to hiring a legal marketing expert.
You should check with any legal marketing expert and ask for verifiable proof that they have helped a lawyers and/or law firms with marketing for at least 10,000 hours. If they have not, do not hire them.
If I were on trial for my life I would certainly want someone who had 10,000 hours experience in those situations handling my case.
Keep in mind that having this experience does not guarantee success. But it is a good starting point.
If you are looking to hire a legal marketing expert you should do your homework. Check the person out thoroughly. Speak with their clients. Verify their credentials. And sign an agreement so you can hold him accountable.
Managing by committee is like choosing death by 1000 cuts. It is slow, painful and you wind up with a horrible end result.
Someone has to be ultimately responsible for the decisions. Someone must be held accountable. Committees are fine if they are advisory. But ultimately, all major decisions should have a single decision-maker.
This video provides more detail:
It is definitely lonely at the top. Using a management committee is a great way to inform good decisions but taking a vote and seeking consensus is a way to kill any initiative.
Be bold. Make informed decisions but do not play politics with the management committee process.
