There is one quality a lawyer can possess that is more valuable than all others when it comes to law firm marketing. That quality is an action orientation. Many attorneys will talk about things they want to do or they will talk about things they are going to do but when it comes time for action, they do not step up and get those things done.
This video helps anyone interested in law firm marketing understand the value of having an action orientation.
If you are serious about law firm marketing you must make an effort to accomplish something every day. Even the smallest tasks, if assembled into a system, can have a big impact on your ability to attract clients.
People who have philosophical differences with you
People who are envious of what you have achieved
Most of the folks on the list above are not going to give you a fair evaluation of your services.
This video explains:
In addition to having their objectivity clouded, the folks who make up the list of people who are willing to give worthless feedback, are also unqualified to give you an opinion.
Think about it:
You went to law school. You have been practicing law in your area of focus for several years. Are you going to accept feedback from someone who is unqualified and has never even experienced your service?
Here's the bottom line: Listen to clients. Listen to industry experts who have worked with other successful lawyers. Listen to successful lawyers. When it comes to legal marketing, ignore everyone else.
Opportunity often show up disguised as work. This is especially with law form marketing. Not long ago we discussed people who gave up opportunities to grow their business during the slow time that typically surrounds holidays. Well that kind of attitude is found year round with people who are trying to make a quick buck.
Law firm marketing is not your ticket to a work free existence as a lawyer. On the contrary, you will need to apply effort to your marketing if you want it to be successful. This video explains.
Marketing is about developing relationships. That required good, old fashioned work. You must be prepared to put the time and effort into law firm marketing if you want to be successful.
This is the legal marketing habit number 5. This is the fifth installment in a series of videos about how your daily habits can impact your overall legal marketing plan. Our previous video covered your daily expression of gratitude.
In this video we cover how your day-to-day networking can impact your legal marketing. If you hate networking or you are bad at networking, this video is a must see.
There are some day-to-day networking activities that can make a huge difference in your legal marketing. Follow these tips and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in to your law firm.
Gratitude and legal marketing are not two things you often hear mentioned together. Expressing your gratitude can make a big difference in your legal marketing. Taking stock of the things in your life that are good will help you feel good. When you feel good you project an attitude of confidence and success. This makes you more attractive to clients, prospective clients and referral sources.
This video explains:
If you want to help make your legal marketing more effective, be grateful for what you have. Start by making a list of the things for which you are grateful. Write down at least seven things that are blessings in your life. Then review this list at least three times each day. Reviewing this list once in the morning, at lunch and before going to sleep will help you focus on all the good things in your life.
You will be pleasantly surprised at how effective this practice is at transforming your attitude. You will also be pleasantly surprised at how people react to you. They may even decide to work with you as a result.
This video is the third video in a series designed to help you make your legal marketing more effective. Our previous video covered making one valuable phone call each day.
Each day you eat three meals and most often you do not think of those times as legal marketing opportunities. Each meal period offers you an opportunity to sit down with a client, prospective client or referral source and get to know him/her better.
This video explains why this is such an important daily marketing habit.
If you want to give your legal marketing a boost you must take advantage of opportunities like these. Spending 3 or more meals each week with someone who can refer business to you is not only a smart practice, it is an excellent legal marketing habit.
Today's daily habit is commonsense but most people do not exercise common sense when it comes to legal marketing. One of the most effective actions you can take each and every single day is to pick up the phone and call someone. Do not call just anyone. Call a former client or someone who has referred you business.
This video provides more detail.
Reaching out to call someone is a way to reestablish the bond you had when you worked on their matter or when they referred something to you. This bond is powerful and when you combine this phone call with our follow-up system you will be amazed at how many referrals start coming your way.
This conversation needs to only last about fifteen minutes but the sole purpose of your call should be to "check in" with the person and see how they are doing.
Important Note: If you get voice mail when you are calling people to reconnect with them YOU MUST leave a message. It is important that you leave a message stating that you were calling to catch up with them and see how they are doing. These messages with also help your relationships but do not stop until you get someone on the phone. Have this conversation with one person each day and you will be amazed at the growth of your referrals.
Great legal marketing depends, in large part, upon the habits you develop. During the course of the next five days we will be introducing and discussing five key habits that can make a huge difference in your legal marketing.
Today's habit is: Mastering the Psychology of the Handwritten Note
Handwritten notes are a fantastic way to connect with new clients or referral sources or to recognize and engage existing clients or referral sources.
Make it a habit to write one note to people in your database each day. You will be amazed at how it pays off.
The number one reason lawyers get fired is lack of communication. At its core, law firm marketing is about communication. So yes, bad law firm marketing can get you fired.
Setting expectations at the outset of an engagement is critical to the success of that engagement. Since most lawyers want to be successful, I thought it would be helpful to discuss how to set and manage client expectations and during an engagement.
First: Have a Conversation with the Client Up Front
You must explain the rules you follow in operating your law firm. When you accept phone calls, how quickly you call back, what the best way to ask a question is (email, phone, etc.).
Next: Set up regular telephone meetings. In cases that are expected to last a long time, you may want to have a phone call scheduled once or twice each month. In fast moving matters you may schedule a phone call weekly or even daily. The key is to schedule them.
Finally: Set up an agenda for your phone calls. Even if it is just a couple of bullet points you should have some kind of structure to your interaction. This will help you keep on track and it will give you a record of your conversation (of you include a recap of your last conversation in with your agenda).
It is amazing what one well timed phone call can do for a relationship.
It is critically important for the attorney to effectively manage the communication process when working with a client. It is always best to error on the side of being proactive. Consider this a continuation of the law firm marketing process. You now need to manage the client's expectations and convince them to be an active part of their matter.
Legal marketing and consistency go hand-in-hand. Consistent, focused effort over time will lead to positive legal marketing results.
Here are three ways consistency can help you develop deeper relationships with your clients.
1). Consistency demonstrates Integrity
If you do what you say you are going to do you are being consistent. People will be able to depend upon you. This is the definition of integrity. In the minds of people who know you, you will be viewed as a high integrity person because of your repeated, consistent actions.
2). Consistency demonstrates reliability
Once people believe you will do what you say you will do, they will begin to rely on you. This reliance is a good thing. It means they believe you. You have credibility.
3). Consistency leads to trust
Once people know you have integrity and they know you are reliable, they will trust you. Your behavior, over time, has earned you this trust.
All three of these elements are important in legal marketing. This video goes into more detail.
Remember:
Taking action is good
Taking correct action is better
Taking correct action consistently is best
How you do one thing is how you do everything. Always give a consistent, one hundred percent effort. You never know when someone is watching. Consistency and strength of character are two of the most powerful forms of legal marketing.
There is one quality that trumps all others in attorney marketing. That is persistence. Most marketing initiatives are only partially successful on the first attempt. Some adjustments always need to be made to the system to make it better, faster more productive or more efficient.
This video gives a couple of good examples of when persistence pays off in attorney marketing.
If you want to dominate your market, you need to be dedicated to attorney marketing. Even though success may not happen on the first try, persistence will win out in the end.
There are three ways a client can find your law firm. Each of them work but for consumer lawyers (criminal law, family law, immigration law, etc.) one of them is more effective than the other two.
The three ways are:
Advertising
Word of Month
Referrals
Advertising is when you pay to place your message out in the market. Sometime this comes in the form of a print advertisement. Sometimes it is on the radio or on TV. Sometimes it is on a bus stop bench or billboard.
Word of mouth is when someone who doesn't have a relationship with you tells others to use your services.
A referral is an introduction to you from someone who knows you, likes you and trusts you.
Consumer lawyers should focus on building up relationships with referral sources.
Developing relationships directly with potential clients is too costly because there is a low percentage rate of potential success.
Using focused follow-up methods will help you build up these relationships and it will help you get more profitable clients as a result.
One of the biggest mistakes I see attorneys make with law firm marketing is they make it about them. Law firm marketing is not about you. It is always about the client.
Imagine this scenario:
You go to a party and you sit down next to someone you just met. They immediately launch into giving you their resume. They tell you about the jobs they have held. They tell you about the things they have accomplished. They tell you where they went to school. Then they hand you a business card, ask you to call them and they walk away.
How likely would you be to call that person for ANY reason?
As preposterous as this seems it happens all the time with law firm marketing. As an example, look at most law firm websites. Almost all of them take this approach.
A better alternative is to begin with an empathetic outreach and then take an educational approach. Make sure the client knows that you understand what he is feeling and then help him learn how he can solve his problem.
While this may seem unconventional (it is not directly promoting your law firm) it is highly effective. Remember the old adage: People do not care what you know until they know what you care.
This should be rule number one in law firm marketing.
We all want EVERYTHING to happen right now. I do. You do. But there are some things we cannot control. Before we get to that, let's talk about the things we can control.
There are three big ones:
When We Start
This is a big deal. There are many people out there who complain about the things that do not happen. There are many folks who feel they are entitled to something or other.
In truth, you are not entitled to anything. Neither am I. We control our destiny based upon our own effort.
This effort must begin at some point. The expression "A project well begun is half done" is particularly apropos to marketing for lawyers.
If you want something to happen, you must get started. Now.
How Hard We Work
This is another virtue that people despise. There is no four hour work week and there is no free lunch. You must work for everything and you must work hard.
The easiest way to determine if you have done enough to make a particular project a reality is to think about the most work you have ever put into anything and then double it on your current project.
Most people think things get easier with experience. In truth, the more experience you have the harder you work. This happens because you know where the pitfalls are. You know when the issues will arise and you work hard to avoid them.
Who We Involve
There are experts who can help you do just about anything. If you involve them, things will happen more quickly. If you choose not to involve the experts, you are opening yourself up to unexpected problems. The choice is yours.
Now let me address the things we cannot control:
Forget About Them
You read that correctly. If you cannot control it, you should not worry about it. It just doesn't make any sense.
All you can do is set yourself up for success and then have enough patience and faith that things will work out. I know this does not come easy but it will make your life better.
