A big challenge I hear from lawyers about legal marketing is finding the time to focus on client attraction.
Have you ever wondered why some people are so much more productive than other people?
We all have the same 24 hour day to work with yet some people get more things done in 24 hours than others.
One of the keys to being a super productive person is attaching deadlines to everything you do.
This video will give you some new ideas about improving your productivity. This productivity starts (and ends) with deadlines.
Setting deadlines and following them is a key component to any productivity improvement system. If you want to make yourself and your law firm more productive you need to attach a deadline to everything you do.
Time management for lawyers is all about your habits. Making good use of deadlines is a habit that can help everyone be more productive.
Law firm marketing is often made more difficult by impending events. The Fourth of July holiday week in The United States is a difficult time to get in touch with anyone. This time of year, the Christmas/Holiday Season and the end of the calendar year is also a difficult time to try to coordinate law firm marketing activity.
So what are you supposed to do when you can't get in touch with anyone?
We have a few ideas. This video describes five things you can do during the "Slacker Season".
Law firm marketing happens all year long. If you cannot find something productive to do during "Slacker Season" watch this video a few times. This can be the time of year that helps put you over the top toward achieving your goals.
Or you could be a slacker yourself and just coast along waiting for the days on the calendar to slip away...
Nobody has any time for attorney marketing. This is partially because attorneys regularly confuse the concepts of client service and time management.
In your law firm you control your own schedule. you may have deadlines and you may have meetings that you need to attend, but when it comes to scheduling your personal time, you are the boss. This is a fact. Yet I see attorneys get bullied into taking meetings with clients at inconvenient times or in locations that require them to give up hours of time in order to travel to and from the meeting.
In this technologically advanced world, there is little reason a meeting should be inconvenient for anyone. Meetings handled via video conference, telephone or webinar are just as effective (in some cases more effective) as meetings that are held in person. You should never need to go to an extreme location to attend a meeting (beyond the initial introduction).
But there is a concept that is more disturbing to me than traveling to a meeting. That is the concept of having my schedule dictated to me by a client.
An Example
This past week, a prospective client was referred to me. I treat all referrals as if the are the most important person I am ever going to meet (because they are). I contacted the prospective client by email and offered some dates and times for a telephone call. The response I received back was that the individual could not meeting with me during the week. This person asked if I could schedule a meeting on a weekend.
The answer is "no".
First: Weekends are personal time not business time. That's one of the reasons I own my own firm.
Second: If you are coming to me for help with attorney marketing, and you do not have time for a 30 minute meeting, when will you have time to do the marketing?
There are a couple of lessons here:
Lesson 1: You control your schedule. You make time for things that are important. If you do not make time for me, I must not be too important to you.
Lesson 2: Time management can tell you a great deal about someone. If they try to force you to do something unconventional because of their "schedule" it says something about them. In the case of the story above, it says this person is a slave to someone or something and it says that he will probably not be a great client for me.
You control your time. No matter who you are or where you work. If something is important, not matter what, you will make time for it.
Sometimes attorney marketing is about managing client expectations. This is particularly true when you have to manage a difficult client. But more often than not, the reason a client is difficult is because you have allowed them to become difficult.
Think of it this way:
If you managed client expectations correctly, most difficult clients will be pussycats.
Speak with Clients by Appointment Only
If you take calls/meetings as ideas come into your clients' heads, you will never have any momentum and your productivity will be disastrous. In addition, this is poor positioning.
How busy can you be if you pick up the phone every time your demanding client calls?
Outline the Fee Structure with Payment Deadlines Up Front
You must have a conversation about money at the outset of your engagement with the client. You must let him know what your expectation is and you must clearly spell out the consequences for nonpayment. If you do this up front and in writing, you will avoid any conflict later on down the road.
Clearly Spell Out the Boundaries of Your Work
Make sure the client knows what is included in your engagement agreement and what is not included in the engagement agreement. Having a discussion reinforces what is already in writing and it gets everything out in the open.
Make Sure the Client Knows Your Assistant is an Extension of You
You client must be able to articulate to your assistant why he is calling and the reason he must speak with you. This allows your assistant to allocate the appropriate amount of time for the meeting.
If this business model sounds familiar to you it should. It is the business model most doctors use when they deal with their patients. A doctor never answers his own phone. It is not expected that he would. A doctor never sees anyone without an appointment. It is not expected that he would. A doctor gets paid when service is rendered.
The way to handle a difficult client is to set appropriate expectations before he becomes a client. That is the responsibility of your attorney marketing.
I have a favorite word when it comes to marketing for lawyers. Actually this word applies to practice management and business strategy as well as law firm marketing.
The word is: NO
The reason I love this word is because it is empowering. It helps you realize that you control your own destiny.
Here are the three times you should definitely use the word "NO" in your law firm.
Unacceptable Fees
If you meet with someone and they want to negotiate the fee down, then you should say "NO". If a clients tries to negotiate your fee downward you should always say no to that business. People who negotiate fees do not have a full appreciation for the value you provide. This is probably not going to change.
Always refuse any work where you are required to simply reduce the fee without reducing the value.
Interruptions
I hate interruptions. They break your momentum and they prohibit you from getting work done. If you have a goal and you are working to achieve your goal, interruptions will absolutely kill you.
Always say "NO" when someone asks you if you have got a minute. The famous expression: "Got a minute?" is an absolute killer and you should always respond "NO" to that question.
Lack of Measurement
Always refuse to engage in any marketing where measurement is not possible. This is true of everything from billboards to brochures. You should never, ever use a marketing strategy or tactic that cannot be measured.
Ultimately, the word "NO" must become your best friend. If you can use it liberally you will not only be more productive, you will be much happier.
Most attorneys have an obsession over hours. They are concerned about the hours they bill. They are concerned about their hourly rate. They are concerned about the number of hours they spend in the office each day. With this obsession over hours, you would think it would naturally carry through to their marketing.
Think about it. You attend a networking event with no objective and no expectation of results. You spend hours working on getting the color of your brochures correct. You spend hours and hours working on your biography.
You have spent all of this time on marketing and you have no direct results to show for your efforts. This video will help emphasize the point.
Everything you do and every hour you spend, from a marketing standpoint, should produce a return on investment.
If you spend three hours working on a magazine article you should get reprints made and send them to your best clients. That mailing should include a call to action. You should be able to measure the business that comes from that mailing.
If you attend a networking event, you should have a desired outcome in mind. You should have at least three targeted people you would like to meet. After you leave you should have a follow up plan for how you will keep in touch with those people.
The bottom line in attorney marketing is: If you can't measure it, don't do it.
The biggest enemy of effective legal marketing is a lack of time. Time management is more about habits than it is about management. One of the bad habits you should immediately break is the habit of answering a ringing phone. You read that correctly. Answering the phone will definitely hurt your productivity. This video goes into detail.
Answering your phone does not make you more attractive to a client or prospective client. It makes you look desperate and unprepared. That is bad legal marketing. Do yourself a favor: Have someone take messages for you and schedule your return phone calls. You will be glad you did.
Is it possible that law firm marketing can help you have more free time? Yes. It is not only possible it is a reality. If you have great law firm marketing systems that deliver qualified clients to your doorstep, you will be able to pick and choose which clients you want to work with. You will also be able to command a fee premium. This means you will need less clients to make more money. There's more in this video:
If you like working less and making more money, you should develop mastery of legal marketing.
Every lawyer and law firm needs legal marketing systems in order to be successful over the long term. Systems protect you from being overwhelmed by the day-to-day kayos of running a law firm. Marketing systems help drive clients to your door even while you are buried in your current legal work. This video details three kinds of systems every attorney should include in his legal marketing.
Lead Generation System
I know this term sounds like a sales term. That's because it is a sales term. Legal marketing can often be about selling a prospective client on solving his problem NOW. This is what a lead generation system does. If can be as simple as a box on your website where a prospective client can request a free report or it can be a paid educational seminar you host once each month.
Every attorney needs to have a systematic way to develop interest in the problems he can solve. This is a significant part of legal marketing.
Follow-Up System
Whenever you meet someone you should log their information into your database and follow up with them. This follow-up can be as simple as sending a hand written note or as intricate as sending them a monthly greeting card. Follow-up is critical and your legal marketing plan should include a system to help you manage it.
Content Management System
As a legal marketing expert you will produce a significant amount of educational content. This information will be used multiple times in multiple vehicles. You need a way to manage this content. You need to be able to determine which articles are appropriate for which audience. Your content management system helps you do this. It is essential for your success.
These are just three of the many systems that can help keep you organized and help keep the legal marketing going while you are busy with multiple matters. Develop these systems now so that you can keep the work coming while you are managing your legal work load.
The toughest challenge for most law firms and attorneys is finding time for marketing. One of the best kept secrets is that time management is all about knowing when to say "NO". This video lists five things you should ALWAYS say "NO" to when you need to make more time for law firm marketing.
Always say no to:
Vendors
Meeting with a vendor is almost always a waste of time. If you need to purchase something for you law firm, have the vendor email you the proposal along with a listing of the features and benefits of the product. Ask your assistant to review at least three of these proposals. Then have your assistant ask the vendor for his/her best and final offer. Review everything with your assistant and make a decision.
Giving Free Advice
Never give legal advice for free to someone who can pay for it. Yes, you should do pro bono work for the indigent. But never, ever give away what you should charge for.
If you need a reality check go to the supermarket. Get a gallon of milk. Tell the cashier that you really need the milk for your kids and ask her if you can have it for free.
Social Appointments on Work Time
Save your social appointments for a day when you can enjoy them - your day off. Don't meet people socially during your work hours. Take an extra day off each week if you need to. But while you are at work, work.
All Administrative Tasks
You didn't go to law school to spend an hour changing the toner on the copier. You didn't go to law school to transcribe the tape of the deposition. Hire a great administrative assistant and delegate all administrative tasks to him/her.
Note: Do not delegate the signing of checks or the balancing of the checking account (operating and escrow). You must do these things. Delegate everything else.
Answering Phone Calls and Seeing Drop-ins
Never, ever see someone who drops in without an appointment. It positions you as a desperate attorney and it could be a huge waste of time.
You should also never answer an inbound phone call. It could be a waste of time (someone shopping around) and at best, if it is a client, you will not be prepared to discuss the case.
Some of these things may seem like a bit of a stretch to say "NO" to. Well that's probably part of the problem. Say "NO" to these time wasters and you can double your time for law firm marketing within the next 60 days.
The number one complaint from attorneys about law firm marketing is finding the time to get things done. Legal work is time consuming. If you already have a significant number of clients, fitting law firm marketing into your schedule can be difficult. One of the ways to take action on your law firm marketing plan is to use simultaneous execution. This video explains:
It is natural for us to want to break activities down into sequential steps. The trouble with thinking and acting in sequential order is that it takes three times longer than necessary to get things done. Here are a few examples:
E-News Letter Example
Let's say your law firm marketing plan calls for sending out a weekly email news update. You can write a long educational news article (1,500 words) and break it into three parts. You then take the three parts and divide them each up into weekly emails that go out to your readers over the three week period.
Event Example
Your law firm marketing plan calls for holding an educational event for your clients. Good event planning requires an invitation sequence (you send out multiple invitations over time), planning the content and a structured follow-up sequence after the event is over.
Most people would plan each of these independently and in sequential order - planning the invitation sequence first, the content second and the follow-up after the event last. You should plan each of these simultaneously - perhaps assigning each portion of the event to a different person. This allows you to get the marketing event planned three times as quick.
Blogging Example
Your law firm marketing plan requires you to post five new articles on your blog each week. Each blog post should be about 250 to 300 words long. You pick a topic for each day in a particular month and you write 900 words about that topic. You spread those blog posts over three weeks. In this particular month, Monday's post each week is about a specific topic, Tuesday's is about a different specific topic, etc.
Simultaneous execution is a great way to get things in your law firm marketing plan doen, especially if you don't have extra time.
Being a lawyer is stressful enough. Add to that the time you spend on law firm marketing and it is enough to make your head spin. If you want to improve your law firm marketing and your legal work, you need to give yourself a break. Check out this video for more on how taking a day off can help.
Law firm marketing is probably not the most important thing on your list of priorities. It should be. But it probably isn't. Neither is taking a day off. In fact you may think taking a day off will hurt your ability to get things done.
In reality, taking a day off once every couple of weeks will actually improve your productivity. Here's why:
Taking time off gives your subconscious mind time to reset.
Your subconscious mind is constantly working. It needs time to focus and prioritize. If you are consciously bombarding it with thoughts and ideas you never give it a break. Taking a day without adding new information will help your subconscious mind catch up.
Leaving the mobile phone and email behind helps you de-stress.
Everyone complains about stress. The pressure to push work out the door is the number one reason law firm marketing is not a point of focus. If you turn off the cell phone and forget about the email, just for a day, your focus will improve and your stress level will go down.
Getting away from the office helps reinvigorate you.
You are so wrapped up in your own world that your priorities are distorted. Once you take a break you will be able to reset your priorities. You'll be dying to get back to work. You will feel better about your approach to the tasks you need to address and you'll focus more clearly.
Make it a point to take a day off sometime during the next couple of weeks and see if your productivity (particularly as it relates to law firm marketing) improves.
