Legal Marketing Blog

Okay, only if you are going on vacation today. The point is that if you plan to take a vacation this summer, truly take a v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n. It will allow you to come back – not only to your law practice, but your business development activities as well – with a fresh look and attitude.

We all need time off. Heck I’m thinking of taking the next six months off myself. I WISH!

At any rate, Bruce Allen at Marketing Catalyst has a post about taking time off, either by playing “hookie” for a day or two, or going on a summer vacation. He says to “[L]eave behind all of your electronic connections and just go enjoy.” Fat chance I’m sure, but think about it at least.

Most importantly RELAX and enjoy some time off with your family and friends.  Also, have a great 4th of July holiday!

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P.S. About a year ago I had a post on “What To Do On Your Summer ‘Vacation.’”  Well, the title is misleading.  I don’t suggest you follow the recommendations in that post while you are actually on vacation.  Rather, do some before and some after.

Anyone who has been developing business for awhile pretty much knows that certain things are not true, and can adversely impact their marketing efforts. But it doesn’t hurt to occasionally be reminded what some of them are.

Trey Ryder does just that in his current newsletter in an article he calls “11 Deadly Assumptions That Kill Your Marketing Program.” In summary his assumption no-no’s include:

1. Clients and prospects know what services I provide;
2. Referral sources will send me all the clients I need;
3. When clients or potential clients have a question, they’ll call;
4. My marketing materials don’t need my photo;
5. Interacting often with prospects is a waste of time;
6. Prospects will remember what I tell them, so I shouldn’t repeat myself;
7. Business clients and prospects understand legal jargon;
8. Certain marketing methods don’t work like they use to;
9. The more complicated my message, the more clients will feel they need my services;
10. Graphics in ads are less important than the message; and
11. People understand that I’m busy when I don’t return phone calls promptly.

Most lawyers know that such statements are false on their face. Ya think! Then, how come some lawyers act as if some of the assumptions are true?

Humberto Cruz, the author of “The Savings Game,” a financial column that appears in a number of newspapers, had an article last week in my local paper entitled “That advice for bad times? It’s not just for bad times.” (at least that was its title in my local paper)  “Continue Reading” below if you want to read about Cruz’s financial suggestions.

The point is that the article got me thinking about how the principle works just as well for lawyers. Simply put, what works best for lawyers in a down economy, works just as well in good times – albeit less urgently.

Effective marketing and business developments works any time. That brings me back to my top 10 best marketing tips, which are:

No. 10 – Be Active In Organizations

No. 9 – Networking With Super-Connectors

No. 8 – Take A Reporter To Lunch

No. 7 – Write Articles of Interest

No. 6 – Talk It Up With More Speeches

No. 5 – Communicate Often

No. 4 – Offer To Make Proposal

No. 3 – Seek Client Feedback Often

No. 2 – Entertain Your Client

No. 1 – Visit Your Clients

Whether or not the current down economy is adversely impacting your law practice, these tips will help you develop more business.

After getting more work or referrals from clients, the next best source of new business is from referrals from other sources. Many of the same types of business development activities you undertake for clients are effective for referral sources as well. They include: visiting their offices, seeking feedback, sending them clients, sending information of interest and newsletters, etc. etc. However, will clients and other contacts actually refer work?

Seth Godin in “How to get referrals,” says that much has been written about how referrals “are the very best way to grow your business,” yet often they simply don’t happen. Why?

Three reasons in Seth’s view:

1. Not important to the referrer,
2. Referrer has a lot to lose (mostly credibility) by referring a friend, and
3. Recommending isn’t easy (as in bringing up the subject, I think he means).

So, what’s a lawyer to do?  Well actually, Seth isn’t referring (oops, sorry about that) to lawyers in the following five suggestions, but I thought I would:

• Make it easy for someone to bring up what you do (that is, let your contacts know something unique about your practice, your practice niche),
• Give clients something of real value to offer their friends (as in a dynamite, outstanding client service experience),
• Paying a person to refer rarely works (and could get a lawyer disbarred, but returning the favor would work);
• Low-risk referrals are easier than high-risk ones (so ask for referrals in a way that reduces the risk to the referrer); and
• “Be worthy” and known as such in marketplace (if you are not known by the referral source as offering value in eyes of the community, then it is much tougher to make the referral).

 Hope there is some food for thought for you and your firm there.

I have often preached at seminars and law firm retreats, that the key to successful legal marketing is to go out and befriend people. My formula goes something like this:

Make contacts, contacts, contacts

(to borrow a concept from my realtor friends),

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Communicate constantly

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Build upon relationships

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Turn into friendships

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Long Term Client Relationships

Of course, planning and focus are an important part of whom one should be making contact with in the first place.  And, assuming that a law firm knows the kind of ideal clients it wants, then time is not wasted on building the wrong or less desirable relationships.

An article by Lee Ann Bellon that appeared in the Fulton County Daily Report and on Law.com’s Small Firm Business emphasizes the friendship point.  She reports that a partner, in the 86-lawyer litigation firm of Carlock, Copeland, Semler & Stair in Atlanta, says that more than 75% of his clients are also his friends.  And she tells how he does it, and suggests five steps that firms can utilize to build friendships.

No rocket science here; but, reminders on some of the ways to go about befriending contacts who could become long term clients.

It certainly is no secret that a lot of general counsel are not exactly thrilled with their outside law firms these days. What with record profits by BigLaw (and one firm bragging about it), the cost of first year associates salaries and rising billing rates, the evidence is clear. But rising legal costs is only part of the story.

John Remsen’s latest Marketing Tip gives eight reminders of what is important to general counsel, and not all relate to the cost of legal services:

1. They hire lawyers, not firms (so why are firms spending so much on institutional marketing when face-to-face lawyer interaction - business development - will get better results);
2. Be available when I need you (be responsive and reachable – returning calls or emails the next day is no longer acceptable);
3. Keep your promises (deliver your services on deadline – actually, it is better marketing to beat your deadline, as in “under promise, and over deliver”);
4. Get to know me and my business (it is the best way to become a trusted advisor to your most important clients which in turn results in long term relationships);
5. Avoid surprises – always (not just when it involves bad news or invoices, but anything that the client is likely to be unhappy about);
6. Ensure that general counsel look good (their egos – and position within the company - are important, and relate directly to future business);
7. Don’t overlawyer (the money does matter, so don’t spend $100,000 on a $25,000 matter – assome firms have incredibly done); and
8. Be nice – to everyone (each person on the client’s team is important, so be nice to all staff people, as well as the lawyers).

It makes a lot of business development sense to listen to what general counsel have to say. The economic viability of your firm may depend on it.

Before I give a speech, I get nervous. I’ve learned over the years that that is a good thing. If I’m not nervous, it’s because I am overconfident, and then I usually bomb. So, I don’t dread being nervous, but I like to get over it pretty quickly after beginning my talk.

Therefore, I like to start with some humor. It helps relax me…when it gets the intended reaction from the audience, that is. Humor is a great thing, but it can be dangerous, if it comes across as inappropriate, demeaning, politically incorrect, etc., or just not funny.

Tom Antion, the Great Public Speaking guru, has a couple of recent posts dealing with both tips on opening comments, and speaker humor.

His suggestions on beginning your talk include:

• “Make points that folks agree on first. Never create controversy early, unless you are doing it for dramatic effect.
• “Never tell a long involved story unless it is HIGHLY TESTED. If it bombs, you will have a tough fight to win back the audience.
• “Never tell any story or joke that has a remote chance of offending someone. After you warm up the audience, you may be bolder.
• “Somewhere in your opening you must tell the audience why you are there. They need some selfish reason to listen to you.
• “Using humor in your opening tells the audience that yours is going to be a fun presentation. It tells them that they might actually enjoy it. Don't disappoint them by telling an opening joke and boring them the rest of the time.”

His humor post has more than a dozen funny lines from famous people. Take a look. You may find one that safely fits into the topic of your speech.

Most of all, when giving a speech, have fun.  Your audience will enjoy the experience more, and so will you.

A few years ago, I met a lawyer who sat on the grievance committee (Committee on Professional Standards, Appellate Divsion, New York State Supreme Court). She informed me that 80% of the grievances filed against lawyers in the state were due to inattention to a client’s matter and for failure to communicate, generally. It seems that I read a similar number in an ABA article somewhere. Moreover, she said that some of the grievances result in malpractice claims, when no actual malpractice took place.

In my speeches, I often point out that a failure to communicate often (as in constantly, frequently, persistently, regularly, all the time…… okay, okay, I agree, enough already) is not only foolish from a professional standpoint (as in discipline by the bar, keeping professional insurance premiums reasonable, and so forth), BUT it is just dumb marketing.  One could even say it is marketing malpractice.

So, why don’t lawyers communicate more often with clients? Their busy, don’t have the answer from the other side, from the court, or haven’t had a chance to work on that memo, or whatever. It matters not what the excuse may be, the fact is that the lawyer should communicate such information to the client nonetheless. The more communication that occurs, even if it is not always what the client wants to hear, the better the client will feel. Knowledge truly is power, and clients do not like being kept in the dark.

At least one solution might be to provide clients with a regular status report. Ed Poll offers to share a status report form he came across that might do the trick. E-mail him at edpoll@lawbiz.com for a copy. As Ed says, unhappy clients often don’t complain, they just don’t use the lawyer again.

What are your means of keeping clients informed?

Unfortunately, too many law firms do not provide quality client service. At least not the kind of service that clients want, if we can believe the results of surveys by the BTI Consulting Group and InsideCounsel magazine. I trust that many firms truly believe they are providing good client service. Regrettably, the surveys do not support that view.

An article “The Phenome of Client Service” by David Freeman on Law.com’s Small Firm Business should serve as a wakeup call for many law firms if they are serious about client service. David’s article is definitely worth a read.

First, David points out that the surveys tell us:

• In 2006, clients only gave 21% of their firms an A grade on performance, while 52% of law firms gave themselves an A (there was an even worse disparity in 2007, with 19% of clients and 62% of firms rendering an A) [InsideCounsel];
• Approximately 47% of corporate counsel “ousted their primary law firms in the prior 18 months;” and in 2006, 75%  of in-house counsel respondents were looking at “exceptional client focus” while only 12.5% were “swayed by legal skills” [BTI Consulting]; and
• In 2008 “The Survey of Client Service Performance for Law Firms: The BTI Client Service A-Team” reports that only 34.6% of clients “recommended their primary law firm.” [BTI Consulting].

So, client service is the name of the game. Or it should be.  And I agree with David that the way to excel at it is to: know your client’s business, be highly responsive, proactive, add value, and manage the relationship. In conclusion, he sums it up this way: “It should be the goal of every firm to move from the platitudes of lip service to the realities of extraordinary service.”

If you would like to take a quick look at his six steps for a more “robust approach” to client service …

I talk too much. I know a lot of people who talk more than they listen. That’s a bad.

The adage comes to mind that the “person who talks the most is the one who thinks the meeting was the most successful.” Can’t remember where I got that one, but believe it based on personal experience. So, if a lawyer wants a client or prospect to think a meeting was a success (and end up hiring them), doesn’t it make sense for the lawyer to listen more than 50% of the time. 

David Reich over on my 2 cents blog has a post on “Listening – The key component of Conversation.” He states:

“Listening is perhaps the most important part of conversation.  If you're not listening, then it's a one-way communication.  That's not good in everyday life, and it's certainly not good in marketing.”

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“…The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start to feel accepted, start taking their words more seriously and start discovering their true selves.”

More importantly,

“Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends…”

Clients hire lawyers they like and trust. All the more likely if you’re friends.