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5 Things to Tell Prospects That Will Turn Them Into Clients

Have you been looking for the “magic words” to tell prospects that will turn them into clients? My experience in teaching lead conversion techniques to thousands of attorneys over the last decade shows that you need to focus your messaging to prospects on these five areas:

1. Tell them what you can do for them. At the end of the day, clients are only interested in what you can do for them. Your job is to tell them what your service can do for them personally and remember- they do not want to spend time looking for the answer. The answer to this question must be one of the first things your clients see on your website and in your firm-wide communications. If your clients are going to remember you, you must first answer the question “What’s in it for them?”

2. Tell them what makes you different. For every service you provide there are many other attorneys who can provide the same services. So what can a client get from you that they cannot get from anyone else? Perhaps it is your credibility or the creative way you bring solutions to your clients. You must determine what differentiates your firm from anyone else and market that point.

3. Tell them you understand their pain. The most effective way to ensure a lasting impact on your clients is to communicate with them on an emotional level. You must find their “pain.” What is it about their business, life, family, time, or environment that is causing pain? Are they not working or working too much? Is their business growing too fast or too slow? Is their family falling apart? Do they have a hard time tracking their employees? Find their pain and communicate with them on an emotional level about how you can help heal their pain and make their business, life, family, time or environment pleasurable.

4. Tell them the benefits of working with you.  Features are what your service does. Benefits are why your client needs your service. For every feature you have, you must tell your client what the benefit is. Is your firm better, faster, guaranteed or more personal? Will your service create more clients, decrease turnover, or increase profit margins? These are all great features, but you must tell your clients how this benefits them specifically.

5. Tell them why it’s safe to hire you.  Many of our clients work at small law firms that have services similar to those at larger, more established firms. Why should your potential client buy your service over the big firm’s service? While no one can predict the future of your firm, the savvy small firm recognizes the need to develop creative ways to reduce the risk of their clients in working with them. How could you lower the risk of your clients if they are concerned about working with a solo practitioner or a small law firm?

Article By:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

Study Shows Smaller Law Firms Value Big Picture Approach to Marketing

Marketing has become a critical function of all law firms, big and small. Large law firms (over 200 attorneys) tend to have vast resources that can be devoted to all marketing aspects, while small to midsize firms (40-200 attorneys) must be more creative in the ways that they utilize their marketing resources, in order to maximize the benefits of their efforts. J. Johnson Executive Search, Inc., commissioned a study, conducted by ALM Legal Intelligence, in order to examine the marketing trends of those small and midsized firms and show how marketing departments’ efforts help their firms gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

A group of 90 legal marketing professionals were surveyed via web between November 18, 2013 and December 18, 2013. Professionals from small law firms (40-75 attorneys) made up 42% of the 90, while the other 58% was comprised of professionals from midsize law firms (76 or more attorneys). Part one of this two-part article will discuss how small to midsized firms are valuing marketing departments and dedicating their resources to marketing efforts in a concentrated and consistent manner. Part two will discuss the shift in the way that small and midsized firms conduct their marketing activities in order to remain competitive in our current economy; the results showing that smaller law firms do have a big picture approach to marketing.

Dedicated Marketing Functions Have Become the Norm

Ninety-percent of the firms surveyed had at least one dedicated staff member responsible for their marketing efforts, such as business development, practice development, marketing, communications, and public relations activities. Smaller firms have naturally lower budgets and resources, but according to the study, are on target to mirror larger firm marketing structures.

The ideal is to have one marketing professional for every ten attorneys at the firm. Eighty-one percent of the small firms surveyed had 1-4 dedicated marketing professionals, 48% of midsized firms have 1-4 people, and 47% of midsized firms had five or more marketing professionals on staff. In this delicate economic climate, more firms are focusing on the importance of having a marketing initiative, simply because previously used methods no longer suffice.

Additionally, the overall firm resources devoted to marketing have grown to reflect the increasing importance of marketing roles in the law firm. Forty-four percent of the firms surveyed had increased their marketing budget from 2012 to 2013.

From “Nice to Have” to “Must Have” Team Members

Traditionally, attorneys were responsible for their own rainmaking activities and the development of a dedicated marketing department may have been seen as threatening to the process and responsibilities of attorneys. Now more than ever, firm management has requested that attorneys spend more time on client development efforts, which can conflict with an attorney’s need/want to bill time. This is where having a marketing team can be crucial for their attorneys.

Two-thirds of respondents in the study confirmed that the marketing department is an important factor in winning the firm business. For smaller firms, marketing is an evenmore critical factor in the win by greater than a 3-to-1 margin. Gone are the days where corporate counsel will hire a firm simply from how they rank in publications. Winning business is predicated on building relationships.

For example, the marketing team at Porter Hedges, a smaller firm out of Houston, Texas, helped coordinate a marketing plan that gets the managing partner out in front of the clients and introduces the clients to the attorneys in the trenches. Their marketing department was able to coordinate and execute a program where clients were able to feel valued. The marketing group is also responsible for organizing client events, so that their firm has a presence among potential clients. On the whole, Porter Hedges is distinguishable from their competitors because of the emphasis they make on client connection. Developing these relationships would have been more difficult to coordinate without a dedicated marketing team.

Justification for Marketing Efforts

The firms surveyed have seen their marketing efforts pay off in several ways. In total, 82% of respondents saw a growth in their law firm and 79% saw client retention as a direct consequence of marketing efforts. There are also several other areas of success, such as an increased image or awareness of the firm in the marketplace (80% of respondents experienced this), and an increase in the firm’s competitive advantage over their competitors (64%).

This study shows that the perceived (and actual) importance of marketing departments has steadily risen over the years. Smaller and midsized firms are recognizing the value of marketing departments and investing in them because of the increased need to remain competitive with their larger brethren.

Stay tuned for part two, where I will discuss exactly what small and midsized firms have been focusing their marketing efforts on and how effective they have been.

Article By:

Nicole Angeline Cudiamat

Of:

The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC

New ALM Report Says Small Firms Investing in Big Marketing

A new report from ALM Legal Intelligence entitled, Small Firms, Big Marketing reveals that small and mid-sized law firms (40-200 attorneys) have upped their investments in marketing because of a belief that effective marketing is mandatory for a firm to succeed.

ALM Legal Marketing

The survey was commissioned by J. Johnson Executive Search, Inc., and relies on data collected from 90 small and midsized firms in the U.S – 42% of responses were from firms with 40-75 attorneys and 58% were from firms of more than 76 attorneys.

Some key findings from the survey:

90% of responding firms said they had a dedicated marketing team in place
75% said marketing was critical to winning new business
54% use marketing for research and client feedback
Marketing is key not only for obtaining new clients but also for retaining existing clients
75% of firm management says marketing is a critical piece in winning new business
Spending on outsourced marketing functions increased 44% in 2013 and is expected to rise in 2014

Firms justify their investment in marketing in the following ways:

ALM Reporting Marketing

The firms surveyed found these 10 marketing tactics to be the most effective for their firms:

marketing

The full report is available free for download here.

Article By:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

The 7 Blocks to a Firm Marketing Foundation: Block One

Being a successful attorney is something that takes more than just knowledge of the law. It’s an unfortunate fact that many attorneys will find themselves faced with. You may be the best lawyer in your city or even state, but no one will ever know that if you don’t make a point to make yourself known.

Now, people have heard me say these tips at events, but I’m going to give you the information because I’m committed to making the attorney dream come true. The dream we all had when we entered into law school of the firm with our names on the sign, with the staff that handles things well and the cases that we enjoy doing. I know that dream because I’ve managed to achieve that dream.

The foundation of achieving this dream is much easier than you would expect. It’s built on 7 solid blocks.

Block number one: Videos

When someone visits your website, they’re subconsciously looking for something that is different; something that they don’t see on other lawyer websites.

If you have a set of videos available to them, they’ve found that one thing.

Videos are some of the most important parts of my firm marketing foundation; they are one of the things that I will probably never give up.

When a potential client goes to your website and watches a few videos, the information that you relay causes a psychological trigger that makes them trust you more. The more videos you have on your website (and even YouTube) can (and probably will) start the ball rolling for a good attorney-client relationship.

You may be wondering what exactly you should even make videos on, especially since some states have strict restrictions on things that could be construed as legal advice.

One of the things that I’ve found to be most popular with consumers is a Frequently Asked Questions series. Think of the 5 (or more) questions that you hear from almost each person you meet with.

These are questions that you could probably answer in your sleep and find yourself repeating the same information up to 10 times a day. You already know how to answer these particular questions in a short way that gives the most information because of the frequency of which you actually hear them.

Those questions are not going to go away, you hear them every day because people want to know those answers. If you take some time to film the answer to each of those videos and produce a series of one a week for however many weeks, you’re going to see some changes. Instead of having to answer the questions day after day, the people you meet with will have the answers or, if they haven’t had a chance to see the video yet, you can just send them the link and they’ll be even more impressed.

Videos are marketing tools that never stop working. A video can answer questions for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Article By:

Ben Glass

Of:

Great Legal Marketing, Inc.

Six Critical Pillars for Associates to Rock Their Practices

No doubt, ambitious and motivated associates have read plenty about what they “should do” as they begin their legal practice to be successful. I’ve listed below the six ‘must do’ pillars for associates to be successful, early and often.

Develop Productive Habits from Day One. As you no doubt are learning, developing the discipline of effectively managing your time, harnessing the power of active listening, and maximizing non-billable time will serve you well throughout your entire career. These habits will manifest into your activities which, in turn, will determine your level of success.

Create a Marketing/Business Plan, Today. Though a number of my younger lawyer clients think their primary focus should be to learn their craft, setting written goals by way of a marketing plan will serve as the blueprint of your development as a lawyer and business generator. Having a written plan will provide for outlining actionable items and give you more control over your career. Today is not soon enough.

Proactively Build Your Network – Often, our newer lawyer clients tell us that they “don’t really know anyone” to which I respond “rubbish”. Think broadly. Enter into a contact list (Outlook or Gmail contact list will work just fine) names of your law school classmates, bar association colleagues, gym buddies, friends you run with, who live in your building, etc. Everyone you know could potentially be a referral source. Do not overlook the obvious, then get and stay connected with them via some communications means (social media update, e-blasts, etc.). This will serve you very well as you grow your network.

Double Check Your Professional Image and Etiquette. You are not in Kansas anymore, ya’ll, and how you present yourself professionally inside the workplace as well as in professional settings sets a tone. Be sure you are making the “right” first impression. Aside from professional guidance, there is a fantastic new book (“The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Greet, Eat and Tweet Your Way to Success”) which can be a perfect primer in this area.

Develop a Marketing Mindset. Tweaking your bio and social media profile (with a professional headshot), refining your elevator pitch, and deciding upon your “targeted networking” venues are all part of developing a marketing mindset. As a private practice attorney, you must always have your radar “on” to recognize opportunities to present yourself as a “go-to” resource, to thoughtfully build your network, and leverage new business engagements.

Be Mindful of Your Clients. As a new attorney, you have many clients – – namely, your supervising partner, potentially all partners in your firm as well as any prospective new clients you may cultivate. Understanding clearly how to meet their expectations (and beyond), how to deliver extraordinary service and all that it entails in addition to producing an excellent work product will help distinguish you from your peers.

While there are space limitations to providing in-depth insights to all of the six pillars above, I will break each of them down in more detail in subsequent marketing posts. The implementation of these pillars is crucial to getting and staying on the top of the uber competitive legal services environment that we are in.

Article By:

Kimberly Alford Rice

Of:

KLA Marketing Associates

How to Write Blog Posts People Actually Want to Read [INFOGRAPHIC]

The purpose of having a blog is to foster an online dialogue with prospects, clients and referral sources so that when they need someone who does what you do, they will think of your first. Drawing people into your conversation requires you to often step outside your comfort zone, since most attorneys write the way they were trained to do in law school.

But when it comes to writing blog posts that people actually want to read, that just doesn’t cut it.

The most important thing to remember when writing for those who don’t practice law for a living is to be authentic. And the best way to do this is to write the way you talk. As you sit down to craft a new post, imagine you are talking to a friend who needs your guidance on a legal issue. Use the same words you use in your everyday life. Forget the grammar rules and write your draft, then go back over it to correct any glaring grammatical errors.

The infographic below, courtesy of Copyblogger.com, outlines the other essentials for writing blog posts. Print it off and keep a copy by your computer to refer to as you write. Following these simple guidelines will have you authoring a compelling, lead-generating blog in no time.

Blogs Social Media

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

The Top 25 Law Marketing Cliches to Avoid

As a whole, lawyers are very literal, often too literal for good marketing. As a result, many firms simply opt for the obvious icons that represent the general concept of “Law,” just like most of their closest competitors. The logical rationale seems to be, “Well, if everyone else is doing it this way, it must be right.” But that’s wrong.

Your marketing should set you apart, help you stand above the crowd. And doing exactly what they do buries you in the anonymous middle. Sure it’s safe, but ”safe” doesn’t help generate revenue.

That is, if your website home page shows a skyline or column, you’ve immediately convinced everyone who sees it that (1) your firm is mediocre, and (2) there’s nothing worth reading inside. If you want to claim to be a high-end, A-tier firm, then you must look like it, and a photo of a handshake, map, or pen resting on a document won’t cut it. No exceptions, unless you’re, say, Wachtell or Cravath.

So here they are, the 25 most typical and tedious clichés law firms use (and what they actually convey to the average reader):

The Image (What it means.)

Globe/Map (We did a deal in Toronto once)
Shaking hands (We’re your partner.)
Building/Architectural detail (We work in a building!)
Skylines (We work in a city!)
Columns/Courthouse (We’re lawyers!)
Gavel (Yup, we’re lawyers.)
Light bulbs (We have good ideas.)
Chess pieces (We’re strategic.)
Diverse conference room (Stock photo)
Smiling lawyers (People work here!)
Scales of justice (Still just lawyers.)
Dart boards (We’re on target.)
DNA/Test tube/beaker/gears/CD (We have an IP practice.)
Man/Woman walking, in suits (That’s our profession’s action shot.)
Vacant lobby/Conference room (We go home at 5:00.)
Books (This might be 2012, but we still use books.)
Laptop/Computer (Look! We use computers!)
Eyeglasses or pen on a document (We work on documents.)
Boxing gloves (We’re tough.)
Rowing/Musicians (We work as a team!)
Crayons/Flags/Circle of hands (Diversity!)
Grinning PI or divorce lawyer (Lost a limb? Wife left you? Good for me!)
Cheetah (We move fast.)
Maze (We solve puzzles.)
Blurry man running up steps (Out of my way! Late for court!)

The fact that you immediately recognized all or most of these, and perhaps laughed embarrassingly at a few, proves that these images have lost their impact. So, if you’re using any of these in your marketing materials, from website or blog to print ads or brochures, stop immediately.

Either change your tag line to “Average skills. Average price.TM” or, preferably, come up with something that really sets you apart. Create something else, something great. Something that helps you stand out in a way that generates real revenue. If you can’t do it, hire someone who can. But it must be done, it’s important.

Figure out who you really are, then build your marketing around that.

Article by:

Ross Fishman

Of:

Fishman Marketing, Inc.

Last chance! Register now for the Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum: A Catalyst for Stepping into Your Power

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Women in the Law Rainmaker Forum hosted by KLA Marketing Associates.

When

For your convenience, 3 dates and times:

February 17 – Late Afternoon

Feburary 19 – Morning

Februrary 27 – Late afternoon

Where

Philadelphia / New Jersey / Virtual

Join us – a safe, intimate forum where Women in the Law “lean in” and access much-needed resources to develop a prosperous and rewarding practice. Make 2014 the year to take control of your career.

Join for our popular Forum to:

Learn critical rainmaking techniques
Brainstorm opportunities
Dig deep into your business challenges
Tap skills/experience of others

Four 2-hour sessions to change the

way you do business – and win business!

Special Pricing: $499* for all 4 sessions – – and more. Register now to claim your seat that will change the way you do business!

About the Trainer/Coach
Kimberly Alford Rice, Principal and Chief Strategist of KLA Marketing Associates, has successfully trained hundreds of lawyers to build and grow a prosperous book of business over the course of her 20+ year legal services advisory practice. She deeply understands how to engage the organizational and human factors that drive successful implementation and change through her work. To learn more, check out KLA Marketing Associates website.

The 20 Best Law Firm Tag Lines

Is your firm “Committed to Mediocrity™”?

Tag lines are hard – a few strategically selected words that encapsulate everything you stand for and want your target audience to know about you. It’s the slogan that tells your own people how to act, what makes them different, and help them bring in business. Does your firm have one? Does it stand out? Is it unique and memorable?

Consider FedEx’s brilliant “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” Nine simple words that tell FedEx buyers precisely what they’re going to get, while simultaneously informing all of its employees what their mission is, and its vital importance.

Law firms tend toward weak platitudes like “Committed to clients” or “Results Matter!” or “When Success Matters!” These vague “we’re totally awesome” statements makes a firm feel good about itself but aren’t specific enough for your lawyers or employees, or differentiating for your target market. They apply equally to nearly every firm in the market (when don’t results matter…?). They’re easy for a committee to agree on (“Good idea; let’s tell people we’re smart!”), but they don’t set you apart in a strategic way that generates revenue. What if FedEx’s slogan was “We mail things!”?

Would Nike be as successful if it allowed a marketing committee to red-pencil “Just do it” into “When you need great shoes”? How would BMW’s vision change if “The Ultimate Driving Machine” became “Your Car Matters!”

Here are law firm tag lines from the Feb-April 2011 issues of Inside Counsel magazine, a publication where many large firms advertise.

National Firm. Midwest Value.
Driving Business Advantage.
The confidence to proceed.
Canadian Lawyers.
Deep relationships. Forward thinking. And not just one lawyer. A team.
More together.
Top of Mind.
Singular focus. Outstanding results.
Intellectual property law by the numbers.
Driving Business Advantage.

Do you know which law firm is “More together?” Which firm gives you “the confidence to proceed” or “drives business advantage”? How does “Top of Mind” benefit a client?

Here are some examples of brand-related messages we’ve created that are clearer and catchier. They help define the firm internally and externally. They set the tone and help the firm stand out in a meaningful way. They give the lawyers something to say in new-business meetings when the prospects ask, “How is your firm different?”

They act as the platform for a larger campaign that helps the lawyers sell new business. It aids recruiting by defining the personality type and skill set of the laterals they should seek to hire.

Below are twenty law firm tag lines to compare and consider, that support a range of firms, practices, industries, and strategies. They are, of course, just a small part of larger campaigns, but their role can be significant in setting the tone, breaking the ice, and helping create a dialogue. OK, maybe they’re not the nation’s 20 absolute best law firm tag lines, there are some pretty good ones out there, but these are a pretty good start.

Two hours. Period.™

Laner Muchin, Chicago. The world’s most-responsive law firm. A labor and employment boutique where every client phone call is returned within two hours, even less in emergencies.

Seriously Unbelievably Client Service.™

Sandberg Phoenix, St Louis. The nation’s first firm to offer clients a written service guarantee. Their clients rate them an A+ in objective surveys.

Small but mighty.™

Novack and Macey, Chicago. A small litigation powerhouse with an amazing record of success at trial.

Article by:

Ross Fishman

Of:

Fishman Marketing, Inc.

How a Smartphone App Aims to Replace Attorneys

A smartphone app that allows users to create, sign and send legally binding documents is the latest tech tool developed to shake up the delivery of legal services. And its name, aptly enough, is Shake.

Shake is the brainchild of Abe Geiger, an entrepreneur who found that standard contracts were too cumbersome and complicated to meet the needs of today’s business world, even though he has access to all the free legal advice he needs (his wife is an attorney).

As with so many other inventions, Shake started with the thought that, “There has to be a better way.”

Smartphone App Legal Services

With some Silicon Valley VC funding, Geiger and his team set out on their mission, which is posted on their website:

Our mission is to make the law accessible, understandable and affordable for consumers and small businesses. We want to empower our users to share ideas, goods, and services without the fear of being stiffed for a freelance gig or putting their business at risk.

Geiger said he believes that change in the legal industry will be driven by small businesses and consumers, not by lawyers and law firms. He says that the legal market is huge, inefficient, underserved by technology and begging for change.

Sounds like he has more than one reason to shake things up.

Carolyn Elefant, who blogs about solos and small firms at MyShingle.com, wrote recently in an Above the Law post that the app won’t displace real lawyers because the people who want to use an app or a website for their legal documents are not likely to hire an attorney anyway. I tend to agree.

I also agree with Geiger’s assertion that people are looking for more technology-based solutions for their legal problems, even if that “problem” is only a freelance contract or a NDA.

What attorneys should take away from this is that the market is moving toward technology much faster than most lawyers are, and making technology solutions available to clients – something as simple as downloadable documents off a secure website – is the new way your clients are defining good customer service.

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

Tag: law firm

5 Things to Tell Prospects That Will Turn Them Into Clients

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Study Shows Smaller Law Firms Value Big Picture Approach to Marketing

Dedicated Marketing Functions Have Become the Norm