Tag: lawyer

5 Things to Tell Prospects That Will Turn Them Into Clients

The Rainmaker Institute mini logo (1)

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

Six Critical Pillars for Associates to Rock Their Practices

KLA Marketing Logo

 

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.

  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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

New Social Network for Attorneys Now Online

The Rainmaker Institute mini logo (1)

 

A new social network for attorneys – Foxwordy – has now launched and is offering any lawyer who is “an innovator and influencer in the legal industry” a free three-month membership to what its founder is calling an “invitation-only private social-networking platform brings together relevant top-tier legal colleagues to efficiently collaborate in real-time.”

Lawyer Attorney Social Media

It appears that this new site is aimed at creating a new attorney-to-attorney referral platform.  Foxwordy founder Monica Zent said that the site provides a way for attorneys to gain a peer validated reputation and encourages collaborations that would normally happen via the phone, in person or by email.

Some of the site’s features include:

  • Real-time collaboration with other lawyers working on common issues
  • Ability for attorneys to share best practices and language for legal documents
  • Listing of job opportunities similar to LinkedIn

Zent says there are currently 1,000 members on the website that is now out of beta.  The network will not be available to the public; it is designed solely as a website for attorneys to share information and collaborate, and membership is by invitation only.  You provide your name and email address on the home page to request an invitation.

It was unclear on the site how you are vetted for membership; since the site’s revenue model is based on subscriptions alone ($10 per month), I was guessing that the bar isn’t set too high.  And I was proven right after I had one of my non-attorney staff members enter her name and Gmail address, and she received a congratulatory email minutes later on her acceptance.

I’d be interested to hear from attorneys who sign up and participate on this new social network for lawyers – what are you finding of most value for your practice from this new social media tool?

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute