August 30th - Online Legal Services Marketing - Is The Time Now?
I've been looking at how firms can offer something to sell to visitors to their websites.
After all, why not make money 24/7 right?
One thing that you can do is offer "backsourced" products such as Wills, where the client fills in the details and you check it over. It's how most of the car insurance industry now works.
Personally, online legal services are right for me as a consumer and I think there is a big market for them.
And I asked Tim Bishop, (who runs the Salisbury Solicitors firm Bonallack and Bishop) his views on the matter. (Tim's website is worth checking out - he know's where he's headed).
These are Tim's thoughts on online legal services
What do you think about online legal services Tim?
"I suspect it's likely that this method of delivering some legal services will become increasingly popular. However it's early days. I'm a great believer in not adopting a radical new method first I prefer to wait and see and let others go through the expense, the pain and the learning curve -- and if it looks like a winner then I'll happily come on board at the forefront of the second wave, learning from others' mistakes."
Do you see it happening soon? "If this method of delivering legal services does take off -- I suspect it won't be tomorrow but the day after tomorrow. Law firms are a conservative market."
What mistakes do you envisage people making? "I've spoken to at least one firm who just started taking this route -- I'm not sure that they have even the basic pricing right however. If I recall correctly they were doing wills the traditional way for about £95 pounds and online wills, with very little input from lawyers, for about £85 ."
" I don't see many clients choosing to go down the technological route, at their own risk when for another £10 they could get a lawyer to take the risk and do all the hard work. In my view to make this offer attractive, there clearly has to be a much bigger differential. But the problem for this particular firm I think is that they are significantly undercharging for wills in the first place."
What are the important things to consider? "If the market is not ready for mass adoption of these sorts of services -- all we are doing in the short-term is cannibalizing our own market. I appreciate the risk is that non-lawyers to come into the market.
Here however I think is the crux of the matter. It is not so much delivery of service but control of the source of work. If solicitors can control the source work than they can, to a certain extent, control the rate of change in service delivery. Equally if the likes of, say Which, take control over the source of work for wills, that will allow them to start controlling the means of delivery.
How are you preparing for the future at Bonallack and Bishop? "The central plank of my personal role [I no longer run legal cases] is finding ways of controlling the sources of work -- We will continue to deliver wills for the time being locally and in the traditional manner -- in fact we're coming up with various initiatives to significantly increase the number of wills we are doing and therefore getting people onto our private client database -- a critical move."
"The other issue is that I'm personally concerned about commoditized services -- where profit margins will be driven down and down again and the only way eventually of delivering them will be on a massive scale -- simply beyond most small and medium firms of solicitors -- more suited to the likes of Which or large insurance companies. My target is therefore the niche areas of law which are more specialized and labour-intensive where we are, as solicitors, much more likely to be safer from the likes of Which etc, and where we are likely to be able to continue charging a premium in at least the medium term."
Thank you to Tim for sharing his thoughts.
Tim's words about getting local people on to their client database is very interesting. This is where online "backsourced" wills and working with joint venture partners, such as schools, charities and media owners locally can be combined.
Are you looking at online legal services as a way to capitalise on your website?
Let me know what plans you have or why you won't be doing it any time soon...
August 25th - Use Negatives To Sell Your Positives.
I was away for five weeks and I only managed to get stung by a jellyfish once.
Now I have a free souvenir of my time in France.
I like to turn negatives into positives. It works well away from the beach too.
Here's your new scenario....
It uses the law of Compare and Contrast.
It goes like this...a prospect has picked you out of Google Local (he's searched conveyancing in Bristol)
"Hello just checking on Conveyancing Mr Smith, I've been recommended to use Countrywide Lawyers by my Estate Agent but I wanted another option. Could you tell me what you do.?"
And by the way....we're independent of the estate agent which means we work Exclusively FOR you."
Now let me tell you 3 things about us which make us unique...."
Do your staff answer the phone like this?
Remember....
To get someone to buy your conveyancing team you only have to do the following;
Get someone to like you. Be positive. Be friendly. Be Enthusiastic.
Get them to trust you. Give them overwhelming proof, video, audio, written testimonials.
Help them understand what they'll get. Explain clearly, give them guides and videos. Make your service understandable.
Ensure they know it's a fair price. Tell them everything you do for them, don't leave anything out, even if everyone else does it, you've got to tell 'em because they don't know.
Remember these are the reasons that people buy.
I like the seller
I understand what I am buying
I perceive a difference with this company
I believe the seller
I have confidence in him
I trust him
I feel comfortable
The price seems fair
I perceive this product will work for me.
I believe this sales person wants to help me so he can build his business.
Work your script around making someone feel great about these things and you'll convert 50% more leads.
August 10th - Be Your Own Legal Marketing Consultant
One of my members went through my website and found 47 things he could do to improve his business.
Which is why one of the first things I teach lawyers is to be their own consultant and give as much as I can so that you can do this
You see hiring in a consultant to help with marketing can be expensive.
Because not all of them are value for money.
So why pay someone when all you have to do is put on a fresh pair of eyes and see your law firm as a prospective client?
Sounds common sense.
But as Oscar Wilde said, “the trouble with common sense is that it is not that common.”
But here are some easy things you can do that will help you identify and make changes for the better.
Swipe the best ideas from companies you like dealing with
Make a general enquiry by email to 10 law firms in your area and compare responses and follow up.
You'll probably get 100 ideas.
Pick those that are best.
And are free.
Implement them and measure the results.
July 19th - Conveyancing Secrets of myhomemove.com
Some people are worried about Tesco Law and the Co-op stealing business away.
But there's probably a different threat.
Complacency.
You see a company is signing up estate agents in your area and getting their conveyancing leads. They might only be at 2.5% of the English market but I expect that to rise.
What are you doing to protect your leads from Estate Agents and mortgage brokers. Are you complacent? Do you know enough about what your agents want? Are you proactive?
Could you outsource your conveyancing to this growing firm?
Find out what commercial director of myhomemove.com said when I interviewed him earlier this week.
July 15th - Persistency Pays When Marketing For Solicitors St Swithins Day.
My birthday. Again. I'm taking one year off my age every year from now. So today I am 41.
My mother phoned today of course. And told me...
"If at first if you don’t succeed, try again." And that made me think...
Persistency is one of the qualities you must have if you want to be great at marketing.
Because although you are trying to create a marketing system which gives you predictable and profitable results it will take time, effort and testing to get you there.
But don’t despair if your first efforts don’t pay off. Learn from them.
Just as Thomas Edison said, “I got it wrong 9,999 times in trying to invent the lightbulb...but I learned from every failure.”
The main thing about marketing is to know that just testing, tweaking and persisting in marketing will get results.
And sometimes changing the positioning of your service or product can have dramatic effects. Which is another reason to try new things out.
And inventing new products by amalgamating old products, or changing their name or offering them to a different niche.
You might take heart from the fact that well-known brands such as Timex, Kleenex, Q-Tips, or 7UP haven’t always been successful...
Timex was a failing company until their cheap watches were put on sale in, of all places, pharmacies. Their success is based on the fact that they tested new places to sell their products!
In the 1920s, Leo Gerstenzang saw his wife clean out their baby's ears with cotton balls stuck on toothpicks. He then got the idea to design cotton buds, which he originally called "Baby Gays" in 1926.
But it wasn't until he discovered that people were using his buds for different uses other than cleaning baby ears that he decided to change the name to "Q-Tips." After that, sales skyrocketed!
Kleenex was originally advertised to be used to remove make-up. But when it was discovered that people were using it to blow their noses, they changed their marketing and sales exploded almost instantly.
7UP was originally a means of settling infants' upset stomachs and then, as an adult hangover remedy. But when the makers turned it into a soft drink, it sales rocketed!
Testing is part of being committed to marketing. And marketing is about finding, getting, keeping and growing your clients.
So why is it that very few solicitors firms are members of the University of Marketing Stickability?
Remember most prospects have to hear about you, like you, and trust you even before they consider buying from you. And that takes time.
One way of using time well is by persistently offering high quality information that allows prospects to make an informed choice. This will help you convert prospects to buyers.
Some time ago I did a video about “marketing sequences” which is another way of saying persistent marketing.
It’s still relevant. And it will always be relevant.
Because most law firms give up after a couple of goes trying to sell.
People don’t buy when you want to sell. They buy when you are ready. And you had better be top of their mind when that happens.
One way of doing this automatically is by offering a free report on whatever subject interests your prospects. You get their email address and send a series of 5, 10, 20, or 50 emails with video explanations, testimonials, examples, offers , diagrams, recordings – a whole multi-media "preponderance of proof" that you are the right firm to solve the prospects problems.
Too hard for others to do? You bet.
Too hard if you’re not persistent? Golly gosh yes.
Too hard for you to do...? Maybe.
But if you want to be persistent with your prospects keep in touch with them with quality information...
Just like me...;-)
And if you got this far down congratulations on your persistency.
July 13th - Subscription Services from Solicitors
I'm always on the lookout for things you can swipe and deploy.
It's simply a fixed fee employment law service for small businesses.
Katie Marsh from Boys and Maughn who operate it told me,
"Each client proposal is bespoke and dependent upon factors such as their industry, length of trading and track record.
However, the annual premium is rarely more than 1% of payroll"
And
"One other local firm offers a similar scheme, but they lock their clients in for a minimum 3 year contract. We are so confident in our scheme that we only ask clients to sign up for 1 year at a time. "
Small businesses have to deal with employees. They don't really have the expertise or time or money to do it properly. And this is their "take my headache away" solution.
It's easy to promote this service.
PR in the local paper (every paper has a business section), small adverts in the classified trades section, Federation of Small Business, Chamber of Commerce, direct mail to local small businesses with 10 employees or less, radio spot, on your own website, via Business Banking managers, accountants, financial advisers....the list is endless.
Why not record an audio CD with information on your service, testimonials and some great advice and give it to the local business banking manager.
Tell them you'll co - brand it if they give it to all their business clients. And the great thing is that you can offer almost all the documentation small firms need on line which makes offering a subscription very profitable.
Even if you don't do employment law can you do the same for other services by offering subscriptions?
Those of you who have read Paul Hajek's profile will see that his ambition is for Spurs to win the Champions League within the Perpetuity Period ( a legal definition equivalent to 80 years)
I seem to remember he got publicity from the World Cup too.
He just emailed the story to all the major news outlets in one email...job done. July 2nd - Can You Swipe And Deploy Tesco Marketing?
I live in Reading and Isold – the virtual estate agency from Tesco have started to market through the local newspapers.
They have taken a direct marketing approach that will work with some house sellers.
They have used handwritten-style notes to entice vendors to find out more.
The handwritten note is genius. Not for the handwritten font...but the fact that they are doing it. Because action is genius.
The recommendation I would make is that they need to have a trackable 0118 local Reading prefix on the post card as this would make it more authentic (it can still go through to the 0117 call centre undetected - speak to me about how...) and they should now put these targeted homeowners into a marketing sequence of at least 7 touches.
Personally I would start with DVD full of testimonials.
Followed by letter offering "bait" i.e. free report.
This bait captures phone/email details.
Followed up with postcard.
Then email 1, 2,3, 4, 5 and forever marketing sequence including offers for referrals to other family members and home services companies, Wills etc.
Is there anything stopping a solicitor from taking the same approach and canvassing property sellers?
Not according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority Ethics advice.
You can slip a postcard through the door of any house for sale with an offer to do their conveyancing.
(Just don’t knock on the door”).
Will it work?
I don’t know.
But as you can get postcards free from Vistaprint and can easily track the success of a trial through trackable phone numbers all you have to lose is time.
Unless of course, you team up with an estate agent who is already thinking about doing this. And you just share the leafleting manpower expense.
June 29th - Recommendation or Referrals - What's Better?
Law Society research says 90% of people would recommend their solicitor to a family member of friend. (IF ASKED BY A RESEARCHER).
Those are my capitals. Because it doesn't really matter what someone says to a researcher. What matters is what YOUR CLIENTS do.
Industry pats on the back don't do anything for your bottom line.
You can't spend researched recommendations at the bank.
And satisfaction is not loyalty.
The true test is loyalty.
How many of your clients will never leave you and will defend you to the hilt?
Because loyal clients are the best referrers.
And the question is "How are you systematicallly asking and getting referrals?"
Action on getting a systematic referral process in place will do everything for you.
The research doesn't show how many referrals each loyal client is giving you.
The research doesn't show how many each client could give you.
The research doesn't show the value of each referral and what you should invest in getting referrals.
If you know how to get loyal, highly profitable clients and get them to refer their best friends, clients and colleagues (i.e. people like them) then you are on to a winner. But everyone already knows that don't they?
Still, how many people have a referral system in place?
Have you?
First admit you don’t know. Then learn. Then act.
June 23 - Referral Networks - Your Letter to Attract Partners To Your Law Firm
Shame they don't have a proper landing page for Estate Agents (do you?)
Shame they don't use video? (do you)
Shame they don't tell me what a free Will is worth....oh well.
June 7th - Help Estate Agents and They Will Help Your Solicitor Firm
There's a lot of noise about referral fees being paid out to Estate Agents. And some agents will always go for the cash...i.e. who pays the most. And that's ok for you if you are happy with it. (Until someone pays more than you).
Ultimately every business wants more leads. And what do you think would happen if you could help Estate Agents get more leads? Would they come to you?
Would they give you conveyancing leads? Would they be loyal?
So here are a couple of ideas for you to make Estate Agents loyal. (And I'm assuming you have a partner marketing plan that targets them and sets you up as "the estate agent's solicitor" for your area?)
1 Write a report on "How to sell your house for top dollar when getting divorced." You can then co-brand this with the estate agent and share the marketing.
2 Write a report on "How to sell a house when the owner has passed away - your guide to Probate and Property." Ditto for the marketing.
Don't forget to request permission. I'll even tell you how to get agents to open up your email when you send it. June 1st - Guarantees Win Business for Law Firms.
One of the problems buyers have is choosing.
Because choosing a law firm means you might get the choice wrong.
And people are worried about making mistakes. That's natural.
Everything you can do to prevent someone making a mistake in choosing you will help you get more clients. Testimonials (Social Proof), Referrals, (Trust) Chambers/Lexcel (Authority) all help.
And so do guarantees. The bigger the guarantee the less risk there is for someone to get it wrong by choosing your solicitors firm.
So it's great to see one of the best marketed firms, Bonnalack and Bishop using a guarantee with commercial litigation. Tim Bishop, who runs the firm, is more entreprenuer than lawyer. He has taken a marketing-focussed approach to his firm. It's one you can swipe and deploy a number of ideas from.
What guarantees can you make to get more people to choose your law firm?
Which means they are prime clients for getting referrals for you.
And those that really enthuse...dig deeper to get a case study from them.
Or maybe a video testimonial.
This works with business and private clients.
How you do your client follow-up does matter.
If you haven’t got a survey in place that does this you might want to get one.
And if you don’t know how... cue music....
“Who you gonna call?”
B-O-Y-D B-U-T-L-E-R!
May 25th - People Pay Top Dollar for Legal Solutions
It is incredibly difficult to be a successful lawyer/owner/entrepreneur and that's what most law firms are run by.
Sole practitioners - responsible for everything.
In reality these owners find it hard to know what to do. Because they are in the thick of things on a daily basis.
This is no different from any industry where the owner is also a worker, (except the onerous and unfair restraints put on solicitors by regulation).
Where law firms should focus is on providing solutions and not just advice.
Advice is seen as expensive and ubiquitous.
People will pay any price for solutions.
Many law firms are members of my newsletter.
Some of them take the advice.
Som even act on it.
But if I were to provide the solution to your legal marketing problems and do it for you...i.e. give you lots of willing buyers that would pay the price you want...what would you pay me?
If you create a system that provides solutions profitably and it is not reliant on time billed or geography then you have something very valuable.
It is almost immune to any threats because it is so valuable to clients and prospects will find you with good marketing.
The system is based on;
Find what people want = solutions to their problems. Make sure there are enough of them = market. Devise a way of delivering it = profitably. Communicate it to them you have the solution = marketing.
Rinse and repeat with new solutions when you find out more niches.
The beauty of this is that you also have something you can sell when you retire or when you want to. Because it's similar to a franchise.
(See Gerber's E-Myth Revisited book).
The answer is always the same in business.
Great marketing gives you more money. You can invest more in the solution. You get more clients because of it. Which you re-invest in marketing.
Apple Mac anyone?
May 20th - HIP, HIP Hooray?
In case you didn't know. Home Information Packs are no more.
CLG Secretary of State Eric Pickles said: “HIPs are history. This action will encourage sellers back into the market and help the market as a whole, and the economy recover."
That's Government PR.
Time for some PR in your local media?
I'm sure your local paper/radio station wants a solicitor's comment...
Can you provide it? Of course you can...
And what about the legal consequences for your Estate Agent partners? Let them know the score...
After all, with a HIPs revolution, they may be looking to change other aspects of their business...
Like where they send their conveyancing...;-)
May 19th - Do You Continually Test Your Prices For Your Legal Services?
May 17th - Mend Your Law Firm Marketing Bridges
Whenever I talk to a solicitor, listen in on calls or visit a law firm I find small inconsistencies or glaring problems which, if corrected, would lead to a lot more business.
In most cases, the owners or Partners simply leave the selling up to individuals.
They give them far too little coaching.
Your business has opportunities to do better.
When was the last time you tried to identify them and make changes to capitalise on them?
Let’s take phone calls. A lot of initial prospects phone a law firm.
They want to get a feel for the person they might consult with.
They might be asking for prices.
They might be comparing firms.
But I know 90% of owners don’t review how this phone call pans out.
How the solicitor puts the prospect into a liking-trusting-buying frame of mind.
Or not.
If you don’t have a systematic way of improving the way in which your prospects are converted on the phone then you have broken bridges to be built.
Try recording your calls and listening in. (I can arrange this for you)
Identify things that are said that work. And things that don’t.
The script you develop over time will be hugely valuable and powerful in getting you more business.
Go from converting 30% of leads to 80% at a higher rate?
Maybe.
And what would that mean for your business?
I've got a simple script that I have used in the past.
I use this to make sure I get what I want from a call...
If you want it let me know...
PS I write for The Negotiator Magazine and here's a page
you might want to look at - it has a list of questions you should know
May 6th - Elder Law or Legal Services for Young Seniors?
I call them Young Seniors – baby boomers now in their 60’s.
They aren’t ready for classic “retirement”.
They aren’t expecting to live on reduced income.
They aren’t waiting to die.
In fact many of them are looking at remaining active through their hobbies, starting a new business (not tied to a desk or commute), and looking to live between two or three locations.
You won’t get far by calling your services “Services for the Elderly”.
Because they don’t consider themselves elderly.
Young Seniors is a better term.
So perhaps look at your services and give them a make-over.
You provide the legal advice on Equity Release schemes.
And a financial adviser provides the products. But you retain the client as your client. After all, they are more likely to trust a solicitor than a financial adviser.
And why not go to all the financial advisers you trust and ask them to let you market Wills and Trusts to their clients and you market their Financial Services to your clients?
Maybe you could do a short talk with them at the golf club, tennis club, sailing club and all the other places that wealthy “Young Seniors” hang out.
PS When I joined Reading Football Club (I’m the portkabin to Premier League kid) the first thing I did was start up the Young Royals. Note that I didn’t call it Junior Royals. Kids want to be older. Seniors want to be younger.
May 4th - Killer Articles Are Just a Checklist Away.
I'm going to take a look at what Great Legal Marketing members do well over a few newsletters.
Because as far as I know you are well ahead of the curve on legal marketing.
Which means anything you write or record should be able to go out to at least 5 different channels...e.g. local paper/radio/client base/ chamber of commerce/partners.
And if you see any great examples out there please let me know.
PS If you don't have a Data Protection and Privacy lawyer but your clients want this service...get in touch with Stephanie. (hint...a way for you to make more money without doing the work).
April 30 - Can You Disrupt Legal Marketing Like Direct Line Insurance?
Time with your family and for yourself is important.
And it got me thinking this Bank Holiday week end.
One of your goals has to be to “make money whilst you sleep.”
Because everyone must look at ways of leveraging their expertise.
And not get paid just for "time".
And that's when you start dreaming of the ideal future.
Imagine if you could spend 4 days out of the office every week doing what you want to do.
Imagine knowing that your website is attracting thousands of visitors who then buy 100's online legal services from you every week.
Imagine the documents are filled in by the customers and get reviewed by your team of freelance solicitors who all work from home.
Oh, and all that compliance business is taken care of.
And you just come in to the office once a week to do manage it all.
Isn’t this how you’d like to set up your business if you could start from scratch?
I’ve been looking at the service from Direct Law and think this type of direct selling to customers could have the same disruptive effect that Direct Line had in the insurance industry.
Before Direct Line, you went to a local broker, who performed a service in finding you a good deal. Or so you thought. But along came Direct Line and did it...well...direct. And others followed.
There’s probably a lot to gain by local solicitors being the first to offer direct services in their geographic market. Because getting a Will from a local solicitor still means something.
And having a downsell i.e. lower cost Will service is a great offering to those who like a lower price and convenience and to those that just can’t afford a higher price.
Having a Will sold on line and then reviewed by a solicitor will also mean that you can increase the price of the pure “face to face” Will service. You can probably increase it enough to pay for the software to run the online Will services.
It’s early days.
But direct sales of online legal services has the potential to disrupt the legal market as much as Direct Line did.
And when you figure in back-end services (because you have a trust relationship with the customer, you may find these your most profitable clients.
It may take a couple of years to work all this to a level where you are working only one day a week. But it’s a great goal to have.
April 30 - Solicitors Stop Competing on Price
“You can’t compare apples and oranges.”
I’m sure you’ve heard that expression, maybe from your grandma or your mother. I’m going to tell you that in business it doesn’t pay to take her advice.
I hear from many salespeople that the product they are selling can’t compete on price with their competition.
That they can’t sell the product any cheaper because they’ll go out of business.
The reason that selling purely on price isn’t a long-term strategy is because you will always be beaten.
There’s always someone that will do a better deal to get in the door, will discount more heavily or offer a product of lower quality that your customers and prospects will accept.
Sure, people love superior quality, they just don’t always like to pay for it.
So your challenge is not to compete on the same terms as everyone else.
If you’re not winning the game, change the strategy. Make it impossible for buyers to compare your product on price alone. What action can you take?
Look at your product or service with fresh eyes.
Can you add value, bundle products together, extend warranties, offer guarantees, delivery and completion speed?
What can you offer as a free premium?
Hotels offer free breakfasts
online companies offer Fedex next day delivery
website designers offer unlimited re-design
storage firms offer free pick up of items from your home
newspapers offer guaranteed response adverts
Can you offer a checklist of things your product does that your competition doesn’t?
Invent an unfair advantage for your product. Make it impossible for your competitors to keep up with you. Use apples to oranges comparisons and eliminate price resistance.
April 27th Who Wants To Know How Prospects Find Your Legal Website?
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April 27 - What Do Legal Services Prospects Do On Your Website?
Ever wondered what people do when they go on your website?
There's a tool called Google content overlay. It let's you "see" what people do on your solicitors website. Watch the video above to see how it works.
April 27 - Volcanos and Employee Rights
Yes there's still a chance you can write that article about "Should Employees be docked pay if they didn't turn up to work during the Volcano week".
Because employers still don't know what to do.
Take a look at these comments on the Teacher's website
So if you haven't sent out an email alert to your clients with the basics (and cross selling) then why not do it today? You can even do a search on Twitter to get ideas for real time problems you can answer on your email.
April 26 - How Wright Hassall Won Thousands Of Pounds Of Business
Watch the video below
April 21st - The Death Of The Billable Hour For Solicitors
I've been searching the globe for law firms that don't do billable hours.
Why?
Because you can only work 40 hours a week.
Which means you are limited in terms of productivity.
Plus, you are limited because you are not leveraging true value. I.e what value you are delivering to the client which may be much more than the billable hour.
Subscriptions will flourish. Because knowing what you are paying out each month makes it easy to budget. And knowing what you are getting in each month makes it easy to manage.
Virtual law firms, where previously unhappy, experienced lawyers work on a retainer/commission structure will bloom. Lower overheads for the controlling company and more flexibility both sides.
Technology is what prospects/clients want to get in touch. Why traipse into expensive real estate offices of a law firm when you can just as well skype from home/office.
Law firms will continue to discover niche areas and work faster and flexibly on smaller scales. These individuals or firms will not be restricted by geography, but more their expert status and how well known they are.
Solicitors that survive and thrive will be those who learn how to become Great Legal Marketing firms because technical quality is expected yet Legal Service Quality is what is most in demand. Here's the list of legal marketing greats;
Axiom Legal. In a nutshell they’ve used the professional consultant business model (and corresponding cost structure) and employee former big firm lawyers and experienced in-house counsel that charge half the rate.
www.strozfriedberg.com competent technology focused attorneys who would traditionally work for a large law firm but choose to utilize their skills by consulting
(www.rimonlaw.com). They are a virtual law firm based in San Francisco that use top-tier American expat lawyers.
Outside Counsel Solutions at http://outsidecounsel.net/about.aspx. Their US attorneys provide top-quality legal counsel to clients all over the USA, from offices in New York and Jerusalem, at highly discounted rates.
April 20th - Volcanos and Employment Law for Solicitor Marketing
Volcanos are in the news.
Thousands of employers want to know if they can dock the pay of their staff that don't turn up because of ash.
And thousands more probably want to know if they can dock pay if staff don't turn up because of accidents, trains and automobiles.
If you are an expert on employment law or employee rights...
Have you written your USEFUL and VALUABLE article for your website and sent it out to your list of business clients via email?
Write that article tonight instead of watching TV.
Always use what's going on in the mind of prospects to get yourself noticed and do your solicitor "expert marketing". It's called "Theatre of the Mind" and you can use a Twitter search to find out in real time just as I did.
Just type in to Twitter search function the subject you want to eavesdrop on. April 19th - Continuity Revenue For Solicitors
Did you know there are only three ways to make more without slashing costs.
·More customers.
·Bigger orders. (Either price or volume).
·More frequent purchases.
I describe this system as Finding, Getting, Keeping and Growing customers.
You see marketing is not just about finding new clients.
It’s the whole system you put in place.
So I got to thinking about how you can get clients to purchase more frequently.
Because at the moment, most law firms only sell the one transaction.
And then, maybe, try and cross-sell. Often not successfully.
But what if you swiped Sky TV or BBC Magazines or Golf Club ideas and created a membership?
Perhaps a service where you are guaranteed an income from each client every year.
In return for a fabulous and wanted service?
100 clients paying £500 a year? Guaranteed? (£50k)
There’s plenty of expertise that you can draw on in your own law firm and outside it.
You can offer a service for personal clients. A “Roadmap for Tomorrow”.
This could be updated annually in conjunction with a financial adviser and accountant. (With you as lead).
And of course, serviced regularly.
It certainly beats billing by the hour.
And most of this type of work can be outsourced too.
I’ve got some ideas on this myself.
And will be working on it with at least one law firm.
But for now, if you’ve got any ideas of how you can get continuity revenue feel free to share them.
And if you are doing it already - that's great legal marketing.
April 14th - Solicitors Help Out Estate Agents For Referrals
Fancy doing Estate Agents a favour? And getting refferals in return, (through reciprocation)?
More than half of Estate agents do not have any lone worker policies in place, with no safety procedures in place for staff who carry out viewings or valuations on their own.See the story here
If you advise on employment law then you can help agents.
You can develop this opportunity for your law firm.
Send out a Resource Report titled,
"Everything You Must Do By Law To Protect Estate Agency Staff When Doing Lone Viewings."
Make an offer in the report to offer a bespoke service. Offer it at a high price. Then also make an offer for a discounted price i.e. take off £100 for every conveyancing job you receive in return.
Remember as solicitors you must identify the problem, agitate it and then solve it.
You know what the problem is, (I've told you), you use the report to agitate, you offer a bespoke service to solve it and an offer to make it easy.
Remember what you can do with Twitter - solicitors Twitter idea March 22 - You Can't Rely On Word Of Mouth Anymore.
Why You Must Be First Choice On The Internet If You Want To Grow Your Solicitor Business.
As if you didn’t know. People are going to find you online and buy your services.
If they can find your law firm, like you and trust you.
And it’s not just me that says it.
A YouGov poll of 2,266 people commissioned by online solicitor directory legallybetter.com revealed that personal recommendation remains by far the most favoured method of choosing a solicitor.
But the internet is playing an increasingly important role in assisting consumers to choose a law firm.
21% of those polled said they would use internet search
20% said they would use websites with independent consumer ratings of law firms’ quality of services.
10% said they would use specialist web directories of solicitors
4% said they would ask their contacts on social networking sites such as Facebook
The survey found that men were slightly more likely than women to use the internet to find a solicitor.
Personal recommendation still results in people checking you out online. So it’s a must to get a
March 21st Be a Nosey Neighbour and Spy on your Law Firm Competitors.
It's a good idea to spy on your competitors.
They may have a good idea you can swipe. Or maybe they are doing something that you can draw attention to and compare your own services to, (favourably using compare and contrast).
Imagine having the spying automated for you.
And fast news coming back from the trenches of law firm marketing. . The quicker you know what other law firms are up to the quicker you can react. (And profit).
Here's a great weapon that helps spy on your competition.
An emotional bank account is how somebody feels about YOU.
It's similar to a real bank account. you can you can make deposits or withdrawals from it.
If I create a POSITIVE interaction with you I am making a deposit to your emotional bank account.
If I create NEGATIVE interactions with you I am making a withdrawal from your emotional bank account.
So Here's the BIG SECRET.
Create as many positive interactions with your clients as you can, as frequently as you can!
When you do this, people will be ready, willing and happy to help whenever you ask for it.
So here's what you need to do...
CREATE A SYSTEM that consistently makes deposits into your clients emotional bank account.
The Key Element of the Formula
When you're making consistent deposits you need to do one more thing.
You need to REMIND people how important referrals are to you and your business.
Reminding is a softer form of asking for referrals.
When remind people about about how important referrals are to your business, they'll start sending them to you...in a BIG way!
So here's the formula...
DEPOSIT -> DEPOSIT -> DEPOSIT -> REMIND
Make at least 3 deposits and then make 1 reminder withdrawal.
Geddit?
To remind yourself of how to ask for a referral to get more clients for your law firm go here and to make deposits check out this.
March 10 - Get A Google Listing Right Or Suffer The Consequences
If a law firm doesn't monitor it's Google Local information then there could be a problem. One of invisibility. Make it a weekly task to check your Google Local listing.
Watch this video so your law firm doesn't disappear.
And if affects your Estate Agent partners so you should keep up.
My question of any agent or Tesco is...
Why should I sell my property through you?
If you can answer this question and prove your answer is the solution to my problem you get my business.
I think that Tesco will say.
"Tesco is the only Estate Agent company that can market your property to 10 million of our own customers, in store, online and in the local newspapers for less than the price of your household insurance and you only pay a success fee that is 1/4 that of the average estate agent, saving you enough to fund your holiday".
My Estate Agent answer may be;
"Butler's is the only agency where ready and willing buyers PAY to receive information on properties exactly like yours BEFORE they are advertised."
Buyers who have paid to get details fast will bid the price up on my house and I will get a better price for my property and it will sell fast - saving me two months of my life.
March 5th - Secure And Retain Your Google Local Position
Getting more links to your website is a good thing generally.
Getting more links that Google takes note of is even better.
But how to find the right links?
If you are talking Google Local then you can spy on what the successful firms are doing and find out where they are linking to get on Google Local.
When you know where they are linking replicate what they are doing. Check out the video to see one way of spying...
March 3rd - How Fast Or Free Is A Great Guarantee
I was with Estate Agents and solicitors yesterday.
After some really great brainstorming a promotion 20 years old was dusted down and spruced up for 2010.
"Sell Your House in 10 Weeks Or Less With Us Or You'll Pay Nothing When We Do".
It's a sellers market. So this is not going to cause too many problems for the Estate Agent.
But offering a guarantee makes it much easier for a client to make a decision about which agent to go to.
Because people are scared of making mistakes. Especially with important and big things. Like selling a house.
Dominos make it with pizza, (delivered in 30 minutes or your money back).
What guarantees can you give that reverse the risk for the buyer and make it easy to decide to pick you? Here's more on guarantees.
Feb 26th - I Watched Television About Solicitors Last Night. I don't really watch much television. (It doesn't teach me much)
But last night on Channel 4 I watched Scams, Claims and Compensation Games.
It was about personal injury lawyers and their battles with councils, razor manufactures and others.
One thing I picked up on was a law firm that sponsored the appointment cards at the local accident and emergency. A great legal marketing idea.
This TV show was watch by millions.
It's will bring awareness of personal injury claim possibilities to many people.
So if you handle personal injury claims, revamp an article , send it out to local/regional media owners and offer yourself up as an expert.
And think about using tabloid style headlines in your articles like Scams, Claims and Compensation Games - because more people read tabloids.
Remember I mentioned getting partnerships with car accident repair firms? Same idea as the hospitals....(scroll down, you'll find it).
And when you are looking at converting prospects to clients for personal injury claims think visual.
People want to know how much they might get.
Here's two ways you can show them. Personal injury marketing pic one Personal injury marketing pic two
Feb 25th - Can You Make It Easy To Buy From You?
Andrews Estate Agents have gone and bundled their commission HIP and Conveyancing partners into one easy payment.
It means that for 2% commission with the agent you get the whole package.
It makes it easy for the house seller to deal with one company. And with a little bit of a twist, such as a "no fee if we don't sell" it could be a winner for Andrews in a market where there is little differentiation.
Feb 9th - How To Position Yourself As A Legal Expert.
Let me ask you,
“Has your doctor ever called you at lunchtime asking if you are ok and recommending treatment for flu?”
No, because Doctors don’t prospect.
They don’t waste their time trying to second guess that you may need treatment on a particular day and that what they have is the cure.
You go to the doctor when you are sick. You go to the doctor because he’s the expert, you trust him and you know where to find him when you need him most.
“A flower does not chase the bee.”
Which is why you must download and read my report on How to Position Yourself As a Legal Expert.
We know that in times of crisis people cling to the most familiar.
But doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is said to be akin to madness.
So what’s stopping you making changes to the way your law firm does its marketing?
Limited Vision?
Many people are limiting their vision because they see the condition of themarket, the economy and legal reform as insurmountable. In other words, “I can’t change the system.”
Always Adapting?
There’s plenty of advice telling you what to do and how to be successful.
But what you find is that most of it says you have to do it within the structures and rules that already exist.
This just serves to retain the status quo.
Thinking about Yourself?
The more that you think about yourself the more you become pre-occupied.
No matter how much you change yourself you can’t change anything without the structure changing with you.
Being realistic?
Phrases such as “that’s just the way it is” perpetuate the structure you have.
You may be called naive or unrealistic.
These are phrases to dismiss what you want to do.
Too Rational?
It’s easy for those who profit to defend the past. And it’s easy to say that you can only work and make changes if you do so from “within the system.”
Rationalising your actions like this means that only limited changes will be “allowed” to happen.
Whether employed deliberately or not, these mechanisms are designed to prevent change.
And if change is what you want to grow your law firm, dismantling these mechanisms is important.
You must also avoid replacing them with similar barriers to change.
Maybe you'd like my thoughts on a similar subject? Co-operation not Competion? Feb 1st - Shoosmiths Website You Can Swipe
Shoosmiths new website Access Legal is one to take a look at.
You should probably swipe and deploy most of the stuff they have done. Although you may slim down the content for a smaller firm.
And don't forget you can put it in other formats like audio and video or even diagrams.
It'll be interesting to see how they promote this site. Will it get to page one of the search engines for Conveyancing, Wills etc?
The great thing is that much of conveyancing/Wills is local based search. And there is nothing stopping you from being number one locally.
So when you look at this site don't despair. Take the good ideas, put them to use on your site and do everything you can to be number one locally. Get the Google local for lawyers report here.
Sometimes it is difficult for lawyers to talk money in testimonials but testimonials can demonstrate the solution to problems.
What is the result that has been achieved?
“I got my dream home because Sarah kicked ass!”
That’s a result testimonial because getting your dream home is as important as a corporate client completing a 7 million pound deal.
You can get a testimonial agreed before you start working with someone.
Simply state,
”We’ve got a testimonial scheme in place where our legal clients give us a testimonial when we have completed the job. 90% of people are happy to give us a testimonial.
When we do your work successfully will that be ok with you to give us a testimonial for our law firm?"
90% of people say yes. And that's important.
Because Testimonials are Social Proof you are great.
USE THEM IN YOUR LEGAL MARKETING!
20th January - The Power of Scarcity Can Sell Legal Services
People buy for emotional reasons.
And justify it by logic.
Psychology plays an important role in emotions.
The fear of missing out is a major factor in decision-making.
Check out this video to see how Ryanair and Russell Brunson use it.
You can get more on psychology and selling with my
Resource Report on Psychology for Selling right here
20th January - Legal Services Video Marketing
I send an email to newsletter subscribers and you want more!
They have put videos on their site and this has helped them increase website visits by 1000% Why?
Because one year ago they were not on page one of Google. So they may as well not have existed for 70% of internet searchers..
Billions of videos are being watched online. People find it easier to watch and listen than to read. (Shame but true).
Are you getting yourself top Google rankings and more enquiries from video marketing?
If not, you are leaving money out there that others are taking from you. TGI Friday
Here's an inspiring video as lawyers head into the week end..
January 13th - Law Firm Marketing Demands Guarantees
Todd Davis, the CEO of Lifelock, plastered his social security number on the top of his web site (it's 457-55-5462).
Journalists asked CEO's of other "identity theft protection" firms to give their social security numbers and they all said "no".
Lifelock gives you a $1 million insurance policy against identity theft.
If your identity is ever stolen they'll spend up to $1 million to correct it. What guarantees can you give that makes it a "no brainer" to buy your legal services?
Because in a cynical world, guarantees give people the crutch they need "in case they make a mistake".
The best adverts I’ve see are those for “old people” in the Sunday papers. For slippers, trousers and hearing aids. With a picture, lots of detail and a coupon.
You may hate them. Or maybe not notice them. But you should study them.
Why?
Because the fact they appear week after week means that they are successful.
Because they are direct response ads that make money.
“I cannot judge good advertising; it judges me.”
If the ad works—brings in orders, donations or inquiries at the budgeted return on investment... it's a good ad. If not, it’s bad..
I hate ads whose return on investment can’t be measured.
Lots of solicitor firms are wasting their money.
If your law firms doesn't want to waste money use my
Every business has to make a profit over the long term to survive and thrive.
Profit may not be the driving force, but it is the lifeblood.
What is your firm's written plan to retain or grow profits?
Do you have a written plan that you look at every day?
Something that has your goals on it?
And when you want to achieve them by?
It amazes me how many people don't have any written personal goals that they are working toward.
But then a lot of law firms don't have written goals either.
Which is why this picture is a great reminder. If you don't have written goals that are consistently strived for then it is unlikely you will achieve them.
Do one thing this week end.
Write down what you want to achieve personally over the next 10 years, 5 years, 1 year and 6 months.
Then create a plan of how to get there personally and professionally.
You may be surprised with what you come up with.
December 9th - Small Ads Can Work
Small Adverts Can Pay Off In Newspapers.
Legal marketing consultants don’t mention these because they don’t get paid to run small ads in newspapers.
And most of your competition has never even thought about using one. They are too scared to try out a few £10 adverts.
Newspapers aren’t phoning you and telling you about these options. It costs them too much to contact you for a small advert.
Small adverts can pay-off. And if you get one right they are instantly scalable.
So for example: The headline:
Sexual Harassment at Work? Call about a possible compensation 0844 502 1631
Injured at Work? call 0843 218 3542 for compensation.
You could run these on the Woman’s page in the local paper.
You can even run them as an information line to get pre-qualified leads.
If you want to know what an information line is...it’s like a 24/7 sales person that presents your sales story to people so you don’t have to.
Then when someone is interested they leave their details for you as a pre-qualified lead. Call this number to see how they work... 0843 218 3542
You’ll find out any obvious improvements that managers can make.
And you’ll find out what talents you have among your staff that needs to be coached and developed to maximise your success.
December 1st - Are Solicitors Too Clever? Someone told me once not to be the smartest person in the room. It was great advice, (even if it wasn't relevant!)
I know that solicitors are intelligent.
But sometimes they are just too smart.
If you want to write great copy for a website or sales letter then you have to make it REALLY easy to read.
If a twelve year old can read it and understand it = good.
There's a great list of things that can go wrong with conveyancing listed, (the answers to which could form part of your marketing message) and some good advice on positioning your law firm against "conveyancing factories". (You wouldn't get a plumber to write your Will would you?)
When someone calls you about conveyancing, or any other legal service, a great way to make sure that price is not an issue is to raise the price issue right from the start. This may seem counter-intuitive for most law firm marketing.
But try this.
Ask the question of your prospects, "We are not the cheapest on the market for conveyancing, but as you can see from our huge number of testimonials from loyal clients, we are exceptionally good at what we do.
Before we continue let me ask... Is price an issue for you or do you just want a fantastic service?"
As long as you have the testimonial proof and service to back up your claims this should eliminate price resistance and allow you to deliver a service that brings referrals in by the bucketload.
November 5th - No One Remembers Solicitors Names More than 60% of the public cannot name a single law firm, according to research from You Gov, even though 78% have used a solicitor before.
So why not try it? Here are some tips that will help you write better sales letters to market your law firm.
There's another resource on direct mail for solicitors here. Send a letter with no offer and you’ll get no response - That's known in the world of marketing as a “waste of money.” If you do not get the results you need or response is flagging, check the offer first. “If you want to dramatically increase your response, dramatically improve your offer.” “Success in direct mail is 40% lists, 40% offer and 20% everything else. Before sending out a letter without an offer, think the letter “P”: only the Printer and the Post Office make money.
A good direct mail letter is as direct and personal as the writer can make it.
Even though it may go to thousands of people, it still talks to an individual.
It’s a message from one letter writer to one letter reader. A sales letter should never be signed by two people. Two is a committee.
It's impossible to make an emotional connection with a committee. Do not write “we” in your letter. Write “I”. This gives the sense that one is getting a letter written by a real person.
If you are available anytime (24/7) for the call, or for more information, make sure that you are and tell them you are.
Apart from the fact that Google local helps you get on the first page of Google for searches such as "solicitors in Reading" another reason all law firms must take Google local seriously...because it provides a simple platform to generate tens or even hundreds of online testimonials.
If a law firm like yours started today and got one a day then I expect you would be able to say you are "the World's number one law firm on Google Local" or "More Testimonials Online Than Any Other Law Firm On The Planet." withing 3 months.
October 13th - Can You Use Humour To Sell Your Legal Services?
Did you know that almost 60% of internet use is video? Did you know that most solicitor websites don't use video. Why is that?
One of the problems is that solicitors aren't always comfortable with shooting a video, uploading it to a hosting site, such as YouTube, and then "embedding it" on their website.
I guess it sounds difficult to do. And what about making movies that tell a story. Sounds impossible! But let me ask you...Can you type? Can you point and click and drag with a mouse?
Because take a look at what you can do really easily with some free software.
And you can use this type of thing to get meetings with key corporate clients, on your email newsletters , for praising staff...anything where you want to be noticed and have an effect.
October 8th - Do You Have A Reason To Communicate?
Have you ever seen Disney's Jungle Book? Do you know the bit where the three vultures are sitting on a tree, just waiting for something to happen
"What we gonna do?" says one.
"I dunno, what we gonna do?" says the other.
And so it goes on until Shere Khan arrives on the scene...
Sometimes you want a reason for "what you're gonna do."
Or what you have to say.
This is where a promotion from a company selling server space caught my eye. See it here.
It's based on the clocks going back on October 25th. It's usually an excuse for an hour lie in but Rackspace are using this annual event as a promotion.
And this made me think.
"Charities benefit from crazy clock rules as law firm donates hour to good causes." "Solicitor uses time machine to give over 65's free Wills" "We've donated our lie in to our clients. We'd rather help you than have breakfast in bed."
How many events are there a year that you can use to market your legal services for PR, marketing to your existing clients and generally creating a USP for your firm?
National Lottery, Halloween, Xmas, New Year, Wimbledon, X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing...
It's all about using the rising tide of what's going on, and benefiting from free publicity for your law firm to grow faster than anyone else.
October 6th - Enter the Theatre of the Mind to sell your Wills..
There's been a discussion going on at Law Gazette about marketing Wills.
One of the contributors came up with a short list of life changing events that mean people want Wills. Things like;marriage, divorce, kids, buying a house, retirement, selling a business etc.
Most people are going through these at any one time.
So there's the opportunity to enter their "theatre of the mind".
This means that you enter the conversation that is already going on in their heads.
It's much easier than butting in where you are not welcome.
This should dictate the type of subject lines you write in emails and headlines in letters and stories on your website.
A laser-targeted headline about a subject someone is thinking about will have a good chance of getting you a hot prospect.
The Head Partnership consistently cross-sell their legal services in this way.
Is there anything stopping you from writing to all your small business clients and company owners with something similar?
Remember something is going on in your clients' minds.
You want to learn how to read them so that you can market your law firm successfully.
What is it today? What will it be tomorrow? And if you don't know...ask them. September 29th - Halifax Legal Target Great Legal Marketing Owner
Sounds a bit sinister? Well I guess it could be.
Because when I opened my inbox this morning someone from Halifax was trying to sell me a Will.
And do you know what? I've wanted to get one for the last 5 years... so now maybe the time is right.
Some of the lessons to be learnt from their approach are; communicate, an offer, that's clear and beneficial, make it personalised and....let's see if they continue to market it - because the sequence is everything...
Would I use their service?
Would their email and website suck me into and make me buy?
Remember "if it's not your job, then maybe it's your opportunity?"
And Alan, if you're reading this, buy yourself a present. A DVD, a nice restaurant meal, oh..and happy birthday.
September 23 - Video presentations for lawyers made easy
Making best use of time, (slaying the time vampires) is paramount for all of us.
There are lots of technologies coming out that are free and simple to use that help us in the cause.
They can also be highly effective.
Whether it's video conferencing rather than travelling hundreds of miles, or doing something once so that it can be used again and again.
Take screen casting, where you record what's on your screen and then send the video to your prospect or client.
You can use a service such as screenr.com which automatically tweets (Twitter) your stuff for public viewing or not, the choice is yours.
The other technology is www.jingproject.com.
It's a great way of producing short powerpoint with narration videos for your website or for giving updates of key points by video rather than letter or call.
I am a regular contributor to the Law Gazette blog forum.
And this week there are a few things I mentioned. One is a comment about Linkedin.
One good thing about Linkedin is that people type in your name on the internet and discover more about you via your Linkedin page.
You are being Googled .
Marketing is really about who knows you so it makes sense to take advantage of Linkedin.
Of course I don't mention everything on the Law Gazette blogs.
Hell, I'd have no reason to do this legal marketing website if I did. One of the great things about Linkedin is that it makes it incredibly easy for solicitors to get personal testimonials.
If you are on Linkedin and you don't have 5 testimonials take this challenge.
Ask one person a day, starting today, to give you a testimonial.
Make sure that your title is search engine friendly in Linkedin i.e. that when your name appears on Google when someone types in your name, the right title appears in search results.
E.g. Landlord Law Expert rather than just Solicitor.
September 14th - People Buy When From Solicitors They Are Ready...
I've been trying a little marketing testing with a solicitor in the South West.
It involves putting an advert in a local newspaper in Reading, directing calls through to his Bristol practice and offering Wills by post.
It's looking promising. One of the key elements though is the way the calls are handled,
(I listen to the calls as they are recorded) and the
It's simply a way of solving the problem that most prospects only buy when they are ready.
And that's not when you want them to.
The stages of pre-contemplation, contemplation, liking, trusting, learning, communicating and deciding over a period of days, weeks and months before they part with their cash.
And if you don't have something that takes them through this process then you are likely to end up with a lot less business.
So make sure you have a marketing sequence in place for your prospects.
And if you don't have one, get in touch and I can help you.
By the way, if you want to run the advert in your local paper, let me know.
I'll even include a trackable phone number so you can judge the results for yourself.
September 1st - Co-operation or Competition for Law firms?
"Why should I bust a gut, I'm not a legal partner so I ain't gonna earn more out of doing this!"
That's something you hear in all firms. It made me think of the "up or out" system within law firms.
If you are good enough you make partner and share in the success. If not, you're part of the "rest".
At least that's how it seems to many people that work as lawyers.
If there's a them and us culture in your firm it means that people are not co-operating. It's more likely that they are competing. Many people assume wrongly that competition brings out the best in people.
And the Darwinian "survival of the fittest" is often used as a scientific justification of this type of approach.
But does competition really help your law firm internally?
When someone wins - someone loses.
And 99% of people have been taught they if they are not winners they are losers.
And if you lose how does it affect you and your staff?
If the answer is negatively then you are duty bound to find an alternative.
And that is co-operation.
Co-peration is win/win.
It's coaching staff so that you can transfer knowledge, it's finding best practise and disseminating it, it's scheduling work so that everyone gets interesting things to work on.
It's not having favourites, it's saying someone is different not better, it's helping not hindering.
Think about how Amazon allows co-operation between store owners and buyers.
Or how Linux allows programmers to co-operate on open source software.
Or how Betfair lets punters bet against each other.
There's an old football saying that there is no i in team.
So if you aren't referring internally, working with business as partners or simply taking the time to help each other then you are probably over-competing.
Try a bit of un-learning.
Try a bit more co-operation in your law firm.
Put on your next management meeting the words...
How Can We Co-operate More In Our Firm And Externally With Partners To Make Our Business Win Win?
And make sure you invite all staff to contribute with their ideas as to how you can market your solicitors firm better.
PS It is not the case that Darwin coined the term "survival of the fittest".
When you think about it his theories demonstrated that by co-operating in distinct niches animals had the best chance of surviving.
was the exploitation of these niches that was observed.
What niches can you law firm thrive in?
August 23rd - Big Win For Reading Firm - What Did They Do?
Boyd,
I hope that you are having a good holiday. Just to let you know that we have been awarded the work.
There were originally 65 applicants at the first stage.
It went down to 14 applicants at the second stage and at the interview stage there were 4.
Thanks for your help.
Rachel.
FIELD SEYMOUR PARKES SOLICITORS
They prepared, they thought about what the client wanted, they presented well.
They got the business - (six figures).
Do you want to know what we went through to make the presentation that helped win?
I asked him if he ever wrote articles or gave speaking engagements.
He said to me that
"he'd been asked to do an article for the Chamber of Commerce but he didn't have the time".
He didn't have the time or inclination to demonstrate his expertise to 7000 business people!
Which is a real shame because most law firms would benefit greatly by getting in front of that many business owners for free.
And even if the law firm benefits and you aren't a Partner, (what an excuse that is for not doing things) you should still do it for your own personal development. The moral of the story is, "Stop watching TV that doesn't pay or educate or make you laugh.
Write articles and give seminars instead.
Grab celebrity status for yourself in the local media.
It will make you better at presenting, writing and thinking.
You will enjoy it and meet new people.
You will make more money.
And certainly your family will think you are cool."
All you have to do is get lots of articles published and be a reliable, informed expert in your own field and help editors/producers/presenters fill their media products with your good self.
Love him or loathe him, where do you go if you've got a story to sell to the News Of The World.
Yep...Max Clifford. Being a celebrity PR has made him more than £10 MILLION.
And in our celebrity-fuelled society, it really is who knows you that counts.
Type your name into Google - what are the results?
Because that's what your next client is going to do before he speaks to you.
And if you don't exist, do something about it fast.
July 24th 2009 -A Little Piece Of Free Marketing Lawyers Want To Try.
Having a conversation about new technology on the Law Gazette blog,
(you'll find it here) I thought about what new products could help solicitors market themselves better.
One of those things is www.jingproject.com - it's a tool that you can use to record screencasts.
That's a way of recording a video of what you show on your screen and adding audio, i.e. commentary to it, via a microphone.
Basically you highlight the area on the screen, talk in a microphone, send the finished file by clicking once and you have a passable presentation that is so much more useful than an email.
Innovation is important. When you get a headstart on a product that people want you attack a "blue ocean". Rather than swimming with sharks, cutting up an existing "red ocean" and trying to win marketshare, you get a clear run.
Is there a blue ocean for you? What can you tap into among your prospective customers that they are crying out for? Is there another industry that does something you can adapt? Gift vouchers, subscriptions, Will-While-U-Wait, buy one get one free, late night opening, can any of these be applied?
Skype video calls, twitter, text messaging, voice broadcasting - can these help you?
July 22nd 2009 - Can You Spot Opportunities Everywhere?
An independent school in Oxfordshire had to stop staff using the swimming pool this summer because a health and safety consultant said they were not legally covered in case of accident.
How many schools are there that are not covered in this way in the private sector?
Would a disclaimer help? I am not a solicitor :-] but I do fill in a disclaimer to use an open water lake to go swimming - so maybe rather than taking away a perk a disclaimer would do?
July 18th - A Quick Thought For The Day “If it isn't your job to do it, perhaps it is your opportunity.” Napoleon Hill.
When you talk to Lawyers you sometimes hear fee-earners say that "it's not worth me making the effort because even if things did improve it's not me that will earn out of it."
Let me ask you. What do you earn by being able to walk? What do you earn by being able to read? What do you earn by learning a new skill?
I've got a t-shirt that is a reminder not to fall into the "it's not my job" trap.
Earning means respect. It means that you get knowledge you can help others with. It means you can quench (temporarily) a raging thirst for new ideas.
Everyone you meet is a teacher. Drink in their knowledge. And pass it on.
July 17th - Write To All Your Clients Who Have Wills
I saw that Certainty, the central wills registration service, is helping with some legal marketing ideas to existing clients. They do this by providing suggested letters to send out to the list of clients you have. I don't know too much about the service but what I do like is this;
Take the first 50 clients in your Wills list. Write to them saying you want to register their Will with Certainty. Ask them if there is any update they want. And crucially, ask them if they want a LPA or anything else from you.
AND
CAN THEY REFER YOU TO A FAMILY MEMBER WITH THE SPECIAL OFFER?
And when you have done the first 50, try the next 50 making changes to the letter according to results from the first. It's affordable, it's doable, and it's profitable. An easy way for any solicitor to make a lot more money. And you don't need a legal marketing consultant to show you how to post a letter - do you? July 14th - Republic Day In France.
Ideas are all around you. Just close your eyes and picture yourself as a headteacher of a school. The Head of Upper School comes in and asks you if there is any asbestos in the school because some of the teachers have been asking about the risk.
As the headteacher you were expecting this. You have a statement and policy ready. You mention you are going to be making it part of the staff briefing tomorrow morning.
Your document has been prepared by your lawyer. As has the letter for the parents of pupils. Everyone is reassured. Everyone praises you for quick action. You've solved a problem.
News of problems is everywhere. Open your eyes, (or close them if it helps you to think) and see how you can use this news to get you what you want.
July 10th July 2009 - A One Liner That Can Change Your Actions
"It's more important to be resourceful than it is to have resources." Yes, it's in red print for a reason. Red is a powerful colour. It is a colour of action.
And action is the key message.
Do not procrastinate because you don't have the money for marketing.
Do not worry about being perfect. No one will know you are perfect. Because you'll never get anything done for people to see.
Don't use the words "if only". Substitute them with "I wonder how".
If you make a mistake. It's not you that didn't get it right. Say "it" wasn't quite right.
Every time you do something well, buy yourself something. (I buy books or sea bass). You'll feel pretty good.
When it doesn't go right, buy something anyway.
Pretty soon you'll be feeling good all the time...and when your attitude is positive you are 99% certain to succeed in whatever you do.
See what that one-liner has done to me already!
July 9th 2009 - Do You Do Personal Injury Work?
I was browsing the Yellow Pages, (all 13 pages of lawyers not the whole book) and I saw this advert for a solicitors which made me think. (It's low resolution to load fast).
Why doesn't every personal injury lawyer put what compensation might be worth in their advert, website and brochures? Unless you know it's worth claiming you might not do it... so make it easy for someone to choose from the menu.
And also I really like the testimonials and trackable phone number they use. Two things you should be using all the time. Want to have your Yellow Pages lawyer advert looked at by an expert? You know where to send it. July 6th 2009 - Children Of School Age? - Use The School Run To Market!
Joe Reevy, owner of Words4Business, told me a great idea today for legal marketing. So I'm pinching it to give to you ;-)
He said one of his clients has put a sign on his car that publicises his family law team. When the car is used on the school run it gets in front of 500 parents. Many of whom want a family law firm! And on Saturday's the family car is parked at Sainsbury's for a couple of hours during peak shopping periods. Easy hey?
Just use a trackable phone number on the magnetic panel you put on the car and you've got free leads coming in to your law firm. Why not supply all your staff with magnetic posters for their cars? You can have a team bonus for leads brought in each month. You can even get free magnetic panels from Vistaprint. Email me for a promotion that should give you them free!
And check out Joe's website because he makes doing newsletters really easy so that you can keep your herd intact and get more business at a fraction of the cost of other marketing. He's usually got a special deal for my visitors/newsletter friends you just have to ask. (The secret codeword is "free"). July 3rd 2009 - No Cost Personal Injury Referrals
You know what might be a good idea.
Go to all your local accident repair centres.
Speak to the manager.
Explain you are a local lawyer that represents people involved in car accidents.
Tell him you'd love to offer his customers a free appraisal.
Get him to hand over your audio CD about personal injury and motor accidents to every customer that comes in.
Thank him profusely when he sends you clients by sponsoring his kids football team strip with his company name on it.
10 accident repair centres 50 customers a week 500 prospects a week for you 2000 prospects a month 24,000 prospects a year
July 3rd 2009 - Can Michael Jackson Help Your Marketing? The media circus over Michael Jackson's estate, final wishes, guardianship of his children has made will international news. If Jackson has died intestate it's a disaster for his children.
It reminds us that everyone should have a will, especially married couples. How can you help avoid this disaster for married couples?
Get a story into your local media and set yourself up as the expert on wills.
Use the "news" i.e. the conversation going on in people's heads, to get your law firm in to their head as the solution.
Even if you just write to all your existing clients with the Jackson story you are going to get codicils and other wills by referral. And what's it going to cost? A few pounds on letters sent out. And 20 minutes to write a press release or be on the phone for the local radio.
July 2nd 2009 - What Can Car Manufacturing Teach Us About Law Firms?
Taiichi Ohno, the architect of the Toyota Production System, used the five Why's technique to solve problems. In a manufacturing environment, the Five Whys might work like this:
Manufacturing Example Problem: The Production Line Stopped Again
Why did the production line stop?Answer: We blew a fuse.
Why did we blow a fuse? Answer: Because the bearings overheated.
Why did the bearings overheat?Answer: Because there is insufficient lubrication on them.
Why is there insufficient lubrication on the bearings?Answer: Because nobody oiled them.
Why did nobody oil them?Answer: Because we don’t have a preventative maintenance schedule.
Followed by Silence............ideally somebody should then pipe up with "we need a preventative maintenance schedule - I'll get it sorted for tomorrow."
In legal services marketing, you need to ask lots of Whys.
Mike Schultz, a US marketing consultant gives a law firm example.
Legal marketing problem: We Don’t Have Enough Leads Coming In.
Why don’t we have enough leads?Answer: Because the partners aren’t getting enough referrals to build their practices.
Why aren’t the partners getting enough referrals?Answer: Because the partners and the marketing group aren’t taking the actions needed on a regular basis to generate referrals and new business leads.
Why aren’t they doing what they’re supposed to do to generate leads and referrals?Answer: Because work expectations focus on keeping them billable, and lead generation isn’t a top priority in the marketing department.
Why are the partner jobs aligned so narrowly to billing, and why doesn’t marketing focus on lead generation?Answer: Because the managing partner hasn’t historically perceived revenue generation as an issue, and so across the board—from marketing to billable staff—there isn't much concerted lead generation effort, and, in marketing, there’s no budget.
Why?Answer: Now that it’s an important business problem to solve, why hasn’t he addressed this?
Why?Answer: Silence.
Without leadership support it doesn’t matter if you come up with the right answer because nothing will happen anyway. So Partners - it's up to you.
What I like about this technique is that it is common sense, easy to do, and gets actionable solutions. It’s also a way of “becoming your own consultant “and seeing things through fresh eyes. Very important if you want to improve what you offer.
July 1st 2009 - You Become What You Think So Work At What You Think.
One of my friends runs a website called Philosopher's notes. It's worth checking out. Every day he sends out a summary paragraph about one of his favourite thinkers/books. I'd thought today's was very appropriate so I decided to post it here. I'll probably use Brian's stuff from time to time - it's that good! Thx Brian;-)
“Experience has proved to me, time after time, the enormous value of arriving at a decision. It is the failure to arrive at a fixed purpose, the inability to stop going around and round in maddening circles, that drives men to nervous breakdowns and living hells. I find that fifty per cent of my worries vanishes once I arrive at a clear, definite decision; and another forty per cent usually vanishes once I start to carry out that decision.
So, I banish about 90 per cent of my worries by taking these four steps:
Writing down precisely what I am worried about.
Writing down what I can do about it.
Deciding what to do.
Starting immediately to carry out that decision.”
From, Dale Carnegie from How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
I just read about secure email and the Independent Financial Advertiser market.
Research from Origo, (The IFA equivalent to the SRA) showed that the majority of firms (87%) did not currently have secure email systems, with over half of respondents (58%) highlighting that they were waiting for an industry standard to be put in place.
While this is the case, an alarming majority of respondents (94%)
said they did use email to send personal, sensitive or confidential data.
Now you won't get a lesson on IT Security from me.
I'm just here to question things and maybe offer an answer sometimes.
And my question is this;
"If you send an email and someone intercepts it and then changes it and then it gets delivered, then who's to know?"
I've got an article from a Canadian law firm about this - if you want it email me.
PS Having secure email is a pretty good USP too. ***************************************************************************************************** When your mail is addressed to the bank, investment company, business partners, it can attract attention of IT staff that perform mail server monitoring. And there is nothing that can prevent unscrupulous IT staff with access to the mail server to open and read that message. Other problem is that unauthorized personnel or hackers can have access to the mail server where physical access security and network security are weak.
June 27th 2009 - Do People Open Your Emails?
If you are sending a newsletter by email or an invite to a seminar then maybe some people won't open your emails...first time round.
If you get unopened emails try a different subject headline...it won't upset those that don't open the email by sending it twice because they never opened the first one.
Fact: Only 20-30% of your list will EVER open any email you send them EVER....the first time.
Take the list of people who didn't open your first email and send them the SAME mail again the next day with a different headline.
Just a different headline. Takes about two minutes.
It's simple but powerful.
Re-mailing un-opens really works. And legal marketing is about what works.
June 24th 2009 - Do You Use Your Qualifications To Get People To Buy?
If a plumber from Reading can use his qualifications in such a fantastic way why can't you?
A certifcate is no good in the cupboard at home. Get it out, display it and stick it on your website. Your qualifications are relevant. Most people don't have your qualifications and so they will be impressed by yours. It's an independent testimonial to your quality and something that helps deliver the preponderance of proof that you are the right choice for someone.
June 22nd 2009 - Estate Agents Giving You Work
With the MD of an Estate Agents in Hampshire yesterday I looked at his Goals and Objectives lists on the wall. One of the goals was "Solicitors must communicate". His problem was that whereas he had to let clients know how sales were progressing, he was not told as frequently how the legal paperwork was progressing. All he wanted was a speedy and efficient way of being kept up to date.
How much work do you get referred to your legal practice by Estate Agents?
What are they looking for from you? Don't know? ASK!
June 19th 2009 - Midsummer - Make The Most Of The Next 6 Months
This weekend it's the longest day of the year. It's when the Druids do their Stonehenge stuff and some people start thinking about the nights closing in...but rather than the negative, focus on the positive. Where will you be in 6 month's time?
Make the most of the time you have. Try 7 consecutive days without getting angry, shouting, or criticising. See if you can do it. And if you can't, start over again at day 1.
I'll send a small gift to anyone that can tell me honestly that they achieved 7 days in a row of being 100% positive.
PS to give yourself half a chance print the words 100% Positive on a piece of paper and put it on your fridge door. (It's the cupboard we visit the most).
June 18th 2009 - Action Is The Mark Of Genius
It's my grandfather's birthday today. 89 years old. I remember asking him when I was celebrating my 21 birthday what he did for his. He said D-Day. Omaha Beach. American Tank radio operator (normally he was a gunner but they didn't have enough radio operators so he swapped for the day). Lucky that. His tank got blown up and he survived. The other two didn't. Still Grandad recovered, went back to liberate Amsterdam and took part in the 1948 Olympics.......you couldn't accuse him of wasting his time.......
What's this got to do with legal marketing? I'll sum it up in one word. ACTION. People that take action are winners. Because it doesn't matter how much you know or how many great ideas to market your Practice you have. Unless you take action you won't achieve anything.
Take action to make yourself a celebrity in your local area. Write for the paper. Go on the local radio station. Speak at the Chamber of Commerce. Just once a week if you take action and become a brand you will be more fulfilled, you'll make lots of friends and you'll attract more business. Remember...
A Goal Is A Dream With A Deadline. Just Do It.
June 15th 2009 - What's Wrong With Lawyers?
Ok could someone please tell me why a law firm won't do a deal to get new customers?
Is it because I am asking for a 50/50 split on the profit of each new customer I bring?
I'm willing to pay for all advertising costs. I wlll write the advert. I will pay for the advert to be designed. I will track all enquiries. I will test and refine the response system that the prospect goes into.
The only objection I have been given is that "advertising is not the sort of thing that we do at this firm." It's an objection - but not a good one.
If YOU ARE THE TYPE OF FIRM THAT WANTS TO DO A DEAL and you are in Reading, Berkshire and you have a pretty good private practice department get in touch.
And if you are in any other town and like the idea of this then let me know where you are because I might be able to do this in other towns. June 12th 2009 - Perfect Preparation - Have You Got It?
I got a phone call today from BT.
(BT) Would you like to save £75 off my line rental? (Me)Yes Please.
(BT) All you have to do is get a BT credit card and spend money and then you get money off your line rental.
(Me) How much do I have to spend to get £75 off?
(BT) I don't know, I'm just here to ask you some questions.
(Me) Same here. And if you don't know the answers to my questions then you are not going to get my business.
This is the shortened version. I quizzed the guy about his preparation. He had no information that was relevant. He was given no leeway. He had to stick to the script.
What has this got to do with legal marketing?
Let me ask you. Do you have a systematic way of answering questions and objections you get on the phone or face to face? Do you know how to raise objections and answer them to control the conversation when you are selling?
Do you have a piece of paper that you fill in when you make a call or receive a call so that you can analyse each time where you went wrong and what you did right?
Or do you just leave it to random and hope that you say the right things in the right tone of voice in the right sequence?
One of the main reasons for doing things systematically, recording results either negative or positive is so that you can share best practice. If you don't share results, ideas and experiences throughout your firm you are operating at less than 50% of your operational capability. Do whatever it takes to ensure you share.
You can start easily. Get a notice board up in a prominent place. Put your idea of the week up - something that has worked for you. And put your idea of the week up next week too. Keep on going. Pretty soon you will find other ideas going up on the board. When it's full, photocopy them and put them together as a manual of ideas that have worked for your firm.
Presto. Your marketing manual has begun to take shape.
June 11th 2009 - What To Do When People Request A Price Reduction?
When people are going through hard times they might ask you to lower your prices. If you do it, they'll be shopping for lower prices after the recession so don't do it without one helluva fight. Because price shoppers aren't loyal and they don't know the value of your services, (have you demonstrated them?)
Make the the person asking for a price reduction is the decision maker. Go to see them face to face. Ask them if their customers are asking them for a reduction?
If you absolutely have to and want to reduce a price then make it a temporary reduction that helps them out while they are going through a rough patch. But make sure it's only for a few months and then you'll increase your price to them so that you can catch up with the lost income. That way it's temporary.
And remember abandoning those clients that are a pain, constantly ask for low fees and take up your time is the right thing to do anyway.
PS you have to spend £7,500 to get £75 off line rental :-(
June 10th 2009 - Have You Analysed Your Website?
Sometimes we don't challenge experts because we don't know enough. Sometimes not knowing is great - because it means that you can ask things someone who is in the thick of it wouldn't ask. Take websites. You have one. Who runs it? Maybe it's your IT guy. Maybe an agency. Maybe a partner.
Have you ever wondered if it could do any better at bringing in leads?
There's a tool that I have used recently http://www.freewebsubmission.com which looks at your website and tells you how "good looking" it is to search engines.
It seems like a good tool to give you the chance to challenge the person who runs your website. Becase if you analyse your site and you see it's not good looking enough ( I mean functional for the Google Robots rather than cosmetic) then you can now ask "What are you going to do about it."
Because a lot of Partners never really challenge the website guy. But they should. It's a major marketing channel. And it has to work its butt off for you. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. Mainly for the status quo in legal marketing. Enjoy taking a few risks.
June 9th 2009 - How Much Do You Know About Your Performance?
Is there any firm out there that knows its conversion rate for enquiries turning into a client? For every member of staff? And systematically measures this? And then uses the findings to improve everyone's performance by sharing best practise?
Because anyone can do that. If they want to.
And another thought just popped into my mind.
Why don't non-competing firms set up a mastermind group for best practise in marketing? Because the bigger the crowd the more likely you are to come up with the right solution. And I don't just mean non-competing law firms. Because you want people outside law to give you ideas. That's where you'll get some real value.
June 9th 2009 - What Is Marketing?
Everything that a legal firm does that is not operations is marketing. It's not about one department or another. Or job title. Anything that any internal or external clients sees, hears, thinks, feels, smells (yep some offices smell) touches and leaves an impression is marketing.
Some law firms don't want to do marketing. Some don't know how. Some know how but don't. Some know how and do.
I know which I'd rather work for.
After all, if your firm does not do marketing very well, who is going to suffer?
That's right. You.
So, if you aren't dedicating at least 30 minutes a day to your own development of marketing/selling skills then you won't be a winner. You'll probably be a whiner.
And if you say your boss doesn't give you 30 minutes a day, hello whiner.
I'd just teach all lawyers to be good at marketing and selling if I owned a firm. And then I'd expect them to perform. If you can give McDonald's kids a handbook on what to do why not a lawyer handbook on how to sell and market a law firm........ah that gives me an idea......
PS thanks to those who signed up to my newsletter. Spam email accounts won't be receiving it - sorry.
PPS tip for the day - read Seth Godin's Purple Cow. Yes I know it's a few years old now but it's still moos for me and many others. Read any good books lately?
PPS Typos are my gift to you.
June 8th 2009 - Lawyers Doing So Well They Can Waste Money
If you go to Google.com and you type in "accident lawyer" you'll find a few firms that are using Google adwords. These are the classified adverts that you pay only when someone clicks. So far, so good. But if you are one of these firms you really want to know the conversion rate of the advert and not just how many clicks you get. I called one law firm today, (I'll tell you who if you mail me) to tell them that they can use something called dynamic numbers on their website which will enable them to tell not just who clicked on their Google ad, but also who and how many called.
The gentleman I talked to would not invest 30 seconds of his time on listening to the information. If he is paying £20 per click he could be getting a bill from Google for £100 a week without receiving any calls.
So why didn't he even want to know there could be a better way?
The answer is that many law firms lack diversity. And I am talking about diversity of being exposed to many different type of people, methods, cultures and systems. The more exposed to diversity you are the more willing you are to see things in a different light, and the more likely you are to come up with the right solution.
Embrace diversity. And if you are the chap from R********* all you had to do was say that you were fascinated by new ideas and you'd love to hear about something that could make massive efficiency gains, please put it in writing.
PS don't click on accident lawyer adverts on Google, it'll cost them an arm and a leg!!
June 4th 2009 - Can You Sell A Subscription?
If you do regular work for a client one way that you can create a model for payment is by creating a subscription to your services.
Imagine you have a property client. For example, a University, that needs planning, landlord tenant contracts, eviction debt collecting etc. A whole gamut of wants that you can bundle into a service.
Now you do a contract for 12 months at £100,000. You estimate the work will be worth £200,000 in time, so the Uni saves £100,000. That's great for them.
You agree to look at the deal after 12 months to make sure you are not massively undercharging.
And you agree both sides to look at negotiating up or down based on value to both sides. You will get more efficient over time. And you get continuity revenue.
The Uni can budget. It also only means one bill a month rather than lots of small and irritating bills.
Gas companies do it. Magazines do it. People like subscriptions. And the bonus is you develop a system that is efficient.
Otherwise you lose money. That's a great incentive to you becoming hyper efficient. And that is how supermarkets compete. So take a leaf out of Tesco's book. Become hyper-efficient and sort out your own Clubcard locking your clients in.
June 3rd 2009So What If People Say They Don't Legal Services From Supermarkets?
Here are some of my thoughts and replies to questions about Supermarkets taking business from solicitors and law firms. The whole conversation
"So what if some people say solicitors are better at servicing than a supermarket?
Does this actually mean anything?
Supermarkets will market their legal services to people and they will get clients that law firms won't.
That's because they are better at marketing. So it doesn't matter if your product is better. As long as it is good enough. Colgate sells lots of toothpaste. It's not the best - it's good enough. Tesco products are not the best. They are good enough.
I can tell you I'm in the market for a Will. But I have never been targeted to buy one, not even by my solicitors who did my conveyancing.
Supermarkets will be after my money, over a period of years, with an offer, a clear call to action and with a product that is neatly packaged to make it easy for me to sign up.
If you have lots of people you have done conveyancing for, for heaven's sake write to them and make them a special offer on a Will.
And don't do it just once. Put them in a marketing sequence of months and years. They will buy when they are ready, not when you want them to remember. And stop listening to surveys which say solicitors are better than supermarkets. Just get out there and prove it by taking some action."
"For law firms branding should be as a consequence of direct marketing and other pull marketing. In other words it should be a spin off.
Nike do branding because they have a commodity product, same as Coca Cola. The only difference between soft drinks or trainers is the brand perception. But that's not what you are about.
If you have 12% brand recognition? What does that mean? Does it mean you get 12% of all the business in your area?
What I'd really like to see your marketing do is get you into the top three results on Google, Yahoo and MSN (now Bing) so that you get quality "hands up I want to spend some money on you" business that the Co-op doesn't.
Have you checked your website ranking for all the major search terms in your area? For example "Solicitor in Reading" "Lawyer in Reading" etc? And what do people do when they get to your website? Do you provide them with truly valuable information that proves you do what you say you do? With video?
Likewise do you measure your current marketing systematically so you know exactly how much it costs you to get a lead and which marketing is the most cost effective? If you don't measure it I would say stop it all. Because if you don't know something is working why keep doing it?
Have the definite of purpose to try things and take action. As long as you are on the right path that is a good start. One this is for sure. "Defending yesterday is far more risky than making tomorrow." (Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Drucker 1985)
The figure that astounds me is 69% of people don't have a Will. That's a fantastic market to aim at because a Will leads to Estate Planning, Trusts etc etc.
That's why it's a massive disservice for anyone to ignore their conveyancing list - you must market to them on a regular basis to get themselves a Will.
A company I worked with had written just one letter asking for money in a decade. With a list of 7000 clients I expect that 200 new Wills a month can be sold if it is done in the right way.
There's money in peoples' pockets that they want to spend. You just have to make them WANT to spend it on you and JUSTIFY spending it.
People don't buy things they need. They buy things they want. Even if it's dispute resolution. They are buying it because they WANT the right result. (ever make a special one off trip to the supermarket just to buy a tube of toothpaste you really want? If you did it's not because you needed the toothpaste. It's because you wanted clean teeth and fresh breath.
Let's look at an answer Why Joe Public will choose you first.
What is your answer as to why he should choose your firm over anyone else's?
Because that is the question you have rightly identified is going on in your prospects "Theatre of the Mind".
Do you have a USP (unique selling point) for your business? Because without one it is difficult for someone to make a choice.
After all what sales person can sell something as nebulous as "good service".
People have too many choices to make and not enough time. So making people confident in choosing you because of your USP and the way that you prove and communicate it is the way to go. And make it easy.
Examples of USP is Dominos - "Piping Hot Pizza Delivered To Your Door In 30 Minutes Or Less - Or Your Money Back." (Nothing about quality in it it at all - you see it's good enough and they make it easy.)
One you have your USP nailed you should find it easy to build your business and your communication around it. And I don't mean just out bound communication.
Marketing is everything that anyone from outside your firm sees, hears, touches or smells. So if your receptionist puts someone through to someone at your firm, make sure they say,
"I'm just putting you through to the Family Law Expert, Michelle Mann" rather than "I'm just putting your through."
Now let's take something you have said and examine it.
Personal recommendation and internet are two things that will work for Mr Joe who is looking for legal experts.
How do you systemise personal recommendations through a referral programme?
Have you done this? If you haven't then that's a good place to start. But you have to make it easy for the referrer.
And on the internet are you offering valuable information in a non-archaic legal way. By Audio/Video?
I hope so. Because if people are visiting your site you better make them raise their hand and say they want you.
Attract Joe and keep in front of him so when he is ready to buy he comes to a trusted source. Let's take an example of something you can do.
Are you the celebrity for your town or city? A
re you the one that newspapers and radio stations come to for quotes and to appear on programmes? That's free. And you aren't going to be able to compete with Direct Line or Tesco for marketing budgets so you have to use Guerilla tactics.
As soon as a hungry prospect comes in to your firm for bait (valuable information) keep him hooked forever with a marketing sequence.
That is the key. Because it takes sometimes years for someone to be ready to buy. But that's when you want to be in front of the prospect. And in that respect you can be even better than Tesco et al. (As long as you know your customer lifetime value of course, which tells you how much you can spend on this).
But it's all there for grabs. Just Do It. As Stephen Covey said, rule number one is Proactivity.
Do you have a formalised system that generates your firm's ideas to solve these problems? If you haven't get one going.
(You might have to make it anonymous because I have found the Partners to be the ones who may pooh pooh ideas which is terrible for those who put things forward. Remember how you felt at school to be singled out).
PS On the internet, I bet you aren't looking at who calls you once they look at your website? Because you will be getting calls and not just email forms filled in. And I wonder if you have unique phone numbers for all your marketing channels because I haven't seen a law firm that has all their marketing channels measured this way. Maybe you do. Maybe you don't."
One of my clients started a referral scheme and I just wanted to share it with you.
The fact is that referrals have to be systematic and ideally reward both the referrer and the referred. Sometimes people don't want cash - sometimes they do. But what is very good is when the cash gets handed over to a charity.
It means that everybody wins. You get a new customer for almost nothing, you hand the money to the referrer, who gives it to charity, making everybody feel good about the deal. And it encourages more deals like it. The publicity factor is quite good too.
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