Are you looking for a le gal marketing expert ?
Yes please Boyd, I hate doing the same thing every day expecting different results - that's stupid..Here's my email address .. .(don't ever spam me though!)
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Increase Your Value With Packaging
Here's a short
video I did with an example of how
packaging can double the price of something.
I don't have much structure to this video, it's more a
"question poser" to you.
http://screenr.com/Xce Maybe it will help you get valued for
what you do when you help change
people's lives for the better.
Create The Solicitors Firm You Want
I was speaking to a solicitor who complained about his clients"Who let's your clients treat you like this? " Do you accept every prospective client that comes along? Do you accept price hagglers? Do you accept people that don't take your advice? What sort of firm are you going to have if you do accept people that you don't really want?The truth is that businesses fail because they don't know how to market not because they don't know how to deliver. Maximum Profit "If you have great clients that pay you what you are worth what type of referrals are they going to send your way?" There's only so much you can take from Tesco Law, tighter regulations and increasing insurance premiums. Do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. Wouldn't it be better to be the highest price firm in town? To walk around proudly because of the value people see in you? To give your family what they want when they want it without having to make excuses? You can create any life, any firm you want.PS my sole practioner friend Paul Hajek has created his own system and he's letting others in to it - he's also giving some tips away for nothing - they are here http://www.solicitorsmarketingsystem.com/reports/7bks-glm/ Solicitor Uniqueness for marketing
Every now and again I contribute to other people's blogs. It helps me get found by solicitors and it's fun.
One I contribute to is a copyright/IP solicitor called Shireen Smith.
You can find her blog here http://goo.gl/Ljn9C
She is currently blogging about what makes a firm unique.
And it's interesting to see a solicitor's take on this.
My personal favourite about what makes a law firm unique is when they use guarantees.
“Double Your Money Back Guarantee”
If you are not 100% totally satisfied with our service to you we will pay you back every pound, every shilling and every penny PLUS we will donate the same amount to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital for wasting your time.
Ask your current solicitor if they will match our guarantee.
And when they say they won’t…draw your own conclusions."
Many law firms are doing unique things it’s just that they don’t know about it.
And they don’t actually say it out loud.
It may be speed of service, 24 hours availability, local expertise etc.
Shireen Smith is on her way to making a name for herself.
And I am sure that her writing is bringing clarity to her decision making.
That's a great advantage of writing every day. It really does help you with thinking.
Here's my video about uniqueness for solicitors..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1bIksn0BAY March 22nd Yellow Pages or Google it? Find the Yellow Pages, find the category, scan the advert, choose the advert, make the call/s, put the Yellow Pages back and wait for the client pack to arrive. Google it, look at the website, see the reviews, get all the information you want fast. Today is not 9-5 it's 24/7/365 People buy when they want to buy not when you want to sell. And if you haven't got your website onto the first page of Google for hundreds of search terms then get a move on. Tesco Law is coming. Google Places is one way of getting on the first page of Google. And you can either pay someone a lot of money to do it (and maybe they'll manage) or do it yourself for £27. Either way you've got to do it because the internet is the future. But then you already knew that didn't you? Here's my £27 training. Google Places Magic PS (And the training works because I used it to get SolicitorsInBournemouth a good ranking for divorce solicitors Bournemouth. )
March 21st - Some Recommended Reading Of Great Books
Amazon.co.uk Widgets Here's a free book on "creating customer evangelists." It's a series of case studies of companies that put referrals at the heart of everything. If you don't have a 100% referral score, and by that I mean 100% of existing clients give you referrals you might want to do two things. 1 Read some of this book for inspiration You see, whilst last week I talked about customer lifetime value, (the amount £'s someone spends with you over their lifetime with you) I neglected the referral aspect. Getting a client at break-even can be ok if you get referrals (even if you are a one-off transaction type business). You have to make it frictionless for someone to give you referrals and be worthy of them. And you can only do this by finding out who is referring you and who isn't. And having a system in place that expects referrals and asks for them, in the right way. And you probably should reward the referrer and referred. Here's the book http://creatingcustomerevangelists.com/testify/testify.pdf If you aren't being pro-active on referrals there's good news. More money is just around the corner. Maybe just calling your clients a week, 12 weeks and 30 weeks after completing their case will enable you to prove you're worthy and get those referrals. Simple but I bet 99% of firms don't do it. PS - Thanks for the Google Magic purchases everyone! PPS Referral Network Building - The Ultimate List PPS A surveyor I know is aiming to get referrals from solicitors with.. "Refer Surveys To Me And If England Win The Rugby World Cup Want to know how? Click here
February 24th - What Does Groupon Teach Solicitors? You may have heard about Groupon.
It's a company that makes it money by sending offers to a large email opt-in list.
It profits by taking a share of the sales (25%).
It also stipulates that deals have to be 50% off normal price or some other "great" offer.
So Small and Medium Businesses (SMB’s) that use Groupon can give away 75% of the price of their product.
IS THIS A WISE THING TO DO?
All SMB's should know about customer lifetime value.
This is the key to using Groupon.
It helps you to decide what price you can afford to sell your initial service at.
Ultimately even if you lose money on your first sale, providing you have a good marketing sequence you can turn a one-off into a long term client and get referrals.
FIND, GET, KEEP AND GROW.
Groupon can do the first two. It’s up to merchants to do the last two.
What's this got to do with you?
More and more media owners are moving to pay-per-performance models.
Even major directories are going this way.
And I am doing it at the moment with solicitors and local newspapers.
Law firms just pay per each call they receive rather than for space.
You too can try this with your local media. (Ask me how).
And secondly, this is a reminder email that client liftetime value is a huge indicator of profitability.
Getting a loyal client at break even and getting systematic repeat purchases....
That's a system that's worth something.
PS Marketing sequences video one
Marketing sequences video two
PPS I'm speaking to Groupon about a client in the Body Stress Release area...
Not sure if Groupon will do a Wills offer but I'll ask them and let you know.
February 22nd - Do Your Solicitor Clients Understand What Your Service Will Be? When someone buys something from you do you make it absolutely clear what will happen from that moment onwards? The reason I ask is because if someone doesn't know when they will receive your service and how it is going to be delivered, they will almost certainly have to check up with you. This takes up your time, makes the client unhappy What do you do to make sure someone understands what it is you will deliver as a service? I guess this is basic stuff, like answering the phone well and making sure everyone knows the portfolio of things you offer. But it's often the basics that are overlooked in life because a) people assume everyone knows and b) most people are only really concerned about their own job. The best thing you can do to improve how you There'll soon be a list of things you can do to convert more enquiries into leads and service your existing clients better. I guarantee it. In fact, get yourself a recording phone number from Admeter , put it on your website, and if you don't agree that it helps you win more business after 60 days, I'll pay your first month's charges. I'm an evangelist for tracking and recording calls and with my guarantee what do you have to lose? February 16th - Finding, Getting, Keeping, Growing Clients. Here's an interview I did for www.hireyourvirtualassistant.com - feel free to watch. February 15th - Your New Solicitor Services To Market
Someone complained to me the other day that they "didn't have any new services to market to their clients." I asked them if every client knew about every service they already offered? The answer was "No". "Then you have new services to market" I said. Watch the video http://screenr.com/KAA
February 9th - Second Opinion Services For Clients
I've been hearing clients talk about their experience with solicitors. (The beauty of call recording as research!) Many of them have explained they are not sure if they are getting the right service and advice. I think this is a natural response from some clients. They may have been expecting a different service when they engaged their solicitor. Or they may not have expected it to be "so expensive". Or they may have made the wrong choice of solicitor in the first place. Perhaps it's worth looking at making your services "checklist-able" so that clients know exactly what they will get. (Make sure you add in everything you do And secondly, perhaps it's worth creating a "second opinion" service on a fixed fee that reviews other solicitor's work. Ethically, some solicitors may not be comfortable about this. And I know there are some that specialise in going after other firms. But I know there are probably a percentage of clients that would like a non-confrontational second opinion, (and may transfer their business over to you). A belt and braces approach appeals to people. How you package this is up to you. It's common practise in many service industries to get a second opinion and the easier you make it the easier you'll get clients.
February 1st - Are You A Law Firm Marketing Expert?
January 27th - Solicitors Online Branding Is Serious
Have you checked your own online "brand" recently? After all Googling you is the first thing many people do when they talk to someone new for the first time. Try Googling yourself. What do you see? If you aren't happy about it you are going to have to do something. I did it to my name and found I'm ok with the results. I even found an article I wrote for Estate Agent Today which has been read more than 800 times that I'd forgotten about. http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Boyd-Butler-Blog2 And if you have no online presence at all that's great...you can create whatever brand you want starting this week. You can become the expert in your town/city before the summer holidays. Here's how http://goo.gl/Nys0n Take a look at Sole Practitioner Paul Hajek's results http://goo.gl/IWlKe Paul gets more business by having a good online personal brand. (He's getting so good he's now even teaching others how to do it!) Tip for employment law solicitors... If people can get sacked because they use Facebook and have inappropriate photos on their profile maybe you can offer a Social media update to your business clients? http://www.metro.co.uk/news/853472-facebook-photos-could-cost-teachers-careers?ITO=socialnet-twitter-button
January 21st - Solicitor Websites Work Better With Chat
How many people come to your website and leave without calling or emailing you? I confidently say it will be hundreds a year. So what are you doing about it? Perhaps you could gently encourage people to engage with you by using chat. Check out this short video http://screenr.com/L0E And if you want to add chat to your website give Toolkit Websites a call or maybe chat to Jack online?
January 19th - Solicitors That Use Video For Marketing
Here's a quick tip. Google loves videos. So do people. (They watch telly right?) And it only takes 4 minutes from uploading a video to getting it on to Google. Here's the proof http://screenr.com/3Bl Videos do work and you don't have to have an expensive camera and set up. One video I did has now had 491 views and it didn't cost a penny to do. Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39f8XaH_sVE And how about this as a way of telling a personal story... http://goo.gl/JnvLX I hope this has given you a few ideas about how to use video in different ways in marketing your law firm. on how I do these videos let me know. PS are you using Skype? It's a great way to have a face to face meeting with prospects without them having to visit you...very convenient.
January 14th - 105,000 People Cannot Be Wrong
I was reading in BBC Wildlife about the only animal (apart from humans) that prepares for war through pre-combat bonding. It's the green woohoopoe from sub-Saharan Africa. Before battles with other birds the leaders preen their followers, giving them a pep-talk at the same time and helping to build the team. Giving pep-talks is what great human coaches do. I know this because I used to work in football and saw what could happen when a coach made each player 10% better than before. Reading FC won promotion to the Premier League with a record points total. But don't just take my word for it. (Here's what 105,000 employees said about managers as coaches). 12 Questions You Must Ask Your Staff. I'm not one for form-ticking appraisals. But I think these questions help elicit the truth. And once you have an honest answer, you can give your honest coaching and leadership pep-talk. I wish I'd known this when I had 60 people to manage. It would have made life much better for all of us.
January 12th - My Predictions for 2011
Everyone is making predictions about what 2011 holds. And I thought I'd try and come up with some new ones. But guess what? My predictions for this year are the same as the last. So if you have a couple of minutes have a read and see if any of these ring a bell.
You can probably guess my 2012 predictions too...
January 6th - Today is the day of Epiphany
Epiphany is a religious ceremony.
But today I am using it as a word to describe the
"sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience." page and I'll even show you why you need to do it
January 3 - State of the Economy
Many people are fearful of 2011 and what it will bring.
Some people will take part in the Cycle of Doom.
You know, the one that sees you slashing costs, prices and profits.
And if you search Google for "Fear" you'll find there are 150M results.
But do you know what?
Your business is still only about three things.
1 Generating Leads
2 Converting Leads to Clients
3 Getting Clients to buy again
You just have to make sure you are going where the money is.
Because person A is still buying from person B.
Ferrari still sells out before they even make the car.
You have just got to give more value than what someone is paying you.
And make sure you are marketing to those that can afford to pay.
If you aren't doing this, change the sales and change your self to ensure you are.
Because more people search for hope than fear.
Which means you have a lot to look forward to if you can tap into this hope.
"it was the best of times and the worst of times."
The choice is yours.
December 15th - How Newsworthy Are You?
Publicity is FREE, powerful and will turn you into a local expert.
And your kids will love it too...
One of the best ways to get media coverage is to start sending out regular press releases to your local media.
It’s cheaper than advertising.
It’s probably going to be read by more people. And it’s powerful.
But where do you start?
The key is to think of all the things that are newsworthy.
You’d be surprised at what local media will pick up.
I've made a list of things that can get you coverage.
Click on the link below.
http://goo.gl/QTaVr
Send me your successes!
December 7th - Captain Compensation, NOTW style marketing
November 26th - Check your Google Preview out
November 24th - Getting A Systematic Referral System In Place For Solicitors
Here's the short video on referrals. (And a challenge later on).
http://screenr.com/KAA
Nothing is better than getting a pre-sold prospect to call you after being referred by one of your best clients.
So if there's nothing better why notAccountant | Financial Adviser | Printer | Web Design | Banking | Mortgage Broker | Graphic Design | Computer Support | Telecoms Provider | Office Supplies | Photographer | Insurance Broker | Electrical Contractor | IT Consultant | Marketing Consultant | Florist | Builder | Security Products | Architect | Cleaning Services | Signage Company | Travel Agent | Decorator | Business Advisor | Promotional Gifts Company | Interior Design | Surveyor | Telephone Systems | Car Sales | Computer Sales | Car Sales | Internet Services | Public Relations Company | Alternative Therapists | Events Organiser | Health Insurance Broker | Plumber | Office Machinery | Office Furniture | Car Servicing | Health and Safety Consultant | Will Writer | Estate Agents Residential | Commercial Letting Agent | Caterer | Landscaper | HR Consultant | Hotel | Employment Agency | Carpet Cleaner | Utilities Broker | Couriers | Car Hire | Car Leasing | Gardening Services | Wine Importer-Merchant | Mobile Phone Retailer | Jeweller | Book-Keeping |Removals/Storage | Secretarial Services |Personal Trainer | Hypnotherapist | Dentist | Private Doctor | Private School | State SchoolScreenR.com http://screenr.com/z8F
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November 19th - Can IFA's Refer Clients To Your Law Firm?
JP Morgan are trying to help Independent Financialreport http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/JP_Morgan_Professional_Con.pdf
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November 17th - Accident and Injury Solicitors Check Out This Video
I'm a great fan of video. People have small libraries and big TV's.
So it makes sense to use video for personal injury cases when appropriate.
Accidents at work, vechicle accidents, and medical claims can all benefit from video.
This is a Scottish company's work. Email
justinadams@LAmedia.co.uk.
November 12th Law Society Accreditation Schemes - Use Them To The Max
The Law Society have produce a scheme forIf you are paying for something then USE it.
November 8th - Who's Doing What In Social Media? Find Out Easily. November 4th - Three Great Marketing Ideas For This Week
3 things I saw this week thathttp://goo.gl/L8rMO http://goo.gl/FmRRr http://goo.gl/GAq3P Bishopslaw.co.uk SykesLee.co.uk Wordtracker Thinkertoys by MichaelHere are some tools I use. http://shrunklink.com/fpyr http://screenr.com/ Click for Keyword Spy ___________________________________
Ok, by now you may be getting more website visitors. Or fewer.
That’s because Google changed the way it delivers search results for local listings.
(Remember the video I did? It's here)
For businesses that have a local angle, (like yours) the Google search results are now a blend of sponsored listings,
(at the top) Google Places and organic results.
If you’ve seen a decline in rankings you need to get back into the game by adding to your online strategy.
Much of what you do now has to be part of a strategy and one that you keep reviewing.
Here are some things you should do.
* Get listed in as many of the directories that Google takes information from as possible.
* Get links from quality local websites that feature in your locality.
* Utilise a broad spectrum of social media. Video, articles, and quality content to create a deep internet profile.
* Include relevant Places categories in your listing. E.g. Conveyancing, Wills, Probate, Divorce etc
* Utilize long and short tail keywords, while avoiding duplication of keywords.
* Create customized fields and informative business descriptions that utilise relevant keywords for your Google Places Listing.
* Use photos and videos on your Google Places listing.
* Fill out all applicable fields, including Hours of Operations, Payment Methods, and Service Areas.
* Utilize Google Places Posts to keep information fresh and relevant.
* Encourage online customer reviews (be aware of what sites are feeding reviews for solicitors into Google Places).
* Respond to Google customer reviews through Google Places.
* Ensure that your Google Places flag is located in the proper spot.
* Add coupons to your Google Places account
* Try out Google Adwords if you haven’t already and start small and track results.
* Check your Google Places quality against the guidelines Google gives (link below)
http://www.google.com/support/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528&rd=1
What Else Should You Be Doing?
Reviews of business are now on view so make sure you manage your online reputation.
What to do: Build your reviews as soon as possible.
Initiate a customer testimonial scheme on various online profiles.
Monitor your profiles regularly and respond to any issues that arise;
Come up with a strategy to improve your online reputation and profile, even if it’s already great.
Search for your keywords e.g. solicitors Reading
See who is ranking well. Where are their reviews from?
Get your clients to review you in the same places.
You may want to have a computer in your reception for all your clients.
They can then rate you on various different review sites such as Google/Qype.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Any questions or feedback let me know.
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October 30th Google Places For Solicitors A Halloween Game Changer
Is Google bringing in Google Places infohttp://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/Law_Firm_Marketing_Videos_Resources video _______________________________________________________
You've heard the news about Pre-Nuptial agreements?pre nuptial agreement solicitors October 28th - Google's URL Shortener Is A Useful Tool
Sometimes you want to make a URLhttp://goo.gl/ I'm only guessing but...
PS congratulations to http://goo.gl/uxeW ________________________________________________
Joint Ventures with marketing partners areThompsons solicitors do it with the teachers' union Check this out and swipe it for yourself. __________________________________________________
Rule No 1 is “People must like you in order to buy from you.” 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 increase my productivity/ profitability/solve my problem I believe this sales person wants to help build my business or me so he can build his. Do what you can to demonstrate to your clients that you understand _____________________________________________________________
http://www.easy4uproperties.co.uk/ have a different approach.http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/code-of-conduct/rule9.page ____________________________________________________________ There are lots of arguments about what consitutes selling, marketing, and branding.
__________________________________________________________________ October 4th - What Would Happen If You Recorded Your Inbound Calls? Solicitors Bournemouth. They are recording all their calls from their website so that A) they know how many calls they get from it and B) so that they can improve their call handling/selling technique. When they want to assess what's working with their marketing it's easy for them to compare all their channels because they have assigned a different phone number to all channels. They have also programmed in their marketing budget so that they now have a cost-per-call analysis. If a sole practitioner can do this can't you? Drop me a line and I'll tell you how.... boyd@GreatLegalMarketing.co.uk September 24th - Founder of Epoq Explains Online Law Services
A couple of weeks ago I talked to Tim Bishop about online legal services. Tim likes the idea and is keeping his eye on how they develop.
Grahame Cohen, founder of Direct Law saw the
Grahame, I've talked about Direct Law and on line legal services before and had some feedback from solicitors.
You wanted to make it clear that on line does not mean cheap or fixed fee.
Can you explain more... "Some lawyers think that on line legal services means that the fee earner loses control and that the marketing person fixes the price. But with Direct Law the fee earner remains in control, as it’s perfectly possible to set up the system so that the fee earner decides on a client-by-client basis how much to charge, just as they do normally.
I am encouraging firms to list a from fee or an expected fee range for a service, as clients like to know they can get certainty. This marketing approach will then generate a call from the client . The lawyer establishes what the client wants and agrees the more often than not demanded fixed the price, The service is then provided using the firms on line documents accordingly.Grahame, what about publicising fixed fees on line? lawyers may want to have prices highlighted, some will have a range and some won't mention price until they've established needs. Some may want to price some documents as fixed and other leave to the lawyer to agree with the client. The system is flexible. Most importantly using it makes the firms more profit and the clients happy"Grahame, do people mistake on line for hands off?
This is often reflected incorrectly on their website; it should be seen and presented as one service where online may commonly be a part of the client workflow. Incorporating data Q&A capture as part of the process simply gives the clients more convenience and the law firms more profit by saving time.Grahame I've experienced Quick Capture - it's great to capture leads isn't it? Who should be doing on line legal services Grahame? all consumer & SME law firms will. The public will demand it. But for smaller firms that want to start, maybe you'd should select an on line champion fee-earner that wants to go down this route to get started. We'd like to help them become experts. And we're investing in helping our partner law firms make more out of their websites through educating them on what works best.
I truly hope firms see their client base is now the wired community and these are solely the clients they will have in the future.
I would not want to be a firm having to rush and play catch up with those firms who have established online processes and have their web presence working effectively." And any final thoughts? grahame@epoq.co.uk www.directlaw.co.uk PS my idea is to run an employment law service for small to medium firms, charge them £500 for unlimited use of legal documents and helpline phone number. A good idea for a subscription service? It works for Peninsula who have 25,000 clients and get 12,000 calls a week.
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September 23 - Video Is An Essential Tool - Here's Your Marketing Idea For PI cases
Video is massive and you need to use ithttp://www.3daccidentreconstruction.com/3d-accident-reel/ _____________________________________________________________ September 22 - Marketing Tools Can Give You Marketing Ideas
__________________________________________________________________ September 20th - More Google Places (Local) advice.
I got this email from Tim Bishop and he asks..."I took up your advice on Google Local some time ago.Any idea why and any suggestions how I can improve that? " http://screenr.com/tJh Andover Solicitors search shows BishopsLaw.com cominghttp://screenr.com/Flh ______________________________________________________
Google has rolled out an instant search mode that will display the top 10 search results as you type.
This is probably going to cause some changes in the way people use Google.
I played around with a "live" just to see what it does
check it out here http://screenr.com/Lin
Here's Google's reason for doing it and their video
http://www.google.com/instant/
If you see changes in your website traffic in the coming months, this could be the main reason.
As you can see the results when you type in the words, instead of scanning through the search engine result page (SERP) after each search, you are more likely to look at the top 3-4 results and then refine the search until they find what they want.
Might be worth optimising your website for some of the instant search phrases. Here's my vid http://screenr.com/Lin PS Government are still giving away a bit of money email me. ________________________________________________________________________ Sept 13th - Is The Economy To Blame? Sept 7th - Referrals are important so do you have a referral system? Sept 6th - Riches in Niches. Specialists can charge more.
It's always great to see a law firmhttp://www.bedsorefaq.com/bed-sore-resource-center/ One of the specialities he has is bed sore claims. Someone that knows their stuff or an amateur? 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.
(For an example of who does use it in the legal world visit www.Nelsonsonline.co.uk
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 ." 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. "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. August 25th - Use Negatives To Sell Your Positives.
I was away for five weeks andhttp://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/Countrywide_Property_Lawyers__5658256 our videos.....
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 August 10th - Be Your Own Legal Marketing Consultant
One of my members went through my website and foundWhich is why one of the first things I teach lawyers not all of them are value for money. Go through my website www.GreatLegalMarketing.co.uk Do an audit on your firm by downloading this and using it Ask all your clients how you can improve Ask all your staff how you can improve 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. 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.
Here's the
interview http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/myhomemove_interview.pdf 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.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.
You can see those videos here.
Part One - click here
Part Two - click here
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. Here's one http://www.boysandmaughan.co.uk/cms/document/EmployAssure_Flyer.pdf It's simply a fixed fee employment law service 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 . Even if you don't do employment law can you do the same for other services by offering subscriptions? Here's Tessa Shepperson's subscription site for Landlord Law... http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk/ How about Business Law, Property and even Family Law... What do you think? July 8th - Conveyancing Solicitor Marketing Again...
I seem to remember he got publicity from the World Cup too. Check it out here. 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
Because loyal clients are the best referrers.
And the question is "How are you systematicallly asking
Action on getting a systematic referral process
The research doesn't show how many referrals each
The research doesn't show how many each client could
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
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
June 15th - Referral Networks and How To Create Them For Law Firms
Still on the the theme of referrals for solicitors.PDF here http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/referral-networks-for-soli.pdf June 10th - How RG Solicitors Target Estate Agents For Referrals
I'm impressed a little withRG Solicitors and how they Estate Agent Today. video here - or click on this link below.http://screenr.com/6SK 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? Write 50 Top Tips for Estate Agents and send them to the Estate Agents that you (with permission that you must request) that I've already prepared for you... Get them here June 1st - Guarantees Win Business for Law Firms. One of the problems buyers have is choosing. 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. For more on guarantees and marketing law firms click here. May 26th
Collect testimonials and referrals for your law firm
You know that your clients want great service .
Do you know if you give it to them?
I am going to assume you ask your legal clients about your service.
And that you do some kind of follow-up survey.
And maybe you actually do something with the results.
Let me ask you...
Is your survey also a way of getting testimonials?
Because if you word it the right way you will get them every time.
And you will get testimonials that say you are great, (for specific reasons).
When you get these testimonials people are declaring they like you.
And they are on the way to becoming loyal .
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. 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.Time for some PR in your local media?
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
the answer to http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/neg-3.jpg
To make it bigger you should be able to click it.
May 12th - See how Family-Law Dominate Google video I promised you. http://screenr.com/ADC (shh...don't tell him). May 12th - What's Your Answer To "Why Should I Use You?"
I've prepared a little video about.... Uniqueness bishopslaw.com without the awful music . May 11th Satisfied or Loyal Legal Clients - Whaddya Got?
One of my clients has 100% satisfaction as his objective. I've told him it's not good enough. Why? Because satisfaction is a given. But it's loyalty that counts. What's the difference? Well...my wife may be satisfied...but I prefer her to be loyal... (Geddit?) So what's the sign that your clients are loyal? A referral is the signal that your client is loyal.
If the client is paying you, great.
But it is not full loyalty until they begin referring clients to you.
The test for loyalty is;
Will the client do business with you again, and will the client refer others to you?
If loyalty = getting referrals
doesn’t it make sense to encourage them?
PS you can also swipe and deploy this - click on it http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/di/247916 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.
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.
You owe it to yourself to check these things out.
Check out this Illinois Divorce Lawyer in the US
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.”The reason that selling purely on price isn’t a long-term strategy is because you will always be beaten. What action can you take? 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? April 27th Who Wants To Know How Prospects Find Your Legal Website? test2April 27 - What Do Legal Services Prospects Do On Your Website?
Ever wondered what people do when they go on your
April 27 - Volcanos and Employee Rights Yes there's still a chance you can write that http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/t/402451.aspx?s_cid=16 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 LegalService Quality is what is most in demand. Here's the list of legal marketing greats; http://www.family-lawfirm.co.uk/About-Us/default.aspx Woolley and Co - Based in Warwickshire.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 consultingwww.rimonlaw.com). They are a virtual law firm based in San Francisco that use top-tier American expat lawyers.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 Have you written your USEFUL and VALUABLE article for your website and sent it out to your list of business clients via email? And your local media? So you can do interviews? Just like Berwins do on radio http://twitter.com/#search?q=volcano%20ash%20employment Here's a story you can use for inspiration. http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/04/19/55280/volcano-update-employers-not-obliged-to-pay-stranded-staff-say.html Write that article tonight instead of watching TV .Always use what's going on in the mind 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. "Everything You Must Do By Law To Protect Estate Agency Staff 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. And you can do a solicitors video report like this instead ! April 7th - Law Gazette Gold - Solicitor Marketing Bites Here are the contributions I've made to the Law Gazette
over the past few months.You'll find it here (I like the bit about receptionists because it actually happened to me). Don't forget to download it here
April 2nd - Daily Inspiration Quotes From Twitter For Law Firms Need a daily dose of inspiration to get things done? It's on my Twitter accounthttp://twitter.com/boydbutler (all set up using Social Oomph remember the video) PS - have you checked yourfive Solicitor, Services - Solicitors, Solicitors, Legal Service Provider, Conveyancing, If any of the newsletters have been useful click here to find some things I would really like for Easter ;-)
Thanks for stopping by. (There’s plenty to keep you going here!)
March 25th Do You Build Rapport Personally And For Your Law Firm? Newsletters members got this first. (Hint hint). Rapport for solicitors here That's here. March 23 Schedule Your Tweets While You Watch QI If you are like me, Stephen Fry on QI may be your cup of tea. click here for the solicitors Twitter scheduling tool video 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
Winning Internet Strategy! ‘Nuff said – time for action.
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. The quicker you know what other law firms are up to the (And profit). Here's a great weapon that helps spy on your competition. This service is www.ChangeDetection.com It's not complicated. Type in the web page address you want to monitorsolicitors news page or You can review the changes that were made because it highlights them. I use this tool (along with Google Alerts) to help keep an eye out for relevant changes online. (Including whether my clients do their homework!) March 17th - Be an Expert and Grab Celebrity Status For Your Law Firm How are you getting on becoming the expert in your niche? Here's a piece I wrote in Navigator Magazine. This gets me in front of 200 law firms. If they like get it here March 16th - Sole Practioner Builds Business On Google One of my clients has steadily been building his business for conveyancing and HIPS via Google searches. Read about what he recommends other sole practitioners do in the latest "SOLO" Sole Practitioners magazine. Here's a copy. (PS his article is on page 9). March 15th The "Little And Often" Referrals System The "Little and Often" System. Referrals are the best ways to grow any law firm. You know this already. So how do you boost your referrals? The answer is... Create a system to make consistent deposits into clients' "emotional bank account." The Emotional "Bank Account" Stephen Covey, author of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People , emotional bank account. Everyone has an emotional bank account. You have an emotional bank account. I have an emotional bank account. 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. Here's the video. March 9 - How Solicitors Can Siphon Off Traffic From You Tube March 5th - Tesco have Estate Agents Panicking - Lawyers Next? I am not an Estate agent but I do help some of them with marketing. ISold from Tesco is of interest. it goes to the heart of how you are unique and express your difference. 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. 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 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 Here's more on guarantees. Feb 26th - I Watched Television About Solicitors Last Night. I don't really watch much television. 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 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 , 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? Andre ws Estate Agents have gone and bundled their commission all in one package .Can you do this with your products and partners? Feb 23rd - Do You Have Loyal Clients Or Satisfied Clients?
A quick quiz question. Choose one right answer.
You know you are building loyalty with a client when:
A. Your client wants to know more about your service.
B. Your client refers other clients to you.
C. Your client places orders with you only.
D. Your client will always take your call.
The correct answer is right here
Feb 16th - Check Out My "How To Use Twitter For Lawyers Report Get it right here . And a recap; What's your answer to the question, "Why Should I Choose Your Law Firm?." Need help? Check this out. 15th February - You Can Do The Same Videos For Free Google have launched another product called Buzz. And you want to know about it. Why? Because social media is not just about staying in touch with friends. It's a great way to share information. Which shows your expertise. Which gets you prospects. More on this here. Especially when Google offers recommended Buzz's to people you may like to have as clients. And Social media affects Search Engine Optimisation (how you are found online). I can't predict where Google Buzz will end up or how you can use it - you'll find your own way. But if you don't have a company gmail account then you should probably get one so that you can use Buzz when you want to/figured out how. Buzz works through GMail - Google's email service. A Gmail account for a law firm is something like; cluttoncox@gmail.com (If you haven't got a personal gmail account you should also get one in your name, along with Twitter, Skype and Facebook in your name.) You can see a video about Buzz right here F eb 10th - Let Others Say It For You Social Bookmarking Feb 9th - How To Position Yourself As A Legal Expert .Let me ask you,No, because Doctors don’t prospect. Which is why you must download and read my report on How to Position Yourself As a Legal Expert. You can get it right here. Feb 2nd - Why Don't You Change Your Marketing?
How to prevent change...
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 stu ff 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. (Here are my comments on video) 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. More marketing videos are here.. 27th January - Get Testimonials Agreed Before You Start Work 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
19th January - How Video Gets You To Top On Google Check out the Google search results for Solicitors in Reading. Field Seymour Parkes are second in the organic listings (FREE) and also on the Google Local search results. (Get my Google Resource Report For Legal Marketing Services here) 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 What guarantees can you give that makes it Because in a cynical world, guarantees give people the crutch they need "in case they make a mistake". And a guarantee is another unique buying point for your law firm. January 11th - Law Firms Waste Money On Adverts What are the greatest adverts you’ve ever seen? The best adverts I’ve see are those for For slippers, trousers and hearing aids. But you should study them. Because they are direct response “Write an advert for your law firm that kicks butt guide”. And remember when you do get an ad that works, January 2010 - Financial Facts Tell The Story Lots of solicitors are being made redundant. And many law firms are closing. And it comes as a surprise to many people that work in these firms. As you live with the consequences .And if you work for a law firm you must know the basic financial facts if you are to have If you are the Parnter in charge, provide your staff (Cut and paste). Do we have an annual business plan? Can we have a copy? How many clients do we have this year? How does it compare to the last 3 years? How much income from fees are we forecasting this year? How does this compare to last year? How much income in total is forecast for this yea r? Is there a monthly accounts document that can be shared with a snapshot of how we are doing each month? What will our profit before tax be for the year? How are any profits this year going to be used? How have we been affected by the recession? What areas are expected to expand and contract over the next two years? What plans are in place to allow this to happen effectively? Who is responsible for cost control? What areas have been identified where we can save money? How are salary increases worked out? What are our forecasted income, costs and pre-tax profit for the 2010/11? What is our average income per client in each department that comes to our law firm? (number of years x £ per year) What are the main threats to our profitability? What are the main opportunities for growing our profitability? This is the start of open-management. December 25th 2009 - Cross selling success for law firms. " If you aren't counting, you're just practising".
Please keep score with your cross-selling...
You'll get more cross selling done if you;
1. Make it part of the job - and explain why it's important
2. Keep score - reward people for cross-selling
3. Staff will then see it's important.
4. Make sure it's part of the questioning process for phone calls.
5. Coach all staff in cross-selling so they feel confident in doing it.
6. Put cross selling paragraphs on the bottom of everyone's emails.
7. Make sure links on the website cross-sell (with the right keywords in the links)
8. Make sure that you cross-sell in email and paper newsletters
9. Bundle products together so cross-selling is seen as natural
10. Have forms that people fill in and give to other colleagues with opportunities.
11. Have a follow up and feedback system in place to see who follows up well.
12. Have a budget in place to reward staff who pass on opportunities,
13. Reward internal referrals whether they turn into work or not.
14. Think about it. Action it. Test it. Refine it.
Cross selling is habit you must create.
And PROFIT from.
Has anyone ever given you a better list?
December 15th - Do You Want A Google Sticker For Your Solicitors? Let's face it. Google Rules. And if you aren't looking at a future that contains Google then you may not be looking at such a bright future. Google uses window stickers to help the most searched-upon local retailers forge online connections to their physical store/offices. Google has identified more than 100,000 local businesses in
the U.S. in 9,000 towns and cities across the nation that
are searched upon most often by users.
Each one of them will soon receive a window sticker
from Google featuring a scannable code.
Passers-by can then scan that code with any of
hundredsof mobile devices—including iPhone, Android phones,
BlackBerry and more—and be taken directly to that business's
Place Page on their mobile phone.
There, they can find reviews and coupons or "star" the
business as one they want to remember for later; soon,
they'll be able to leave reviews as well.
Google plans to send out more window stickers to
qualifying businesses in the future.
Make sure you are looking to the future now - not when it
has arrived. Here's a short reminder on what solicitors should do.
Time to get in line at Google's Local Business Center...?
December 11th - Sometimes We All Need A Reminder 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 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 theseSexual Harassment at Work? 0844 502 1631 Injured at Work? 0843 218 3542 for compensation. Call this number to see how they work... December 8th - Take The Marketing Quiz Can you get 100% of the ten questions correct? Try out legal marketing quiz right here. December 5th - How Do You Manage Your Law Firm? If you manage a company you have huge influence over its success. Great managers deliver more sales, bigger profits and lower staff turnover. The fact is that you are only as good as your team.
In their book, First Break All the Rules, Buckingham and Coffman
report on Gallup Inc and how they researched what makes a great manager.
Gallup Inc. found 12 questions that employees answered captured
the most important information about whether management
of a company is good or bad.
Employees that gave a more favourable response
worked in higher performing companies.
These are the questions that employees answered and accurately reflected management and company performance.
1 Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2 Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work the right way?
3 At work do I have the opportunity to do my best, every day?
4 In the last 7 days have I received recognition for doing work well?
5 Does my manager or supervisor seem to care about me as a person?
6 Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7 At work do my opinions seem to count?
8 Does the mission or purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9 Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10 Do I have a best friend at work?
11 In the last six months has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
12 This last year, have I had opportunities to learn and to grow?
These questions were answered by 105,000 employees
in 250 business units in 24 different companies.
With this research they then went on to find the good
managers and interviewed 80,000 highly rated managers.
Over and over again the researchers heard...
Great managers help each person become more and
more of who he or she already is.
“Manager as coach” is how it can easily be summed up.
The process of finding the right person for the right position
and them coaching them to a higher level starts with hiring.
When hiring, behaviour-based questions, (tell me a time when...) can indicate natural talent and interests, (which can then be coached).
Matching the right talent to the right job can have huge results.
Perhaps you could ask your legal firm employees these
12 questions once every six months?
Here's the word document you can cut and paste.
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 REALLY easy to read. If a twelve year old can read it and understand it = good.
If you have to be a graduate to read it = bad
Paste your website text into
http://www.addedbytes.com/readability/
and you’ll see what grade level your text is.
It’s an American website so it works on grade levels rather than ages.
It's all to easy to think that everyone is as smart as you are.
But what sells more?
The Sun or The Telegraph?
PS The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level grade level of this paragraph is 4.94 The readability score is 85.4 out of 100.
Keep it simple...
November 27th - Are Legal Client Surveys Good? A legal marketing consultant recently questioned the value of client surveys. (For my thoughts on Total Quality For Law Firms download this) I disagree and these are the reasons why; Surveys can tell you what you are doing well or badly They can new highlight services clients want Use results to reward staff They can gather hundreds of testimonials They let clients contribute to your business building loyalty They show you care You can cross-sell your service, (careful!) They can act as a long-term barometer of improvements They centralise knowledge so everyone can learn They act as a motivational tool to do better Or a pat on the back for a job well done They can highlight which Partners are good at coaching staff There should be an incentive to return them.
Surveys should go out immediately a job is done.
They should go back to someone independent of the job.
And the clients must know a survey will result in action.
And at 30 pence per client to find out what they really think it's a bargain.
If that's not value from a legal client survey then I don't know what is.
Remember to download my ideas on Total Quality
November 23rd - Free Publicity For Your Law Firm Great news from a Great Legal Marketing member. Clutton Cox featured in a 10,000 circulation newspaper. It's an idea that you can easily swipe and deploy for your own firm. And if you want to know how he set up the promotion - But the genius part is actually DOING IT. Feel like being a genius in marketing your solicitors? November 20th - How You Can Make The Most Of Your Calls Want a simple tool that can help you get more out of your phone calls? Here's one that I use daily and you can use for your law firm. November 18th - Out Of Office Emails - Don't Waste 'Em Ok you legal marketing people. You are out for the day. You set up your "out of office" message. email you. And they get your message. "I am sorry I am out of the office. When I think of the hundreds of cross-sell, Look at your out of office message Can you improve it? Someone has emailed you. there. Especially if the whole firm does it! Free marketing for solicitors - again! November 16th - Send Price Shoppers To Other "Law Firms" On the Law Gazette Blog Pages there's been a discussion about conveyancing service and pricing. 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. Ask the question of your prospects, " We are not the cheapest on the market for conveyancing, 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 Quite a damming statement. But not unsurprising. See a marketing sequences for law firms video on this here. The whole thing about naming a brand is not as important as knowing exactly who to contact when you want to buy legal services. That's what you are interested in. Someone calling your law firm when they are ready to buy legal services. People buy when they are ready to buy, And it's not good enough that people are satisfied with legal services.
They have to be loyal.
(If you don't know the difference,
my wife may be satisfied, but I prefer her to be loyal.)
It's not about legal expertise (because that's a given).
It is about marketing, which includes your positioning and
communication of your expertise.
You have to know what it costs to get a prospect to your law firm.
What it takes to convert one.
How much you make from each client over a lifetime.
And then you start to understand marketing your solicitor services .
You can only convert prospects with a marketing sequence.
See a presentation video on this here.
Your law firm return on "investment in marketing" picture alters dramatically.
If you don't know the basics of marketing then you want to find out fast.
It's not just because Tesco will steal your market.
It's because you are leaving thousands of pounds of profit in pockets.
That could be yours.
That's why you have to keep in front of people all the time.
With a sequence so that you educate, persuade
and entertain your prospects.
They will come to you because they will actually remember your name.
And your phone number.
And mention it to their friends and family. (See more on referrals)
November 3 - Use The News To Sell Remember it's easier to get publicity and Two things caught my eye today searching on Twitter. (You can find out what people are thinking about Steven Gately, died without a Will = your chance to and.... Professor Nutt, the guy sacked by the There's always someone famous dying or October 29th National Make A Will Week - Every Week Are your prospects thinking about Wills this week? (See Telegraph article here.) I have also seen a promotion in my local Reading Post newspaper, The question I have is this.... Why wait until national Wills week to do a Flint Bishop have partnered charities Can You? For the price of a phone call and a follow up October 28th - Direct Mail Letters That Sell I f you know you have 3 clients that are similar how about trying to find some more? One way you can do this is by writing a sales letter. Let's say you have 3 charities you work for. If you can write to another 500 charities that are similar, with a persuasive letter and 25 respond then you have an immediate qualified 25 prospects. And it cost you £250 to send the initial letters. That's £10 a lead for your law firm. Here's my video thoughts on a letter sent to me to try and get me to buy. If you convert one from 25 you will probably make a return of at least 10 x the money you have invested. 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. They’ll appreciate you saying it, even if they don’t take you up on it. Turning a 50 pence letter into £2500 of business is a skill that you can easily learn. Just follow simple, proven and profitable systems. (Of course the 475 that don't respond will go into a marketing sequence remember...) October 25th - Celebrity Status = Trusted Resource "Boyd, I'm having my picture taken by the local Gazette newspaper on Monday morning!" I love getting emails like this. Someone that tries something different. And gets publicity. And sales. Remember, celebrity status = trusted source Someone should film you getting your picture taken or giving a seminar whenever it happens. There's nothing better than a video of a celebrity that works for you on your website to convince people to buy. And the reason they are coming to do a story on him? October 22 - Do You Want People To October 20th - More Testimonials Than Any Other Law Firm On The Planet
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. Amazon.co.uk Widgets Here's a free book on "creating customer evangelists." It's a series of case studies of companies that put referrals at the heart of everything. If you don't have a 100% referral score, and by that I mean 100% of existing clients give you referrals you might want to do two things. 1 Read some of this book for inspiration You see, whilst last week I talked about customer lifetime value, (the amount £'s someone spends with you over their lifetime with you) I neglected the referral aspect. Getting a client at break-even can be ok if you get referrals (even if you are a one-off transaction type business). You have to make it frictionless for someone to give you referrals and be worthy of them. And you can only do this by finding out who is referring you and who isn't. And having a system in place that expects referrals and asks for them, in the right way. And you probably should reward the referrer and referred. Here's the book http://creatingcustomerevangelists.com/testify/testify.pdf If you aren't being pro-active on referrals there's good news. More money is just around the corner. Maybe just calling your clients a week, 12 weeks and 30 weeks after completing their case will enable you to prove you're worthy and get those referrals. Simple but I bet 99% of firms don't do it. PS - Thanks for the Google Magic purchases everyone! PPS Referral Network Building - The Ultimate List PPS A surveyor I know is aiming to get referrals from solicitors with.. "Refer Surveys To Me And If England Win The Rugby World Cup Want to know how? Click here
February 24th - What Does Groupon Teach Solicitors? You may have heard about Groupon.
It's a company that makes it money by sending offers to a large email opt-in list.
It profits by taking a share of the sales (25%).
It also stipulates that deals have to be 50% off normal price or some other "great" offer.
So Small and Medium Businesses (SMB’s) that use Groupon can give away 75% of the price of their product.
IS THIS A WISE THING TO DO?
All SMB's should know about customer lifetime value.
This is the key to using Groupon.
It helps you to decide what price you can afford to sell your initial service at.
Ultimately even if you lose money on your first sale, providing you have a good marketing sequence you can turn a one-off into a long term client and get referrals.
FIND, GET, KEEP AND GROW.
Groupon can do the first two. It’s up to merchants to do the last two.
What's this got to do with you?
More and more media owners are moving to pay-per-performance models.
Even major directories are going this way.
And I am doing it at the moment with solicitors and local newspapers.
Law firms just pay per each call they receive rather than for space.
You too can try this with your local media. (Ask me how).
And secondly, this is a reminder email that client liftetime value is a huge indicator of profitability.
Getting a loyal client at break even and getting systematic repeat purchases....
That's a system that's worth something.
PS Marketing sequences video one
Marketing sequences video two
PPS I'm speaking to Groupon about a client in the Body Stress Release area...
Not sure if Groupon will do a Wills offer but I'll ask them and let you know.
February 22nd - Do Your Solicitor Clients Understand What Your Service Will Be? When someone buys something from you do you make it absolutely clear what will happen from that moment onwards? The reason I ask is because if someone doesn't know when they will receive your service and how it is going to be delivered, they will almost certainly have to check up with you. This takes up your time, makes the client unhappy What do you do to make sure someone understands what it is you will deliver as a service? I guess this is basic stuff, like answering the phone well and making sure everyone knows the portfolio of things you offer. But it's often the basics that are overlooked in life because a) people assume everyone knows and b) most people are only really concerned about their own job. The best thing you can do to improve how you There'll soon be a list of things you can do to convert more enquiries into leads and service your existing clients better. I guarantee it. In fact, get yourself a recording phone number from Admeter , put it on your website, and if you don't agree that it helps you win more business after 60 days, I'll pay your first month's charges. I'm an evangelist for tracking and recording calls and with my guarantee what do you have to lose? February 16th - Finding, Getting, Keeping, Growing Clients. Here's an interview I did for www.hireyourvirtualassistant.com - feel free to watch. February 15th - Your New Solicitor Services To Market
Someone complained to me the other day that they "didn't have any new services to market to their clients." I asked them if every client knew about every service they already offered? The answer was "No". "Then you have new services to market" I said. Watch the video http://screenr.com/KAA
February 9th - Second Opinion Services For Clients
I've been hearing clients talk about their experience with solicitors. (The beauty of call recording as research!) Many of them have explained they are not sure if they are getting the right service and advice. I think this is a natural response from some clients. They may have been expecting a different service when they engaged their solicitor. Or they may not have expected it to be "so expensive". Or they may have made the wrong choice of solicitor in the first place. Perhaps it's worth looking at making your services "checklist-able" so that clients know exactly what they will get. (Make sure you add in everything you do And secondly, perhaps it's worth creating a "second opinion" service on a fixed fee that reviews other solicitor's work. Ethically, some solicitors may not be comfortable about this. And I know there are some that specialise in going after other firms. But I know there are probably a percentage of clients that would like a non-confrontational second opinion, (and may transfer their business over to you). A belt and braces approach appeals to people. How you package this is up to you. It's common practise in many service industries to get a second opinion and the easier you make it the easier you'll get clients.
February 1st - Are You A Law Firm Marketing Expert?
January 27th - Solicitors Online Branding Is Serious
Have you checked your own online "brand" recently? After all Googling you is the first thing many people do when they talk to someone new for the first time. Try Googling yourself. What do you see? If you aren't happy about it you are going to have to do something. I did it to my name and found I'm ok with the results. I even found an article I wrote for Estate Agent Today which has been read more than 800 times that I'd forgotten about. http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Boyd-Butler-Blog2 And if you have no online presence at all that's great...you can create whatever brand you want starting this week. You can become the expert in your town/city before the summer holidays. Here's how http://goo.gl/Nys0n Take a look at Sole Practitioner Paul Hajek's results http://goo.gl/IWlKe Paul gets more business by having a good online personal brand. (He's getting so good he's now even teaching others how to do it!) Tip for employment law solicitors... If people can get sacked because they use Facebook and have inappropriate photos on their profile maybe you can offer a Social media update to your business clients? http://www.metro.co.uk/news/853472-facebook-photos-could-cost-teachers-careers?ITO=socialnet-twitter-button
January 21st - Solicitor Websites Work Better With Chat
How many people come to your website and leave without calling or emailing you? I confidently say it will be hundreds a year. So what are you doing about it? Perhaps you could gently encourage people to engage with you by using chat. Check out this short video http://screenr.com/L0E And if you want to add chat to your website give Toolkit Websites a call or maybe chat to Jack online?
January 19th - Solicitors That Use Video For Marketing
Here's a quick tip. Google loves videos. So do people. (They watch telly right?) And it only takes 4 minutes from uploading a video to getting it on to Google. Here's the proof http://screenr.com/3Bl Videos do work and you don't have to have an expensive camera and set up. One video I did has now had 491 views and it didn't cost a penny to do. Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39f8XaH_sVE And how about this as a way of telling a personal story... http://goo.gl/JnvLX I hope this has given you a few ideas about how to use video in different ways in marketing your law firm. on how I do these videos let me know. PS are you using Skype? It's a great way to have a face to face meeting with prospects without them having to visit you...very convenient.
January 14th - 105,000 People Cannot Be Wrong
I was reading in BBC Wildlife about the only animal (apart from humans) that prepares for war through pre-combat bonding. It's the green woohoopoe from sub-Saharan Africa. Before battles with other birds the leaders preen their followers, giving them a pep-talk at the same time and helping to build the team. Giving pep-talks is what great human coaches do. I know this because I used to work in football and saw what could happen when a coach made each player 10% better than before. Reading FC won promotion to the Premier League with a record points total. But don't just take my word for it. (Here's what 105,000 employees said about managers as coaches). 12 Questions You Must Ask Your Staff. I'm not one for form-ticking appraisals. But I think these questions help elicit the truth. And once you have an honest answer, you can give your honest coaching and leadership pep-talk. I wish I'd known this when I had 60 people to manage. It would have made life much better for all of us.
January 12th - My Predictions for 2011
Everyone is making predictions about what 2011 holds. And I thought I'd try and come up with some new ones. But guess what? My predictions for this year are the same as the last. So if you have a couple of minutes have a read and see if any of these ring a bell.
You can probably guess my 2012 predictions too...
January 6th - Today is the day of Epiphany
Epiphany is a religious ceremony.
But today I am using it as a word to describe the
"sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience." page and I'll even show you why you need to do it
January 3 - State of the Economy
Many people are fearful of 2011 and what it will bring.
Some people will take part in the Cycle of Doom.
You know, the one that sees you slashing costs, prices and profits.
And if you search Google for "Fear" you'll find there are 150M results.
But do you know what?
Your business is still only about three things.
1 Generating Leads
2 Converting Leads to Clients
3 Getting Clients to buy again
You just have to make sure you are going where the money is.
Because person A is still buying from person B.
Ferrari still sells out before they even make the car.
You have just got to give more value than what someone is paying you.
And make sure you are marketing to those that can afford to pay.
If you aren't doing this, change the sales and change your self to ensure you are.
Because more people search for hope than fear.
Which means you have a lot to look forward to if you can tap into this hope.
"it was the best of times and the worst of times."
The choice is yours.
December 15th - How Newsworthy Are You?
Publicity is FREE, powerful and will turn you into a local expert.
And your kids will love it too...
One of the best ways to get media coverage is to start sending out regular press releases to your local media.
It’s cheaper than advertising.
It’s probably going to be read by more people. And it’s powerful.
But where do you start?
The key is to think of all the things that are newsworthy.
You’d be surprised at what local media will pick up.
I've made a list of things that can get you coverage.
Click on the link below.
http://goo.gl/QTaVr
Send me your successes!
December 7th - Captain Compensation, NOTW style marketing
November 26th - Check your Google Preview out
Amazon.co.uk Widgets Here's a free book on "creating customer evangelists." It's a series of case studies of companies that put referrals at the heart of everything. If you don't have a 100% referral score, and by that I mean 100% of existing clients give you referrals you might want to do two things. 1 Read some of this book for inspiration You see, whilst last week I talked about customer lifetime value, (the amount £'s someone spends with you over their lifetime with you) I neglected the referral aspect. Getting a client at break-even can be ok if you get referrals (even if you are a one-off transaction type business). You have to make it frictionless for someone to give you referrals and be worthy of them. And you can only do this by finding out who is referring you and who isn't. And having a system in place that expects referrals and asks for them, in the right way. And you probably should reward the referrer and referred. Here's the book http://creatingcustomerevangelists.com/testify/testify.pdf If you aren't being pro-active on referrals there's good news. More money is just around the corner. Maybe just calling your clients a week, 12 weeks and 30 weeks after completing their case will enable you to prove you're worthy and get those referrals. Simple but I bet 99% of firms don't do it. PS - Thanks for the Google Magic purchases everyone! PPS Referral Network Building - The Ultimate List PPS A surveyor I know is aiming to get referrals from solicitors with.. "Refer Surveys To Me And If England Win The Rugby World Cup Want to know how? Click here
February 24th - What Does Groupon Teach Solicitors? You may have heard about Groupon.
It's a company that makes it money by sending offers to a large email opt-in list.
It profits by taking a share of the sales (25%).
It also stipulates that deals have to be 50% off normal price or some other "great" offer.
So Small and Medium Businesses (SMB’s) that use Groupon can give away 75% of the price of their product.
IS THIS A WISE THING TO DO?
All SMB's should know about customer lifetime value.
This is the key to using Groupon.
It helps you to decide what price you can afford to sell your initial service at.
Ultimately even if you lose money on your first sale, providing you have a good marketing sequence you can turn a one-off into a long term client and get referrals.
FIND, GET, KEEP AND GROW.
Groupon can do the first two. It’s up to merchants to do the last two.
What's this got to do with you?
More and more media owners are moving to pay-per-performance models.
Even major directories are going this way.
And I am doing it at the moment with solicitors and local newspapers.
Law firms just pay per each call they receive rather than for space.
You too can try this with your local media. (Ask me how).
And secondly, this is a reminder email that client liftetime value is a huge indicator of profitability.
Getting a loyal client at break even and getting systematic repeat purchases....
That's a system that's worth something.
PS Marketing sequences video one
Marketing sequences video two
PPS I'm speaking to Groupon about a client in the Body Stress Release area...
Not sure if Groupon will do a Wills offer but I'll ask them and let you know.
February 22nd - Do Your Solicitor Clients Understand What Your Service Will Be? When someone buys something from you do you make it absolutely clear what will happen from that moment onwards? The reason I ask is because if someone doesn't know when they will receive your service and how it is going to be delivered, they will almost certainly have to check up with you. This takes up your time, makes the client unhappy What do you do to make sure someone understands what it is you will deliver as a service? I guess this is basic stuff, like answering the phone well and making sure everyone knows the portfolio of things you offer. But it's often the basics that are overlooked in life because a) people assume everyone knows and b) most people are only really concerned about their own job. The best thing you can do to improve how you There'll soon be a list of things you can do to convert more enquiries into leads and service your existing clients better. I guarantee it. In fact, get yourself a recording phone number from Admeter , put it on your website, and if you don't agree that it helps you win more business after 60 days, I'll pay your first month's charges. I'm an evangelist for tracking and recording calls and with my guarantee what do you have to lose? February 16th - Finding, Getting, Keeping, Growing Clients. Here's an interview I did for www.hireyourvirtualassistant.com - feel free to watch. February 15th - Your New Solicitor Services To Market
Someone complained to me the other day that they "didn't have any new services to market to their clients." I asked them if every client knew about every service they already offered? The answer was "No". "Then you have new services to market" I said. Watch the video http://screenr.com/KAA
February 9th - Second Opinion Services For Clients
I've been hearing clients talk about their experience with solicitors. (The beauty of call recording as research!) Many of them have explained they are not sure if they are getting the right service and advice. I think this is a natural response from some clients. They may have been expecting a different service when they engaged their solicitor. Or they may not have expected it to be "so expensive". Or they may have made the wrong choice of solicitor in the first place. Perhaps it's worth looking at making your services "checklist-able" so that clients know exactly what they will get. (Make sure you add in everything you do And secondly, perhaps it's worth creating a "second opinion" service on a fixed fee that reviews other solicitor's work. Ethically, some solicitors may not be comfortable about this. And I know there are some that specialise in going after other firms. But I know there are probably a percentage of clients that would like a non-confrontational second opinion, (and may transfer their business over to you). A belt and braces approach appeals to people. How you package this is up to you. It's common practise in many service industries to get a second opinion and the easier you make it the easier you'll get clients.
February 1st - Are You A Law Firm Marketing Expert?
January 27th - Solicitors Online Branding Is Serious
Have you checked your own online "brand" recently? After all Googling you is the first thing many people do when they talk to someone new for the first time. Try Googling yourself. What do you see? If you aren't happy about it you are going to have to do something. I did it to my name and found I'm ok with the results. I even found an article I wrote for Estate Agent Today which has been read more than 800 times that I'd forgotten about. http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Boyd-Butler-Blog2 And if you have no online presence at all that's great...you can create whatever brand you want starting this week. You can become the expert in your town/city before the summer holidays. Here's how http://goo.gl/Nys0n Take a look at Sole Practitioner Paul Hajek's results http://goo.gl/IWlKe Paul gets more business by having a good online personal brand. (He's getting so good he's now even teaching others how to do it!) Tip for employment law solicitors... If people can get sacked because they use Facebook and have inappropriate photos on their profile maybe you can offer a Social media update to your business clients? http://www.metro.co.uk/news/853472-facebook-photos-could-cost-teachers-careers?ITO=socialnet-twitter-button
January 21st - Solicitor Websites Work Better With Chat
How many people come to your website and leave without calling or emailing you? I confidently say it will be hundreds a year. So what are you doing about it? Perhaps you could gently encourage people to engage with you by using chat. Check out this short video http://screenr.com/L0E And if you want to add chat to your website give Toolkit Websites a call or maybe chat to Jack online?
January 19th - Solicitors That Use Video For Marketing
Here's a quick tip. Google loves videos. So do people. (They watch telly right?) And it only takes 4 minutes from uploading a video to getting it on to Google. Here's the proof http://screenr.com/3Bl Videos do work and you don't have to have an expensive camera and set up. One video I did has now had 491 views and it didn't cost a penny to do. Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39f8XaH_sVE And how about this as a way of telling a personal story... http://goo.gl/JnvLX I hope this has given you a few ideas about how to use video in different ways in marketing your law firm. on how I do these videos let me know. PS are you using Skype? It's a great way to have a face to face meeting with prospects without them having to visit you...very convenient.
January 14th - 105,000 People Cannot Be Wrong
I was reading in BBC Wildlife about the only animal (apart from humans) that prepares for war through pre-combat bonding. It's the green woohoopoe from sub-Saharan Africa. Before battles with other birds the leaders preen their followers, giving them a pep-talk at the same time and helping to build the team. Giving pep-talks is what great human coaches do. I know this because I used to work in football and saw what could happen when a coach made each player 10% better than before. Reading FC won promotion to the Premier League with a record points total. But don't just take my word for it. (Here's what 105,000 employees said about managers as coaches). 12 Questions You Must Ask Your Staff. I'm not one for form-ticking appraisals. But I think these questions help elicit the truth. And once you have an honest answer, you can give your honest coaching and leadership pep-talk. I wish I'd known this when I had 60 people to manage. It would have made life much better for all of us.
January 12th - My Predictions for 2011
Everyone is making predictions about what 2011 holds. And I thought I'd try and come up with some new ones. But guess what? My predictions for this year are the same as the last. So if you have a couple of minutes have a read and see if any of these ring a bell.
You can probably guess my 2012 predictions too...
January 6th - Today is the day of Epiphany
Epiphany is a religious ceremony.
But today I am using it as a word to describe the
"sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience." page and I'll even show you why you need to do it
January 3 - State of the Economy
Many people are fearful of 2011 and what it will bring.
Some people will take part in the Cycle of Doom.
You know, the one that sees you slashing costs, prices and profits.
And if you search Google for "Fear" you'll find there are 150M results.
But do you know what?
Your business is still only about three things.
1 Generating Leads
2 Converting Leads to Clients
3 Getting Clients to buy again
You just have to make sure you are going where the money is.
Because person A is still buying from person B.
Ferrari still sells out before they even make the car.
You have just got to give more value than what someone is paying you.
And make sure you are marketing to those that can afford to pay.
If you aren't doing this, change the sales and change your self to ensure you are.
Because more people search for hope than fear.
Which means you have a lot to look forward to if you can tap into this hope.
"it was the best of times and the worst of times."
The choice is yours.
December 15th - How Newsworthy Are You?
Publicity is FREE, powerful and will turn you into a local expert.
And your kids will love it too...
One of the best ways to get media coverage is to start sending out regular press releases to your local media.
It’s cheaper than advertising.
It’s probably going to be read by more people. And it’s powerful.
But where do you start?
The key is to think of all the things that are newsworthy.
You’d be surprised at what local media will pick up.
I've made a list of things that can get you coverage.
Click on the link below.
http://goo.gl/QTaVr
Send me your successes!
December 7th - Captain Compensation, NOTW style marketing
November 26th - Check your Google Preview out
Amazon.co.uk Widgets Here's a free book on "creating customer evangelists." It's a series of case studies of companies that put referrals at the heart of everything. If you don't have a 100% referral score, and by that I mean 100% of existing clients give you referrals you might want to do two things. 1 Read some of this book for inspiration You see, whilst last week I talked about customer lifetime value, (the amount £'s someone spends with you over their lifetime with you) I neglected the referral aspect. Getting a client at break-even can be ok if you get referrals (even if you are a one-off transaction type business). You have to make it frictionless for someone to give you referrals and be worthy of them. And you can only do this by finding out who is referring you and who isn't. And having a system in place that expects referrals and asks for them, in the right way. And you probably should reward the referrer and referred. Here's the book http://creatingcustomerevangelists.com/testify/testify.pdf If you aren't being pro-active on referrals there's good news. More money is just around the corner. Maybe just calling your clients a week, 12 weeks and 30 weeks after completing their case will enable you to prove you're worthy and get those referrals. Simple but I bet 99% of firms don't do it. PS - Thanks for the Google Magic purchases everyone! PPS Referral Network Building - The Ultimate List PPS A surveyor I know is aiming to get referrals from solicitors with.. "Refer Surveys To Me And If England Win The Rugby World Cup Want to know how? Click here
February 24th - What Does Groupon Teach Solicitors? You may have heard about Groupon.
It's a company that makes it money by sending offers to a large email opt-in list.
It profits by taking a share of the sales (25%).
It also stipulates that deals have to be 50% off normal price or some other "great" offer.
So Small and Medium Businesses (SMB’s) that use Groupon can give away 75% of the price of their product.
IS THIS A WISE THING TO DO?
All SMB's should know about customer lifetime value.
This is the key to using Groupon.
It helps you to decide what price you can afford to sell your initial service at.
Ultimately even if you lose money on your first sale, providing you have a good marketing sequence you can turn a one-off into a long term client and get referrals.
FIND, GET, KEEP AND GROW.
Groupon can do the first two. It’s up to merchants to do the last two.
What's this got to do with you?
More and more media owners are moving to pay-per-performance models.
Even major directories are going this way.
And I am doing it at the moment with solicitors and local newspapers.
Law firms just pay per each call they receive rather than for space.
You too can try this with your local media. (Ask me how).
And secondly, this is a reminder email that client liftetime value is a huge indicator of profitability.
Getting a loyal client at break even and getting systematic repeat purchases....
That's a system that's worth something.
PS Marketing sequences video one
Marketing sequences video two
PPS I'm speaking to Groupon about a client in the Body Stress Release area...
Not sure if Groupon will do a Wills offer but I'll ask them and let you know.
February 22nd - Do Your Solicitor Clients Understand What Your Service Will Be? When someone buys something from you do you make it absolutely clear what will happen from that moment onwards? The reason I ask is because if someone doesn't know when they will receive your service and how it is going to be delivered, they will almost certainly have to check up with you. This takes up your time, makes the client unhappy What do you do to make sure someone understands what it is you will deliver as a service? I guess this is basic stuff, like answering the phone well and making sure everyone knows the portfolio of things you offer. But it's often the basics that are overlooked in life because a) people assume everyone knows and b) most people are only really concerned about their own job. The best thing you can do to improve how you There'll soon be a list of things you can do to convert more enquiries into leads and service your existing clients better. I guarantee it. In fact, get yourself a recording phone number from Admeter , put it on your website, and if you don't agree that it helps you win more business after 60 days, I'll pay your first month's charges. I'm an evangelist for tracking and recording calls and with my guarantee what do you have to lose? February 16th - Finding, Getting, Keeping, Growing Clients. Here's an interview I did for www.hireyourvirtualassistant.com - feel free to watch. February 15th - Your New Solicitor Services To Market
Someone complained to me the other day that they "didn't have any new services to market to their clients." I asked them if every client knew about every service they already offered? The answer was "No". "Then you have new services to market" I said. Watch the video http://screenr.com/KAA
February 9th - Second Opinion Services For Clients
I've been hearing clients talk about their experience with solicitors. (The beauty of call recording as research!) Many of them have explained they are not sure if they are getting the right service and advice. I think this is a natural response from some clients. They may have been expecting a different service when they engaged their solicitor. Or they may not have expected it to be "so expensive". Or they may have made the wrong choice of solicitor in the first place. Perhaps it's worth looking at making your services "checklist-able" so that clients know exactly what they will get. (Make sure you add in everything you do And secondly, perhaps it's worth creating a "second opinion" service on a fixed fee that reviews other solicitor's work. Ethically, some solicitors may not be comfortable about this. And I know there are some that specialise in going after other firms. But I know there are probably a percentage of clients that would like a non-confrontational second opinion, (and may transfer their business over to you). A belt and braces approach appeals to people. How you package this is up to you. It's common practise in many service industries to get a second opinion and the easier you make it the easier you'll get clients.
February 1st - Are You A Law Firm Marketing Expert?
January 27th - Solicitors Online Branding Is Serious
Have you checked your own online "brand" recently? After all Googling you is the first thing many people do when they talk to someone new for the first time. Try Googling yourself. What do you see? If you aren't happy about it you are going to have to do something. I did it to my name and found I'm ok with the results. I even found an article I wrote for Estate Agent Today which has been read more than 800 times that I'd forgotten about. http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Boyd-Butler-Blog2 And if you have no online presence at all that's great...you can create whatever brand you want starting this week. You can become the expert in your town/city before the summer holidays. Here's how http://goo.gl/Nys0n Take a look at Sole Practitioner Paul Hajek's results http://goo.gl/IWlKe Paul gets more business by having a good online personal brand. (He's getting so good he's now even teaching others how to do it!) Tip for employment law solicitors... If people can get sacked because they use Facebook and have inappropriate photos on their profile maybe you can offer a Social media update to your business clients? http://www.metro.co.uk/news/853472-facebook-photos-could-cost-teachers-careers?ITO=socialnet-twitter-button
January 21st - Solicitor Websites Work Better With Chat
How many people come to your website and leave without calling or emailing you? I confidently say it will be hundreds a year. So what are you doing about it? Perhaps you could gently encourage people to engage with you by using chat. Check out this short video http://screenr.com/L0E And if you want to add chat to your website give Toolkit Websites a call or maybe chat to Jack online?
January 19th - Solicitors That Use Video For Marketing
Here's a quick tip. Google loves videos. So do people. (They watch telly right?) And it only takes 4 minutes from uploading a video to getting it on to Google. Here's the proof http://screenr.com/3Bl Videos do work and you don't have to have an expensive camera and set up. One video I did has now had 491 views and it didn't cost a penny to do. Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39f8XaH_sVE And how about this as a way of telling a personal story... http://goo.gl/JnvLX I hope this has given you a few ideas about how to use video in different ways in marketing your law firm. on how I do these videos let me know. PS are you using Skype? It's a great way to have a face to face meeting with prospects without them having to visit you...very convenient.
January 14th - 105,000 People Cannot Be Wrong
I was reading in BBC Wildlife about the only animal (apart from humans) that prepares for war through pre-combat bonding. It's the green woohoopoe from sub-Saharan Africa. Before battles with other birds the leaders preen their followers, giving them a pep-talk at the same time and helping to build the team. Giving pep-talks is what great human coaches do. I know this because I used to work in football and saw what could happen when a coach made each player 10% better than before. Reading FC won promotion to the Premier League with a record points total. But don't just take my word for it. (Here's what 105,000 employees said about managers as coaches). 12 Questions You Must Ask Your Staff. I'm not one for form-ticking appraisals. But I think these questions help elicit the truth. And once you have an honest answer, you can give your honest coaching and leadership pep-talk. I wish I'd known this when I had 60 people to manage. It would have made life much better for all of us.
January 12th - My Predictions for 2011
Everyone is making predictions about what 2011 holds. And I thought I'd try and come up with some new ones. But guess what? My predictions for this year are the same as the last. So if you have a couple of minutes have a read and see if any of these ring a bell.
You can probably guess my 2012 predictions too...
January 6th - Today is the day of Epiphany
Epiphany is a religious ceremony.
But today I am using it as a word to describe the
"sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience." page and I'll even show you why you need to do it
January 3 - State of the Economy
Many people are fearful of 2011 and what it will bring.
Some people will take part in the Cycle of Doom.
You know, the one that sees you slashing costs, prices and profits.
And if you search Google for "Fear" you'll find there are 150M results.
But do you know what?
Your business is still only about three things.
1 Generating Leads
2 Converting Leads to Clients
3 Getting Clients to buy again
You just have to make sure you are going where the money is.
Because person A is still buying from person B.
Ferrari still sells out before they even make the car.
You have just got to give more value than what someone is paying you.
And make sure you are marketing to those that can afford to pay.
If you aren't doing this, change the sales and change your self to ensure you are.
Because more people search for hope than fear.
Which means you have a lot to look forward to if you can tap into this hope.
"it was the best of times and the worst of times."
The choice is yours.
December 15th - How Newsworthy Are You?
Publicity is FREE, powerful and will turn you into a local expert.
And your kids will love it too...
One of the best ways to get media coverage is to start sending out regular press releases to your local media.
It’s cheaper than advertising.
It’s probably going to be read by more people. And it’s powerful.
But where do you start?
The key is to think of all the things that are newsworthy.
You’d be surprised at what local media will pick up.
I've made a list of things that can get you coverage.
Click on the link below.
http://goo.gl/QTaVr
Send me your successes!
December 7th - Captain Compensation, NOTW style marketing
November 26th - Check your Google Preview out
Amazon.co.uk Widgets Here's a free book on "creating customer evangelists." It's a series of case studies of companies that put referrals at the heart of everything. If you don't have a 100% referral score, and by that I mean 100% of existing clients give you referrals you might want to do two things. 1 Read some of this book for inspiration You see, whilst last week I talked about customer lifetime value, (the amount £'s someone spends with you over their lifetime with you) I neglected the referral aspect. Getting a client at break-even can be ok if you get referrals (even if you are a one-off transaction type business). You have to make it frictionless for someone to give you referrals and be worthy of them. And you can only do this by finding out who is referring you and who isn't. And having a system in place that expects referrals and asks for them, in the right way. And you probably should reward the referrer and referred. Here's the book http://creatingcustomerevangelists.com/testify/testify.pdf If you aren't being pro-active on referrals there's good news. More money is just around the corner. Maybe just calling your clients a week, 12 weeks and 30 weeks after completing their case will enable you to prove you're worthy and get those referrals. Simple but I bet 99% of firms don't do it. PS - Thanks for the Google Magic purchases everyone! PPS Referral Network Building - The Ultimate List PPS A surveyor I know is aiming to get referrals from solicitors with.. "Refer Surveys To Me And If England Win The Rugby World Cup Want to know how? Click here
February 24th - What Does Groupon Teach Solicitors? You may have heard about Groupon.
It's a company that makes it money by sending offers to a large email opt-in list.
It profits by taking a share of the sales (25%).
It also stipulates that deals have to be 50% off normal price or some other "great" offer.
So Small and Medium Businesses (SMB’s) that use Groupon can give away 75% of the price of their product.
IS THIS A WISE THING TO DO?
All SMB's should know about customer lifetime value.
This is the key to using Groupon.
It helps you to decide what price you can afford to sell your initial service at.
Ultimately even if you lose money on your first sale, providing you have a good marketing sequence you can turn a one-off into a long term client and get referrals.
FIND, GET, KEEP AND GROW.
Groupon can do the first two. It’s up to merchants to do the last two.
What's this got to do with you?
More and more media owners are moving to pay-per-performance models.
Even major directories are going this way.
And I am doing it at the moment with solicitors and local newspapers.
Law firms just pay per each call they receive rather than for space.
You too can try this with your local media. (Ask me how).
And secondly, this is a reminder email that client liftetime value is a huge indicator of profitability.
Getting a loyal client at break even and getting systematic repeat purchases....
That's a system that's worth something.
PS Marketing sequences video one
Marketing sequences video two
PPS I'm speaking to Groupon about a client in the Body Stress Release area...
Not sure if Groupon will do a Wills offer but I'll ask them and let you know.
February 22nd - Do Your Solicitor Clients Understand What Your Service Will Be? When someone buys something from you do you make it absolutely clear what will happen from that moment onwards? The reason I ask is because if someone doesn't know when they will receive your service and how it is going to be delivered, they will almost certainly have to check up with you. This takes up your time, makes the client unhappy What do you do to make sure someone understands what it is you will deliver as a service? I guess this is basic stuff, like answering the phone well and making sure everyone knows the portfolio of things you offer. But it's often the basics that are overlooked in life because a) people assume everyone knows and b) most people are only really concerned about their own job. The best thing you can do to improve how you There'll soon be a list of things you can do to convert more enquiries into leads and service your existing clients better. I guarantee it. In fact, get yourself a recording phone number from Admeter , put it on your website, and if you don't agree that it helps you win more business after 60 days, I'll pay your first month's charges. I'm an evangelist for tracking and recording calls and with my guarantee what do you have to lose? February 16th - Finding, Getting, Keeping, Growing Clients. Here's an interview I did for www.hireyourvirtualassistant.com - feel free to watch. February 15th - Your New Solicitor Services To Market
Someone complained to me the other day that they "didn't have any new services to market to their clients." I asked them if every client knew about every service they already offered? The answer was "No". "Then you have new services to market" I said. Watch the video http://screenr.com/KAA
February 9th - Second Opinion Services For Clients
I've been hearing clients talk about their experience with solicitors. (The beauty of call recording as research!) Many of them have explained they are not sure if they are getting the right service and advice. I think this is a natural response from some clients. They may have been expecting a different service when they engaged their solicitor. Or they may not have expected it to be "so expensive". Or they may have made the wrong choice of solicitor in the first place. Perhaps it's worth looking at making your services "checklist-able" so that clients know exactly what they will get. (Make sure you add in everything you do And secondly, perhaps it's worth creating a "second opinion" service on a fixed fee that reviews other solicitor's work. Ethically, some solicitors may not be comfortable about this. And I know there are some that specialise in going after other firms. But I know there are probably a percentage of clients that would like a non-confrontational second opinion, (and may transfer their business over to you). A belt and braces approach appeals to people. How you package this is up to you. It's common practise in many service industries to get a second opinion and the easier you make it the easier you'll get clients.
February 1st - Are You A Law Firm Marketing Expert?
January 27th - Solicitors Online Branding Is Serious
Have you checked your own online "brand" recently? After all Googling you is the first thing many people do when they talk to someone new for the first time. Try Googling yourself. What do you see? If you aren't happy about it you are going to have to do something. I did it to my name and found I'm ok with the results. I even found an article I wrote for Estate Agent Today which has been read more than 800 times that I'd forgotten about. http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Boyd-Butler-Blog2 And if you have no online presence at all that's great...you can create whatever brand you want starting this week. You can become the expert in your town/city before the summer holidays. Here's how http://goo.gl/Nys0n Take a look at Sole Practitioner Paul Hajek's results http://goo.gl/IWlKe Paul gets more business by having a good online personal brand. (He's getting so good he's now even teaching others how to do it!) Tip for employment law solicitors... If people can get sacked because they use Facebook and have inappropriate photos on their profile maybe you can offer a Social media update to your business clients? http://www.metro.co.uk/news/853472-facebook-photos-could-cost-teachers-careers?ITO=socialnet-twitter-button
January 21st - Solicitor Websites Work Better With Chat
How many people come to your website and leave without calling or emailing you? I confidently say it will be hundreds a year. So what are you doing about it? Perhaps you could gently encourage people to engage with you by using chat. Check out this short video http://screenr.com/L0E And if you want to add chat to your website give Toolkit Websites a call or maybe chat to Jack online?
January 19th - Solicitors That Use Video For Marketing
Here's a quick tip. Google loves videos. So do people. (They watch telly right?) And it only takes 4 minutes from uploading a video to getting it on to Google. Here's the proof http://screenr.com/3Bl Videos do work and you don't have to have an expensive camera and set up. One video I did has now had 491 views and it didn't cost a penny to do. Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39f8XaH_sVE And how about this as a way of telling a personal story... http://goo.gl/JnvLX I hope this has given you a few ideas about how to use video in different ways in marketing your law firm. on how I do these videos let me know. PS are you using Skype? It's a great way to have a face to face meeting with prospects without them having to visit you...very convenient.
January 14th - 105,000 People Cannot Be Wrong
I was reading in BBC Wildlife about the only animal (apart from humans) that prepares for war through pre-combat bonding. It's the green woohoopoe from sub-Saharan Africa. Before battles with other birds the leaders preen their followers, giving them a pep-talk at the same time and helping to build the team. Giving pep-talks is what great human coaches do. I know this because I used to work in football and saw what could happen when a coach made each player 10% better than before. Reading FC won promotion to the Premier League with a record points total. But don't just take my word for it. (Here's what 105,000 employees said about managers as coaches). 12 Questions You Must Ask Your Staff. I'm not one for form-ticking appraisals. But I think these questions help elicit the truth. And once you have an honest answer, you can give your honest coaching and leadership pep-talk. I wish I'd known this when I had 60 people to manage. It would have made life much better for all of us.
January 12th - My Predictions for 2011
Everyone is making predictions about what 2011 holds. And I thought I'd try and come up with some new ones. But guess what? My predictions for this year are the same as the last. So if you have a couple of minutes have a read and see if any of these ring a bell.
You can probably guess my 2012 predictions too...
January 6th - Today is the day of Epiphany
Epiphany is a religious ceremony.
But today I am using it as a word to describe the
"sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential mean
