Why would you want to go to all the expense and hassle of finding new legal clients when there are lots of companies that have already done the hard marketing work for solicitors like you?
They have spent the marketing money, they have sold to the client and they have established a bond. Now the time is ripe for you to feed off these hosts.
This does not mean that you have to go about your feeding in a shady way.
Far from it. You want a relationship with your host where they endorse your product or service. Where they do the selling for you, to their expensively acquired customers. (See how Thompsons do it by clicking on the picture to the right)
When you order a book from Amazon, what do you notice when the package arrives?
Vistaprint, Virgin Wines and Laithwaites are using Amazon to sell their products.
These companies offer their best deals.
This helps Amazon, because as an Amazon customer you are getting something of value. And it helps Vistaprint, Virgin and Laithwaites because they are not paying for big marketing costs.
Ask this question:
Who already has customers or relationships with people that are like my best clients? It may be accountants, banks, business advisers. It may be funeral directors, estate agents, financial advisors.
Once you have identified them, contact those non-competing businesses and supply them with:
- The information about your service.
- Its quality and suitability for their clients.
- The testimonials you have confirming this.
Make sure that there is a logical link between their clients and what you are selling. What you need to do is get an endorsement from your host. Then you negotiate a fee which could be in kind services, donations to their charity or a straight percentage of sales.
How do you get other companies to accept your offer?
Firstly, always make sure you can deal with the CEO or business owner of the host. This is because they are profit oriented. Therefore they are more likely to respond to your suggestion that “You could make thousands of pounds from a deal, without any work”. Make sure you point out the following:
- Your service is non-competitive.
- It’s going to be sold to a list of clients they have already used, so it’s new money to them.
- They don’t have to spend a penny or do any work.
- You’ll guarantee any service sold.
- You’ll provide all printed material and pay for the postage and marketing costs, (unless they want a bigger piece of the action and pay for it).
- They can have all sales verified and even sent via their offices for verification.
Potential obstacles are that the host won’t understand what it is you are offering. Then you’ll have to explain the potential profits to his company.
There is no rule for who gets what in the host marketing pay off. Maybe it’s a fixed fee or a continuity commission over a long period of time or money per lead.
Show your host what he might make by working with you.
“Hey Mr Smith, I expect that I may be giving you a cheque for £27,000 in six months time, how does that sound? “
You can also show how doing a deal like this will enable them to see what leverage they really have with their clients.
Don’t be cheap with the commission.
The host benefits by making money he would not have had, he recoups some of his costs, and it also makes him realise there is more value in his clients. This helps him to spend more on advertising and marketing.
- Can you find another product to sell to your clients to make more money?
- Can you find another company with clients that want to buy your service?
- As the beneficiary make sure that you get an exclusive on doing this business.
- Be honest and be conservative.
You might baulk at giving all you profit away for the initial sale, but if you get subsequent sales, then this makes it profitable. So don’t be too picky when doing a deal. You have to get this thing off the ground.
This type of host/beneficiary relationship can also work with leads. On average it takes 7 contacts for someone to buy. So if you can buy leads that have only be contacted 3 or fewer times for a fraction of the cost it would take for you to generate them - then do it. Would you be able to buy leads from another lawyer? (Try it).
What are the services and products that complement precede and follow your product or services?
Make a list of all the companies. Contact them and propose a host beneficiary relationship. Don’t try and do it all in one go though! A letter should precede the call. Set up a systematic sequence of letter, call, fax, visit, etc. Every contact should offer value and eventually the relationship will be such that it will boost your business dramatically.
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