Not the most professional.
Not the best.
But a very important
video
Here it is...
http://screenr.com/hZp
PS If you continually test your prices
and have no problems with getting
premium prices for your services you don't
waste time watching this...but one of my clients
doubled his prices after doing this and has
had 12 record months...
Some lawyers think that marketing is a dirty word. They think it’s a bit distasteful. That we “don’t do things that way.” Which is wrong. (And you know it ;-) Because marketing can be a matter of life or death. Think I’m overplaying it? Consider the marketing that a charity like Save The Children engages in. If they market well, they make more money. And they save lives. If they get it wrong, fewer children are saved. If you are marketing ethically it is the right thing to do and profitable. And that’s what you should be thinking when you market. What are you doing that is good. How are you helping? What problems are you solving? And if you get great at marketing yourself wouldn’t it be great to have lots more customers and be able to donate a little bit to charity yourself? What about getting involved in the free Wills scheme for over 50's? http://www.icr.ac.uk/support_us/help_us_in_your_will/will_for_free/index.shtml Remember probate comes from Wills... If you know which charities your clients support? (hint...hint...more reciprococity) you're on to a win -win. So make it systematic to find out.
http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/sitedata/Misc/Psychology-GreatLegalMarke.pdf
One of the problems buyers have is choosing.
Because choosing a law firm means you might get the choice wrong.
And people are worried about making mistakes. That's natural.
Everything you can do to prevent someone making a mistake in choosing
you will help you get more clients. Testimonials (Social Proof), Referrals, (Trust)
Chambers/Lexcel (Authority) all help.
And so do guarantees. The bigger the guarantee the less risk there is for someone to get it wrong by choosing your solicitors firm.
So it's great to see one of the best marketed firms, Bonnalack and Bishop
using a guarantee with commercial litigation. Tim Bishop, who runs the firm, is more entreprenuer than lawyer. He has taken a marketing-focussed approach to his firm. It's one you can swipe and deploy a number of ideas from.
What guarantees can you make to get more people to choose your law firm?
For more on guarantees and marketing law firms click here.
Great Legal Marketers,
Do you 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 client 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 law firm referrals for you.
And those that really enthuse...
you must 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 client 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!
Do you collect testimonials and referrals for your law firm?
You know that your clients want great service right?
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 client 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!
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 This is no different from any industry where the owner is also a worker, Where law firms should focus is on providing solutions Advice is seen as expensive and ubiquitous. People will pay any price for solutions. Many law firms are members of my newsletter. If you create a system that provides solutions profitably It is almost immune to any threats because it is so valuable to clients The system is based on; Find what people want = solutions to their problems. Rinse and repeat with new solutions when you find out The beauty of this is that you also have something you can sell (See Gerber's E-Myth Revisited book). The answer is always the same in business. Great marketing gives you more money. Apple Mac anyone?
are in the thick of things on a daily basis.
(except the onerous and unfair restraints put on solicitors by regulation).
and not just advice.
Som even act on it.
But if I were to provide the solution to your legal marketing problems and
do it for you...i.e. give you lots of willing buyers that would
pay the price you want...what would you pay me?
and it is not reliant on time billed or geography
then you have something very valuable.
and prospects will find you with good marketing.
Make sure there are enough of them = market.
Devise a way of delivering it = profitably.
Communicate it to them you have the solution = marketing.
more niches.
when you retire or when you want to. Because it's similar to a franchise.
You can invest more in the solution.
You get more clients because of it.
Which you re-invest in marketing.
In case you didn't know. Home Information Packs are no more.
CLG Secretary of State Eric Pickles said: “HIPs are history. This action will encourage sellers back into the market and help the market as a whole, and the economy recover."
That's Government PR.
Time for some PR in your local media?
I'm sure your local paper/radio station wants a solicitor's comment...
Can you provide it? Of course you can...
And what about the legal consequences for your Estate Agent
partners? Let them know the score...
After all, with a HIPs revolution, they may be looking to change
other aspects of their business...
Like where they send their conveyancing...;-)
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
Here's that marketing video I promised you.
Andrew Woolley probably wants to keep it secret.
http://screenr.com/ADC (shh...don't tell him).
I've prepared a little video about
One of my clients has 100% satisfaction as his 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? 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?
http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/di/247916
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.
I'm going to take a look at what
Great Legal Marketing members
do well over a few newsletters.
Because as far as I know you are
well ahead of the curve on legal marketing.
First up is a new member, Data Protection And IP Lawyer Pritchetts Law.
I like the way she writes this article with a good biography,
good sub-headings (for people like
me that scan the page) and
a good top ten list.
Here's the article link.
http://www.legalrss.co.uk/pritchettslaw/threat-of-500k-data-protection-fines-from-6-april-2010-stephanie-pritchett-releases-top-10-data-protection-compliance-tips
Pritchetts Law is run by Stephanie
Pritchett.
Too often I see boring articles, written
in leaglease that you can't send out
to a client base or as a press release.
Remember it's about leveraging all your
marketing to get the maximum return.
Here's my expert guide to article writing - click here
Which means anything you write or record
should be able to go out to at least 5 different
channels...e.g. local paper/radio/client base/
chamber of commerce/partners.
Next up...
Andrew Woolley's http://www.family-lawfirm.co.uk
and how they get business nationwide...
And if you see any great examples out there
please let me know.
PS
If you don't have a Data Protection
and Privacy lawyer but your clients
want this service...get in touch with Stephanie.
(hint...a way for you to make more money without
doing the work).
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