Legal Marketing Secrets

Do You Really Listen To Your Clients?

Adding to the economic conditions we are experiencing, the business of law is rapidly changing. 

Here a just a sampling of factors currently altering the legal landscape:

 Globalization for low level legal tasks
 Consolidation and the creation of mega firms
 Increased use of request for proposals (RFPs)
 Budgetary caps on fees
 Alternative billing
 Marketing of legal service plans
 De-equitizing law firm partners, closing of firms and layoffs
 Self-help legal guides
 Higher rates of lawyer depression and anxiety

A recent book by David Galbenski entitled “Unbound: How Entrepreneurship is Dramatically Transforming Legal Services Today” highlights the pressure that businesses are feeling and that if lawyers don’t adapt, they may not be around.

There is no doubt you have to be more creative in all that you do; whether its reviewing your cost structure or finding new ways to add value for your clients.  Getting your clients to talk to you about their needs and how they really feel about your services is a good place to start.  I spoke to one firm that set up an “Alternate Billing Committee”…yet they failed to ever invite one of their clients to discuss ideas with them. 

Go figure?

Despite what Richard Susskind predicts in his book…the end of lawyers is not going to happen. 
We have to blame someone for the predicaments we find ourselves in.

What is going to happen is that the lawyers that fail to really listen to their clients
will no longer hear from their clients at all.

What's Your Legal Marketing Message?

A lot of law firm marketing looks and sounds the same. 

What about yours? What's Your message?

When deciding on your message, you need to determine what is your irresistible offer, why people should hire you and what’s in it for them. In other words, what’s the quid pro quo? 

Does your message hit a nerve or pain point? Does it address solutions to those pain points?  Do you know what your really wants and how you're going to give it to them? 

Here are some ideas that will align your uniqueness with your message:

 Your reputation in the field
 Your special talents
 Your singular knowledge and approach
 Your trial skills
 Your mediation or negotiation skills
 Your ability to help a particular industry
 The skills you impart to a particular group of people
 The solutions you bring to a specific problem
 The ongoing references or contacts you can provide
 Your credibility in a particular field of knowledge
 Your personal accomplishments and results
 The client’s intrinsic trust in you
 The long-term results that the client will achieve

Whether it’s by practice, industry, problem, or a particular group of people,  your message is how your clients will view you and it will be the reason they want you as their attorney.  It represents the major advantage or benefit a client gets from hiring you (more pleasure or less pain) combined with an irresistible offer and a powerful experience. It’s targeted and strategic and sets you apart by making your solution the thirst quencher your client is craving. 

Hopefully, it's also fun and enjoyable.