legal consumers

And, in the End: Why All Your Marketing Content Needs (Is) a Call to Action

admin November 30, 2022

The Beatles wrote that ‘All You Need Is Love’. But, from a marketing perspective, that’s not exactly right. You need love, sure. But, you also need a call to action.

What’s a ‘call to action’? It’s simply what you want someone to do.

‘Hey, visit my website.’

‘Let’s schedule a time to get coffee.’

‘Listen to my new podcast, at this link.’

One of the reasons you need a call to action is because people are so busy these days, with so much information flying in their faces at all times, that you really need to generate an obvious next step.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, especially for potential law firm clients, many of whom have never worked with a law firm before, and don’t know much about the legal process – they want to know what happens next, and what they should do to move things forward.

So, in the end, any piece of content you produce, reproduce or repurpose, should have at least one call to action, so that you can allow your potential clients and referral sources, to move the ball forward. Otherwise, they won’t, and you may lose new business because of it.

Marketing, Messaging, Technology

The Goldbergs: The Real Trick is to Uncomplicate Your Marketing

admin November 28, 2022

A Rube Goldberg Machine is an overly-complicated chain reaction program, kind of like the one in the opening sequence of ‘Back to the Future’.

A lot of law firm marketing programs look just like that: half-formed marketing strategies, untested hypotheses, unknown results. When it comes to marketing their practices, most law firm owners rely almost exclusively on referral marketing, and just hope that it keeps working. Literally everything else is left up to chance.

Maybe a Rube Goldberg Machine is the kinder, gentler way to describe it. But, it’s more like they’re throwing shit against the wall, to see what sticks.

And, you can bet your ass that those overly-complicated marketing programs you’ve designed, aren’t particularly inviting to your potential clients, either – who have to wade through the morass. Legal consumers, like all consumers in the convenience economy, most highly prize engagement and speed above all else.

So, as 2022 draws to a close, and if your law firm marketing program seems less like a program, and more like a mess, you can still take some small steps to launching something better in 2023. But, it will require you to be thoughtful about what you’re doing, and to get granular about the processes you build, as you try to place yourself in the shoes of your clients.

It’s possible to generate an effective marketing plan that features helpful automations; you just have to put the time in . . . and put away the duct tape.

(As it turns out, everything is not fixable with duct tape.)

Messaging, Marketing

All Saints Day: Hallmarks of Good Clients

admin November 6, 2022

The quest for most lawyers is to acquire the best possible clients, who always pay in full. I know, right: from your lips to God’s ear.

But, how do you know if a client is a ‘good’ client, before working with them?

Just as you can look for ‘red flags’, indicating that clients would be a poor fit for you law firm, you may be pleasantly surprised by some attributes of your potential clients, which will make their hire by you ‘no-brainers’.

What does that list look like?

-Potential clients who are inquisitive about the legal process, but aren’t bossy about what they want you to do, likely better understand your role as a guide into the legal system, than the sort of client who wants you to just bend to their wishes all the time.

-Potential clients, who are inquisitive about the payment process, and the total cost of representation, aren’t potentially bad clients – they’re just asking the right questions. You can start to worry if they begin to hunt for discounts.

-Potential clients who have reasonable expectations, and don’t rush you, are likely to give you some space to breathe, when you do start to represent them.

-On a related note, potential clients who aren’t asking you to do things before the attorney-client relationship is agreed to, have a good understanding of how the attorney-client relationship works – and have a certain level of respect for your work, even before it’s begun.

-Potential clients who do things for you when you ask for them during the intake process (like scheduling appointments, paying fees and signing things) are likely to become the sorts of clients that get you things when you need them, when you start representing them.

Better to find out in advance, about who your best clients will be. And there are clear markers that will help you to identify them.

Messaging, Marketing

Boo Hoo: Scary Clients to Avoid

admin November 6, 2022

Effectively vetting clients is one of the more important things you can do as a law firm owner, because those bad clients can haunt you for years and years. The best policy is to never take them on.

But, what are the signs you should be looking for?

Here’s a list of potential clients to avoid:

-Potential clients who have worked with more than 1 other lawyer, especially with respect to the matter they want to hire you for.

-Potential clients who ask for discounts, or don’t pay promptly. (Asking a lead to pay for a consultation is a good way to test their bona fides.)

-Potential clients who seem to think they understand the law better than you do.

-Potential clients who ‘overshare’ on the web, including via social channels. (A thoroughly modern problem.)

-Potential clients who contact you incessantly, including outside of work hours, with the expectation of an immediate response.

You’ll likely be able to develop a larger list of ‘red flags’, unique to your own experience – but, this catalogue can become a good starting point for you, in your quest to better vet your leads.

Messaging

Talk It Out: Communicating with Potential Clients About Communicating with You

admin October 29, 2022

Lawyers generally like to avoid upfront conversations about money and communications, as they try to cross the finish line to signing on new clients. The reason, probably, is that they feel that that will slow up the process of conversion. And, that’s possibly true – the less time you spend talking about those things, the more likely it is to speed up the conversion process, because you’re removing a couple of hurdles. Of course, that can lead to problems later on. In terms of pricing, no one likes to be surprised by terms; and, while you might get lucky, with a client willing to pay a heretofore unseen rate, chances are there is likely to be some pushback.

And, you’ll probably regret your decision to not be forthright about addressing client communications, when you get your first 3 am text. Yeah, it happens.

But, the fact of the matter is that lawyers have more power over their representation models than they think; they just need to speak it into existence – literally.

That’s why it’s so important to talk about communication preferences at the outset of the representation, so everyone is on the same page. And, ideally, that is done via direct communication, and backed up by a clause in, or an addendum to, the engagement agreement.

You can also solicit client feedback on communication preferences, if you prefer to offer a more dynamic solution.

But, the point is that, if you want your clients to use certain communication parameters in the course of the attorney-client relationship . . . you just have to ask.