The Rainmaker Blog : Law Firm Marketing and Business Development : The Rainmaker Institute : Stephen Fairley : Professional Legal Marketing

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Everyone is cash-conscious these days.  If you’re like most attorneys in small and solo law firms, you’re working harder than ever before just to get the same amount of business.  Here are 21 specific strategies to help you bootstrap your way to marketing success.

The Fortune is in the Follow up!

This bears repeating:  The Fortune is in the Follow Up!  I was speaking with an estate planning attorney who had a meeting with a very wealthy individual about two weeks ago.  It went great.  The attorney made a proposal to the prospect for a comprehensive estate plan and quoted him a fee around $5,000.  He believed the prospect would sign-up

However, after thinking about it for a few days, the prospect declined, citing the attorney’s high fee as the reason.  Now, this young man’s estate is worth well north of a million dollars.  His parents are multi-millionaires, so it’s not a matter of being able to afford it.  As an aside, I have found in virtually every case where a prospect quotes fees, it’s not really about the money; it’s because you failed to convince him of the true value of your solution.

When I inquired as to what my client was doing to follow-up and re-sell the prospect, my client stated “nothing” because his partner told him “we don’t chase clients.”  I rather pointedly stated I thought his partner was dead wrong.  Now is the time to increase your follow-up, not eliminate it. 

I coached him to immediately call the prospect and ask for a meeting with him and his parents and in this meeting to emphasize the value of having a comprehensive, bullet proof estate plan versus one cranked out by a mill.  We will see what happens when he follows through.

Fix Your Follow Up ASAP

Every lead, every prospect, every referral source and every client needs to be followed up with in a timely and consistent fashion.  Since you have a very limited amount of time to do so, you must learn how to automate the follow up process.  We recently helped one of our clients set up an autoresponder series to do just this. (An autoresponder is an automated process that sends out a pre-written series of email to your list.)

For example, if you meet with a prospective client who does not make a decision immediately, you can set them up with (with their permission of course) to receive information from your law firm.  This may consist of a series of five to ten emails that is sent every three to five days.

The first email may be: thank you for coming in to see us.  Here’s a link to our website for more information.  The second email may be.  There are 10 questions you must ask any attorney before you hire them to take your case.  Here are the first two questions…

On average, people require at least seven meaningful touches to move from being interested in you to being ready to buy from you.  Most attorneys stop after two or three touches because they falsely believe they are bothering the person.  As long as you are professional and courteous, most people perceive your persistence as caring about them and wanting their business, not bothersome.
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Becoming a Rainmaker: Business Building Strategies for Lawyers
 
Based on Stephen’s highly successful seminar series by the same name, this 3-audio CD program covers dozens of practical recommendations and step-by-step sales and marketing techniques for solo practitioners and small law firms.

Stephen has given this seminar to hundreds of lawyers at state and local bar associations, and is scheduled for many more in the upcoming months.

To order this valuable seminar, visit our website.