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

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When it comes to law firm marketing, the fortune is in the follow up! You need to have a system in place to connect with and stay connected to your leads, prospects, clients, and referral sources.

1. Don't do it all by yourself. Most of the follow-up should be done by your staff, not you. Don't have a staff? Then outsource it to a virtual assistant or someone who provides legal marketing services. You should remain focused on bringing in more business, meeting with prospects, signing new people up as clients, and billing your clients.

2. Create your written plan ahead of time. Do not wait until the last minute to create your follow up plan.  As part of your law firm marketing you plan you should write down the exact steps your team will take to connect with prospects. Write down roles, responsibilities and time frames.

3. Have a plan for obtaining their full contact information and then have a back up plan. Do not rely on someone else giving you their contact information in a timely fashion. They may or may not. They may have better things to do or an emergency might arise or they may forget. Always, always have a back up plan. Make sure you get all their contact information including: full name, mailing address, phone number, and email. This will be of great value later on.


4. Use a database to keep track of your contacts. Do not rely on the stacks of business cards you have on your desk. Put them into a database as soon as possible. 


5. Use multiple methods to connect. Some people read emails, some people read letters, and some people respond to phone calls. Any law firm marketing consultant will tell you to use at least two of these methods to connect. If possible, use all three. For example, have your assistant send out an email the very next day after your networking event. Have a letter sent out the day after that and three days later have them follow up with a phone call to set an appointment for you.

6. Remember the Rule of 48. The Rule of 48 refers to the amount of time you have to follow up with a qualified prospect after you meet them before they forget why you are contacting them. In most cases, you have 48 hours to make the first contact or you can forget about it.

7. Plan for the long-term. Even though you usually only have 48 hours to start the follow up process, your law firm marketing plan should include specific ways you can stay connected to your leads, prospects, clients, and referral sources over the long-term. Whether it's a monthly newsletter, a quarterly phone call, or a legal update you send out. Once a semi-qualified person is on your list, institute a process to stay connected with them at least seven to ten times per year.

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June 8 Webinar on Getting to the Top of Google: The Power of Link Building for Lawyers

Join me on Wednesday, June 8 at 3 p.m. ET for a one-hour webinar on Getting to the Top of Google:The Power of Link Building for Lawyers.  I will share a little known secret of how hundreds of attorneys are rapidly increasing their website rankings in 90 to 120 days through building targeted links back to their websites.

In this 60-minute webinar, you will learn:

• One of the fastest ways to get your website blacklisted by Google (make this mistake at your own peril)
• Link building on the low down—building links on a shoestring budget
• What an “inbound link” is and why Google loves them
• The metric Google uses to determine if a link is good or worthless
• Why you should almost never pay for a link
• Selecting the right keywords to go after
• The benefits of being at the top of the rankings
• Which directories are worth paying for...and which ones are not
• The top 5 questions you must ask before you hire any link building company

To register for the one-hour webinar on Getting to the Top of Google: The Power of Link Building for Lawyers on Wednesday, June 8 at 3 pm ET, click here now.

This event will be presented live by phone with a web connection available for those wishing to view the presentation on their personal computers. Internet access is not required for phone-only participants. A copy of the presentation and downloadable materials will be provided after the event.