Law Firm Marketing: The Final Secret Top Rainmakers Use to Fill Their Practice
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During May, I posted two blogs about the secrets top Rainmakers use to fill their practice, gleaned from more than 10 years of working with small law firms and solo practitioners. Here’s the final one:
Strategy 4. Answer the Question, "Why Should I Hire You?"
With an estimated 600,000-800,000 attorneys in private practice across the nation, standing apart from your competitors is increasingly difficult. I have asked hundreds of attorneys, "Why should someone hire you versus your competition?" Virtually all of them respond with the same four answers: quality, service, years of experience, and price - none of which has any impact on prospective clients!
Quality is not a feature people will pay extra for. It simply means you meet the minimum level of expectations. For every service you provide there are a thousand other law firms who offer the exact same service. Regardless of how long you've been in practice, someone has been there longer. And do you really want to be known as the "Wal-Mart" of law firms-the low cost leader?
Every prospect that walks in your office has the same question: Why should I hire this attorney versus any other one out there. While they may not verbally ask it, they are all thinking it. To be effective, you need to answer the question for them. Here are three things to emphasize in your response:
Focus on the benefits, value, and results. When meeting with a prospective client, emphasize the benefits you offer to clients, the value you bring, and the results you achieve. Be careful not to run afoul of your state's ethics in advertising regulations.
Focus on your service, not the list of services your firm provides. Explain how you serve your clients better by going out of your way for them and by treating every person as a VIP. Ask yourself what kind of "client experience" you want each to have. Be very specific and write down your ideas. Put an action plan into place with your staff to ensure that every experience a prospect or client has with your firm is a positive one.
Focus on solutions. People don't buy legal services; they buy solutions to their legal problems. Prepare a case study of how you found a creative solution to another client's problem. Explain how you came up with it and the results.
Marketing your law firm is both art and science. There are no magic wands or silver bullets. It takes time, energy, money and advanced planning. It's important to realize that marketing is a process, not an event. Too many attorneys view marketing as an event you go to or an ad you place in the yellow pages. Top Rainmakers recognize marketing is a process, a systematic approach to building referral relationships, cultivating contacts, and staying connected to clients.
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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.
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