Law Firm Marketing: How to Drive Clients...Away
Reaching into my blog fodder pile this morning, I pulled out a recent article by Ivana Taylor of DIY Marketers entitled, 9 Bad Behaviors That Are Sending Your Customers To Your Competitors.
You can read the original in its entirety here.
I liked it because I saw – and have spoken about – the many actions outlined in the article that I see attorneys committing time and again. Usually, these lawyers are clueless about why their competition is attracting new clients and they are not. So, adapted for the legal profession, here are some surefire ways to drive clients away:
Push for a commitment. You should be measuring your success in terms of profit, not just revenue. If you are signing everyone who walks in your door or calls you on the phone, you are probably discovering that many are not your ideal client, and are wasting your precious time and resources without hope of a satisfactory outcome.
Fail to set expectations. Most relationships with clients that go south do so because of unmet expectations. Be realistic about the services you provide and the outcome they can expect, and do it up-front.
Ignore clients after they become clients. You don’t mean to ignore them, but you’re busy and time slips by. If you had a process in place for communicating with them regularly, this wouldn’t be a problem.
Talk over their heads. Some attorneys have a very bad habit of making clients feel stupid by using too many legal terms in conversation. Stay on your client’s level and always make sure they understood what you were trying to communicate.
Voicemail overload. When clients need you, they don’t like to keep leaving voicemail messages....worse still is a full voicemail box. Offer your cell phone number or a way they can reach you when they need you.
Don’t listen. Most clients just want to be heard, especially by their own attorneys. This takes time on your part, and an effort to understand their point of pain and how to solve it.
Give them the handoff. Is the only time a client ever sees you is when they are ready to sign on the dotted line? If you only make an appearance when money is on the table and then hand clients off to junior associates, you have just created a major disconnect in the loyalty chain.
Counseling attorneys on how to get – and keep – good clients is the main focus of our two-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. There are four more sessions in 2011:
- August 19-20, 2011: Las Vegas, NV
- October 7-8, 2011: San Francisco, CA
- October 21-22, 2011: Livingston, NJ
- December 2-3, 2011: Los Angeles, CA
Early-bird registration for the October and December Rainmaker Retreats is still available for a limited time. A special VIP registration is also available for attorneys looking for more personalized attention. We also offer special discounts for two or more people attending from the same firm.
Registration information is available by visiting the Rainmaker Retreat website, www.RainmakerRetreat.com or by calling 888-588-5891.
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