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Whenever I get writers block, I like to look at my old standby source of inspiration, 365 Marketing Meditations: Daily Lessons For Marketing & Communications Professionals authored by my friend Larry Smith and Richard Levick at Levick Strategic Communications.

As I have preached, preached, and yes preached some more over the past 10 years, the quickest, fastest, swiftest (okay, okay I know ENOUGH already) way to get new business is to visit your clients off the clock. And fortuitously this week, the marketing meditations for Monday through today deal with that very point. They are:

  • April 20: “Visit all clients. Visit clients across the street. Visit clients around the world.”
  • April 21: “Visit clients without an agenda.”
  • April 22: “She who visits clients comes back with work.”

That really says it all! If you would like to read more of my posts over the years on this topic, look here for several of them.

So, start planning your visits to KEY clients, at least.

 

From the very beginning of this blog, I have urged lawyers to visit their clients (off the clock) at their place of business (also referred to as their “problem space”).  It often results in immediate new business.  It worked for me, and many attorneys I’ve coached over the years said it worked for them.

That is why when I first posted my Top Ten Marketing Tips in 2005, I made it my No. 1 most effective tactic for getting new business.  It still is!  And there is no matter tip I can give as we begin 2017.

Below is a post from April 22, 2015 that could serve as a good place to start reading about doing so, and contains a link to many other posts on the topic over the years:

Visit Clients, Period!

Whenever I get writers block, I like to look at my old standby source of inspiration, 365 Marketing Meditations: Daily Lessons For Marketing & Communications Professionals authored by my friend Larry Smith and Richard Levick at Levick Strategic Communications.

As I have preached, preached, and yes preached some more over the past 10 years, the quickest, fastest, swiftest (okay, okay I know ENOUGH already) way to get new business is to visit your clients off the clock. And fortuitously this week, the marketing meditations for Monday through today deal with that very point. They are:

  • April 20: “Visit all clients. Visit clients across the street. Visit clients around the world.
  • April 21: “Visit clients without an agenda.
  • April 22: “She who visits clients comes back with work.”

That really says it all! If you would like to read more of my posts over the years on this topic, look here for several of them.

So, start planning your visits to KEY clients, at least.

For some lawyers, this is like preaching to the choir and may simply serve as a reminder for them. For others, hopefully, you start visiting your clients ASAP.

For years – I mean for YEARS – I’ve preached that the most effective, usually immediate way to get new legal business is to visit your clients at their place of business. It worked when I practiced law, and I saw the strategy bear fruit repeatedly as both a law firm marketing consultant, and when I was an in-house marketer.

In fact, I made it my No. 1 Top Marketing Tip in my seminars a long time ago, and highlighted it on this blog nearly two years ago – and in a couple of posts since (here and here). So, why don’t more lawyers do it?

Wait a minute! I’m getting a flash..… I get it, you don’t believe me! Now my feelings are hurt.

I know many rainmakers who do believe, as well as many consultants, including Tom Collins and Michelle Golden, both of whom have recent posts on the subject. They cite a survey conducted by John Remsen of the The Remsen Group. John’s November 2006 reader survey (with 138 responses) found that visiting clients was the most effective marketing tactic according to 59% of respondents. In second place was “organizational activity” (12%) and third, “firm-sponsored seminars” (9%). Not the most scientific survey, but impressive nonetheless.

Now, do you believe me? You will, if you give it a try.

Think about the last time you went online to order takeout food. How was the experience? Did you put your order in without a hitch, or were you frustrated by the restaurant’s outdated website, malfunctioning plugins, and counterintuitive ordering process? Maybe you even wondered whether they were open at all when a COVID-19 popup from March 2020 appeared.

Restaurants are notorious for their terrible websites. Once or twice we’ve come across an ordering platform that was such a mess we felt like throwing our laptop out the window. When that happens we say, “Screw it!” and order DoorDash instead. The restaurant’s old, crusty website officially lost them a customer.

If you haven’t updated your firm’s website in a few years, YOU could be the one making people want to toss their computers across the room.

Unfortunately, this problem isn’t exclusive to restaurants. If you haven’t updated your firm’s website in a few years, YOU could be the one making people want to toss their computers across the room. To win over clients and keep up your firm’s image and reputation, you need to refresh your website regularly. Here are three big reasons to stay on top of those updates:

1. DIGITAL TRENDS CHANGE — AND YOU DON’T WANT A WEBSITE THAT’S “SO 2015.”

The looks considered eye-catching, popular, and modern online change just as often as what’s “in” on the runway. What impressed visitors years ago might look awful today and vice versa. Right now, asymmetrical website layouts are in — who the heck would have predicted that in 2016? Updating your website regularly shows that you’re keeping up with the times, and that’s a reflection of your firm’s credibility and attention to detail. Don’t get sloppy.

2. EVERY DAY YOUR WEBSITE AGES, ITS FUNCTIONALITY DEGRADES.

Think of your website like a car. As soon as you drive a new vehicle off the lot, its value goes down, and it keeps degrading over time. After 10 years, your turn signals are sticky, your glove compartment won’t close, and you have stubborn stains on your leather seats. The same thing will happen with your website but much faster. A decade in car time is like two years online.

Websites have dozens of moving pieces and parts, and many of those plugins and integrations aren’t native to the website itself. They get separate updates, and over time, they become incompatible or stop working entirely. Without regular full-site refreshes, entire sections of your website can become defunct. But when you update your website regularly, you can fix those issues and add cutting-edge features.

3. IF YOUR WEBSITE IS OUT OF DATE, IT MIGHT BE MISREPRESENTING YOUR BRAND.

Think about what your firm looked like at the time your website was created. How many people were on your team? What were your practice areas? What did your branding and logo look like? Odds are if your website is more than two years old, some or all of those things have changed. 2020 forced thousands of law firms to pivot their practice areas and update their messaging. If you haven’t made those changes on your website, you’re misrepresenting your brand and missing out on clients who could be ideal fits for you. Your website needs to reflect the current you, not the old you. A refresh can make that happen and bring in an influx of consultations.

We know these are tough pills to swallow. Maybe you LOVE your old website, or you designed it yourself and sending it to the digital scrap heap hurts. We get it. Sometimes we have to replace websites for clients that we designed just a few years ago, and they can be hard to let go. BUT, doing so is necessary for the greater good of your firm — and we can help. Together, we can create a website that looks stylish, functions smoothly, and is the perfect fit for who you are now. It won’t be long before it pays for itself. When you’re ready to upgrade and start bringing in more clients, contact us today.

Your success in landing new clients, or retaining existing clients for that matter, can relate directly to how they are treated when they contact your firm. I have commented in the past on this blog about the role of the receptionist and how important he or she is in terms of the impact it makes on visitors or those who call. For a couple of my posts on the topic, see links below. 

In a recent post by Noble McIntyre on Attorney at Work, he addresses telephone etiquette. Why should you care you may ask?  Because the telephone is probably your main source of contact with the outside world.

First, McIntyre talks about automated phone answering systems and other impersonal ways people are sometimes treated when calling law firms.  I actually know of law firms (albeit small ones) that had no human answer the phone.  Rather, they had automated systems requiring several prompts to get to an individual lawyer or a human.  I totally agree with his comment that such systems “can raise time barriers, frustrate callers and make your practice seem impersonal.”  Crazy, in a personal service business!

Here are a few of McIntyre’s common sense telephone tips:

  • Answer promptly before the third ring.  We live in an impatient world, and although three or more rings are not the end of it, punctuality when it comes to answering the phone is a VERY good idea;
  • Whoever answers needs to do so in a most professional manner, and in a most “pleasant tone of voice”;
  • Don’t have someone else (like the phone company’s computer) record your outgoing message;
  • Don’t give the person the runaround or make them go through a bunch of hoops to just learn that your are not available and they can leave a voicemail; and,
  • Train your receptionist as to who is who, especially when it comes to important clients.  The second time I called my son’s law firm, the receptionist recognized my voice immediately.  Granted some might say I have the voice of a rhinoceros, and maybe that wasn’t so tough for her.  But, I was blown away.  Think how your clients and contacts will feel.

I’ve often made the comment that the receptionist should be the highest-paid marketing person in a law firm, just as a cashier should be in a bank. Ridiculous I know, but think about how important they are.  They are first and foremost the front line of contact with prospects and most clients. And you need to have one that has the proper etiquette and demeanor to handle those calls.

Don’t Fire Your Receptionist…

Receptionist Tells Client to Get Lost

 

Everyone has had an experience with someone who has given service that delights you. Someone who went beyond the call-of-duty. AND it is an experience that you remember, and often talk about over and over again. So I ask you… are you delighting your clients or are you simply going through the motions? Merrilyn Astin Tarlton has Five Big Surprises, at Attorney at Work blog. They are a must if you want to delight your clients… and have them recommend you to their colleagues.

1. Go calling. You may think you know what your client’s day-to-day life is like. After all, this isn’t your first time at the lawyer-client rodeo, right? But all it takes is one spontaneous drop-in visit to realize that your cloistered law office is like Alpha Centaurus when compared to the world your clients inhabit every day. First, you’ll find it invaluable to your ability to help solve their legal problems once you really understand what their enterprise looks, feels and sounds like. Second, who ever heard of a lawyer who makes house calls? Imagine their surprise! And delight. (Oh yeah, don’t bill for your time.)

2. Pay a genuine compliment. I’m not talking about the false, exaggerated or gratuitous kind of compliment. Make it genuine. Clients grow so accustomed to lawyers finding fault with everything (that is, after all, what they pay you to do) that when you do offer praise, it feels particularly remarkable. “You seem to have a surprising grasp of the legal principles at work here” can send a young businesswoman out of your office several inches taller. “You always know the best restaurants for lunch” may seem meager praise, but it immediately grants respect and acknowledges familiarity. Who doesn’t like that?

3. See the big picture. Yes, the client came to you with another crappy little wrongful termination suit. It didn’t take much to handle because you’ve done it for him dozens of times. This time, talk to him about how to prevent it from happening again. Develop policy. Suggest supervisor training. (Heck, offer to teach the supervisors yourself.) Show your client that you feel it’s your job to help him succeed, not to just clean up messes.

4. Under-promise and over-deliver. When somebody asks exactly when you plan to show up, do you do that thing where you don’t want the person to get irritated so you say, “I’m leaving in five minutes”? Even though you know it’s going to take at least 30 minutes to finish the document … and that you have to send off a bunch of emails before you can leave? What happens? You not only arrive an hour later than you promised, but you prove yourself an unreliable witness. This is a really easy and well-intentioned way to destroy someone’s trust in you. Why not do it in reverse? Promise you’ll have the documents ready by Friday, but call Wednesday to schedule time Thursday morning for the client to come in and sign. Surprise!

5. Say thank you often. That client doesn’t have to choose you. There are plenty of other lawyers out there. So don’t get confused about who is doing who a favor. Say thank you when she returns your call promptly. Say thank you when you are referred to someone she knows, and when you are paid, and when you are complimented … even when she thanks you. “No. Thank you. It’s been a pleasure to work with you.”

BONUS: Ask how you did. When it’s all over, that’s when you want feedback. And don’t get all balled up in thinking that since your client isn’t a lawyer he isn’t really a good judge of your performance. (Read what Roy Ginsburg says about the one thing clients can judge quite accurately.) Because it doesn’t matter whether the feedback is an “accurate” assessment, it will be the truth about what your client thinks. And what he thinks, rightly or wrongly, is what will make him come back again … or not. And boy, will he be surprised when you ask!

These principles may be common sense… but do you put them into practice 100% of the time? No! Not because you don’t want to or because you’re basically a rude person. No, it’s because you get busy and laser focused on the matter you’re working on.

I worked with a client this morning, and he observed that the most valuable thing that he’s learned while working with me is that business development is equally as important as the legal work. “Before you, I thought it was secondary… when and if I had time.”

I tell you… there’s nothing more important then to dazzle your clients with whatever means you can… brilliant lawyering, a smile and a thank you… or just doing what you said you would do! Do it in such a way that they will tell the story over and over again to anyone who will listen. That is what business development all about.

Doing a little extra for clients can have big benefits. No brain surgery here. Simply provide clients with extra attention, help, education, and otherwise build on the existing relationship by value-added activities.

In a very succinct article by Stacy West Clark in a recent issue of The Legal Intelligencer, she lists “Twenty Things You Can Do for Clients for Free.” It is well worth a read. I like so many of her suggestions, that it is hard to pick out my favorites, but here are a few that pop out:

  • Visit your client off the clock and listen to what they have on their mind. As Clark says “If you do nothing else on this list, do this.” (I completely agree and have it as my No. 1 Top Marketing Tip for lawyers. Moreover, often times lawyers return with more client work);
  • Conduct client seminars. (Not just for CLE, but other sessions that will help them in their business and save them legal costs);
  • Attend industry conferences with the client to learn more about their business (and you might just pick up other similar clients while you’re there – or at least make some great initial contacts);
  • Offer to have your accounting and/or IT staff sit down with theirs to hash out client preferences in those areas;
  • Invite clients to come in and brief the firm’s lawyers on their “goals, obstacles and challenges, and the kinds of services” they want from outside counsel; and
  • Don’t charge for quick emails and telephone calls, but include them on the bill marked “no charge” (I’ve liked this one for a long time, and it gets the point across that you do provide services without charging them every time).

There is a lot more in Clark’s artice. You don’t have to adopt all 20 of her suggestions, but I’m sure you can find a few that you would be comfortable doing, at least for key clients. Many of them will increase your value to clients; and they are neither hard nor expensive.

It’s not too late. There are still a few weeks of the holiday season to go, before the doldrums of January set in. Go visit your key clients (okay at least those that are local) and referral sources to thank them for their business/referrals, and take them to lunch or dinner.

Also, take along an appropriate gift. Or send one at least.  Sorry, don’t have a bunch of new ideas this year, but you can look over my “holiday gifts” posts of prior years. I still like most of them.

Also, send a holiday card. Yes, a holiday card. Quickly. But make sure you sign it personally, and include a short note, such as “hope you have a terrific holiday season” or whatever. Write something to show you care enough not to just send the firm’s unsigned, impersonal card. Here’s another post of mine on this topic.

You may be surprised what comes of all this in 2010, if not sooner. 

Relationships are the base of most successful marketing and business development efforts. If you make your interactions meaningful it will make your business development even easier…

This week we asked you: What aspect of your client service could you work on?

Results:

I could work on:

  1. More phone, less e-mailing – 30%
  2. Keeping up with my client’s industry news and trends – 7%
  3. Going to their place of business – 27%
  4. Asking for feedback – 16%
  5. Connecting on a personal level – 11%
  6. Giving them something for nothing – 9%

Not surprisingly, 30% are guilty of phone neglect! Another 27% need to work on going to visit your clients at their place of business. See a pattern? In order for client service to truly make a difference we need to abandon technology once in a while and get in front of our clients. On the other hand… bravo to all of you for being on top of client industry trends and news–a great way to keep in touch and show your interest and dedication.

My Thoughts: Though you may not recognize it, every time you interact with a client you’re marketing yourself. Take advantage of it. Here are a few of my tips for making the most of your client service:

  • Get in front of them! Nothing can replace face-to-face meetings.
  • Show an interest! Send them interesting articles that relate to their industry.
  • Prove you’re an expert! If a law that effects their business changes—let them know.
  • Take notes! It shows you’re paying attention and gives you a reference point for later.
  • Get feedback! Be direct and ask them what they think of your client service.
  • Pick up the phone! Take an e-mail break and let them hear your voice.

Lee Thuston of Burr & Forman shared this story:

In the end analysis, it’s all about relationships. I had a young lawyer that made a mistake with one of our clients. She was upset because she let something get by that was going to cost the client some money (but not a great deal). I called up the general counsel and said, ‘Hey Joe. I’m sitting here with Mary who tells me she let this deadline get away from her.’ I quantified that it was going to be about X-thousand dollars and that I’ll take it off next month’s bill. He said, ‘Okay, I really appreciate you calling.’ I looked at her and said, ‘That’s called having a good relationship.’ First of all, I called the client and brought the situation to his attention. He might never have known about it, but it’s better to tell him up front. That keeps our integrity intact. Was he happy about it? No. But was he really upset? No.

Black Pearl: For a daily dose of client service commentary stop by Patrick Lamb’s “In Search of Perfect Client Service” blog.

It has been a couple of years since I looked at 365 Marketing Meditations: Daily Lessons for Marketing & Communications Professionals. This handbook of snippets produced by Richard Levick and Larry Smith of Levick Strategic Communications, is a goldmine of useful, pithy sayings useful to the legal marketing community.

 

I picked it up today for an idea for a post (okay, okay, I’m having writer’s block). Today’s meditation is:

 

“Observe a small need and fill it. If a client complains mildly about how his phone wire is always getting tangled up, send him a phone line detangler! He’ll think of you every time he makes a call.”

 

Irrespective of the fact that the world is mostly wireless these days, and the fact that I don’t have a clue what a “detangler” is, the advice is still valuable. 

 

So, what does/do your top client(s) need? You don’t know? Hmmm.

 

Do your competitors’ know? Could they find out? Hmmm.

 

Visit and talk with (i.e., listen to) your clients. Today, April 23rd is a great day to start.