In a discussion with my wife (who is a fundraiser) last evening, she pointed out there are many opportunities to over promise and underdeliver in both of our fields. I didn’t realize at the time that that wisdom comes from a quote attributed to Tom Peters, specifically “Formula for success: under promise and over deliver.” How true, and how dangerous the reverse is. It’s just bad marketing.
No matter what business one is in, the best approach is to follow Tom Peters’ advice; and that is especially true in the legal business when it comes to:
Client Deadlines – too often missed, and a good opportunity to over deliver. Let the client know when they can expect to receive your work product, and then (as I suggested in an earlier post) get it to them one or even two days early.
Promising a Favorable Outcome – dangerous area for many reasons. Not the least of which is Rule 7.1 of ABA’s Rules of Professional Conduct adopted by most states. I can’t imagine a responsible lawyer would do this, but even if subtly conveyed can raise unrealistic expectations which is unprofessional and dangerous to one’s reputation.
Keeping Clients Informed – here is an excellent marketing opportunity (second only to beating your own deadlines) since the majority of complaints filed with bar associations is poor communication and inattention to the client’s matter. Return calls promptly, send every appropriate document to the client, and give status reports regularly.
An important part of legal marketing, as I have preached for (maybe) too long is not rocket science, it is knowing how to give your client first class service, while not over promising and under delivering. It’s part of effective client communications.
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Don’t Over Promise Clients and Under Deliver
A couple of recent corporate initiatives that didn’t go according to plan involved the Pepsi/iTunes and U2 concert promotions. The miscues were examples of “the need to manage expectations, as well as underpromise and overdeliver” in the words of Fast Company.
It reminded me of how applicable those words are to lawyers, and how they should practice law. Be careful not to promise to deliver a contract to a client by a certain date in the hopes that you will be able to do so, when your plate is already so full that meeting that deadline is unrealistic. Rather, give a client a reasonable deadline, and then produce the legal product one to two days early. That will make a lasting impression on the client, and likely guarantee more work.

3 Big Reasons Your Marketing Doesn’t Work
One of the biggest frustrations around marketing is that it is often difficult to truly diagnose why something didn’t work. After all, you may think you have a great strategy in place, but when it doesn’t produce the ROI you were expecting, it can be doubly frustrating to also not truly understand why.
Maybe your vendor didn’t deliver on their promises. Maybe you didn’t spend enough money. Maybe the message just didn’t resonate with your audience. Maybe there’s something broken internally.
Oftentimes we’ve seen issues within a firm completely derail an otherwise great marketing effort. You could be bringing in a ton of leads, but if they aren’t converting, the problem might lie within your own firm. In this article, we’ll look at three of the biggest potential issues.
1. Bad Systems
If you don’t have systems and processes documented in your firm (or you do it inconsistently), people won’t ever do things the same way twice, which leads to frustration and inconsistency.
Furthermore, a lack of documented systems and processes makes training more difficult. It makes for an inconsistent customer experience. And it makes everyone at the office a little frustrated (even though they may not know why), which carries over into how they interact with your potential clients.
2. Bad Reception
While most people will look up your website first when learning about your firm, the first actual interaction many people will have is with your front desk staff. Whether you have an in-office receptionist or you work with an answering service, these people will set the tone for what it will be like working with your firm. If they sound bored and lifeless or don’t really know what they’re doing, those valuable leads might go elsewhere.
3. Poor Follow-up
One of the biggest knocks against lawyers is their lack of timely follow-up on people who reach out. While most people may not expect their calls or emails to be returned immediately, they do expect to hear back within one business day.
Even if it’s an automated response confirming receipt of a message, just have something to let people know that you’re aware of their request and that they’ll be hearing from you soon. Otherwise, those people will go somewhere else.
You’re investing a lot of hard-earned revenue into your marketing. Make sure you have these three areas of your business shored up to ensure that you get the maximum ROI from your marketing.
Maxims for Legal Marketing Success
There is a lot of advice out there on how to succeed at legal marketing. Success does not depend on your efforts being complicated or difficult. It just needs to be realistic and sensible. Consultant Bob Denney does that by offering his 20 legal marketing maxims on Attorney at Work that brings us back to basics.
The following is my list of 10 favorites from his list (with some thoughts in parentheses), although I commend to your reading his complete post of all twenty:
- Be the best lawyer you can be. Otherwise you really ought to find something else to do. If you’re not trying your best, clients will realize it and your practice will suffer in time);
- Don’t sell. Educate. Listen to clients’ problems and concerns. Then educate them on their legal options and how you might help them;
- Focus. Specialize. (You really can’t be all things to all people, but how narrow your focus should be will depend on your location. You can be more of a general practitioner in a smaller, rural area than you can be in a large metropolitan area. In the latter, you will need to be more highly specialized to be found among the competition);
- Have a marketing plan and follow it. (In my experience lawyers can be pretty darn good at planning, but I have seen too many fall down when it comes to implementing the plan. When they get busy it is easy to overlook the need to feed the pipeline for more work.)
- Market like you were a sole practitioner. If you don’t you may soon be one. (It continues to amaze me to see mid-level and even more senior partners who are just not contributing to the business development efforts of their firms. I have seen such lawyers cut loose in more than one of my in-house marketing positions);
- Current clients are your best sales agents. (Well, that assumes that they are happy campers and that you done a good job at No. 1 above);
- Relationship building and word-of-mouth still best at gaining clients. (Social media can contribute to both, but in the end I completely agree with Denney);
- Know your client’s business. (In surveying clients for law firms, I am no longer surprised to hear their frustration about lawyers not knowing and understanding their business. That includes law firms they have used more than once);
- Treat every client as if he or she were your only client. (Excellent advice and furtherance of No.1 above); and
- Under-promise. Over-deliver. (The reverse is a death knell. Don’t just meet your deadline, but exceed it by a day or more).
Enough said!
Make Sure Your New Clients are Happy Campers
Getting off on the right foot with new clients is important. Because happy clients will refer others to your firm from day one. There are several things you can do from the get-go to ensure your clients will be pleased with having hired you.
John Remsen shares “Ten Golden Rules to Make Your New Client Happy” that will help (with my typical paraphrasing and additional thoughts):
- Send a Welcome Kit. It should include all the initial information the client will need – names of the team members, direct telephone numbers, and emails, as well as a letter from the managing partner and firm brochure;
- Understand client’s business and/or personal situation. That can be accomplished by asking questions and, most importantly, listening to your client over 50% of the time; and putting the legal matter into the proper context;
- Meet or exceed expectations. As Remsen suggests, work with the client to ensure reasonable expectations on their side, and then beat them (not the client, the expectations). If problems come up, communicate asap;
- Keep your commitments. Set reasonable deadlines, and then beat them. Knowing lawyers are always up against deadlines, set an earlier one for yourself. That way if you promised the draft contract on a Friday, deliver it on Wednesday or Thursday instead;
- Return phone calls and emails asap. In today’s world, returning calls or emails can’t wait a day or two. If you can’t return them, empower someone on your team to do so on your behalf, within an hour or two, to let them know when you will get back to them;
- Learn client’s preferred means of communication. Some people prefer emails over phone calls. Ask;
- Introduce your team. Let the client know who is on your team, and introduce them in person, if possible. Also, the client should be advised that they may contact any of them. It also helps your team feel important;
- Don’t overlawyer a matter. Clients will not tolerate it anymore anyway. Clients will accept less than perfect, particularly when it has an adverse impact on their wallets. Communicate often with the client to ensure you’re on the same page on the work to be done;
- Never surprise your client. This is especially true for an invoice. But, it also applies to anything within your control. No one likes (unpleasant) surprises; and
- Show appreciation. Thank clients, entertain them, and seek feedback so they know you are thankful for their business.
I totally agree with Remsen, if you want to have happy campers as clients, you need to do more than good legal work. You also have to provide outstanding service. These tips will help in doing that.
Marketing Includes Handling an Angry Client
As the saying goes you can’t win ‘em all. Some cases or transactions are not going to end well. Don’t beat yourself up over it. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be concerned over a disappointed, or worse, angry client over the outcome of a matter.
A post by Ryan Sullivan on Attorney at Law addresses those situations “When Clients Get Upset Over The Result.” She provides five tips on how to avoid and/or deal with “a client’s anger over a not-so-happy ending.” They include:
- Don’t over promise or under deliver. Lawyers know that it is unethical to create unrealistic expectations or guarantee results. Most lawyers also understand that while trying to land a client you do not want to overemphasize “doom or gloom” either. So, it is very important to minimize promises and to explain realistic options;
- Keep the client involved during the process. Sullivan suggest that you want to let the client know how hard you are working for them, and how things are proceeding. But, don’t only communicate the good things that are happening. A client needs to know about the good, the bad and the ugly as things proceed. Surprises is what angers clients the most;
- Prepare in advance an explanation, regardless of the outcome. Planning is always a good thing. So, plan to explain, which ever way things turn out, as part of your normal routine, especially in the case where it doesn’t turn out so well. During that session, listen to the client, execute your prepared plan, and schedule a follow up meeting after the adrenaline has subsided, and “there’s been a time for cooler heads to prevail;”
- Keep your cool. As a professional, it is important to maintain the emotional high road. Since you know that you can’t control what a judge or jury will do, or an opposing counsel’s tactics, it is your responsibility to remain calm, be sympathetic and show concern. But, you need to focus on your professionalism, no matter how unhappy you are on a personal level; and
- Keep the big picture in mind. Remember that you can never win them all (even though they told us in law school otherwise). Don’t forget that the most important person to you is you, and to your family. You need to move on no matter how angry the client or the outcome. Don’t let the situation, as Sullivan puts it, “define who you are or how you practice law” going forward (except to correct your screw up of course, if applicable).
How you conduct yourself in these situation will impact your reputation, and how and what the client says about you. It is a marketing issue.
Legal Business Development: Sometimes You Just Need A Break
Sometimes you just need a break… but you can’t take one until the document on your computer is perfect. The process takes much longer than it should because you feel brain-dead. If this situation sounds familiar, could it be because your life outside of work isn’t really refueling and recharging you to be able to be your best at work? Perhaps your multi-tasking outside of the workplace includes work and you never really feel disconnected. Inc. Magazine contributor Alexa Von Tobel has a few suggestions in her article 4 Ways to Have a Life Outside Your Business.
If you returned to work Monday feeling more ragged than refreshed, you don’t really own your downtime–and that’s a problem.
You already know that taking breaks to refresh your mind is good for creativity and productivity. But I’d be willing to bet that most entrepreneurs have trouble putting this into practice. It starts by reclaiming your downtime. Here are four tips to do just that.
Schedule “me time.” Me time is different for everyone. But regardless of whether it’s cooking, going to the gym, or relaxing at home with a book, make sure that you’re getting it in. For me, Saturday is my quiet time to kick back with a magazine or get a 10-minute chair massage so I feel like I did something nice for myself. It’s often how I find inspiration. For that reason, Saturday is my free day and I give myself permission to do absolutely nothing.
Yes, give yourself permission! Most lawyers are extreme achievers, so giving yourself permission to do nothing or to do what you love doing… now that is tough. But not impossible, try it!
Set clear expectations. Being the founder and CEO of LearnVest means people ask a lot of me during the week. I hate saying no and letting them down, but I’ve found saying yes to everyone means saying no to myself and the things I care about. Over time, I’ve learned to say no politely and with sincerity. Recently I had dinner with a few girlfriends. Since I’d said I’d be busy from the outset, no one was upset about the fact they hadn’t seen me in a few weeks. However, if I’d tried to appease them and make plans only to cancel at the last minute, that would have been worse. It’s just important to set expectations, and I do it with everyone from family to friends and even my husband.
Setting clear expectations is a top priority when working with clients. But somehow we’re not as diligent in putting it into practice in our personal lives. “Under promise, over deliver” is sage advice not only for your business but also for your personal life.
Keep separate calendars for work and play. Even on paper, my professional and home lives stay separate. I use several email accounts and separate calendars so I can see at a glance what my weekend looks like. If I check my personal email and see I have four errands to run, then I’ll know to power through so I meet with some friends. Since my husband and I have limited time and work similar hours, we throw things in each other’s calendar all the time. Again, it’s about setting clear expectations.
This idea may work for you. I think it depends on how packed your life is… kids, spouse, sports, charity work, etc.
Outsource what you hate. If the weekend rolls around and you find yourself running all these awful errands, try outsourcing them. Personally, I love doing laundry. But it takes up to four hours, which isn’t a good use of my time, especially if I haven’t slept, gone to the gym, or seen family. If you find yourself dreading certain chores, pay someone else to do them and find a way to save money elsewhere, say by bringing your lunch to work. The point is to filter out what you dislike and don’t really enjoy and maximize the things that you do love because, let’s face it, the rest of the week you’re maxed out.
I love this one and live by it. It makes more sense to come in to the office and bill a client two hours at your hourly rate than to spend two hours cutting the lawn if you HATE it! Pay someone to do it… the return on investment of two hours is huge! Both in money and satisfaction, assuming you love your work… and that’s another conversation!
If you would like to figure out how to get a bit more harmony in your life, I can help. Shoot me an email!
Legal Business Development: Delight Your Clients!
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.
Good Client Surprises, Good For Business
Okay all you rocket scientists out there, you know that “good” is better than “bad.” So, why do some law firms still surprise their clients in bad ways. By that I mean, fail to meet deadlines, fail to attend to and keep clients informed about their matters (the basis of 80% of grievances filed against lawyers BTW), as well as not communicating generally by not returning phone calls and emails in a timely manner, charging way more than the client expects without forewarning them, etc. etc.
Recognizing that the aforementioned all annoy the heck out of clients, why do some attorneys still do these things? Don’t “they” realize it is dumb marketing? Apparently not.
Rather doesn’t it make sense to do the kinds of things that surprise clients in favorable ways? Of course it does, say all you rocket scientists!
My friend Merrilyn Astin Tarlton on Attorney at Work highlights a number of surprises that will please clients. I too have been arguing the benefits of several of them over the years, such as:
- Visit your clients off the clock. This is No. 1 on my “Kane’s Top Ten Marketing Tips” list. Thus, I am happy to see Tarlton place “go calling” first on her list of how to favorably surprise clients. It simply involves dropping by or scheduling a non-billable visit to your client’s office to learn more about their business and “understand what their enterprise looks, feels and sounds like.” BTW it often leads to immediate new work;
- Befriend your client (criminal defense lawyers can ignore this one). Genuinely compliment your client on anything that they are likely to be proud of. Relationship building goes beyond doing a good job for a client. Believe it or not clients are human too;
- Help your client avoid future problems. This is like seeing “the big picture,” according to Tarlton. Provide training and advice as to how to avoid legal problems that you’ve handled for the client. Yeah, they’ll be shocked by that one, but in fact, it will lead to more business and referrals from a very surprised client;
- Under promise and over deliver. This one I’ve mentioned on several occasions over the years, and you can find reference to several posts on the topic here. Tarlton’s idea of promising it by Friday but deliver it on Thursday is exactly the point. Clients will truly be surprised, since they are more use to barely getting the legal product when promised, much less early;
- Thank your clients for the business. As Tarlton points out remember “who is doing who a favor.” And I particularly like handwritten notes, sent in hand-addressed envelopes. Oh, an email doesn’t come close as a surprise factor;
- Seek feedback. Yes, at various stages of your client encounters, ask how you are doing, how you did and what you could better in the future. Too few law firms bother (or are afraid to ask), so it does surprise clients when lawyers ask about their level of satisfaction with the legal services provided.
Actually, some clients are not surprised when firms do some or all of these things, because there are firms out there that are very smart when it comes to developing business.
25 Tips for the New (and Old) Lawyer
It has often struck me as odd that articles aimed at categories of lawyers (newbies, middle-age, old and the extremely long in the tooth) can just as well and should be directed at lawyers of all ages. Such is the case with a download I ran across on Attorney at Work.
It is entitled “25 Tips for the New Lawyer.” It is really good, and contains snippets that apply to all lawyers. I found it a good reminder of the things that lawyers should pay attention to no matter what stage of their career they find themselves. The following are a few I particularly like relating to marketing (as usual, my comments are added in parentheses):
- “Your client is always right. (Most of the time, that is.)” (My only disagreement here is that clients are always right all the time, at least from a marketing standpoint);
- “Return phone calls promptly. Really.” (Within no more than a couple of hours in this day and age. If you are unavailable, empower someone else to at least communicate your unavailability and when you will get back to them);
- “Before beginning the work, ask your client or supervisor what success will look like. Don’t just guess. You’ll probably be wrong.” (Certainly, this is more applicable to the new lawyer, but all lawyers should apply this tip when it involves two a new matter from a client);
- “While your client or colleague is in your law office, you are the hosts. Act like one.” (Make sure your receptionist knows this, and courtesies – including short wait times – are followed);
- “Under-promise and over-deliver. Never the other way around.” (Particularly when it comes to deadlines, I like to recommend to lawyers that they beat the deadline by a day or two. Most clients would be favorably overwhelmed.);
- “When you complete a matter or a task, ask for feedback. Be clear that you’re not looking for flattery-you want to know how to improve next time.” (Client satisfaction is so important in order to obtain additional work or referrals from a client, failure to demonstrate that you really care about the quality of your services may border on marketing malpractice.); and
- “Remember that clients don’t always one a lawyer. Sometimes they just need someone to listen to them.” (In a marketing context, make sure that is at least 50% of the time.).
In addition to this document being an easy and a short 5-10 minute read, it has links to additional articles and blog posts bearing on each tip. This is a valuable tool for lawyers of any age, even if it only to serve as a refresher.