Invisible Marketing II. Last column we started discussing “permission marketing” by recognizing opportunities given to you by clients and prospects for future client generation. This time we will add two more business development openings.
 
“What’s New?”, when asked by a past contact or by a good client, opens the way to talk about:

* a recent firm success,
* a highly regarded article written by a colleague,
* or asking if they have heard about a new piece of legislation.
 
The response should not be “the work keeps piling on,” or “same old same old.” You can’t believe how many times I’ve heard these two. Use the question to subtly market. And for those of you who want to respond to the question by stating that your daughter recently won a gymnastics tournament, do both. But take advantage of this invisible opportunity to market the law firm.
 
“What do clients really want?” is the one key question to constantly ask yourself and your partners, when determining what to put into a proposal, how to organize a casual dinner conversation or building on client retention. Another way to phrase it is:

“Why should I hire your firm?”
 
Talk about strategies employed, case examples that worked, unique contributions to engagements. Integrate into these components firm background and your team’s experiences. A recent BTI survey indicated that:

* They do not want to know how many offices you have.
* They do not want to know where you went to law school.
* They do want you to know about them.

Time is money. Organizations in which you voluntarily participate means you are spending some of your very limited time and your money. Combine your community contribution with a long-term business development project. If you’re going to spend your own time and money, choose wisely; use it as another form of law firm marketing.
 
Select from groups populated by senior executives and counsel in charge of retention decisions. Look at the organizations you currently belong to and identify the subcommittees that will get you directly in front of general counsel and senior corporate executives. Those are the relationships you should maximize.
 
Use opportunities to speak at organization events or seminars that might pique the interests of your target. Subjects are discoverable just by reviewing the group’s member lists and recent agendas.
 
At every organizational meeting in which there are potential clients present, put together a background bio for introduction purposes. It may give you an opportunity for other people to learn about you and present the chance to meet in-house counsel.

Invisible Marketing is a concept requiring a sharp eye and ear. It is a component of “permission marketing” where a client or prospect provides you with an offer to market to them! When conducting workshops with our law firm clients, we will spend at least 1/2 hour tuning in to invisible marketing.
 
For example, we all know that great work and referrals are the 2 best sources of future business development. But complaints, yes complaints, are another great source of business by building a strong relationship. If a client calls and complains that something is not going well with a current engagement, they want to keep working with you. So fix it, fix it fast, and remind them periodically that you fixed it fast by ending a periodic conversation with “just want to make sure we are meeting all of our targets,etc.”
 
Another invisible marketing tactic is to ask clients why they switched to your firm. At the right time in an engagement, you might learn what they are happy with, and what problems the previous firm had. You can build on the success and avoid the problems.
 
Next time we’ll address two more invisible marketing tactics:

* “What’s new?”
* What do clients really want?”

Parlay Benevolence into Business Generation:
Maximize the use of your organization participation
 
If you or another attorney at the firm is the president-elect of an industry counsel or bar association subdivision, or has been asked to co-chair a conference for an industry association such as the National Bar Association, you have a golden business development opportunity in the making. As the head of such organizations, you are poised to handpick the speakers at affiliated events, and parlay those contacts into future business.
 
You don’t have to know personally the general or senior counsel of any company you call and invite to be a guest speaker. Your position in the organization gives you access you might not ordinarily have. Then, when the opportunity permits, maximize your contacts by engaging them into another aspect of the conversation—namely, your elevator pitch. Throughout the planning stages, keep in frequent contact and send email updates on company developments and solicit suggestions regarding the event. Invite members of the panel to a dinner a night before the meeting, and then stay in touch thereafter.
 
Just think. For six to nine months, you have the opportunity to engage future targets.