Like many myths, this one has a grain of truth. If your firm is spending tons of dough on sponsorships and speaking engagements only for attorneys to sit in a corner clique, then yes: it’s a total waste of the firm’s time and resources.
 
Clients won’t come in by osmosis. Law selling requires an active effort. I remember observing attorneys at a firm I was doing work for congregating together at an event, sitting together at the same table instead of mingling and chatting up clients and prospects. For future events, I advised the firm to have each partner assigned to meet several prospects and to sit at separate tables.
 
Their leads grew to over 125 last year and 15 produced new engagements.

A cold call can warm up pretty quickly if you can find something in common with your target and then use it to your advantage. A client with 15 years of practice was having trouble finding new prospects. After I suggested he review his alumni law firm newsletter, he remembered a fellow graduate had recently been promoted to senior in-house counsel for an international garment manufacturer. By linking his first communication to the law school they had in common, and pointing out a related European Union decision, he has now been introduced to the world of international litigation and is growing his practice.
 
Don’t discount social networking sites like Linked In and Facebook to increase your legal marketing muscle. Alumni associations and just about every special interest association have found a home on these platforms. The technology works on the old theory of ‘six degrees of separation.’ You make a contact, you view that person’s contact list (along with other professional information mentioned) that may be of interest, and reach out to them. Contacts build upon contacts, which enables you to reach out to potential targets in a non-threatening manner.

I am sitting in a client’s office showing him the ease and value of writing a blog live. It is one more method to draw attention to your professional services, generate contacts, and provide a source of future business.

It’s powerful, it’s persuasive and it provides a new way for professionals to maximize their marketing message.
 
They call it YouTube.
 
Online video is a professional services revolution in the making. It rivets audiences and directly involves them in your marketing. Link the YouTube post to your website and – voila- you have further optomized the site and significantly increased traffic.
 
We’re recent converts. The Closers Group has just posted a video on you tube called Closing in the RED ZONE. We anticipate a 30-40 % increase of site visits, a 20% increase in leads, and a 10% increase in new business.
 
See us at http://www.youtube.com/theclosersgroup.

You’ve nurtured a relationship with general counsel for one of your star clients, and news has come down that the company is being bought. Your cozy contact with the C-Suite executives won’t amount to much when they move out of the picture, but does that mean the end of the world as you know it? Not necessarily. A client of mine who did legal work for a utility company—which amounted to about a quarter of all his business—was confronted with this problem. I advised him to take a quick look at the acquiring company’s board of directors and identify one or two that might be employed by the firm’s other clients and ask for an immediate introduction to the general counsel and head of the litigation for the acquiring corporation. He gave a compelling presentation and is now lead litigation counsel for both companies. Polish your law selling skills and line up the legal sales stars of the firm and sell like your business depends on it—because it does.

Ever feel like the character in “Where’s Waldo” when you look around at other competitors who perform the same services as you do? If the marketplace in which you serve is crowed, it’s time for some drastic measures to get noticed and generate new business.


Gather Intelligence
What law firm marketing maneuvers are your competitors using to get noticed? Is everyone advertising in the same law journal or legal web site? Find out what others are doing, and put your own unique spin to it. Or better yet, go the opposite way. For example, if you notice that your competition engages in expansive marketing and advertising sweeps, don’t be tempted to follow the herd. Go small. Be strategic about advertising. Put more effort into public relations. If others are heavy in print, go to the radio or television and become a go-to source for reporters on hot topics.


Focus on What Your Client Wants
If you want to know what your clients want, ask them. Then honor the request. A few weeks later, follow up, then ask how you can serve them further. Then, ask again. See a pattern here? To be attuned is a great client retention technique. Soon, word will spread about your commitment to strong customer service, which could lead to more business development.

I’m sure that many law firms think the end of the year could not have come soon enough. The collapse of trusted financial institutions, layoffs at law firms (once thought recession proof) coupled with law students unsure if they will have jobs upon their graduation makes for unfortunate fodder around the water cooler. So let the hard work begin.

What are your resolutions for the new year? What tools will you be using to streamline costs while increasing visibility?

Compare this checklist with what your firm’s future plan:

*Wherever possible, cut costs (before your client cuts you). Your clients are looking for ways to reduce costs. But sure that cost reduction won’t involve dropping your firm. Take advice from a top politician – go through past invoices line by line. Cut, and then inform your client that you have done so. Honesty and transparency goes a long way toward client retention, even in a hard economy.

*Use the Net for business development. It’s free publicity. Moving forward, make sure you are making the best use of the Internet to gain exposure. Commit to updating your firm’s website at least once a week. Use multimedia – blogs, videos and podcasts – to transmit a tailored message to your target.

*Schedule speaking engagements and seminars. Be more aggressive about researching opportunities for partners to speak at events that can reach your target, and then convert the speeches into articles for future publication and more exposure.

*Commit to communicate. Again, it’s all about transparency. Don’t keep your clients in the dark. Make sure they know what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it. Schedule a meeting with in-house counsel and C-suite executives during January to discuss how to solve future challenges and goals together.

A very happy new year to you all. Legal marketing is going through it’s typical first of the year cycle where clients and prospects are playing the “budget” game. But the economy is not the only factor you should consider when converting an opportunity to close more business.
 
Hesitation might also occur on behalf of in-house counsel or public agency executives due to the pressures of bureaucracy. Who else needs to bless the engagement? Will the person you are dealing with survive RIF’s?
 
Competitors are searching for ways to outmaneuver you. Traditional attorney marketing now requires innovation and extra effort. Client retention becomes even more critical to maintaining a pipeline.
 
And reaching the market place is changing radically. Is your firm continuing to spend heavily on print and media advertising or using pop-up ads, landing page features, webinars, etc. to reach the same client base?
 
Lastly, what are real “deadlines” for purchasing your services. Are they looser than ever, providing the client every possible out to delay or not retain?
 
Closing skills today must recognize:
 
* Budget
* Hesitation
* Competition
* Market
* Deadlines.
 
The new year and our new economic structure demands greater attention, application and time to win clients. Happy new year!

For generations, the Flying Wallendas have performed high-wire tricks that dazzle audiences – in part because their acrobatic stunts seem so impossible and create an illusion that they will fail. The family now continues to push their limits and recognizes that their success depends on mastering each act of their performance one step at a time until all of the components are brought together.

Even when the Wallendas seem to have mastered a new act, they continue to review its components, raising the skill and confidences levels of the performers, and moving toward making the act an even bigger success. Your business development process should take a similar approach.

In order to ensure that all of the lawyers in your firm are comfortable in marketing situations—from your first year associates to your 20-year veterans–training and motivation are crucial. Urge associates and junior partners to test out one or two marketing tactics, evaluate their success, and identify what it will take to bring them to the next level of client development. Encourage them to focus their attention on clients and prospects even as they are attending conferences, taking part in bar association meetings, writing articles, giving speeches or providing pro bono services. Most importantly, include accountability in the process on a frequent basis.

For Karl Wallenda, the family patriarch, “Life is being on the wire, everything else is just waiting.” Similarly, for lawyers focused on growing their practices, success is focusing on marketing and business development, and everything else is just passing time.