In Hair, the “Age of Aquarius” was all about a time of peace, love, and understanding. While for most people, this utopian concept is long lost, many working in law firms could benefit from bringing it back.


In typical law firms, the only area where the “peace, love and understanding” concept plays out is in the realm of client services. The understanding that lawyers have of their clients’ cases leads to a working peace; the love part comes in when the lawyer wins the verdict for his or her client. But the concept has a solid place in other areas of the business, too—like business development and client retention. Unfortunately, when it comes to those areas, the understanding piece is often missing.


Both the lawyers and their marketing departments play a role in the misunderstanding, of course. Often it appears that the lawyers don’t value their marketing department’s services, many times disagreeing with the strategic business development suggestions that the marketing team provides. On the flip side, law firm marketing departments can gets caught up in a cycle of feeling snubbed when their ideas are seemingly ignored by attorneys who are busy practicing law.


Ultimately the firm benefits when lawyers make servicing their clients a top priority, as it leads to repeat business and referrals. Many times, it takes the help of a business development consultant to pinpoint how the lawyer’s focus on representing clients is best for the firm before the marketing department can recognize the benefit.


Strategies developed with the assistance of a business development consultant allow for a shift in the firm dynamic. This shift places client retention at the top of law firm marketing priorities and serves as the foundation of a lasting Aquarian peace throughout the firm.

“Emails do not end in handshakes.” That’s the headline of a recent British Airways ad aimed at getting businesspeople to head across the pond for a good old-fashioned face-to-face meeting. I think their message is spot on.

Certainly, electronic communication like email, cell phones, faxes, etc. have all made it much easier to stay in touch with your clients, but if you believe that electronic communications are the path to retaining clients and facilitating closing skills, you need to think again. Your clients and prospects would tell you that they value the one-on-one time that an in-person meeting provides. Sure, you can just click and open up a file without ever laying eyes on the sender, but to truly demonstrate your skill and ability to a client or prospect, in person communication is the way to go.

One of my business development consulting clients recently said to me, “I won that case for my client 6 months ago—why hasn’t she called me?” If my client wants to lock in more work from his client, he should get a few more lunches or in-person meetings on his schedule. And always have something planned to talk about; celebrate their successes, ask them about their plan for next year’s work, and inquire about potential introductions or referrals they may be able to make.

Email has made our lives easier, but it is only one tool in the law sales arsenal, not the only medium available. Don’t forget about the good old-fashioned in person meeting. There’s still plenty of room for it in our high-tech world.

With well-known contestants as diverse as Tom DeLay and Kelly Osbourne, it is little wonder that fans are tuning in for the latest season of Dancing with the Stars. Though much of the broadcast is devoted to the stars’ performances - after all, keeping the audience and the judges happy are major components of how contestants win - the producers take the time to show rehearsals and other “behind the scenes” events.

For lawyers focused on increasing sales and client retention, this popular show offers an important lesson: the work that you do behind the scenes is every bit as important as the time you spend in the spotlight. When you’re working with a client, it’s important to keep them happy - and to remember to continue selling throughout the engagement.

A law firm marketing consultant will remind you that thinking about future sales is particularly important if the client you’re working with needs only limited effort - especially if you see the potential for future business development opportunities. Here are some suggestions that will help you focus your client retention efforts to better ask for and ensure future sales:

• Know what’s working and what could be better. Find out by conducting regular client satisfaction visits or discussions to enhance your client retention opportunities.
• Focus on more than just what you’re doing now. Cross-selling other practice areas is a solid approach to law marketing.
• Keep adding benefits to your services. While perfoming a document review or conducting a client interview, keep notes on issues that you are spotting. Give your clients something extra by arranging a lunch to go over these issues with the General Counsel - without charging a fee, of course.
• Participate rather than just attending. Law selling success requires you and others from your firm to attend and actively participate rather than just buying tables at dinners or offering tickets to sporting events. And remember, while you’re dancing around the floor at a client-sponsored fundraiser, don’t forget to thank your client for inviting you to a great event.

Remember, when it comes to client retention, your clients are both the audience and the judges. The more that you prepare, the better your performance will be.

Hard to believe it’s Labor Day weekend already – time to celebrate another passing summer, for the kids to head back to school, and, of course, to recognize what working men and women contribute to our communities. For lawyers focusing on sales and client retention, celebrating your contributions is important – but often overlooked.


While you’re celebrating Labor Day with family and friends, consider the legal sales benefits of celebrating successes with your clients. Won a major settlement or experienced another in-court victory? Treat the client to dinner. Successfully completed negotiations for a merger, acquisition, or real estate purchase? Recognize the victory by sending over a case of wine – along with a personally written note of congratulations.


Business development training can help you understand the importance of a hand-written note when it comes to building a long-term client relationship and keep you focused on staying in touch. When it comes to future legal sales, the last thing that you want to do is to wait for the client to call you about possible future work.


Future law sales depend on staying in touch, and subtly reminding your clients of the win and the celebration. By working with a business development consultant to develop strategies for effective marketing, building client relationships and making legal sales, you’ll begin to see even more fruits of your labor.


Have a great Labor Day weekend!

No one who met Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk would guess that they were one in the same—after all, how could a mild-mannered scientist also be a creature with superhuman strength? Attorneys focused on business growth are advised to take a lesson in duality from this iconic comic book character, learning to play both the adept lawyer and the dedicated client service team member. Providing high quality legal services is important – but you can’t count on it to be the thing that helps you keep clients coming back the next time that they need services.


When BTI Consulting Group conducted a survey of law firm client satisfaction, they found that more than 87% of clients were willing to replace their current law firm if there were a good reason to do so. Clients surveyed who were the most committed to their firms were those who received great legal services, who believed those services offered value, and who knew the lawyers they were working with were fully on their side.


As a result, if you want to keep your clients coming back for more, it’s time to transform the way they see you. Make sure that you’re staying on top of the latest information about your clients’ businesses. Focus on keeping your clients informed and make sure that you’re up-to-date on their changing needs. Take the time to ask what your clients need when they report back to the C-Suite and make sure that you get that information to them.


The commitment that you make to your clients keeps them with you. Focus on developing great client skills and create value even when you’re not actively providing case services and you’ll find that your clients are a strong foundation for client retention.

“And where is Batman?” asked the Joker on an occasion when the caped crusader was trapped and temporarily unable to save the day. By calling into question Batman’s ability to “be there” when people needed him, the Joker created a sense of doubt and uneasiness among the citizens of Gotham.


Don’t play the role of the villain within your own business by inadvertently creating that same sense of uneasiness in your clients and prospects. As a lawyer looking to land clients, it’s imperative that you understand the importance of “being there” when your clients need you. By being available for your client, following up with clients after their case is settled to ensure that everything is still going smoothly, checking in and staying in touch at regular intervals, and making sure that your clients and even your top prospects are comfortable picking up the phone when they have a question, you can be sure that you stay fresh in their minds.


Instead, fashion your approach in a more “heroic” manner. Make sure that you always follow up to a call or email in a timely fashion, and you’ll be reminding clients of their importance to you.
Make certain that clients and prospects have a strong understanding of what you and your firm have to offer. And also concentrate on asking the right questions, determining what your clients and prospects need and focusing on creating an awareness of what you can do for them. By making your clients a priority, your reputation and closing skills will benefit.

Dean Witter (not to be confused with Twitter – the micro-blogging service that some social marketing gurus swear by and others suggest you shun) did not build a successful investment firm by jumping into the fray. Instead, he focused on a single adage: “We earn one customer at a time.” This is invaluable advice, and it should be one of the keystone messages that a business development consultant delivers on closing skills and client retention.


Focusing on one client at a time happens on various levels. To build a one-on-one relationship with your clients, you need to learn their business:

1. Who are your client’s top competitors?
2. What new products or services are in development?
3. Are there internal pressures that your client contact must overcome?

Additionally, you need to take a personal interest in your clients—and maximize the opportunity to network whenever and wherever you can (read Never Eat Alone to find out more about this school of thought and the connectors that the author Keith Ferrazzi suggests). Ask about their families or talk over vacation plans; share a bit about yourself.


You’ll find that by making these connections, your abilities in legal sales will improve considerably.

One of the most important lessons to be learned in business is that when there’s a problem, it needs to be fixed right away. The process involves identifying a mistake, fixing it quickly, and making sure that your clients know what you’ve done to take action (a recent example is the Nestle Toll House cookie dough recall).


Lawyers who want to market themselves more effectively can learn from the actions taken by Nestle. Having a prompt response to a mistake – and having a rapid fix – allows you to demonstrate how important client retention is to you.


The way that you interact with your clients is a part of your invisible marketing strategy. While invisible marketing is the hallmark of a successful law marketing plan, it is often overlooked when firms talk about lawyer marketing tools and tactics.


Invisible marketing is all about client relationships. While no one wants to make mistakes, when one occurs, you have the opportunity to:

1. Identify how you responded to the situation.
2. Look at the relationships that you have with your clients and see how those relationships are progressing.
3. Determine whether or not your firm is providing clients the support and resources they need.
4. Examine what can be done to assist your clients as their businesses continue to grow.

Focusing on client relationships not only helps you to build on your current successes, but it can also lead to additional sales and referrals. Rather than overlooking the tactic the way some business development consultants do when they are teaching attorney sales, our business development training workshops include a one-hour segment on invisible marketing. By learning more about invisible marketing and mastering the method, you will increase your legal sales successes.

When she was approached about sewing the American Flag, Betsy Ross might have said “You want me to sew a what?” But rather than letting her personal doubts come into play, Betsy realized that an opportunity presented itself to raise the profile of a new country – and, now, the symbol that she created shows the accomplishments of Americans landing on the moon and of reaching the peak of Mt. Everest.


Much like our new country needed a little brand recognition, today’s law firms could benefit from a boost in their public profile–and many are realizing that they need outside assistance from business development consultants to increase their attorney marketing efforts.


Business development training and counseling provides attorneys with:

• Resources that are readily available
• Strategies to improve upon what’s already being done, and
• First-hand experience necessary to help them with closing skills and client retention.

The thought of working with a business development consultant might initially leave you thinking “You want me to do what?” But perhaps you’ll feel a bit more interested (and confident!) when you hear about the kinds of results that this type of partnership can bring. For example, over the course of a mere six months, our clients averaged a 285% increase in leads and opportunities. Even Betsy would be impressed by those numbers!

Your firm can’t afford to let a client’s needs fall through the cracks—especially in this economy. It always pays to give your clients above and beyond what is expected. Go the extra mile, and don’t miss the chance to tell your clients what you’ve done.
 
A client of mine was struggling from the crashing real estate and financing markets, and his practice dwindled almost to nothing. But instead of sitting on his hands and waiting for the phone to ring, he committed to stay visible to both his clients and perspective targets. He set lunches, meetings and update briefings, because he wanted to make sure that when things turned around, he could be at the top of his client’s mind. As a result, he quickly won a new real estate client who has him working on a development project he hopes will be approved when the market makes a comeback.
Keep in mind that being noticed doesn’t always require a big show. Rather, it is the little things - a written note instead of an email, a face-to-face meeting in lieu of a phone call, or sending news of recent legislation or court decisions that may affect the client.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…