At the Closers Group, we emphasize our Red Zone approach. Built on the premise of the last 20 yards before the goal line in football in which players need to be at their most strategic and best, our Red Zone is where our clients “find ‘em, meet ‘em and get ‘em” – it’s where the 3 steps that lead up to winning a new engagement must happen. However, perhaps even more important than knowing how to find, meet, and close with the right prospects is to know how to “keep ‘em” once you’ve got ‘em – client retention.


Client retention requires a “roadmap” of its own that makes sure the entire client team is committed to building relationships, offering new ideas, demonstrating an understanding of each client’s business, and conducting work of the highest quality.


In our consulting work, this is one area where we come up against resistance to our counseling and advice. But we know that client retention is critical, and have made it a point to include multiple steps in our Business Development Roadmap so that a firm’s management can instill a culture of relationship building into its attorney marketing efforts.


By emphasizing client retention as well as client acquisition, firms can develop a long-term business development pipeline.

As we’ve mentioned before, speeches and presentations can be an excellent way to boost brand value and generate new business leads. For attorneys interested in improving presentations, David Bartlett’s book, “Making Your Point” is one worth checking out, as it is loaded with insights and tips on making presentations shine. In our next few blog posts, we’ll explore and discuss some of the more interesting and salient points Bartlett makes in his book.

Bartlett suggests that before even starting to gather notes or putting together an outline, first define the strategic objective behind making the presentation. Are you looking to position yourself and your firm as a thought leader in a particular area of law, or are you instead aiming for greater exposure as part of your overall attorney selling efforts? Whatever reason for the presentation, ensure that the strategic objective is clear and direct. By understanding why you’re trying to deliver a message, you’ll be better able to frame your audience approach.

This approach, which Bartlett calls the “key message” needs to be focused on answering the question on the minds of all audience members. And that question is, “What’s in it for me?” As you map out your business development approach that will help you communicate with the audience, make sure you can answer the following questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• What concerns does your target audience share?
• What’s the best way to respond to their concerns?
• What topics are sensitive or should be avoided?
• What’s the best way to frame your key message with this audience?

Just as in face-to-face pitches, effective sales consulting techniques need to be emphasized in presentations and speeches.

Your firm’s management team and marketing professionals should be asking this and several other key questions.

• Do you have the competitive intelligence your rivals have?
• Are your laterals delivering ROI?
• Do you have reasonable business development plans?
• Are your attorneys maximizing their business development plans?
• Was your last defection your last defection?

In our previous post, we discussed the process of closing, and approaches that attorneys should take in moving toward the sale. But just because the contract is signed doesn’t mean that the work is finished; in many ways, it is even more important and takes more effort to maintain and build the relationship after the deal is closed and you are actively working on an engagement.

How can law firms ensure that they are constantly nurturing the relationship and facilitating future law sales? Here are a few of the tried and true techniques that have worked for our clients over the past twenty years:

• Know what’s working and what could be better: Don’t just assume, directly ask. You’ll be surprised by what you hear.
• Focus on more than just what you’re doing now: Always be thinking two or three steps ahead in order to capitalize on future opportunities.
• Keep adding benefits to your service: Find ways to continue increasing the value of the services you provide.
• Participate rather than just attend: When asked to join in on client meetings, do your homework and plan on taking an active role rather than waiting for questions to be asked.
• Learn their business: Understanding what’s happening outside of your client’s legal needs will actually identify other areas where your services could be utilized.

Remember that a successful professional services firm receives at least 50% of their business from past clients and client referrals. And also keep in mind in-house counsel’s responsibilities to their own clients:

• High quality work
• Accurate risk assessment
• Responsiveness
• Enhanced communications

Ensure that your engagement mirrors the way that in-house counsel engage with their own clients. Then, continue to implement techniques that serve to continue building the relationship and grow your network. As you do these things, you are effectively maintaining and nurturing the relationship and will likely see the payoff of your work in new client referrals and engagement leads.

According to recent report from Hildebrandt Headlines, “the demand for law firm services was largely flat for the quarter and the rate of growth was weak.” So what does this mean for law firms interested in bucking the trend by growing their business and closing more sales? It means that there’s no better time than the present to implement creative strategies and tactics that make the most of existing resources without requiring a large amount of additional time and marketing budget.


One suggestion that the Hildebrandt report offers as a way to prevail over existing market conditions is to develop new approaches for “talent development.” And through our years of experience in using business development consulting to help motivate legal sales, we couldn’t agree more that nurturing your existing talent is an excellent way to promote legal sales.


Talent development tactics that we recommend to help law firms get their lawyers “out there” and prospering include:

• Motivating attorneys to initiate client/prospect contact


• Arming attorneys with pointed client and industry research and analysis


• Offering personalized business development counseling


• Identifying underutilized firm assets and putting them to work for the attorneys


• Increasing collaboration through internal marketing and cross marketing


• Tracking efforts, measuring results, and identifying tools that work and those that don’t.

The lesson to take away is this; it’s important that you focus on nurturing and developing your talent, especially during lean times. Law firms that do an effective job of providing their attorneys with the resources they need to develop their marketing talents are the ones we will see survive and thrive during less-than-ideal market conditions.

In order to overcome the obstacles associated with attorney marketing, you have to identify exactly what those obstacles are. In many law firms, the main obstacle is the attorney’s reluctance to participate in marketing activities. Anyone involved in law firm marketing has certainly heard a variety of reasons and excuses that attorneys give when they want to avoid marketing activities. See if you’ve heard one or two of these before:

• “I’m in law, not sales.”
• “It’s unprofessional for me to market.”
• “Why bother?”
• “I don’t have time to market.”
• “I don’t have time to learn about somebody else’s business.”
• “I have to enter my hours.”

One way to overcome this obstacle is by taking a straightforward yet humorous approach. Oftentimes in our advisory and coaching groups, we present these excuses directly to the lawyers who are participating, and ask them to provide us with some of their best reasons for putting off marketing activities. By facing it directly, they’re drawn into the humor of the situation, helping them overcome their own internal resistance in the process.


Try the straightforward yet humorous approach with your own team. We bet you’ll be pleased with the results.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve discussed quite a few aspects of social media, from how much time to devote to creating and maintaining your profiles to how to effectively deal with Internet trolls. But there’s one subject we’ve only flirted with that it’s time to fully discuss-how the law applies to social networking.


Social networking sites enjoy some protection under the law when it comes to receiving immunity (or at least legal consideration) from people or organizations that are harmed by content that is posted on their networks. But while Facebook execs can sleep more easily at night knowing that they aren’t likely to be dragged into court for what someone says on their site, people who use social media sites don’t get that same protection.


When you’re posting a message to a social media site–especially a message that might be particularly spirited or opinionated–be sure to give yourself a reality check for potentially defamatory statements or other types of content that may cause you issues. And don’t think that you can slide a quick post up and then delete it if you change your mind in a few moments-unlike other mediums, the Internet has a long memory, even for those things you may like to forget or regret you’ve ever said.

“If you build it, he will come,” the prophetic message of Field of Dreams may apply to baseball diamonds, but couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to social media profiles. The fact is that even when you focus on building profiles only on those networks where your best prospects are gathered, you can’t expect your audience to come to you.


Keep in mind that your audience is already engaged in a conversation; as a lawyer delving into social media marketing, it’s up to you to join that conversation and build your network. In order to do so effectively, there are three things that you must consider:

1. You must take the time to understand the dynamics of the group. If you’re networking on Twitter, don’t take it as a given that your friends or followers will read your legal blog unless you provide a relevant link within a tweet.
2. Practicing ethical marketing is your responsibility. Avoid misrepresenting yourself or your firm while you focus on demonstrating the value your services offer.
3. Make sure the time you allocate will be productive.

Neglecting either of these points will lead to – at the very least – not being taken seriously within the community. Simply broadcasting your message without interacting, not taking the time to build relationships, or being perceived as being unethical could lead to being “defriended” or blocked by your prospects. Any of these can have a negative impact on your credibility – meaning that instead of hitting a social media home run, your marketing efforts have struck out. Proceed with caution and common sense, and you’ll be on the right track toward social media success.

In our last post, we talked about the importance of monitoring your social media accounts and building on the conversation. Keeping in mind the goals of online marketing for your firm and the importance of tracking the return on your investment, it is important that you develop a clear strategy for steering your message. This holds true especially in the world of social media, where you may encounter community members who aren’t interested in having a discussion, but instead are looking for a fight. Dealing with trolls and others that may have their own agendas requires you to stay calm and stand your ground – and avoid crossing the defamatory line. As you’re developing your social media messaging plan, remember the following:

• Resist picking a fight – even if you feel that the information being presented is inappropriate or unfounded. When you allow your emotion into your response, you risk crossing lines and damaging perception of your practice and your firm.
• Remember your state’s ethics rules.
• Stay professional without backing down.
• Reassert yourself with a post that reestablishes your position. While a simple solution, reasserting and clarifying your message can have a positive impact on your audience simply because so few professionals monitor and respond to messages on social media networks.

Remember, too, that part of what makes a marketing message strong is the fact that it resonates with your target audience. Ensure that you’re taking advantage of social media to not only grow your connections and increase your network, but also to better differentiate between your offerings and those of your competitors.


Making your case by adjusting, clarifying, and positioning your message is crucial – especially in social media where there are so many things competing for your prospects’ and clients’ attention.

In “Joining the Social Media Conversation,” we talked about the importance of participation and the best practices for setting up your social media profiles. And in our most recent post, we looked at the opportunity to develop business with just 15 minutes a day spent on social media. Following these steps will certainly put you on the right path toward social media success. But the reality is that even when you participate on the right sites, stay focused, and recognize that building relationships online takes time, knowing what to say can be challenging.


So what should you say? How can you be sure that you’re saying the right things?


There’s no doubt that you know the value of having a strong message for marketing your law firm. And while your core message won’t change when you post to Facebook, Twitter, or other sites, the medium changes the dynamics. To use social media effectively you can’t just post your message: You also need to monitor and respond to the feedback you receive.


On one hand, feedback can be frustrating if those commenting disagree with your message (stay tuned for our upcoming post on adjusting your message without engaging in a fight). On the other, feedback of all kinds is a great research opportunity. The comments of your potential prospects – those users who engage with your message – allow you to identify what’s working and see where your message isn’t making a connection.


The oft-repeated phrase “God gave us two ears and only one mouth” even holds true when it comes to engaging with social media. While you should post often, you should commit to monitoring the space even more often.


If you’re committing just 15 minutes a day to social media, spend less than five minutes posting your message. Spend the remaining 10 looking for feedback, and focus on being an effective listener. Get to know your audience. Respond to questions. Respond to criticisms and redirect the conversation as possible – if you can turn a negative into a positive or showcase your ability to help, you’ll be building relationships and your best prospects will recognize your ability to help them and meet their needs.