Marketing to Other Lawyers?
The idea of marketing your law practice to other lawyers might sound a little strange at the outset, but there is a method to the madness. After all, you likely get a portion of your work via referrals from other lawyers. (If you don’t, then you should REALLY start doing that.) Just as you market to former clients in order to get repeat business and their referrals, you should also be marketing your practice to other lawyers in order to get theirs.
Choosing who to target with your marketing is a first step. The most obvious criterion is that they provide different services than you do. No one is going to refer their clients to you rather than take them on. It may be necessary, though, to educate the other lawyers on what it is that you do and how it can be beneficial to their clients or to potential clients who come to them first but are really in need of your services.
An excellent way to turn this concept into a powerful piece for marketing to other lawyers is to find a way to add value to their own practice. For example, you might offer to write a guest column for their blog or newsletter that focuses specifically on your area of law. Another way you can add value for them is to offer consultations to their clients free of charge. The other lawyer will be able to tell potential clients, “Come to me, and you’ll get so-and-so’s input as a bonus!”
Meeting these other lawyers is the missing piece of the marketing puzzle. In order to get to a point where they are comfortable referring their clients to you, they’ll likely need to know and trust you. In-person networking is generally the best way to make sure this happens. Find places and groups that are lawyer-friendly and then make a point to socialize with those who are outside of your area of practice. Joining committees with various lawyers’ associations is a great way to spend time with a few targeted members in order to get to know each other better while also being productive for the cause.
If face-to-face networking is not an option for you (for time or other personal reasons), we’ve also had great success sending letters and brochures to other attorneys letting them know exactly what our clients do and how we may be able to help add passive income to their practice by way of referrals.
Just remember to design your materials in such a way that they get past the attorney’s gatekeeper! If they look like marketing materials, they will end up in the trash! Instead get creative and make an offer to go to lunch, or mention how you’ve heard great things about the attorney from other professionals or clients of yours and you would like to learn more about how your practices can collaborate together in the future.
In business, marketing to other businesses is referred to as B2B. You marketing to other lawyers is also B2B. And, while it should probably go without saying, the favor of getting referrals should be reciprocal. Just as you’re hoping the family lawyer you met last week will send you estate planning clients, she’s hoping you’ll direct custody cases her way.
Remember, if creating these types of materials or referral outreach campaigns is something you would love to do but simply don’t have the time for, we can help.
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.