Still holding out for the client fairy? A story of consistency and OUR most skeptical client.
Around the time I wrote this post declaring that legal marketing is not magic (…and to stop expecting it to be!), we recently started working with a very skeptical new client who was hoping for such magical results.
He’d been around the marketing block quite a few times, having worked with all of the gurus who made beautiful brochures, fun websites….and he even tried public seminars a time or two, to no avail.
Every time a campaign seemed to flop, he’d put the brakes on hard and look for better solutions to bring in more clients to his practice. A totally natural response.
He was no doubt frustrated with marketing and made a comment to us that he was hoping to see more results after just a month or two of work. I assured him that they would come, not because I’m a rockstar, but because it takes a solid formula of consistency, sweat equity and time to make a big impact on referral sources and prospective clients in the community. He had to give it more time.
Fast forward to last week. After spending much of the summer traveling, he reported on our monthly strategy call that September was pretty well booked with lunch meetings with key referral sources and prospective clients for new business. Old (and very high-net worth) clients were coming back in for more work in droves—partly fueled by the fact that he was now staying in front of them regularly with electronic and print communications and creating top of mind awareness.
And, after making it through the typical doldrums of summer that practically all firms experience, he was able to hire someone else part-time to take more marketing off of his plate and work with us to ensure he was communicating with clients, prospects and referral sources even more regularly.
I hung up feeling very proud… not of myself or my team, but of HIM. He is a brilliant attorney and a very neat person that more people SHOULD know about. It was HIS diligence and HIS commitment to CONSISTENT marketing that brought results. He literally had to put blinders on to all the bright, shiny objects that came his way, got a routine going and watched the snowball effect take place.
I had a similar conversation with another client out in California. Through consistent marketing, we were able to infiltrate all of the nursing homes in her area. Not only did we land on their speaker rounds, but managed to build meaningful relationships with the staff. Beyond our automated communications, SHE worked hard to connect with them in very personal ways that no other attorneys were doing (remember, this type of marketing makes the shift from “What’s in it for me” to “How can I be of service/value to you?”). Although initially very introverted and hesitant to do it, she has such a wonderful and caring personality that made this type of networking and relationship building a great fit for her.
So while in the beginning, and even now, the seminars in the nursing homes are not very profitable (they are mostly for the residents and not too many family members show up), she now gets a tremendous amount of referrals from the staff…which is what really counts. She is favored over other attorneys in the area and keeping them out of her “territory” that she worked hard to claim. The seminars are just the FIRST step. A great legal marketing plan always has a bigger picture, massive follow up and multiple long-term steps to achieve practice goals.
I just wanted to share these two quick stories again to reaffirm that legal marketing is not magic. It doesn’t have to be slimey. It doesn’t have to be a “hard sell”. You don’t even really need all the bells and whistles. It simply needs to be educational, reach your target audience on an emotional level and designed in such a way to elicit a response (whether that be for coffee, speaking opportunities or direct offers for appointments, etc.—depending on your ethics rules).
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.