So without fail, the most popular question still remains, “How do get more clients [for my law practice]?”

This past week I was chatting an attorney who was asking, “What do I do during my downtime other than twiddling my thumbs?”

There seemed to be a mix of frustration of not having clients and the frustration of now knowing how to get more in the door. There was also the frustration of paying people/companies who promise leads but fail to deliver. Just a quick note on that . . . no one will care as much about bringing in prospects for your law practice as you will so don’t be quick to outsource marketing. That’s all I gotta say about that.

So here’s what I advised him to do and to date, this remains one of my favorite marketing methods for generating new and repeat business. I asked him how many clients he’s had since he started his law practice. It had been about a year or two since he started so he had somewhere around 100 past clients.

Next question. “Were they happy with your services?” In other words, “Did they like you?”

Yup, they did. Cool. Now we have something to work with.

I asked him, “How did you leave things with them when you were done with their case.”

He sent them a disengagement letter and mentioned that if they had someone to refer to him he’d appreciate it.

Umm, okay. So I asked, how have you communicated with them since they got the disengagement letter?

He hasn’t.

BOOM! There was the issue. It is NOT, NOT, NOT your clients’ responsibility to keep in touch with you, come back to you for repeat business and/or refer their friends. Hell, it’s not even their responsibility to remember your name. It’s YOUR responsibility to make sure that your clients (past and present) NEVER forget your name when they need you again or when they need to refer a friend.

So here’s was STEP ONE of my advice to him. Put together a list of all your past clients and call them up. Why? To just shoot the shit. I don’t want you to try to sell them anything. Don’t try to see what they need, etc. Just ask them how they’re doing, talk about their favorite football team, ask them how their kids are doing or how they’re enjoying the Prius they just bought.

If you haven’t talked to someone in ages and then you pitch them, it’s cheesy and will turn them off. Don’t do it. Connect and and I mean genuinely connect with them. Connect with them in such a way that when they call, you remember exactly who they are, what they do, where their kids go to college and the name of their dog. That’s the human connection that’s missing in business these days. Get it back!

I don’t care if you have 1000 clients. Call them all. It’ll take you two weeks but it’ll be the best investment in the future of your law practice you’ll ever make. Then talk to them once every 6 months or so just to keep in touch. Got more than 1000 past clients? No problem. Call 5 per day. Chunk it down and make it easy.

Okay, so what’s step 2? It’s called a Nurture Campaign and it’s the tool that will make sure that clients never forget you when they need an attorney again or when they need to refer their friends.

Which brings me to my Black Friday Special . . .

Paige!  Ouch!  How could anyone hate marketing?

That was my initial response.  But I also know that the term “marketing” can easily be confused with “sales” and sales can easily trigger images of a car salesman with questionably integrity which ultimately, through the associative property (mathematicians help me out there) means that Marketing = Slimy Salesman.

I’ll address that in just a second but the other thing that makes marketing a burden is when regulations stifle your creative marketing efforts – that happens a LOT with lawyers and other professionals.  But that’s probably because the ethics committees make the same car salesman association and that’s where we have a problem.

Marketing is simply making the world, your world (a.k.a. your niche target market) aware of the fact that you exist, that you provide a service they need or a service they want and they simply didn’t know they needed until you let them know that you existed.  Plus you let them know WHY you are better than your competitors and WHY they should work with you as opposed to working with anyone else or not working with anyone at all . . . what the world calls a USP (unique selling proposition).

That’s may seem like a lot to deal with and probably why someone could hate marketing.  But luckily I have a simple solution to the “I hate marketing” dilemma (you knew I would

Whether you want to take the words “sales” and “marketing” out of your vocabulary or you’d simply prefer to change the perception, here’s how you go about it . . . replace the words “sales” and “marketing” with “educate.”

You never sell and you never market, you educate.  Now at the expense of sounding like a hypocrite I’m still going to teach “marketing.”  But here’s something I read in the book Rework that really clarified this concept.

They took the example of chefs.  How do the best chefs get you to buy their books, visit their restaurants and buy their cooking pots and pans and all that good stuff?  Do they hop on TV and pitch, pitch, pitch?  Of course not!  They get on TV and teach you how to make their best recipes (a.k.a. they educate).  So when you go to the book store or you see a restaurant with their name on it, BOOM, you’re sold!

When you educate a few things happen:

1) Prospects see you as the expert (and everyone wants to work with an expert)
2) You set yourself apart from the herd who do NOT educate which is the majority of business owners.
3) Prospects do not put up their “I don’t want to be sold to” death shield.  They welcome education and emotionally convince themselves that you are their go-to person!

In short, never market, just educate and the stigma of the sleazy car salesman disappears.

Now before I finish off, there was one more thing that Paige asked that I’ll save for another day but truly warranted a response.

She asked me how to get over the “hurdle of marketing yourself.”  I’m not sure if she meant handling marketing on your own or marketing YOU.  I’m guessing she meant the latter which is easier to address.

BE AWESOME!  That means treat your clients better than anyone else, be likable, be cool, do stuff that other attorneys would never do (hell, you could return calls on time and you’d fulfill that criteria) and know that you are so damn good that you deserve every client and every dollar that comes to you.  This is a perception thing and understand that you do not need to be the smartest or the “best” lawyer out there.  You have to be the one that gives your clients peace of mind . . . the one your clients love . . . the one that your clients tell their friends about.  And sometimes that’s as simple as remembering a client’s birthday or their dog’s name or a multitude of other human aspects that most business owners don’t pay attention to anymore.

Now the moment I know you’ve all been waiting for  . . .

My Shameless Plug

There is one more cool element of educating versus marketing . . . you can plug your product or service without remorse.  You’ve basically earned the right (and that’s important to do with any audience) to offer your products or services.

Now if you’re a lawyer that’s still making under $100,000 a year or working over 40 hours a week then I invite you to attend my 6-Figure Business Boot Camp for Lawyers. You’re going to receive two intense days of pure money-making, time-saving and stress-reducing strategies.  I’m going to discuss the business operations which have helped me get to under 5 hours per week spent on running my own immigration law practice.  You’ll learn the specific strategies I use for automation, outsourcing and yes, marketing.

All the details are HERE and you can still get the lowest price until December 15th.

Keep life simple and always remember to play!

sk

p.s. If you haven’t downloaded a copy of my updated book it’s available for FREE at www.LawFirmGuru.com.

Actually, now that I think about the particular circumstances, it’s NEVER happened.

This week the CEO of a corporation threw my handshake aside and gave me a BIG HUG!

Now I’ve been hugged by clients before, but never a corporate client. This was a first. And I have to say, it felt pretty cool! Everyone likes a little appreciation and feeling that they made a difference in someone’s life. We already know that no one tips their lawyers (which I never understood, how come waiters and cab drivers get tips but doctors and lawyers don’t? Hmmm, something to ponder .

But honestly, is there anything better than a heartfelt hug that says thank you? Yes, I know some of you are saying, “I’d rather have the tip!” Not me. A little or a lot of money in the pocket will soon be forgotten but sincere appreciation is a lasting memory.

I’ll tell you more about the hug in a bit.

Look, this may sound a bit strange considering what you hear most lawyers say about their clients, but I genuinely love my clients. Fine, some I just “like.” But I at least like them all. And sure, sometime my clients and I disagree and get annoyed with each other but isn’t that how family is? A little annoyance with plenty of underlying love?

Hmm, right about now I’m wondering if this article is a bit too mushy? Ahhh, what the hell, I’ll take my chances

Here’s the bottom line? Imagine a world where everyone wanted to hug their lawyer and the lawyer loved his/her clients? How does that happen? Well, it’s actually quite simple, although it does take some guts . . .

First, clients should only work with lawyers who they “feel comfortable with.” This includes the client’s assessment of how competent the lawyer is but more importantly it includes the feeling you get when you sit with or talk to the attorney. Does he/she make you feel good? Does he/she give you peace of mind? That’s the type of lawyer that you want to work with.

If that feeling isn’t there then it’s the client’s responsibility to simply say, “Hey, I just don’t feel we’re a fit, thanks for your time. No hard feelings.”

From the attorney’s side, the same rule applies. Actually, wait, I’ll get to that in a second. Lawyers should always let the prospective client know that it’s OKAY if they don’t feel comfortable working with us (for any reason) and that if they don’t want to move forward it’s all right, no hard feelings. Although I’ll admit that I’m guilty of not always doing this myself. I must admit that it makes you wonder what exactly it was that turned a client off if he/she chose to go elsewhere (kinda of like when you ask a girl out on a date and then she cancels without reason – but that’s another story for another day .

The next step is for the attorney to make sure that they like the client. That they can see themselves working with the client. That the client is someone who they can see themselves getting along with in more than just a professional capacity. My personal rule is that I should be able to picture myself enjoying a drink or a meal with a client. It doesn’t need to the best time but we should definitely be able to have some good conversation and a few laughs. If I can’t see that happening then it’s unlikely we would work well together as attorney/client and it’s my responsibility to refer them to another attorney who they will be a fit with.

And as many of my clients know, I WILL actually enjoy a drink or a meal with them or even have an initial meeting over a cup of coffee. It just creates a very different bond then sitting across a desk in an office.

If I had to summarize this whole article in one line it’d be, “Clients, make sure you like your lawyers and lawyers, make sure you love your clients!”

Oh, back to the hug thing. Although I’d love to act like it was all my doing I must say that my client and his staff were on top of their game. Without their participation, actually, it was more my participation and their meticulousness, everything would not have gone as smoothly as it did and I wouldn’t have gotten my hug.

So thanks to my client (you know who you are) and thanks to his staff who I hope you took out for a real nice lunch – they deserve it!!!

As you know my sister is getting married this Saturday so they’ve got me running around like a madman (let’s just say the tasks I’m doing this week are anything but lawyerly). But it’s a good time and Indian weddings are never a one-day affair so the festivities have already begun.

Hope you have an amazing week and a fantastic weekend.

sk

p.s. I have received a TON of questions from everyone who has downloaded a copy of my books so for those of you that still haven’t scheduled your Free Jam Session (details are in the book itself) make sure you do so soon. I’ll be taking it off the table later this month as we begin to prepare for the next 6-Figure Business Boot Camp for Lawyers.

p.s.s. I always appreciate you sharing the link www.HelpMyLawPractice.com with your lawyer friends, not your competitors

Question from the Solo

How do I effectively collect late fees from clients who are currently experiencing financial difficulties and leave the lawyer to be the last one paid?

Here’s How to Approach It

This is a timely and timeless question.  Timely because I was just discussing this with a buddy of mine over dinner the other day and timeless because the problem of collecting fees never seems to disappear.

Before I get into the actual collation of fees let’s talk about the “moral” issue that arises, “How can I take money from someone who doesn’t have any?”  Get that thinking out of your head.  You are never in the business of screwing clients out of their money (I’m all about integrity).  If your client can’t afford to eat or doesn’t have a roof over their head then don’t take them as a client or do it pro bono

But remember that you’re not twisting anyone’s arm to work with you.  You tell them what you do, what you charge and why they should work with you.  You are giving them options and they are making the decision.

Need a better argument?  No one told them to purchase a house that was 10 times more than they could afford.  No one told them to lease the Mercedes when they should be driving a Honda and so on.  And no one told them that they have to work with you or agree to your fees.  They CHOOSE to and that’s their decision.  You are not responsible for people’s financially unsound decisions but you are responsible for treating them well and taking EXCELLENT care of them when they do retain you.

Cool?  Good!  Since that’s outta the way let’s chat about actually getting paid and let me throw in another shameless plug for my book (because I actually talk about exactly this in my book – link is below).  Okay, now about getting paid.  There are 3 rules I”m going to share with you . . .

1) Use a payment plan.  I love these and use them all the time.  Let’s pick nice round numbers for this example.  You’ve got a fixed fee of $1000.  Great.  Let them pay up front for $1000.  Simple.  But what if they can’t pay now.  Let them pay 2 payments of $550.  Let them pay 3 payments of $400.  OR . . . let them pay 2 payments of $500 or 3 payments of $333.33 (which means an even payment plan for anyone that’s not great at math).  There’s no obligation to charge them more for a payment plan.  In fact, payment plans which have no “interest” element are super sexy.  BUT BUT BUT, use a software that allows you to set up a payment plan right at the onset.  That means putting the payment plan on a credit card and a credit card only.  Every 30 days (or whatever interval you set) their credit card will be automatically billed.  You are not running after them to collect money.  Sure they may cancel their credit card between payments but I haven’t had anyone do that yet and if you’re still accepting clients that you feel MAY do this then DON’T ACCEPT THEM – sheesh!  Yucky clients suck!

Here’s the marketing software that I use (and love more than life itself): www.AutomationCrackhead.com (yup, that’s my own cool URL and affiliate link)

2) Rule number two . . . if you are charging hourly make sure you have money in your trust account BEFORE you begin and then bill them for money earned.  Here’s how to approach it.  You assume the case will cost $2000.  Ok, so put $500, $1000, whatever into trust.  BUT when you have earned the money instead of taking it out of trust bill the client and give them 7-days to pay it (and let them pay by credit card because it’s so easy and paying 3% in fees is totally worth the peace of mind of having the money in your account in 10 seconds instead of 10 months).  If the client pays your bills on time then you never touch the money in trust and refund it to them at the end.  If they fail to make payment they get a warning that you’ll cease work on their case (when you can and making sure that “timely payments” is clearly mentioned in your retainer).  That’s when you take the earned money out of trust and you cease representation for untimely payment (when possible again).  But this way you have back-up money, so to speak, and you never really have to delve into trust.

3) The 3rd rule is one that’s kept me sane.  Always charge enough upfront that you at least break even and assume they won’t pay the rest.  So the bill is $1000 and you know you break-even at $500.  Charge $500 upfront and assume they won’t pay the other $500.  You won’t get pissed-off (well, at least not AS pissed-off).  If they pay the other $500 (which most will), cool, you’re happy.  If they don’t, you broke even.  Okay, not great but you didn’t lose money.   This is my “Peace of Mind” rule

As you can tell, this article is about preemptive approaches to putting & keeping money in your pocket (and not feeling bad about earning it).  If you have a bad gut feeling about a client not being able to pay trust your gut and let them go (that feeling is there for a reason yo!).

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sameer

p.s. All the good stuff I talk about and the links you need is at www.LawFirmGuru.com

My Disclaimer

Hey, I’m still a lawyer. You knew there would have to be some type of disclaimer. But don’t worry, I promise I won’t be nerdy about it.  Here goes . . .the information I share is marketing, business, automation and outsourcing advice.  So if you’re not completely comfortable implementing something I’m talking about then make sure you check your state rules and regulations first.  That means legally and ethically.  Let’s just say that “they” don’t always make it easy for us to market and run our law practices as effectively (and lucratively) as we’d like.  Follow the rules so you don’t get disbarred.  Market, automate and outsource your business so you make some cash!  Told you it wouldn’t be nerdy.

Don’t get me wrong, when I say the best marketing for your law firm is customer service I don’t mean that you should keep nuisance clients or those who become particularly overbearing and obnoxious (which is probably only about 1-2% of your clients – if it’s more we need to talk about your screening process).  But what about the good clients who simply want a return phone call to know what’s going on with their case.  The ones who are looking for that peace of mind that we provide?  Remember, you’re not in the legal business, you’re in the “peace of mind” business.

I’ve seen lawyers, who truly know how to market their law firms, use this to their advantage.  They actually advertise as the “Lawyers Who Call You Back.”  I’m not sure if that’s brilliant marketing or a sign of how pathetic the level of care in our industry has become.   Seriously, is it really too much to ask you to call your clients back?

This is not limited to calling your clients back.  You must also:

• Keep them CC’ed on documents
• Listen to them (the situation is not always what you assume it is)
• Offer them a cup of coffee on a cold day
• Make sure they know what they have to do and when they need to do it by (clients listen better than you may think)
• Don’t lie to them (I wish this was as obvious as it seems)
• Don’t tell them something went wrong because of your staff.  You ARE your staff.
• Make sure all their questions and concerns are answered (yes, you can charge for this but make sure it’s done)
• And here’s the doozey – APOLOGIZE WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE.  I’m am so bloody sick and tired of attorneys or anyone else for that matter coming up with every excuse in the book about why something went wrong or didn’t happen in a timely manner when any idiot can see that the attorney screwed up.  Hey, we’re human, it does and WILL happen.  So say you’re sorry.  There are several potential benefits to doing so:
  • No malpractice suit
  • They keep you as their attorney
  • They tell their friends that you made a mistake, but you apologized and fixed it – what better referral can you ask for (did I mention that it’s not enough to just say sorry, you must work to remedy the mistake)
  • They step back a bit and allow you to do damage control
  • THEY RESPECT YOU!

Marketing your law practice with basic customer service is not rocket science (and I’m not even talking about the over-the-top customer service I teach).  I know that when we started our own firms we began with the noblest of intentions.  Then many of us slowly deteriorated or became disgruntled with the profession, with our clients, with our staff, etc.  Don’t let that happen.  When it starts getting tough revisit the lawyer you wanted to be and continue to hold yourself to those high standards.  You will attract what you put out and people will want to work with you.

Second, they required that I send in a cancellation letter via certified mail.

They require a 30-day period in which to cancel and finally . . .

My cancellation is “subject to their review.”

WOW (yes, that’s my emotion and the name of the gym), could they have done anything more to make it difficult and to receive the worst possible reviews that anyone could have given them.

I enjoyed working out there but this horrible taste they left in my mouth was enough to kill the entire experience.  And these days, nothing is private.  When a company screwed up people would tell their friends.  Now they can tell the world.

Bottom line.  Make life easy for your clients.  Make them say, “Hey, I know my time has come but I loved working with you and will tell all my friends what an amazing experience I had.”

Hell, they may even put it online and tell the world.  Ahh, that’d be nice

So here are two stories I know you’ll enjoy.  Let’s just say these stuck and you’ll see exactly why.  Enjoy a good laugh  and some practical advice at the same time (and you have kids you’ll especially enjoy this stuff) . . .

Don’t Touch the Paint

As an immigrant with humble beginnings my Dad was pretty particular about maintaining stuff for as long as he could make them last . . . cars, furniture, appliances and of course, the fresh coat of paint he put throughout the house when my sister and I were about 7 and 10 years old.

Here was the problem . . . we never used the door knob when we were opening or closing the doors.  For some reason our grubby little hands always grabbed the door right where the fresh coat of paint had just been put.  So imagine a white door, with a nice knob and right below it a bunch of our dirty paw prints.  Drove Dad nuts!But Dad quickly realized that yelling and screaming wasn’t going to work.  So here’s what he came up with (anyone with kids listen closely).  He offer my sister and I a quarter every time we caught the other one touching the door instead of the knob.  There were no rules or conditions.  If my sister or I said we caught the other one well he would just take our word for it and give us a quarter, no questions asked.

The first week was pretty cool.  We both probably raked in a solid $2-$3 in quarters.  But then something interesting happened.  The tide started turning.  My sister started catching me a lot more than I caught her.  That was not cool.  So I became pretty good at using the knob and suddenly I was making a bit more than my sister.  But by about week 3 or 4 something interesting happened.  The siblings were trained!  How the hell did that happen?  We were so focused on not letting the other make their 25 cents that you couldn’t get our hands on the paint if you tired.

Now, if us siblings were a little brighter we’d have colluded and come up with a master plan to bankrupt Dad one quarter at a time.  But nope, we were malleable little kids and more than that we were human.

So in the end:  $10 for the kids . . . lifetime of smudge-free paint for Dad.  Nicely played pops!

BUSINESS LESSON:  99% of the population operates from a place of fear and scarcity.  As a business-owner part of your job is to have a keen understanding of that about your clients.  Then find a way to eliminate or minimize that fear and you’ve got a fan for life!

Tell One She’s Beautiful and the Other That She’s Gorgeous

I love this story because it’s all about how total bullshit can come out of your mouth and you can still emerge victorious.

This must have taken place when I was either at the tail end of college or in my single years following college.  I get home from a party and I’m telling my dad what happened (well, it was actually the next morning – Dad didn’t really wait up for me and you’ll know why in the next story).  I told him that I saw these two girls talking and I really wanted to approach one of them and chat with her but I had no idea what to say to TWO women (one, sure, no problem, but two?).

Dad’s advice was simple, ridiculous, and utterly brilliant!  He said, “Beta (Indian word for son), you walk up to the girls, tell one of them she’s gorgeous and tell the other she’s beautiful.”

“Dad, are you kidding me?  They’ll both laugh at me and think this dude’s full of shit!”

“You’re right.  They’ll think you’re full of shit.  But they’ll also be wondering all night whether ‘gorgeous’ or ‘beautiful’ is better!”

So ridiculous that it was brilliant.  Now I did inherit my Dad’s impeccable bullshitting skills but here’s the . . .

BUSINESS LESSON:  Business does not need to be, well, all business.  It doesn’t need to be formal and proper and by-the-book.  Approach your prospects with humor.  Make it fun for someone to want to get to know you or work with you.  Open with something that makes people laugh.  It will make you human, authentic and likeable.  Remember, people buy people and they buy your authenticity and your likability.

Oh, and I’d add that you do try to use this line on the next two women you meet.  May I strongly suggest you call yourself out quickly on your own ridiculousness.  Remember, keep it real and have fun and you never know when Dad may utter words of utter brilliance (or something he knows you’ll do just cuz you’re a goofball and it’ll add to his entertainment

Have a great Father’s Day everyone and to my Dad for always keeping it fun and entertaining.

You rock and I love you Dad!

p.s.  I’d love to hear some great stories about your Dad and the lessons you learned.  Feel free to share them below.

That’s nice and all but honestly, who cares about satisfaction?  There’s a lot of ways to be satisfied (again, get your head out of the gutter).  Anyone can satisfy but how many can WOW?  Do you WOW your clients or do you just satisfy them?  Are they loyal?  If someone comes to them with a better price will they, “Hell no!  I love the company I work with and I don’t care what your price, I ain’t going anywhere!”  Do they tell their friends about you and your business?  You know, really rant and rave and sweat and drool over how great you are?  Is doing business with you so incredible that it feels wrong?  If not then you’re not WOW’ing your customers.

Here’s the most-awesome-est part!  It’s super-easy to WOW your customers.  Yup, it really is.  All you need to do is get them 100% satisfied and then do something, ANYTHING that goes 1% over satisfaction.  That’s 1% that no one else is doing and that’s the 1% that gets noticed.  It’s the 1% that keeps them with you for life.  It’s the 1% that makes them tell their friends.

Don’t believe me?  Check out this picture.  My friend Karyn Greenstreet was kind enough to allow me to use this picture of her bathroom (sounds weird when you type it out but anyway . . . ).  The cleaning lady in her home left her “toilet paper roses” before leaving for the day.

Do you think she noticed the extra 1% between satisfaction and being WOW’ed?  You better believe she did!

Be sure to leave toilet paper roses for your clients.  They’ll notice, they’ll stick with you and they’ll tell their friends.

Do you know what your clients REALLY think when they hear you answer your own calls?

They’re thinking, “He doesn’t seem to be doing too well.”  “She probably doesn’t have too many clients.”  “Maybe we should work with a more experienced professional!”

That is what clients are thinking when you answer your own calls!

If I hear one more business owner tell me that he or she answers their own calls because his “My clients like being able to get a hold of me on the phone . . .” Arggghhh!!!!

Of course they like getting you on the phone! It’s like having their own personal butler on call 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.

These clients do NOT respect you nor do they not think you are successful.

And clients do not want to work with unsuccessful business people!

Imagine your doctor picked up the phone whenever you called? You’d wonder if he had any business at all and you’d wonder when in the world he had time to give any attention to his patients. Not to mention how good he is at what he does . . .Our clients are no different.

Whoa!  Before you even think about  it . . . sending them to voice mail is worse.

Half of your prospective clients won’t leave a message (meaning no business for you) and the ones that do won’t be too excited about not getting at least one live person.

Yes, I understand. You “think” you can’t afford a full-time receptionist.

But the only thing more expensive than having someone answer your calls is NOT having someone answer your calls.

I use this service to handle all my incoming calls.  They do an awesome job.  They’ll take 1-2 weeks to get used to how you want your phone answered and then they are awesome!

Talk to Dirk Moeller at 866-601-6115 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 866-601-6115 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or email him at dirk@bcanswer.com.  Be sure to tell him that Sameer Kumar sent you.

Or if you prefer you can just hire a full-time receptionist working 9 hours a day for $8 an hour for a total of $1584 per month (not factoring in taxes, benefits or daily lunch time).