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ASTONISHING: “CLIENT EXPERIENCE” IS FINALLY LEGITIMATE – What do in-house counsel think?

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Client Retention, Marketing for Law Firms, Uncategorized.

Client experience is finally legitimate and being given significantly more attention by marketing professionals, according to the Bloomberg Law and LMA 2017 survey.  Entitled “Aligning Marketing Business Development Resources for Law Firm Growth” the results ” , . . .speaks to the need to go deeper in order to understand and serve clients’ unique needs.”

Yet, even though marketing professionals rank CX (Client Experience” as an effective way to differentiate their firms, the survey found that they are not investing in it.  So what is an attorney to do when facing a first meeting, rfp pitch, or building a client relationship without having the CX intelligence?

First…  What are the buyers’ professional values?  What is the perception of you, your firm and your practice group?

  • What kind of commitments does the buyer/client expect you and your firm to make?
  • What are the buyer’s expectations in terms of rate structure?
  • What are the expectations about winning verses settling; completing the deal or letting it go?
  • What are the buyer’s needs arrayed across a broad spectrum of potential legal services?

Second… How many baskets are your eggs in?

News flash:  One size never fits all.  Marketing should be tailored according to personality, needs of the client and those skills of your firm.  One tactic that works for one professional won’t necessarily work for another.  And most importantly, “practiced” business development, sales training and closing skills will land the client.

Third… Why has a competitor bested you?

What do they know about the client or prospect that you don’t?  Track the client’s outside hires.  Is there a pattern?  Simply talk to their in-house lawyers.  Take them to lunch, ask why they hired so-and-so and (diplomatically) is it working out so far?  Be sure to pick up the tab.

By asking and researching these questions yourself, and having the marketing department provide industry and specific business related information for the prospect, you will be taking advantage of the latest, but way overdue method of growing new business — client experience.

To schedule a free 30 minute advisory consultation, go to the contact us page.

Has Your Marketing Approach Been Rejected and Client Retention Faltering ?

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Client Retention, Strategic Planning.

Has your marketing approach been rejected and client retention faltering??  In fact, a frequent comment we hear from in-house counsel is that lawyers “just show up and offer legal advice.  They don’t listen.”  In fact, in our 2014 survey of counsel in the U.S. and Canada, “they don’t listen to us” is one of the 2 top reasons for terminating a long term relationship.

The art of listening should permeate sales training (yes “sales” training), be part of every marketing plan and be a strategy to use during every concerted business development opportunity. Listening and responding to a client’s or prospect’s needs are imperative if you want to win or keep a client.  An early IBM sales rule was to get your client talking at least 60% of the time.

“Do you know their pain?” should be the first question you ask before preparing for a meeting.  Then walk them through the problem, offer examples of how you solved similar issues, and make your answers[your values] their needs.

A Badass Excuse for Not Marketing

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Client Retention, Law Firm Marketing.

This is one badass excuse for not marketing –  “It’s been six months since I won that big case for my client.  Why hasn’t SHE called ME?”

I heard that quote directly from an attorney.   IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO WIN !  It never occurred to him to continue the relationship, offer to share the trial tactics with her in-house law department, co-author an article within the client’s industry publication, or invite the teams to a celebratory dinner.  Do you get the message here?

You Won’t See This on WikiLeaks – “Emails Don’t End in Handshakes

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Business Development, Client Retention, Law Firm Marketing, Uncategorized.

British Airways got a real boost from this marketing and business development ad, “Emails Don’t End in Handshakes.” It today’s highly competitive market for professional services, one-way electronic communications do not win new clients nor retain current clients. That is why in our marketing and business development keynotes and seminars, we emphasize the absolute need to build trust through personal relationships.

Just as we teach specific tactics to create partnering relationships, we must realize that there are specific behaviors on our part that can further our relationship with them or destroy it altogether.

As “emails do not end in handshakes” emphasizes, in business development, it is critical to go where your clients go. If your clients, prospects and suspects will be attending an industry or ACC conference, be there to reinforce the relationship. Ask them to be on panels with you or co-author an article. Learn more about the charitable organizations that are important to them. If a prospect is speaking at an upcoming event, attend it even if the subject matter is not in your particular specialty area.

Business development does not occur simply by offering an engagement letter. Closing skills begin with the first contact and involve following up, building the relationship, understanding their business, business brainstorming and offering ideas before ultimately asking for the business. In other words, being face-to-face, even if only occasionally, is how you win and keep clients. Indeed, to grow business, emails do not and will not end in handshakes.

For a complimentary 15 question Rapid Marketing Assessment of your firm or practice area, acolman@closersgroup.com

What Did Not Work in Business Development II

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Business Development, Client Retention.

Continuing from our previous post on “What Did Not Work in Business Development”, we hear more comments from in-house counsel about business development tactics where many fail:

7. Go to a prospect/client presentation and not getting names of all attendees;

8. Choosing the wrong medium to communicate i.e. email vs. phone;

9. Surprising client with late breaking information;

10. Lack of business etiquette – during a meeting using iPhone or Blackberry, taking calls, or being the “potted plant”, not engaging in the meeting.

11. Sending out cold call materials;

12. Not being prepared for meeting;

13. Not following up with clients at sponsored events.

 

Business Development Tactics

In case you missed the previous post, you can find it here.

Client Retention — What Should You Ask Your Clients?

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Attorney Marketing, Client Retention, Marketing for Law Firms, Uncategorized.

In the last post, we began the discussion of Client Retention by asking what should you ask your clients? This is an important part of building client relationships and new business development. Perhaps, focus those questions more on:

* What do they really like about your firm?
* Why do they, or don’t they send referrals to you?
* What else would they like you to offer or provide to make their relationship with your firm
stronger or more productive?

And remember to ask all of your staff members who might deal with your clients in billing, leaving messages, following up for you, etc. They might have some interesting and different questions for you:

* Why do they think clients hire you?
* What do they think clients want in addition from you?

And then ask your suppliers and vendors that help to keep your offices running:

* Why do they think clients hire you?
* What do they think you can do to improve the client experience?
* What ideas have they seen other firms and companies do that work well?

And then, synthesize all the answers and identify the one idea that truly sets you apart.

Where Do I Find Prospects?

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Asking for Business, Attorney Marketing, Business Development, Client Retention, Content Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization, Email Marketing, Law Firm Marketing, Marketing Partners.

One of the most common questions clients ask is where do I find prospects?

Simple Rules to Find Prospects

There are 3 simple rules to follow when attempting to find prospects, critical to undertaking marketing and new business development:

  • GO where they go
  • KNOW who they know
  • READ what they read

Play the Numbers

Business development is a numbers game. The more you go, meet their colleagues and read what they are reading (from Wall Street Journal to National Enquirer), the more relationships you are building for the long run. You will find prospects, more as you continue, along your way.

Just do it!
– Nike

Why Clients Fire You – Client Retention? Part II

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Allan Colman, Attorney Marketing, Business Development, Client Retention, Content Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization, Email Marketing, Marketing Partners.

This is the concluding column on 10 reasons why clients fire you. Client retention is among the top priorities for building future business and receiving referrals. Last week we indicated that:

  • Lack of Contact
  • Their situation changes
  • Decisions made without authorization
  • Non-responsive
  • Failure to help

In thinking about clients that have left your firm, can you attribute any of these 5 reasons as a possible cause?

  • Apparent disregard for client’s budgets
  • Boring pitches in seeking new work or referrals
  • Not replacing a relationship partner with bad chemistry
  • Groundhog Day Syndrome – repeating the same work over and over
  • Capacity-bound partners with little or no time, continually passing work on to Associates

When it comes to attorney marketing and law firm business development think about the clients you have worked so hard to get.

Why Clients Fire You

Written by Allan Colman on . Posted in Allan Colman, Attorney Marketing, Business Development, Client Retention, Content Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization, Email Marketing, Law Firm Marketing, Law Firms, Marketing for Law Firms.

by Valerie Goodman

In the Closers Group experience, lack of attention to client retention is a primary reason clients fire you. When it comes to attorney marketing and business development, the first step is to value and properly serve the clients you’ve worked so hard to get in the first place. It is one of the simplest ways to accelerate business, wouldn’t you agree?

Jay Abraham, in “Getting Everything You Can From Everything You’ve Got”, cites these primary reasons why clients have become dissatisfied and have left relationships.

  • Lack of Contact — leading to your client forgetting about the relationship
  • Their Situation Changes — and no longer need what they hired you for, or were unaware of your
    other practice areas
  • Decisions — were made without authorization
  • Costs — were incurred without authorization
  • Non-Responsive — to requests for changes or reviews in billing
  • Failure — to respond to requests for help with additional practice areas

We’ll identify an additional group of reasons clients fire you in the next article.