ESQCoach: Marketing Tips for Lawyers

By ESQCoach, Terrie S. Wheeler

www.MarketYourLawPractice.com

Email: Twheeler@MarketYourLawPractice.com

For over 20 years, I have helped lawyers market their law practices. Through the years, I have heard an ongoing stream of reasons—no—call them what they are—excuses—on why they cannot “do marketing” right now. Do not get me wrong. I know you are busy and that you went to law school to practice law, not to be a sales person. However, I also know that building a sustainable base of clients and referral sources takes time. If a lawyer does not work diligently to build these relationships, he or she will awaken one day to realize they have very few clients and a lot of time on their hands. They have let their relationships go. Why did this happen? Many times, it is because they have been too busy practicing law— and not focusing on new business development.

Relationships take time to nurture and grow. Consequently, relationships require constant attention (yes, a bit like a rare plant you have to water to prevent it from drying up and dying). So as you move into 2010 with hope and high expectations for your practice, consider the following tips to ensure you continue to focus on serving your clients, but also on making sure you will always have clients to serve!

Identify Your Top Contacts – Focus your marketing efforts by focusing on your contacts. Identify your top current clients, your top prospective clients, and your top referral sources. While you are at it, identify those in your network you respect greatly for their business acumen and identify your top business advisors as well. This list of 20 or 30 people will become your focus. Keep this list on the top of your desk therefore top of mind.

Set an Agenda (Mentally, that is) – You are not going to distribute an agenda on the glossy bar top, or on the table of your local coffee shop. Rather, before you meet with your contact, think about the following and mentally prepare for the meeting. The focus of your preparation might surprise you (no it is not about developing your key “hire me” messages):

• How can I help this person in their life and business?

• Whom do I know in my network I can introduce to this person?

• On what boards and in what community work is this person involved?

• How can I personally support their volunteer activities?

• What do I remember from my last “social” meeting with this person – - an upcoming vacation, interesting hobby, children’s activities, spouse’s accomplishments, colleges attended by kids

• Is there anything I can do to help this person achieve a goal they have—personally or professionally?

Meet with your Top Contacts – Set a goal of scheduling at least one meeting each week with a top contact. Meet for coffee before work or for a beer at happy hour. Schedule the meeting just to see how they are doing—make it crystal clear you are not billing them for the time (if it is a current client). Let your contact know you simply have been thinking about them and want to catch up.

Do what you Promise – That evening or the next day, record the highlights from your meeting into the notes section of the person’s Outlook contact page. Then, do what you promised to do. Make the introduction; send the email; buy tickets to the show their daughter is starring in; introduce them to another one of your contacts. Proactively make good on each activity you committed to doing for them. This is where well-intentioned professionals fall down on the job. We all know how frustrating it is when someone offers to do something nice for you, and not follow through. Do not be that person.

Schedule another Meeting – Even if the action item is”let’s do this again in the fall,” put a note on your calendar for early September to contact the person you just met with. Staying in touch with people in your network is not just a good thing to do, it is critical for you to nurture and grow your relationship with that person.

Reengage in at least one Association – One of the first cuts in the “I’m too busy to market” saga is usually a trade association in which you are a member. I am not talking about your local or state bar. Continue attending bar association programs for your CLE credits and for your professional development as a lawyer. I am talking about the trade or industry association, which attracts your current or prospective clients. There is no better way to build genuine relationships than to participate actively in the associations attracting your ideal client types. So pick one in which to reengage. Then do the following:

• Calendar each monthly meeting and commit to attend

• Arrive early to each event and introduce yourself to the association’s executive director and other association staff

• Scan the registration table for nametags of contacts you may already know

• Introduce yourself to new contacts and focus on finding out more about them – - not on telling them all about you

• Follow up with the executive director and offer to contribute an article of interest to members for their publication, or to speak on a substantive topic of interest at an upcoming monthly meeting

• Follow up with the best contacts you make and add them to your contact list above; schedule a time to meet with them informally (coffee, beer, etc.) “to learn more about them and their business” and follow the steps above during your meeting

Remember if you tell yourself, “I don’t have time to market,” at some point you will realize you have more time than you had ever imagined to market because you will have no clients. I know this seems harsh, trite, or even like a scare tactic. Nevertheless, it is true. The best time for you to market IS when you are busy practicing law. Remember to identify your very best contacts, reflect on how you can help them, meet with them personally, do what you promise, schedule another meeting in a few months, and reengage in at least one trade association you have let go dormant. Nurture and grow your relationships, as you would grow a delicate orchid. You will continue to build genuine relationships with people you like, trust and respect, and because your focus has been on helping them, they will feel the same way about you.

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