Law Consulting Blog : Cordell Parvin's Law Consulting Blog : Coach & Consultant For Lawyers & Law Firms : Business Development, Career Planning

My blog post yesterday Marketing Secret: Create a Guide or E-Book, focused on a way of becoming visible to potential clients who do not know you.

My post today focuses on ways to solidify your relationship with your clients.  I think of the best ways is to offer to do an in-house workshop for a client. For construction contractors it was always easy to come up with a topic. I did programs on contract administration, negotiation, design-build, ethics and compliance and a variety of other topics.

Here is a second marketing secret: Instead of doing a workshop for a seminar company, do it for specific targeted potential clients. I remember getting roped in to do a workshop for a seminar company. They took care of all the logistics and sold the seminar. They told me it would be a great marketing opportunity for me. I spent many hours getting my 1/2 day program put together. When I arrived at the seminar facility I discovered that the attendees were either with companies that could not afford my rates or were not the decision makers in companies that could afford my rates.

After that awful waste of time I offered to do workshops for clients for whom I had not recently worked and friends I had met at industry meetings. That really worked well because I re-connected with my old clients and because my workshop covered a timely topic, I was able to get work from those clients.

If the kind of work you do lends itself to teaching your clients, I urge you to do workshops. If you do them, make sure they are interactive and that participants are learning by doing.

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I want to welcome Charlie Miller to my blog. Charlie is a partner in the Patton Boggs Dallas office and is the Deputy Managing Partner of the firm. He is a close friend and great source of ideas on client development. Charlie's practice involves mergers and acquisitions, structured and project financings, acquisition financings, recapitalizations, restructuring and reorganizations, and other complex business transaction. In these difficult economic times, Charlie has actually thrived. I have asked him to share with you how he is making hay in these difficult times. 

Double digit unemployment, massive corporate layoffs, negative GDP, bank failures, depression …. The current state of the economy makes me giddy! Why you may ask? Because out of chaos comes the best opportunities for strengthening relationships with existing clients and acquiring new clients.

A few observations about how many attorneys react to an economic downturn:

• When clients are not sending them business, they stop calling them.
• When business slows down, they panic and stop investing their own time and financial resources in business development.
• When their firm is not doing well, they spend an inordinate amount of time worrying and commiserating with colleagues about how bad things have gotten or they focus on making a lateral move.

In the first quarter of 2009, when many professionals were bemoaning the state of their practice, I hit the road. I visited every significant client that I worked with and had a face to face discussion with them in their offices about their company, business and strategic direction. I did my homework before the meetings—searching for articles about the company, reading their latest SEC filings (if they were public) and talking to trusted sources within the company about what was going on at the company. I listened to what they had to say. And during the meetings, I reinforced for them some of the fundamental principles upon which I have built my practice:

• We are a “long term investor” in our relationship with you and we will be there for you in good times and difficult times.
• We want to better understand your business, challenges and strategic focus so that we can be a better partner to you.
• We want to identify those areas where we can be more efficient in our work.
• We are willing to invest in the future and in our relationship.
• We want to be a value-added partner to you and we will focus our efforts on helping you to achieve your strategic goals.

The results: a 30% increase in the business I did with these clients in 2009 versus 2008.

The moral of the story: get out of your office and get on the road. Nothing can replace face time. In difficult economic times, clients' relationships with their outside counsel are put under a microscope. In-house legal departments are put under extreme pressure to reduce their outside legal spending. This environment creates the best opportunity to solidify existing relationships and to mine new ones. But, you can’t do it from the comfort of your office!

I again have started 2010 the same way I started 2009—on the road. I was in the office one day a week in January and February is shaping up to be more of the same. And I am off to a better year in 2010 than in 2009. Happy hunting.
 

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I recently shared Dan's story with you. He took a client to lunch and after lunch he asked the client a favor. In case you are still wondering whether asking a favor works I want to share a second story with you.

A few weeks ago Matt Sanderson, a lawyer I coach in Dallas asked me how to get a meeting with a client for whom he had not done any recent work.  I advised him to put himself in the shoes of his client and ask: “What is in it for me to meet with Matt?” I mentioned I had blogged recently about asking the client for a favor having nothing to do with business. 

For example, I said: “Tell the client you want to meet and pick his brain for ideas to blog about.” After our coaching call Matt used that approach and here is a portion of what he reported:

 Just yesterday, we discussed my dilemma in (A) getting prospective clients to “buy-in” to both meeting with me and discussing their legal needs and (B) obtaining from these prospects additional names of other prospective clients.

After taking the advice you gave me, I implemented it this morning in a meeting with a client who has not provided work to us in about 18 months. By the end of the meeting, this prospect provided me with (i) at least 5 new topics for our restaurant blog, (ii) an invitation to meet all of the tenants in his commercial shopping center at their monthly meeting, and (iii) two specific names of restaurant owners that he wanted me to call with his endorsement of our services. I believe that these results were directly driven from the advice you provided.

 Why did asking a favor work for Dan and for Matt? More than any other reason they were both sincere and were not trying to take advantage of their friend. They sincerely wanted to learn and sincerely wanted to get to know more people they could help. Your clients and friends will help you also when you sincerely ask a favor.

P.S. After posting this, I saw a blog post  What's Important When You Refer People  by noted referral expert Ivan Misner. What would your answer be? Based on a survey of 12,000 business people character was most important. Character is demonstrated in part by sincerity. 

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 Are you blogging? If so, how much attention are you paying to your headline? Are you burying your main point? Your headline and first paragraph are the most important writing you do because they determine if your readers continue reading.

Suppose your potential clients are receiving your blog as an RSS Feed. All they will see is your headline. When they look at it, they will ask: "What's in it for me to read on?" Suppose your potential client  clicks on the link to your blog and reads your first paragraph. They will ask again: "What is in it for me to read further?"

So what does this mean? You have to write a compelling headline and first paragraph to persuade your clients to read further. 

When I wrote my monthly column for Roads and Bridges magazine, I sometimes got upset with the editors for editing my headline. In many instances the editor thought plays on words or being cute would capture the readers' attention. Maybe it did and if so I am grateful.

Instead of letting you look at a few blog posts and decide whether the lawyer writer has caused readers to read further, I thought I would take a couple of headlines and first paragraphs of my Roads and Bridges columns and let you decide.

The first is a column the editor titled: Bridge Project Marred in Contract Misrepresentations. While I think the headline could have been better, I do believe bridge builders would want to read on. I think my first paragraph was pretty effective. Here is what I said:

"Do you clearly understand the contract requirements that affect the work prior to bid? Sometimes knowing what your obligations are should cause you not to bid. Unfortunately, some contractors just have to bid anyway. That was what happened in D.C. McClain, Inc. v. Arlington County, 452 S.E.2d 659 (Va. 1995)."

What made that first paragraph effective? I believe more than anything else, it was my use of the word "you" and asking a question for the reader to answer.

Now let's look at one that I did not do as well. In this column, the editor chose Over Done as the title. While that is cute, it is not compelling. In the column I discussed a really important case for contractors, but here is how I began the column.

 "Long ago, there was no requirement to have a differing site condition or significant change in the character of the work clause in the state standard specifications. As some contractors know, Congress left a loophole under which states could “opt out” of having the clauses, and some states have done so."

While everything I said was true, contractor readers do not want a history lesson. They want to know how the new case impacts them and what they need to do. I did not get to those points until later in the column. So, I buried the lead, to use a journalism phrase.

How effective are your headlines? Will your potential clients want to read further? Are you burying your lead by giving history lessons? If so, your potential clients may never get to your main point.

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In my post on Tuesday, I wrote how I would effectively and ethically use social media and other internet tools if I was still practicing law. I pointed out that social media is one of the many tools to develop relationships. 

A few months ago I read The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff by Clara Shih. I recommend the book if you want to learn more about social media and how others are using it for marketing. In the book Shih makes the point that as individuals we have two sources of competitive advantage: human capital and social capital.

Your human capital is your talent as a lawyer. Social capital is your relationships. If you really boil it down, your ability to attract, retain and expand relationships with clients depends on your talent and relationships.

Shih points to studies by Stanford and Harvard professors showing that “social capital is a powerful source of knowledge, ideas, opportunities, support, reputation, and visibility that is equally if not even more influential than human capital. On line social networks are tools that you can use to develop relationships. While in person relationship building is more important than ever, the social network tools can be used efficiently and effectively to expand your social capital with "loose ties." Social networks can also be used as a tool to demonstrate your skills by linking to articles, blog posts, presentations and other content you create.

If you want to keep up with what to expect in social media for 2010, I recommend you read Bentley Folk's www.bentleytolk.com/2009/12/31/social-media-marketing-for-lawyers-2010-predictions/. I also recommend that you read my February Practical Lawyer Column: Practical Tips on How and Why to Use Social Media.

I know that firms need and want to control what their lawyers are putting on any of the social media sites. That makes sense given what some lawyers have posted. At the same time firms need to realize social media is totally changing the legal marketing landscape. I urge you to put together a plan for your firm.

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I recently wrote about the Strength of Weak Ties. In that post I mentioned that in 1983, Congress enacted a provision in a Federal Highway funding statute that complicated matters for highway construction contractors. I wrote about the change and spoke at conferences across the country.

At the time I was a 12-year lawyer and didn’t have the Internet to help with research or to connect me with weak ties. What would I do now, if I were a 12-year lawyer? How would I use social media and other Internet tools?

My main strategy would be to use the Internet to find things going on that will create legal issues or opportunities for transportation construction contractors. I would also use the Social Media tools to become more visible and credible to my target market and to build relationships.

1. I would have Google Alerts set up for each of my clients, their competitors, and highway construction, bridge construction, rail construction, airport construction and mass transit  construction.
2. I would continue reading construction magazines like Engineering News Record, but I would also get their daily electronic updates.
3. I would be on LinkedIn and I would start the Transportation Construction Law Group. I would invite all my contractor friends on LinkedIn to join the group. I would search for other groups that would likely have members interested in transportation construction and join those groups. Each month I would link to the column I wrote in Roads and Bridges magazine. When I did presentations I would mention them and offer to send the PowerPoint slides and handouts to anyone who was unable to attend the presentation.
4. I would be on Facebook and likely use it to stay in touch with my friends, as I am using it now. I would consider setting up a Transportation Construction Law Fan Page where I would post what is going on in transportation construction. I would use this page instead of sending out email blasts of alerts I write.
5. I would be on Twitter and I would use it to gather information, to build relationships with transportation construction leaders, influencers and writers who are on Twitter. I would also use it to post news and information contractors would find valuable and helpful. I would be seeking contractor friends to follow me on Twitter. I would also link to the monthly columns I wrote for Roads and Bridges magazine.
6. I would update and make e-books of my books on Transportation Construction Claims, Design-Build for Transportation Construction Contractors and Linear Scheduling.
7. I would do quarterly webinars at no charge for the transportation construction industry. I would record them and make them available to national construction associations and their state chapters. I would edit them and make several short podcasts.
8. I would consider putting my PowerPoint slide presentations on Slide Share.

Some senior lawyers do not see the value of social media. Others believe there are ethical problems with lawyers using social media for marketing. Kevin O'Keefe of LexBlog has written about both points. I urge skeptical senior lawyers to read Kevin's posts. In his November 8 post Kevin writes how social media has raised the bar for client development and in his December 30 post, Kevin includes a list of things to avoid doing that would raise ethical considerations.

Lawyers are increasingly using social media to market. It can be done efficiently, effectively and ethically. How are you using social media? How is your firm using it? How can you take some of my ideas above and use them for your practice?

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I discovered reading a Duct Tape Marketing Blog post by John Jantsch that this is referral week. You will enjoy the advice he gave to an insurance company on what their agents should do with their list of contacts.

Endless Referrals: One Key Question

Last year I read a book titled: “Endless Referrals” by Bob Burg. I recommend it to the lawyers I coach. In an early chapter Burg identified  “The one key question that separates the pros from the amateurs.” That question is: “How can I know if someone I’m speaking to is a good prospect for you?” The power of the question is that you demonstrate you are concerned about your contact’s success. What question could we ask that would separate us from other lawyers? I think it might be: “What can I do off the clock that would help you and your company?”

Rusty Gray is a partner in Chattanooga who I coached a couple years ago. I have shared some of his ideas before. When we were working together he found a very valuable way to help a client off the clock. Here is the story Rusty shared with me:

"When I heard that my client primarily focused on billing services for hospital-based physician groups, it occurred to me since our firm represents quite a few such groups across the south that both my client and these other clients might benefit from being introduced to one another. I also saw an opportunity for our firm when my client’s president mentioned he was not thrilled with the healthcare legal advice he was getting. 

I then told him that we may be able to help his company grow its business by putting them in contact with some of our clients. When he expressed interest, I suggested that we really need to get together in Nashville to explore with our healthcare lawyers, free of charge, how we can help the company grow its business.

We had some scheduling difficulties, but he persisted in getting the meeting scheduled and the meeting could not have gone better.

I am not sure how much business that we got from them, but I do know that we led them to some important contacts.  My business with this client has probably increased three-fold.  I am convinced that at least part of that increase was my offer to help them expand their business with our firm’s contacts.

Cordell, the most important thing here was something that we have talked about before:

1. Simply ask your client about its business and listen carefully to the response; 


2. Be interested in (better yet, fascinated by) the business; and


3. Know your firm and what it does.  Know the other lawyers and the businesses for    whom they serve."

So for referral week, think about how you can help your contacts be more successful.
 

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I get email alerts from law firms, from consulting firms for law firms and from others. I think those alerts which are sent to thousands at the same time actually annoy potential clients rather than draw them to a firm or lawyer.

Seth Godin, the marketing guru, agrees. In an interview I found recently, he says: “Marketing is no longer about interrupting the masses with unanticipated spam: ads about average products for average people. Instead, marketing is about leading tribes – groups of people who want to go somewhere.”

One of the lawyers I coach shared with me a story about an experiment one of her partners had conducted with an alert. Here is the story:

I decided to try something. I picked 40 clients that I thought might be impacted by the new I-9 forms.  I drafted a general email text about the client alert. I took the general email text and personalized it in some way for each client so that it did not appear as a mass email blast. It took about 45 minutes to send out these emails.

The result:

Fifteen clients emailed to thank me and four specifically mentioned that they were unaware of the changes.

One client used return email to schedule a call regarding an unrelated matter that directly resulted in billable work.

In these tough economic times, we need to use all of our marketing resources.
 

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