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

It was late fall 2001. The internet bubble had burst. A stock I owned that had traded at a record $130 per share was on it way to single digits where it remains today. I foolishly bought shares all the way down.

I remember a conversation with our law firm's financial officer. He told me and a member of our board that based on hours the lawyers were producing, we had 38 lawyers more than we had work available for them to do. Each month that fall, our firm leaders found other ways for us to cut expenses, I tried to suggest we focus on increasing revenue, but my suggestion was never considered.

Think about your own firm. Whether it is a very large firm or only 3-4 lawyers, what would happen if you were able to increase revenue by 15%. I thought of this idea again when I read Seth Godin's recent blog post 15% Changes Everything. In a law firm, a 15% decline in revenue or a 15% increase in revenue really does change everything.

How can your firm increase revenue by 15%?

1. Get your highest producers together quarterly and come up with an action plan for them to implement.
2. Create a client development coaching program for your junior partners/senior associates to get them more focused on client development.
3. Get each of your lawyers to prepare a business plan for their non-billable time. If you would like a template, click here. 
4. Create a Cross-Serving Plan.
5. Get each of your practice groups to prepare a plan. In my old firm we created "Targeted Differentiators." If you would like to see a copy, click here. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

One question I am frequently asked is how to market without coming across to the potential client as a pest? The question is natural because most lawyers have financial advisors and life insurance salesmen and women hustling their business. Seth Godin has written a great deal about the concept of permission based marketing. He says: “Permission marketing turns strangers into friends and friends into loyal customers.” He also says that the challenge is to get customers to “raise their hands-to volunteer to pay attention.”

Your clients have less time to choose their lawyers and there are more lawyers from which to choose. So the question is how can you get them to pay attention to you?

Seth Godin told a story  The $140 million permission project a few years ago about a residential construction company that used permission based marketing. They started with a sign at the construction site directing people to a website. At the site there was a slideshow showing benefits of the residence and after the slideshow people could get on the list to receive more information. I could go on, but I think it would be better for you to read the one page post.

When you read it,  I want you to think creatively. You are not likely to put a sign up in your home town directing people to your website. What could you do to drive potential clients to your blog or a webinar you did or your website bio? What could you offer those potential clients and referral sources who came to the website? What could you do after that to ultimately get the client to choose you?

What ideas can you come up with to create a permission based marketing success? If you have any good ones please consider sharing them on my Facebook Coaching page.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

I practiced law for 37 years. I was thinking recently how much has changed during that time. When I started we still used carbon paper and white out. Many of us did not keep time records because the bills simply said: Professional Services Rendered and a flat fee. During my 37 years, I witnessed four eras of marketing and client development. As our profession went from one era to another it has become increasingly more challenging to get noticed and hired. 

1. Clients who don't need the services you or your firm offer.
2. Clients who need the services you or your firm offer, but are using another lawyer or firm.
3. Clients who are ignoring you.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

This week I have been focusing on client service. As I have suggested in earlier posts, in a crowded legal market it is hard for a lawyer or law firm to distinguish herself ot  itself from other equally talented lawyers and law firms. If you are looking for ways to do it, think about what other businesses are doing.

 In Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? , Seth Godin says that Hyatt Hotels is now treating their best customers differently. They are not seeking to charge them more, Instead, they are randomly covering bar tabs, giving free massages and providing other services for which there is normally a charge.

Hyatt isn't the only hotel that provides unexpected things to its best customers. In my post on Tuesday, I mentioned how I was treated recently at The Peninsula Beverly Hills.

In March I stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Philadelphia. The people who work there know I am a big Starbucks coffee drinker. When I arrived in my room I found a basket of Starbucks goodies including a mug, Via instant coffee, a Starbucks card and expresso chocolate candy. This was the second time a Ritz Carlton hotel had given me Starbucks goodies. If you have a moment go back and read my blog post Client Service The Ritz Carlton Way.  Also take a moment to read what Fashion Law lawyer Staci Riordan wrote about her pillow experience at the Philadelphia Ritz Carlton in he blog "Puttin' on the Ritz."

Many of you will correctly point out that staying at the Ritz Carlton is different that working with a lawyer and law firm. While that is true, I still believe the unexpected extra service can set you and your law firm apart. Staci and I wrote about our Ritz Carlton experiences because we never expected the extra service. Your clients will tell others about you and your firm when you provide that unexpected extra service.

Are you trying to charge more and cross-sell your very best clients, or are you providing extra, unexpected service at no charge? When was the last time you did something that would normally be billable and simply did not charge for it?

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

I will be speaking on Social media at the May 13 meeting  of the Dallas Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators . I won't likely do this but, I could have just one slide and make the bold assertion:

SOCIAL MEDIA REDUCES THE LUCK FACTOR IN CLIENT DEVELOPMENT

I got the idea by thinking about my own experiences and looking back at an article Seth Godin wrote 10 years ago for Fast Company magazine Unleash Your Ideavirus. It is so interesting to look at the article in 2010. 

He said:

Welcome to the third century (of our country's history): This one's about ideas...If you can get people to accept, embrace, adore, and cherish your ideas, you win! You win financially, you gain power, and you change the world.

Seth was right and he went on in the article to talk about how ideas spread and move faster and cheaper than ever before using things like Netscape and Hotmail. Near the end of the article he says:

Think back. Really far. All the way to 1990.

How many people did you have regular contact with? Maybe 10,20, or 30 in your personal life and maybe 100 at work?

Now, take a look at your email inbox and your instant-messaging buddy list. How many people do you hear from every week.

Do you see where I am going with this? In 1983, I received a call from the general counsel of what later turned out to be my largest client. I had been recommended by a lawyer who had been on a panel with me earlier that year. Think about the luck involved in me getting that call. I had to have been on the panel with the lawyer and the general counsel had to speak with him.

In 2000, I received a call from a potential client who had read an alert I had prepared and had emailed to the state executives of construction associations. Next week, I will share a link to the alert with you. Email had expanded my network of potential clients and referral sources who would have the opportunity to read my materials. So, while luck was a factor, it was less than it had been in 1983.

In 2010, our network is even greater and our method of distributing our ideas is even more efficient. I am no longer practicing law, but I am using social media to reach out to lawyers.I have 544 people following me on Twitter. That is not a lot compared to someone like Chris Brogan who has 134,805. The number following me is way more than the number of people I sent emails to in 2000.I have a Facebook Coaching Fan Page with 221 lawyers and friends reading my content. With 1,000,000 lawyers in the United States, I would like to have at least 1000 lawyers reading my ideas. When I write an article and do a presentation, I make note of it in groups I belong to on LinkedIn. I have had lawyers all over the world request copies of my materials.

Because of social media,  I have dramatically more people I connect with than ever before and I do it more frequently and in less time. If I want more followers on Twitter and more fans of my coaching page on Facebook, and more lawyers reading my blog, the ideas I share must be perceived as valuable and timely to lawyers. So, luck is less a factor when someone recommends me or someone hires me.

You have both the same opportunity and the same challenge. It is easier than ever before to spread your ideas to a greater number of people and make luck less of a factor. Your challenge is to create valuable ideas. Seth Godin said it well: "...an idea that moves, grows, and infects everyone (your clients and potential clients) it touches...that's an ideavirus."

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

I was a practice group leader in my old firm. Once a month I was required to attend a meeting of practice group leaders and office managing partners. I rarely thought what we covered was valuable. For the most part we talked about economics and how we were doing financially. We did not brainstorm ideas on how we could better lead and motivate our lawyers, which in the end would make us more valuable to clients and more profitable.

In his book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Seth Godin references a poll of 20,000 creative professionals done by Richard Florida. He gave the professionals 38 factors to choose from on what motivated them at work. Here are the top ten ranked in order:

1. Challenge and responsibility
2. Flexibility
3. A stable work environment
4. Money
5. Professional development
6. Peer recognition
7. Stimulating colleagues and bosses
8. Exciting job content
9. Organizational culture
10. Location and community

Godin points out that only one of the above is a clearly extrinsic motivator.  I am sure many law firms focus on it like a laser beam. In those firms the popular notion is that the only thing that motivates partners is higher profits per partner and the only thing that motivates associates is compensation and bonuses. The survey would suggest there are motivators that have little to do with money.

Looking at the survey, what can you do? It is difficult to provide exciting job content all the time. I have done my fair share of legal work that was not exciting. I am sure you have as well. The location of the firm is where it is. So, not much can be done with those two motivators.

At the same time, law firms can easily provide challenge and responsibility, flexibility, a stable work environment, professional development, peer recognition, stimulating colleagues and bosses, and organizational culture. Your young lawyers want to be challenged. They want flexibility to be able to  spend more time raising their children. They want to feel secure knowing they will have a job. They want to learn and develop their skills. They want feedback when they need to improve and when they have done an outstanding job. They want to work with lawyers they respect and trust. They want to work for a firm that lives what is says is its culture.

I wonder why so many law firms are not focusing on those motivators. Is your firm? When was the last time you talked about any of these topics at a firm leaders/management meeting?

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (2)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

 This week I have been giving clues on how to ask for business/close the sale. Here are the clues so far:

1. Ask and answer why you are uncomfortable asking for business. You are likely uncomfortable because you do not want to take advantage or come across as a salesman.
2. Position yourself so you never have to ask for business by identifying problems, opportunities and changes and giving away solutions. This is challenging to accomplish, but it gets rid of the need to ask.
3. Build relationships with your contacts so you find ways to add value before being asked. This is a great approach because you are focused on helping your potential client.
4. Work on your charisma. Clients want to do business with lawyers they know like and trust.

Now, we are ready to discuss the fifth and last clue on how to ask for business/close the sale. Here is the clue. Never ask for business and never try to close the sale. Why? Asking for business and closing the sale is all about what is in the relationship for you, not about what is in the relationship for your potential client. If you need more support for this conclusion read Closing the Book on Closing by Charles H. Green.

Here is the secret. Ask or tell your potential client you want to help them and do it as if you will not get paid for helping. The best lawyers are not practicing law for the money. They are doing it because they genuinely love helping their clients.

Seth Godin said it well in Linchpin: 

Virtually all of us make our living engaging directly with other people. When the interactions are genuine and transparent, they usually work. When they are artificial and manipulative, they usually fail.

So, the words you choose to ask for business are not as important as your sincere desire to help your client. The words I believe clients want to hear more often than not are: " I can help you with that." 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

 How do I ask for the business and close the sale? That is among the questions I am most frequently asked. The lawyers I coach frequently add that they have built their profile and relationships, but they simply have not found a way to convert it to business.

Do you have the same question? I could give you and the many lawyers who ask the question an answer, but I think you will find it way more helpful to answer the question on your own with me giving you clues along the way. So, for the next few days, I will give you parts of the puzzle. If you find the thoughts helpful, share the blog with your friends and discuss what you get out of each post.

So, here is your first clue: If you don't know how to ask for business, think about why you don't know. Many lawyers I coach will say: "I want the business, but I don't want to come across to my friend/contact like I am exploiting our relationship." Other lawyers I coach say: "I want the business, but I do not want to come across like I am a used car salesman." Think about your reason for not knowing how to ask for the business. Think about the two reasons I shared with you. Does that give you a clue?

I will give you a second clue: If you have read Seth Godin's book Linchpin, you will likely have a good idea. Although the book does not address lawyers and clients and does not specifically answer how to ask for business, it does give you clues you can use.

So the first clue to answer how ask for business is to ask and answer why you uncomfortable doing it.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

I remember the year our firm offered jobs to two students. The first was about the smartest young student I had ever met in my life. He was a straight A student. I don't think he ever got a B in anything in his life. I was a little concerned about him because he was so smart he rarely attended class. He didn't stay with us very long and it is difficult for me to picture him or remember his name today.

The second student was a young man who grew up poor, worked very hard to even get into law school and mostly got Bs. He never missed a class and was like a sponge trying to learn more each day. He stayed with us and worked as hard as a lawyer as he had as a student. I still remember Tyler. 

I thought of these two law students recently when I spoke to 4th graders on career day at the school where my daughter teaches. The parents of the kids in the school do not have much. They work hard and struggle when things don't go exactly as planned. Many of their kids are like the sponge, anxious to learn every day. In one of the classes I noticed two young girls sitting there taking notes on everything I was telling them.

Seth Godin recently posted a blog On Self Determination. He makes two interesting points. The second of his two points reminded me of the two law students I hired so many years ago. He talks about the A students who took mainstream courses and did the minimum amount of work they needed to do to get an A. They learn for the test.

Those students who didn't need to work for their A's are joining law firms every day and they are a challenge to supervise. Why you ask? Put simply, they do not see things that are not immediately obvious. They don't dig deeper than the exact assignment. They mess up and do not even understand how they messed up. They also do not take criticism very well. After all, they have been told their entire life how smart they are.

Give me the student who should have gotten C's but worked so hard she got B's. She has the emotional intelligence it takes to be successful and she will see things her all A's classmate misses.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (7)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

This week I have been reading about motivation, blogging and marketing more generally. Here is what I have been reading:

• How to motivate employees: What managers need to know-I plan to post a blog next week on motivation base on ideas from three books. I think you will see that what motivates people is relatively easy to figure out. A group I am coaching will focus on how to make the what work in a law firm.
• Why Blog: 25 Tips to Make it Work-Great e-book on blogging. If you are just starting a blog, this is a good guide for you.
• When a freelancer changes the game-I find at least one Seth Godin post a week that I see clearly applies to lawyers. This one certainly does and makes you think about what you are doing to change the game.
• Betty Crocker Secret to Email Marketing that Works-I thought this blog had some good ideas for lawyers sending out email alerts. I wonder how many firms are sending email alerts about the new health care legislation?
• Three Steps to Make Your Next Speech Your Best-I enjoy reading what Nick Morgan writes about public speaking. Several lawyers I coach are working on their public speaking skills so I frequently share Nick's ideas with them.

It won't take you any time to read any of these posts. I hope you find something helpful. If you do post a comment. Have a great weekend.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

 I have been working this week on programs for junior associates and senior associates I will be doing Monday, a program for the Dallas Bar Association Transition to Law lawyers and a program I will be doing at the Arkansas State Bar Meeting in June. So, it has been a busy week.

I have found time to read some interesting blog posts:

• 5 Travel Lessons You Can Use at Home In a guest post, Rolff Potts provides lessons that I believe can be applied by lawyers trying to find balance or live based on their priorities. For example, one is "Be where you are," meaning live in the moment. Don't be on your Blackberry when you are playing with your kids.
• Seth Godin on linchpins, focus, spreading stories It is a short interview with Seth Godin. In response to a question about the book, Seth Godin answers: "The feedback I’m getting is just extraordinary… the book makes people uncomfortable, and many respond by stepping forward, by choosing to do work that matters. And that’s the entire goal of the project. I wanted people to choose." If you can take the time, read the book and write down ideas you can implement.
• The Secret to Raising Smart Kids Several lawyers I coach have children. I tell each of them about the years of research done by Stanford professor Carol Dweck. This is just one of many articles. Professor Dweck says:  "teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life." 
• The Power of Uniqueness [19 Starting Points for Being a Unique Blogger] Each day there are more lawyers blogging. That means standing out from other bloggers becomes increasingly challenging. The 19 points discussed here are a good starting point to stand out from the crowd.
• Run By Women, The World Would Be Better and More Fun.I found this blog post by UConn professor Regina Barreca, Ph.D. a hilarious and thought provoking poke at men and a satirical look at women. This may not be funny for anyone sensitive about gender traits. On Monday I plan to post what law firms would be like if run by women. I plan on no satire.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

 This has been a busy week. I have been in Houston and I left yesterday for Chicago on a 5:50 flight and came home in time for dinner. I have found a few blog posts I think will interest you. Click on the titles below to read them.

Do you have a social media content plan? I like this because the blogger points out that social media is not a silver bullet and if you are planning to use it for marketing, it is important to actually have a plan.

Why passion, alone, won’t make you successful, with apologies to Chris and Gary I believe passion is extremely important to success. Many of the young lawyers I coach are passionate about their niche practice. Others are passionate about their charitable work. The blogger points out that others including me cannot give you passion. You have to find it yourself.

On self determination I like Seth Godin's posts because he makes me think and ask myself how his main point applies to law practice and lawyers.In this post he talks about the strategy of just getting good grades versus the strategy of striving to learn. I think a key to success for lawyers is to take responsibility for your success and career.

Build Your Brand So People Will Refer You Here's betting you did not know this is "Referral Week." John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing has many great ideas about getting and giving referrals. Dan Schwabel, his guest blogger on this post has written some great materials on how to brand yourself. I find most of what Dan writes applies to you branding yourself as a lawyer.

Price Points Chris Brogan is a guy who has captured his own market. I like his material and I think most of it applies to lawyers. In this post he writes about how he decides what to charge. My main point in recommending this is to say if you are doing routine work, someone else will do it cheaper. Find some area where you can become the "go to" lawyer who is near the top of every client's list when they look for a lawyer in your field.

Have a great weekend. I hope you will find something helpful in my recommended reading this week.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Years ago when I was responsible for attorney development in my firm, I gave a business development presentation to a group of brand new partners at their orientation. As I surveyed the crowd, I realized that not one of the new partners had given any thought to business development. Not one had a prepared a business plan with written goals.

Instead, each of the new partners was only concerned with pleasing the senior partner who had lobbied to get them promoted. That strategy might have worked when the economy was so good that even the worst law firms were doing well. It certainly no longer works. If over the years those income partner did not develop clients of their own, they likely were let go. Even the partner with all the business who lobbied to get them promoted could no longer protect them.

I thought of the old school thinking as I was reading Seth Godin's book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? on my Kindle . Early in the book Seth describes the old American Dream and the New American Dream. His list of each seems very close to the old dream for young lawyers and the new dream for young lawyers. 

Here is my take on old and new dreams:

Old dream for young lawyers:

• Get your hours
• Do your assignments
• Put in face time at the office
• Keep the lawyer feeding you business happy
• Suck it up

Lawyers in the old dream never needed to worry about client development. Instead they needed to worry about keeping the senior lawyer for whom they worked happy and hope he never got hit by a bus when he crossed the street. The old dream worked because work was plentiful, seniors lawyers did not want younger lawyers they developed to have clients on their own and leave the nest. Young lawyers were told: "You don't need to worry about client development. We have all the work for you that you will ever need."

New dream for young lawyers:

• Develop a unique skill that will be needed for many years
• Become a people person and build relationships
• Get to know your clients' businesses and industries
• Create remarkable articles, blog posts, podcasts and webinars your clients will value
• Be generous with your non-billable time
• Become involved in your community/bar
• Stay in contact with people you know both in person and using social media

It takes way more than getting your hours, working hard and sucking it up to achieve what is needed in the new economy. What are you doing to create and accomplish your New American Dream?

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Marketing expert Seth Godin once said:

People don't believe what you tell them.
They rarely believe what you show them.
They often believe what their friends tell them.
They always believe what they tell themselves.
Seth Godin, Seth Godin's Blog, 07-29-06

So, what is the take away for you and your law firm? Put simply, if you are using your firm website and branding tag lines primarily to tell your potential clients things about your firm and you, they won't believe you. If on the other hand, you are using your firm website to share with clients what they need to know about potential problems and offer potential solutions, your potential clients may tell themselves that you are the lawyer and law firm to use.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

I am still thinking about blogging today.  Recently the Harvard Business Review posted a blog titled: The Moment Social Media Became Serious Business  I was fascinated reading what Harold Adams Innis  said about reduction in cost of communication in 1951, long before anyone was blogging. What he said applies to blogging today.

• Redistributing knowledge and, in doing so, shifting power
• Making it easier for "amateurs" to compete with "professionals," because access to knowledge substitutes for mastery of complexity
• Allowing individuals and minorities to voice ideas
• Reducing the advantages of speed that formerly accrued because some had knowledge before others
• Reducing the advantages of size that are based on the ability to afford high costs. 

Because blogging costs so little, smaller law firms and younger lawyers have a chance to compete against bigger law firms and more senior lawyers. Borrowing a Seth Godin book title,  the problem is, the more lawyers and law firms blogging, the less blogging by lawyers is a Purple Cow. Just yesterday, LexBlog in its Best of Blogs post reported there were 123 posts (including mine) that day using the LexBlog platform. That number is growing almost every day.

So, if you are blogging, you better find a way to make your blog unique and valuable to your target market because your clients and potential clients are being inundated with indistinguishable client alerts and blogs written by lawyers.Valeria Maltoni has an e-book Why Blogging + 25 Tips to Make It Work that may give you some good ideas. 

What can you do to make your blog be unique and interesting? One way to stand out is to tell stories and use humor. Your readers will enjoy the humor and being entertained by a story. 

Cleve Clinton and Jamie Ribman, two Looper, Reed & McGraw lawyers I coached here in Dallas have a blog titled: Tilting the Scales. I love getting the email of a new post because it is entertaining and makes a point clients would value knowing. They use real legal issues and then make up names of characters. Just today, they wrote about the Ice Princess, the story of Olympic ice dancers Corrie O. Graff and Dan Saul Knight who lived together in Texas.

Brandon Mendelson shares seven ways to add humor in his blog How to Be 20% Funnier Than You Really Are. While you are at the copyblogger website, read other valuable suggestions for successful blogging.

Finally, my bet is that before long lawyers blogging will present their blog three ways:

1. Video blog
2. Audio blog
3. Written blog

Will you be a "purple cow" and be one of the first to present your blog those ways?

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

 This week most of my reading has focused on success. 

Are You Trapped In A Fixed Mindset? Fix It! Stanford professor Carol Dweck through 20 plus years of research shows how having a fixed mindset or growth mindset influences your life. I have read her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. It is really quite enlightening.

The Art of Shameless Self Promotion This is the art of sharing ideas, concepts and a greater vision rather than sharing your accomplishments. No one wants to be around the second type of self promoter.

Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us – in conversation with author Dan Pink  and Drive by Dan Pink I listened to Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us this week so I enjoyed reading these two reviews of it.

Linchpin by Seth Godin – Video Book Review I am reading Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? so I enjoyed Chris Brogan's video book review.

The First Chapter of Switch the new book by the Heath Brothers, authors of Made to Stick. In the first chapter the authors tell us that  Switch is about helping us change things and dealing with the challenges that make change difficult. I think you will enjoy reading the first chapter as it explains why change is difficult. Since coaching is about helping others change, I plan to read the book.

Finally, as you may know, I just finished a new e-book Client Development in a Nutshell. if you get a chance over the weekend, take a look. I have filled it with things I did as a lawyer and things the lawyers I am coaching are doing now. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Recently I have been reading about large law firms who have reported that their firm revenues are down and their firm profits per equity partner are up. I also read an Am Law Daily article : To Dream the Impossible Dream: Making Partner Increasingly Out of Reach. How do you suppose revenue is down at firms and profits per partner are up and why do you suppose making partner is increasingly out of reach?

Well, there are only so many ways. Maybe those firms have cut their costs. Could be, but law firms can only cut so much without laying off lawyers. Maybe those firms have ditched  unprofitable clients. Could be, but how many unprofitable clients did those firms have in the first place? My best guess is they have reduced the number of equity partners and laid off non-equity partners and senior associates.

So if you are a non-equity partner or senior associate you must not only have significant billable hours, but you also must develop your own book of business. Finally, according to the Am Law Daily article, you must pass the so-called "Cleveland Airport Rule." The rule itself is simple: would a partner at your firm be comfortable getting stuck at the Cleveland airport with you and not want to self-immolate?

If you have hours, clients and pass the Cleveland Airport Rule, Seth Godin would likely say you are a Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

When I was a young associate, a partner in my first firm unknowingly gave me about the best piece of advice I have ever received. He said: "Cordell, you are a very smart lawyer. After all you finished third in your law school class. But, smart lawyers graduate from law school every year and they are easily replaced by other smart lawyers. Your success in this firm will depend more on how well you attract, retain and expand relationships with clients. Lawyers with those skills are indispensable."

Are you busy doing the work for senior lawyers in your firm and hoping they appreciate your work so much that it will be ok for you to never have clients of your own? I hope not. If you want to become indispensable:

• What are you learning about client development?
• What are you doing  to attract new clients?
• What are you doing to exceed your clients expectations and create value for them?
• What are you doing to build relationships with your clients and with partners in your law firm?

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (2)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Seth Godin recently posted a blog titled: “The Law of the Little Shovel.” It is short and well worth reading. He begins by saying: “If you want to dig a big hole, you need to stay in one place,” meaning it is important to focus on one group, or one event to earn trust.

What are the main points for lawyers?

1. If you are marketing to everyone, you are marketing to no one. Identify your target market and become visible and credible to that market.
2. Focus attention on existing clients before going after new ones.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link