How many times have you been told jokes that begin with ‘There are 2 types of ________ in the world’? I’m not going to joke around, because, really, whether or not you have enough clients as a lawyer is a matter of great importance. Clients determine if your legal practice thrives or perishes.
There’s a grain of truth to those jokes, though: there are, indeed, 2 kinds of lawyers. There’s the group with a seemingly constant struggle trying to find enough clients to keep their business going, and there’s the other group who seem to have no trouble attracting clients to come knocking on their doors. How can you hope to get in the first group?
There is no easy solution, but there is a formula, and it consists of 2 parts, carried out simultaneously:
Short-Term attorney marketing. If you really need clients soon and fast, then you’re going to have to focus on what I call ‘short-term’ methods. While you may have a rapid increase in the number of clients, most of them would only stay with you for a short duration. You can engage in TV, radio, print and online advertisements, or otherwise in legal SEO. You can establish your company name for the long-term through advertising, but getting clients to call you right now is what you’re after. You may or may not want to hire someone to help you with this, as it can often be money well spent, since an experienced advertising agency can help ensure that you get good success from your ads and also that you don’t overpay on the ads themselves. Although short-term marketing is the lesser between the two marketing types, it also has its merits.
Relationship-Builidng and Value Creation. If you want to know what really separates some attorneys and law firms from others, then this is it. Attorneys who don’t need to engage in continual short-term marketing are those who have built up long-term relationships and/or created a lot of great value that keeps paying off for them. Let me expound on that a bit. Whatever area of law you are going to specialize in, it’s a given that you will be brushing with other professionals who can connect you to your potential clients. These points of contacts will be turned by the smart lawyers into strong relationships until the professionals start referring clients to them. It’s not a secret trick, not really; but only a few lawyers actually have the capability of pulling it off. Then there is creating value. Naturally you would want to keep your clients with you so you’d do your best to create value for them; but you can also do the same for your potential clients. The internet makes this task much easier since the flow of information from you to your potential clients is virtually unlimited. If you do so, then in the long run, they will turn to you when they need legal services.
I haven’t really told you anything new or spectacular, but sometimes people need to be reminded of even the most basic things. You’ve got to have a plan, and it must involve both short-term and long-term strategies for getting clients. You’d be tempted to stick to short-term marketing, but if a constant stream of clients is more important to you, you should concentrate on building relationships and creating value.