Law Firm Coach Blog

I am going to speak at a forthcoming NCBA seminar on branding yourself and it has caused me to think about how many lawyers think about their best marketing feature, themselves. I believe lawyers traditionally don't like to talk about themselves or let people know what they do. It is not uncommon for me to be at an event of some sort, recognize a lawyer I know, and when I mention it to someone else who also knows the person, they never knew they were a lawyer.

While I don't advocate running out into a crowded room and shouting "LAWYER" (this too is protected by the Constitution), I do recommend making sure that every organization you are in, any event you attend, (including school events by the way), and any other place you meet people you learn to work into a conversation what you do. You can do it by telling a funny story or get into it why you became a lawyer. There is an art to conversation but not a difficult one to learn.

How are you ever going to generate your own client base if you don't let people know what you do? So your challenge this week for a free marketing exercise simply is to find one person you know that doesn't know what you do and make sure they do. If people like you they will send you clients, trust me! And that is as free as it gets.

Oh by the way, I have a policy. I don't do lawyer jokes! I don't allow lawyer bashing! And I have found people respect you when you stand up for what is truly a noble profession. So as you tell people what you do, establish a pride factor as well. It works every time.

As a promise to my daughter, I am writing a fiction book and obviously one of my characters is a lawyer. In introducting the lawyer character, I have him creating a partnership over a drink in a bar. While I think the setting is hilarious, I will bet I have a good number of readers who say "Yup, that is how I did it."

I believe partnerships are worse than getting married. It requires the same degree of commitment but with a whole set of new rules and little hope of an amicable break-up without a great deal of pre-planning and communication. It rarely is well thought out and no boundaries or expectations are ever talked about or set up to help the partners deal with each other, not only in times of extreme success but in times of extreme stress.

I have been involved in some partnership break-ups in an effort to help the parties salvage new practices or to stabilze the ones going through a partnership break-up. Without exception, no matter what the reason given, it was never the real reason. As I wander my way through the emotions of the dissolution of a partnership, I have ceased being amazed how little each partner knows the other.

Having always been asked 'why', I can tell you this. First, the partners never truly knew the values of the other. They took at face value the partner had the same belief system. You never know this without going through some work to determine that you are both on the same page in certain areas you absolutely don't want to violate.

Second the partners did not have the same goals. An example would be one partner wanting to stay with a small time law firm practice and another partner wanting to build a mega firm.

And third, and this is the big one, you started out with the same values and the same goals, but you failed to account for change in your partner's life or growth. That is why every year smart partnerships hold retreats that take time to focus on personal and professional goal setting coupled with strategic planning.

Course corrections are a lot easier and a lot less expensive than breaking up a partnership. You might be surprised if you set up a retreat and truly listen to what the others say.

I believe that the truly successful, satisfied lawyers are those who give back some of what they take from this world, their community and their neighborhood. The best role model a lawyer can be is to teach that to others. And I believe that you friends, neighbors, and community watch what you do. And if you do it right they flock to your door.

I find lawyers stretch themselves so thin because of many charitable commmitments or service organizations they belong to until there is simply not enough time to make it all happen and then what they contribute looks insincere or not complete.

Lets others help you to help others. Provide each staff person with 3 hours per month to do charitable acts of kindness. Let each staff person make a recommendation how they wish to commit their time. (Make sure it is truly a charitable organization or concept). Set the schedule. Have the staff come back and let everyone know what they were doing. And let your staff know that they are part of someone else's efforts because you need to have them pick up the slack while the person is out. Trust me you will not miss three hours of staff time per month. And what you will gain is teaching others to help others.

And if you want to really make your firm feel good, build a wall of charitable acts of kindness by putting the hours each year and the organization your firm contributed to. It makes everyone feel proud.

Learning to be comfortable in your own skin seems like an easy thing to do but I get constantly surprised when I find lawyers have to work through a process of identifying who they are before we can begin work on what they want to do. I sometimes think the sign of human growth is when you recognize that the dreams of others is not the dreams you need to follow. You are what you are!

I recall one law firm owner who had a vision of a huge firm with many lawyer centers and the willingness to work as hard as he could to get it. I have a favorite saying that helping someone become a millionaire is easy. Finding someone who is willing to work hard for it 24/7 is the hard part.

As we started the re-organization of his firm coupled with the restructure of work habits and development of the plan it was obvious that he was not going to like a big law firm that required constant management and development with a strong time commitment to get it where it needed to go. He was going to lose touch with that which he liked to begin; i.e. hands on with clients and a fairly structured personal life. We finally regrouped, worked out what his strengths and weaknesses were, what he visualized down the road, and what he wanted now. Bottom line: He created a new vision that involved those things that made him happy and so he could achieve in 20 years the ideal life at retirement. I recently had lunch with him and he is content and close to retirement. And never regretted his decision. And I think he is my best success story.

If you have an interest, we have designed a 'personal triangle' that our clients utilize every year to define who they are and what they wish for. Email me and I will gladly give you a copy with some instructions. Don't go through life wishing for what you probably really don't want to begin with. Take time to think!

Of all the tips I offer that are low cost or no cost marketing, this is the one that is free and generates the most return on your investment of time. Simply put, learn to stage your client service within your law firm.

Staging client service means setting the props from the answering of the phone to the look of the office to the presence of the employees. All of this is designed to have the client make an instant and positive impression of your firm. Nothing else generates more client referrals than the right stage setting. Here are some long time tools I have used in setting up client service based firms.

1. The Front Desk person is your most important tool for client marketing. The number one attribute for this person is people skills. Don't load them down with task after task that makes answering the phone or greeting clients with enthusiasm impossible. Praise and reward them for making your clients feel welcome. Anything less kills the new client right from the start.
2. Stage your lobby area to be client friendly and the Front Desk person as the host. Let the Front Desk person's job be to welcome them into the law firm home by offering them beverages and chatting with them. Your lobby area should be bright, clean and offer up reading materials. Showcase your accomplishments on the walls. Put your best foot forward. First impressions count.
3. Teach all employees they never enter the lobby without greeting anyone waiting there. A simple smile and 'good morning' works every time. One of my pet peeves is to wait in the lobby of a law firm and hear staff (including lawyers) talking about personal things at the Front Desk. The Front Desk is not the social center of the law firm. Make it a rule!
4. Always greet your client yourself. Sending someone out to bring the client back immediately makes the initial meeting about ego. The same holds true for escorting them up front when finished. Make the client feel a part of the law firm by introducing them to staff or lawyers as you pass by them. This makes the client feel important.
5. No interruptions while in conference unless the building is on fire or the Judge himself or herself is on the phone. You should be smart enought to allow sufficient time to meet with the client. If there is not time make sure you offer another appointment.
6. Whether or not someone retains you in client service is irrelevant. If they don't retain you they become a mini-marketer for you if you treat them right. I have seen to many referrals to law firms from people they never represented because they were treated right.
7. Decide for yourself the look of the employees. I have seen totally casual firms to very professional looking firms with respect to dress. The only thing I can tell you is that while it must represent the personality of the firm more importantly it better meet the personality of the client.

Disney teaches that every employee from the street sweeper to the CEO is on stage at all times. Signs are posted at doorways into the public areas that say "SMILE YOU ARE ON STAGE". And they train, train and train again that the customer (or client) rules!