Posts in category: Legal Marketing

The internet has transformed the buying process.

I was on a call this week with an SEO guy and we were having a conversation about online marketing strategy. We both said, almost at the same time, how we at times just hate to look at what others post on their social and blogs. We both saw the same problem: Most, if not all, of their content is all about THEM!

Your prospective customers are actively looking online for a solution to their problems. 85% of consumers are looking for businesses online. There are over 100 billion searches on Google per month. They are looking for someone who can take away their pain. 91% of the people say they find what they are looking for, and 3 out of 5 are doing the research from mobile devices or tablets.

So, what that means to you is that consumers are more educated about your services than ever before. If you look at this the right way, the meaning is clear: More marketing opportunities exist for you and your firm if you play your cards right!

What do I mean by playing your cards right? Well, give them what they want! Give them what they need from you – THE expert in the area. Make yourself the “Go-To Guy/Gal.” The way to do that is CONTENT. Content is King!

So, you have to look at your marketing content as if you were a publisher or author. That means you need to start writing about what you know, and how it is important to them. Ask yourself “What questions do my prospects always ask me time and time again,” and start writing about it. Give them the answer on your website, on your firm flyers and anything you hand out as promotional material. You need to give them valuable content, when they need it and where they need it.

What you can't do is make your marketing about YOU. Don't give them fact after fact about you. And don't give them fact after fact about the services you provide. Think of it in terms of a dinner party – Don’t be that guy going on and on about how wonderful he is.

If, instead, you can deliver your content by speaking to them and, more importantly, socializing with them through blogs and social media, people will look to you as the authority in your industry. And that is golden. If you want your marketing results to do something different, you have to do something different in your marketing. The web is dramatically influencing customer behavior and changing how your business connects with perspective clients and advisors online. The information available online today gives prospects the power they haven't had in the past. And it's predicted that this power will continue to grow. Because of this your web presence has to allow people to get to know you, connect with you and offer support and value. Making this difference is the new way of online marketing.

Roslyn Drotar, Implementation Coach at Lawyers With Purpose

While on implementation calls recently, there has been a common struggle lately with reaching out and connecting with professional advisors to schedule the recommended dose of Synergy Meetings. I've also heard a lot of lack of follow up for fear of “bugging them.” Or, "I call them, but they don't call back."

Then there are those who say if you FDS, they will come! The difference in the two mindsets is the way they view marketing and sales. Going out and marketing your practice – aka building your business – with Synergy Meetings is marketing. It's not sales. The common push back I hear when asking how many Synergy Meetings they've done, is they don't want to come across as “salesy” or they don't feel “professional.” Another commons response they tend to throw on the table is they don't have the time or they feel like they are bragging or boasting about themselves.

In an article published by Legal Marketing Reader, John Cunningham, offers 10 reasons why lawyers hate marketing. It's a great article that gives suggestions on changing your mindset.

One of the most important things to remember is the difference between marketing and selling. They are two very different things. Marketing is all that you do to get the phone to ring, to get the client to the table. It focuses on the clients needs and wants. Sales is converting and closing the deal, bringing money in. It focuses on the service you provide. Selling, in my opinion, is harder than marketing, especially when your selling the invisible. There's a big difference between these two concepts, both are important in your practice.

I find that when you start looking at your marketing from the place of being an advocate for the potential client, and how you can best serve them, it takes it to a place of joy, not frustration. Face your fear, give yourself a pep talk and keep up with your competition. If you look at your practice as a bullseye and all that you do circles the center, that center is your marketing. It's the core of your success. Not doing it isn't an option.

Roslyn Drotar – Implementation Coach, Lawyers With Purpose

Join us for our Member Webinar Hosted by Dave Zumpano TODAY – March 18th at 3:00 EST and find out:

– When and How to Advertise Your Workshop
– Where and When to Place Your Advertisements
– How to Get Your Phone to Ring
– Creating a Message Your Market Will Hear
– How to use the RMS System to Fill Your Workshop
– Creating a Call to Action to Your Workshop During the Initial Call

To participate in this marketing conversation contact Marci Otts at motts@lawyerswithpurpose.com. We look forward to it!

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We are getting ready to close the books on 1Q 2013. So, looking into 2Q (that is less than 3 weeks away), where are you with your 2013 Marketing Plan?

If you aren't looking at your marketing plan and reviewing it weekly, your not developing your marketing. You need to work your strategies and review your written plan weekly to make sure everyone in your firm understands, with complete certainty, the direction of the company.

Your marketing plan should be a comprehensive and researched document which covers all essential aspects of taking your firm to the next level. When you created your plan, did you ask yourself the following questions:

– Where are we right now?
– Where do we want to be in a year?
– What opportunities exist?
– How will we get there?
– Who will do what and by when?
– How will we know we've arrived?

The next and very crucial step is to develop and work your plan! Don't just set all that brainstorming and creativity to ROI aside. Work it!

Your marketing plan is a living document for the marketing department and something they need to monitor REGULARLY. You have to monitor the progress of your plan and review it for it to work!

Review it weekly, prioritize the action steps, set clear deadlines and clear exceptions for success!

Roslyn Drotar – Implementation Coach, Lawyers With Purpose

When you set goals for your marketing, make them specific! So, instead of saying “I’m going to meet with 35 new clients a month” say “I’m going to meet with 2 new clients a day, for four days per week = 32 new clients.”

Then share your goal with everyone in your firm. Let your receptionist, legal assistant, funding coordinator, associate attorney (aka – everyone in the firm) know. And begin your planning path to success on how your going to get it done, one step at a time. Have our team help you meet your goals by keeping track of your progress. It helps keep the goal on track.

Another thing, have fun with it. Offer an incentive to your team to help you reach your goal. For example, give the person in the firm that gets the most people into your workshop a Starbucks or iTunes gift card. Maybe the person with the most by the end of the week gets "Free Lunch Friday!" You’d be surprised how much people want to help and it can be fun! Or another thing you can do is have a team member look through your database and pick up the phone and get your clients to opt into your newsletter to keep up with the latest and greatest in the estate planning arena to all your respective referral sources. Offer the team an incentive to come together as a group and get it done in a certain time frame and then maybe work a half day Friday once the task is complete.

Another example of specific goals would be “I’m going to schedule 1 hour on my calendar every Friday afternoon to post three times to my blog next week” rather than “I’m going to start blogging.” If you just throw your goals out there without being specific and without sharing them with people who will hold you accountable, they will more than likely never happen. Be S.M.A.R.T with your goals…ALWAYS. Don’t underestimate that! Attainable and specific goals have a better success rate.

When talking with our clients that have success with their marketing they typically pull their team together, share their S.M.A.R.T goals and then implement a plan of attack, thrive and succeed. They empower their team to hold them accountable, and help make things happen! Being specific and sharing helps make them do-able, they become more realistic with support and less overwhelming.

Roslyn Drotar

I started my day last Thursday with a phone call from Riverside School District that “despite the events in the area, schools were in session.” I dropped my 7th grader off at junior high. Then, when I dropping off my 4th grader, the Principle was outside the school personally letting everyone know the campus will be closed – no one except children allowed.

I came home, turned on the news to find out that 2 police officers were ambushed 15 miles from my home and a manhunt was taking place after a series of events beginning the day before. All day long the police activity was endless. Helicopters in the sky, five police cars at a time zooming down the streets and highways with sirens on, 20 officers with guns drawn at the local gas station. It was nerve racking and I went to sleep that night with a heavy heart for the victims and police officer families out there in the thick of it, feeling thankful and blessed that I was safe in my home with my husband and three boys sleeping under one roof.

There was a manhunt right in my backyard and I didn't let my kids out of the house from the time they got home from school that day until they had to go to school the next day.

It's times like these that you realize the little things that are important. I was upset with my oldest that morning for not doing his best in school the week before and it affecting his grades. What was important to me now, was to keep him safe.

My neighborhood will be completely shut down Wednesday from 9-2 to support the funeral for the fallen police officer. The services will be at our local church and the procession will pass in front of my house with an expected 10 thousand supporters, high security, his wife and two kids – ages 10 and 4.

Of all the things that go through your mind when something like this hits close to home, one that pops up for me is how relieved I am that my estate planning is in order. I know that if something happens to me, my children are taken care of. It take some of the worry away knowing I have appointed guardians and have specific instructions on how I want them cared for and influenced – complete with dangling carrots to encourage good decisions, good grades, their faith, college, etc, as they grow.

This is something you do for your clients everyday. Your selling peace of mind and that is powerful! And this story is one that I can use to get people to see the value of estate planning. One of the best ways you can get a point across is by storytelling. Stories have stickiness. Your clients know you've got the legal technical knowledge to accomplish their goals, but they also want to know your going to help them in a way that they relate. When they listen through stories, it's easer to convert, and maybe they'll tell their friends.

Marketing should touch people in a way they aren't expecting for it to really stick. And then those touches that you make should continue over and over again until they convert. That can be difficult today because there is so much going on with tv, magazines, social media, the internet, emails, etc., so yes, you've got to get their attention! But once you've got it, you've got to do something to make it stick! It's not always about interrupting people with big full page ads, its also what you do after you get their attention and the stories you share in your workshops that bring them back to you. Stories can be remarkable because people listen and connect, and they may even tell some friends – and that's what will make your marketing sticky.

Roslyn Drotar

Did you know?

48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop
10% of sales people make more than three contacts
2% of Sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact
(http://kellymarsh.org/follow-up-statistics/)

If your one of the 48% that never follow up the good news is you can only improve. However, according to the above statistics, it may be worse if you only follow up three to four times because now your spending additional time and money but still missing out on those 80% sales that are made between the 5th and 12th contact!

So, what can you do?

The best thing that you can do is make sure you have a systematic approach for your follow up. All of it. The follow up calls, the thank you cards, the direct mail, blogging, etc. If you have a workshop, make sure you include in your planning for the workshop exactly what your going to do for the follow up when your planning the event. For example, block out the next day for your assistant to make phone calls to those people that attended to ensure it gets done. Hands down it’s the most important thing you can do the day after a workshop. Use your Follow Up Focuser … always!

Your Relationship Review Meetings, Hardcopy Newsetter, E-Newsletters, community outreach, thank you cards, blogging and staying present in your social media should all be part of your program and should run turnkey. It will give you the additional traction and bring up those conversion numbers, time and money you've already invested.

Roslyn Drotar