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Casual Articles - Legal Marketing – How To Get Top Dollar For Your Services
Success in Your Business - are these the rules for success?The highly successful Pineapple Dance Studios in London has been transformed from a privately owned dance studio to a Publicly Owned Corporation quoted on the London Stock Exchange.The company chairman, entrepreneur Debbie Moore became the first female Chairman of a London quoted company in 1982. She attributes her success in business to the following;* Work with what you know. In the tough world of business it's easier to find success if you care about what you do.* Don't make money your sole motivation. Never turn your greatest interest into a business because you want to make millions. Status and money may follow, but they are only a by-product of your success.* Learn about Finance. In the early days you may not be able to afford an accountant. Enrol in a small business course and get familiar with accounting. You will also need it when you can afford an accountant.* Know when to spend and when to save. While you can save money on some
There are many different factors that help to define organizational culture. If someone wanted to make a full laundry list and get really specific, it wouldn't be surprising if over one hundred different things were listed: but most can be broke down into specific categories or factors that cover many of the smaller details of corporate culture. Here are a few of the factors that have a major hand in defining organizational culture in general.Conflict resolution. How much does the company encourage, or discourage, its employees to openly discuss any complaints. Do superiors listen to different opinions or just ignore them?Culture management. This factor is a measurement of how much the corporation is trying to actively be a part of an organization's culture and shaping it's direction, or if this is a non-factor which they just ignore. Companies with a strong cultural management tend to be on the same page as their employees and are more efficient. The company is seen as an identity that workers can be proud to be associated with.Feelings t
In legal marketing you need to know is very few people have the time, energy and perseverance to “shop” very much for a lawyer. These prospects will use price as a quick way to decide if someone is competent. In law marketing you need to know people are already preconditioned to think about price in certain ways. If your fee is $150 per hour, a second lawyer’s fee is $200 per hour and a third lawyer’s fee is $250 per hour what is the pre-programmed way clients will be thinking? It is highly likely in legal marketing they are thinking the “cheap” lawyer must not be as good as the other two. Why? Because in the USA culture people are taught “you get what you pay for” and thus the cheapest lawyer “must have something wrong with them” or they will be “cutting corners” in some way to be so “cheap”. You don’t want to be in that law marketing club for sure. They are also thinking “the most expensive lawyer must be the most experienced, most skilled, the most specialized and at least among the best.” You do want to be in that legal marketing club or at least close to that club. So you see in law practice management being in at lest the beginning of the top 30% of fees in your community is where you want to be if you possibly can. In legal marketing terms you are “positioning” yourself as among the best by having a higher price.
Additionally in legal marketing terms it is also much better to spend you law marketing dollars getting fewer high quality prospective clients to speak with and do that well than it is to have to shift through a legion of “frogs” who are shopping, shopping, shopping for “cheap”. Also the “cheap” client is not loyal to you but to “cheap” and if they find “cheaper” they are gone. I will give you a bit more on this aspect of legal marketing later in the article.
We have the legal marketing positioning we need in place now so what is next? What do you actually say to have someone ready to pay top dollar? First you need to tell them up front, close to the beginning of the conversation, something close to the following: “I do want you to know that I can’t work with everyone. Sometimes I don’t have the exact expertise you may need. Also I do want you to know that I am not the most inexpensive attorney in the city. If I am a good match for your situation I will be talking with you about fees. If my fees are too expensive for you don’t be afraid or embarrassed to tell me. I will have some good referrals for you that might be a better fit for your budget.”
In legal marketing terms what have you done here? You have made yourself a scarce service. We all are pre-programmed to think something or someone that is scarce is valuable (Cialdini Ph.D., Influence, Science and Practice; 2001). You have told them you don’t work with just anyone. Now they are hoping that their case is a good fit so they can have you. They are wondering if you can fit them in since you are in such demand that you can decline cases. Nice law marketing positioning for sure. Suddenly they are auditioning for you, not you auditioning for them. They also are thinking this fellow must be really, really good or he would not be saying such things to me. They are thinking that they better act quickly and say yes to hiring you or you may be full and can’t take them later. They also may be imagining a really, really high fee in thei
Just how important is having a top-notch call center with the right software, technology and agents in place to the overall effectiveness of your company?Imagine this scenario.A customer has a pressing question pertaining to your business that needs to be answered immediately.Thus, they call your business and are routed to your call center.Now that customer is placed on hold, or in queue, for twenty minutes.And when they finally do get to talk with one of your call center representatives, they find him or her to be ineffective. The call center rep can provide no answers to any questions, and the customer is left with a less-than-glowing opinion of your company at the moment.This less-than-ideal scenario reveals the importance of having properly managed and highly trained Customer Relationship Management (CRM) professionals in place.Oftentimes, the call center is the liaison between the customer and a company’s management. In other words, the call center is the place for customers and representatives to interact. Cust
Additionally in legal marketing terms it is also much better to spend you law marketing dollars getting fewer high quality prospective clients to speak with and do that well than it is to have to shift through a legion of “frogs” who are shopping, shopping, shopping for “cheap”. Also the “cheap” client is not loyal to you but to “cheap” and if they find “cheaper” they are gone. I will give you a bit more on this aspect of legal marketing later in the article.
We have the legal marketing positioning we need in place now so what is next? What do you actually say to have someone ready to pay top dollar? First you need to tell them up front, close to the beginning of the conversation, something close to the following: “I do want you to know that I can’t work with everyone. Sometimes I don’t have the exact expertise you may need. Also I do want you to know that I am not the most inexpensive attorney in the city. If I am a good match for your situation I will be talking with you about fees. If my fees are too expensive for you don’t be afraid or embarrassed to tell me. I will have some good referrals for you that might be a better fit for your budget.”
In legal marketing terms what have you done here? You have made yourself a scarce service. We all are pre-programmed to think something or someone that is scarce is valuable (Cialdini Ph.D., Influence, Science and Practice; 2001). You have told them you don’t work with just anyone. Now they are hoping that their case is a good fit so they can have you. They are wondering if you can fit them in since you are in such demand that you can decline cases. Nice law marketing positioning for sure. Suddenly they are auditioning for you, not you auditioning for them. They also are thinking this fellow must be really, really good or he would not be saying such things to me. They are thinking that they better act quickly and say yes to hiring you or you may be full and can’t take them later. They also may be imagining a really, really high fee in the
The number of fun team building activities you can utilize to improve productivity at work are limited only by the imagination. From more simple and traditional games and sport-related activities, to more elaborate adventures drawing inspiration from popular reality tv shows, there are many ways to have fun while learning to work together as a team.Creative and critical thinking, trust-building, problem solving, conflict resolution, and more are involved in many of these activities that give you and your team a chance to get to know and appreciate one another better as people outside of your typical environment, and help strengthen and revitalize work relationships. Some popular ideas include scavenger hunts, music and rhythm exercises, and other physical activities or games that require people to interact, work together, and have fun. Even a team cooking activity can provide a valuable team building experience. Many approaches to team building incorporate humor as an essential component to helping people lighten up, relax, and explore their potential as a g
Additionally in legal marketing terms it is also much better to spend you law marketing dollars getting fewer high quality prospective clients to speak with and do that well than it is to have to shift through a legion of “frogs” who are shopping, shopping, shopping for “cheap”. Also the “cheap” client is not loyal to you but to “cheap” and if they find “cheaper” they are gone. I will give you a bit more on this aspect of legal marketing later in the article.
We have the legal marketing positioning we need in place now so what is next? What do you actually say to have someone ready to pay top dollar? First you need to tell them up front, close to the beginning of the conversation, something close to the following: “I do want you to know that I can’t work with everyone. Sometimes I don’t have the exact expertise you may need. Also I do want you to know that I am not the most inexpensive attorney in the city. If I am a good match for your situation I will be talking with you about fees. If my fees are too expensive for you don’t be afraid or embarrassed to tell me. I will have some good referrals for you that might be a better fit for your budget.”
In legal marketing terms what have you done here? You have made yourself a scarce service. We all are pre-programmed to think something or someone that is scarce is valuable (Cialdini Ph.D., Influence, Science and Practice; 2001). You have told them you don’t work with just anyone. Now they are hoping that their case is a good fit so they can have you. They are wondering if you can fit them in since you are in such demand that you can decline cases. Nice law marketing positioning for sure. Suddenly they are auditioning for you, not you auditioning for them. They also are thinking this fellow must be really, really good or he would not be saying such things to me. They are thinking that they better act quickly and say yes to hiring you or you may be full and can’t take them later. They also may be imagining a really, really high fee in the
Within the world of business, innovation and creativity have a lot in common with values. They both get a lot of positive talk. But no one walks the walk. Companies say they want good managers who put people first. But do their actions put feet on their words? Not in my experience! And not according to executive coach, Barb McEwen."In the last few years most companies have recognized the importance of documenting their values. Some have gone to great lengths in detailing what would be ideal behavior but it is still the rare company who has leaders who actually walk the talk."In the same way companies go to great lengths documenting how they want innovation. "We need innovation if we're to grow!" But their actions prove otherwise. The rewards systems reward anything but innovation. And instead of championing creativity, managers turn their backs on creative employees and their ideas.How often have you seen these scenarios?THE STEALER All of a sudden you get a great idea on how to improve the process. Then you
In legal marketing terms what have you done here? You have made yourself a scarce service. We all are pre-programmed to think something or someone that is scarce is valuable (Cialdini Ph.D., Influence, Science and Practice; 2001). You have told them you don’t work with just anyone. Now they are hoping that their case is a good fit so they can have you. They are wondering if you can fit them in since you are in such demand that you can decline cases. Nice law marketing positioning for sure. Suddenly they are auditioning for you, not you auditioning for them. They also are thinking this fellow must be really, really good or he would not be saying such things to me. They are thinking that they better act quickly and say yes to hiring you or you may be full and can’t take them later. They also may be imagining a really, really high fee in the
Companies invest millions to create, design, fine-tune, build, promote and extend their brands. Think Nike, Virgin, Versace, Raffles, Amazon.All your investment brings customers to your door (or website) with expectations matching your promotional promise. But when customer meets company ‘face-to-face’, everything hinges on that critical moment.A friend recently moved to Singapore from Australia and went shopping for an appropriate wardrobe. I saw her several hours into the spending spree and heard her say, ‘I love Liz Claiborne, but E––T (a competing brand) can take their clothes and shove it.’ (Australians can be oh-so-delicate in their speech.) She continued, ‘I won’t ever go in one of their stores again.’Wow! That’s strong stuff. Turns out a sales lady at ‘E’ couldn’t be bothered to say hello or help my friend with her questions. She was too busy with a personal call on her mobile phone. And when she hung up, she chatted about the call with her colleague (distracting the colleague from yet another customer) rather than responding to the que
OK so lets say this legal marketing scenario did not go that well. What if the person says something like: “But your fee is $300 per hour and another lawyer I talked to charges $225 per hour.” What do you say? How about something like this: “I don’t know exactly why this lawyer is charging so much less than I do, however, I can tell you exactly what you will be getting working with me, what my qualifications/experience/expertise are with respect to your particular matter and I just can’t help but wonder what he might be missing or leaving out by charging the fee he charges.” In law marketing here you want to bring forward in their minds the unconscious thought that someone who charges less must be doing less of a job for you or is not as competent. The old “you get what you pay for” scenario most of us were raised on works well in legal marketing. Another way to say it is “penny wise, pound foolish” since if a lawyer who charges less does the job one could just wind up paying more later because of that “cheaper” work.
Another good job of law marketing positioning I’d say. In a specialty practice area this old adage is even more applicable than say a commodity practice area like residential real estate closings. I think you get the idea here in this law practice management effort. In what you are saying be sure they are wondering just what might be missing since doubt is what you need to create in the mind of the prospect about your competitors. You might even want to go so far as to list out in detail what you will be doing and providing for the client before you say the magic words I just gave you so they see all that is coming their way by selecting you. Again with this legal marketing approach what we are doing is bringing forward “doubt” and “suspicion” while making sure they know how solid you are for them. It never hurts to have testimonials or letters of recommendation as well to show prospective clients before you give the magic words.
In legal marketing a bit of preemption or prevention could work well in telling prospective clients about your fees as well. If you contrast your fee against a higher fee then your fee does not sound so large even if it is larger than a competing lawyers fee. An example would be a family lawyer might say something like: “Some attorneys would charge as much as $20,000 for handling this type of a divorce, however, with my experience and expertise I know I can do the divorce for you for $15,000”. Here you are saying your competitors’ fees first with your fee second making your fee sound good compared to the others. Another law marketing example would be in estate planning you could say something like: “I can prepare a document (for document insert the correct technical term) that will save you $400,000 in federal estate taxes for only $2
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