Attract & Nurture Healthy Clients

Erik understood from day one that his firm brand was much more than a logo (although he has an awesome logo). His brand was his reputation and how others perceived his business. Instead of relying on referrals, he set out to build a strong web presence with content that educated his potential clients and clients. He thought about who he was trying to attract and what potential clients could be considering as they decide if they really need a trademark attorney. As a result, his website is filled with articles, videos, infographics, and more that all teach clients about what he does, how he helps them, and why they need to protect their business. When potential clients call Erik’s firm, they say they feel like they already know him. He has built trust with them before he ever even says hello.

We think law firms need healthy clients—calm down injury lawyers, we mean “healthy” in the sense of attracting the right clients for your firm who are aligned with your values and then delivering top-notch services to them.

Healthy clients require:

Today, if you’re not regularly marketing your firm, developing your brand and reputation, and improving your client sales, onboarding, and delivery process, your practice is at risk. Law firms that are putting their client’s needs first and being intentional about consistently delivering a fantastic client experience are rewarded with referrals and online 5-star reviews, which fuels the entire marketing process. It’s what’s known as a flywheel.

Clarity around your ideal clients offers strategic benefits, including:

Focus your client persona on the type of clients you want to attract and help. Be sure you don’t unnecessarily limit your ideal client or build in problematic bias and blinders. Many marketing experts suggest defining where they live, age, gender, and even their race. The goal here is to think through your “client type” based on the help they need, their wants, and expectations. Be careful not to exclude people or limit access based on a potential bias or by limiting diversity. Instead, be intentional about including diversity in your persona.

Much of the content on lawyer marketing tactics teaches lawyers how to promote themselves, but it’s only a small piece of building a great client acquisition system.

The larger process includes:

Marketing doesn’t have to be hard, but it does need to be focused and a consistent effort. Healthy businesses understand this and make smart, strategic investments. 

As Lab Coach Ryan McKeen clarifies, “We define marketing as ‘every communication that leaves our office.’ In order for all this to work well, everything must be intentional. Random doesn’t cut it.”

If this seems like a lot or something far off in the future, we can help make it simpler. In Lawyerist Lab, we provide guided resources, webinars, and coaching. And, you’ll do it along side others working on reaching similar goals.

When you step back and reevaluate your business model, you’ll start seeing lots of opportunities to create an experience where clients understand what is happening with their case and feel in control. These small and simple steps will have a tremendous impact on your clients. Ultimately, these happier clients will excitedly shout from the rooftops how awesome it was to work with their lawyer (leading more clients to you). The flywheel is turning, and your business is growing.

The first step in building a client-centered firm is to reevaluate pricing. A Harvard Law School professor shared a story about an associate with a coding background who started working at a small firm after law school. After realizing the repetitive nature of his work, he wrote a short piece of code to automate this task, saving tons of time and freeing him up for more interesting work. Instead of praise, the young associate was met with horror from his bosses upon realizing his innovative solution would cost the firm thousands in billable hours. 

When you think about money as time, efficiencies seem like losses. There’s nothing client-centered about that. 

The small firm of the future has an expansive toolbox when it comes to pricing. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, there is one core consideration: Are your rates designed around the goals and needs of your clients and structured in a way to align your incentives with your client’s goals? 

Yes, it may be difficult to price your services and build in for unexpected work. But that’s not an excuse to not evaluate it. And while there could be times when billing by the hour makes sense, adding alternative fee models to your tool kit will help you do a better job pricing your services to value. 

Rethinking how you help your clients can feel like a big undertaking. The good news is, once you understand what you are trying to build, mapping out the exact blueprint becomes much easier. This is also an area where being in the right room matters. There are plenty of lawyers in the world ready to fight tooth and nail to keep the status quo and not upset the apple cart. They will tell you all the reasons you “can’t” or “shouldn’t” do things differently. 

If you’re ready to be inspired by a group of lawyers setting up their business differently, now is a great time to learn more about our Lawyerist Lab community. The one common denominator is a group of lawyers saying “yes, and” to new ways of doing things.