Orchestrate Your Future

What Makes Clients Love You or It's the Relationship, Stupid

Have you ever thought about what makes clients like (or love) you?  [Translate: Are so impressed with you that they become your best marketers?]  I had an experience recently that really highlighted this for me.  It was with a furniture repair shop – specifically the Furniture Workshop in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

One of the legs of my coffee table had come loose, and though we tried to fix it, ultimately resorting to Super Glue, nothing worked.  We looked for another table & couldn’t find anything we liked nearly as well.  So, a couple of weeks ago I plopped the table in the back of my SUV and took it to the Furniture Workshop.

I was met by the owner, Russ Sines, who was instantly warm, funny, and friendly.  He explained that the workshop had been opened by his father in 1935.  Within moments, I knew that he would do a wonderful job repairing my table.  And in the few conversations we’ve had over the past week about the fee and when the repairs would be completed, Russ made me laugh every time and think to myself, "Why can't all the businesses we deal with be this wonderful?"  Russ knows the value of relationship.  He knows everything matters.  You can't sustain a business for 73 years without being really clear about those things.

The table will be ready tomorrow.  I know it will be perfect.  But the thing is, I'm looking around the house for other pieces I can bring to him.  I'll miss just chatting with him.  And you can bet I'm telling my friends about him.

"Laser Talk" or "Elevator Pitch" - Why You Need to Have One

One of the most important conversational strategies in the Atticus marketing tool kit is the Laser Talk.  Simply put, the Laser Talk allows you to inform your listener about what you do.  Hint: If someone asks you, "So what do you do?" "I'm an attorney," is not only not a Laser Talk, it's not a good answer.  Period.

According to David Yewman, co-owner of Elevator Speech, a consulting firm that specializes in helping clients craft 30-second descriptions of their companies, "Executives who can't, in a half a minute, explain what they do and why anyone should care miss out – on sales, funding, partnerships and more opportunities."  Attorneys who can’t explain who they help, how they help them, and what's unique about their practice in 30 seconds miss out on referrals.  It's that simple.

In the July issue of Inc. magazine, Yewman works with a home security company to help them craft their what Yewman refers to as their "Elevator Pitch."  After a lot of talk about "virtual connectivity," "redundancy," and "a web portal to monitor events," they hit upon: "We are bringing home security out of the closet."  (There's a pretty funny "back story" to this line, too.)

"You've got to cut right to it, hit them over the head with it.  The magic comes when you can talk like a human being about your business, and when you can really deliver a punch on why this is important," says Yewman.

You can learn to talk like a human being [read: non-lawyer] about what you do.  Attorneys are in the business of changing lives, transforming lives.  Don't be afraid to speak genuinely about how you help people!

• Visit Inc. magazine online to read the entire "Elevator Pitch" article.
• Visit www.elevatorspeech.net to see a video of a really, really bad elevator speech.  It's hilarious.

You Better Be Better Than Starbucks

I had dinner recently with Cary Singletary, a friend and mentor, who is also a well-respected attorney and tremendously effective mediator.  One of the reasons Cary's mediation practice is so successful (in addition to his skill at the process) is his office.  Cary cares about his clients and knows how to create a wonderful experience for them from the moment they arrive until they leave.  Cary knows what makes Starbucks great, and he delivers a similar experience to his clients.  What’s the secret?

Starbucks doesn’t sell coffee.  Starbucks sells "the Starbucks experience." Everything about their stores is designed to make their customers feel welcome and at home. Starbucks knows the value of creating an experience for their customers.  So does Cary.

In their book, The Experience Economy, Joe Pine and James Gilmore, discuss economic evolution from commodity based - coffee as beans, selling at a few cents to a dollar a pound -  though experience – coffee as a hazelnut latte with free wi-fi and comfy chairs – five dollars a cup!   Pine and Gilmore argue that if businesses in the 21st Century are not delivering "experiences" to their customers, they are losing.  (Beyond the Experience Economy is the Transformational Economy, but that's for another post.)

Here's the Cary Singletary experience: 1) Impeccably decorated office; 2) A secretary who treats everyone who enters with warmth and kindness; 3) Spacious conference rooms with comfortable chairs; 4) Free Wi-Fi; 5) Freshly baked cookies (He has an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie baking machine in his office!) and refreshments throughout the day.   There’s more . . . but you get the idea.

So, what are you doing to be better than Starbucks?

Who’s on Your “Top 20” List?

Do you know where your best clients come from?  If you don’t, you owe it to yourself take some time to find out.  Your “Top 20” List is made up of those people who refer you A & B clients on a consistent basis.  Identifying these folks and building relationships with them is one of the greatest investments you can make in your law firm.  (By the way, when I say “building relationships,” I mean just that.  No “phony baloney” relationships, as my colleague Patrick Wilson likes to say.)

When you start to examine your referral sources, you may find that you have only  a few referral sources who refer A & B clients to you on a consistent basis.  That’s OK!  Identify those people.  Thank them!  Ask them for their feedback on the service your firm provides.  Listen.  If they offer constructive criticism, just listen – don’t defend or explain.  Then thank them again.  I can promise you, there are very few  attorneys asking how they can improve their service.  You’ll put yourself way above the crowd by simply asking the question.

Build strong relationships with the best referral sources on your Top 20 List.  Then, start adding to that list.  More about that in a future post.

Bad Clients Drive Out Good Clients

Ron Baker, an expert on value-based billing and the founder of VeraSage Institute, a think tank dedicated to educating professionals about value-based billing, takes issue with the premise that “All men are created equal,” at least when it comes to potential clients. 

Baker, the author of Pricing on Purpose, has long written about the need for value-based billing for professional services and suggests that professional service firms take a lesson from the airline industry.  “Think of your firm as a Boeing 777, and work on your adaptive capacity,” Baker suggests.  Price your services so that you have much more capacity for A & B clients – or  - First Class and Full Fare passengers.

As more and more commoditized law is being sent overseas and as more clients are demanding to know in advance the price for work that will be performed, Baker’s ideas are no longer just ideas. If law firms want to thrive (not merely survive) in the years to come, they cannot afford to ignore Baker’s thoughtful analysis and prescriptions for change.  Click here to read Baker's entire article at verasage.com. 

Realize Your DREAM of Becoming a Great Brand

OK, so I'm still writing about branding.  I really can’t stress enough how important creating your own personal brand is to the ultimate success of your law firm.  In flipping through one of my favorite books, Love is the Killer App, by Tim Sanders, he refers to The Brand Mindset, by Duane Knapp, for a discussion of realizing your DREAM of becoming a great brand. 

In the acronym DREAM, D stand for differentiation.  Successful law firms need to find new ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors in order to build a great brand.

R stands for Relevance.  In order to really stand out and apart from the crowd, you must make yourself relevant to others.  Keep your knowledge base constantly expanding and share your knowledge with your colleagues and clients.  Think in terms of providing useful knowledge via your web site, blogs, podcasts or eNewsletters.

E stands for Esteem.  Esteem builds on relevance.  We all want to work with people we know, like and trust.  When you act in ways that build “know, like and trust,” you create high esteem.  When people hold you in high esteem, they naturally want to work with you.

A is for Awareness.  The more you have to offer, the more people will be aware of you.  The more people (clients, influencers) are aware of you the more business they will refer to you.

M is for the Mind’s Eye.  Being distinctive in a potential client’s mind’s eye, means creating Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA).  As Sanders says, most people have a number of credit cards in their wallet, but 80 percent of their purchases are made with the card at the top of the wallet.  Do all you can to create that type of awareness of who you are and what you do.

Check out Tim Sander’s blog at www.sanderssays.com.

ZAG!

So I’m having lunch with my friend Ginger Reichl with Pinstripe Marketing, and she says, “Have you read ZAG?”  “No, haven’t even heard of it.”  But I had to check it out as soon as I got in front of my computer.  (You can learn great things from your friends!)

ZAG, by Marty Neumeier is all about branding and is written in a no-nonsense, totally relevant way that really gets at what branding is all about.  Here’s an excerpt:

"What exactly is a brand?  Hint: It's not a company's logo or advertising.  Those things are controlled by the company.  Instead a brand is a customer's [read: client’s] gut feeling about a product, service or company.  People create brands to bring order out of clutter.  If the word brand didn't exist, we'd have to invent a new one, because no other word captures the complexity and richness of the concept.  The only word that comes close is "reputation."  Your reputation, like a company's brand, lies outside your control.  It's not what you say it is - it's what THEY say it is.  The best you can do is influence it."

So what are you doing to influence your firm’s brand?  Providing stellar client service?  Returning phone calls in a timely manner?  Not letting emails pile up in your inbox?  Making sure your staff understands and communicates the commitment your firm has to its clients? 

Although like many books about branding, ZAG, talks primarily about products and customers as opposed to professional service firms and clients, what it has to say is completely relevant to the business of law.  Read excerpts from ZAG at www.zagbook.com.

“Micro-Market Media”

That’s how Los Angeles attorney Denise Howell who writes the blog Bag and Baggage describes podcasting: Micro-market media in this month’s ABA Journal.  Have you considered podcasting as part of your marketing mix?  There are not many attorneys out there who are producing podcasts, but according to attorney Robert Ambrogi from Rockport, Massachusetts, who notes that legal blogs have been around for five years podcasting “is an obvious evolution.” 

Check out the article on podcasting in this month’s ABA Journal.  (I know, two posts in a row about articles on the ABA Journal, but they’re great articles.) 

Here are some sites where you can find Law Podcasts:
blawgcast.com
apple.com/itunes
podcastalley.com
podcast.net
podcasts.yahoo.com

Are You an Odd Fish or a Lost Guppy?

That’s one of the questions posed by Karen Post in her article Odd Fish Finish First for FastCompany.com.  Post’s article is aimed at “companies” with “customers” but her message is just as relevant for “professional service firms” with “clients.” According to Post:

Odd fish are memorable. Odd fish command a premium price. Odd fish exude added dimensions of value. Odd fish finish first. In business, understanding this metaphor is the difference between drowning in a sea of sameness and being a great brand.

How true - especially for law firms that risk being lost in a sea of commoditization!  Post offers 10 tips on how to differentiate your business.  Check them out, and think about which ideas you can apply to your firm.  Think outside the tank and get odd. Otherwise – to borrow a phrase from The Godfather  - you may be “sleeping with the fishes.”

Blog Your Way to Greatness

If you’re looking for a new way to reach out to your clients, potential clients, and referral sources, why not start your own blog?  “Who me?” Yes, you.  Blogging is one of the best ways to “talk” to your potential client base.  You can educate and inform, and provide useful information at a very low cost. 

Check out some of the Legal Blogs listed on the left to get an idea of what the legal community is blogging about.  Think about what you can add to the mix.  And don’t be intimidated!  You can do it. 

Check out Debbie Weil’s BlogWrite for CEOs to get check out the hottest trends in blogging and how to get started.  Also, take a look at Andy Wibbels blog.  It is a great tool for beginning bloggers.  While both Debbie Weil and Andy Wibbel write for the "business community," remember, your law firm IS a business.  So set yourself apart from your colleagues in 2007, and blog your way to greatness.