Legal Marketing Tips
Sign up for free monthly legal marketing tips that will instantly transform your marketing activities and increase your profits. I will never pass on your email address.
Whenever I visit a new law firm, I can almost guarantee what I am going to find when I walk through the door. For those of you reading this newsletter, even if I have not visited you before, I would gladly make a bet that if I did I would find (or not find) at least three of the following:
With just some simple changes you can make your reception and meeting rooms amazing cross selling tools that will bring in an abundance of new business for you. The question is can you be bothered?
Your client welcoming areas should be generating a good handful of new instructions for you at least every month, but preferably every week. If you want to make your life easier, please before you spend anymore money on advertising or an amazing website from a website design company that knows absolutely nothing about generating new business for solicitors, make these simple changes and then you can use the extra profit costs generated to look at other marketing methods.
Outside Your Offices
Stand outside your offices and look at your client's first experience of your business. Is it bright and welcoming? Is there a nice bright sign with your practice name and the word "solicitors" boldly on display? If there is lighting are the bulbs all working? If not replace them. You are solicitors and your attention to detail is what makes you good at what you do. But what impression does your client have of your practice if the outside of your buildings is shoddy?
Reception
An old gripe of mine is solicitors that still shut for lunch. If you do and this is the most prominent sign on your front door, expect to lose plenty of business to your competitors. It takes no time to set up staggered lunch breaks. As the legal world becomes more and more competitive it is these small changes that will determine whether you remain in business.
Reception Desk
Generally these days money is not handed over the counter so there really is no need for a high imposing reception desk. The reception desk should be no higher than a normal desk and should be free of clutter and welcoming.
Selling More Of Your Services
You now have a captive audience. A client or visitor is sitting in your reception area for five minutes or more and they are in the frame of mind of all matters legal. So what should you give them to read? The Times, a Rugby Magazine, Country Life? NO NO NO. Whilst they are in your offices they should be allowed to read about one thing and one thing only - your business!
If you have any of the above, along with charity leaflets, other local business cards and brochures etc, remove them immediately. Are you in business for your business or someone else's?
You need a selection of promotional materials. You need a general practice brochure, but you also need much more. You need legal information sheets, guides to making a will, moving home essential checklists etc. Anything which is related to the type of law you practice must be available for your clients to read whilst they are sitting targets for you to sell to them.
Any practice where I have made these changes and provided a range of promotional materials sees an immediate return. The LawKits that I have designed that cover all areas of law and are written in client friendly language will produce new enquiries for you, have you bought your own branded LawKits? Do you want more business? CLICK HERE FOR LAWKITS
Free Advertising Space
Lastly, what is on your walls? If you think about your target audience, those people sitting there waiting to talk to you, or thinking about instructing you, what is their frame of mind? Nervous, wary, unsure? All of the above? So how can you reassure them? What if you had several client testimonials printed off, professionally framed and dotted around reception. Would this help to convince them you were the right firm for them? Absolutely it would, so have you done it yet?
I know that implementing any of these changes will have an impact on your business, but implementing all of them will have a dramatic impact. So what are you waiting for?
If you need some help with the implementation, why not ask me to come in and carry out one of my marketing health checks. I will spend half a day with you, which can include me making immediate changes to your reception area. If you are interested in generating new instructions please call me on 01275 855525 or email info@samsonconsulting.co.uk
Please call me for a free no obligation discussion on 01275 855525 or complete my free enquiry form and I will be in touch with you. Nick Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising).