You have to have a goal to score – Sir Alan Sugar
Sir Alan Sugar, who always reminds me of Nookie the bear (remember that ventriloquist doll?), said in his book, and for once I fully agree with him that “You have to have a goal to score”.
I don’t agree with much of what he says and does on the Apprentice as he seems to change his mind every week, but I still can’t stop myself from watching it.
Anyway, the point is that you have to know where you are trying to go with your law firm to have any chance of getting there; well that is at least until Elon Musk develops the ‘self-growing law firm’.
I speak with a lot of solicitors every month and, perhaps not surprisingly as I am a marketing man, the topic of conversation is that they would like some more clients.
In response to their question I then ask them how many extra clients they would like each month.
Without exception, they rarely have a number in mind.
I find this surprising and can see Lord Sugar shaking is head in disbelief and pointing to the door….
The thing is that once you have that number, life becomes so very much easier.
Let’s say the number is 10 new clients, which might each generate £1,000 in fees, so an increase in £120,000 turnover per annum.
If you know that you convert 1 in 2 enquiries into clients, you then know that you need 20 more enquiries, over and above your current level, to get these extra clients.
It is then really easy to put some meat on the bones and decide which marketing tactic you are going to use to generate these 20 leads. You also know that you could spend up to 1/3rd of the additional fees to generate them and still make a profit. Of course, if you could spend less then there is even more profit, but that should be your starting point.
Target and goal setting is an incredibly important thing for every law firm owner and business owner to do.
It is why I dedicated a double issue of my law firm growth training magazine Marketing4Solicitors to setting goals and targets. The issue maps out a precise process to follow to take you from having no goals or targets to scoping out both your law firm and your personal goals. It is very comprehensive and perhaps, more importantly, a fun thing to do!
Join me and let’s start mapping out your fantastic 2020!