Business Strategy & Development, User Experience, Web Design
Congratulations!
Your latest marketing plan is attracting new clients…
…at an alarming rate.
It’s exciting when your marketing efforts are doing exactly what they should be doing – making the phone ring. However, if you have an unstructured intake process (or no intake process at all!) that’s a problem.
Marketing is only a small piece of your entire business. Achieving positive outcomes for clients is a reflection of success; but the ability to attract and manage new, incoming clients is an entirely different matter.
Nothing is more promising for your business than when the phone is buzzing and vibrant with incoming phone calls. However, if you lack the capacity to handle all those calls, you could stand at risk for losing quality clients.
What can you do to fix that?
Pick Up the Phone, Always
In any given week, how many phone calls does it take to obtain a new client? The answer is however many call it takes to gain that client’s trust and earn their business. As an attorney, maintaining a client-attorney relationship is all about being a trusted adviser. If a potential client or client calls and there is no one to response in a timely manner, that lack of communication will be detrimental to business.
It’s not always easy to be available to pick up that phone every, single time incoming call, especially when you’re on trial or in a deposition.
Nevertheless, you cannot afford to take a potential client for granted when he or she first tries to reach you. By relying on a support staff on-duty to handle incoming calls, this may alleviate some of your burden.
- In-Office Support Staff – Having an in-office support staff is a great way to better control the work productivity and quality of your support staff. An in-house staff will have local knowledge to handle certain questions a virtual support staff may not be equipped to answer.
- Virtual Support Staff – Hiring virtual staff is becoming a trend for business in this digital age, and it is often a smart move for lawyers and businesses. A virtual staff can operate remotely, so there is no additional cost to provide them with phones and computers, or house them in-office. Since a virtual staff can operative from different time zones, 24/7 available is available, allowing potential clients to have full support any time they need it.
Exchange Valuable Client-Attorney Information
The initial conversation with a potential client is your opportunity to build rapport. This is you’re your chance to decide whether this individual is someone you would be interested in representing.
Remember that all clients are unique and so are their issues, wants and needs. No two cases will ever be alike, but it may help to prepare a loose script of required questions before an initial conversation takes place.
Ask valuable information regarding your potential client’s circumstances and listen. Acknowledge what you heard and focus on the facts that may be most critical to know. Understand the general economic situation or employment status of that potential client, for example. The answers to these questions will help you better approach their case.
“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Track Your Conversation Activity
Two major scenarios can occur after a call ends.
- Caller Becomes a Client – Good job. Remain in consistent touch with your client throughout the entire legal process. Show that you appreciate and respect their business. Don’t forget that business development is as important as business retention.
- Caller Does NOT Become a Client – Perhaps this decision was in everyone’s best interest. However, if you were genuinely interested in a potential client’s case and you have yet to earn that client’s business, take a moment to reflect on the situation.
As an attorney, you should connect and stay connected with any potential clients after that initial conversation. Be attentive, vigilant and quick to follow-up. Track conversations so that you can proficiently follow-up on your previous conversations. Don’t leave loose-ends untied.
As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
Having a poor intake process to manage calls due to lack of established business processes will never leave a good impression. Even if you are highly-knowledgeable and well-respected in your area of practice, if potential clients fail to reach you in a timely manner, they not believe you care enough about their case.
Redefining and Refining Client Intake
It is good to know when marketing is needed, but it is as important – if not more – to be prepared when potential clients do initiate contact. Don’t to be left out in the cold by marketing processes that were too quickly executed. In order to accommodate evolving business development, it is never too late to redefine or refine existing strategies.
Today, Postali runs direct mail campaigns for attorneys across the country, and creates award-winning websites that rank highly in search engines and provide quality information about legal services. We help lawyers in multiple aspects of their practice, including call tracking & voice services, full-scale photo & video production, press & media relations, content marketing, and SEO and paid search marketing.
If you’re interested in learning more about our legal marketing services, feel free to reach out at hello@postali.com to start the conversation or follow us at @Postali.
Not sure where to begin?
Get started with a marketing audit.