Closing In on New Clients

Merrilyn Astin Tartlon | When business is slow, it’s dangerously easy to gallop off in all directions looking for any “old legal work.” Here’s a much better idea.
The post Closing In on New Clients appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers.

Few can resist the urge to go galloping off in all directions when business is slow. A bit of panicking is only human. But that is exactly the time to tighten the reins on your marketing efforts. Here’s Merrilyn Tarlton’s advice on closing in on the new clients you want over the long term.

When you finish a big case or put the final signatures on a long-time-closing contract, things can get slow around your office. You might begin feeling a little panicky. It’s dangerously easy at that point to slip into thinking you’d take any old legal work you could lay your hands on just to keep the cash flowing. So sure enough, that’s what you do: jump on your horse and gallop off in all directions looking for work.

And, sure enough, you bring in “any old legal work.”

Hold Your Horses

What if instead of panicking, you spent your less-busy times bringing in work you’d love doing?

And, since you are expending all that business development effort anyway, what if you focused on marketing tasks that would pay off over the long-term — and not just this month? Yeah, that’s what we thought, too.

This article is dedicated to the proposition that you actually can draw a bead on exactly the kind of work you want to do. Open up a blank screen or notepad, and let’s figure out the best way for you to begin closing in on new clients.

Five Simple Questions to Answer

Take the following questions in order, and answer them thoughtfully. In some instances, you may need to pause and do a bit of research.

1. What kind of work would you really like to do? 

Perhaps you took a wrong turn a little ways back, taking case after case outside of your initial area of focus. Or maybe, over time, you’ve learned that certain matters are like sandpaper on your skin, while others feel just right. Perhaps you have a driving passion to make something happen in the world and want to find paying legal work that furthers that goal. Well, now’s a good time to get back on track. 

Just for the sake of illustration, let’s say the work you really want to do can best be described as “business start-ups.”

2. Who hires lawyers to do that kind of work? 

Right away, this question allows you to carve away a certain percentage of the market you might otherwise waste your time on. Your potential clients are certainly not in-house counsel with established companies. Nor are they injured individuals looking to sue. Grossly stated, the people who might hire you to do this type of work are people who are moving in the direction of starting a new business. (I know, duh.) But you can get a bit more specific: inventors, highly specialized professionals who want to bail out of corporate life, or B-school grads with a hot idea.

For our purposes, let’s choose people who are tired of what they have to put up with to get a paycheck at Big Deal Co., and want to head out on their own.

(To get more formal and focused, this would be the time to define your unique value proposition, or EVP, and do some market research on your competitors. Read Karen and David Skinner’s article on setting up systems for growth.)

3. Where do they get their information? 

Assume Mr. Darcy, VP of Human Resources with x-Zooper Corp., wants to make his exit in a sophisticated and professional manner. He isn’t going to randomly ask around for the names of lawyers who can help him. That could lead to an exit before he’s quite ready. No, he’s going to conduct his search for a lawyer in a very confidential fashion. So ask yourself (or ask Claude or Google): what do corporate HR directors read? What organizations do they belong to? What sites or social media platforms do they visit most frequently?

4. Who do they listen to? 

At the same time, you’ll want to think about who might recommend you to Mr. Darcy. Whose opinion would he value on this question? This is challenging because of concerns about confidentiality. Still, there will be some people whose advice he will seek out … or whose recommendation he will value if he can receive it without tipping his own hand about his plans. The list starts with people who have, themselves, left the corporate world and successfully launched a business.

5. How can you get in front of those people? 

Here’s the payoff for all that research, and where your to-do list begins to develop. Understanding who might hire you to do simple business start-ups, you can focus on what to do. For example:

Participate in subreddits or LinkedIn groups.

(Look for small, moderated groups or private groups versus large public groups on LinkedIn.) Don’t lurk. Actively post and participate in online discussions about topics related to the law and business entity creation. Remember, you want to be seen. And you want to be impressive on your topic. If you’re not experienced with those types of groups, you’ll learn quickly enough. (Read Annette Choti’s article on social media for law firms for tips.)

Write locally.

Identify a local publication likely read by HR professionals or entrepreneurs (smart people read about where they want to go) and pursue opportunities to write creatively on your topic. (If you live in Colorado, as I do, you’d be looking at the Denver Business Journal.) Find out if there’s a chance to develop a series of articles for publication or even a regular column. Be easy to deal with. Write well. Please the editors. They’ll want you to write more. (For your purposes, don’t spend time pursuing national publications or vanity publishers like Forbes. You don’t need clicks, you need real prospects.)

Book podcast guest appearances, or start your own.

Aspiring entrepreneurs are likely listening to business podcasts or watching on YouTube, and there are surely several in your niche. Reach out and pitch yourself as a guest. Or, look into starting your own podcast.

Volunteer.

Get involved with a local organization or university focused on training entrepreneurs and new business owners. Again, in Colorado, you might look at the University of Colorado’s Deming Center for Entrepreneurship or Colorado State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship. Or, you may live near one of these top 25 colleges for entrepreneurs. Talk, teach and write about legal issues related to start-up businesses. Do it right, and the young people you work with will come to see you as the business start-up lawyer—and call you when they start up their businesses.

Write a book.

Better yet, write a guide or pamphlet—a downloadable one—and make it available to anyone interested in starting a business. Maybe it’s a “how to” or “pitfalls to avoid” guide, or a “new business start-up checklist.” Promote it via social media and offer it through your website or blog. While you’re at it, offer a list of other free resources that are useful to new business owners.

(Read Tatia Troy’s tips on self-publishing in “Lawyers, You Write for a Living, Now Write to Build Your Brand.”)

Schedule face time.

Pull together a list of people you have already helped to launch their businesses and schedule lunches and coffee dates. Find out how their business is going. Build relationships. Network. Introduce these people to others who might help them in their business. And, yes, remind them of your capabilities and ask them to share your name with anyone who may be looking for legal help for their own start-up.

There’s more—a lot more—you can do, of course. Once you’ve focused in on the best business development activities, you’ll be surprised at how much simpler it is to build a reputation and a network to support getting exactly the kind of work you want.

And it’s so much easier (and cheaper) than galloping off in all directions!

Photo by Xavier McLaren on Unsplash.

Article updated from the original.