In today's competitive market place, lawyers must compete to survive. And

yet, many lawyers believe that putting an ad in the yellow pages is their

best marketing tool. They are couldn't be more wrong. Today, surviving

means flexing your marketing muscle. Lawyers have let their muscles weaken

from lack of use.

Mike O'Horo, a Virginia marketing consultant tells us that each year a

successful law firm loses 20% of its clients. That means that each year at

least 20% of your marketing efforts and dollars walk out the door.

There are many reasons that these clients are leaving. Some of these

reasons are beyond your control: consolidation, failure, relocation, etc.

But many of these departures can be traced to controllable causal factors.

Let’s look at O'Horo's list of the top eight.

Clients see all law firms as more or less the same. A reputation for "top

quality" does not distinguish you from all the other "top quality" law

firms. Legal consumers can't identify the subtle differences between law

firms. Find a way to emphasize your firm's uniqueness -- through the eyes

of the client.

Whose job is it to bring in business? In many firms, a few lawyers

regularly bring in new business while the majority merely service existing

clients -- hoping that more business will come from somewhere. And, it

usually does. But to change the status quo, to build your practise and to

grow your firm: you need to seek clients, not trust that they will come.

Lawyers' training and practise strengths show a single-mindedness that

ensures clients' needs are met and cases won. Unfortunately this tunnel

vision often results in the singular focus of looking for business only in one

practise area. Servicing a corporate client may mean repeat business only

when he has another "corporate event." Build your practise through additional practise areas.

About 30% of initial client contacts are merely "lookie-loos" or result in no sale. You lose your clients to no decision far more often than you lose them to a competitor. Learn to identify your key clients up front and spend your time with the 70% who plan to buy.

Some lawyers, in an effort to market, take the pitching approach. Pitching

is when you hold a potential client hostage and barrage them with all the

information you have about your firm, yourself, your services, and your

reputation. Many hope that through the sheer volume of information and

obvious attractiveness and quality of the services, the potential client is

driven to say yes. Instead, use listening and questioning techniques to

find out what the client needs, then tell how you can meet that need, and finally

find a way to make it easy for the client to say yes.

A firm's top 100 clients buy only three or four of the more than two dozen services

typically available. Why? Learn to cross-sell to maximize your service to

existing clients. They are waiting to be mined -- you might just find gold!

New partners discover their new responsibilities include developing business

and bringing in new clients. Without marketing training, or knowledge of

some basic marketing tools, partners are thrown into shock. And

unfortunately along with shock often comes inaction, or uncoordinated

action. Have a marketing plan available for new partners and training

opportunities for them to build their own marketing muscle.

In manufacturing, product cycles define the stages that consumer products go

through. There is a time of high price when the product is initially unique

and a time of falling prices as the market becomes competitive. Entire

industries also go through this cycle.

Law firms have traditionally been premium-priced manufacturers of custom

products but times are changing. Today's legal consumers have differing

needs and expectations. Nothing stays in demand or earns a premium price

forever. Look at what is going on around you. Look at the telephone wars

or examine the computer and retail industries for trends. Open your eyes to

the legal product cycle.

Even firms who have made the decision to market actively may not coordinate

their efforts. And, lawyers may ignore the role of support staff in their

marketing efforts. Legal assistants and secretaries often spend a great

deal of time with customers, with no specific training in client relations

or client management. The result? Clients are handled at arm's length and

individual needs (and opportunities for cross-selling) are never addressed.

Ensure your support staff demonstrate strong client skills and play a role

in your marketing efforts.

Any lawyer who wants or expects their practise to expand must be prepared to

invest non-billable time, effort, and sometimes money. You can make yourself the lawyer or firm to hire, but it takes planning and determination. It also takes recognition of the value of investing your time in the marketing effort.

Firms can overcome these obstacles with education, training, and guidance.

Education will help with the underlying principles and processes, training

will help develop the skills, and guidance can ensure it all gets put into

practise.

Law schools have traditionally accepted the "best" as students. Law firms

have typically sought to employ the "best". Today, "best" means more than

good grades and strength of character. Today "best" includes possessing the

sales and marketing know-how to build a business. Today the "best" means a

reputation as a "rainmaker". Learn now. The "best" gets the most.