31 days, 31 ways to boost business

Listen to this article

By David Baugher
Dolan Media Newswires

1. Get listed

Jonathan Sternberg, a Kansas City, Mo., solo attorney who focuses on appeals, said putting yourself out there with various listing services can pay off big in generating Web traffic. Some services, such as LinkedIn and  Yelp, are more general in nature. Others, such as Justia or FindLaw, specialize in legal matters. And others, such as Martindale-Hubbell, charge but could be worth the cost. “In the grand scheme of things,” Sternberg said, “if that even gets you one good fee, it pays for itself multiple times.”

2. Ask often

Mark Powers, co-author of “How Good Attorneys Become Great Rainmakers,” said lawyers who are shy about asking for referrals are passing up golden opportunities. Every day, he said, you should ask for at least one, and the more directly the better. “The really good ones do it two, three, four times a day, asking their clients and their referral network for new business,” said Powers, who is president of Atticus, a consulting business based in Mt. Dora, Fla. “I’ve seen high-level attorneys double or triple their business just by reinforcing asking for referrals.”

3. Assess how you are different

Allison Yurman, chief marketing officer with Kansas City, Mo.-based Polsinelli Shughart PC, said good marketers understand what they can offer clients and why it is different than what everyone else is peddling. Attorneys should look for their “competitive differentiator,” she said. Otherwise, the only way to stand out from the crowd is by dropping your price lower than the competition.

4. Teach nonlawyers

Lawyer Raighne Delaney says he never lets a research project for a case go to waste. If he writes a brief on a new point of law that carries the day, he makes it a point to turn that brief into an article and then into a presentation. Nonlawyer groups will jump at the chance to hear from an expert. Speaking to nonlawyers “always generates something,” he said.

5. Take a coffee break

Lunching with a client may be the traditional way to do face time. But Chris Wendelbo, an attorney with BW Law Group in Kansas City, said lunch can be an imposing prospect for busy clients. Instead, try something less demanding. “To drive somewhere and go to lunch is a two-hour event,” he said. “People are much more likely to meet you for 30 minutes at the end of the day for coffee. We do that a lot more.”

6. Cut the deadwood

With some clients, less truly is more. Don’t fear dumping low-paying clients so you can spend that time searching for more robust revenue sources, Powers said. Letting go of clients who create more work for fewer dollars is the right move.

7. Hire a paramarketer

You may already have a paralegal. How about a paramarketer? Powers said many options exist, such as designating part of a support staffer’s time, taking on an intern or bringing in a “virtual marketer,” a type of freelancer who works from home. “Most marketing efforts don’t get off the ground because [attorneys] don’t have the initiative or the time to do it, and they have no one to delegate it to,” he said. “It’s everything from having thank-you notes in the office and sending out gifts to referral sources, to setting up speaking engagements to putting information into the database.”

8. Create some discomfort

It’s easy for attorneys to fall into a rut. Instead, set an ambitious and concrete goal such as doubling your business over a given period of time. It will get you out of complacency. “(Many lawyers) get comfortable with their level of referral sources,” Powers said. “They get comfortable with their fees, with the type of business they are doing. They really don’t have a bigger game to play.”

9. Make a Top 20 list

Compile a database of your best referral sources and make it a point to interact with them regularly. Knowing who produces most of your business is key to understanding with whom you should confer regularly. “Not that you don’t pay attention to everyone with newsletters and things like that, but these 20 people are what you need to have sustainable referrals,” Powers said.

10. Send a card

Allison Shields, of Long Island, N.Y.-based consultant Legal Ease, said it’s important to keep the personal touch, not just with ongoing clients but with ex-clients as well. That could mean sending birthday cards or mailing congratulations letters for life events. “Just let them know that you are still thinking about them and care about them as people,” she said.

11. Manage your time

Properly using your day is one of the most important things you can do, Powers said. Spend a few moments to catch your breath and study how you use your office hours and how you can cut out inefficiency. “We can teach them everything they need to know about marketing, but if they can’t manage their day, they can’t market,” Powers said of his lawyer clients.

12. Join organizations and write articles

Attorneys benefit if they stay connected with their clients’ professional or industry organizations, Wendelbo said. It can also help to write articles for legal journals, trade magazines or similar publications. “That’s kind of how we market to try and get in the airspace of the people we want to network with,” he said.

13. Find successful words

Some people swear by hiring experts in search engine optimization, but, Sternberg said, if you think carefully about the proper Internet search terms that define what your practice is all about, calling in an expensive optimization professional isn’t really necessary. “Simply have a website that explains concisely who you are, that’s well designed and that uses the right keywords,” he said. “For me, it’s ‘appellate, appeals, post-conviction, habeas,’ things like that repeated over and over again in the right way.”

14. Send an update

Put out a brief update to interested parties when something of use to them comes along, even if you are not working on active matters with them at the moment. Wendelbo said his firm often deals with municipal clients, and a recent case affected that area. “That case had particular importance to municipalities, so we sent a two-paragraph blurb about it to them via email,” he said.

15. Ask if you can do more

Finding new clients is one way to broaden your book of business, but you might consider deepening it as well. Jeff Coburn, a legal management consultant in Boston, said you should take the time to let existing clients know that you can provide other services for them that they may not be using now. At the very least, it might provoke an important discussion. “They’ll tell you why they don’t use you or why they do use somebody else,” he said. “These conversations can be very valuable. While you are at it, you can ask them, by the way, how would you rate our services? You could even start with that because that’s often a good trigger for a discussion about the relationship.”

16. Use existing clients

Querying your clients about others in their industry who might need your assistance is a great way to find new business. Coburn said it also can be a way to get your foot in the door with new contacts. Find out if there are people or companies they know that could use your service. Ask “if so, may we use your name as an introduction?” he said.

17. Don’t be a salesman

Instead, be yourself. You are a professional providing a service. Act like one, and potential clients will respond more positively than if you are giving them a pitch, Coburn said. Be direct and tell them how you can help them. “You are representing your intelligence, your skill set and your experience and expertise by looking someone in the eye and saying, ‘Here’s what we do. … Here are the people that we have, and here’s what we’ve accomplished with matters that we’ve handled.’”

18. Be more than a lawyer

Matt Casey, a partner at St. Louis’s Casey & Devoti, said his personal injury firm produces not only a newsletter, but also a safety magazine a few times a year that covers related issues. “We’re plaintiff’s personal injury lawyers, so ultimately one of our goals is to help our clients, and one of the things we look out for is how to keep them safe so they don’t need us,” he said. “We don’t want them to think of us just when they get hurt or have something bad happen.”

19. Organize a monthly group

Wendy Werner, a St. Louis legal management consultant, said small firm practioners can facilitate referrals through groups of six to eight lawyers from different practice areas who meet regularly. “Although it is difficult to coordinate schedules, making the time to get together and talk about a particular topic and share referrals or ideas is a good way to bolster your practice,” she said.

20. Target your media campaign

Different audiences require different messages. Ed Herman, a partner at personal injury firm Brown & Crouppen in St. Louis, advises you aim your message in the proper direction. Will the TV program, magazine, billboard or newspaper reach the desired audience, and is the message designed so people will listen? Avoid “one size fits all” campaigns.

21. Give time to something you care about

Werner recommends joining the board of a nonprofit. It can help raise your stature in the community and give you a chance to network. Just make sure you have a genuine passion for the cause. “Not-for-profits always need assistance with governance and legal-related issues,” she said, “and it is a chance for people from a variety of arenas to see how you conduct yourself in a professional setting.”

22. Learn how to introduce yourself

Often when lawyers introduce themselves in a social setting, they simply say they are an attorney with a given firm and leave it at that, Werner said. “This does nothing to convey what you do,” she said. “Instead, tell people what kinds of problems that you solve. Better yet, find out what the other person does first, and tailor your response to how you could potentially help them or their business.”

23. If you open it, they will come

Providing offices in new locations “create more chances for someone to come across you,” Oblon said. His Arlington, Va.-based firm, Albo & Oblon LLP, had “never had a client in Staunton” when they opened an office in the picturesque Virginia town, but plenty of clients have found their way there. Hiring more people for the new location also increases the firm’s presence, he said.

24. Consider a narrower focus

Niche practices can breed a loyal client base of individuals who feel you understand their specific concerns. It doesn’t mean you don’t do other things, but your marketing campaign should stress the specialty that is your bread and butter. It also can bring in referrals when a matter you are known for arrives on another lawyer’s desk. “A lot of times you think, ‘Well, geez, I’m going to market, so I want to make myself look like I do everything. I can cast a big net,’” Herman said. “But sometimes going the other way will help you get more clients because you will be recognized not just in the [general] community but also the legal community as doing something particularly well.”

25. Advertise while corresponding

A constant stream of letters is the mainstay of any attorney-client relationship, but the wise marketer also can see them as a chance to generate more business. “Any time you are sending a client a letter, you’ve already paid for the postage, so that’s a good opportunity to have a half-sheet insert that educates your client about something to do with your practice, some other area you handle,” Herman said. “Maybe it’s just asking for referrals.”

26. Look for a big player

Large firms run major television ad campaigns that generate a lot of business. But they also generate a lot of contacts from people asking about things outside their practice area. Smaller firms and solos who develop relationships with high-volume firms can take on some of that runoff and essentially piggyback on the larger firm’s marketing budget.

27. Ditch the speakerphone

Speakerphones are wonderful for conference calls or dictation, but for client conversations, the receiver should be on your ear. A speakerphone interaction with a new client can lend the impression that you aren’t focused on them. “There is a lack of intimacy and a sense of ‘I’m doing something else while I speak to you and that’s why I don’t have the phone in my hand,’” Herman said. “I think that immediately sends the wrong message.”

28. Don’t ignore cases you can’t take

If someone calls and Herman can’t accept the case, he goes out of his way to take time and explain why. After all, he said, they could be a future client — but not if you don’t bother to return their call or try to get them off the phone as soon as possible. Just because they aren’t part of your revenue stream now doesn’t mean they might not be later. “I can’t say how many people have said to me, ‘I’ve called a few places and you are the first to actually explain to me why I don’t have a case or took me through the process,’” he said.

29. Do it their way

You prefer email to the phone. But if your client feels otherwise, that’s how you should talk to him or her. Herman said it’s best to offer clients as many methods as possible to communicate with you. “You want to come to our office to sign up, fantastic,” he said. “You want to do everything through the mail, fine. You want us to FedEx it? Done. … If you want to learn to grow your business, you have to learn to do it on their terms.”

30. Modernize your website

Maybe your firm has grown significantly since you started it. That’s great. But if your website is still the same two-bit, template-driven space filler you quickly threw together when you first opened your doors fresh out of law school, no one is going to know about your success. It’s time to hire a Web designer. “As you grow, as you develop more business, as you begin to view your website as both an education and a marketing tool, hire a professional and let them do their job,” Herman said.

31. Be patient

Good things come to those who wait, so don’t expect success to fall into your lap instantly. Word of mouth, a good reputation, solid client relationships and a Rolodex of referral sources simply aren’t built in a day. “No matter your strategies for getting business, it takes time,” Sternberg said. “I started out as a solo right after law school, and it was a little bit of a struggle. But then I got a couple of really good things, worked hard on them and got recognized for them. (Then) it wasn’t as difficult to get business.”

Deborah Elkins and Peter Vieth also contributed to this report.