Do Clients Hire Law Firms or Lawyers?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Rush Nigut

Do clients hire law firms or lawyers? It’s my opinion that clients generally hire lawyers and not law firms. Experience legal marketers like Tom Kane apparently agree. There may be exceptions where law firms have done such a terrific job of marketing the organization, but I’d argue those law firms are few and far between. It’s the individual lawyers who usually bring in the business.

So if it’s true that clients hire lawyers and not law firms, how can you make sure you’re not missing the boat when it comes to your individual marketing efforts? A good first step for any lawyer is to consider your own individual Web site. If you are the member of a law firm, large or small, chances are your personal presence, the means by which potential clients might reach you, is relegated to an “Attorneys” page removed from the home page of the site and populated by the other attorneys in your firm. For example, the Brick Gentry Law Firm site has elaborate bio pages, but to find my bio, and my field of legal practice, you will need to click-through at least two times after landing on the site’s home page. This of course presumes the prospective client knows they are looking for me. If prospects come to the site, the rain may fall within the firm, but not necessarily on my desk.

Conversely, at my legal blog (Rush on Business), there is little confusion as to who to contact for a prospective client’s business law needs. And, if you were to Google “Iowa Business Lawyer”, you would find my blog at or near the very top of the Google organic searches on Page 1. Lawyers without an individual web presence are very unlikely to achieve such results.

Further, I strongly believe lawyers need to have individual client retention plans. This can be achieved through newsletters, seminars, periodic check-ins or through programs such as NotifyWorks. Studies have shown that it costs about five times as much to obtain a new client than it does to get additional work from existing clients. Yet, I’d argue that most lawyers I know spend nearly all their time on trying to acquire new clients rather than enhancing and strengthening the relationships with clients they already have.

So, what do you think? Do clients hire law firms or lawyers? And if your answer is “lawyers”, what are you doing individually to increase the chances that rain will fall on your desk and that you’ll keep those clients for years to come?

Write Poetry for Good Client Service?

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Rush Nigut

I thought this was an interesting post,
even if it’s different than most.
But lawyers aren’t known for their creativity,
even if they have the proclivity.
Usually they just find time to boast!

Client Service is an All the Time Thing

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Rush Nigut

There’s a great blog post on What About Paris? on client service and how litigators can help their clients improve even in the midst of litigation. The posts says there are opportunities for lawyers who are serious about service:

In many business litigations your firm has opportunities to isolate and bring to the client’s attention “areas for improvement” highlighted in litigation. Your trial lawyers make mental notes about how lawsuits either arise or are made complicated and expensive by conditions, procedures or documents which need corrective action at the client’s shop.

These defects usually lurk unnoticed in day-to-day business practices, often obvious to the client’s rank and file employees. It could be: a confusing employee handbook, a potentially faulty environmental storage practice, ambiguous language in a surety or insurance document, and even a culture or specific office location of the client which which seems ripe for workplace discrimination claims.

Fixing client problems in the middle of litigation is good business. It’s a terrific opportunity for litigators to cross-sell the business, employment and other lawyers in the firm to new clients. It may be a little dangerous though if the client is long-standing and the other lawyers in the firm have not caught the systemic problems that caused the litigation. In that instance, if the litigation lawyer is not the responsible lawyer for the client, I’d suggest the litigation lawyer talk with the responsible lawyer first before suggesting fixes on the systemic issues. You don’t want a partner surprised by a client who says, “Why didn’t you tell me …”

Overall, the post emphasizes that service isn’t a part-time thing, it’s an all the time thing. Look beyond the task at hand to see if you can deliver more for the client and let them know you are truly in their corner.

NotifyWorks a Top Story on Law.com Today

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Rush Nigut

Image via Wikipedia

We were really pleased to see NotifyWorks as a top story on the Law.Com Law Technology News today! Thanks again to Robert Ambrogi for the nice article.

Read “NotifyWorks, a virtual elephant to help law firms never forget.”

NotifyWorks to Exhibit at the First Iowa Startup Fair

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Rush Nigut

English: Seeds of the Prairie Trillium (trilli...

Image via Wikipedia

NotifyWorks is exhibiting at the first Iowa Startup Fair, January 31st. We’ll be at the StartupCity Des Moines offices from 3-6 PM at 317 Sixth Avenue, 5th Floor. The event is promoted by Startup Iowa and is designed to help Iowa entrepreneurs showcase their companies to potential investors and community members.

The Iowa Startup Fair is taking place in other cities throughout the state including Cedar Rapids, Pella and Cedar Falls.

For more information be sure to visit www.startupia.org.

State Fair: No cows or butter, just Startups doing what we do (desmoinesisnotboring.com)

How I’m Using NotifyWorks: Lease Renewal Notification

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Rush Nigut

In reviewing commercial lease terms with a client this week she asked me what she needed to do if she wanted to renew her lease before the end of the lease term. I explained the lease provisions which required written notice to the Landlord 120 days in advance of the lease expiration. She expressed the hope that she would not forget to renew the lease. She’s a new doctor but hopes to have a thriving medical practice by the end of the lease term. The last thing she wants to worry about are lease terms.

And that’s exactly why we created NotifyWorks. Clients forget. They’re busy. They don’t pay attention to deadlines. But that creates opportunity. Most lawyers don’t notify their clients of deadlines like lease renewals. All I need to do is set up a notification from the NotifyWorks library (I am guessing it may take me about a minute) and I’ll be able to automatically notify the client before the notice period that she needs to renew her lease. I’ll probably set up a couple of dates in advance so she has plenty of notice and ask her to contact me in the event there is anything we need to address in the renewal period.

I know the client will appreciate it and it won’t take nearly any time out of day to do this, especially given that my assistant will actually enter the notifications for me. With NotifyWorks it’s not hard to show clients that you care!

What’s the Cost of Finding a New Client?

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Rush Nigut

Legal management consultant John Olmstead has an insightful blog post on Obtaining Additional Work from Existing Clients. There are definitely some great lessons in the post about how law firms need to make their existing clients aware of all the services they provide, including who provides it in the firm and how well they provide it. Many law firms neglect to cross-sell their services and lose out on potential business from clients.

But the number one thing that struck me from his post is that it takes FIVE TIMES as much dollars and time investment to secure a new client than it does to get more business from existing clients. FIVE TIMES!

In almost every law firm it appears as though the majority of the marketing dollars and time investment are directed towards securing new clients. Isn’t it time to pay closer attention to your existing clients?

Pricing Your Legal Services to Get Clients

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Rush Nigut

Lawyers would do well to read this post on Why Pricing Should be Part of Your Marketing Strategy on the Lawyerist Blog. One of the key insights in the post discusses how you know when you are priced right:

You should not be winning every proposal, and your clients should not be overly excited about your price. After all, your firm is not Kmart, and you are not running a Blue Light Special. If your client emails back too quickly and sounds like they might be making a mad dash towards your “too good to be true” price, it probably means your prices are too low. If they write back and try to negotiate you were probably pretty spot on, and if they write back and say that this is well beyond their budget, you need to decide whether or not you want to figure out a way to work within their budget or whether you want to walk away.

I think another key in pricing is looking at ways you’ve added value beyond the delivery of legal services. Have you reduced the risk of litigation? Have you saved the client time or other expenses? Do you have contacts that could help the client?

Price can be very important in a marketing strategy for lawyers. I recommend reading the post.

Win-Win Alternative Billing Practices (lawprofitability.com)

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles