How is your marketing going ?
Are you happy with it !
Well, how about I give you some TIPS ….that you can use right now to grow your accounting or law firm today .
Does this sound familiar?
You are busy looking after clients ,managing staff, and all the other issues involved in running a business…you are basically under the pump… but know ,you need more clients or jobs over the coming months .. and you jump at the first shiny object that comes along as a panacea for all your marketing needs eg , social media, SEO , adwords, billboards, sponsorship . And surprise surprise , it fails to deliver and doesn’t work . This situation is not unique..it is not you….it happens to all my clients at some stage.
In reality, I have discovered in dealing with 100’s of professionals, you only need one thing to grow your firm successfully….…personal responsibility. You must deeply believe that you and only you are responsible for your success…not your clients, not your advertising guru, not the economy. Once you’ve accepted your role as the architect of your future success you will change your approach towards the business development. Rather than looking for some magic ingredients to drive new clients to your doorstep, look for ways to improve your personal approach towards client attraction.
With this is mind, over the next few articles I am going to talk you through a series of steps to help your firm “Break out of the Sea of Sameness “- and make some real progress with the marketing of your law firm right now. Today , I am going to take you through the 10 Key Steps to law firm growth . These are the foundations to growing your firm successfully and methodically … …get these 10 fundamentals right and success will follow. I am going to show you the exact steps I use when I am consulting with clients in my Practice Growth Program …and you can take these away right now and use them immediately.
Tip 1 Match your message to your target audience.
Stop talking about yourself…talk about the issues that keep your clients awake at night.
Tip 2 Become a thought leader.
As you cannot be everything to everyone…pick one area and become the expert at it and make sure everyone knows this is your area of law .
Tip 3 To educate your clients and prospects
Focus on educating your target market ( clients, potential clients , referral sources ) about very specific issues that they will find of value. Be specific , provide tips, traps, guides, tools – things they can use.
Tip 4 To differentiate your firm from all others ( Break out if the sea of sameness )
No one wants a generalist – people have specific needs and want to know who the expert is when they have an issue. So all you need to is to be memorable and persistent – so they ( or their advisors or friends ) will know where to find you when needed.
Tip 5 To become referable .
Being good ( or great ) is one thing. But you need to also be referable. This means being available, accessible, approachable , open .You become these things by achieving all of the fundamentals outlined in this article.
Tip 6 Create systems.
Any activity you do personally and repetitively is doomed. Develop systems for your practice and monitor their effectiveness.
Tip 7 Focus on building relationships…do not sell.
People want to know you, like you and trust you before they will work with you. Help them do that .
Tip 8 Take Action…do not procrastinate ..
If you can’t figure out which action to do , just chose 1.
Tip 9 Continuous improvement.
This should be the mantra for not only your professional education but also your education in marketing and business strategy. Your goal is to do things better, faster and more efficiently
Tip 10 Accept feedback from a circle of trusted advisors.
Some people call this a board of advice. You need to have a group of people you can rely on to give you direct feedback about your performance. However, above all, remember, you need to control your destiny as you alone are responsible for the success of your law firm. Once you accept this and begin to work on each of the 10 fundamental behaviors outlined above, you will find that client attraction becomes natural and consistent.
To help you get started today, I want to focus on the first Tip.. to match your message to your target audience. To assist, I have provided a link to what my Digital Change expert , Billy Kirkley refers to as his “Tribal Profile”. Think of your audience as your tribe and work through the exercise. Once you have completed it, send it back to us and we will give you some feedback to make sure you are on track. In my next article I will talk you through the process of becoming a Thought Leader which is the the second fundamental behavior you need to master. I am busy putting the finishing touches on this right now and look forward to sharing it with you soon.
We are also busy compiling a series of tools, resources and strategies into a 10 Step Growth Program to help busy legal practitioners keep their focus on the essentials to growing their practice.
To discuss your progress drop me a line at matthew@orbitstategies.com.au or call 0419 222 344