Guerilla-style marketing
I keep a marketing tip sheet on the corner of my desk at all times: 15 Secrets of Guerrilla Marketing, by Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerrilla Marketing series. One of the "secrets" is especially on target for lawyers engaging in client development activities. Levinson says:
Commitment: You should know that a mediocre marketing program with commitment will always prove more profitable than a brilliant marketing program without commitment. Commitment makes it happen.
I hope it's immediately apparent to you why this is applicable to lawyers, but just in case it isn't, consider this.
Suppose you're researching an area of law to get a feel for it, knowing that you're going to need to affiliate with someone who's an expert in the area. Would you be likely to contact someone who keeps popping up as an articles author on your topic, someone perhaps with a treatise to boot, who's spoken on the issue at a number of CLE meetings? Would you be more or less likely to contact someone whose name comes up once as an author, or once as a speaker, or once as a member of a relevant committee? I'd be willing to bet that you'd be more eager to speak with the first lawyer.
Commitment pays off because it increase the depth of your experience and credentials in a particular area. Whether it's writing as in the example above or in pro bono work, doing a client development activity once is unlikely to make a significant impact. But if you do it over and over, make it a regular part of your schedule, you will begin to gain some traction, to know people in the relevant area and to be known, and potentially to acquire a reputation as an expert. Each of these attributes requires a sustained effort.
As you consider your client development plans, consider how committed you are to the plans you've set out. Are you stretched too thin? Do you need to let some activities go so you can work deeply in a limited number of areas? Or perhaps you need to step back even a bit further. Maybe you don't have a client development plan or strategy. You might make an unfocused effort to attend networking meetings, to agree to write an article if someone approaches you, to speak on a topic in which you're competent but which is not central to your practice. While any of these activities will get you exposure, this group of plans isn't enough to get you consistently in front of the people who need to know about you and your practice.
One of the biggest client development mistakes I see lawyers making is failing to commit to an activity. When I talk with a potential client for rainmaking coaching, I often ask what activities he or she has tried. I'll often hear something like this: "Well, I tried joining the [fill-in-the-blank] association, but that didn't really work for me." When I ask for more information, the lawyer will continue, "Yes, I went to two meetings and it didn't seem like I was making any headway, so I switched to [another group] and tried it for a couple of meetings, but that didn't help, so I went to [another group] instead. I just don't think networking pays off for me." Finding an adequate group (in which you stand to meet a reasonable number of potential clients or potential referral sources) and being active in that group over a several-month period will always yield better results than finding the "perfect" group and attending it once or twice.
Consistency demands that you evaluate your client development plans and select a limited number of activities that you will plan to accommodate in your schedule. Then, schedule them and take part regularly. Be sure you're building a reputation that will serve you well; be sure your consistent, committed client development activities are directed toward helping you to build that reputation.
Sketch out the tactics you're currently using for client development. How committed are you? Are you overscheduled? If the same activities don't pop up on your calendar on a regular basis, chances are good that you're not getting as much benefit as you could from those activities. Choose one or two activities now, and schedule yourself for those for the rest of the year. While two months isn't really long enough to evaluate whether those activities will work well for you, it's a start. Make consistency a keyword for your rainmaking plans.
If you aren't bringing in a steady stream of new work, perhaps we should talk. I work with lawyers one-on-one and in group settings to help create a marketing plan, to strategize effective execution, and to help you overcome obstacles. Please email me (hit reply or click here) or call 800.758.6214, ext. 1 to arrange a time to get acquainted.