Law firm Marketing-Lessons Learned from a Successful Real Estate Guru
I often tell my clients that Law firm marketing requires a different approach than commercial product or service marketing. Lawyer marketing is about top of mind awareness, reinforcement of credibility and expertise, and becoming recognized as the “go to” lawyer in your practice area and geographic location.
It is true, lawyer marketing is different, however I just read a post from Success Magazine on Selling Like John Lennon by Darren Hardy that is extremely relevant to lawyer marketing.
In the article, Hardy tells a story about his successful real estate agent, John Lennon (not the famous Beatle), who has sold more than 15 billion dollars in the past 15 years in South Miami. The key to Lennon’s success is transferable to lawyers who want to accelerate their business.
What separated Lennon from other real estate agents was his focus on finding out what was most important to the prospective client and then focusing like a laser on how to assure their most important goals or fears were addressed.
The following is an excerpt from the post by Darren Hardy:
“One time, the building developer called me to ask what I had sold that day. I said, ‘I sold a $4 million parking space, a $2.8 million gym and spa access pass and a $6 million closet. And each came with an apartment included. The developer was perplexed, ‘What do you mean you sold a $4 million parking space?’ I explained that I had discovered that was what was most important to that person. He had vintage cars and had a bad experience in a previous building. I spent an hour explaining the security, safety and cleanliness of our underground parking and he couldn’t write the check fast enough.”
How does this relate to lawyers? Too often lawyers work too hard at marketing and spend too much time giving prospective clients too much information, offering too many options and never really communicating their understanding of the clients concern and their ability to solve the problem.
Just like the Realtor who goes on and on about the beautiful view when the client is more interested in the home security system, I have heard lawyers talk for an hour about the features of a specific process without communicating to the client how the features solve the clients problem.
You can accelerate your practice by following the same success strategy that John Lennon used to sell 15 billion in real estate. The success strategy includes, asking questions, listening, observing and focusing on what is most important to your prospective client.
You provide a high standard of service to your clients and produce positive results. Clients and referral sources benefit from your experience and expertise and often times tell you how much value and peace of mind you have provided them during a difficult or challenging time. You want to educate the public on your legal services and attract more clients who want what you do best. Unfortunately, in your community not enough people know about you and your law practice and the value it can provide.
