You’re providing a professional service, but your firm essentially acts like a business. You’re selling that service, and like other service providers, you need to make a profit to survive. A successful firm has many moving parts. LMA can help you make sure you have all the necessary parts and they’re working smoothly.
LMA partners with our clients so they can achieve the best results possible. We can work with you and provide practical advice learned through experience. Our consulting services may make the difference between getting by and solid growth. Call us today at 919.637.9144 to learn more.
You may have learned a lot in law school, but you weren’t taught how to run a successful law firm. They left it up to you to figure that out. You don’t have to do that by yourself. LMA is here to show you where you need to go and how to get there.
There are three primary factors a law firm must get right to be successful and reach its goals. That path may have some curves and be bumpy at times, but it can be done with the right plan, persistence, and execution. Here are the factors that you need to focus on.
Client Experience
How would you like a law firm to treat you? Would you appreciate an authentic, honest, and personal approach? If that’s what you received, might you tell others?
Most clients seek legal help because they’re in, or expect to be in, a bad situation. They’re under stress and probably would prefer not to hire an attorney, but it’s the best route for them and their situation. Do you make it easy for them to become clients? Are you transparent? Will you help them learn about your team and law firm?
Client experience ranges from an answered phone call, what’s on a website, a conversation with a paralegal or attorney, up to how well a trial goes. A client on trial could have a terrible experience because opposing counsel tore him to pieces when he testified, because he wasn’t properly prepared. A client could also have a terrific experience because the trial went as planned, there were no surprises, and the verdict was in her favor.
You may promise many things in your marketing and advertising material. But if the client experience doesn’t live up to the story you tell and expectations aren’t met, it will set you back. People hire lawyers they trust. If they learn you’re not living up to the expectations you set, trust will be hard to come by.
Process and Procedures
A dysfunctional firm will never be as profitable as it could be. If your reputation is built on past success but your firm’s processes are letting you and your clients down, that reputation won’t last long.
How well does your firm function? You should have a business plan and follow it. If it’s not getting the results you need, find out why, and change or replace it. Are your accounting practices good enough? Is your bottom line suffering because you’re spending too much money or not enough on the right things? Are you keeping the right employees and attracting job candidates you want to work with?
Do you have effective policies on client interaction? Quickly returned client phone messages and emails would be greatly appreciated. Keeping in contact with former clients, especially the ones who may regularly need legal help or who may suggest to others they should work with your firm, could have a great return on investment.
Branding Message
What’s your firm’s brand? Do you know? It’s more than your website’s color scheme or the logo on your business card. Your brand is how your community perceives you. That branding message goes well beyond your promotional material.
Every time you, a partner, associate, or staff member interacts with someone, they’re sending a branding message. Are they well-prepared, professional, focused, open, and honest? Are they rushed, unable to spend time on the phone with a client, or distracted by trying to do too many things at the same time? When the public reads about a successful trial outcome or negotiated settlement, that’s a branding message.
If this makes sense to you, you’re considering something many law firms can’t grasp. If your law firm is branded in an honest, unique way, you’re ahead of the game and many of your competitors.
It All Fits Together
Client experience, process, procedures, and your branding all work together. If you’re behind in one area, it will bring the others down. They’re all needed for a law firm to be profitable and successful. LMA can help you determine where you need help and what you should do to address it.
Hiring a law firm development consultant to make sure you have what it takes to be successful can pay off exponentially. Lawyers Marketing Associates, Inc. (LMA) consultants can talk to you about your firm’s business situation, listen to your needs, answer your questions, and show you how we can help you and your firm. LMA can provide customized solutions to your law firm’s business problems that will focus on your areas of greatest need. You won’t need to solve this yourself, wasting time and money on solutions that don’t pan out.
Call your experienced team at Lawyers Marketing Associates at (919) 637-9144 today and we’ll help get you moving in the right direction. Remember – there’s no time like today to start growing your firm!