the smart marketing guide for solicitors v4

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The Book of ShaktiYour Guide to Success,

Happiness, Abundance, Tenacity and Inspiration

SMART Marketingfor Solicitors and Law

Firms How to Attract More of the

Clients You Want

Richard Fallon, The Marketing Engineer

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Contents

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Introduction 3

SMART Marketing for Law Firms 4

SMART Marketing for Fee Earners 5

1. Client Define 6

2. Client’s Needs and Wants 8

3. Cost 9

4. Competition 10

5. Communication 11

6. Confidence 12

7. Content 13

8. Copywriting 14

9. Convenience 15

10. Channels 16

11. Clear Measures 17

12. Your Creative Campaign Calendar 18

Next Steps 19

SMART Marketing for Solicitors

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IntroductionWelcome to SMART Marketing for Solicitors and Law Firms.I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to read my e-

book.

SMART marketing is a process that has been developed to help solicitors

and their practices to reach their turnover and profitability targets.

It is a simple process that can be applied by anybody regardless of their

background or marketing education and it will help grow your practice.

This is an introductory guide which gives you the basics you need to

develop your own SMART marketing plan for your law firm and attract more

of the clients you want.

It is called SMART

marketing because it starts with a SMART

goal (Specific,

Measureable, Achievable,

Realistic and Timely).

You’ll be asked on the

next page to set two

SMART goals for your

company.


Everything in your plan should then be geared towards achieving these

goals by attracting more of the profitable, ideal clients you want. They could be new clients, repeat business from existing ones or referrals.

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SMART Marketing for Law Firms

2. Have your fee earners produce their

own SMART marketing strategy and plan

taking a lead from the firm’s strategy. Your

fee earners should have their own turnover

and profit targets and a plan to achieve them.

Your first step is to determine what you want your firm’s turnover and profit

to be in 12 months time. This can be an increase of 10%, 20%, 30% or

even 40% on top of your current turnover or if you are relatively new the

amount you realistically determine.

Legal firms invest about 3.4% of their targeted fee earner income on their

marketing (Law Practice Advisor). Some law firms invest less as they get

business through networking and you should count fee earner time spent on

this (and other marketing activities) as part of your investment. Remember

to include the salaries of your marketing people in this total as well.

This figure gives you a good idea of what you should invest in your

marketing to achieve the results you want.


If you are the principal or a senior partner in a law firm with fee earners

then this is the section for you. The best approach is to: 1. Produce a SMART marketing strategy and plan for your firm. This is

usually developed with and implemented by your marketing team and/or an

external marketing agency. This looks at everything from defining your ideal

clients and what they need through crafting your core values and key

messages to creating your off-line and on-line marketing.

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SMART Marketing for Fee EarnersOnce you have gone through this entire process for your law firm, your fee

earners might then want to create their own marketing plan. They should

take the lead from the overall marketing strategy plan for your practice.

They then follow the same process outlined here but focus on their ideal

clients and what this smaller group need and want. Their ideal clients

would be a sub-set of your firm’s target market.

Why Do Fee Earners Need to

Market Themselves?People and companies buy from

people they know, like and trust.

They need to know, like and trust the

person who is doing the work for them.

Your fee earners know best how they

can help clients and can produce great

content (i.e. articles offering advice).

Your fee earners should start by setting how much business they want

to win from their marketing activities over the next 12 months. They obviously get business from the work your marketing team and others bring

in. Many of the things they do as part of their plan will give your marketing

team more of the ammunition they need to win the clients you want.

So it is not the amount of work they do. However, it is useful if they have an

idea of how much they would like to attract through their networking, e-

newsletters, articles etc. before working through this process.


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1. Client- DefineThis is the most important step in the process. You need to decide what your ideal client looks like and then focus your marketing on them. The more your marketing is tailored to a tightly defined ideal client, the more successful it will be. Remember:

1. There is no such thing as a solicitor or legal practice that has universal appeal.

2. No law firm wants to have anyone and everyone as clients.

You need to define your client in 3 ways:

ü Demographic

ü Geographic

ü Psychographic (see next page)

Geographic segmentation is where you group your clients by location, e.g. determine where your ideal client lives and where their business is based.

You must profile both the companies you want to work with and the key decision maker (usually the MD) as well as private individuals.

Demographic

This includes profiling companies which includes:

Ø Industry (or industries)

Ø Annual turnover

Ø Number of employees

Ø Years in business

You also need to profile the decision maker (be it a company director or private individual). This includes:

Ø Age range

Ø Gender

Ø Income

Ø Education

Ø Occupation and career path


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Psychographics is the study of personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles.

This is where you group your target market by these factors. This is a very powerful technique as it helps uncover what motivates your target market to buy from you.

It also gives you better ways to approach your target market.

Psychographic Profiling

Questions

Psychographics can be very in-depth (the more in-depth, the better). Here are 5 key questions to get you started. Regardless of your target market ask:

1. What are their top 3 frustrations that our services can help solve?

2. Who are they influenced by? Who do they already trust?

3. Where do they look for information on the services we offer?

4. Which marketing channels do they trust? Which do they distrust?

5. What clubs and associations do they belong to?


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2. Client’s WantsPeople (and businesses) buy your service for what it does for them rather than for its features.

You must translate the features of your service into advantages and finally into benefits to your clients.

For example, writing a Will:

Feature- A correctly completed Will.

Advantage- A Will completed for you by an experienced professional who understands all the rules and regulations.

Benefit- Your wishes are properly documented and you have minimised your inheritance tax liability. However, the biggest buying motivator is emotional benefits.

Emotional benefit- Being able to sleep easy in the confidence that your wishes will be respected and those you love will be looked after.

Few solicitors focus on benefits and emotional benefits but these are the route to marketing success.

This rule applies equally to individuals and business owners, directors etc.

What People WantResearch indicates that there are 8 key primary drivers which we all share. The relevant ones to solicitors are:

1. Survival, enjoyment of life

2. Freedom from fear, pain, and danger

3. Care and protection of loved ones

4. Comfortable living conditions

5. To be seen as winning, keeping up with the Joneses

The less effective secondary drivers include:

Ø Economy and profits

Ø Efficiency

Ø Convenience

Ø Dependability and quality


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3. CostIt is important that you get your price right. Your price is the thing which determines your profit and your practice’s viability.

You might be surprised by how much we have increased a firm's profitabilityjust by applying some key pricing strategies.

Different strategies apply to different companies, their positioning in the market place and, most importantly, their target market. However, there is a key pricing strategy that applies universally. We call it a pricing optimisation checklist (see opposite).

Every business has a number of factors which dictate what it can charge. Generally, it is difficult for a company to charge more than the lowest of these factors indicates. However, by raising that one factor to align with the rest then prices can be raised easily

Note: Price is important in establishing prospect confidence. Too low or too high a price can damage your credibility. Don’t be a low-cost provider- offer a better service to your target market.

Pricing Optimisation

ChecklistYou should align all of the below with your price:

ü Quality of the final product (e.g. a contract.)

ü Results achieved for the client through using your service (includes problems avoided)

ü Quality of client care

ü Appearance of your frontline staff, fee earners and directors

ü Look and quality of your marketing

ü Speed of response

ü Business address (city centre vs. out of town)

ü Office layout and appearance

ü Number of staff


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4. CompetitionYour direct competition are those businesses who offer a similar quality product or service for a similar price to your carefully defined target market. You may also have indirect competitors who are competing for the same pot of money as you. The rise of ABS firms and the Big Four (KPMG, EY, PwC and Deloitte) expanding their legal services has already affected a number of law firms. Fee earners also need to position themselves against the growing trend of D.I.Y. law.

Competitive intelligence theory states that you should have five main competitors. Remember your competitors should be similar to you in terms of expertise, price and size. For example, a law firm with 4 partners does not compete with Linklaters. It competes with other similar size practices in the area who target the same clients.

Identify your 5 main competitors and look at their:

Ø Marketing strategy

Ø Offerings

Ø Price

Ø Key messages and USP

Ø Core Values

Ø Position in the marketplace This review will give you an idea of how you can compete effectively and distinguish yourself from your competitors. You should complete the rest of your SMART marketing plan with these findings in mind. They are particularly important for the next step.


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5. Communication

You should work out the main messages that you want to communicate bearing in mind the findings on your competition.

These messages include your:

Ø Unique Selling Proposition

Ø Your Value Proposition

Ø Your Core Values

Ø Client’s Benefits and emotional benefits

It can take some time to develop these messages but it is time well spent. Your core values are very important and form the heart of your brand.

I want to briefly touch on the Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This is probably the most mis-understood term in marketing.

The concept of the USP (see right) was first outlined by marketing pioneer Rosser Reeves. While you don’t want to move the mass millions (point 3), you do want it to have sufficient appeal to attract your target market.

Unique Selling

Proposition

As outlined in Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves in 1961:

1.Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: "Buy this product or service and you will get this specific benefit."

2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.

3.The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e. attract new clients.SMART Marketing for Solicitors

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6. ConfidenceNow, you have worked out your key messages and benefits, how are you going to make your prospects believe that you can achieve the results they are hoping for? This is the biggest marketing barrier that solicitors face.

I could spend a week with 6 different solicitors and at the end of 6 weeks I still could not tell you who was the best. I am not qualified to judge. However, I would retain the one I had the most confidence in.

So it is vital that you inspire confidence in your prospects. They must have confidence in:

Ø You and your practice

Ø Your marketing messages and

Ø The results you can achieve for them before they will deal with you.

If someone knows you for long enough and hears about the results you have achieved, they will gain confidence in you naturally. However, you don’t have the years this natural process takes so you must accelerate it.

Confidence CreatorsThere are about 30 confidence creators which can rapidly help build confidence. They include:

Appearing to be Everywhere Your Prospect Looks

The more times someone sees you (e.g. at a networking event, an exhibition, a seminar, in a magazine, in the local press, on social media etc.), the more confidence they have in you.

Testimonials

These are vital and work well provided they are specific.

Case Studies

Case studies about companies, individuals who are like your target market. These can go into detail and help build confidence rapidly.


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Content includes:

ü Articles

ü Books and e-books

ü Whitepapers

ü Photos and Videos

ü Presentations

ü CD’s/ MP3s

ü Infographics

Work out a production timetable so that you are regularly producing new content to fuel your marketing and add it to your campaign calendar.

7. ContentContent is where you give your target market useful or interesting information. You are not marketing or selling to them in the conventional terms. You are simply educating them.

Good content increases confidence, demonstrates credibility and gets your prospect wanting more. It also highlightsyour expertise and knowledge.

This is important as sometimes propsects don’t appreciate the expertise and knowledge you have developed or what difference your service can make to them.

By giving your prospects content, they start to better appreciate your value. SMART Marketing for Solicitors

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8. CopywritingCopy is about influencing people. It is about getting them to take action. It is selling in print.

John E Kennedy changed the face of advertising in 1905 when he declared that “advertising is salesmanship in print”.

This is very true. Copywriting though is no longer just for direct mail, brochures and printed adverts. It is also for e-mailand web sites;; video and MP3 scripts;; elevator pitches and sales presentations.

It is a large subject which is not well-known, even among some copywriters. I was asked to compile a list of 7 key copywriting principles. The first is define your client. I have given you 3 more key principles opposite.

Note for (1): There are only 3 types of headlines that work. In order of effectiveness, they are:

1. Self-interest (e.g. How to …)2. News (e.g. Announcing …)3. Curiosity – this usually only works well when combined with (1) or (2).

Key Copywriting Rules1. The Headline is the Most

Important Part

Your headline is the most important part of your copy. In an e-mail this is the subject line, for a video, presentation or web page it is the title.

2. Long copy outsells short copy…provided it is of interest to your prospects

You should write for the potential buyer rather than the casual reader which often requires more than one side of A4.

3. You Must Offer Something

You must offer a product or service for people to buy- but only one. The more choice you give people, the lower the response you will get.


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EngagementYou must make it easy for prospects to engage with you without them feeling pressured. This could be done through:

ü Connecting on LinkedIn

ü Reading your blog

ü Watching your videos

ü Signing up for your e-book or e-newsletter

ü Talking to you at networking events

ü Attending your free talks

ü Following you on Twitter

9. ConvenienceConvenience is a key factor in today's society. The easier you make it for your target market to:

1. Find you

2. Engage with you

3. Contact you directly (to enquire, to meet or to buy)

The more likely you are to succeed.

You need to be where your target market is either likely to look for or be open to your services. This could be off-line, e.g. prominent signage, conferences, networking events, appearing in magazines etc., or on-line, e.g. social media, high visibility on Google etc.


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Choosing Channels

No marketing channel is inherently good or bad. The effectiveness of a channel (when used properly) depends solely on your target market as profiled earlier.

For example, we have found that fax works very well for schools and traditional industries (such as manufacturing).

As a general rule:

Ø Offline channels inspire more confidence than on-line ones

Ø Traditional approaches work better for older people.

Ø Direct mail is still effective.

Ø Social media is great for boosting your profile and driving traffic.

Ø A web site is about the only “must have” channel.

Ø The more options people can use to contact you the better.

10. ChannelsChoosing the right marketing channels for your business is often the biggest marketing challenge. The majority of businesses select which marketing channels they invest their time and money in by whim, fashion, personal preference or advice (good or bad).

It is vital that you choose the right channels for your business. Otherwise, you are wasting your marketing budget and time.

The only way to select your marketing channels is to do some research and identify those ones that your ideal clientspositively respond to. These are the channels that they have recently responded to or bought from either through you or a competitor.

Once you have identified these channels then:

1. Find out the expected success rate for each channel.

2. Find out how to use each channel properly

3. Commit to using each channel for at least 6 months.


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Clear MeasuresØ Turnover

Ø Profit

Ø Number of new clients

Ø Number of meetings with potential clients

Ø Number of responses to each marketing piece

Ø Number of letters and e-mails sent to prospects

Ø Number of downloads from your web site and/ or sign up to your newsletter

Ø Number of clicks onto campaign specific landing pages

Ø Number of hits on your web site

Ø Number of Twitter followers and connections on LinkedIn

Ø Number of views of your YouTube videos

11. Clear MeasuresIt is vital that you know where your new business is coming from. It is also important to know which marketing channels and promotional pieces are working and which aren't.

Many law firms can cut their marketing spend and still win more of the clients they want simply by abandoning unsuccessful channels/ promotional pieces and putting some of the money and time saved into the successful ones.

This section is very straightforward, especially with so many on-line channels having measures in place. For other channels, you should give a specific response for each piece and measure that, for example in sales letters you can give a phone number, e-mail address and landing page which is unique to those letters.

You need to have sub-measures as well as key ones. Sub-measures help bring about the key ones. You can find an example breakdown opposite.


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12. Your Creative Campaign Calendar

This is the part where you get to unleash your creativity. You and your graphic designer need to determine your visual strategy and the look for each of your marketing channels such as signage, brochures, web site etc.

You should have an overall on-going general marketing campaign and separate campaigns for specific promotions such as events, seminars, new services etc.

Most campaigns consist of a mix of:

• One-off activites (such as producing a brochure, web site, the addition of landing pages, writing a an e-book, publishing a book, producing a YouTube video etc.)

• Regular continuing activities (e.g. direct mail, newsletters, e-mail, blog articles, social media updates, attending networking events etc.)

You should look to put the key pieces into place (web site, brochure etc.) before doing the regular activities.

Managing Your CampaignThe easiest way to manage your marketing campaign is to create a calendar in Excel with days across the top row and then down the first column list the regular channels you are using. Put under each day the amount you will do that day, e.g. send 10 marketing letters, spend an hour on LinkedIn, write a blog article or newsletter etc.

Remember to include a campaign for existing clients. These are the easiest people to win more business from. You need to send them legal updates, newsletters, invites to events…, anything that will remind them that you exist and give them some idea of how they might need to use you again.

This is the last step in the process.SMART Marketing for Solicitors

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Next Steps The Marketing

EngineerYou can rest assured that we will guide you and your company through the complete SMART marketing process and get the best results for your business.Contact :Richard FallonThe Marketing Engineer35 St Paul’s Square,Birmingham B3 1ZQMobile: 0778 9952251Office: 0121 294 0994E: [email protected]: www.themarketingengineer.co.uk

The first thing to do now is go back through each step in the process and spend some time working through it. The hardest steps are the first few.

Once you have nailed down your target market, done your research and found out what your ideal clients’ need, want and desire and decided your position in the marketplace, it starts to get easier.

I suggest you spend 4-6 mornings developing your plan.

Good luck!

P.S. If you would like some support then drop us a line. In addition to producing your plan we can deliver or coordinate its implementation.

.SMART Marketing for Solicitors

the smart marketing guide for solicitors v4

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